What Happens Next: Since the cats are on a hunting mission, they need to follow one of the sets of tracks. If they don’t care which set they follow, or if none of them got a 5 or higher on their Skill Checks, you should decide which tracks they will follow.
If the cats follow the rabbit tracks, continue with 5.
If the cats follow the fox tracks, continue with 14.
2. A Slippery Adversary
Read Aloud: “Hot on the trail, you burst through a dense thicket of brush and…find yourself back at the very spot from which you started. Somewhere along the line you must have made a wrong turn.”
Narrator Tips: The cats are right back where they began with nothing more to show for their efforts than an increased appreciation for how clever their target is. They only have a few choices at this point.
The most obvious choice is to get back on the trail and continue trying to track down the creature that made these tracks (which they may or may not realize is a fox). If they do this, the process is very similar to the one they just finished (in scene 14), except that the knowledge they’ve gained gives them an edge. This time, they only need a Check total of 7 or higher for success, and they only need four successful Checks to correctly follow the trail. However, as before, if they get three failures first, they followed the wrong trail.
Alternatively, if they haven’t yet followed the other set of tracks (the ones that obviously were made by rabbits), they might decide to let the mystery go in favor of hunting for fresh-kill—the reason they’re on this mission in the first place. This course of action is also possible following a second failure in tracking the fox, but only if they haven’t exhausted their rabbit-hunting possibilities (as described in scene 8).
It they’ve already done their hunting, though, they may instead decide that getting their catch back to the Clans is more important than solving this mystery. They will still be able to report that there is a strange creature roaming not far from the Clan territories (which is certain to make the Clan leaders a little nervous).
What Happens Next: If the cats succeeded in following the trail, continue with 9.
If the cats decide to take the rabbits they’ve already caught and head home, this is the end of the chapter. Pass the adventure to the next Narrator and tell him or her to continue with 12.
If the cats decide to investigate the rabbit tracks, continue with 5.
If the cats failed for a second time to follow the trail and cannot do any more hunting, tell the players that their cats have lost the scent and cannot find it again—the only option is for them to head home. This is the end of the chapter. Pass the adventure to the next Narrator and tell him or her to continue with 12 and to note that the cats failed twice at this task.
3. Looking for Advice
Read Aloud: “It’s easy to skirt the edge of ShadowClan territory—the borders are marked quite clearly. All Clans are protective of their territory, but ShadowClan often seems to be the most firm in that protection. Hopefully one of the other Clan leaders will know how best to deal with this situation.”
Narrator Tips: Help guide the players’ cats to talk about the situation. With the danger so imminent, is it really right to walk away from ShadowClan, even if it is to seek advice? Should the group risk the anger of ShadowClan and bring them the message directly? It’s a difficult question, one with no absolute right answer. But the discussion can be interesting in itself.
After the players have had a chance to talk about the issue, have all the cats make Listen Checks.
Anyone whose total is 7 or higher hears a deep, wet “schloomph” sound in the distance. Clearly at least one of the ponds has collapsed. There may be a flash flood headed down the hill right now!
What Happens Next: The group has a difficult decision to make. Will they go into ShadowClan territory to help save them from the flash flood or will they continue on their original course?
If the group decides to stay on their original course, continue with 20.
If the group decides to cross the border into ShadowClan territory to try to help, continue with 11.
4. Carried Away
Read Aloud: “You’re tumbling head over tail and rolling downhill in a slosh of water and mud.”
Narrator Tips: One or more of the cats has been caught in the collapse of the pond and the resulting flash flood. Any cats in this predicament immediately take damage that causes them to lose 3 chips.
Then they must make a Swim Check to get their heads above the water. If this Check has a total of 7
or higher they succeed, otherwise they lose an additional 2 chips.
Being caught in the flashflood uses a system of rounds just like fighting does (see Chapter Five of the game rules for details). In order to escape the flash flood, a cat needs to be pulled to safety by someone who is not currently in the water. To do that, a cat that is safely on land must make a Swat
Check with a total of 5 or higher. Each cat on dry land can only attempt to pull one cat from the water each round. At the end of the first round, the cats who are still in the water must make another Swim Check, as described above; then a new round begins.
This continues for three rounds or until either all of the cats are rescued from the flash flood or knocked out from their ordeal. What Happens Next: If all the cats were rescued from the flash flood, continue with 13.
If any of the cats were knocked out by their ordeal, continue with 7.
5. Rabbit Ears
Read Aloud: “The rabbit’s tracks are not difficult to follow. Hopping through the mud leaves deep imprints. After scampering under some bushes and over a log, the tracks lead you to a small meadow where you don’t just see one rabbit—you see several of them!”
Narrator Tips: The cats have followed their prey to an area where all the local rabbits feed. Many of the rabbits haven’t had a decent meal in days because of the rains, so quite a few are here now, chewing contentedly on grass. There are enough rabbits that each cat can try to catch one on his or her own. The problem is, the ground is still soft and muddy.
Tell the players that the slippery conditions will make it more difficult than usual to sneak up on and catch their prey (don’t tell them the details described below; they only need to know that it will be more difficult in general). Tell them also that it will be easier for them to catch prey in these poor conditions if they hunt in pairs.
Hunting is described in Chapter Five of the game rules, and those basic rules will apply to this scene. However, because of the soggy state of the ground, things will be a little different.
Because all the cats are hunting in the same area, you should have them all hunt at the same time.
If one cat attacks a rabbit, all the other rabbits in the area will flee. So you should first have all of the cats make their Sneak Checks, and then have them all make Pounce Checks at the same time.
Cats who are hunting alone must make a Sneak Check with a total of 10 or higher in order to succeed at stalking their prey. Cats who are working in pairs should each make a separate Sneak
Check, then add their totals together. If their combined total is 14 or higher, they succeed as a team.