Blackstar, the ShadowClan leader, will give a brief statement of thanks to the players’ cats, admitting that if not for their efforts the situation would have been much worse. The members of the other Clans might be more effusive with their praise.
What Happens Next: The players’ cats should be proud of what they accomplished. But the nature of life as a warrior is that there is always another calamity waiting to happen. And, as good a job as the group did here, they should know that they’ll have to do even better next time. Because it is a warrior’s job to not just protect his or her Clan from one threat but from all of them!
20. Not Good Enough
Read Aloud: “The next morning, representatives of all the Clans come into ShadowClan territory to help them recover from the flash flood. A long, slimy, foul-smelling streak of mud stretches from high on the hill down to the waters of the Lake, and scattered around are the bodies of cats who were killed in this tragic event.”
Narrator Tips: The players’ cats have ended up in this scene because somewhere along the way they did not do enough to help the cats of ShadowClan.
It’s entirely possible that they proceeded with good intentions, but the results are no less catastrophic. No one really blames them—the flash flood was not their fault, and chances are good that they at least wanted to help—but it seems likely that at least some of those hurt or killed by the waters could have been saved if the players’ cats had been more deeply involved. If they were helping to rescue drowning cats, but didn’t succeed in rescuing very many, some members of ShadowClan might think that the group wasn’t trying hard enough.
On the other hand, it may be that the cats chose to ignore the problem because of some bias against ShadowClan. If this is the case, or if the players seem too unaffected by this tragedy, have a cat who they respect—perhaps their Clan leader—come over and talk to them about the events. Have that cat focus on the fact that part of the warrior code is to protect kits, no matter what Clan they belong to, and that can easily be imagined to mean any Clan cat who is helpless and in danger. The Clans may sometimes be at odds, but they must act together for the good of all if they are to survive the many dangers of the world.
What Happens Next: This is the end of the adventure, and it is not a good end. Although they tried hard, the cats do not get any Experience rewards for this adventure. The group can, however, play the adventure again, hopefully changing some of their tactics so that they get a better result next time.
AFTER THE ADVENTURE
After the last scene of the adventure has been played, the game itself is not necessarily over. There still are a few things you can do if the players want to keep at it.
Play It Again
Maybe you just want to try the whole thing a second time, starting back at the beginning or perhaps picking up somewhere in the middle where it feels like things went wrong. In either case, your cat would be right back where he or she was and have another chance to try to find a more favorable outcome.
One of the great things about storytelling games is that you can always tell the story again. And, since some of the group’s actions can be strongly affected by how they did when they were hunting and tracking, they may want to go back and try putting more effort and emphasis in excelling during those scenes.
Plus, depending on how they handled the interaction with Ratscar and his ShadowClan patrol, they may want to see what happens if they try a different tactic. Playing again will let everyone see all the parts of the story and give other players the chance to try their hands at being the Narrator.
Experience
If the cats completed the adventure successfully, then they all get Experience rewards. It is important to note, though, that each cat can only get experience from this adventure once! If you play through and successfully finish the adventure several times, your cat only gains the rewards listed below after the first time he or she completes the adventure.
If you use different cats each time, though, each one can get the Experience rewards. The rule is not that a player can only get experience once, it’s that a cat can. Age: Although the action in this adventure clearly all happens over the course of a handful of days, the presumption is that this is the most interesting and exciting thing that happens to your cat during the whole of that moon. Increase your cat’s age by 2 moons and make any appropriate improvements described in Chapter Four of the game rules.
Skilclass="underline" On top of the improvements your cat gets from aging, he or she also can gain 1 level in one of the following Skills: Focus, Ponder, Swat, or Swim.
Knack: For having such close interactions with the members of ShadowClan and spending time in their territory, your cat also gains 1 level of the Clan Lore Knack.
More adventures can be found at the back of each novel in the Omen of the Stars series, and you can find extra information at the warriorcats.com website.
More adventures can be found at the back of each novel in the Omen of the Stars series, and you can find extra information at the warriorcats.com website.
