Erin Hunter - The Fourth Apprentice

Up the Hill: This is the worst choice the cats can make. The dog will catch them and start a fight, but in the first Round, the target cat cannot make a Jump Check to avoid the dog’s bite-he or she is automatically hit-and none of the cats may make attacks. It is basically just a free bite for the dog.

Fight: Fighting the dog works the same as any fight (see Chapter Five of the game rules). In each Round, the dog goes first and will attack one cat. It is probably best to use a random method (like Evens Odds or Rock, Paper, Scissors) to pick exactly which cat gets attacked, though a particularly brave cat can volunteer to get the dog’s attention. After that, all the cats get to go.

The dog does not Swat; it only Bites (and remember that Bites do extra damage). Its Bite Check has a total of 8. When the cats are attacking, the dog has a Jump Check total of 5. When it comes to inflicting or taking damage, the dog has a Strength score of 6.

The dog is really just a big bully. It’s happy to pick on the cats as a mean kind of game, but if the cats actually hurt it too much, the dog will run away. If the cats manage to do 6 chips worth of damage to the dog, it will give a loud yelp and run away to hide in the back of the truck. The cats can then safely get away.

Climb: There are plenty of trees around to climb. If the cats just want to get away from the dog’s teeth, they only have to succeed at a Climb Check with a total of 4. Of course, once they’re up in the trees, there’s nowhere to go, and they have to make another Climb Check to stay balanced-if the Check fails, they have to come down out of the tree. If they have to or choose to come down, the cats will have to fight the dog.

Describe the situation like a scene in a scary movie. The dog is at the bottom of the tree, barking and howling. The cats are stuck in trees that are swaying dangerously in the breeze. Make the cats all attempt a total of 3 extra Climb Checks to see if they can keep from falling off their perches. If they do, the dog gets bored and goes back to the truck. Then the cats can come safely out of the trees and hopefully get away from the dog. They still have to make Sneak Checks (as described in scene 10) to get safely across the yard.

Down the Hill: The dog will not chase the cats down the hill. They can choose which alternate route they want to take.

What Happens Next:If the cats get away from the dog, continue with 5.

If any of the cats are Knocked Out, continue with 12.

If the cats retreat and prefer to go directly into the deep part of the woods, continue with 7.

If the cats retreat and prefer to take the route by the river instead, continue with 6.

If the cats retreat and prefer to go into the woods where the monster noises are coming from, continue with 4.

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

One of the great things about storytelling games is that you can always tell the story again. And, since so many of the events depend on Skill Checks, it won’t always go exactly the same way.

There may be parts of the adventure that the cats never got around to exploring (especially if they only tried one path up the hill). 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.

In particular, if the adventure ended badly, you and the players may want to try a second time. Maybe starting back at the beginning, or perhaps picking up somewhere in the middle where it feels like things went wrong.

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 just a few 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 1 moon and make any appropriate improvements described in Chapter Four of the game rules.

Skill:On top of the improvements your cat gets from aging, he or she also gains 1 level in one of the following Skills (your choice!): Focus, Ponder, See, Smell, Swim.

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.

About the Author

ERIN HUNTERis inspired by a love of cats and a fascination with the ferocity of the natural world. As well as having great respect for nature in all its forms, Erin enjoys creating rich mythical explanations for animal behavior. She is also the author of the bestselling Seekers series.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Other Books by Erin Hunter

Book One: Into the Wild

Book Two: Fire and Ice

Book Three: Forest of Secrets

Book Four: Rising Storm

Book Five: A Dangerous Path

Book Six: The Darkest Hour

Book One: Midnight

Book Two: Moonrise

Book Three: Dawn

Book Four: Starlight

Book Five: Twilight

Book Six: Sunset

Book One: The Sight

Book Two: Dark River

Book Three: Outcast

Book Four: Eclipse

Book Five: Long Shadows

Book Six: Sunrise

Warriors Super Edition: Firestar’s Quest

Warriors Super Edition: Bluestar’s Prophecy

Warriors Field Guide: Secrets of the Clans

Warriors: Cats of the Clans

Warriors: Code of the Clans

The Lost Warrior

Warrior’s Refuge

Warrior’s Return

The Rise of Scourge

Tigerstar and Sasha #1: Into the Woods

Tigerstar and Sasha #2: Escape from the Forest

Tigerstar and Sasha #3: Return to the Clans

Ravenpaw’s Path #1: Shattered Peace

Also by Erin Hunter

S EEKERS

Book One: The Quest Begins

Book Two: Great Bear Lake

Book Three: Smoke Mountain

Credits

Jacket art © 2009 by Wayne McLoughlin

Jacket design by Hilary Zarycky