Erin Hunter - The Last Hope

If the group wishes to attempt sneaking around the foxes, have the players’ cats make a Sneak Check (which can be aided by use of the Stalk Knack). Each cat must have a total of 9 or higher in order for this plan to work. If any of the cats has a total of 8 or lower, the foxes hear the group.

What Happens Next:If the players’ cats would rather strike first and attack the foxes, continue with 9.

If the players’ cats would rather go into the highlands, this is the end of the chapter. Hand the adventure to the next Narrator and tell him or her to continue with 7.

If the players’ cats successfully sneak around the foxes, continue with 6.

If the players’ cats are unsuccessful at sneaking around the foxes, continue with 9.

13. Warning Signs

Read Aloud:“As you pass through an area of deeper snow, the tracks become clearer—but that’s not necessarily a good thing.”

Narrator Tips:Deeper snow means clearer tracks, which allows the players’ cats to get a better idea who and what they’re following. Have the group choose one cat to make a See Check (which may use the Animal Lore Knack). If that Check has a total of 7 or less, the cat can’t tell what the tracks are. If the total is between 8 and 10, the cat can tell that there are rabbit tracks—and they were made today. If the total is 11 or higher, the cat can tell that there are fox tracks in the mix, too—and that the fox tracks are the freshest.

The players must now decide whether their cats are going to continue following these tracks—perhaps knowing that one or more foxes are on the trail, too—or if they are going to give up searching in the valley and instead head up to the highlands. This probably isn’t going to be an easy decision. Foxes are dangerous. Any cat with Animal Lore can inform the group that foxes are clever, fast, and tough. A single fox can sometimes defeat up to four warriors in a single fight.

On the other hand, the valley has had fairly abundant signs of life (in particular, rabbits). Going to the highlands might lead the cats away from the foxes, but it might also lead them away from the prey animals they are looking for.

Help the players through their discussion, making sure they consider their options and understand the potential consequences. When they’ve made their decision, continue below.

What Happens Next:If the players’ cats decide to follow the tracks in the valley, continue with 10.

If the players’ cats decide to go into the highlands, this is the end of the chapter. Hand the adventure to the next Narrator and tell him or her to continue with 7.

14. Snowbound

Read Aloud:“Cold. All you can think about is how cold it is. No matter how brave a warrior you are, you can’t fight the cold.”

Narrator Tips:If the adventure has reached this scene, it’s because one or more of the cats failed to escape a snowy danger—either an avalanche or a perilously deep snowfield. Being buried in snow is very disorienting. It’s dark, freezing, and in most cases difficult to even tell which way is up. It is hard to even move, let alone start digging yourself out of the predicament.

Improvise a very short scene based on the events as they played out in your game—let the players’ cats have that brief moment of absolute panic as they realize they are trapped and there is little or nothing they can do about it. Meanwhile, ask the other players what their cats are doing. The snow is now perfectly safe to walk on, so they would be in no additional danger if they try to dig their friends out—if they can find them!

Have the searching cats make a few rounds’ worth of appropriate Skill Checks (to dig, or hear the cries of their buried friends, or just remember where they were standing). Then, no matter what their totals, have them succeed in finding the buried cats. But these cats are no longer in any shape to continue the mission—they are cold through to the core, they may have broken bones, and they need some rest. The only real choice is to get them back to the Clan territories.

Hopefully, the other groups of warriors will be more successful. Or perhaps, once the wounded cats are healed, the group can go out and try again.

What Happens Next:The adventure is over. The players’ cats do not get any Experience rewards for this adventure. The players’ cats can, however, play the adventure again.

15. Climb Higher

Read Aloud:“The hill is steep, and the snow is lightly packed. Pretty soon you find yourself up to your nose in snow.”

Narrator Tips:Improvise a brief scene where the cats have to deal with traveling through snow that is deeper than they are tall. In order to move, they must leap out of the tiny “snow pit” they are in, and then immediately land in an identical situation.

This kind of travel is difficult. Ask each of the players how many Levels their cats have in the Jump Skill. Cats with 3 or more Levels can navigate this deep snow with no problem. Cats with 1 or 2 Levels can travel this way, but it’s exhausting—they lose 1 chip from fatigue. If any of the cats have 0 Levels in Jump, traveling like this takes them extra time and they lose 2 chips from fatigue, plus they automatically fail the Focus Check discussed below.

After two jumps, the players’ cats realize that because the snow is so lightly packed, jumping in it like this could shake the snow loose and cause it to slide down the hillside. If this possibility worries the cats, they can safely turn back and go lower on the hill (or even down to the valley). If they decide to proceed, have each cat make a Focus Check to try to jump carefully. If any of the cats have a total of 6 or lower, they have shaken the snowpack loose. If all the cats have totals of 7 or higher, they have successfully crossed the upper highlands.

What Happens Next:If the players’ cats want to turn back and go to the part of the highlands they were in before, continue with 16.

If the players’ cats want to turn back and go to the valley and they have not yet encountered any foxes, continue with 4.

If the players’ cats want to turn back and go to the valley and they have already encountered foxes during this adventure, continue with 10.

If the players’ cats shake the snowpack loose, continue with 22.

If the players’ cats successfully cross the upper highlands, this is the end of the chapter. Hand the adventure to the next Narrator and tell him or her to continue with 21.

16. Crossing the Deep

Read Aloud:“This is the deepest snow you’ve ever seen. You have to leap free of the snow even to move, but when you land you’re once again surrounded—and it doesn’t look well packed.”

Narrator Tips:As in scene 15, the cats have to travel through snow that is deeper than they are tall—only this time the snow is even deeper. Plus, it’s loosely packed, and threatens to collapse and bury them every time they land.

Have each cat make three Jump Checks (that can make use of the Dodge Knack) and add the three totals together. If a cat’s grand total is 14 or lower, that cat has been trapped in a collapsing snow tunnel. The cat has one last chance to escape—a single Strength Check. If the total of this check is 8 or higher, the cat escapes.