Эрин Хантер - Battles of the Clans

If they decide to attack, their fighting will follow the standard rules (see Chapter Five of the game rules). The vixen has Ability scores of Strength 7, Intelligence 9, Spirit 11. Her Skills are Bite

+4, Jump +4, Sneak +6. And she has the following Knacks: Alertness, Hide, and Dodge. She has the Ability chips and can spend them during battle just the way the players’ cats can. You may want to write down the vixen’s game stats on a piece of paper for easy reference during the fight.

The vixen will fight until she has taken 7 chips worth of damage. At that point she will run away as described above. It is possible, though not likely, that she will hurt the cats so badly that they must run away. If this happens, the vixen will let out one final hiss and then stalk proudly into the woods (and then, once she is out of sight of the cats, she will quickly dash off to the safety of her den).

When the encounter with the vixen is over, the cats have a few choices. They can go back and hunt for rabbits (unless that action is no longer an option for them, as described in scene 8) or they can take what fresh-kill they’ve gathered and head for home.

What Happens Next:If one or more of the cats was knocked out in the fight with the vixen, continue with 7.

If the cats decide to go hunting for rabbits, continue with 5.

If the cats decide to head back down the hill toward home, this is the end of the chapter. Pass the adventure to the next Narrator and tell him or her to continue with 12.

10. Fresh-kill!

Read Aloud:“You’re a Clan cat, and that means that even though the hunt is successful, you can’t eat until you’ve brought back food for the Clan. Still, the taste of the rabbit is sweet on your tongue and you know that, plump as it is, several cats will share this meal.”

Narrator Tips:The cats have succeeded in getting some fresh-kill, so they have been at least partially successful in their mission. On the trip home, the most they will be able to carry is one rabbit each. Until they have that many rabbits, this is not a completely successful hunt and they cannot eat anything (you may want to remind them that they are feeling hungry). The question is: What do they want to do next?

The cats may want to hunt again, to get more food for the Clans—plus a little extra for themselves. On the other hand, they may want to take what they’ve got back to the Clan camps

quickly. There’s also a chance that, the hunt having been successful, they’ll want to investigate the other set of tracks they saw when they woke up this morning.

Your job is simply to make sure that the players are aware of those choices. Whatever choice they make is up to them.

What Happens Next:If the players decide they want to hunt some more, they only have to wait a short while and rabbits will return to this meadow. Let them stalk and hunt again using the details in 5.

If the players decide to investigate the other set of tracks, continue with 14.

If the group decides to take the fresh-kill they have back down the hill to the Clans, this is the end of the chapter. Pass the adventure to the next Narrator and tell him or her to continue with 12.

11. Here It Comes Again

Read Aloud:“A great, rushing wall of water tumbles down the hill at breakneck speed. It looks like a river that suddenly decided that this was a better course than the one it previously followed. You’re not in its path, but farther down the hill you can see some cats who are.”

Narrator Tips:If any of the players’ cats belong to ShadowClan, they immediately recognize that the flash flood is headed very near their Clan’s camp. Most of the queens, kits, and elders will be in that area and therefore in danger. If none of the players’ cats come from ShadowClan, Ratscar will volunteer this information.

The flash flood narrowly misses the ShadowClan camp itself, but you can hear the yowls of cats that were caught in the waters and are being rushed off toward the Lake. All the warriors in the area rush off to help, so no one stands in the way of the players’ cats. They can come in and help with the rescue efforts if they like. Alternatively, they can decide that the cats of ShadowClan deserve what they’re getting for being so suspicious of cats who came here only to help.

What Happens Next:If the group decides to help the members of ShadowClan who are caught in the flash flood, continue with 16.

If the group thinks that ShadowClan is just getting what it deserves, and walks away to leave them to their fate, continue with 20.

12. An Unexpected Pond

Read Aloud:“As you make your way down the hill, you notice that the rain has finally stopped. This will make the trip home much more pleasant, and you think about that as you stop to get a drink from a small pond. Then you suddenly realize that this pond was not here during your trip up the hill yesterday.”

Special Note:If the cats failed to catch any rabbits on this hunting mission, their hunger and sense of failure make this scene more difficult. Add +2 to all the target numbers in this scene. Additionally, if the cats tried to follow the fox’s trail but failed twice, their sense of disappointment also increases the difficulty—add +1 to the target numbers. These conditions can be added together, so if they neither got any rabbits nor followed the fox, the target numbers in this scene all should be increased by a total of +3.

Narrator Tips:To figure out where this pond came from, one of the cats needs to make a Ponder Check with a total of 5 or higher. Getting that total lets the cat know that the pond is the result of the incredible amount of water from the recent rains. This is normally a small ravine, but it’s filled with runoff water.

If the Ponder Check had a total of 7 or higher, the cat also realizes that this is a dangerous place.

Because the ground is so muddy and the gathering water is so heavy, it’s unlikely the ravine can withstand the pressure—the muddy sides are likely to collapse and send the water spilling down the hill.

If the Ponder Check had a total of 9 or higher, the cat realizes that this catastrophe is going to happen very soon.

Allow the cats a few moments to think about what they’ve realized, and to step away from the water’s edge if they want to.

Just a few moments later there is a loud, wet “schloomph” sound and any cats that are still drinking from or standing next to the pond must make a Jump Check as the downhill side of the ravine collapses in a mudslide and the entire contents of the pond spill out at once.

What Happens Next:If any of the affected cats have a Jump Check total of 10 or lower, continue with 4.

If all of the affected cats have a Jump Check total of 11 or higher (or none of them were standing close enough to be affected), continue with 13.

13. Impending Doom

Read Aloud:“Where just a few minutes ago there was a pond, now there is nothing but a swath of mud and slime that trails straight down the hill for as far as you can see.”

Narrator Tips:Use the first part of this scene to make sure the cats understand how much damage the flash flood just did. The solid wall of water suddenly rushing down the hillside knocked down some saplings, whisked away loose branches and small rocks, and even pried a few large rocks loose from the ground, sending everything tumbling toward the bottom of the hill.