SOMETHING IS WRONG IN THE NORTHERN FORESTS

The Northern Forests are vast, dangerous and largely beyond the comfortable authority of Gorean civilisation.

They are the domain of wild beasts, isolated settlements and the infamous panther girls—women who have rejected the cities and chosen a hard, precarious freedom beneath the trees.

That would ordinarily be trouble enough.

Unfortunately, something far more disturbing waits among the shadows.

Gorean Adventures 08: Catspaw is an adventure for Tales of Gor: Gorean Roleplaying, sending the player characters into the Northern Forests at the request of a fallen warrior.

What begins as a journey into dangerous territory leads towards something capable of shaking even experienced Goreans to their very core.

AT THE BEHEST OF A FALLEN WARRIOR

A warrior has fallen, but his business is not yet finished.

Whether moved by honour, obligation, curiosity or the prospect of reward, the characters must venture north and discover what lies behind his final request.

The forests offer little security and fewer certainties. Civilised laws carry limited weight beneath the canopy, strangers are regarded with suspicion and every mile takes the characters farther from familiar roads, walls and allies.

Whatever they expect to find, the truth is worse.

INTO THE NORTHERN FORESTS

The Northern Forests provide a very different environment from the crowded streets, courts and markets of the Gorean cities.

Here, the characters must contend with isolation, unfamiliar territory and people who have their own reasons to distrust outsiders.

The adventure features:

• A mission undertaken at the request of a fallen warrior

• A dangerous expedition into the Northern Forests

• Encounters with the notorious panther girls

• Mystery and mounting unease

• A revelation capable of disturbing even hardened adventurers

• New rules for generating Tharlarion

This is a journey into a region where the assumptions of Civilised Gor cannot be taken for granted.

Weapons, rank and reputation may still matter—but they will not necessarily protect the characters from what is waiting for them.

PANTHER GIRLS

The panther girls of the Northern Forests are feared, desired and frequently misunderstood by those who have never encountered them outside stories.

They are hunters, raiders and survivors who have rejected Gorean civilisation and established their own precarious existence in the wilderness.

Meeting them may lead to hostility, negotiation, capture or an uneasy accommodation. Much will depend upon the behaviour of the characters—and upon whether they recognise that the panther girls may not be the greatest danger in the forest.

The wise will avoid making assumptions.

The foolish will probably make excellent examples.

THE CATSPAW

A catspaw is a tool used by someone who prefers to keep their own hands clean.

The characters have been sent into the forest for reasons they believe they understand, but requests made by the dying can conceal obligations, secrets and unfinished designs.

Who is using whom?

What did the fallen warrior know?

What waits beyond the panther girls and the familiar dangers of the North?

Those answers belong at the gaming table rather than in the product description—but they will force the characters to reconsider what they thought they knew.

GENERATE YOUR OWN THARLARION

Alongside the adventure, Catspaw includes additional rules for generating Tharlarion.

These great reptilian beasts fill numerous roles across Gor, serving as mounts, working animals and dangerous creatures in their own right.

The generation rules provide Games Masters with greater variety when introducing Tharlarion, allowing individual beasts to become more than interchangeable entries on an equipment list or encounter table.

Use them to create:

• Distinctive mounts for player characters and important NPCs

• Working animals with individual characteristics

• Unusual or particularly dangerous wild Tharlarion

• Valuable beasts worth stealing, protecting or pursuing

• Encounters and complications built around the creatures themselves

A memorable mount can become almost as important to a character as a weapon or companion.

It can also bite people.

FOR TALES OF GOR

Gorean Adventures 08: Catspaw is designed for use with Tales of Gor: Gorean Roleplaying.

Use it as a standalone expedition, an episode within an ongoing campaign or the beginning of further adventures among the forests, settlements and hidden dangers of northern Gor.

You can find more material for the setting in the Gor collection.

A warrior has fallen.

The panther girls are watching.

Something deeper in the forest is waiting.

And the characters may already be dancing to someone else’s tune.