Whispers from the Sky-Spire

Review 47 - Cattledash!

Get the beans in the pot and make sure your hat is secure on your head, because we're reviewing another adventure for Frontier Scum! Cattledash! was written by Karl Druid (the game's creator), and I've run it a couple of times using the standard Frontier Scum rules.

text reading "cattledash!"

The premise of this one is simple-- the PCs have managed to steal a load of cattle from rancher Clammon, and the law is hot on their heels. They've got to make their way through Bonesome Gulch and into the jurisdiction of the Outlaw Union, where they can sell whatever cows managed to survive the hazardous trip.

Getting it to the Table

Cattledash! is a one-page adventure, and it was incredibly easy to pick up and run. It's presented as a single spread with the map of the canyon in the center with text on either side. The PDF version is also interactive, which is useful for the tracking mechanics introduced in the adventure. The most important one is the lawmen's pursuit; next to each area along the canyon, there are three checkboxes. Each time the party fails an ability check, backtracks instead of moving forward, or spends time interacting with the location, the GM marks a box. When all three for a particular location are marked, the sheriff and his deputies arrive at that location, starting a fight with the PCs if they're still there. There is also a separate page used for tracking the number of surviving cattle.

The rest of the spread is devoted to location descriptions and stat blocks for NPCs and foes. A great deal of information is crammed into the single page format, thanks to the terse and evocative descriptions. Each one has a single sentence with sensory details about the location, followed by bullet points describing the main features. There are numerous things that tempt the party to linger and risk allowing the law to catch up with them, as well as potential hurdles that can slow their advance.

What Worked?

What Didn't Work?

Final Thoughts

There's really not much more to be said about this one! It's a great, quick little adventure that is a great alternate introduction to the game if you've already run Escape the Organ Rail.

You can get Cattledash! on Karl's itch page, and I highly recommend it. Thanks for reading!

#cows #frontier scum #one-shot #western