Tabaxi
Wandering tabaxi are catlike humanoids driven by curiosity to collect interesting artifacts, gather tales and stories, and lay eyes on all the world’s wonders. Ultimate travelers, the inquisitive tabaxi rarely stay in one place for long. Their innate nature pushes them to leave no secrets uncovered, no treasures or legends lost.
Jump to: Tabaxi Minstrel | Tabaxi Hunter
Strangely, the lore surrounding the Eldars' creation of the Firstborn and humans leave the tabaxi out of the story entirely; it's as if the tabaxi simply appeared, and settled in without anyone noticing. One current theory holds that the tabaxi have aggressively sought to "prune" their history from the records, possibly to obscure a great weakness or a great shame. Another theory is that the Cat Lord was an Eldar who took upon themself the creation of the tabaxi using humans as a model, perhaps as part of or just before or after the rest of the Created came to be. Yet a third theory has them as migrants from somewhere else on the planet, marooned (or exiled, or refugees) on Azgaarnoth for millennia. However farcical it may seem, any ancient racial history of the tabaxi's origins has long been lost, and if any tabaxi elders know legends of their origins, they speak of it to no one.
Regardless, the tabaxi can be found anywhere in Azgaarnoth, wandering, exploring, investigating anything and everything that piques their curiosity. Their small bands of traveling artists and musicians often serve as an informal news network, and many's the town that turns the arrival of a tabaxi troupe into a week-long impromptu holiday. Even among hardened mercenary bands, tabaxi performances have been known to bring a halt to hostilities for a night so that everyone might enjoy the show.
Wandering Outcasts
The largest concentrations of tabaxi are found in the Ravenlands, Yithi and Zhi, although many also wander with the Caliphates across the endless grasslands. Most tabaxi remain content to dwell in small, tight clans, hunting for food, crafting goods, and largely keeping to themselves.
However, not all tabaxi are satisfied with such a life. The Cat Lord, the divine figure responsible for the creation of the tabaxi, gifts each of his children with one specific feline trait. Those tabaxi gifted with curiosity are compelled to wander far and wide. They seek out stories, artifacts, and lore. Those who survive this period of wanderlust return home in their elder years to share news of the outside world. In this manner, the tabaxi remain isolated but never ignorant of the world beyond their home.
Barterers of Lore
Tabaxi treasure knowledge rather than material things. A chest filled with gold coins might be useful to buy food or a coil of rope, but it’s not intrinsically interesting. In the tabaxi’s eyes, gathering wealth is like packing rations for a long trip. It’s important to survive in the world, but not worth fussing over.
Instead, tabaxi value knowledge and new experiences. Their ears perk up in a busy tavern, and they tease out stories with offers of food, drink, and coin. Tabaxi might walk away with empty purses, but they mull over the stories and rumors they collected like a miser counting coins.
Although material wealth holds little attraction for the tabaxi, they have an insatiable desire to find and inspect ancient relics, magical items, and other rare objects. Aside from the power such items might confer, a tabaxi takes great joy in unraveling the stories behind their creation and the history of their use. Some of Zhi's greatest scholars are tabaxi, and Zhi goes to great lengths to tempt tabaxi further into scholarly pursuits.
Fleeting Fancies
Wandering tabaxi are mercurial creatures, trading one obsession or passion for the next as the whim strikes. A tabaxi’s desire burns bright, but once met it disappears to be replaced with a new obsession. Objects remain intriguing only as long as they still hold secrets.
A tabaxi rogue could happily spend months plotting to steal a strange gem from a noble, only to trade it for passage on a ship or a week’s lodging after stealing it. The tabaxi might take extensive notes or memorize every facet of the gem before passing it on, but the gem holds no more allure once its secrets and nature have been laid bare.
Tinkers and Minstrels
Curiosity drives most of the tabaxi found outside their homeland, but not all of them become adventurers. Tabaxi who seek a safer path to satisfy their obsessions become wandering tinkers and minstrels.
These tabaxi work in small troupes, usually consisting of an elder, more experienced tabaxi who guides up to four young ones learning their way in the world. They travel in small, colorful wagons, moving from settlement to settlement. When they arrive, they set up a small stage in a public square where they sing, play instruments, tell stories, and offer exotic goods in trade for items that spark their interest. Tabaxi reluctantly accept gold, but they much prefer interesting objects or pieces of lore as payment.
These wanderers keep to civilized realms, preferring to bargain instead of pursuing more dangerous methods of sating their curiosity. However, they aren’t above a little discreet theft to get their claws on a particularly interesting item when an owner refuses to sell or trade it.
THE CAT LORD The deity of the tabaxi is a fickle entity, as befits the patron of cats. The tabaxi believe that the Cat Lord wanders the world, watching over them and intervening in their affairs as needed. He has also been known to ignore those who beseech him, even in the most dire situations, as befits the nature of cats. Clerics of the Cat Lord are rare, and are almost exclusively of the tabaxi. Few non-tabaxi worship the Cat Lord, and even fewer trust him.
Playable Race: Curious Cats. Tabaxi are known for achieving fame and recognition as adventurers, and find that they are suited for any role they choose. Their natural tendencies towards performance mean many tabaxi become bards, but just as many choose to explore the power of illusion arcana (sorcery or wizardry). Some tabaxi choose to embrace their primal nature and become barbarians, where others follow their larcenous side and jump into roguery. Tabaxi make excellent druids, fine rangers, and if they feel the pull of the divine, sturdy clerics and paladins. For those tabaxi that can embrace the work, tabaxi make excellent monks, wizards, or mystics.
Tabaxi Names
Each tabaxi has a single name, determined by clan and based on a complex formula that involves astrology, prophecy, clan history, and other esoteric factors. Tabaxi names can apply to both males and females, and most use nicknames derived from or inspired by their full names.
Clan names are usually based on a geographical feature located in or near the clan’s territory.
The following list of sample tabaxi names includes nicknames in parenthesis.
Tabaxi Names: Cloud on the Mountaintop (Cloud), Five Timber (Timber), Jade Shoe (Jade), Left-Handed Hummingbird (Bird), Seven Thundercloud (Thunder), Skirt of Snakes (Snake), Smoking Mirror (Smoke)
Tabaxi Clans: Bright Cliffs, Distant Rain, Mountain Tree, Rumbling River, Snoring Mountain
Tabaxi Minstrel
(No description given)
Environment
Coastal, Forest, Grassland, Hill, Mountain
Token
Tabaxi Minstrel
Medium humanoid (tabaxi), chaotic good
- Armor Class 12
- Hit Points 22 (5d8)
- Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 15 (+2) 11 (+0) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 16 (+3) ___ - Proficiency Bonus +4 - Saving Throws - Damage Vulnerabilities - Damage Resistances - Damage Immunities - Condition Immunities - Skills Perception +3, Performance +7, Persuasion +5, Stealth +4 - Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 - Languages Common, (one other) - Challenge 2 ___ Feline Agility. When the tabaxi moves on its turn in combat, it can double its speed until the end of the turn. Once it uses this ability, the tabaxi can’t use it again until it moves 0 feet on one of its turns. Cat's Claws. Because of its claws, it has a climbing speed of 20 feet. In addition, its claws are natural weapons, which it can use to make unarmed strikes. If it hits with them, it deals slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Inspire (1/Day). While taking a short rest, the tabaxi can spend 1 minute singing, playing an instrument, telling a story, or reciting a poem to soothe and inspire creatures other than itself. Up to five creatures of the tabaxi’s choice that can see and hear its performance gain 8 temporary hit points at the end of the tabaxi’s short rest.
Actions
Multiattack. The tabaxi makes two claws attacks or two dart attacks.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (ld4) slashing damage.
Dart. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 20/ 60 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (ld4 +2) piercing damage.
Tabaxi Hunter
(No description given)
Environment
Token
Tabaxi Hunter
Medium humanoid (tabaxi), chaotic good
- Armor Class 14 (leather armor)
- Hit Points 40 (9d8)
- Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 17 (+3) 11 (+0) 13 (+1) 14 (+2) 15 (+2) ___ - Proficiency Bonus +4 - Saving Throws - Damage Vulnerabilities - Damage Resistances - Damage Immunities - Condition Immunities - Skills Athletics +2, Perception +4, Stealth +5, Survival +6 - Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14 - Languages Common, ... - Challenge 1 ___ Feline Agility. The tabaxi's reflexes and agility allow it to move with a burst of speed. When it moves on its turn in combat, it can double its speed until the end of the turn. Once it uses this trait, it can't use it again until it moves 0 feet on one of its turns. Cat's Claws. Because of its claws, it has a climbing speed of 20 feet. In addition, its claws are natural weapons, which it can use to make unarmed strikes. If it hits with them, it deals slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Actions
Multiattack. The tabaxi makes two claws attacks or two shortsword or two shortbow attacks.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (ld4) slashing damage.
Shortsword.
Shortbow.