A Kitten, or a plot line?

[Peni Griffin]

Have it chase a cat toy through a portal to the abyss. The party will HAVE to follow because no one wants to think of what would happen to an itty-bitty-kitty in the abyss by itself.

Well, he'd get boiled in oil, obviously. This has already been established in literary sources. (scroll down; and where the heck are the tags for changing print size or hiding it under a spoiler? Sorry about the obnoxiously long URL)
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic_plus/series.php?view=archive&chapter=25781

Or maybe he'd take over. Or fall under the protection of Basement Cat. Depending on the cosmology being used.

 

[fba827]

I say the cat is just a cat. You have (presumably) enough fantastic creatures, let there be something mundane -- but having said that, the cat can hiss at the unknown bad guy or can scamper off after the next plot hook as already suggested... but leave it as a cat.

 

[Herobizkit]

He's still young, and doesn't know it yet, but the kitten is actually The Golden Cat, a prophesied cat hero who has his own quest, and will save the world for all catkind. There will be a string of events throughout the campaign that the party will thoroughly misunderstand, where the cat's adventures impinge upon the human world. Just like a human hero, along the way he'll pick up his own companions that start showing up and hanging around (these may include any mounts or Animal Companions the PCs may have - they think they have Human Companions...). You get the idea. One always talks about how the PCs are not the only adventuring party in the game world, right? Well, in a magical world, why do they all have to be human?

Thundering applause.

the sparrow prince lies somewhere way up ahead
dont look back Lemmiwinks or youll soon be dead
Lemmiwinks Lemmiwinks the time is growing late
slow down now and seal your fate...​

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Two things:

First, for some reason, the image of the barbarian with the kitten was suddenly merged with my recollection of the Infragible Krunk and treatment of White Tiger as a cat/kitten.

Second, Umbran's suggestion is so good, its not only out of the box, its actually inside/outside a tesseract! A WINNAH!

 

[roguerouge]

Soon bards will sing of this kitten:

"Old Mr. Johnson had trouble of his own.
He had an old yellow cat that wouldn't leave its home.
He tried in every way to give the cat away,
So he gave it to the preacher, and he told it for to stay.

Chorus: But the cat come back;
Thought he was a goner,
But the cat come back.
The cat come back the very next day,
The cat come back,
The cat come back,
The cat come back 'cause he couldn't stay away.

Gave it to a caravan leader:
Take the old yellow cat away from here,
But the axle busted, so they say,
And the cat come back the very next day.

(Chorus with lines 5 and 6 being "The cat come back / The very next day.)

Gave it to a man up in a balloon,
Told him to give it to the man in the moon.
The balloon busted, so they say,
And the cat come back the very next day."

 

[Corbert]

Perhaps the Barbarian has gained the favor of a cat like deity such as the Egyptian goddess Bast (or Bastet) for rescuing the kitten. This favor could take the form of allowing the Barbarian to re-roll a failed save or automatically stabilize after falling below 0 hit points, a free healing or raise dead from a cleric of the cat god or something like that.
You could also use the followers of the cat god as an adventure hook. For example: The temple of Bast needs an artifact recovered and they approach the barbarian and his party to hire them to retrieve it.

Hmm, gods are notoriously fickle, so the Barb could get a free raise dead from Bast, but with the price of becoming slightly cat-like; slightly feline features, whiskers, a tail.

 

[Umbran]

I say the cat is just a cat. You have (presumably) enough fantastic creatures, let there be something mundane...

There's one notable problem with that - if it is completely mundane, it will soon be dead, and no fun anymore. The next fireball to come around is gonna roast the poor wee beastie.

Of course, the DM is free to give it some plot-immunity. But then, it isn't completely mundane - it is protected by the gods.

 

[Rechan]

There's one notable problem with that - if it is completely mundane, it will soon be dead, and no fun anymore. The next fireball to come around is gonna roast the poor wee beastie.

Well, being a CAT, it's going to do what it wants.

This probably means when the PCs go left, it goes right. WHen they go into the dungeon, it goes wandering. Or goes to lay in the sun outside the cave.

 

[Rechan]

Also, I am shocked that no one has referenced this.

I mean c'mon. That is just a beautiful use of a kitten.

 

[roguerouge]

The advantage to keeping the cat ordinary but beloved is that it's a link to civilization that hooks the barbarian back with the party every time.