Fearsome Critters from Lumberjack Tales - The Silver Cat
Silver Cat
Medium Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 4d10+8 (30)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares), climb 40 ft.
Armor Class: 18 (+4 Dex, +4 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+7
Attack: Tail +7 melee (2d6+4)
Full Attack: Tail +7 melee (2d6+4/19-20) or bite +7 melee (1d6+4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft. (tail 10 ft.)
Special Attacks: Bush-thwack
Special Qualities: Climbing dependency, foliage screen, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +6
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 18, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 8
Skills: Balance +12*, Climb +11*, Hide +8*, Jump +11*, Listen +6, Move Silently +11*, Spot +6
Feats: Alertness, Improved Critical (Tail)
Environment: Temperate forests
Organization: Solitary or pair
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 5-8 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: —
A puma-sized feline crouches on a tree limb, glaring red eyes glowering down upon you from a horned head. Its tail is a club-tipped lash twice the length of a man. The animal is covered in handsome fur, golden yellow with black and silver spots, which counterfeits the patterns of light scattered through foliage.
A silver cat resembles a mountain lion in general shape- flat curly horns on its head and a 12-foot long tail. Its prehensile tail is extraordinarily powerful and ends in a bony mace. One side of this tail-club is smooth and ridged, the other side is covered in hooked spines. A typical silver cat is about five feet long, excluding the tail, and weighs about 150 pounds.
Silver cats spend virtually their entire lives in trees. They won’t even climb down to eat on the ground, but use the spiny side of their tails to hoist prey into the tree-tops and dine among the branches. A silver cat is so specialised for living in trees that it is very clumsy on the ground. Its clawed paws are shaped for holding onto branches and tree-trunks, not walking upon flat surfaces.
Silver cats are so-called because of their silver spots, they are also known as sliver cats due to the barbs on their tails and a confusion with the lumberwood critter the splinter cat. They have no use for treasure, though their beautiful skins are of considerable value to fur-traders.
Combat
Silver cats wait on tree limbs over paths or game trails for a victim to pass under them, then smash them on the head with their deadly tails. If a group of targets passes beneath it, it waits to attack the last of them, hoping the rest of the group will carry on without noticing the loss of their trailing companion - make a contest of Move Silently versus Listen. If the target is knocked unconscious, the silver cat hauls its victim up into its tree to deliver a leisurely Coup de Grace with its bite.
Bush-Thwack (Ex)
If a silver cat can attack a victim unawares from above, it can deliver a special sneak attack with its tail as a full-round action. This attack has a +4 circumstance bonus to attack and does double damage if it hits. The victim must make a DC 15 Fortitude Save or be knocked unconscious for 1d6+4 rounds. The Save DC is Strength dependent.
Climbing Dependency (Ex)
A silver cat is very ungainly when using its land speed rather than its climb speed, suffering a -4 circumstance penalty on all its attack and damage rolls, Armour Class, Dex and Str based skill checks and Reflex Saves.
The adjusted stats of an average silver cat on the ground are:
AC 14, touch 10, flat-footed 10; BAB/Grapple +0/+3; Attacks: Tail +3 melee (2d6/19-20) or bite +3 melee (1d6); Saves Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +6; Skills: Balance +8*, Climb +7*, Hide +4*, Jump +7*, Listen +6, Move Silently +7*, Spot +6
Foliage Screen (Su)
A silver cat can magically distorts the appearance of foliage to conceal itself behind even thinly spread branches, leaves and shadows. The silver cat needs to spend a move action every round it uses Foliage Screen. This effect gives a silver cat three-quarters concealment as long as it is among foliage, so attacks directed against it have a 30% miss chance. Foliage Screen also gives the silver cat a +8 circumstance bonus on Hide checks amid vegetation. The power can be dispelled as an Illusion (Glamour) effect (spell caster level 4th), although the sliver cat can reinitiate it as a move action on its next initiative. A see invisibility spell does not counteract the concealing glamour, but true seeing spell will.
Skills
A silver cat has a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks and +8 racial bonus on Climb, Jump and Balance checks. All these racial bonuses increase by four, to +8 and +12 respectively, when a silver cat is in a tree. A silver cat can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened.
An average silver-cat's tree-adjusted skills are as follows, including the +8 circumstance bonus on Hide checks from its Foliage Screen special quality:
Balance +16*, Climb +15*, Hide +20*, Jump +15*, Listen +6, Move Silently +15*, Spot +6
Lore Checks
DC 13 - A silver cat is a horned feline with a tremendously long tail that ends in a barbed club. They are ambush predators which hunt in temperate forests.
DC 18 - Silver cats wait upon tree-limbs that hang over trails to bushwack victims passing below them, bashing their heads with their flail-like tail. They use their prehensile tails to hoist their prey into the tree rather than descending to feed at ground level.
DC 23 - Being built purely for climbing trees, silver cats are critters who can only stagger awkwardly around when down on the ground. Their fur matches the pattern of a tree's foliage so closely they're right difficult to see or hit when amongst the branches. Knock them off their perch and half the battle is won.
