Making the Tabaxi interesting
- Thread starter BOZ
- Start date
My homebrew world has tabaxi featured rather prominently as one of the most widespread "mutant" races that arose from former dumb animals after the cataclysm that left dangerous radiation all over the world. There are three distinct varieties, two based obviously on lions and cheetahs, and the third (the one actually called "tabaxi") actually being the most "civilized" in the sense other races mean it. The first two types are typically primitive tribal people living in the wilderness, like the original tabaxi of D&D, but my version of the "main" race is a radical departure from that take.
I played up the housecat angle, really, and made the race's single most defining characteristic (aside from their great DEX) their curiosity. They're eager to learn new things, they're the only race besides humans that gets extra skill points each level (though in tabaxi's case the rules mandate that they have to spend the extra skill points on cross-class skills if possible). Their favored class is Bard, the only race in my world that has that (I kept the Gnomes as Illusionists or other varieties of mage depending on subrace). Culturally they're known as incredible gossips, always telling tales and swapping stories- and tabaxi spymasters are second to none. If I ever run an intrigue game in this world, tabaxi will almost certainly be the most popular racial choice besides human. Aside from that, they remained arboreal by preference, they're usually allies of the elves, and they commonly live in towns and cities in their own districts because other people rarely have the patience to deal with their constant chattering.
I don't have any "main race" tabaxi in my game as PCs ATM, but I do have a leonal (the lion-variant) as one of the "core" members of the epic-level party. She's been with the group since about 8th level, and has been that party's main blaster-mage (she's a sorceress who recently multiclassed to favored soul of the Nature goddess and then to mystic theurge) for most of the campaign. In the game plot she was thought to be the last survivor of a doomed tribe, a chief's daughter who managed to hide and flee long enough to get revenge on those who destroyed her tribe, but since hitting epic she's learned that she's not the only survivor of her tribe, gathered the survivors together under her banner and found a new homeland for them, and recovered an artifact of her race which will be used in battle against a coming apocalyptic event that threatens the entire world.
I played up the housecat angle, really, and made the race's single most defining characteristic (aside from their great DEX) their curiosity. They're eager to learn new things, they're the only race besides humans that gets extra skill points each level (though in tabaxi's case the rules mandate that they have to spend the extra skill points on cross-class skills if possible). Their favored class is Bard, the only race in my world that has that (I kept the Gnomes as Illusionists or other varieties of mage depending on subrace). Culturally they're known as incredible gossips, always telling tales and swapping stories- and tabaxi spymasters are second to none. If I ever run an intrigue game in this world, tabaxi will almost certainly be the most popular racial choice besides human. Aside from that, they remained arboreal by preference, they're usually allies of the elves, and they commonly live in towns and cities in their own districts because other people rarely have the patience to deal with their constant chattering.
I don't have any "main race" tabaxi in my game as PCs ATM, but I do have a leonal (the lion-variant) as one of the "core" members of the epic-level party. She's been with the group since about 8th level, and has been that party's main blaster-mage (she's a sorceress who recently multiclassed to favored soul of the Nature goddess and then to mystic theurge) for most of the campaign. In the game plot she was thought to be the last survivor of a doomed tribe, a chief's daughter who managed to hide and flee long enough to get revenge on those who destroyed her tribe, but since hitting epic she's learned that she's not the only survivor of her tribe, gathered the survivors together under her banner and found a new homeland for them, and recovered an artifact of her race which will be used in battle against a coming apocalyptic event that threatens the entire world.
BOZ
Creature Cataloguer
ah, that explains it. the MG tabaxi was based on the ToH tabaxi, which were also tiger-like (down to the illustration). the 2E Monstrous Manual tabaxi was leopard/jaguar like, with spotted cat-men. the original 1E FF tabaxi were of no specific cat-breed that i could see, so both interpretations are equally valid IMO.
Edit: d'oh! the MG/ToH tabaxi was tiger-like, not lion-like...
Edit: d'oh! the MG/ToH tabaxi was tiger-like, not lion-like...
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Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
Tabaxi are savage swampdwelling aboreal upright lions with retractable claws, dominant males sometimes sprout a mane. They usually hunt in the trees but have also been known to submerge themselves in the water and attack prey from below.
SO Favoured Class Ranger emphasis on Stealth (Hide and Move Silently), Climbing and Swimming are common 'racial skills'. Are they loners or social creatures?
(NB Lions are also spotted however their spots tend to be the same colour as the main hide. Also Leopards are capable swimmers. Of course Lions, Leopards, Jaguars and Tigers are all subspecies of Panthera)
SO Favoured Class Ranger emphasis on Stealth (Hide and Move Silently), Climbing and Swimming are common 'racial skills'. Are they loners or social creatures?
(NB Lions are also spotted however their spots tend to be the same colour as the main hide. Also Leopards are capable swimmers. Of course Lions, Leopards, Jaguars and Tigers are all subspecies of Panthera)
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Klaus
First Post
So we have:
Rakasta - city-dwellers with samurai-like tradition, and quite a few mounted-nomads. Cats in a city.
Catfolk - plains dwellers, lion-like, hunt on foot. Stronger and more agile than rakasta. Lions in a savannah.
Tabaxi - jungle-dwellers, leopard-like, strongest and most primitive. Panthers in the jungles of India.
Rakasta - city-dwellers with samurai-like tradition, and quite a few mounted-nomads. Cats in a city.
Catfolk - plains dwellers, lion-like, hunt on foot. Stronger and more agile than rakasta. Lions in a savannah.
Tabaxi - jungle-dwellers, leopard-like, strongest and most primitive. Panthers in the jungles of India.
The Forgotten Realms setting used the word Tabaxi to describe the human natives of Chult. (And since the author didn't know any better, he didn't really describe the Tabaxi well, resulting in it not being clear until he got to the scene depicted on the cover that the Tabaxi *weren't* cat-people...)
In any case, the culture of the FR Tabaxi, which is loosely African-inspired (although perhaps more Incan/Mayan in flavor), could be interesting to pillage. Changing the FR Tabaxi to 'cat-people' would change nothing at all about their culture, architecture, living divine avatars or scary dinosaur-worship.
The FR Tabaxi live in a huge city, supposedly crafted by their god, in the middle of a dinosaur-infested jungle. They have a half-dozen 'priests,' who are divinely empowered with different aspects of their god. Instead of being standard Clerics, each 'priest' has one basic sphere of influence (like Death, or Animals) and a lot of power narrowly focused in that one area. They tended to be more like Paladins, being warriors with some holy powers. They could be statted up as Paladins, but dropping the various Paladin peripheral powers to add a single Domain and Domain Spontaneity in that Domain, representing their unique dedicated focus.
In any case, the culture of the FR Tabaxi, which is loosely African-inspired (although perhaps more Incan/Mayan in flavor), could be interesting to pillage. Changing the FR Tabaxi to 'cat-people' would change nothing at all about their culture, architecture, living divine avatars or scary dinosaur-worship.
The FR Tabaxi live in a huge city, supposedly crafted by their god, in the middle of a dinosaur-infested jungle. They have a half-dozen 'priests,' who are divinely empowered with different aspects of their god. Instead of being standard Clerics, each 'priest' has one basic sphere of influence (like Death, or Animals) and a lot of power narrowly focused in that one area. They tended to be more like Paladins, being warriors with some holy powers. They could be statted up as Paladins, but dropping the various Paladin peripheral powers to add a single Domain and Domain Spontaneity in that Domain, representing their unique dedicated focus.
