Jedit said:
Hey, I was wondering if anyone out there has varient catfolk that reflects different cat species manily the big cats (Tiger, Lion, Cheetah etc.) My DM has allowed me to create a Fighter based on a Big Cat Humanoid but I feel the catfolk is not encompassing enough, I've tried to make one but the Ability adjustment seem to high and I am not very good at making races. Can anyone help me out if you have stats? I am looking to make a Tiger. I'd use Savage Species but I personally find that to be a touch broken. My DM has authorized a +2 lvl adjustment (though none would be great). So, after that longwinded explantion can anyone help me?...please
This is the version of "cat-people" that I am using in my campaign right now...the rakasta. I adapted this version from the one found in the Savage Coast campaign setting. It has no level adjustment, but it might not be as powerful as you have in mind.
Description
[SBLOCK]Known as the “cat folk” by neighboring races, the rakasta are a proud, nomadic race of feline humanoids.
Personality: Rakastas tend to be proud and emotional; the nomads in particular are quick to anger. All are convinced of rakastan superiority over other races. Still, most are extremely interested in the world at large, and prefer to explore and experience all things for themselves.
Rakastas are extremely curious creatures. For the nomadic rakasta, this curiosity leads to an isolationist attitude and a distrust of outsiders. For the town-dwellers, it becomes an intense curiosity about visitors and a penchant for puzzles of any type.
Physical Description: A rakasta looks like a furry human with the head of a cat. Its short fur is usually soft and ranges in color from light tan to dark brown. Many rakastas have a darker hue on the ears and muzzle. Older rakastas show whitening around the face and ears.
Rakastas have a build similar to that of humans; nomad rakastas tend to be slender, while those who live more sedentary lives tend to weigh more, ranging from slightly chubby to downright obese. The creatures have cat eyes, with vertical pupils. The irises are usually green, but some are yellow or even blue or hazel; a few rare individuals have two colors, most commonly one blue and one green.
Rakastan hands and feet are like those of humans, except for the fur and retractable claws. Rakastas also have nonprehensile tails. Nomads usually have tails between two and four feet long, though a few have no tail at all. The tails of town dwellers range from four to six feet in length; most are covered with short fur. Rakastas are very proud of their tails and spend a great deal of time each day grooming them.
Relations: Rakastas often seem arrogant and defiant while in the presence of the other races. For this reason they are very well respected by isolationist races such as elves and dwarves, but the more civil and personable races like halflings and humans tend to dislike them.
Alignment: Most rakastas are neutral where law and chaos are concerned, and are indifferent about the affairs of good and evil as well (this is especially common among the nomadic rakastas). Town-dwellers favor Chaos over Law, but are otherwise as neutral and indifferent as their nomadic kin. Truly the most arrogant of races, the rakastas rarely consider anything to be more important than themselves.
Rakastan Lands: These feline humanoids seem to have originated in the Yazak Steppes, the savannah on the eastern borders of the realm. While Rakastas are found in steppes, savannas, and plains throughout the world, they are most common on the plains, where they have adopted a feudal style of government mixed with their ancient nomadic ways, warrior traditions, and mystical predilection.
Religion: The favored deity among the rakastan people is Bast, whom they revere as their protector. Nomadic clerics of the rakastan race typically choose Destruction, Strength, and War as their domains, while their town-dwelling counterparts prefer Chaos and Protection.
Language: The main language of the rakasta is Rakastan, which has both ancient Nithian and Common roots. It is a soft, purring language, with trilled “r” and “s” sounds. The written language consists of a complex system of more than 3,000 runes and hieroglyphs, with no alphabet. Common is spoken and written fluently by town-dwelling rakastas.
Names: Rakastas generally have only one name, especially among the nomadic rakastas. Town-dwelling rakastas have been known to adopt a clan name along with their “first name,” to draw distinction.
[/SBLOCK]
Game Mechanics
[SBLOCK]
Rakasta Racial Traits
• +2 Dexterity, -2 Wisdom. Rakastas are quick and graceful, but their natural curiosity often leads to unwise decisions.
• Medium Size.
• Rakastan base speed is 30 feet.
• Darkvision 60’
• +2 racial bonus on Balance checks. A rakasta is very light on his feet and extremely graceful.
• +2 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. The rakasta’s fur acts as a natural camouflage in shadow, and dampens the sounds of movement.
• +2 racial bonus to all Reflex saves. The rakasta have exceptional reflexes compared to other races.
• Half damage from falls: Because of their light frame and excellent reflexes, rakastas automatically take half damage from all falls from less than 30 feet.
• Claws: Rakastas have one-inch long claws on their hands and feet, which they may attack with in melee. Each paw does 1-3 points of slashing damage. A barefoot rakasta who grapples his opponent may rake with his back legs, for 1-3 points of damage per hit.
• Automatic Languages: Common and Rakastan. Bonus Languages: Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Sylvan, and Rakshasha.
• Favored Class: Rogue or Bard. Nomadic rakastas are usually bandits and rogues, while the towndwellers prefer the eccentric lifestyle of the bard.[/SBLOCK]
As far as cats go, this version of the rakasta is based more on your average housecat and not on any of the "great cats." If you were wanting to create variants of it based on any of the other types of cat (such as Lion Folk, Puma Folk, etc.) there are two ways you could handle it. The easiest way would be to just change the description...Lion Folk would have manes of hair and would live in savannah regions near the desert, Jaguar Folk would be light beige in color and live in tropical rainforests, etc.
A more challenging way would be to create variant subraces, sort of like how the D20 system has variant elves (drow, gray elves, aquatic elves, etc.) This would be a lot of work, and probably isn't worth the trouble unless your game world hinges on cat people. If you wanted to make a "great cat" version, I would suggest 2d8 racial hit dice, +2 Str/+2 Dex/-2 Wis, and a +1 level adjustment (see the Lizardfolk). But I don't play races that have LAs.
