TABAXI

TABAXI
WE HAD A TABAXI COME THROUGH ONCE, A FEW WINTERS
back. She kept the taproom packed each night with her stories
and spent most days napping in a chair in front of the
fireplace. We thought she was lazy, but when Linene came
around looking for a missing broach, she was out the door
before I could blink an eye.
-Toblen Stonehill, innkeeper
Hailing from a strange and distant land, 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.
WANDERING OUTCASTS
Most tabaxi remain in their distant homeland, content
to dwell in small, tight clans. These tabaxi hunt for food,
craft goods, and largely keep 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.
THE CAT LORD
The deity of the tabaxi is a fickle e.ntity. 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. Clerics of the Cat Lord are rare and typically
access the Trickery domain.
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.
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.
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 Qade), 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 PERSONALITY
A tabaxi might have motivations and quirks much different
from a dwarf or an elf with a similar background.
You can use the following tables to customize your character
in addition to the trait, ideal, bond, and flaw from
your background.
The Tabaxi Obsession table can help hone your
character's goals. For extra fun, roll a new result every
few days that pass in the campaign to reflect your
ever-changing curiosity.
TABAXI OBSESSIONS
d8 My curiosity is currently fixed on ...
A god or planar entity
2 A monster
3 A lost civilization
4 A wizard's secrets
5 A mundane item
6 A magic item
1 A location
8 A legend or tale
TABAXI QUIRKS
dlO Quirk
1 You miss your tropical home and complain endlessly
about the freezing, weather, even in summer.
2 You never wear the same outfit twice, unless you absolutely
must.
3 You have a minor phobta of water and hate getting
wet.
4 Your tail always betrays your inner thoughts.
5 You purr loudfy when you are hap.py.
6 You keep a small ball of yarn in your hand, which you
constantly fidget with.
7 You are alway5 in debt, since you spend your gold on
lavish parties and gifts for friends.
8 When talking about something you're obsessed with,
you speak quickly and never pause and others can't
understand you .
9 You are a .font of random trivia from the lore and sto·
ries you have discovered.
10 You can't help but pocket interesting objects you
come across.

T ABAXI TRAITS
Your tabaxi character has the following racial traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases
by 2, and your Charisma score increases by 1.
Ase. Tabaxi have lifespans equivalent to humans.
Alisnment. Tabaxi tend toward chaotic alignments,
as they let impulse and fancy guide their decisions. They
are rarely evil, with most of them driven by curiosity
rather than greed or other dark impulses.
TABAXI IN THE fORCOTTEN REALMS
In the Forgotten Realms, tabaxi hail from Maztica, a realm
located far across the ocean west of the Sword Coast. The
tabaxi of Maztica are known for their isolation, and until
recently they never ventured from their homeland. The
tabaxi say little of why that has changed, though rumors
persist of strange happenings in that distant land.

Size. Tabaxi are taller on average than humans and
relatively slender. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You have a cat's keen senses, especially
in the dark. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of
you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it
were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only
shades of gray.
Feline Asility. Your reflexes and agility allow you to
move with a burst of speed. When you move on your
tum in combat, you can double your speed until the end
of the tum. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again
until you move O feet on one of your turns.
Cat's Claws. Because of your claws, you have a climbing
speed of 20 feet. In addition, your claws are natural
weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes.
If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to
ld4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning
damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Cat's Talent. You have proficiency in the Perception
and Stealth skills.
Lansuages. You can speak, read, and write Common
and one other language of your choice.