Homebrew Greater Tabaxi Species Details

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, Greater Tabaxi are catlike humanoids of imposing figure, resembling large felines, like tigers and lions.  "Greater Tabaxi" and "Lesser Tabaxi" are distinctions held only by the outside world and the Greater Tabaxi themselves.  They refer to their more agile and adventurous cousins as "Lesser Tabaxi" due to the fact that they are generally not as strong, which is the attribute that Greater Tabaxi hold in higher regard.  The Lesser Tabaxi refer to both groups simply as "Tabaxi," and prefer to speak ill of the Greater Tabaxi outside of earshot.  

Boisterous Bullies

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.

This is especially true for Greater Tabaxi.  They use their superious strength to push the Lesser Tabaxi around, often forcing them to do the more strenuous work required of the clan.  They often impose themselves as leaders, while shirking many of the responsibilities that would normally accompany the role.  Greater Tabaxi prefer to spend much of their time lounging, eating, sleeping, and engaging in jovial pursuits like drinking and teasing Lesser Tabaxi.  The most they exert themselves on a daily basis is doing some moderate exercise to maintain their muscular build.  Once in a while, usually when feeling their authority being threatened in some way, a Greater Tabaxi will suddenly act on an urge to go hunting.  They usually make a grand spectacle of the event, taking the opportunity to prove their physical prowess.  Once they feel secure in their status, they will revert to their normal, slothful ways.

Many Greater Tabaxi, especially at older ages, lose any drive to exert themselves, even for these short bursts.  Their physicality tends to change toward a more portly form.  The Lesser Tabaxi will usually begin to disregard these members of their community, no longer doing their dirty work, at least not directly.  Other Greater Tabaxi regard these members of their clan with no less respect, and will often escalate their bullying of the Lesser Tabaxi to make sure that the needs of all the Greaters are being attended to, regardless of physique. 

It is widely believed that the Lesser Tabaxi's wanderlust is a direct result of the way that it is treated by Greater Tabaxi.  They often try to form quit communities away from the Greater Tabaxi.  But eventually, as these communities grow, they are inevitably discovered by the Greater Tabaxi, who come in and start pushing them around again.

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. 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.

Greater Tabaxi love stories as much as their lesser cousins, however, their indolent nature means that they are rarely a part of such experiences.  As a result, they tend to make up or embellish stories.  Many times, they outright steal stories they hear other Tabaxi tell, passing them off as their own.  Greater Tabaxi spend a lot of time and energy making themselves sound important or impressive.

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.

Adventurers and Minstrels

Not all Greater Tabaxi are unkind to their Lesser kin.  Though rare, some possess a sense of duty for protecting all of their kind.  These Tabaxi become widely loved and adored and often rise to the highest status within a clan.  Clans with such leaders usually see swells in population.  The downside to this is that other Greater Tabaxi will use these examples to further inflate their egos and justify their selfish actions.  Some will even pretend to be such good-natured individuals to earn a loyal following, only to show their true colors later on.  These Tabaxi are the rare sparks that incite violence within clans.  

Most Greater Tabaxi with more honorable dispositions head out into the greater world with their Lesser cousins.  They tend to stay in bands and often form all-Tabaxi adventuring parties.  They seek out great deeds and treasures that the Lesser Tabaxi would have more difficulty attaining without the brute strength a Greater Tabaxi can provide.  These adventuring parties often attract bards of various races who wish to bear witness to their deeds, as the stories of such an exotic group is all but guaranteed to garner a great deal of attention from audiences.  Tabaxi are more than glad to have such companions travel with them and will make frequent and prolonged stops in towns and cities so that the bards may sing their praises.

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 (Jade), 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 …
1	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
7	A location
8	A legend or tale

 Tabaxi Quirks

d10	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 phobia of water and hate getting wet.
4	Your tail always betrays your inner thoughts.
5	You purr loudly when you are happy.
6	You keep a small ball of yarn in your hand, which you constantly fidget with.
7	You are always 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 stories you have discovered.
10	You can’t help but pocket interesting objects you come across.

Greater Tabaxi Traits

Your tabaxi character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Charisma score increases by 1.

Age

Tabaxi have lifespans equivalent to humans.

Alignment

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.

Size

Greater Tabaxi are taller on average than humans.  Their builds are more stocky and muscular than Lesser Tabaxi, though are sometimes portly. 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.

Jungle Roar

As an action, you can let out a mighty roar. Each creature that is hostile towards you in a 30 foot radius must succeed on a DC13 Charisma saving throw or be frightened of you for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of its turn, ending the effect on a success. You regain the use of this ability when you roll initiative.

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 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Cat’s Talent

You have proficiency in the Perception and Intimidation skills.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.