The Tabaxi of Saltwave

Mysterious Catlings

Tabaxi are the metakzin equivalent of elves. Although their origins are lost in the dusts of time, a few sages know that the tabaxi appeared during the time of the kzin colonization. The mana rich environment of Saltwave caused ancient genotypes to appear in kzinti, as well as in humans. The unexplained transformation of some kzinti into tabaxi prompted great furor. As a result of their changed temperament, the new tabaxi fled, rather than trying to stand and fight. Unlike the births of elves, dwarves, and orcs to human settlers, nearly all of the tabaxi infants born to kzinretti were destroyed by the kzintoshes before they could grow.

The changed tabaxi explored their newfound skills and abilities and became the stalkers of secrets and the lurkers in shadow. These days, there are many tabaxi scattered throughout the world. They tend to dwell in small groups in hidden lairs, although there are some open communities here and there. Tabaxi mostly serve their own ends, building a vast network of spies through on-and-off-again contact and cooperation. They delight in the discovery of secrets, especially those hidden by others. They can be capable wizards, priests, psionicists, or scientists, but most tabaxi lack the drive needed to do well in original research.

Tabaxi Statistics: Tabaxi characters (on the rare occasions they are played) have modifiers of -1 to Strength and -2 to Wisdom, and +2 to Dexterity (max 20) and +1 to Intelligence (max 19). They have about double the lifespan of ordinary humans. They are close to humanoid in body structure, and can wear human, half-elven, or elven gear comfortably (if allowance is made for the tail).

Tabaxi Stealth: All tabaxi are expert skulkers. Few humans ever realize that these feline folk walk among them. Tabaxi have the innate ability to Move Silently, Hide in Shadows, and Climb Walls at at 90%. They have the other basic thieving skills, including Backstab and Read Languages, at the fouth level of ability, and can train these up to great heights, gaining the ability to overcome impressive penalties. Tabaxi rogues start with their thief abilities at fourth level averages (considered to be the racial skill bonuses), modify them by dexterity, and may then apply their starting point allocations to the skills as they please.

Class Abilities: Tabaxi can progress in any major class, although they seldom pursue priesthood. Most tabaxi choose to dabble in multiple professions, and see little benefit from focusing on a single class. Their fighter-thieves function much like ninja, honing their innate stealth skills to a razor’s edge. Tabaxi fighter-mages serve as defenders and battle leaders for their prides. Tabaxi have slightly higher than human normal incidence of psionic talent, but the discipline required to become a psionicist is rare.

Psychology: The majority of tabaxi are chaotic neutral or chaotic good in their alignment tendencies. They consider themselves free to do as they please and hang the consequences. As a race, tabaxi are prone to laziness, doing only what is needed to feed, protect, and amuse themselves. Combined with their fastidious nature, this makes tabaxi very appreciative of high-quality goods made by others–especially when those goods might be easily gained through trickery or theft. They can be very creative, but do not pursue long and difficult tasks, leaving the drudgery of hard work to others. One catling fighter-mage expressed a common tabaxi sentiment in this way: "I thought about crafting a spell to clean molds, slimes, and other such nuisances out of a ruin I was keen on investigating, but decided it wasn’t worth my time. I suggested the idea to a human wizard acquaintance, and got him working on it. All I have to do now is come back to the tree when the spell is ripe and pluck it."

Combat: Tabaxi can be fierce warriors, but generally avoid toe-to-toe fights. They prefer ambushes, attacks from high places where opponents cannot reach them, and stealthy backstabs. They are not nearly as big and sturdy as their kzin forebears, and this shows in their fighting style. Many tabaxi are ambidextrous, and many more have trained themselves in two-weapon fighting, using a rapier or smallsword and a second weapon in their off hands. They make liberal use of the hand crossbow and bolts coated with sleep poison. Some tabaxi use other, more exotic bolt venoms, but these are never lethal. Lethal poisons are considered to be bad form. In addition, they are not only dangerous to the user, but also deprive the tabaxi of the opportunity to play with and torment her opponent. Some tabaxi have developed open-handed fighting styles, employing their natural claws, but most consider this to require too much discipline and practice. Tabaxi rarely wear heavy armor, preferring to rely upon specially made chain mail. This tabaxi chainmail is proportioned for their anatomy and made of very light and quiet alloys. Unlike elven chainmail, tabaxi chainmail is easily acquired by those of the race who desire it.

Magic: Tabaxi wizards use a standard selection of spells, but will scrupulously avoid using any magic that might harm their appearance, such as close-range fire, electricity, or acid spell effects. They are very accomplished at using specially crafted spells to imitate the appearance of other races for the purposes of spying on and stealing from humans and kzinti.

Tabaxi Statistics

Tabaxi Fighter-Thieves

Tabaxi Fighter-Mages

Summary

The tabaxi have access (through theft) to many different magic spells and advanced technologies. If they desired, they could establish a very advanced society of their own. Some of their leaders have suggested this, but no one has taken the initiative to bring about such a thing. The tabaxi seem generally content to discover secrets, and are not especially motivated to use what they learn. "The pleasure is in the finding, not in the having," as one says.
 

Last updated 21-Jun-2003
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