Cat People

Description

Cat people are an intelligent feline race and are occasionally encountered by players. They stand upright like humans, but tend to be slightly shorter and have a delicate bone structure, much like elves. They have feline faces, their bodies are covered with short, catlike fur which varies greatly in coloration, and most (75%) have tails. Cat people's hands are basically humanoid in structure, having four fingers and an opposable thumb, but they are also equiped with needle-sharp retractable claws. Their feet also have such claws, giving them a base 90% chance to climb any surface which is no harder than wood. On all but the hardest, smoothest surfaces, cat people receive a 20% bonus on all climbing rolls.

Cat people have superior night vision, treated as infravision, 60', are innately silent and have a base 25% chance of hiding in shadows. They are also increadibly agile, and well, catlike in their movements. Cat people take no damage from falls of less than 30 feet and are entitled to dexterity checks for half damage on falls of up to 60 feet. Beyond that, the cat person has accelerated to fast to avoid full damage.

Combat

Cat people prefer to fight with their natural weaponry, but understand that often that is not enough. When using weapons, they prefer light, fast, weapons which make the best use of their agility. These include daggers, quarterstaves, nun-chuku and rapiers. Cat people are especially fond of elven longswords for their combination of light construction and damage, and also like knuckledusters because they can still use their claws with them. For ranged weapons, shurikens, throwing knives, darts, hand crossbows and composite shortbows are favorites.

Whenever possible, cat people try to ambush their foes. They have a 50% chance of surprising an opponent and are rarely (10%) surprised themselves. Dropping out of trees after an enemy party has been softened up by a cleverly laid trap is a favorite tactic.

All cat people can fight with a weapon in each hand; this does not double the number of attacks they receive, it only adds one to the base number. Regardless of class, cat people fight as thieves. Some cat people become fighters, and are entitled to all the benefits of the class, including weapon specialization, but they still fight on thief tables.

Habitat

Cat person society is matriarchal and clan based. The largest unit of cat person society is the pride. A pride usually consists of 3 to 8 clans. A clan is one family unit consisting of about 20 to 40 individuals of all ages and headed by the Matriarch, the oldest female in the clan. The pride is lead by the Grand Matriarch, the oldest and wisest female of all the clans, and a shamen. The shamen is a priest of at least 4th to 8th level, always to Bast or some other cat deity, and is always female.

The Grand Matriarch is the head of the Council of Matriarchs, which is responsible for all major decisions. The most important decision the council must make is the selection of a new Grand Matriarch should the current one die or become too infirm to govern. This is usually done by vote of the council. Each Matriarch tries to convince the council that she is best suited for the honor. Then a vote is taken with the restriction that one cannot vote for oneself. Should the council deadlock, the process will be repeated a number of times (it varies from pride to pride). If the council still fails to come to a decision (a rare occurance), all females who have come of age will be asked to vote on the matter.

Males in cat person society are in an interesting position. While they have little or no input on how the pride is governed, they are not treated as second class citizens. Males and females are treated equal in all aspects of life except government and religion (males may not be priests).

Ecology

Cat people are hunters by nature, but do not kill animals except for food and in self defense. They are very careful to avoid over hunting their territory, and therefore do not have a severe impact on the local ecology. Cat people live for an average of 80 years.

Cat Person Characters

Cat person characters:

* 10% of Cat People with 17 strength have 18. Those cat people with 18 strength may roll for exceptional strength if they belong to a fighter class.

** For humans. No modification for cat people.

*** Beyond 15th level, experience penalties are incurred (Dungeon Master option).