When creating a new character for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, there are a ridiculous number of races to choose from. Popular races like Elves, Dragonborn, Orcs and Tieflings can provide fun and unique ways to play the game, but they’re also fairly common selections. Players seeking a more unique but still enjoyable experience should consider creating a Tabaxi character to provide just that.
A Tabaxi is basically a seven-foot-tall bipedal cat person. They're covered in fur, are typically lean and muscular, and have a tail that can be up to three feet in length. Creating a Tabaxi is no more challenging than with any other D&D race, but they have lots of fun and exciting features that can add a memorable twist to a typical campaign.
What Are Tabaxi In Dungeons & Dragons?
The Tabaxi are a race of humanoid felines that can resemble many different types of cats ranging from panthers, leopards, jaguars and even lions. Compared to other races like humans and dwarves, Tabaxi have shown little interest in technological advancement, and their way of life revolves around hunting and gathering. Unsurprisingly, Tabaxi are great hunters, using their strong natural physique and camouflage to hunt prey in tropical and subtropical jungles.
Most Tabaxi live in groups called clans, but the race is incredibly reclusive by nature. Tabaxi clans will keep their distance from other intelligent races, and that even extends to fellow Tabaxi. Additionally, Tabaxi prefer not to engage in trade with outsiders, as they find this act demeaning. However, some Tabaxi will employ third parties to trade on their behalf.
Tabaxi Skills and Abilities
Tabaxi can use weapons like any other race, but they also come equipped with a natural form of self-defense: razor-sharp claws that spring out of the tips of their fingers. A Tabaxi's claws will deal 1d4 slashing damage, plus their strength modifier. Claws also have the benefit of giving Tabaxi a climbing speed of 20 feet per turn. Additionally, depending on the Dungeon Master, claws will allow it so that Tabaxi do not require Athletics checks while climbing a surface,; they will automatically succeed.
Another racial feature unique to the Tabaxi is Feline Agility. Due to their cat-like reflexes and nimbleness, a Tabaxi can double their speed without needing to use a sprint action. This means that, unlike most other races, a Tabaxi can run 60 feet in a single turn while still being able to attack or use an action. There are so many situations where this would be useful, and there's no limit to how many times Feline Agility can be used so long as the Tabaxi comes to a standstill for a single turn to recharge their movement.
As for abilities scores, a Tabaxi will start with a +2 Dexterity and +1 Charisma. This race is best suited to situations where stealth and diplomacy are necessary, making them great Rogues. They also work well as charming nobles or gentlemen thieves.
Tabaxi Names
A Tabaxi's name is usually inspired by the world around them. Things such as animals, sounds, astrology and even the history of different Tabaxi clans can all be taken into account when deciding on a child's name. Because of this, Tabaxi names are gender-neutral and range from poetic, like Heavenly Star, to things that are more literal and potentially goofy, like Screech of Bats or Angry Warthog.
Why You Should Play A Tabaxi
While most D&D characters are motivated by the desire to slay the villain, find a magical item, or rescue the prince or princess, Tabaxi typically don't care about any of those things. Like cats, Tabaxi are quirky and prone to follow their immediate whims or desires. These can range from the extreme, like seeking out a god or destructive monster, to the mundane, like playing with a tiny trinket or ball of yarn. Tabaxi can obsess over one particular thing for years at a time, or their desires can change like the wind.
Players can choose a Tabaxi's quirk and current fixations in advance or allow them to change over the course of the campaign. Perhaps they start out refusing to wear the same outfit twice, then become a minor kleptomaniac, and end up in debt due to an obsession with throwing house parties. While having a character ditch the party to go chase after a butterfly won't fit into serious campaigns, in the right environment (and if done while keeping other players in mind), a Tabaxi's antics can be amusing for the entire party.
People play D&D for a lot of different reasons, and a Tabaxi can serve as a conduit for many diverse kinds of experiences. Their stats allow them to be played in a wide variety of ways, their abilities can make them a terror on the battlefield and their unique nature can lead to unforgettable moments of role-playing that will leave the party howling with laughter. This may not be the most popular or common race in D&D, but that only helps a Tabaxi player character stand out from the crowd.