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View Full Version : Jellicle Cats come out to-night... [Race, Setting]



Delcan
2006-11-04, 01:45 AM
(You see plenty of cat races out there... but I've never seen one based on domestic cats. Funny, because there's plenty to work with, as any cat-owner will tell you about the bizarre personalities that can develop. Here's to the non-feral cats of the world, and all the weirdness and wonder they bring with them.)

Hathorne Cats

Jellicle Cats come out to-night
Jellicle Cats come one come all
The Jellicle Moon is shining bright
Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball.

Every town has cats, whether they want them or not, and every town has at least one Particular Cat. They set themselves apart from other felines by their looks or by their nature, usually both; half an ear lost in a fight, a peculiar pattern of fur color, a casual contempt for big bearded men, a fancy for lute music. Stories often rise up around these cats, and after a while it's not unusual to hear city folk refer to them as one would refer to a neighbor. That's Paws, not to be trusted, he used to be a burglar in the past; there's Cherry the calico, she pines for a long-lost lover by the tavern door every Thursday; he's Senephet, a mysterious stranger from the South come to learn our ways. Cats have that uncommon blend of homey familiarity and exotic mystique that lets them be so casual and so magical at the same time. And the more cats you see in a city, the more Particular Cats there will always be.

Hathorne is no exception. A vast, sprawling metropolis of high towers and abandoned, sky-scraping architecture, Hathorne's slums are positively overrun by cats. What would otherwise be a massive, brooding and desperate blotch on the city's colorful face is instead turned into a wild and unpredictable land of long alleyways, condemned-yet-occupied buildings, and secret pathways through the maze of streets, all patrolled and populated by tens of thousands of cats. And more than any other city in the world, the Hathorne slums are positively overrun by Particular Cats - the specialized breed has become known as the Hathorne Cat.

Many cats will rub up against your leg and purr. When a cat meets you for the first time and leaps up your back to perch on your shoulder, or when a cat stands in front of their doorway and growls, meeting you eye to eye and forbidding you entrance, you can be sure it's a Particular Cat. And when a cat stands on two legs as tall as an elf, wears gaudy clothing, and palms your rations and your coinpurse when you aren't looking... well then, you've met a Hathorne Cat.

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Stories are often told of feral feline tribes in the distant jungles, and tales of the vile rakshasa can be found in tomes of lore, but Hathorne Cats (commonly shortened to 'Hathornes') share few traits from these distant cousins. Tiger stripes and leopard spots will rarely be seen on the Hathorne breed; but calicos, tortoiseshells, longhairs, and Siamese patterns can all be found in the slums. They take an affinity for colorful clothing and shiny baubles, whether valuable or glass, and are particularly fond of eye-catching hobbies like catnip pipes or singing in public. Some have legitimate jobs, some thieve and steal for a living, other simply scavenge out the scraps of the world around them; but all of them seem to thrive on what they have.

The Hathorne slums are a weird and fascinating place for outsiders, and an endless puzzle for its lifetime residents. The tall buildings and tight alleyways are home to countless secret passageways, shortcuts, climbing locales and hideaways, and not even a Hathorne who's lived in the slums his entire life could ever hope to find every possible path in the city. Between all of its residents, the ghetto is transformed daily in color and shine; bright cloths and clothing are hung haphazardly all about the buildings every where that they can be placed for a touch of glamour. What isn't spruced up by clothing is splashed with paint or dyed. Even the darker hideaways of Hathorne are done up in foreboding black and tattered ribbons to make them more ominous. Inspiring, eye-catching, frightening, constricting; the Hathorne slums can be all of these things, but they are rarely ever depressing, thanks to the fickle amusement of the Cats.

Of course, all this changes come nightfall. After dusk, the curious friendliness of Hathorne becomes an alien playground. Humanoids of most types feel very much like outsiders as they spy shadowy feline shapes darting past an alleyway and glowing eyes peering down from atop a high balcony, as a fat tom sits on a nearby wall, puffing a pipe and watching them with an unsettling, knowing eye. For the Hathornes themselves, the slums at night are an infinite jungle of adventures that none but cats would ever know of or understand; most will never even speak to other cats of what they happen to do in the darkness. As daylight rolls around, a Hathorne may find themselves without a clue as to where they are and nothing on them but the memories of an incredible night; any other race will more likely wake up hungover and sans valuables.

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Personality: Give any Particular Cat two legs and a voice, and you will have the personality of a Hathorne Cat. They are fickle, aloof, yet very friendly and gregarious when in the proper mood. They're very hard to please, very easy to amuse (unless the joke is on them), and endlessly curious, and of course if you don't want them to be somewhere, that's where they already are.

Physical Description: Hathorne Cats average around 5 feet tall, with a broad weight range. They tend to run the gamut of fur color, pattern, and shape, but can almost always be equated with a similar breed of domestic cat, whether a roly-poly longhair lapcat or a lithe, sleek milk-patterned hunter. While they feel a deep comradeship for all other Hathornes, they tend to unconsciously stick to small cliques based on their appearance. Cliques of Hathornes tend to take on habits and traits even more peculiar to themselves than with others. Much is made of the Gumbie Cats and their secret workaday nights, for example; and even an oblivious human observing a lazy gang of black-and-white Jellicles can't help but feel like they're waiting for something.
Hathorne Cats reach a de facto adulthood at sixteen years of age, and tend to live no more than 70 years old.

Relations: Hathornes consider every other race beneath them, though they say it with a smile; all other humanoid races are ignorant of, or at best struggling in vain for, their own grasp of felinity. Elves they find an admirable attempt, and humor them for it (though it irritates many elves to no end to find a race that dares condescend to them). They are especially fond of 'cat people' above all else; he who can accept a cat for what it is will find himself a friend to Hathorne.

Alignment: Hathorne Cats are deeply chaotic by nature, too independent and unpredictable to swing any other way. Good and evil Cats are common enough, and ethically neutral ones are tolerated, but Hathornes who go lawful are often sneered at behind their backs - one who joins a monk's order or the city guard is often derisively referred to as a "Hathorne Dog."

Hathorne Lands: The Cats can be found anywhere curiosity can be piqued, but they are all drawn to the Hathorne slums, they first, last, and only homeland. Most never leave the city limits; some never even leave the slums. Those that roam the world for adventure and excitement invariably make sure their winding paths intersect frequently with Hathorne, if only to reorient themselves in familiar territory and share new stories.

Religion: Cats worship themselves more than any other deity, as any owner of a domestic cat can attest. A strange spirituality has formed in a minority of Hathorne Cats, revolving around superstitions of the slums and a reverence of Perfect Felinity, a divine, abstract quality all cats and cat-like creatures strive for.

Language: Hathorne Cats speak the Common tongue and a cant unique to the slums, which is identifiable as an offshoot of Common. They take fondly to the magical underpinnings of Draconic and Sylvan, and the elegant tones of Elven. In addition, thanks to the sharing of truly well-travelled Cats, the breezy Auran language is not too uncommon to be heard in Hathorne's streets.

Names: Hathorne Cats insist they have three different names. The first is a common name, usually of human origin, that they use in public; the second name is a more peculiar and personal one that is only used around trusted friends or other Hathornes. Their third name (so they say) is unique, powerful, and never revealed.

First Names
Male: Thomas, Gerald, Franklin, James.
Female: Sasha, Jenny, Lauren, Darla.

Second Names
Male: Borumbasco, Pallataggertee, Obrax, Wullarum
Female: Puropenelli, Kalirea, Quaviel, Shavarut

Adventurers: All Hathornes are adventurers in some sense; but the ones seen outside Hathorne slums are the ones seeking fame, fortune, attention, oddness, and whatever else may appeal to their own sense of interest. Hathornes especially love travelling with non-Hathornes, just to see what makes them tick, and to gain the attention of outsiders. (Some dwarves would also have it that Hathorne Cats are attracted inexorably to the allergic.)

HATHORNE CAT RACIAL TRAITS
+2 Dex, -2 Con: Hathornes are lithe and agile, but tend to scrawny builds.
Medium size: No size modifiers or penalties.
Speed: 30 ft.
Low-light vision.
+2 racial bonus to Balance, Escape Artist, Jump, and Tumble checks: Hathorne Cats share the amazing dexterity and high-wire balance of their smaller cousins.
Bonus Feat: Hathorne Cats receive the Lightning Reflexes feat for free at 1st level.
Natural Attacks: Hathorne Cats have three natural attacks: two primary claw attacks for 1d3 damage, and a secondary bite for 1d4 damage.
Inscrutable Name (Ex): The true name of a Hathorne Cat is so guarded and hidden that it evades all attempts at understanding. Hathornes are immune to any spells, spell-like abilities, or effects that would require the use of their true name to function.
Languages: Common, Hathorne Cant. Bonus Languages: Auran, Draconic, Elven, Sylvan.
Favored Class: Rogue.

Moribundus
2006-11-04, 03:24 AM
This is amazing.
I absolutely love it!
<----- is a cat person
(I don't know enough about homebrew to critique...)

The_Snark
2006-11-04, 07:47 PM
Heh, I like it. I'm also a cat owner.

Mechanically, it looks good- much like elves, but with an empasis on physical skills and natural weapons replacing weapon proficiencies. I'm not really all that familiar with natural weapons on characters, but these are pretty weak and some of them are secondary, so I think it works out fine.

Carrion_Humanoid
2006-11-04, 08:13 PM
Very good, You caught me right after fighting a Hell-cat at the local gaming place. . .

Fualkner Asiniti
2006-11-04, 09:01 PM
Maybe add Slight Build as a racial bonus?

Delcan
2006-11-05, 07:45 PM
Mechanics: Honestly, the mechanics for this race were like an afterthought. :) I was so overcome by the flavor that I powered into that and pretty much forgot about statting them out until realizing "Hey, I'm missing something."

Slight Build: If that's like Powerful Build, only for smaller creatures, I'd say that really fits the Cats. Can you send me the wording of it, so I can stick that in there?

Aidan305
2006-11-05, 08:26 PM
I'm very tempted to put these guys into my Planescape campaign as a minority in the Hive.

Have you ever read "The Unadulterated Cat" by Terry Pratchett? I'm strongly reminded of it by this race.

One question, why those particular bonus languages? Auran and Sylvan I can understand, but why Draconic and Elven?

Delcan
2006-11-05, 10:38 PM
Cats in the Hive: I can only offer a hearty 'heck yes' to that idea. :D

"The Unadulterated Cat": Never read it. It's now on my list of stuff-to-read. Thanks for the suggestion!

Elven and Draconic: Call it feline pique. *grin* As creatures that dance on the border between mundane and mystical, and creatures who will proudly claim anything they enjoy, it seems appropriate that cats would steal the two artistic and/or deeply arcane languages and abuse them in their own way.