Catfolk

"We don't have nine lives. We just use the one more efficiently than everyone else."
— Mirsala, trade envoy

Catfolk are a feline humanoid people — graceful, curious, social, and possessed of a self-assurance that borders on arrogance until you realize they can back most of it up. They hail primarily from southern Garund, with nomadic trade clans spanning the Mwangi Jungle, the deserts of Katapesh, and the coasts beyond. In the Inner Sea, they're known as merchants, explorers, and the kind of guest who makes themselves comfortable in your home faster than you'd prefer.

Physical Description

Catfolk stand between 5 and 6 feet tall, with the lean, rangy build of natural athletes. Their features blend humanoid and feline: pointed ears set high on the head, slit-pupiled eyes in gold, green, or amber, and fine fur covering their bodies in patterns ranging from solid tawny to spotted or striped. Tails are long and expressive — a catfolk's mood is written in their tail before it reaches their face. Retractable claws are standard equipment.

They move like predators even when they're just walking to the market — fluid, balanced, and with the unconscious certainty that the ground will be where they put their feet.

Society

Catfolk organize into nomadic clans built around extended family units, trade routes, and an oral tradition that remembers every deal, insult, and favour for generations. Their culture values curiosity, self-reliance, and social bonds — catfolk are deeply communal, sharing resources within the clan while driving hard bargains with everyone else.

In the Inner Sea, catfolk are most common as travelling merchants, caravan guards, and embassy representatives. In Molthune, they're uncommon but not unheard of — Canorate's merchant quarter sees catfolk trade delegations during festival seasons, and the military has learned that catfolk scouts are worth their steep consulting fees.

Relations

• Humans: Good trading partners, poor roommates. Catfolk and humans get along commercially but clash culturally — humans find catfolk "aloof," catfolk find humans "loud."
• Kender: A concerning alliance. Both races are curious, nimble, and have a flexible definition of "ownership." Together they can clean out a market stall in the time it takes the vendor to blink.
• Elves: Mutual appreciation for grace and aesthetics. Catfolk admire elven craftsmanship; elves admire catfolk independence. Neither admits this out loud.
• Ratfolk: The relationship that makes everyone else nervous. Catfolk and ratfolk are either bitter rivals or eerily effective business partners, sometimes both within the same hour.

Alignment and Religion

Catfolk lean Chaotic Good — loyal to their people, indifferent to outside authority, and generally kind unless given a reason not to be. Desna, The Wandering Star (travel, luck), Cayden Cailean, the Lucky Drunk (freedom), and Grandmother Spider, The Finder of Lost Things (stories, trickery) are popular patrons. Clan elders often venerate ancestor spirits alongside formal deities.

Racial Traits

Core Abilities

• Cat's Luck (Ex): Once per day when making a Reflex save, roll twice and take the better result. Must be declared before the roll.
• Natural Hunter: +2 racial bonus on Perception, Stealth, and Survival checks.
• Sprinter: +10 foot racial bonus to speed when using the charge, run, or withdraw action.
• Low-Light Vision: See twice as far as humans in dim light.

Adventurers

Catfolk adventure because the road is where they're most themselves. A trade envoy whose caravan was destroyed and needs to rebuild. A clan scout sent to investigate rumours in human lands. A wanderer following a story they heard three markets ago that's probably not true but sounds too interesting to ignore. Common classes include Ranger, Swashbuckler, Bard, and Rogue.