Dreamlands Cat

DREAMLANDS CAT

Everyone knows about cats. They’re small, sometimes-obnoxious predators that people often keep as pets or exterminators. Cats are normally not a sapient species.
Normally. Like humanoids, they have a dream life, but unlike most people, cats are aware of this dream life.
Furthermore, while in their dreams, cats are as intelligent as humans, or even more so. They are still cats, of course, with the personalities and traits belonging thereto.
Even more remarkable, cats are able to freely pass physically from the waking world to the Dreamlands and back again. This means that a cat can either transfer between the dream and waking state in the normal humanoid way, by falling asleep and waking up, or it can physically move to the Dreamlands and back.

History

Cats traveling the Dreamlands run the full gamut from feral to domestic. However wild they might be, player character cats are assumed to have lived or currently live in and among humanoid communities, making them at least somewhat capable of getting along with other species and likely willing to adventure with them.
Unlike other companion animals, cats almost certainly took the first step toward domestication, so it is arguable that cats actually mastered humanoids, rather than the other way around. It has certainly been a successful partnership. In return for protection, shelter, and food, cats keep down the population of rodents and other pest animals in humanoid areas, which helps ward off both disease and famine. In addition, cats provide affection, companionship, elegance, and beauty to their humanoid families-at least on their own terms. And during their languorous periods of rest, watched over by a humanoid family that has learned not to interrupt them, cats can walk the Dreamlands with enhanced mental acuity and reason.
Occasionally, a cat decides that it wants to spend its waking hours as well as its sleeping hours as a fully sapient being. When this happens, it becomes what is known as a Dreamlands cat, and becomes a suitable choice for a player character. Any cat may make this decision, and it may spend just a few days as a Dreamlands cat, or remain that way for the rest of its life. Likewise, any Dreamlands cat may decide to return to its normal status of being a mundane cat. For those who know cats well, it will come as no surprise that such decisions seem to be made capriciously.
Humanoids cannot tell whether a particular cat is a Dreamlands cat based purely upon outward appearances.
Typically, either the cat has to inform them by its own actions, or the humanoid has to figure it out by watching the cat take on tasks that would be impossible for a normal cat of animal intellect and awareness.

Playing a Cat

Cats are typically a “love ‘em or hate ‘em” type of creature.
While some people can’t stand them, others can’t live without them, and few are neutral on the subject. Some people are even ailurophobes, making them neurotically afraid of cats. But even those who dislike or fear felines will generally admit that cats are graceful, nimble, and often adorable.

If you’re a Dreamlands Cat, you likely…

are busy, active, and aloof. are energetic when interesting things are going on but sleep soundly for hours when no action is afoot. occasionally force other party members to carry you. They may or may not mind, and you may but probably don’t care. are quiet, curious, and interested in new things. hate cats’ natural enemies (dogs, mice, birds, whirring machines, etc). are easily distracted. are highly athletic and can move fast when you want to.

Others probably…

• are not always sure if you are sapient or not. (“Is it a normal cat? Can I talk to it?”)
• think you are cute, but possibly useless.
• frequently pet or otherwise annoy you when you are busy, forcing you to teach them a lesson about personal boundaries.
• misconstrue your thought processes, such as they are.

Physiology

Unlike many other predators, cats are exclusively carnivorous. Their teeth are designed only for cutting and devouring flesh, so while they can clumsily chew up bread or vegetables, these are insufficient sources of nutrition. Their digestive tracts are not adapted to process such food either, and a cat deprived of meat will suffer significant health issues and perish fairly quickly.
Cats have extraordinarily keen senses. Their one defect in this regard is an inability to taste sweetness. When a cat eats cantaloupe or some other sweet flavor, the cat does not taste the sugar and instead reacts to whatever savory elements are present. Contrary to popular myth, cats can’t see in complete darkness, but they can rely on their sense of touch, which is amplified by their whiskers, to feel their way around an area. Cats do not have rigid collarbones, so they can squeeze through any space through which their heads will fit. A cat’s whiskers tend to be about the same width as their shoulders, so they serve an additional purpose in indicating whether the cat can fit through a particular opening.
Cats can be highly vocal at need, possessing more than 100 different vocalizations for various purposes. Of course, Dreamlands cats have the same vocal apparatus, but with their greater intellect, they can string different sounds together to create other meanings. Cats can speak a language of their own, which other people can learn to interpret with practice.

Nine Lives

The widely circulated myth of cats having nine lives hearkens to their possession of a Dreamlands self. When a cat is killed, its dream self remains alive and can return to the waking world, restoring that cat to life. For a cat to die or be destroyed in a single event, both its dream and waking world self must die at the same moment.
When a Dreamlands cat is killed, its normal, non-sapient self will eventually return from the dream world, where it has been relaxing. This typically takes 4d6 hours, and the result is a normal cat. Of course, that cat may then decide (once more) to become a Dreamlands cat, resulting in the effective resurrection of the character. Cats can only perform this self-resurrection eight times (hence “nine lives”). Players should keep track of this on their character sheets.
Note that when a cat is resurrected by a spell or an item, this does not use up one of its lives. Only purposeful self-resurrection increases the count.

The Gates of Slumber

When encountered in the Dreamlands themselves, all cats are Dreamlands cats: intelligent and fully sapient beings with feline instincts, behavior, and skills.
Scholars believe that cats spend so much time asleep because that is when they enter the Dreamlands and become intelligent. Their waking lives are somewhat of an afterthought, intended as an opportunity to seek affection, to mate, to fuel their bodies, and for rest and relaxation. Most of a cat’s significant activities take place during sleep. A cat can always choose whether to enter the Dreamlands or the waking world, either physically or mentally. Most of the time, a cat enters the Dreamlands mentally and leaves its body behind, asleep.
When a cat enters the Dreamlands physically, it travels through the Gates of Slumber, a dimensional portal imperceptible to most beings. When doing so, the cat is no longer present in the waking world. Cats can only do this when they are completely unobserved. The Gates of Slumber are actual physical locations, but they are typically open at many places at once and move around, so they are not always at the same spot. Sometimes, they may lurk behind a backyard fence, or a cat might find them in an abandoned badger burrow, or else up a spooky old tree. Only cats know for sure, for they seem drawn to these portals only they can see. Humanoids can only tell the cat has left physically when, for instance, the cat runs into the attic and doesn’t return for a day or so. Most assume this means the cat is merely hiding somewhere they cannot find it.
It is important to note that a cat wishing to enter the Dreamlands must physically find the Gates of Slumber and can only pass through when entirely unobserved. A cat cannot simply escape to the Dreamlands when it is, for example, caught in a trap or imprisoned, unless the Gates happen to manifest at the same location. Usually, cats can only perform this form of travel when they have free and unrestricted movement.
Back to the Waking World A cat in the Dreamlands can always choose whether it wishes to return to the waking world mentally or physically, regardless of how it got to the Dreamlands. When a cat returns from the Dreamlands, it always returns to its physical body in the waking world. If a cat returns physically to the waking world, regardless of how it entered the Dreamlands, it returns through the Gates of Slumber, which always lead to a location within 1 mile of where the cat left.
If a cat went to the Dreamlands mentally and returns mentally, it wakes up in the waking world wherever it left. If the cat entered the Dreamlands physically but returns mentally, its body reappears where it entered the Dreamlands or at an unobserved location within 1 mile. A cat cannot otherwise use Dreamlands travel to move its physical body. The cat does not control where the Gates of Slumber manifest in the waking world, and so cannot direct its return like some form of teleportation magic.

Playing Dreamlands Cats

Of the races presented in this book, cats face perhaps the most physical challenges when it comes to integrating into a party of typical humanoid adventurers. However, they adjust very well to the temperament and mental nature of such a group, unlike ghouls, gnorri, or zoogs, whose mere presence can frighten or disturb the unprepared. Note that the cat’s size and lack of hands make certain class choices challenging to play or even downright impossible, such as a class that depends on using large weapons or tactile dexterity, but other choices can result in characters of great efficacy.

Your Dreamlands cat character has animal traits that present you with challenges but also grant you many benefits.

• You are a beast, not a humanoid, so spells that specifically target humanoids (such as charm person) fail to target you.
• Age. Dreamlands cats reach adulthood at 1 year of age and live less than 25 years. For more information, see Life Cycle.
  
• Alignment. Dreamlands cats are disinterested in societal expectations and view each relationship as a unique arrangement distinct from all others. They are most often chaotic.
• Size. Dreamlands cats are typically between 15 and 21 inches long from nose to base of tail and 8 to 13 inches tall at the shoulder. Your size is Tiny. Despite your size, you have a reach of 5 feet.
  
• Ability Score Improvement. You gain a +2/+1 to any two stats you wish. Dexterity, Wisdom, and Charisma are typically choices. However you suffer a -2 penalty to your Strength score due to your size.
  

• Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill.
  
• Keen Smell. You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
  
• Acrobatic. You have proficiency in the Acrobatics skill.
  
• Leaper. Triple your jumping distance. You always land on your feet after jumping intentionally, even if you take falling damage.
  
• Nimble. Athletics is always a Dexterity skill for you.
  

• Speed. Your base walking speed is 40 feet. In addition, your long claws give you a climbing speed of 30 feet. You don’t need to spend extra movement to climb.
• Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
  
• Bite. You can bite with your unarmed strike. You are proficient with your unarmed strikes. When you bite, your unarmed strike has the light and finesse properties. You can make an unarmed strike with your bite as part of two-weapon fighting. If you are Tiny, it deals 1 piercing damage. If you are Small or Medium, it deals 1d4 piercing damage.
• Claws. You can use your claws to make a single unarmed strike. You are proficient with your unarmed strike. When you make your unarmed strike with your claws, it has the light property and you can attack with it as part of two-weapon fighting even though it uses multiple limbs. If you are Tiny, an unarmed strike with your claws deals 2 slashing damage and has the finesse property. If you are Small or Medium, it deals 2d4 slashing damage but it doesn’t have the finesse property.
• Dreamlands Travel. You can physically travel to the Dreamlands via one of the many hidden Gates of Slumber. These gates shift and change their locations over time and may only exist in one space for a few seconds. You can attempt to sense a nearby Gate of Slumber at will; whether or not a Gate of Slumber is present is subject to the GM’s discretion (typically, there’s a 20% chance of a Gate of Slumber being somewhere within a 1-mile radius). If a Gate of Slumber exists, you know instinctively where it is. Only a Dreamlands cat can traverse a Gate of Slumber. Gates of Slumber always manifest in hidden, obscure areas, and are rarely in a convenient place when you need to travel to the Dreamlands, such as when trapped or in sudden danger. Except in unusual cases, you cannot generally return to the physical world farther than 1 mile from where you left. Whenever you return to your body from the Dreamlands, you can choose to return with Intelligence 2 (such as if you need to protect your mind from disturbing discoveries or to thwart detect thoughts) or with your full Dreamlands intellect intact. You can take any Tiny worn or carried objects with you to or from the Dreamlands.
  
• Magic Item Melding. You can meld a Tiny magic item permanently into your body when you carry it into the Dreamlands. If it requires attunement, you must be attuned to it to meld with it. When you do, it permanently vanishes and becomes a part of your body, perhaps manifesting as a tattoo or a differently colored patch of fur. A melded magic item can’t be damaged separately from you but removing the matching body part ends the item’s benefit until that body part is reattached (such as by a regenerate spell). A melded item’s magic aura can still be detected normally. A single body part can’t have multiple items melded into it. When leaving the Dreamlands, you can choose to separate the item from your body en route. If you end attunement with a melded item, it remains melded but you lose all its effects until you attune to it again. Any observer can notice your body part is supernatural by succeeding on a DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check. The item can be identified with a successful Intelligence (Arcana) check, but the DC is 5 higher than it would normally be.
  
• Weapon. When you merge a weapon, it melds into either both sets of front claws or your jaws. All magic properties of the weapon (but not the weapon’s base physical statistics) apply to your unarmed strike using the applicable part(s).
  
• Wand, Rod, or Staff. When you merge a wand, rod, or staff, it melds with one of your eyes. That eye glimmers with some magical feature (such as flames) that is symbolically appropriate for the item. You can use the melded item as if it were held in hand.
  
• Worn Wondrous Item. When you merge a worn wondrous item, it melds with the fur on a matching area of your body. You are constantly treated as wearing the item. As an action, you can treat the item as if you were no longer wearing it until you use another action to again effectively wear it.
  
• Nine Lives. When killed, your mind and consciousness shifts reflexively back into a dream form, creating a new dream body if necessary. You must then rest for 1d3 days in the Dreamlands, after which point you can return to the waking world. You can revive yourself in this manner up to eight times, giving you nine lives in all. Resurrections from other methods (such as via a raise dead spell or other powerful magic) do not count against this limit.
  
• Cat Equipment. You are limited in the type of magic items and equipment you can use. As you have no hands, you cannot use items that require hands (such as wielding a manufactured weapon or shield). You can hold items in your mouth well enough to aim a wand or carry a Tiny object. You can wear armor if it is tailored to fit your feline form. You can wear and benefit from magic rings, belts, goggles, gloves, boots, bracers, amulets, cloaks, and similar items, which magically adjust themselves to your size and shape when you attune to them (or when you don them, if they don’t require attunement). Cat spellcasters often create variants on magic items designed to be worn as earrings. You can speak a magic item’s command word in Cat to activate it even if it normally requires another language, and you can speak Cat even while carrying something in your mouth.
  
• Cat Spellcasting. You can provide somatic components for spells by moving your tail and whiskers. You can provide verbal components for spells with normal cat sounds. If a spell requires a material component, you can hold it in your mouth, which does not interfere with providing verbal components, or use any component (or spellcasting focus, if appropriate) within 5 feet so long as the component isn’t carried by a creature unwilling to let you use the component.
  
• Languages. You can speak Cat. You can also understand and read the language of a nearby predominant community (generally Common), but you can’t speak or write non-Cat languages without magical assistance. You can be understood by anyone who speaks Cat. As previously noted, anyone who has spent a week with you can understand you specifically, but not necessarily other cats. The Cat language has no written form. Its words sound like meows, hisses, and yowls. Since non-cats have such difficulty with the sounds, cats generally prefer others to use equivalent words and names in their own language rather than trying and failing to use Cat correctly. When a cat speaks, it meows or caterwauls, but when humanoids speak to cats, they speak in their normal tongues. It is quite a different situation from most communication, in which both parties must speak the same tongue to get anything done.