Tabaxi Playable Race Guide for D&D 5e

Climbing and claws, learn to optimise the feline Tabaxi with our guide

What is a Tabaxi?

The Tabaxi are cat-like humanoids that can be found throughout the Forgotten Realms and most other settings of D&D 5e. There are many varieties of cats and equally varied types of Tabaxi too. There are Tabaxi that appear like lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards and even the good old house-cat. The main difference here is that all Tabaxi are bipedal and are equally as intelligent as Humans and other playable races.

Volo’s Guide to Monsters introduced the Tabaxi as a playable race in D&D 5e. These rules have been refreshed in Monsters of the Multiverse. We’ve opted to use the most recent rules for our guide but both are allowed in D&D 5e. Read on to find out everything you need to know to play as these feline characters.

Is a Tabaxi the right race for me?

Dungeons and Dragons lets you take a flexible approach to building a character, but if you’re going to stick to typical culture and the best-optimised build for a Tabaxi you might consider the following:

Choose a Tabaxi if you like…

Being fast!
Climbing places others can’t get to
Being a great scout

A Tabaxi might not be for you if…

You don’t need to be quick
You’d rather fly than climb
You’re a dog person

If you think a Tabaxi isn’t for you, not to worry, there are dozens of playable races for you to pick from, just check out our races guide to find out about all of them. For an alternative quick race, you could consider a Centaur or a Wood Elf.

Tabaxi racial traits

Ability Scores	+2 to one ability score and +1 to another or +1 to 3 different ability scores
Creature Type	Humanoid
Size	Medium or small
Speed	30ft (climbing and walking)
Languages	Common and 1 other language
Traits	Cats claws, Cat’s Talent, Darkvision, Feline Agility
Proficiencies	Perception and stealth
Resistances	None
Darkvision	Yes
Innate Spellcasting	None
Book found in	Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, Volo’s Guide to Monsters

Tactics

Tabaxi have a pretty great combination of traits with the only redundancy being their claws which are basically inferior to weapons. They might be useful if you get your weapons stolen, but that’s about it.

Un-perpetual motion machine: Tabaxi are really fast! Doubling your movement speed is quick! It’s also the best in the game for a playable race, though comes with a slight trade off as can’t be used every turn as you need to spend a turn not moving to reuse the ability. In most cases, this should be fine as in combat there tends to be a lot of stopping and starting anyway.

You can get even faster by doing things like taking the mobile feat, being a barbarian or monk or taking the dash action (which you can use as a bonus action if you’re a rogue or monk).

Ultimate scout: Stealth and perception are 2 of the most useful skills in the game and work great for a scout. Pair this with dark vision and you’re also great at scouting in caves and other dark places.

Speed climber: Tabaxi have a climb speed meaning they can move as quickly when walking as when climbing. This is super useful for getting to hard to reach places, escaping from enemies or getting to enemies in awkward locations. Add to this your feline agility which will also allow you to climb very rapidly, and no one can stay away from a Tabaxi for long!

Which classes work well for a Tabaxi?

Primarily we’re looking at classes that may want to operate as scouts or need to get around quick. Because these abilities have utility for both melee and ranged combatants, it does mean that Tabaxi have fairly broad appeal, though I’d argue that melee classes probably stand to gain more from being quick than ranged classes.

Below I’ve put together a score for how well each class works with a Tabaxi based on how well the racial traits work with each class:

Artificer⭐⭐⭐

Barbarian ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bard ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cleric ⭐⭐⭐

Druid ⭐⭐⭐

Fighter ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Monk ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Paladin ⭐⭐⭐

Ranger ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rogue ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sorcerer ⭐⭐⭐

Warlock ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wizard ⭐⭐

*Star ratings scored out of 5

Best classes for a Tabaxi

As mentioned, scouts and classes that require bursts of speed are going to benefit most from being a Tabaxi. With that in mind, your best options for a Tabaxi are:

Barbarian
Fighter
Monk
Ranger
Rogue

Rogues are the stand out class here. They fit the bill all round not only being skill powerhouses (so getting the most out of perception and stealth with things like expertise), but they also need to be highly maneuverable.

Barbarians and Monks will find speed and climbing capabilities particularly useful in combat as both do little at range. Closing down on your enemies quickly becomes hugely useful!

To make the most out of your stealth, you’ll likely want to go for a lightly armoured or unarmored dexterity build of these classes. This works naturally for rogues, rangers and monks, but can easily work for fighters and barbarians too.

Worst classes for a Tabaxi

Tabaxi work reasonable well for any class, but arguably, wizards stand to gain least from their racial traits. Wizards tend to steer clear of the action so while climbing and speed can help them stay away from the action, their wide repertoire of spells can accomplish similar things for them. They aren’t wisdom based either so likely won’t excel at perception.

About the Tabaxi

Appearance

In the refreshed rules found in Monsters of the Multiverse, Tabaxi can be either medium or small in size, perhaps to reflect the varied nature of the Tabaxi and the cats they’re fashioned after. Most Tabaxi though, are slender and a little taller than a Human, particularly those that appear like great cats such as leopards and tigers.

Like cats, the Tabaxi have retractable claws, sharp teeth and an agile body allowing them to climb easily. Despite their slender build, the Tabaxi are strong, especially in their legs. In most respects though, you can fashion your Tabaxi after whatever feline appearance you want.

Personality

The Tabaxi worship their deity, The Cat Lord. This being has granted the Tabaxi with an insatiable wanderlust that has caused them to spread far and wide throughout the realms in search of new experiences and adventure.

While the Tabaxi do enjoy wealth as much as any other race, more than this, they are driven by stories. Some travel to create their own stories, adventures of daring and the overcoming of incredible foes. Others hang onto the stories of others, dreaming of great Tabaxi heroes that travel the lands in search of adventure.

How to roleplay as a Tabaxi

You can play a Tabaxi however you want. The Tabaxi have a wide range of personalities from the kind and wholesome, the daring and adventurous to wicked and nefarious. However, some traits are typical among the Tabaxi and it’s worth considering the ideas below when preparing your character:

What kind of cat are you? – Different cats are prone to different personalities and behaviours, just as the Tabaxi are. Tigers are built more powerfully than the more nimble leopards while house-cats are smaller and more diminutive. The cat you’ve fashioned your Tabaxi after will likely have an influence on who your character is.
Insatiable curiosity – Most Tabaxi are very curious. How does this manifest in your Tabaxi and what are they curious about. Understanding this will help you know how your Tabaxi might react in certain situations.
Chaotic inclination – Not all Tabaxis are prone to a chaotic nature, but many are. This doesn’t mean they’re evil, but may make them unpredictable or impulsive, prepared to take any means necessary to achieve their goals, whether they be benevolent or sinister.