Kotowate

The only thing these teeth will be doing is digging into toxic masculinity.

 Available on products at lookhuman! 

“Natural Gryphon Print” © deviantArt user Bailiwick, accessed at their gallery here

[Commissioned by @wannabedemonlord. Not a lot of information is available about the original Wak omo. It is a Muscogee Creek creature, said to be a bird like a cowbird that is piebald and very dangerous. I went in a griffon direction because tiny griffons are a common internet art meme that doesn’t have much if any RPG representation.]

Wakomo At first glance this creature appears to be a black-and-white songbird, but upon further inspection, its cat-like rear paws and furry tail become apparent.

Wakomo are small relatives of griffons, but make up for their lack of size with boldness and belligerence. Although a wakomo is little more than a foot long and has a wingspan of three feet or so, they will eagerly tackle prey the size of a horse when hunting in groups. In fact, wakomo share their larger relatives’ taste for horse-flesh, which brings them into conflict with local humanoids. Wakomo are known for their cunning while hunting, traveling single-file to hide their numbers against any that might observe them. A wakomo mob will fight fiercely to defend their kills from rivals or scavengers, and wakomo has been known to fight and kill wolves and other predators many times their size.

Wakomo are brood parasites that lay their eggs in the nests of ordinary birds. Wakomo chicks are born large and early, and their first meal is usually the eggs laid by their adoptive parents. A wakomo chick will be fed by mundane birds for several weeks until it is strong enough to fly, whereupon it leaves the nest to hunt rodents, other birds, and miscellaneous small game. Lone wakomo typically subsist on such fare, but they usually gather into associations in order to hunt larger animals. When not hunting, wakomo are quite vocal, although their low bellowing voices are not considered mellifluous by most. Wakomo nest communally, and their messy nests may contain shiny objects that catch the creature’s attention.

A wakomo can be taken as a familiar by a spell-caster of 5th level or higher with the Improved Familiar feat. A spell-caster with a wakomo familiar must have a neutral component to their alignment.

Image by Mark Allen, © Emperors Choice Games. From Arduin Eternal: Bestiary and Treasures

[Commissioned by @crazytrain48​. The quarl is seemingly inspired by the coeurl, the psychic tentacled cat monster from Voyage of the Space Beagle that also inspired the displacer beast. The kirre from Dark Sun is another monster that borrows from the coeurl, although more accurately it takes the six legs from the displacer beast and quarl and gives the monster an exaggerated version of the coeurl’s psychic abilities. A relatively faithful coeurl appears in one of the 3.5 Pathfinder AP issues, but has not been reprinted elsewhere, as it was published as not OGL-compliant by request of the Van Vogt estate.]

Quarl      CR 8 NE Magical Beast This cat-like monster has six legs, saber-like teeth and a single red eye set in the center of its forehead. It is black with grey striping.

Quarls are feline monsters found on the Plane of Shadow. They are living creatures, not made of planar essences, and are suspected of being descended from mundane big cats transplanted intentionally or wandering there by accident. Quarls are incredibly fast and nimble, and they strike from ambush. Most of their victims are not even aware that they are being stalked until the quarl is already on them, and few survive long enough to fight back.

Quarls typically live alone or in mated pairs. They care for their young until they are almost fully grown, and so family groups are sometimes seen. Quarls and shadow mastiffs hate each other, and the battles between the two species are lengthy—a single quarl may battle for territory with a pack of shadow mastiffs for hours at a time. Evil denizens of the plane, such as kytons and wicked shae, may keep quarls, but these are closer to employment or enslavement than they are to owning domestic animals.

A quarl is about the size of a leopard on average. In the wilder parts of the Plane of Shadow, giant quarls the size of tigers are not unheard of.

Image © Angela Barrett, from the book The Witches and the Singing Mice. Accessed from @starxgoddess here

[Consider this one “loosely inspired” by Hackmaster.

In the Hacklopedia, there is a shapeshifting witch cat with thief powers. Unfortunately, it’s super gross and sexist. The design looks like erotic fanart of the one Batman TAS episode where Catwoman turns into an actual cat woman. They’re female-only, and all of the flavor text is about sexual jealousy. And it’s called the “mynx”. Yuck.

So my version is still a shapeshifting witch cat with thief powers, but (hopefully) less skeevy and misogynistic.]

Malkin This creature resembles a housecat the size of a man. Its eyes have a mischievous glint, and its paws bear an eerie resemblance to human hands.

Sometimes referred to as “witch cats”, the creatures known as malkins were created by a master witch ages ago to be the perfect familiar. They are strong enough to handle themselves in combat, smart enough to be a decent conversation partner, and tricky enough to help a caster out of a pinch involving locks, larceny or other skills most arcane casters do not excel at.  A malkin has an inherent love for all arcane spellcasters, acting as guardians of novices, servants of archmages or friends to any other casters who cross their paths.

When not in service to an arcane spellcaster, malkins live on the outskirts of society. Like the domestic cats they descend from, they are carnivores that feed primarily on small game. Malkins have a fondness for creature comforts, and may sneak into town to steal what they cannot get lawfully. In humanoid form, a malkin resembles a particularly fur-covered catfolk, although catfolk usually dislike malkins—their criminal antics and disdainful attitude towards clothing tend to give catfolk a bad reputation.  

Malkins can be of any alignment, although they tend towards chaotic alignments. They advance by class level, with rogue and witch being the most common classes among them. Malkins know the struggles a familiar can suffer under a neglectful or cruel master—malkin spellcasters frequently dote on and pamper their familiars.

Image © Instagram user atzin90, accessed at Reddit here

[Aquatic Cat Number 2, and one I’m going out on a limb with. The only source I have for the dinama is the Reddit post linked above, as the mythology of the Talamancan people of Costa Rica isn’t readily available online, and much of the published work is in Spanish. Still, the information on Reddit is at least consistent with the other Talamancan stuff I could find, and the account passes my sniff test. Like, when cryptozoologists make up stuff about Indigenous beliefs, they minimize the supernatural elements to make it seem more like a “real animal”. But the combination of a blood drinking cat with prehensile tails, Predator-level camouflage and a death curse that can be broken by eating its poop, and also it can turn into a crab sometimes, is so wild that it has the ring of authenticity.]

Dinama CR 9 NE Magical Beast This creature resembles a saber-toothed cat, except that its paws are webbed and it has two long, prehensile tails. Its fur shifts colors, blending in with its environment.

A dinama is a cruel semi-aquatic feline with red hot blood and magical powers. They are blood feeders, and find the blood of humanoids the most satisfying. Most dinama plan their attacks to be shocking and destructive, using their power of water control to break bridges and dams, dry up fishing spots and cause mudslides for the purposes of mass suffering as well as to drive people away from their homes and to the monster’s lair. Dinamas usually hide away in tight spots, transforming themselves into a Tiny crab and sleeping in a crack or crevice.

The fur of a dinama acts as a sort of mirror that reflects the environment around them and makes them nearly transparent. This allows them to sneak up on their prey, which they then grab with their twin tails and constrict. Blood is drunk from the victim during this time, particularly at the elbows, knees and forehead. If a prey item is durable enough to survive a round or two of feeding, the dinama abducts them, leaving them unconscious but alive and feeding from them for several days before abandoning their desiccated body. Slaying a dinama does not end the threat it poses, as it inflicts a curse that heats up their slayer’s blood without bestowing the same protection against fire as the dinama possesses.

Image © instagram user zarva_barroso, accessed at deskgram here

[Commissioned by @wannabedemonlord, from the Iberian creature collection. The mythological version is a hybrid of a cat and a marten, which blinds and kills its marten mother upon being born. My version has a little of this flavor, but makes them its own creature. They’re also less explicitly misogynistic than the original, which is said to help men and attack women on sight.]

Monuca CR 4 CE Magical Beast This creature resembles a cross between a cat and a weasel, but is larger than both. It is garishly colored, with a white head, purple tail, and bands of red, blue and black along its body. Its eyes glitter like gemstones.

A monuca is a cruel and fickle creature that manipulates the strands of fate in order to aid its hunting and grant itself sick amusement. Although they are intelligent creatures, they enjoying playing at being dumb beasts in order to lull humanoids into a false sense of security, or even to allow itself to be taken in as a pet. For days at a time, they will subtlety alter the fortunes of a chosen individual to build their hope and confidence, only to steal it away cruelly at an inopportune moment. They enjoy blinding creatures with their claws, leaving them disfigured but alive to contemplate their misfortune.

In combat, a monuca typically takes a moment to grant itself the favor of fortune before pouncing. Vain and obsessed with their own beauty, monucas will often attack the enemy with the finest clothes, the prettiest eyes or some other striking feature before turning to other targets. A monuca can simultaneously hex foes with ill luck while fighting in melee, and frequently does so. Their claws are dagger-keen, and can tear the eyes from an enemy on a lucky strike. They are creatures with a high self-regard, and so flee from fights they cannot win, vowing revenge as they do so.

Monucas are solitary hunters, and rarely associate with each other except to mate. Children are always born twins, and are born without eyes. In the one selfless act a mother monuca ever makes, she allows her children to tear her eyes out and put them in their own skulls, which grants them sight and gives them time to grow their second eye. The mother monuca will regrow her eyes in time, but she is vulnerable in this state and typically spends her month or so of blindness tucked away in a remote cave.

A monuca grows to four feet long, half of which is their tail. They typically live fifty years or so.

“monster : bloodsports 6″ © deviantArt user Kolsga, accessed at her deviantArt gallery here

[Commissioned by @justicegundam82​. The gigat is a Lombard monster about which I could find very little. What I could find suggested that it was a regional variation of Il Gatto Mammone, a giant cat that appears as a bogey in some Italian stories and as a magical helper in others. That name suggested the link to devils that I pursued in my flavor text.]

Gigat CR 6 LE Magical Beast This creature resembles an oversized cat, with a long slender body. Its ears are tufted and it has a beard-like mane. Ridges of bone run along its sides and spine.

Gigats are monstrous felines that conceal their kills with magical darkness. Most gigats lair in mountainous caves and descend to paths and villages on cloudy or moonless nights in order to hunt. They prefer humanoid prey to other kinds, and often attack travelers, beggars or other people whose disappearances will not attract too much attention. They can see perfectly well in magical darkness, and usually use that to blind foes. A gigat can cause darkness to solidify into a reflection of its own claws, slashing at faraway foes to provide distractions while it grabs and drags off its chosen victim.

A gigat is sapient despite its bestial appearance, although they are not as intelligent as the average human. Their origins are suspected of being tied to Hell, as they can see in magical darkness, resist fire and speak the language of devils. They view devils with instinctual respect, and may serve them in their plots on the Material Plane. Gigats collect treasure, and bribery with gifts and food is a key component of gigat courtship. Unsurprisingly given their association with darkness, they do not favor brightly colored or shiny items, and the treasures they collect are more likely to have interesting textures or smells.

A gigat grows to about ten feet long, with a third of that length being their bushy tails. Both males and females grow manes, but the males’ manes tend to be larger.

Guess what y’all? Thylacosmilu wasn’t a saber-toothed cat analogue. It has a whole suite of features that don’t mix well with that lifestyle, and give no obvious indication as to its lifestyle:

The canine teeth were more resistant to pulling force than puncturing, so it probably wasn’t using its teeth in the same way Smilodon did (i.e. using them to kill prey via stabbing)

The bite force is not very high

It had strong neck musculature, but it seems to have been used for stabilizing the head on the neck - not striking

It can open its jaws absurdly wide - potentially good for getting a good grip on large carcasses

The blunted macrowear on the postcanine teeth suggest it wasn’t specialized for shearing flesh

But tooth microwear indicates that, like the cheetah, it only ate soft foods. This and

It had no upper incisors, which might have made it impossible for it to tear pieces of prey

The lack of upper incisors and a vaulted palate suggest it might have had a large tongue?

The postcrania seems to suggest it wasn’t particularly good at either ambush predation or long-distance chases

And it did not have retractable claws like carnivoran saber-tooths

“River Cat, or Leon del Lago” © deviantArt user Viergacht, accessed at his gallery here

[They might not be as famous as hairy hominids or lake monsters, but mystery cats are probably just as diverse in cryptozoological lore. They range in plausibility from ABCs, or Alien Big Cats (at least some of the wild cats reported in Britain were demonstrably real animals) all the way to water tigers and water lions. Personally, I think the idea that saber toothed cats have survived in the rivers of South America and Africa has more to do with colonialism (much like living dinosaurs, “primitive” animals get placed in “primitive” countries) than with actual science. But Viergacht’s speculative take on an aquatic descendant of the jaguarundi is very cool, and I wanted to make statistics for it. I chose the aypa from the many names for water tigers because it’s said to have scales, which matches the beaver-like tail in the image.]

Aypa CR 3 N Animal This creature looks something like a cross between a cat and an otter. It has a long skull and eyes near the top of its head, a thick tail with scaly skin, and oversized canine teeth.

Aypa, also known as river cats, are large felines that have evolved to a fill a semi-aquatic niche, similar to that of crocodilians. They are common in waters where caimans and crocodiles are not, and these cats compete fiercely with them where their ranges overlap. An aypa is a generalist predator. Land-bound prey is grabbed when it comes to the water’s edge and dragged in to be drowned or torn apart, whereas aquatic prey is chased down in the water. River cats rarely pursue terrestrial prey, as they are slow on land compared to other cats.

Aypa are sexually dimorphic, with the males being larger than the females. Females build dens out of sticks and mud, something like an oversized beaver lodge, in which to raise their cubs. Males are constantly on the move, and their territories usually overlap several smaller female territories. Males are much more aggressive in territorial defense than the females are, and as such usually have shorter lifespans.

Aypa as Animal Companions Use the statistics for a big cat, except that it has a land speed of 30 feet and a swim speed of 40 feet. An aypa has the hold breath special quality as a level 1 animal companion and does not gain a rake attack. At level 7, an aypa animal companion gains smother as a special attack.

“River Cat, or Leon del Lago” © deviantArt user Viergacht, accessed at his gallery here

[They might not be as famous as hairy hominids or lake monsters, but mystery cats are probably just as diverse in cryptozoological lore. They range in plausibility from ABCs, or Alien Big Cats (at least some of the wild cats reported in Britain were demonstrably real animals) all the way to water tigers and water lions. Personally, I think the idea that saber toothed cats have survived in the rivers of South America and Africa has more to do with colonialism (much like living dinosaurs, “primitive” animals get placed in “primitive” countries) than with actual science. But Viergacht’s speculative take on an aquatic descendant of the jaguarundi is very cool, and I wanted to make statistics for it. I chose the aypa from the many names for water tigers because it’s said to have scales, which matches the beaver-like tail in the image.]

Aypa CR 3 N Animal This creature looks something like a cross between a cat and an otter. It has a long skull and eyes near the top of its head, a thick tail with scaly skin, and oversized canine teeth.

Aypa, also known as river cats, are large felines that have evolved to a fill a semi-aquatic niche, similar to that of crocodilians. They are common in waters where caimans and crocodiles are not, and these cats compete fiercely with them where their ranges overlap. An aypa is a generalist predator. Land-bound prey is grabbed when it comes to the water’s edge and dragged in to be drowned or torn apart, whereas aquatic prey is chased down in the water. River cats rarely pursue terrestrial prey, as they are slow on land compared to other cats.

Aypa are sexually dimorphic, with the males being larger than the females. Females build dens out of sticks and mud, something like an oversized beaver lodge, in which to raise their cubs. Males are constantly on the move, and their territories usually overlap several smaller female territories. Males are much more aggressive in territorial defense than the females are, and as such usually have shorter lifespans.

Aypa as Animal Companions Use the statistics for a big cat, except that it has a land speed of 30 feet and a swim speed of 40 feet. An aypa has the hold breath special quality as a level 1 animal companion and does not gain a rake attack. At level 7, an aypa animal companion gains smother as a special attack.

(Caracal Sphinx by tashcrow on deviantart)

(As may become apparent later, I love big cats and I love cat monsters, especially sphinxes and manticores. Chiosites, pronounced key-os-ites, are an attempt to make a playable race of such creatures. Obviously, they do not have the humanoid body plan of most species, but I think that's fine to play with, and gave them dexterous hands to cast spells and carry weapons with.

The term bi-quad, by the way, is stolen from Jay Eaton, aka @jayrockin)

Chiosites are a strange folk who have the head and chest of a humanoid, but the body of a large cat. They are posited to be related to lamia or sphinxes, maftets or manticores, though these more powerful beasts all deny relation to the chiosites, who they see as “lesser”. Traditionally, chiosites walk quadrupedally, but are capable of walking bipedally and using their hands to manipulate and hold items; chiosites who live among humanoids and use their armor and weaponry typically prefer to do so.

Chiosite culture is isolationist and scholarly, preferring to live in prides in the wilderness or in ruins, with a rich oral tradition. In particular, chiosites often live alongside a sphinx, who is revered and trusted. Sphinxes are typically fond of their pride, but keep them at an arm’s length. Other prides may similarly worship a manticore, or fall in line with lamia. Chiosites have a concept of the Wanderer, a member of their culture who chooses to leave their community to gather knowledge and refine the pride’s philosophy; most chiosite adventurers belong to this role.