Rangers are those individuals across the realms who have devoted themselves to the cause of defending civilization. That doesn’t mean any single civilization in particular necessarily, nor does it mean it comes at the expense of the wilderness. Almost like the druids they sometimes associate with, rangers tend to prefer a balance and focus on protecting people. This requires a set of skills, usually including a keen eye. 

This makes the Tabaxi well suited to life as rangers, especially adventuring rangers, given that a tabaxi might not want to stay in any one place for too long. So how does a tabaxi become the best ranger he or she can be? We’ll show you!

The Tabaxi race can be found in Volo’s Guide to Monsters. Click here to pick up your own copy of Volo’s Guide to Monsters!

The Ranger class can be found in the Player’s Handbook OR an updated version can be found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Click here to pick up your own copy of the Player’s Handbook OR click here to pick up your own copy of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything!

How to Make a Tabaxi Ranger

As a tabaxi with a great natural boost to dexterity, it’s going to be our first priority. Wisdom ranks second, powering our class features and our few spells, then constitution, strength, intelligence, and charisma afterward in that order. 

Our tabaxi ranger will choose the archery fighting style and should choose between the Beast Master, Fey Wanderer, Hunter, or Swarmkeeper subclasses (Ranger Archetypes). Swarmkeeper is particularly useful in being able to move you as a tabaxi even more than just your Feline Agility and granting you additional spells, however, if you’re after damage, it is recommended to choose Hunter instead, whereas Fey Wanderer would make for a more support oriented ranger.

How to Play a Tabaxi Ranger

Rangers are fantastic at dealing damage. With our +2 dexterity bonus, and our archery fighting style, our tabaxi will make a fantastic archer. Archers do their best work at range, so you’ll want to stay out of melee unless it can’t be helped. 

The rules on drawing and stowing weapons in D&D might not work in your favor, but this is why we prioritized strength as our third ability; tabaxi have the Cat’s Claws feature, allowing us to use 1d4 + strength mod as our unarmed strikes if foes are able to close the distance somehow. This is not preferable, mind you, but it’s better than the alternative. Use your spells to make sure you’re a step ahead of your opposition and ensure that you control the battlefield.

How to Roleplay as a Tabaxi Ranger

In previous articles related to rangers, I’ve noted that they can be members of organizations or work for different societies rather than being rogues unto themselves in the wilderness. 

An interesting roleplay draw for the tabaxi however, comes from their culture. Tabaxi typically live on a tropical island continent. Were they a ranger in their homeland? If so, what sort of danger inspired them to leave? Was the transition difficult for them? 

Consider what your character’s previous experiences mean for how they act today.