Dragon Vol. V, No.

12

by Robert Plamondon

FREQUENCY: Rare DESCRIPTION and die, while the cautious survive to

NO. APPEARING: 1-1000 Kzinti look something like great cat: perpetuate the race.
ARMOR CLASS: Variable standing on their hind legs. They are In spite of this kamikaze attitude, the
(9 if unarmored) heavier than cats, however, weighing kzinti are capable of putting together
MOVE: 18” about five hundred pounds. They stand well organized and well trained armies.
HIT DICE: 4+4 eight feet tall on straight legs, and have Kzinti like warfare, and they’re very good
% IN LAIR: 20% hands instead of paws, orange fur, hair- at it. Their eagerness works against them
TREASURE TYPE: C less pink tails, and retractable claws. in one respect; they always seem to at-
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2 Kzinti are carnivores, preferring fresh- tack before they’re ready.
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6/1-6 killed meat; when possible they eat their Kzinti females are at best semi-intelli-
or by weapon prey before it has had time to cool below gent; females from the primitive culture
SPECIAL ATTACKS: None body temperature. discovered on. Ringworld can speak a
SPECIAL DEFENSES: None Kzinti males are very strong, very fast, few words; those in the modern world of
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard and have incredible stamina. This means Kzin described in RINGWORLD and
INTELLIGENCE: Very that they make impressive opponents; THE RING WORLD ENGINEERS are so
ALIGNMENT: Lawful Evil they can carry heavy armor and still unintelligent that they do not speak at
SIZE: L (8’ tall) move faster than human infantry, and all.
PSIONIC ABILITY: See below they can do it for longer periods of time. Kzinti females apparently are rather
Attack/Defense Modes: See below Kzinti tend to go berserk when threa- helpless physically, also. Thus, they
tened; their instinctive reaction to hostile need constant protection and attention
Kzinti were discovered by science- creatures is to instantly attack them, from the males.
fiction author Larry Niven, and revealed whether they can win or not. This ten- There are about three females for ev-
to the rest of the universe in short stories dency becomes less pronounced after ery male in cultures where warriors die a
and his novels, RlNGWORLD, and THE the kzinti lose a few wars, as the most lot (as they would in a D&D setting). In
RINGWORLD ENGINEERS. enthusiastic warriors rush to the front more placid situations the ratio will ap-
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June 1981 Dragon
proach one-to-one. The females will The modern kzinti society has an ex- guessed it) dungeons, abandoned cas-
have from three to six young each. tremely rigid structure; kzinti of low sta- tles, and other crumbling structures.
A little arithmetic will reveal that of the tus have no names, and are called by This is where adventurers most often
kzinti population, only four to eight per- their profession. As a kzin gains status, meet kzinti.
cent are adult males. The males will have he may be given a partial name — one Magic-seeking kzinti are not always
their work cut for them; they have a lot of kzinti warship commander was called hostile to adventurers. They respect
mouths to feed and bodies to protect. Chuft-Captain —or, if he does very well, Fighters and Clerics of reasonably high
he may be awarded a full name, which level, and fear and respect Magic-Users.
ARRIVAL IN D&D WORLDS contains no reference to profession. They despise Thieves and Assassins,.
Several hundred years ago there lived Social status also corresponds with and think Monks are crazy.
a magician of such extraordinary powers superior fighting ability. A kzin with a Kzinti tend to think of adventurers en-
that he had partial control of several partial name will have 6+4 hit dice, and countered in dungeons as good cannon
gods. As is typical of magicians of ex- one with a full name will have 8+4 dice. fodder. They especially like to send par-
traordinary powers, he wanted to rule Since names mean status, a kzin with a ty members ahead to find traps the hard
the world. He commanded the gods to name is a big cheese, perhaps corres- way. They can sometimes be persuaded
deliver to him intelligent monsters that ponding to a Count or Earl in human to treat everyone more or less as equals
could help him conquer the world. The feudal society. A kzin with a partial name if there’s someone in. the party they
gods wanted to deliver them in such a would correspond to a Baron. Kzinti respect.
way as to kill the magician. They were without names would have status equal Kzinti treasure hunters can be in any
tired of being ordered around. to that of a Knight if they are from a kind of armor, including none, and carry
The specs he listed fit kzinti pretty civilized region, yeoman if they are from any kind of weapon, from claws to ballis-
well. The gods bargained with other a more primitive area. tae. Their equipment will generally cor-
gods, who in turn dickered with other, Kzinti culture does NOT correspond respond to the military gear common
more outlandish gods, who then dealt closely to human feudalism, but the hu- with the nearest kzinti settlement.
with truly bizarre, alien gods, who, in re- mans who encounter kzinti will try to de-
turn for godly favors delivered a hundred fine kzinti social status in human RELIGION
square miles of Kzin, complete with flo- terms, and vice versa, and will convert Kzinti religion underwent considera-
ra, fauna, two hundred feet of dirt and each other’s relative ranks accordingly. ble revision after the kzinti were dumped
rock, and five thousand puzzled kzinti. About the only way for a kzin from a into the D&D multiverse, as the kzinti
The wizard survived the sky falling on non-aristocratic family to get a name is gods had sold them out.
him, but lost most of his troops and mag- to do something spectacular. “Winning a Searching for suitable gods, many
ic items. The kzinti were looking for and name for yourself” has great signifi- kzinti found the Lawful Evil group (As-
found the wizard. Three thousand kzinti cance to kzinti. Young kzinti warriors are modeus, Baal, et al) the most suitable.
died before the wizard, who after all had continually searching for a suitable They do not particularly trust these alien
extraordinary powers, was rent into bite- quest to attempt in order to win a name. gods, however, since they suspect that
sized morsels. Score one for kzinti reck- Many kzinti quests center around the gods don’t really care about them.
lessness. gaining magic items. Kzinti are impressed The kzinti tend to suspect they’re being
The kzinti were confused by their by magic, but can’t seem to learn how to used, and they don’t like it.
strange surroundings, but they could cast spells, so their magic is limited to Since these gods are primarily inter-
take that. They were also puzzled by the using enchanted items. ested in humanoid creatures, the kzinti
failure of their old gods to respond to To get these enchanted items, kzinti clergy decided to misrepresent them-
their prayers, and they were very con- go singly or in small groups to (you selves as humans to their new gods, by
cerned.
They found magic. They’d never had
magic before, and it fascinated and
frightened them. Regardless, the kzinti
resolved to extend their dominion all
over the world and subjugate all of the
intelligent races.
Centuries passed, and the kzinti now
control a large portion of the major con-
tinent, and have enslaved many tribes of
Orcs, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Kobolds, Li-
zard Men, Ogres, Gnolls, Trolls, and
Men. Elves and Dwarves they cannot
enslave, though entire clans have been
exterminated.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
As kzinti females are unintelligent, all
kzinti social structures and pantheons
are patriarchal in nature.
All adult male kzinti are warriors. They
are by nature hunters, and enjoy hunting
and fishing immensely — duels among
themselves are common, although the
formality of human dueling is unknown;
the combatants leap to engage with each
other without bothering to choose se-
conds.
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 Dragon Vol. V, No. 12

wearing masks of human skin during to twelve families per square mile, as- rob and eat small parties, take tolls from
church ceremonies. This is similar to the suming everyone was on an all-meat medium-sized groups, and leave large
Kdapist heresy described in RING- diet. Subsistence farming could support ones alone. Merchants going through
WORLD. These masks are used by the 50 or more families per square mile. The areas inhabited by wild kzinti usually pay
kzinti priests as holy symbols in spelt kzinti will always be outnumbered. an annual tribute, in return for which the
casting; masks made from the facial skin Even so, there is much that the kzinti kzinti guard their caravans. Kzinti like
of a Good Cleric are considered the most can do to boost their population density. protection rackets. Payment is in coin or
potent. A major strategem will be to take slaves trade goods; wild kzinti are too proud to
to raise grain for animal feed, which will accept livestock as payment; they think
MAGIC USE allow more cattle in a fixed area. Tribute it reflects unfavorably on their hunting
Kzinti are unable to cast spells of any in cattle and grain will be exacted from ability.
kind; their magic use is limited to using neighboring countries whenever possi- Wild kzinti normally wear no armor,
enchanted items, and occasional special ble. and use no weapons other than their
dispensation from the gods. This dis- The kzinti also have the charming hab- claws. Because of the extremely low
pensation will be very limited in scope; it of eating members of the slave races population density of wild kzinti, they
for example, one kzinti priest was given (although Kobolds and Lizard Men will are rarely organized into formal military
the ability to cast lightning bolts once escape the honor, being cold-blooded units. Civilized kzinti, on the other hand,
per day, but he had no other spells. and thus inedible as far as kzinti are con- have a highly developed military organi-
cerned). Slaves can thus form a good zation.
PSIONICS backup food supply in the event that dis-
Kzinti are known to have psionic abili- ease or drought reduces the animal KZINTI MILITARY
ty similar to that of humans. One kzin in population. The kzinti military organization resem-
five hundred has some psionic talent. bles that of the humanoid races. Differ-
Strength, attack and defense modes, etc. ences in outlook and size make the kzinti
are determined as in humans. A kzin with “WILD” KZINTI auxilaries rather unusual, but the regular
psionics rarely has to go adventuring to Most kzinti will live in a semi-feudal troops are organized in a fairly conven-
gain status, so they’re rarely encoun- society that concerns itself mostly with tional manner.
tered on dungeon expeditions. ranching and conquest. Some kzinti, Infantry: Kzinti infantry is very power-
however, are living the “natural life” in ful. Kzinti are almost as tall as Ogres, but
FOOD primitive hunting societies. are faster and smarter. Most kzinti ar-
Kzinti eat a lot. An adult male kzin These kzinti will usually live in small mies are composed of light, medium,
weighs in at around five hundred pounds, groups in forests. They will be semi- and heavy infantry.
and leads a very active life. Moving a nomadic of necessity, as kzinti will soon The light infantry is composed of kzin-
kzin’s body around all day takes a lot of hunt out any area in a relatively short ti who wear either leather armor (armor
energy. Feeding three females and nine time. class 7) or no armor at all. Weaponry
to eighteen young also takes a lot of Because a kzin who lives a claw-to- varies considerably; swords, axes, and
energy. Rough calculations indicate that mouth existence in the forest is in a c!aws are among the preferred weapons.
an adult male kzin needs fourteen much more vulnerable position than a Most kzinti light infantrymen carry javel-
pounds of fresh meat a day; and his fami- kzinti rancher under the protection of ins or longbows. Kzinti light infantry
ly needs another 125 pounds per day. the Patriarch, the wild kzinti are much moves 18” per turn, which means that
That’s about ten times the consumption less arrogant and xenophobic than their they are as fast as heavy cavalry.
of a comparable human family — and more civilized relatives. Kzinti medium infantry is the back-
humans can eat lots of things besides A wild kzin must hunt every day, and bone of most kzinti armies. Preferred
raw meat. while he is hunting, his family is left un- weapons are swords, axes, maces, and
Another problem is that the kzinti protected. Considering the creatures halberds. Kzinti with one-hand weapons
prefer their meat VERY fresh. It is diffi- that inhabit a typical D&D forest, this is a will carry large shields, and all will wear
cult for kzin to eat cold meat, and proba- highly undesirable state of affairs. Cart- armor—banded, chain, or plate—which
bly impossible for him to eat cooked or ing the whole family along on the hunt is is thicker than human armor. Armor
dried meat. Kzinti need to be close to a small improvement. Wild kzinti therefore classes, without shields, are AC 3, 2, 1
supply of live animals. lead a precarious existence unless they respectively. The shield drops armor
Kzinti population density is thus kept find strongholds, allies, or both. class by one, as usual.
low by the necessity of being near food One solution favored by many wild Medium infantry moves 12” per turn,
animals; Kzinti who live by raising cattle kzinti is to ally themselves with the Wood the same rate as human fight infantry.
on prime pastureland could achieve a Elves. This odd alliance has advantages Kzinti heavy infantry is truly awesome.
population density of two families per for both sides. The kzinti can leave their Armored in unbelievably heavy field
square mile — but only if there were no families tinder the protection of the plate, the heavy infantry lumbers along
bad years and no cattle died of disease. elves, which leaves them free to hunt. at 6” per turn, with an armor class of -2.
A realistic density would be one kzinti The elves gain valuable allies; they can They will use weapons suited to killing
family per square mile for PRIME pas- lounge around and drink wine all day armored opponents; halberds, lucerne
tureland; worse land would have fewer while the kzinti take care of all the nasty hammers, maces, and two-handed
kzinti per square mile. forest critters. The kzinti don’t under- swords.
As one final complication, kzinti aren’t stand the elves attitude, but respect These are typical kzinti regular troops.
temperamentally suited to caring for them for their fighting ability and for The deficiency in archers in all but the
animals. A kzin would kill any domestic their magic. light infantry can be attributed to kzinti
animal that bothered him, and soon Wild kzinti tend to a more neutral eagerness to get into the fray; archers
there would be no animals left. A kzin alignment, partly because of the elves’ are considered to be useful mainly in
has to have slaves to tend his animals, influence, and partly because the wild ambush and siege, and are thus classed
which screws up their population densi- kzinti are in a rotten position to do much as auxiliary troops.
ty even more. evil. They have enough problems. Cavalry: Kzinti can’t ride horses;
In contrast, humans could realistically Even so, adventurers often find that they’re too heavy. They understand the
expect prime pastureland to support ten wild kzinti like to accost travelers. They value of cavalry, however, and looked for
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June 1981 Dragon

a good substitute for horses. They chose tacking a fort that they can’t take is a HUMANOID AUXILIARIES
mastodons. favorite trick in the border countries. If a country is strong enough to suc-
Mastodons are mean, nasty, vicious, cessfully resist kzinti invasion, the kzinti
and hard to tame, but so are kzinti. The DRAGONS will sometimes put forward an offer of
kzinti eventually tamed large numbers of Kzinti LIKE dragons, especially talk- alliance. These countries will gain the
mastodons for use in war. A large mas- ing dragons. Dragons are everything a advantage of having a secure border
todon can carry two kzinti into battle. kzin wants to be: big, fierce, arrogant, with the kzinti and the promise of kzinti
Some mastodons are armored in studd- and magical. Kzinti and dragons get aid if their lands are threatened. In re-
ed leather barding; these can carry a along fine. Kzinti like to have dragons as turn, they must send their troops if the
single kzin. Unarmored mastodons are air cover in battles. Dragons like to have kzinti are threatened.
armor class 6, and move at 15” per turn, the kzinti deliver succulent human maid- Thus, in many battles with kzinti, hu-
armored mastodons are armor class 3, ens to them every day and twice on Sun- man and humanoid auxiliaries make up a
and move 12“ per turn. days. It works out. large part of the kzinti forces. These
Kzinti lancers on mastodons probably This kzinti-dragon alliance results in troops are under the command of their
make the world’s best shock cavalry, but dragons showing up for kzinti battles, own leaders, and can sometimes be per-
don’t make up a large portion of the typically one dragon for every two hun- suaded to desert the kzinti before or dur-
army, because of the huge cost in up- dred fifty to one thousand kzinti. It can ing the battle.
keep (pachyderms have the world’s most also work the other way; many dragon Auxiliary units are less controllable
inefficent digestive system, and eat lairs have kzinti guards, either regular than kzinti or slave units, since they are
enormous amounts of food). Figure troops or wild kzinti who use the lair as a not directly under kzinti command. They
about one mastodon for every ten to one safe (for them) base. Dragons will also sometimes ignore orders and battle
hundred warriors. take a couple of kzinti with them when plans in order to gain some advantage
they decide to destroy a hamlet, since for themselves. They often stop to plund-
SUPPLY the kzinti are more effective at looting er a baggage train when they’re needed
Kzinti armies are plagued with supply elsewhere, for example.
problems. Although they can often SLAVE TROOPS
stretch supplies by eating dead and Slave races can usually provide the CONCLUSIONS
wounded humans on the battlefield, they kzinti with cannon fodder for their cam- Kzinti have been used for several
still must either drive great herds of cat- paigns. Humans and Orc auxiliaries are months in the author’s campaigns, and
tle wherever they go, or spend most of the most common, but the kzinti will use all of the encounters with them have
their time foraging. In many battles with whatever they can get, including Trolls been interesting (the party has always
kzinti, the main objective of the oppos- and Ogres. won, but maybe next time...). In my cam-
ing army was to separate the kzinti from These troops are organized into regu- paign, kzinti have filled a gap in the
their cattle. lar military units with kzinti officers. Mo- AD&D monster lineup by being nasty but
In addition to herd animals, kzinti rale is ten to twenty percent higher than very intelligent, vicious but organized.
supply trains will have many horse- normal for slave troops because they I’d also like to express my thanks to
drawn wagons for supplies and plunder. fear their officers more than the enemy. Larry Niven for his patience in answering
Kzinti like horses for their versatility; if Their weapons and armor will be those my questions, and for bringing us kzinti
there’s no work for the horse, it can al- normally used by soldiers of the slaves’ in the first place.
ways be eaten. races. Finally, remember that kzinti have hair-
Supply problems also make the kzinti In extreme situations the kzinti have trigger tempers. Calling a kzin nasty
lousy at conducting sieges that are any been known to eat slave soldiers. The names is dangerous; insulting his ances-
distance from home. They also have little Trolls are victimized first, since a Troll’s tors is fatal. Under no circumstances
patience, so they tend to storm fortifica- regeneration ability allows you to butch- should you call out to a kzin, “Here, kitty,
tions instead. Suckering kzinti into at- er him several times a day. kitty, kitty...”
19