Sand Cat

A bit bigger than a house cat, the sand cat is sandy brown with a darker brown tail tip and tall, pointed ears ending in long white tufts.

It hunts small mammals, not people, and will not attack a human or humanoid unless cornered or forced, but then it fights savagely. Being small and stealthy it imposes -1 on opponents' surprise rolls, while its sharp senses give it +1 on its own. With a running start it can spring 5 feet up and 10 feet ahead, striking with both forepaws; if both claws hit, its hind claws rake automatically for 1d2 each, and after that it bites and bats wildly. It usually flees anything stronger, but a mother leaves her kittens only to draw a threat away, and when defending young a sand cat gains +1 to THAC0 and damage.

A den is a family of two adults and kittens, two to seven cats depending on the season. Pairs mate for one season, and the male stays until the young mature at 10 months to a year. They prefer abandoned burrows for lairs but also use small caves or overhangs, occupying them only while raising young, with one adult always nearby. Fiercely territorial, they hunt 5 to 10 square miles at night, taking small mammals and seldom troubling bigger creatures.

Sand cats keep desert vermin in check, but people covet them too. Kittens taken young can be trained, and among desert and steppe tribes a hunting sand cat that runs down hares is a gift fit for khans and sheiks. Traders carry others to the cities to be sold as pets, savage and risky ones, for 500 to 2,000 gp per kitten.