On May 14, 2018 Unearthed Arcana released Centaur’s and Minotaur’s for play testing.

I wrote about that in PC Race: Centaurs and Centaurides.

Centaurs have a historical mythos, but there’s a long time monstrous race for D&D, the Wemic. Body of a lion, but at the neck the torso of a human – with lion head.

First seen in AD&D 1982, then created as a playable character race in 1993 in The Complete Book of Humanoids, the Wemic is far more ingrained than the Tabaxi which was first seen in Maztica (1991).

And here I present my thoughts towards Wemic’s for 5th Edition:

Wemics

Wemic’s are nomadic hunters who are nature-oriented peoples with a rich tradition of oral history; they live close to the earth and follow the herds they hunt for food.

Wemic Traits

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 1 and your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Age

The lifespan of a Centaur is equivalent of a human.

Alignment

Wemic favor nature over civilization. As such, they tend towards neutral to chaotic.

Size

From head to rump the average wemic is 8-12 feet long, while standing erect they are only 6 to 7 feet tall. They are known to weigh between 670 and 780 pounds. Your size is large.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 40 feet.

Languages

You can speak Sylvan and Common.

Feline Talents

You have proficiency in the Perception and Stealth skills.

Claws

Your claws allow you to have a climb speed of 30 feet. Your claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Feline Agility. your reflexes and agility allow you to move with a burst of speed. When you move on your turn in combat, you can double your speed until the end of the turn. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you move 0 feet on one of your turns.

Subspecies

Prairie and Plain Wemics (Liontaur or Panthera-Taur)

The feline part of a plain’s wemic is similar to lions, tigers, leopards, jaguar, and snow leopards.

Ability Score Increase.

Your Strength score increases by an additional 1.

Pounce

If you moves at least 20 ft. straight toward a creature and then hits it with an Attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC = (8 + Strength + Proficiency) or be knocked prone.

Mountain Wemic (Coutaur or Pumataur)

The feline aspects are those of a large cougar. They are slightly smaller than Liontaurs and tend to be solitary or in only small family groups.

Ability Score Increase.

Your Dexterity score increases by an  additional 1.

Leaping and Jumping.

With a 10-foot running start, you can long jump up to 25 ft. Without the running start you can leap 12 feet.

When you make a high jump, with a 10-foot running start, you leap 10 feet into the air. From a standing high jump you leap 5 feet into the air.

You can extend your arms half your height above yourself during the jump. Thus, you can reach above you a distance equal to the height of the jump plus 1½ times your height. Which is can be a 12-18 feet reach.

Nine Lives.

You have resistance to damage taken from falling.

Sources

The Complete Book of Humanoids (2nd edition) (1993)

3rd Edition Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerun (2001)

Volo’s Guide to Monsters (2016)