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The Bastet are the latest addition to PoD playable factions. These are the "werecats", shapeshifting into lions, panthers and other felines to fulfill Mother Seline (and Gaia) mandate for this world.

And they do it much better than those mangy werewolves. At least they think they do. Cats are prideful creatures.

Bastet were created as the "all rounder" of the shapeshifting races, filling gaps using their versatile skillset.

Their love for secrets (including stealing them) and mighty pride makes them few friends and their solitary nature ended up costing them dearly. Unable to properly unite, they were defeated by the werewolves during the War of Rage and retreated in Africa and India, areas where wolves weren't a threat.

Tribes have mostly lost contact with each other and each of them is now more concerned with local matters than their duty to the Bastet Nation as a whole. It will take an extraordinary leader to unite them once again (you the player, I'm obviously pointing at you).

Each Bastet is born from one specific type of great cat. PoD will have the following:

• Bagheera: The panthers are the closest to humanity of the Bastet. They are renowned as wise judges and inquisitive spirits.

• Bubasti: The shadowcats of Egypt were once revered as Gods but their alliance with Horus against Set cost them dearly. Their Mummy allies and command of powerful sorceries might help save their last feline kin from slavery to the Setites.

• Ceilican : The maneless lions of Europe are long gone and many think the Ceilican long gone as well. The truth is even worse. Betrayed by their once Faerie allies, they are hunted as trophies with only a scant few of them remaining.

• Khan : The tigers of India are honorable warriors always looking for self improvement, be it spiritual or physical. Only a fool would mistake their hearty laugh and good nature for weakness however, tigers are still predators to their core.

• Simba : The lions are the self proclaimed rulers of the Bastet Nation. Regal, powerful and arrogant to an extreme, they are tyrants striving for the return of the age where lions were the true apex predator of this world.

• Swara : The cheetah are reclusive creatures. They don't concern themselves much with Bastet politics but take their duty as guardians of the sacred places very seriously, using their unmatched speed to intervene when one is threatened.

Players familiar with the World of Darkness might notice some missing tribes. Those tribes (like the Balam jaguars) are fully located in regions of the world not available in CK3, hence their omission.

In the World of Darkness, Bastet are part of the "Fera" group (the shapeshifting creatures). Werewolves are already a representative of this group so Garou players will find Bastet's gameplay familiar.

First, they come with a fancy new 3D model for their war form.

Much more majestic than the upstarts doggos for sure!

Gameplay wise, they have everything you expect from a new faction release in PoD.

Buildings: They share the kinfolk core set with the werewolves but the other half of their buildings (the Bastet only ones) are stronger. They require some court positions to be fulfilled by skilled characters however.

Dynasty Legacies: Bastet are divided by feline types, each of those has an unique dynasty legacy line.

Powers: Bastet have fleshed out new lifestyle trees divided between their breed (representing if they were first a human or a feline) and their feline type. They also can use the planetary gifts trees like their werewolves cousins.

Some of their final powers are especially strong but require specific decisions to be achieved first to be unlocked.

The most well guarded secret of the Bubasti. Those Ancient Egyptians really didn't like staying dead did they?

Fera core gameplay : They share immediate access to raiding, the pack training feature (though customized for them with new totems and actions) and ranking system (also customized for them as Bastet value other things than the Garou) with the other Fera (those being only the werewolves so far).

No, chasing the red dot won't give you rank xp.

Objectives: Each Bastet tribe starts with at least one objective that cements their claim on reuniting the Bastet Nation. Once achieved, the other tribes will put forth demands to participate in this grand endeavor. Once these five new objectives are completed, the Bastet Nation is whole once again and the storyline is complete.

Lions, tigers, panthers, lend me your furry ears!

Bookmark: Bastet have their own bookmark, with one representative for each tribe. From the easy Lion Tyrant Taa Mlimba in Sub-Saharan Africa to the very very hard last free Ceilican in Scotland, they should offer a challenge level adapted to your skill.

Or you could just try to play the very hard start for your first attempt and fail miserably. Cats won't judge you, they love trying to jump too far for their own good.

We hope you enjoy this catty (sorry) update!