Kitsune

The trackers followed their guide long and deep into the woods. Foolishly, they ignored the arch formed of willow branches. Foolishly, they paid no heed to the ring of mushrooms through which they strode. It was only when the woman stood before them atop the skinned bodies of her beloved kin, a multitude of amber-furred tails alight in witch-flame, that the hunters realized their mistake, their crime, and their sentence.

-- Ren Kurama, Nine Tales of the Wuxian East

Trickster spirits and self-proclaimed guardians of nature, the Kitsune have beguiled and befuddled superstitious mortals since the invention of superstition itself. Kitsune famously share a mutual rivalry with Elves, both believing themselves to be the "true" wardens of the world's forested places. Elves look down on the Kitsune's oblique methods and apparent cruelty. Kitsune see Elves as a young upstart race -- which galls the eldest among them to no end.

Trickster Spirits

Kitsune shift regularly between the humanoid form of their adulthood and the animalistic form of their youth, treating neither as superior or more fitting than the other. Most commonly when dealing with other races, they maintain a "True Form" that balances aspects between them.

Duplicitous or vengeful Kitsune tend to remain in one form or another to lure prey into a trap, not revealing their true power until it is too late to escape.

Guardians of Secret Places

Kitsune have holy sites dotted all over the world, saturated in the power of the wild pantheon most Kitsune revere. Intruders into these places are typically allowed to pass unmolested if they are ignorant of the wild gods or non-malevolent toward nature. However, known despoilers of nature, such as hunters and loggers, tend to attract unwanted attention if they stumble upon a Kitsune shrine.

Kitsune Names

Kitsune take their names from the tradition of eastern Wuxian territories, where the race was first birthed. Kitsune names are typically two syllables at least (though they can certainly grow longer) and end in a single vowel.

Male Names: Aito, Daisuke, Goku, Hideo, Ikki, Josuke, Jotaro, Noritaka, Obito, Ranma, Tomo, Yoshiko

Female Names: Akatsuki, Kaiya, Mao, Naoko, Natsuko, Nozomi, Rei, Ryuko, Sachi, Tamiko, Umeko, Yoko

Neutral Names: Akira, Hikaru, Kakashi, Kurama, Matoi, Rena, Saotome, Sora, Uzumaki

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Kitsune Traits

Your Kitsune character boasts a number of unique features befitting their fey heritage.

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Charisma score increases by 1.

Age. Kitsune reach adulthood (and sentience) after living for 100 years as a mundane fox. After becoming enlightened, Kitsune are effectively immortal.

Alignment. Kitsune are usually Chaotic, being a race of tricksters and mischief-makers. Common Kitsune have no conception of good or evil as mortals understand it, and therefore trend toward Neutral.

Size. In their true form, Kitsune stand over 6 feet tall, weighing up to 200 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 35 feet.

Languages. You can speak Common and Sylvan.

Shapechanger. You can shift between a humanoid form, an animal form, and your True Form as an action. Your True Form is a multi-tailed vulpine humanoid. Your humanoid form is a disguise mimicking a medium humanoid race of your choice. Your animal form is a canine beast, typically a fox.

All forms retain an identifying feature such as eye color, hair color, or a scar. Changing shape this way does not change your statistics. Taking damage causes you to revert to your True Form.

Predator's Vision. Your vulpine aspect grants you superior vision when tracking prey in poor light conditions. You can perfectly see any creature within 100 feet that has moved since your last turn, unless your vision is blocked by a magical effect.

Mystic Tail. The Kitsune's tail is a highly magical part of their body. At 1st level, a Kitsune has one tail. Every two levels afterward, they grow another tail, until their ninth at 17th level. Kitsune can cause all of their tails to vanish when in humanoid form, and all but one in True Form or animal form.

As a bonus action, you may cause the tips of any number of your tails to flare with blue flame which projects dim light up to 30 feet. The next time a ranged, melee, or spell attack you make hits, you may cause any number of flaming tails to extinguish, and add that much damage to the attack. You can use each of your tails like this once per long rest.