Japanese mythology: 1-9 tailed Kitsune

[LordotTrinkets]

Kitsune
Type: Fey
Environment: Temperate Forests
Challenge Rating: 2 single-tail, 3 double-tail, 6 triple-tail, 8 four-tailed, 10 Five-tailed, 12 Six-tailed, 14 Seven-tailed, 16 Eight-tailed, 20 Nine-tailed
Alignment: Usually Good(any), occasionally Evil

Kitsune are a fox-like creature with innate magical powers and the ability to take on human form. They are know to be both cunning tricksters and loyal friends.



Age Category
HD
Size
Str
Dex
Con
Int
Wis
Cha
Initiative
BAB/Grapple
Attack
Fort
Ref
Will


Single-Tailed
2d6 (7)
T
4
15
10
13
10
14
+2
+1/-10
+0
+0
+5
+3


Double-Tailed
4d6(14)
T
4
15
10
13
10
16
+2
+2//-9
+1
+1
+6
+4


Triple-Tailed
6d6+6(29)
T
4
17
12
15
12
18
+3
+3/-8
+2
+3
+8
+6


Four-Tailed
8d6+8(38)
T
4
17
12
15
12
20
+3
+4/-7
+7
+3
+9
+7


Five-Tailed
10d6+20(57)
S
6
19
14
17
14
22
+4
+5/-1
+4
+5
+11
+9


Six-tailed
12d6+24(68)
S
10
19
14
17
14
26
+4
+6/+1/+2
+7/+2
+6
+12
+10


Seven-Tailed
14d6+42(93)
S
10
21
16
19
16
30
+5
+7/+2/+3
+8/+3
+7
+14
+12


Eight-Tailed
16d6+48(106)
S
10
21
16
19
16
32
+5
+8/+3/+4
+9/+4
+8
+15
+13


Nine-Tailed
18d6+72(137)
S
10
23
18
21
18
34
+6
+9/+4/+5
+10/+5
+10
+17
+15



Kitsune Abilities by Age



Age Category
Speed
Armor Class
Special Abilities
Caster Level
SR
Bite/Claw


Single-Tailed
20ft
16/13/15 (+2Size,+1 Dex,+3Natural)
Speak with Canines, FoxFire
2nd
-
1d3-3/1d2-3


Double-Tailed
25ft, 5ft Flight
18/13/17 (+2Size,+1Dex,+5Natural)
After-life, Manifesting, Magic Jar
4th
-
1d3-3/1d2-3


Three-Tailed
30ft, 10ft Flight
21/14/20 (+2Size,+2Dex,+7Natural)
Major Image, Broken Illusion
6th
15
1d3-3/1d2-3


Four-Tailed
35ft, 15ft Flight
23/14/22 (+2Size,+2Dex,+9Natural)
DR 5/Magic, Dominating Gaze
8th
17
1d3-3/1d2-3


Five-Tailed
40ft, 20ft Flight
25/14/22 (+1Size,+3Dex,+11Natural)
Mirage Arcana
10th
19
1d4-2/1d3-2


Six-Tailed
40ft, 25ft Flight
27/14/24 (+1Size,+3Dex,+13Natural)
DR 10/Cold Iron and Magic, Swaying Tail
12th
21
1d4/1d3


Seven-Tailed
45ft, 25ft Flight
30/15/26 (+1Size,+4Dex,+15Natural)
Dream
14th
23
1d4/1d3


Eight-Tailed
45ft, 25ft Flight
32/15/28 (+1Size,+4Dex,+17Natural)
Inner Sanctum
16th
25
1d4/1d3


Nine-Tailed
50ft, 30ft Flight
34/15/30 (+1Size,+5,+19Natural)
DR 15/Cold Iron and Magic, Omniscient
18th
27
1d4/1d3



Caster level: A Kitsune can cast spells as a sorcerer with a caster level equal to twice it’s number of tails.

Spell-like abilities (Su) -
3/day - Major Image (Five Tails), Dream (Eight Tails) 1/day - Mirage Arcana (Seven Tails)

Speak with Canines (Ex): A Kitsune may speak with any wolf or dog as though using a common language.

Foxfire (Su) - By swaying its tail around or rubbing its tails together, a Kitsune may create a massive ball of fire/electriciy (as flaming sphere) or make small little balls of lantern-like light (as dancing lights).

Afterlife (Su) - When a Kitsune has grown its second tail, it is able to join the heavenly hosts. 1d4+1 hours after it is slain, a Kitsune is brought back to life as a spirit (it gains the Incorporeal subtype). It can manifest on earth by either of these means.

Manifesting: An incorporeal Kitsune may choose to simply “appear” on the material plane. However, this puts stress on her and the area around her. All within 30ft (Including the Kitsune) are affected as though by a horrid wilting spell at a caster level equal to twice its number of tails every hour. While manifesting, a Kitsune is still an incorporeal creature.
A Kitsune, may be summoned by a planar ally spell appropriate for its HD. If summoned, treat the spirit as though it were manifesting.


Magic Jar: A Kitsune may possess a willing subject (often a human or a fox) as though with the magic jar spell. Doing so means that she is incapable of her spells or use her foxfire ability. Upon possession, a small white ball is formed, this contains the spirit of the host and all the Kitsune’s power that couldn’t fit into the new body. If this is destroyed before the Kistune leaves the host body, both the host’s spirit is lost and the Kitsune is forever trapped in a mortal body. This ball is Fine and has a hardness of 8, a break DC of 17, and number of Hit points that equal one quarter of the Kitsune's Hit points.

Broken Illusion (Su) - Monks and divine spell casters gain a +4 bonus on Will saves against any of a Kitsune’s Illusion and Enchantment spell-like abilities. If a Monk or divine spell caster were to touch a dominated creature or Illsuion crafted by a Kitsune, the Kitsune must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 Monk/Divine spell caster’s HD + Cha) followed by a second save (same DC) for an Illusion if the first save fails. If a Kitsune fails the first save, its Illusion/Enchantment is completely dispelled. If it fails the second Will save (Illusion only), the Kitsune becomes confused for 1d6 rounds, as what it sees as reality crumbles in front of it.

Dominating Gaze (Su) - A Kitsune can crush an opponent’s will just by looking onto his or her eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except that the Kitsune must use a standard action, and those merely looking at it are not affected. Anyone the Kitsune targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under the Kitsune’s influence as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 12th). The ability has a range of 30 feet. DC is Charisma-based

Swaying Tail - When it gains its sixth tail, a Kitsune may use its Dominating Gaze as an area effect with a range of 30ft by moving its tails in a mesmerizing fashion.

Inner Sanctum (Su) - The Kitsune is given its own private demi-plane. This demi-plane may have almost any quality the Kitsune wants, the only exception being that time must move at a faster pace than normal. It always has an entrance from the Material plane, which could be anywhere in size from a mile in radius to the size of a small piece of sawdust, it requires one day of concentration to change the size of the entrance. Nothing may enter this demi-plane unless the Kitsune it belongs to invites them in.

Omniscient (Su)- A Nine Tailed fox’s fur turns white and gold and it gains the power to see and hear anything on earth. It is aware of everything around it automatically gets a natural 20 on all Listen, Search, and Spot checks, it cannot be flanked, and it can cast Scying as an at-will ability

[AuraTwilight]

...So, why do kitsune get a breath weapon? That doesn't seem really true to the mythos.

[Tanuki Tales]

...So, why do kitsune get a breath weapon? That doesn't seem really true to the mythos.

The fire probably comes from "fox fire", but I can't speak for the lightning.

[LordotTrinkets]

...So, why do kitsune get a breath weapon? That doesn't seem really true to the mythos.

It's actually very true to the original mythology.
I looked it up and it's an actual supernatural ability of Kitsune (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsune). It's in the last paragraph under "shapechanging".

[AuraTwilight]

Er...? Kitsune-bi are usually portrayed as floating fireballs, speaking as someone who's been surrounded by these stories since childhood.

Not that a kitsune shouldn't be able to make streams of fire or lightning like you're implying, they certainly can. I just find the decision to represent kitsune as dragons as...kinda weird.

Not that that's a bad thing, though. It's pretty interesting.

[LordotTrinkets]

Yeah I thought that the breath-weapon was petty draconic too. Would you suggest a different way to represent this ability?

Are Kitsune-bi some sort of sub-species or are they an entirely different creature?

Also, do you recommend any books or anything that I could study to understand Japanese mythology better? I've wanted to learn more about it for a long time, but Wikipedia just doesn't give me enough information.

[AuraTwilight]

"Kitsune-bi" are literally the names of the fire-conjurations you're referencing. If you've ever seen artwork of a spirit fox or other youkai surrounded by floating flames, these are "Hitodama" (which also represent the human soul). In the specific context of a fox's floating foxfires, these are "Kitsune-bi", and they often use them for lanterns.

There is precedent for rubbing their tails together or breathing out streams of fire like your homebrew suggested, so it's not entirely a fabrication on your part of anything, I just don't feel it's quite as iconic, and right now the kitsune you present is just a reskinned True Dragon.

Since you reference Wikipedia, I'll recommend a better resource: http://www.cyberus.ca/~foxtrot/kitsune/kitsune1.htm

This is pretty much the best online resource I can find on the subject of kitsune, and I'm personally acquainted with the site-owner. I can vouch for their research.

[LordotTrinkets]

After reading that, I see why you're saying that my home-brew was a little too much like a true dragon. Thanks a lot for that link.

So let's see if I've got all of that straight.
Kitsune often take on the form of a fox or female human via possession of a willing body (most of the time), entering a corpse or unborn child, or being born into a mortal form by impregnating a woman. Their natural form is non-material, so that means it would have the (incorporeal) subtype.

They can make realistic-looking illusions and are often convinced that they're real, create little pocket dimensions with time traveling at a faster pace, dominate a mortal by making eye contact or making hypnotic patterns with its tails, possess the body of a willing human, and take on the appearance (but not the innate abilities) of any creature in nature.

They have a small little ball, and you can get a kistune to do whatever you want if you take it.

Anyone with a divine connection of any type is immune to a kitsune's illusions and can even destroy them by touching the mirage. Doing so often traumatizes the kitsune, as its reality has just collapsed.

Their number of tails signifies a kitsune's rank, age, or skill, but otherwise doesn't mean that I should give specific stats

Here's my second go at adapting these abilities to D&D:

Kitsune are a Outsiders (Native, Incorporeal, and possibly Spirit)
Spell-like abilities:
At will - Dancing lights, Flaming Sphere*
3/day - Major Image, Mirage Arcana, Polymorph
1/day - Magic Jar
1/week - Genesis
Kitsune have a caster level of 18
*The Kitsune may substitute this fire damage for electricity damage

Seduction (Sp) - This ability functions like the spell 'dominate person'. This can either be a gaze attack or be used as area effect with a range of 30ft. The saving throw is Charisma based.

Weakness (Su) - Monks and any character who can cast divine spells automatically succeed on their saving throws against the Kitsune's Illusion spells and Seduction ability. Additionally, they can also break a Kitsune's illusion with a mere touch and may grant an ally a second saving throw against the Kitsune's Seduction ability.

[AuraTwilight]

They do gain magical power based on the number of powers they have, with 9-tailers being almost omniscient, so the higher-end abilities can be reserved for the later tails.

I would also personally make kitsune into fey, since that's what Youkai basically are in Japanese mythology; the eastern equivalent to the fair folk. They're implied only to have the little ball when they're possessing someone, containing a portion of their power or soul so that they can 'fit' in the vessel.

Pathfinder represented the tails as feats, and one "Kitsune Paragon class" for a homebrew kitsune race I like has each level represent a tail. Shall I post those too?

[LordotTrinkets]

Pathfinder represented the tails as feats, and one "Kitsune Paragon class" for a homebrew kitsune race I like has each level represent a tail. Shall I post those too?

Yes please, the help is greatly appreciated.



I would also personally make kitsune into fey, since that's what Youkai basically are in Japanese mythology; the eastern equivalent to the fair folk.

I thought about that too, but went with Outsider(Native) because I thought it made more sense (I tend to consider Outsiders as spirits). Now that I really think of it though, since Outsiders are more philosophical spirits than nature spirits, I'll go with your suggestion. A Kitsune's mischievous personality does fall more in line with how Fey behave too.

[Tanuki Tales]

Actually, Youkai aren't inherently different from other mortal creatures, which is a big thing missed out when dealing with Japanese folklore. The whole "spirit" deal is that they represent a higher state of existence or enlightenment, above what a creature of their sort should possess. So just making them Magical Beasts would be acceptable.

[LordotTrinkets]

Yes, but the fact that they need to jump through hoops to manifest on the material world and draw their power from their environment certainly does make them spirits in a more literal sense.

[Tanuki Tales]

Yes, but the fact that they need to jump through hoops to manifest on the material world and draw their power from their environment certainly does make them spirits in a more literal sense.

Kitsune are just old foxes. :smallconfused:

[AuraTwilight]

Yea, but when their mortal bodies die/they gain multiple tails, they do tend to become more and more ethereal. There's plenty of folklore and literature that portrays them as disembodied beings that need to take effort and energy to take form.

They are literally fox-spirits after a point, capable of possessing people and walking through dreams.

[Vertharrad]

Why is it one table goes to 8-tailed and the other table to 9-tailed???

[Metahuman1]

Um, the first table doesn't seem to show me the stats it's suppose to cover for the 9th tail progression.

[LordotTrinkets]

Thanks for pointing that out. I forgot to put '[/tr]' down at the end.

Auratwilight, could you send me that information for that pathfinder "kistune racial paragon class" and those feats that you mentioned?

[Loek]

While I'm no expert on CRs, I'd say yours are way too high.

Compare them with the Silver dragon (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Silver_Dragon). The only thing the kitsune have on the dragons (pre-9 tailed form) is a higher caster level. That might save them, I'm not 100% sure.

Take a silver wyrmling dragon vs 1 tailed kitsune (Both CR 4):
It's bigger
It has higher/equal stats in everything except Dex
It's attack bonus and BaB are higher
It's breath weapon is stronger (both in damage. DC and size and it has 2 types of breath weapons)
It has significantly higher movement
It has two immunities (silver dragon only, but still, I picked this one :P) - and a weakness to fire
It has significantly higher saves
Slightly better AC, but lower touch AC
The dragon has cloud walking and alternate form, while the kitsune can talk to dogs (and is afraid of those same dogs)
Only clear win for the kitsune: Casting spells as a level 2 sorcerer

I don't have the time right now, but I think it'll get worse with later levels (compare a 8-tailed kitsune with a mature dragon (CR 19 vs CR 18)).

The only one that (in certain tactical situations) might be worth their CR is the 9-tailed kitsune (omniscience, even in this form = extremely powerful).

(Meh, spotted the spellcasting part, that it not only gives CL for the SLAs... might be ranting about nothing now :P) - Still, I'd say that they (except 9-tails) shouldn't have a CR over their HD (at the most).


PS: have some fancy layout tables (easier to read too)


Age Category
HD
Size
Str
Dex
Con
Int
Wis
Cha
Initiative
Breath Weapon
BAB/Grapple
Attack
Fort
Ref
Will


Single-Tailed
2d10-2 (13)
T
4
13
8
13
10
14
+0
2d4(9)
+2/-9
+1
+2
+4
+0


Double-Tailed
4d10-4(22)
T
4
13
8
13
10
16
+1
4d4(10)
+4/-7
+3
+3
+5
+2


Triple-Tailed
6d10(37)
T
4
15
10
15
12
18
+2
6d4(13)
+6/-5
+5
+5
+7
+3


Four-Tailed
8d10(48)
T
4
15
10
15
12
20
+2
8d4(14)
+8/-3
+7
+6
+8
+3


Five-Tailed
10d10+10(69)
S
6
17
12
17
14
22
+3
10d4(16)
+10/+4
+9
+8
+10
+5


Six-tailed
12d10+12(82)
S
10
17
12
17
14
26
+3
12d4(17)
+12/+8
+13
+9
+11
+6


Seven-Tailed
14d10+28(109)
S
10
19
14
19
16
30
+4
14d4(19)
+14/+10
+15
+10
+13
+6


Eight-Tailed
16d10+32(124)
S
10
19
14
19
16
32
+4
16d4(20)
+16/+12
+17
+11
+14
+8


Nine-Tailed
18d10+54(157)
S
10
21
16
21
18
34
+5
18d4(22)
+18/+14
+19
+13
+16
+9





Age Category
Speed
Armor Class
Special Abilities
Caster Level
SR
Bite/Claw


Single-Tailed
20ft
16/13/15 (+2Size,+1 Dex,+3Natural)
Speak with Canines, Fear of Dogs
2nd
-
1d3-3/1d2-3


Double-Tailed
25ft, 5ft Flight
18/13/17 (+2Size,+1Dex,+5Natural)
Human-form
4th
-
1d3-3/1d2-3


Three-Tailed
30ft, 10ft Flight
21/14/20 (+2Size,+2Dex,+7Natural)

6th
15
1d3-3/1d2-3


Four-Tailed
35ft, 15ft Flight
23/14/22 (+2Size,+2Dex,+9Natural)
DR 5/Magic
8th
17
1d3-3/1d2-3


Five-Tailed
40ft, 20ft Flight
25/14/22 (+1Size,+3Dex,+11Natural)
Major Image
10th
19
1d4-2/1d3-2


Six-Tailed
40ft, 25ft Flight
27/14/24 (+1Size,+3Dex,+13Natural)
DR 10/Magic
12th
21
1d4/1d3


Seven-Tailed
45ft, 25ft Flight
30/15/26 (+1Size,+4Dex,+15Natural)
Hallucinatory Terrain
14th
23
1d4/1d3


Eight-Tailed
45ft, 25ft Flight
32/15/28 (+1Size,+4Dex,+17Natural)
Dream
16th
25
1d4/1d3


Nine-Tailed
50ft, 30ft Flight
34/15/30 (+1Size,+5,+19Natural)
DR 15/Magic, Omniscient
18th
27
1d4/1d3

[LordotTrinkets]

I was kind of worried about that. Of course, it sounds like there's enough that I'm going to change (making it a fey creature, giving it in-corporeality, remove the breath weapon, etc.) that I'm going to start from scratch.

[Debihuman]

Some of the kitsune's abilities are missing tags. Fear of Dogs should probably be Extraordinary and Breath Weapon is Supernatural. Since these cast spells as sorcerers at twice the number of tails they have, their CR seems about right.

Have you run this through VT's CR estimator?

Vorpal Tribble’s CR estimator

#1. Divide creature's average HP by 4.5 to 6.5.
4.5 for 5 HD or lower, 5 for 6-10 HD, 5.5 for 11-15 HD, 6 for 16-20 HD., 6.5 for 20-25 HD.

#2. Add 1 for each five points above 10 its AC is, subtracting 1 for every 5 below.

#3. Add 1 for each special attack (+2 to +5 or more if it has a decent number of spells in its spell-like abilities).

#4. Add 1 for each quality unless you deem it worthy of more. Add 1 for each resistance and 10 points of DR it has, and 2 for each immunity. Subtract 1 for each vulnerability.

#5. Add 1 for every two bonus feats it has.

#6. Divide total by 3. This should be its rough CR.


Debby

[LordotTrinkets]

Alright, I have just updated the Kitsune. Hopefully this version will better represent its powers (at an appropriate CR).

[Loek]

After a quick scan, I have to following comments:

You are using two different types of DR, namely "magic" and "cold iron", I assume you accidentally left the magic one from before the changes (4-tails)
Genesis - I figure this one is from mythology? Anyhow, as an ability it's just begging for summoning abuse. I'd say just give a 8-tailed kitsune it's own demi-plane and avoid the (quite awesome roleplay and some forms of game play wise) ability itself.
Fey: Besides changing HD/Saves and the general taste it doesn't seem to alter much (the cold iron DR could just as easy have been placed on a non fey). I like it, but I don't know how much you intended this to affect the kitsune's?
CR wise... I like it, though I think I'd be tempted to bump the CR on the 9 tails (assuming the DM plays it to the best of it's ability - scry and die stuff etc - or at least being tactically awesome if it wishes to be).
Broken illusion needs to be a bit more clear (which one do you have to roll for the enchantment for example?). Same for swaying tail (I assume the "hypnotic pattern" refers to the spell it emulates and isn't just fluff?) first time I read it I couldn't find what spell it was.
Manifesting: once per hour (though a heavy duty spell) doesn't really match up with my idea of "tremendous stress". I'd either use something less harsh but (a lot) more often, or change the fluff. (or both actually).
Magic jar: How/what/where/why on attacking the glowing ball thingy (AC? hitpoints? hardness? huh?).
Finally: Layout, please. Some proper spacing, bolding, underlining etc will make it much easier to read.


Anyhow, I like it. It's new HD suits its more fragile corporeal form. The only thing I'm really iffy about is the genesis power (and only then because it could give massive rewards (or summoning incentive) for players). Almost all other issues are a matter of clearing up some details.

[LordotTrinkets]

Loek:

I used two different DR on purpose. At first, I figured that it would make it so that the DR was in reach while keeping just any character with a +1 dagger from bypassing it at higher levels (Cold Iron being less common than a +5 sword). Now that I think of it, I suppose that DR magic and Cold Iron at higher levels would make more sense overall.
Excellent point on Genesis.
Changing its type to Fey wasn't meant to make any ground shattering changes to game play. It just made more sense.

[Debihuman]

Just a few more things.

If these cast like sorcerer of their level, the CR is probably too low now.

Spell-like Abilities should have (Sp) tag.

Afterlife: Their Type should change to Undead as well as gaining Incorporeal Subtype. You should see the Ghost Template for other appropriate changes. When they die, it appears that they should become Evil as well because horrid wilting would be inappropriate otherwise.

Broken Illusion is not a favorite of mine, but it should be a Supernatural ability.

Dominating Gaze should be spelled out fully. Don't make DMs look up things that are open content. It is also a Supernatural ability.

Inner Sanctum is a Supernatural Ability. Creating a demi-plane doesn't make a lot of sense to me unless you are giving them the genesis spell as Supernatural Ability. And yes it can cast as a lower level because it's a Supernatural Ability.


Omniscient (Su): A Nine Tailed fox’s fur turns white and gold and it gains the power to see and hear anything on earth. It is aware of everything around it in a 120-foot area. it cannot be flanked, and it can cast scying as an at-will ability. Those first two sentences are contradictory (Italics). Everyone is usually aware of everything in a 120 ft. area unless he or she is blind or deaf. You can see to the horizon and sound travels pretty far too. I recommend you revise this part of ability. I like that it cannot be flanked and gains scrying as an at-will ability.

Debby

[LordotTrinkets]

Debihuman:

I already figured that I needed a way to factor in Caster Levels, since I wound up with a Nine-tailed Kitsune with a CR of 14 when I first ran it through that system.
I'm not going to make it Undead when it becomes a spirit, because that would be missing the point. The Kitsune's becoming a spirit when it dies represents the fact that it doesn't really need its mortal body, rather than it being resurrected into some malevolent force. On that note, when it manifests, it isn't actually casting Horrid Wilting. In the original mythology, when a Kitsune manifests, it causes it to absorb more energy from its environment than normal. This results in the over all withering of plant-life around it. Think of it more as an unintended side-effect than an actual form of malevolence.