[nWoD] Fox Folk, The Kitsune

[Vorandril]

I wasn't very pleased with the Kitsune that came out of the official books. So I used War Against the Pure to whip up a new changing breed of my own. It's very fluff-light right now but I'll expand on that soon.

Mechanics and character creation coming soon

If this should be moved to Homebrew I do apologize. I spent about an hour trying to decide which it should be. Then I realized Homebrew seems to be only D20. T_T

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Beginning

These Kitsune are the children of Sol/Helios and Luna. Uncle Fox adopted them when he realized that the poor things could only survive during dawn and dusk, and even then only barely out the corner of anyone's eye. The sneakiness is what attracted Uncle Fox to their aid.

So the Fox sat on a stump and whispered to Luna, asking her why she couldn't help her children. She told him that her other, older children demanded much of her attention and power. Fox looked across the Shadow, sneaking behind so many packs of Uratha to see how they gnashed their teeth and policed the spirits without asking permission. Many worked to weed out the corrupt, and the Fox laughed with joy. Many others lorded their flesh over the lesser spirits by forcing them to choose between slavery or destruction, and the Fox hissed in anger.

"Great Luna, your children do need your light and guidance. I will speak to their Father now."

And so he sat once again upon the stump and awaited the dawn. Helios. Sol. The great fiery eye over the sky gazed down at the Fox and was curious why it seemed to expectant.
The Fox spoke with great humility and bowed its head as he asked why Helios, one of the greatest spirits, did not aid his twilight children.
The great Sun told the fox that he could not. His radiance washed away the twilight that his children waited in, and his own older children were searching for their half siblings as well.

The Fox thanked Helios for its council and spent the day speaking with his children; the Ravens. They looked everywhere they could, in the deepest places of the Hisil and the most distant mountains of flesh. But no one had seen more than shadows of the twilight spirits.

Fox returned to his stump as the day closed. He had always enjoyed great puzzles and let lose a wonderful laugh.

"Why do you laugh?" came a quiet voice. As the Fox looked, he saw a spirit without form. Who illuminated the grove as a brilliant shadow.
"I laugh because I have been defeated! Only the great Raven has ever bested me in riddles in the past. But you and your siblings are a puzzle worthy of your parents. The guile of Luna tempered by the brilliance of Helios. If only I had children such as you!"

And then as the dusk faded, so to did the young spirit. Days came and every time both the sun and moon adorned the sky the Fox spoke with the young spirits. He taught them well of the spirit courts and their half siblings; Uratha and Corvus. Until one dawn as the young ones came to greet him they cried out together, "Humble Greetings, Uncle Fox!"

Helios and Luna, ever only catching a glimpse of one another, both stopped their paths across the sky. Fox feared that perhaps they would strike him down! He was but a lord of his own kind and should hold no sway over the passing of things so greater than he. As he closed his eyes and bowed his head in humility to the greater Spirits, he was quite surprised to hear both say, "This shall be your task, Fox. Teach our children, that they may in turn teach others that night and day need not be enemies."



Ever since then, the children of Helios and Luna have followed the teachings of their Uncle, helping both the Ravens and the Wolves to always follow the Laws. That the wolves must follow the Oath of the Moon, respect the Sun's Promise. And the Ravens must follow the Sun's Promise and respect the Oath of the Moon.

[Vorandril]

Assuming you go through all the initial character generation stages for attributes and skills, continue from here.

Keep in mind that the Lightning, Clay, Fog, and Molten Gift lists are on their way. The notes here are simply to denote the concepts that each of these will cover.

This process is still a work in progress, but I would like to keep it open to suggestion!
Coming soon after these are complete: Corvus (Wereravens)-


The Great Paths (Auspice)

"Shinjitsu", Tricksters and Truth-seekers
"We bring forth that which needs illuminating light, we conceal that which seeks the shadow's veil."
Specialty: Fog: Illusion, curse removals, Esuna(magic that purges malady), Madness/Paranoia
Weakness: Molten
Special: ?????????????????????????????????????????[WIP]
Renown: Glory

"Chikara" or "SkyStorm", shamans, sages, and magicians.
"Our magic burns away corruption and conflict."
Specialty: Lightning: Black Magic, revelations, energy (Spiritual/physical)
Weakness: Clay
Special: Ithaeur Rituals bonus. And they gain an additional die when activating any Gift.
Renown: Purity

"Tsukuru"; spirit sculptors and alchemists
"Ever building, Ever growing. Always The Wheel turns"
Specialty: Clay: Shaping and changing things
Weakness: Storm
Special: As part of their First Change, the Kits very soul begins working The Wheel (The feeling of creation that drives all Tsukuru to craft and mold things) and creates a unique spirit from the very Essence that is their own soul. This Spirit is forever bound to the Kitsune and while the Spirit is always highly concerned about the well-being of its Kitsune partner, it won't necessarily put itself at risk of absolute destruction to save them. (See Spirit Companion below)
Renown: Cunning

"Hogo-sha", Enforcers of the Laws. Guardians of flesh
"All things we may change for the better."
Specialty: Molten: Enhance physical, Metamorphosis, healing
Weakness: Fog
Special: Hogo-sha gain three extra merit points that must be used on a Physical merit.
Renown: Wisdom

-Tails
Kitsune do not use Primal Urge as the Uratha do. Instead a measure of the Kitsune's power is the number of tails their spirit has. In their human and fox forms this is entirely spiritual. But in their Hybrid form it becomes a very litteral thing. There is a downside to the raw mystic power that the Kitsune garner over time, the more powerful they become, the more otherworldly they are. This has an odd effect on humans as well, as the more tails there are the more the Kitsune embraces the playfulness of their spiritual heritage. Whenever a Kitsune performs any social rolls excluding intimidate they must make a roll (based on the chart in Werewolf pg 76. One die for each social minus. subtract the human's Composure from the dice pool).

Each success determines the number of scenes in which the human is enraptured with the Kitsune. Treat the Entrapture roll separate from the intentions of the social roll the Kitsune is making. If the roll yields any successes then the subject is compelled to react "playfully" with that kitsune, however is appropriate for the character. Some might feel they should try wooing the Fox, while a sociopath may decide that they would be more fun to gut in a slow and painful manner. Regardless it should flavor the reaction independant of whatever the Kitsune had intended. (In the case of the Kitsune tryign to convince a suitor that they're not actually available, they might believe she's "Just playing -really- hard to get".

Spirits can also be subject to Enrapture once the Kit has 6 or more tails. In those situations substitute the Spirit's Resistance trait for Composure.

If the Enrapture dice pool would ever be zero, it is simply not rolled. (Never becomes a Chance Die)


Tails--Attribute/Skill Max----Essence/Per Turn Max----Enrapture Dice
1------------5-------------------------10/1------------------------1
2------------5-------------------------11/1------------------------2
3------------5-------------------------12/1------------------------3
4------------5-------------------------13/2------------------------4
5------------5-------------------------14/2------------------------4
6------------6-------------------------15/3------------------------5
7------------7-------------------------20/5------------------------6
8------------8-------------------------30/7------------------------7
9------------9-------------------------50/10----------------------8
10----------10------------------------100/15---------------------8

Lastly, Kitsune with appropriate Tails (primal urge) also suffer Essence Bleed as stated in Werewolf: The Forsaken.

-Essence
Kitsune start with Essence equal to their Harmony. Otherwise they function exactly as the Uratha.

-Renown
Kitsune all start with one dot of Honor.
Additionally the Path of the Kitsune grants an additional dot.
And lastly place one more dot wherever makes sense for the character.

-Gifts
Kitsune are able to access many of the gift lists from Werewolf: The Forsaken.
A Fox starts with one from their Path's signature gift list, one from the Kistune gifts they are not weak to, and one other from one of the following lists:
Fog
Lightning
Molten
Clay
Death
Elemental
Evasion
Knowledge
Nature
Shaping
Warding
Weather

The Kitsune may only select a gift whose dot rating is equal to, or less than, their highest renown.

-Step Six: Advantages

Harmony-
Starting value is 7. Functions exactly as the Uratha

Merits- Choose 7 dots of merits (10 for Hogo-sha, at least 3 must be spent in physical merits in that case)

Virtue and vice



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Forms:
Human Form

No stat changes.
Kitsune always seem to have at least some trait that makes them seem oriental to some degree.

Hybrid Form (

When the Foxfolk assume their Hybrid form it takes a lot to mistake them for their werewolf cousins. A Kitsune sprouts one long tail for each dot in their Tails attribute nearly equal in length to the Kitsune's height. Each one can move independantly though they aren't prehensile. Their head becomes long and vulpine with massive canines, and their ears move to the tops of their heads. The whole form becomes covered in fur the same as either their humanoid hair or that of their fox forms. While their nails do grow into claws, these are not the rending claws of a Forsaken. The Fox's body is lithe and athleticly built enough that even with the fine fur covering them it is easy to discern the contours of muscles beneath.
Unlike the Forsaken the Fox's do not lose themselves to near blinding rage but instead retain control of themselves, even allowing them the use of their Gifts. A Kitsune still fails most social rolls in this form due to its weird appearance, the exception being that Spirits, and other Kitsune will levy no penalty for a Fox in their hybridform as it is often used as a "gesture of respect" that the Fox is willing to show its true self.

The Kitsune can maintain this form for a number of turns equal to Stamina + Resolve + Tails + [The Kitsune's highest Renown].

Modifiers:
+1 Strength
+3 Dexterity
+2 Stamina

+2 Size
+2 Perception
1/1 Armor

Bite (+1)


Animal Form

+2 Dexterity
+1 stamina

-2 Size
+3 Perception
+4 Speed

Bite (Lethal Damage)
use the highest of Dex or Wits for Defense





***Pride of the Fox Borne***
Kitsune are prone to a Rage of their own. As those appointed by the Sun and Moon to keep their children in line, the foxes have a rather vast idea of how important they are. If a Kitsune is in a situation where a Uratha would be forced to roll a Resolve + Composure roll to avoid Kuruth, the Kitsune is subject to rolling. If that roll fails, the character enters her hybrid form and remains in that form until its duration is over (she cannot leave it willingly, though they remain in control as normal). The effects of the Kitsune's Rage take over immediately and for the next 24 hours their primal pride shines through. For the next 24 hours the Kitsune has Megalomania, the Severe level derangement found in World of Darkness. (But in their mind, it's completely justified. Even after the compelled derangement ends)
This Derangement affects the Kitsune any time they enter their hybrid form.
Should a Kitsune develop a derangement, it is suggested that Megalomania become persistent as they frequently suffer from it anyway.

Megalomania (severe): See World of Darkness.
This does not mean that any failed roll will trigger their megalomania, only contested rolls.

===Fear Effect(Needs renamed)===
Any mortal witnessing a Kitsune in hybrid form must roll Resolve + Composure with a penalty equal to the Fox's Tails (can be a chance die roll).

A dramatic failure causes the human to react badly: he crumples, urinates or defecates on himself, and gains a mild derangement (Storyteller’s choice) for the following week. Failure on the roll indicates that the human panics and flees in terror. Success means the human can stand his ground, but suffers a –2 dice penalty to any roll directed at the Fox. Exceptional success means the person barely bats an eyelash and takes it completely in stride.


---Tsukuru Spirit Companion---
Your character has a spirit that aids them. These spirits have no bodies: they are spirits existing in an ephemeral state of existence called Twilight.
Spirits can temporarily manifest like ghosts (see “Manifestations,” p. 210 in the World of Darkness Rulebook), but their ephemeral bodies are otherwise invisible and intangible to the physical world. A Spirit must manifest or use Numina to affect anything in the physical world — except for its master, whom it can touch at will (The Tsukuru can also see and speak with the Spirit). Twilight Spirits exist on the material side of the Gauntlet, although they can accompany their masters across into the Shadow, or travel there themselves if they have the right Numina.

The Tsukuru is considered to be the spirit's anchor to the material world, although there is no limit to how far a familiar can travel. It does not lose Essence for every hour it spends in the physical world or Twilight but must follow all the other rules concerning Essence. Including spending one Essence per day. Even if the Spirit is drained of essence, it will slumber on the same side of the Gauntlet its master is in until a point of essense is provided to it to wake up. Like other spirits, it can gain Essence by being in proximity to something that it reflects, or its master can give their own Essence.

The Spirit and Tsukuru can communicate via empathy with one another no matter the distance between them. Should the Kitsune have the "speak with Beasts" Gift, they may communicate advanced concepts that could only be described in words with this connection. Should the two be within earshot of one another the Tsukuru need not use the gift. Just talk to them, dingus.



Traits
The Spirit is considered to be a rank 1 Jaggling. The Storyteller designs the spirit’s traits and it begins play with at least one dot in each Attribute, with extra dots as listed below.
Attributes: 3/3/2 (allocate dots in any order among Power, Finesse and Resistance)
Willpower: Equal to Power + Resistance
Essence: 10 (10 max)
Initiative: Equal to Finesse + Resistance
Defense: Equal to highest of Power or Finesse
Speed: Equal to Power + Finesse + “species” (same as its animal counterpart)
Size: 5 or less (same as animal counterpart)
Corpus: Equal to Resistance + Size
Influence: 1 influence at 2 dot rank
Numina: Choose one
Ban: The spirit has one Ban, chosen by the Storyteller

When rolling to manifest, use the modifiers from Werewolf to determine how difficult it is for a spirit.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wait! No regeneration?
Yes, the Kitsune do not gain inherent regeneration. The chaos that drives the Uratha or the Corvus allows them to channel the blessings of Luna and Sol into the rapid healing the two breeds enjoy. But the Foxes are, comparatively, stable in their souls. When they take their War Form they do not lose control to their rages. They hold the double edged sword of Control. Of course their spirits are still in flux, conflicting and seeking balance within themselves. But the playfulness of Uncle Fox doesn't cause unbridled chaos in their souls.