Kitsune

## Overview

Kitsune are a race of shapeshifting foxfolk with a penchant for pranks, storytelling, and adventure. They originated as the result of a blessing given to a druid and their fox companion by a forgotten god, who had them grow so close in body and spirit that they became one. There are various theories how other kitsune came into existence to the point of making up their own unique race, but little agreement among scholars on the matter, and the kitsune instinct to weave falsehoods and exaggerations into otherwise true tales makes it impossible for any of the race's own experiences to be fully trusted.

Regardless, kitsune breed true with each other and with various humanoids who they share forms with. The lack of a known heritage may be considered a blessing in itself, however, as it has resulted in a racial culture with thousands of origin stories, legendary heroes, and epic tales competing for the reputation of being the most well-told, most adventurous... and most filled with half-truths that are undetectable as such.

## Mechanics

Standard Racial Traits

* **Ability Score Modifiers**: Kitsune get +2 Dexterity and Charisma, but a -2 penalty to Strength
* **Type**: Kitsune are humanoids with the kitsune and shapechanger subtypes
* **Size**: Kitsune are medium sized, and thus have no bonuses or penalties for their size
* **Base Speed**: Kitsune have a base speed of 30 feet
* **Languages**: Kitsune begin play being able to speak Sylvan. Kitsune with high intelligence scores may start with any of the following languages: any regional language, Aklo, Celestial, Elven, Gnome, and Tengu.

Other Racial Traits

* **Agile**: Kitsune receive a +2 racial bonus on acrobatics checks.
* **Change Shape (Su)**: A kitsune can assume the appearance of a specific single human form of the same sex. The kitsune always takes this specific form when they use this ability. A kitsune in human form cannot use their bite attack, but gains a +10 racial bonus on Disguise checks made to appear human. Changing shape is a standard action. This ability otherwise functions as alter self, except that the kitsune does not adjust their ability scores and can remain in this form indefinitely.
* **Kitsune Magic (Ex/Sp)**: Kitsune add +1 to the DC to the saving throws of any enchantment spells that they cast. Additionally, kitsune with a charisma score of 11 or higher can cast Dancing Lights as a spell-like ability 3/day. The caster level for this spell-like ability is equal to the kitsune's level.
* **Natural Attack**: In a kitsune's natural form, they have a bite attack that deals 1d4 damage. Bite attacks are considered primary natural attacks.
* **Low-Light Vision**: Kitsune can see twice as far as drelmans or parmans in dim light.

## Society

True to their vulpine nature, kitsune usually find urban life rather stifling and prefer either the open road or rural communities. In racial enclaves, kitsune tend to organize themselves along family lines, searching back through their ancestry for related heroes to take on as role models - and, just as often, listening to tales about the ancestors of those they dislike to better fuel rivalries, friendly or otherwise.

In mixed settlements, kitsune still consider the family the primary unit, but tend to seek out external, independent endeavors to make their families proud rather than working in concert with relatives. These endeavors usually involve unpopular fields that young kitsune can prove themselves in, as the race prides itself on unexpected or unique claims to glory. In larger towns where many of the achievements possible to acquire through daily life have already been gained by others, kitsune usually end up setting out on their own, aiming to add their own tale to the collection of adventures that make up much of their shared culture.

## Religion

Kitsune faith is a variable thing, as with kitsune tales, and as such, most organized religions are incredibly wary about accepting them - after all, there's no guarantee that any given kitsune will be able to resist changing a sacred myth when the whim takes them. Those with less organized and more individual followings have no such compunctions, which leads many kitsune to the worship of Vicenta Salcedo and Petya Naumov. Many also pay homage to the Apparitions of Basang Ba, Nothing Left of Quibatus, and Jolein Composed of Desire. Ketar Mozog is the most popular deity among kitsune regardless of the feelings of the priesthood, however, both as a god and in Apparition - the duality between social convention and hidden instinct speaks volumes to the kitsune, who glory in both the facades of day-to-day interaction as well as the primal rush that comes with danger and glory. Very few kitsune revere Masik or Zhihao Jin, as they find that stories are more important to life and death than death itself, and don't see their tall tales or their attempts as recognition as a sort of progress or invention - instead, it is considered a fulfillment of an already-existing order or destiny.

## Relations

Kitsune tend to associate the divinely-descended races of aasimar and tiefling directly with the servitor races that make up their ancestry, which leads to such relationships being rather facile and based upon stereotypes at first, although there's nothing a kitsune does better than learning exactly which pranks and deceptions an individual will fall for. This method of friend-making tends to quickly earn the enmity of aphorites, duergar, dhampir, dwarves, lizardfolk, nagaji, suli, and oreads.

Changelings are often unnerved by kitsune friendliness, but the oddities of a kitsune welcome are still more enjoyable than rejection from other races.

Drelmans are often irritated by the playfulness kitsune display in unfitting situations, but then turn around and romanticize that very same behavior as soon as they've been left alone. Parmans skip the irritation entirely and exoticize and fetishize kitsune at every chance they get.

Orcs and drow most often react to kitsune with terse silence that develops into rage, then violence as the kitsune goes further and further to provoke a reaction.

Hobgoblins drive away kitsune, believing their tricks to be useless magic, but rarely go far enough to hurt them.

Fetchlings, gnomes, ganzi, ifrits, halflings and vanaras all make excellent friends with kitsune due to their similar senses of humor and enjoyment of a good tale, whether real or fake.

Elves and kobolds are both easily toyed with by kitsune, whose pranks often go undetected for months before the elf or kobold realizes that they've been played for a fool - an elf will begin pitying the kitsune, while a kobold will explode in impotent fury.

Grippli are so taken with kitsune, both in their culture and behaviors, that they consider them to be natural spirits worthy of reverence rather than mortal people.

Ghorans and skinwalkers both can relate to kitsune, due to their connection to nature and shapeshifting respectively, but ghorans find that they rarely have anything in common with kitsune and skinwalkers can't seem to let their jealousy over kitsune's relatively positive reputation go.

Sylphs readily empathize with the kitsune lifestyle of instinctively seeking out adventure and spinning tales as they go and love picking out inaccuracies in their stories more than anyone else, but are disturbed and alienated by the kitsune ability to shapeshift.

Tengu and vishkanya both consider kitsune as rivals in different aspects: tengu have an endless desire to prove their recordkeeping and written facts as superior the kitsune oral tales of questionable accuracy, while vishkanya will never rest until their manipulation is far more finely-honed and effective than kitsune pranks.

Undine are often quite willing to be friends and companions of kitsune, enjoying their playful deceptions without reacting to them, but the kitsune involved fail at seeing past the undine's emotionless facade and usually psyche themselves out or fall into a short-lived depression.

Ratfolk can respect the kitsune's familial ties and rich culture, but more often than not find that actual interactions with kitsune are tiring and able to easily divide ratfolk communities, so any association are individual at best and rarely last long.

Goblins and kitsune have a strange but functional partnership, with goblin songs somehow managing to perfectly express the inspiring energies of kitsune cultural heroes, and kitsune pranks keeping goblins well aware of their own flaws and the mysteries of the wide world around them.