Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 nettocap May 16, 2015 9:17:39	I am probably DMing D&D 5.0 soon and I have a friend who wants to play as a Kitsune. So I tried to design the race, but I don't know if it is balanced. If you guys could help me with some opinions on that I would be glad. Thanks.   My idea:   Kitsune   Appearance: A kitsune is an anthropomorphic Fox Concept: Trickster Favored Classes: Rogue, Bard and Sorcerer Ability Score Increase: +1 Dex, +2 Cha Age: Kitsunes mature at the same rate humans do but live longer. They can live to almost 400 years. Size: Medium Speed: 30 Human Form: A kitsune has a single human form besides her natural one. She can change between these two forms at will as if using the Alter Self spell. If she wants, she can leave some traces of her fox-like form in her human form, like the tail or the ears. This is a true form and no magical means can perceive the transformation or force the Kitsune to change between them. Deceptive: You gain proficiency in the Deception skill. Kitsune Magic: You know the Minor Illusion cantrip. Once you reach level 3, you can cast the Alter Self spell once per day. Once you reach level 5, you can cast the Calm Emotions spell once per day. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells. Languages: You can read, speak and write Common and Sylvan.
#2 Kobalus May 16, 2015 10:12:12	To begin with I would suggest staying as close to the actual mythology of the Kitsune as possible and avoid any anime adaptations. If you can find or have a copy I recommend the RACE CREATION COOKBOOK as a base starting point. So far I like most of what you have. I noticed there are no negatives to this race. Most non-human races have some balancing negatives.  1. mixing fox and human appearance. I would stick to legend here and make it a giveaway sign for when they are drunk, careless or lose control. Say they are getting drunk in a bar and all the sudden their tail pops out or they get mad at a vender and their ears pop up. 2.To start to take human it should be limited to a certain number of times a day per level but the duration is not limited. But they must sleep in thier fox form. 3. Using the wiki page (yes it can be unreliable) The legend has a whole list of powers that they gain with time / levels. I would suggest that Kitsune could be both race and character class and use the powers as level progression events. Examples are possession, mouth or tail creates fire or lightening, manifest in the dreams of others, flight, invisibility ansd of course create illusion. Some would only be usable in fox form of course. You can look at the wiki page and come up with some good ideas about powers and drawbacks. 4 Foxes are not as hardy as someother animals so a negative to strength may be needed I can not find actual stats for a fox but they would need to keep 2 sets of stats in my games, one for human form and one for fox form.   This is just my opinion though but I hope it helps.
#3 MechaPilot May 16, 2015 15:27:53	One potential flavor suggestion: maybe the members of the race have a number of tails equal to their proficiency bonus.  Then you could see the archetypical more tails = more power trait.
#4 BenignFacist May 16, 2015 16:49:42	You might want to limit their free spell to a single spell and create a feat that grants a few more spell options, much like the Deep Gnome race/racial feat.
(Reply to #3) Kobalus	MechaPilot wrote:
#6 Whir May 16, 2015 21:28:49	Kobalus wrote:
(Reply to #6) Kobalus	Whir wrote:
#8 nettocap May 17, 2015 20:59:42	Thanks for the help!   Whir wrote: