Kitsune are one of my favorite monsters, but the one from the Bestiary 3 isn't what I want. So I came up with an alternate creature, which I like so much I want to share it here.
The basic concept is a Half-Elf Fox-Lord Sorcerer with Outsider HD. It also gets resistances like a fiendish creature that advance with HD and the unique outsider class skills are Acrobatics, Knowledge (arcana), Survival, and Swim. It starts at 1 HD as a one-tailed kitsune with a sorcerer caster level of 1st. As the kitsune gets older, it gains an additional tail for every additional 2 HD after the first, up to nine tails at 17 HD.
I wrote up three versions of the Kitsune, one one-tailed (2 HD), one five tailed (9 HD), and one nine-tailed (17 HD).
Kitsune (One Tailed) CR 3
XP 800
Medium outsider (native, shapechanger)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +7
AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+4 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 17 (2d10+6)
Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +5
Immune petrification, polymorph; Resist cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5; SR 14
Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +3 (1d6+1)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 2nd; concentration +5)
At will — charm animal (canines only, DC 14)
Spells Known (CL 2nd; concentration +5)
1st (5/day) — charm person (DC 14), sleep (DC 14)
0 — dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand, message, resistance
Abilities Str 12, Dex 19, Con 17, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 17
Base Atk +2; CMB +3; CMD 17
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Acrobatics +9 (+14 if jumping), Bluff +7, Knolwedge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (the planes) +7, Perception +7, Sense Motive +6, Stealth +9, Survival +7, Swim +6; Racial Modifiers +5 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Survival when tracking by scent
Languages Draconic, Giant, Sylvan; speak with animals (canines only)
SQ change shape (fox, shapechange)
Environment Temperate forests
Organization solitary
Treasure double
Leap (Ex) A kitsune adds a bonus of +4 plus half its Hit Dice to all Acrobatics checks made to jump, and is always treated as if it had a running start when jumping.
Kitsune (Five Tailed) CR 10
XP 9,600
Medium outsider (native, shapechanger)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +13
AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+4 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 76 (9d10+27)
Fort +5, Ref +10, Will +8
Immune petrification, polymorph; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; DR 5/cold iron; SR 21
Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +10 (1d6+1)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +13)
At will — charm animal (canines only, DC 15)
Spells Known (CL 9th; concentration +13)
4th (5/day) — bestow curse (DC 18), dimension door
3rd (7/day) — dispel magic, haste, hold person (DC 17), fly, suggestion (DC 17)
2nd (7/day) — bull's strength, darkness, minor image (DC 16), scorching ray
1st (8/day) — charm person (DC 15), disguise self (DC 15), expeditious retreat, shocking grasp, sleep (DC 15)
0 — dancing lights, daze (DC 14), detect poison, detect magic, mage hand, message, read magic, resistance
Abilities Str 12, Dex 19, Con 17, Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 18
Base Atk +9; CMB +10; CMD 24
Feats Empower Spell, Expanded Arcana, Improved Initiative, Silent Spell, Spell Penetration
Skills Acrobatics +15 (+20 if jumping), Bluff +13, Diplomacy +8, Knolwedge (arcana) +11, Knowledge (nature) +6, Knowledge (the planes) +11, Perception +13, Sense Motive +13, Spellcraft +10, Stealth +13, Survival +9, Swim +8; Racial Modifiers +8 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Survival when tracking by scent
Languages Draconic, Giant, Sylvan; speak with animals (canines only)
SQ change shape (fox, shapechange)
Environment Temperate forests
Organization solitary
Treasure double
Leap (Ex) A kitsune adds a bonus of +4 plus half its Hit Dice to all Acrobatics checks made to jump, and is always treated as if it had a running start when jumping.
Kitsune (Nine Tailed) CR 18
XP 153,600
Medium outsider (native, shapechanger)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +18
AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+4 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 144 (17d10+51)
Fort +10, Ref +14, Will +12
Immune petrification, polymorph; Resist cold 15, electricity 15, fire 15; DR 10/cold iron; SR 29
Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +18 (1d6+1)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 17th; concentration +21)
At will — charm animal (canines only, DC 15)
Spells Known (CL 17th; concentration +21)
8th (4/day) — mind blank, polymorph any object (DC 22)
7th(6/day) — limited wish, plane shift, spell turning
6th (6/day) — chain lightning (DC 20), contingency, eyebite (DC 20), globe of invulnerability, mislead
5th (6/day) — cone of cold (DC 19), dominate person (DC 20), hold monster (DC 20), persistent image (DC 19)
4th (5/day) — bestow curse (DC 18), charm monster (DC 19), dimension door, greater invisibility
3rd (7/day) — dispel magic, haste, fly, lightning bolt (DC 17), protection from energy, suggestion (DC 18)
2nd (7/day) — bull's strength, darkness, fog cloud, minor image (DC 16), scorching ray
1st (8/day) — charm person (DC 16), disguise self (DC 15), expeditious retreat, shocking grasp, sleep (DC 16)
0 — dancing lights, daze (DC 15), detect poison, detect magic, mage hand, message, read magic, resistance, touch of fatigue (DC 14)
Abilities Str 12, Dex 19, Con 17, Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 18
Base Atk +17; CMB +19; CMD 23
Feats Arcane Strike, Empower Spell, Expanded Arcana, Great Fortitude, Heighten Spell, Improved Initiative, Silent Spell, Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Penetration,
Skills Acrobatics +23 (+35 when jumping), Bluff +23, Diplomacy +16, Knowledge (arcana) +20, Knowledge (the planes) +15, Knowledge (spirits) +17, Perception +18, Sense Motive +18, Spellcraft +19, Stealth +18, Survival +17, Swim +15; Racial Modifiers +12 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Survival when tracking by scent
Languages Draconic, Giant, Sylvan; speak with animals (canines only)
SQ change shape (fox, shapechange)
Environment Temperate forests
Organization solitary
Treasure double
Leap (Ex) A kitsune adds a bonus of +4 plus half its Hit Dice to all Acrobatics checks made to jump, and is always treated as if it had a running start when jumping.
Kitsune favor offensive enchantments (like charm person, hold person, or sleep), mobility transmutations (haste, fly), decoy illusions (minor image, invisibility), electricity evocations (shocking grasp, chain lightning), and abjurations that mess with other spellcasters (dispel magic, globe of invulnerability, spell turning). As sorcerers, they can spam the same spells over and over. Their metamagic feats are used to strike either completely undetected or with as big a punch as the kitsune can get. With their high speed and modifiers in Acrobatics and Stealth, they can avoid being target even by enemies who can see invisible creatures, possibly assisted by expeditious retreat and fog cloud. Charmed monsters can be fielded for an extra punch.
Since they are solitary creatures and rely heavily on deception, they shouldn't be faced in combat often, but when they do it will probably get quite drawn out and require some creative thinking from both players and GM.
I think it's one of my favorite creatures I made.
Only real issue is that I am not exactly sure if a shapechanger can have immunity to polymorph. Would natural shapechanging ignore such an immunity or would I have to drop it?
I am also considering to give them a few more spell-like abilities, for example invisibility and suggestion, which every kitsune should know. But I am not sure if that actually changes anything.
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You could say something like the following:
A kitsune has immunity to polymorph effects (unless the kitsune is a willing target).
(taken from the Protean subtype)
At a glance, I love your kitsune! I too was a little disappointed by the lack of...supernatural-ness. But I understand why it was done at the same time. I'm not 100% up to date with Jade Regent, but maybe there's a kitsune oni like the Yamabushi tengu oni...a more supernatural (albeit evil) version you could steal ideas from.
Wait, I never saw the kitsune in Bestiary 3. What page is it on?
I might have been mistaken. I only looked at the SRD and was quite sure I'd seen kitsune on Lists of Bestiary 3 monsters.
I know from mythology that kitsune are sorcerers and lots of their abilities can be accessed as spells. One could make some of the most iconic ones spell-like abilities, but I think this doesn't actually change how they act in combat in any way.
They got the alternate form, magical defenses and resistances, and a big bonus to Acrobatics. Not sure what else mystical abilities they could get.
