Would it be balanced to allow a kitsune character who instead of anthro & human form, instead had a human and fox form at start? The fox form doesn't grant much in the way of mechanical benefits, mostly RP ones.
I am the GM and it seems fine, so I'm ask you all just to make sure.
Since you're the GM, you get Rule 0 as a fiat. If thats what you want ... and your players are aware of this change and are OK with it ... its all good.
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Since you're the GM, you get Rule 0 as a fiat. If thats what you want ... and your players are aware of this change and are OK with it ... its all good.
Yes, I know, hence why I said I wanted to know what other people thought. I've never been comfortable with just pulling the "I'm the GM and it's my game" card. In some games it's not as much as an issue, but in a rules crunchy game like this I go out of my way to be fair and balanced with my rulings. I also don't want to talk to my players about it as I want it to be a surprise.
To put it another way, if a player in your game wanted to make a character like this, would you have any problems with it?
I think that actually fits the mythological background of the kitsune better. There is a 'fox form' feat as I recall, but you could just switch that for a 'combined form' feat.
Yes, there is. That's what gave me in inspiration to do this in the first place. The two problems being the feat requires a +3 BAB and I actually would prefer the character without a anthro form, it just doesn't fit the idea.
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To put it another way, if a player in your game wanted to make a character like this, would you have any problems with it?
Allow? If it was a player in my game I'd probably suggest it. Indeed, I'm thinking of rewriting the race to work that way by default in my house rules.
That said, it IS a significant change. The difference in utility between human and humanoid fox forms is very small. An actual fox form opens up many completely different opportunities. You can move through smaller places, appear to be just a normal animal, be easily carried while injured, et cetera. Thus, I'm not sure whether it is 'perfectly balanced' with the way the race is defined in the book... but I certainly think it is more interesting and will not completely unbalance the game.
Here's a question... can a Kitsune Witch be her own familiar? :]
Zombie Sky Press has a product with a kitsune race that can do this. My player had the same desire for a more...mythologically close kistune, and I didn't want to figure out all the details, so we're using that. It's worked out pretty well so far. The abilities in it really allow the kitsune to focus on their mythological aspects.
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If a Human had a fox head would it be human? The Anthro form is the Kitsune's natural form. The other two are essentially learned. What you're asking for would be called a Foxwere.
Actually a foxwere would be a fox who learned to take a human form. What I want is a human (humanoid technically) who can take a fox shape. In mythology kitsune are more akin to a foxwere, but notably to my point is that they too have a human form and a fox form, no anthro/hybrid one.
All of which is mostly irrelevant as I'm actually going to refluff the character as coyote not fox, but also because I was just asking people if they thought the kitsune race, modified to have just their human and fox forms, no anthro one, would be mechanically balanced. I've gotten a couple of yes's, so I'm content to proceed with my idea. Thanks to those who helped.
My advice would be to do one of two things... Either allow the player to take the feat Fox Shape at level 1... Or just give it to him for free as a bonus feat.
Things to watch for mechanically:
- Weapon Finesse turns him into a strong melee character at level 1 in fox form. Presuming 18 dex (20pt buy).. Fox Shape increases it by +4. so +6 Dex.. +2 hit/ac for being tiny, and +1 Nat armor. so +8 hit and base 19 ac. kinda powerful at level 1 (albeit with low damage: 1d3, and another -2 str penalty)
- Fox Shape gives a +10 to stealth above what the character already has (+8 size, +2 dex mod). Max ranks + class skill = +18 stealth at level 1 without items. Acrobatics also increases by +4 (or +8)
- Scent! It can ruin some things if you don't plan accordingly
Unless you're playing in a high powered campaign and you're allowing the other PCs some customization/optimization options I would think twice about it. At-will animal form can cause some fun times for the players, but can cause the PC to become the focus. With fox form on my Kitsune, I was able to steal some very powerful magic items at level 4... (coupled with good spell selection on a Magus).
Will it be fun for your player? Most definitely. But you might get frustrated with it quickly depending on how creative your PC is.
Here's a question... can a Kitsune Witch be her own familiar? :]No, but two kitsune witches could be each other's familiars!
Here's your 10,000 Internets! ;)
I think mindless foxes is toxic to my suspension of disbelief.The current compromise is that intelligent familiars are only allowed at higher levels, under protest.
BOT (Back on topic) the fox form Kitsune could be a subspecies. In a dead magic area they would revert to their true form, a very clever fox.