The Foxfire

Your patron is a being of stories, myths, and legends: A powerful animal spirit, fey, celestial, or immortal who delights in the telling of stories and the unfolding of events to make new ones. 

These beings have inspired many folktales themselves as shapeshifting tricksters who afflicted the powerful and brought blessings to the suffering.

Such beings love a good underdog: maybe this is how you attracted their attention in the first place. Your efforts to rise in the face of adversity have touched them, to the point where they have decided to share some essence with you: empowering you to bless others in need as they cross your path.

Such beings are just as fond of watching a selfish, villainous fool get what they deserve. They revel in tales of the tricksters; those wiley (or lucky) enough to outsmart their opponents.

Foxfire Spells

At 1st level,

The Foxfire lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell.

Foxfire Expanded Spells

SPELL LEVEL	SPELLS
Cantrip	dancing lights, sacred flame
1st	faerie fire, hideous laughter
2nd	animal messenger, moonbeam
3rd	bestow curse, blink
4th	polymorph, resilient sphere
5th	mislead, telekinesis

Extra Spells

You also learn the following spells as soon as you can cast warlock spells at that level. They count as warlock spells for you, but they don’t count against your number of spells known.

SPELL LEVEL	SPELLS
Cantrip	guidance, message
1st	goodberry
2nd	pass without trace
3rd	detect thoughts
4th	private sanctum
5th	telepathic bond

Crafty Setup

At 1st level, if you are not in combat; you may cast one of your known spells without expending a spell slot. You can't use this power again until you finish a long rest.

Bonus Proficiency

At 1st level, you gain proficiency with one skill or tool of your choice.

Trickster's Blessing

Starting at the 1st level, you gain the ability to twist fate in your favor. You have charges of d4 dice that you spend to fuel this luck. You start with one charge.

As a reaction, if you or a creature you can see within 60 feet fails an ability check or saving throw, you may add a number of these dice to the roll, potentially changing the result. You can spend more than one charge at a time, stacking the result. 

You can choose to do this after the roll has failed, but before the consequences occur. You may roll charges one at a time until you achieve the desired result or run out of charges.

Your dice charges refresh when you finish a long rest.

Your number of die charges increase as you gain levels in this class. You gain 1 charge every 2 levels until level 17, for a total of 9 charges.

Magical Shape

Starting at 6th level, tales of myth and legend have become real for you, as you find you can now magically change your shape in the following ways:

• Critter Shape: You become a tiny beast of CR 0 that doesn’t have a flying speed.
• Wisp Shape: You become a tiny flickering mote of flame, light, or smoke that glows faintly, but does not cast light on its surroundings; applying the effects of Gaseous Form. Any spell or effect that would disperse a fog (such as Gust) will force you back into your normal form. This form is near-invisible in full daylight, but stands out in full darkness.
• Object Shape: You become a tiny or small common household object, such as a teacup or a key, placed in an empty spot you can see within 5 feet.
  
  The gp value of the item cannot be greater than your warlock level. You may mimic the shape of an existing unique or expensive item, but your shape will have some form of flaw: a chip, or miscoloring, that may fool casual onlookers but will not stand up to closer inspection.
  
  This object has 10 AC and 1 hit point, but cannot move. It is indistinguishable from an inanimate object to someone who lacks the ability to detect magic or illusions.
  
  While you are in this form, you are blind but can still hear, smell, sense heat and feel vibrations, gaining a tremorsense of 30 feet. You retain your thoughts, memories, and personality, but you cannot take any actions except to return to your normal form. You do not need to breathe in this form.
  
  The item will perform its functions as normal but any function that would take it apart or separate it into pieces will not work. (Example: If you become a set of shears, they may cut but attempts to separate the blades will not work, and use of force may break the object shape by destroying it.)

Magical Shape Rules

Shifting requires an action and does not require concentration. A creature can use its action to inspect your appearance to discern whether you are shapeshifted by making an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC.

You can stay in your magical shape for a number of hours equal to your proficiency bonus. You then revert to your normal form. You can revert to your normal form earlier by using a bonus action on your turn. You automatically revert if you fall unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die.

If shifting into your new form or returning to your true form would cause you to become larger than the space you are in, you are then shunted into the nearest unoccupied space that will fit you. This causes you to take 1d10 force damage for every 5 feet you were moved.

Any form of magical detection or divinity that could reasonably target you (such as See Invisibility, Detect Magic, or Scrying) will reveal that you are shapeshifted.

While shifted, any spells or abilities that could target you or your magic shape will apply. For example, Find Object will work during Object Shape, but so will Find Creature or Scrying if the target is you. Alternatively, while in object form you are still also a humanoid, and can be targeted by spells like Healing Word.

You regain the use of this power after a long rest.

Unless otherwise stated here, the same rules apply for this power as for the druid's Wild Shape feature.

Adaptable

Starting at 10th level, you gain expertise in one skill or tool. You also know the spell Borrowed Knowledge and may cast it once per day without expending a spell slot.

Borrowed Knowledge:
2nd-level Divination

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a book worth at least 25 gp)
Duration: 1 hour

You draw on knowledge from spirits of the past. Choose one skill in which you lack proficiency. For the spell's duration, you have proficiency in the chosen skill. The spell ends early if you cast it again.

Magical Persona

Beginning at 10th level, You gain the following option for your Magical Shapes ability:

• Humanoid Shape: You can use this power to change into one specific humanoid form you have committed to memory, applying the effects of the Alter Self spell (without requiring concentration).
  
  You may change the traits and appearance of this form by performing a 10-minute ritual to memorize its shape, functions, and appearance. After performing this ritual, shifting to the new form takes an action. You may only have one humanoid shape committed to memory at a time.

Resilient Shapes

Starting at 14th level, you gain the following improvements for your Magical Shapes:

• Critter Shape: Your critter shape can now also take the form of tiny, small, and medium beasts up to CR 1/4 with no flying limitations.
• Wisp Shape: Your wisp shape now has a flying speed equal to your walking speed. It can no longer be affected by spells and effects that would disperse a fog.
• Object Shape: The item size can be tiny, small, or medium (no larger than 5 feet in any direction). The item now has a damage threshold of 5. The gp value of the item you become is now unlimited.

Your shapeshifted forms fool the natural senses, and stand up to physical inspection. Any creature making an investigation check to inspect your form automatically fails the check. True sight, or the use of magic detection or divinity magic will still reveal the truth about you and your shape-changing. 

Your Magical Shapes ability can now be used after a short or long rest.

Kitsune Familiar (optional, Pact of the Chain required)

Starting at 3rd level, you may summon a Kitsune as one of your Pact of the Chain familiar options. This could be available to other Warlock subclasses as well.

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Kitsune

Small Celestial, Neutral Good

Though the kitsune (spirit foxes) are often chaotic and tricky, some are messengers of noble kami (gods), delivering blessings and messages to those who have earned favor. When spotted, they are often seen in pairs, at times bearing a scroll, key, or other trinket in their mouth or tied snugly to a front paw.

Armor Class: 13
Hit Points: 10 (3d4 + 3)
Speed: 30 ft.
Initiative: +3

STR 6 (-2)
DEX 16 (+3)
CON 11 (+0)
INT 10 (+0)
WIS 12 (+1)
CHA 17 (+3)

Saving Throws DEX +5, WIS +3, CHA +5
Skills Deception +5, Insight +5, Perception +5, Persuasion +5, Stealth +5
Damage Resistances: Cold; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks that aren't Silvered
Damage Immunities: Fire, Poison
Condition Immunities: Poisoned

Senses: Truesight 30 ft., Passive Perception 15
Languages: Celestial, Common

Challenge Rating 1 (200 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2

Abilities

Shapechanger. The kitsune can use its action to polymorph into a single predetermined humanoid form (medium size, speed 30 ft.), a flickering spectral flame that sheds no light (fly 40 ft.), or a small inanimate object no larger than 2ft in any direction, (0 movement, appears to be an inanimate object). Its statistics are the same in each form, except for the speed changes noted. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.

True Sight. Kitsune have truesight out to 60 ft., see in normal and magical darkness, see invisible creatures and objects, automatically detect visual illusions and succeed on saving throws against them, and perceives the original form of a shapechanger or a creature that is transformed by magic. Furthermore, the creature can see into the Ethereal Plane.

Keen Senses. The kitsune has advantage on Wisdom Perception checks based on smell or hearing.

Limited Telepathy. The kitsune can magically communicate simple ideas, emotions, and images telepathically with any creature within 100 feet of it that can understand a language.

Actions

Enflame. Ranged Spell Attack: +5 to hit, reach 60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (3d4 + 3) radiant damage.

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Designer Notes:

This class was inspired by Kitsune (Japanese fox spirits) and nine-tailed foxes (God-like fox spirits), but the class functionality concept was broadened to include many trickster myths and legends, including Anansi, Coyote, Maui, Loki, and Fox. I had a hard time changing the name once I landed on "Foxfire", it looks so good in the Warlock subclass list, it just stuck for me. Hopefully it works for you.

For any GMs concerned that this class may give away too many "trickster's blessing" dice, or too many spells, I just want to point out a couple things: None of the free spells are combat oriented, and are chosen for trickster flavor as well as encouraging this trickster to be a team player. Yes, this class can pull off a near-guaranteed lockpicking roll on a pickable lock, but they have to chew through their dice to do it. This subclass is flavor and utility-focused, heavy on the disguise and spycraft stuff. Definitely not combat-focused, and it's not about to pull some kind of strange "perpetual fireball" shenanigans or anything. (Looking at you, Wizard). 

IF you are still concerned, may I suggest a simple tweak: allow Trickster's blessing on skill rolls only and not on saving throws. It will preserve the trickster nature of this class while providing you some breathing room if you're concerned about a powerful party.

And just a reminder: The Genie gets Wish. So seriously, these abilities are FINE. Let the players have their shapeshifting fun. OK soapbox over, hope you enjoy!

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