Homebrew Fox Spirit Species Details

     Fox Spirits are bipedal – you guessed it – fox-like creatures known to be capricious mischief makers drawn to celebrations and good alcohol. They can be your greatest friend and ally or your biggest pain in the ass.  To many they can be both!  Fox Spirits are beings born into the world with great magical potential, and have found that the best way to gain more power is to become the patron spirit of a settlement.  Because of this they are often nomadic, and don’t socialize with others of their kind outside of celebrations or holidays, but it’s not rare for several to be found consistently in one place, especially in a community with a large population.

     They were once nearly wiped out completely due to the actions of many ambitious individual spirits, who killed other sapient creatures to steal their life magic to push past a bottleneck in their powers. To eliminate the threat against themselves, people would kill Fox Spirits on sight in mass hunts, greatly diminishing their populations. To save themselves, powerful Fox Spirits met these hunters and asked (they would never say they begged) to gather with their leaders to broker a treaty. This saved the spirits from extinction, but they never quite bounced back to their previous numbers. Thus Fox Spirits are an uncommon sight in the open world.

Basic Traits

Ability Score Increase

     +2 in dexterity, charisma, or intelligence and +1 in wisdom

Size

     Small to medium

Speed

     30 ft walking speed

Creature Type

     fey

Languages

     Common, Sylvan

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 Appearance

     Their appearance varies from individual to individual as they can shape how they look over time based on personal aesthetics, though most choose to draw from the natural world for their inspiration. They cannot change themselves so drastically that they no longer look like foxes, outside of their power to temporarily shapeshift to pose as other races, but why would they want to? Their foxy countenance is the height of beauty and perfection! Some will look like a completely average fox found in the wild, others will have intricate and outrageously colored patterns on their fur, and the rest will look like everything in between. Many have even been known to alter the texture of their hides: a smooth porcelain finish, the bark of an aspen tree, the weathered surface of an ancient stone.

     Of course one unique trait consistent among the Fox Spirit is their tails; you can always tell a Fox Spirit apart from regular foxes as they grow a new tail as they age or gain more power. Each takes great pride in their tails and will make sure to keep them well groomed and beautiful, as they are a symbol of their strength. A nine tailed Fox Spirit is the pinnacle of achievement in their culture, as it is thought to be the most tails a Fox Spirit can grow, though there are rumors and legends of Fox Spirit with more than that. It is exceedingly rare for any Fox Spirit to gain this achievement because the more tails they have, the more valuable they are as magical tools. Many shady peoples still seek out Fox Spirits to kill so they can steal their tails, often to sell to underground markets for magic artifacts, but this is not common in most societies.

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 • Subspecies

     “Subspecies” in this case describes different ways that certain Fox Spirits have chosen to live or act, and how they have molded themselves to better fit these lifestyles, as there are no true subspecies of Fox Spirits. If none of these appeal to you, take +1 in any three abilities and proficiency in any two skills; consult with your DM if needed.

◦ Boreal

     The soft silence of a snowy landscape is a siren call for people the world over, and Boreal Fox Spirits are no exception. As they made their way north to their calling, they adjusted their bodies accordingly. They became sturdier, their fur lighter and more lustrous. The chill in the air has weathered their sharp points down to smooth edges. Many people consider the Boreal Fox Spirit to be the most reliable and no-nonsense of all their brethren.

Waste Not

     A harsh environment requires one to conserve every bit of strength one has, and talking too much wastes precious energy. Boreal Fox Spirits much prefer actions over words anyway. +2 constitution, +1 strength, -1 dexterity. Proficient in Survival and Nature skills.

◦ Aesop

     Perhaps it’s a little cliché to adhere so closely to stereotype, but if it’s not broke don’t fix it. The mischievous fox is a character found in countless old fables, but those chumps keep coming back for more every time! Who are you to deny them a life lesson? To really sell the look, most Aesop Fox Spirits wear their fur in dazzling warm hues, from deep mysterious maroon to light shimmering lemon.

Trickster

     You got where you are by being wily and cunning, and you’re not about to throw that knowledge go to waste. A little wordplay here, some misdirection and magician’s patter there, and you’ve got your audience eating from the palm of your paw. Now they’re primed to hand you every valuable they have, and you didn’t even technically lie about it! +1 intelligence, wisdom, and charisma, and advantage in dexterity saving throws (for when people figure out they’ve been cheated and throw their torches and pitchforks at you). Proficient in Sleight of Hand and Persuasion skills.

◦ Mini

     These Fox Spirits have decided to live primarily amongst small races and have altered their own proportions to match. Smaller bodies, larger ears, and rounder, wetter eyes entice just about anyone to give over their hard-earned loot to these diminutive Spirits. Many appeal to their shorter-raced beneficiaries by matching their fur to the earth itself; adopting sandy or deep hickory tones.

All the Better to See You With, My Dear

     You probably won’t win any weightlifting competitions or arm wrestling matches, but your bigger ears and eyes mean you’re always finding everything you ever wanted; the best treasures, the tastiest booze, and the biggest sucker in the crowd. -2 strength, advantage in perception checks. Proficient in Acrobatics, Perception, and Stealth skills.

◦ Poacher

     Against all deterrents in the form of childhood stories told by worried mothers, stern reminders from village elders, and even history itself, you’ve decided to poach the life from others to add to your own. You are forever an enemy in your own society, as part of the treaty signed all those years ago to prevent this very thing magically and permanently marks any Fox Spirit who ever tries this method. Just remember: you were warned.

Bloodsucker

     You cannot become a Poacher accidentally. To begin your sinister journey, you kill a sapient adult creature and drain every last drop of blood within their body without eating their meat. Afterwards, this is your primary method of consumption, meaning you won’t need to eat regular food after this, but you still can.

     Every five days you must drain a victim dry, consuming at least 5 liters of blood (average amount in an adult humanoid body). They will not survive the ordeal, so only pick victims you don’t mind dying. If you don’t eat after five days you start to take 1d4 necrotic damage per long rest. If you don’t eat for another five days, then on the tenth day you take 1d8 necrotic damage every three turns in-combat, or every in-game hour until you are at zero hit points. If you succeed at your death saving throw in combat, you are revived, but cannot be healed by outside forces. Outside of combat: you must consume the necessary amount of blood within the hour or permanently die the next time you reach zero hit points.

Marked

     Somehow you are Marked. Your fur is thin and patchy, or your eyes have gained an unsettling and distracting glow. Perhaps your claws are getting harder and harder to trim and begin to grow to wickedly long points, a gnarled antler is growing from your skull, or maybe a spot on your leg is starting to spread and feels like it constantly burns. Whatever it is, it’s obvious and immediately recognizable to those who Know. As you gain your ill-gotten levels this Marking will grow. You will always be recognized by Fox Spirit society for what you are: a thief.

     Any other Fox Spirits you meet will immediately become hostile to you. -2 points off your overall charisma score.

Speedy Gains, Steady Losses

     Those who take this risk do so for the quick rewards, but they come at a heavy price. Instead of the previous levels and corresponding tail gains, you instead gain a new tail every level, with level 9 netting you that coveted final tail. You continue gaining spells as before up to and after that. However, your Mark is growing along with you: every tail sees you lose 1d4 points in a random ability until your 9 tail, after which you gain a vulnerability in a random damage type determined by 1d13 (assuming access to online dice) or 1d20 and rolling until you hit 13 or below. Rolling the same damage twice means double that vulnerability.

Level	Tails	Effect
1	1	New Spell, level 1; -1d4 points in random ability
2	2	New Spell, level 2; -1d4 points in random ability
3	3	New Spell, level 3; -1d4 points in random ability
4	4	New Spell, level 4; -1d4 points in random ability
5	5	New Spell, level 5; -1d4 points in random ability
6	6	New Spell, level 6; -1d4 points in random ability
7	7	New Spell, level 7; -1d4 points in random ability
8	8	New Spell, level 8; -1d4 points in random ability
9	9	New Spell, level 9; -1d4 points in random ability
10 - 20	-	New Spell (every level); add vulnerability to random damage type (every level)

Fox Spirit Traits

As a Fox Spirit, you have these special traits.

Tails Make the Fox

     There are a few ways for Fox Spirit to gain more tails: one is simply living a long time, as Fox Spirits gain a tail for each century they live, another is by absorbing magic through combat or nature, and the third: stealing the life magic of other beings. The last method is considered taboo in modern Fox Spirit culture because it nearly caused their extinction. Some still resort to this method in desperation to break through difficult levels. If one were looking for a quick and easy way to achieve more tails, and therefore more power, with this method: keep it secret, unless you want to become an enemy in Fox Spirit society.

     Start at level 1 with one tail and grow a new one every level until level 4. The 5 tail will grow at level 6, the 6 at level 9, the 7 at 12, 8 at 16, and finally the 9 tail will grow at level 20. With each new tail you learn a new spell of your choice equal to that level to use once per long rest.

Level	Tails	Effect
1	1	New Spell, level 1
2	2	New Spell, level 2
3	3	New Spell, level 3
4	4	New Spell, level 4
6	5	New Spell, level 6
9	6	New Spell, level 9
12	7	New Spell, level 12
16	8	New Spell, level 16
20	9	New Spell, level 20

Shapechanger

     At level 5, instead of growing a new tail, you gain the ability to shapeshift. Choose three species from the humanoid creature category as your new disguises. Disguises will look like an average member of that species, and gain their base racial benefits (while temporarily losing your own). You can shapechange twice per combat (into and out of your disguise only) and 6 times per long rest outside of combat.

     At level 12 you can disguise yourself as any species in Faerun, provided they fit in the tiny, small, or medium size categories. Shapechanging becomes a bonus action in-combat, and can be done at-will outside of combat.

Animal Communication

     You may communicate with animals as if using the spell Speak With Animals.

Hunted

     Be wary of the hidden world. Some cultures have long memories and recall the true value of your tails and have no qualms about taking their power for themselves. The risk is higher in large, established cities with vast criminal networks in its underworld. A severed tail can never be regrown, and means the permanent loss of related powers.

Darkvision

     You can see in dim light 60 ft as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. Colors are not discernible in darkness.