Hey folks,
There seems to be some confusion surrounding how a kitsune can advance towards gaining a power like Craft Shrine Realm. First, when determining if a kitsune qualifies for a power, one should look always consider two factors: 1) number of tails needed, and 2) other fox magic prereqs. In this case: 7 tails and Ephemeral Illusion, which requires a string of Basic Illusion ad Advanced Illusion to qualify for. All kitsune start play with a Prestige score of 10 + Cha modifier, and two tails. Here are a few routes the kitsune can take, each of which would bring her to the eventual goal of having the Craft Shrine Realm ability:
1) If she does not take levels in Myobu or Nogitsune, but instead attains Craft Shrine Realm through Prestige and Feat selection alone, then she will need to advance to a Prestige score of 26 in order to achieve 7 tails, and will need to devote at least three feats (assuming she takes Basic Illusion as her free 1st level Fox Magic power....important to remember that every kistune starts at 1st level with a free power!) to Advanced Illusion, Ephemeral Illusion, and finally Craft Shrine Realm. She cannot however, gain all of these feats in an unbroken chain from first level, as the minimum tail requirements for each will prohibit her from advanced directly to Craft Shrine Realm (i.e. Advanced Illusion - 4 tails, Ephemeral - 5 tails, and finally Craft Shrine Realm - 7 tails). So, the most difficult part is determining how a kitsune's Prestige score grows as she advances in class levels. One can assume, if the kitsune is ambitious, she could perform one to two tricks per level. One trick per level is not at all difficult to set up, while two requires that a player really thnk through the tricks in order to achieve success and still be able to meet the needs of various adventure scenarios. Success in each of the tricks is not guaranteed, so it is doubly difficult to determine Prestige advancedment...but a smart player should succeed the majority of the time, and be able to avoid an utter failure that would result in a loss of Prestige. The range of possibility is this: a kitsune could advance at a rate of between -1 per level (one trick per level with failure) to +4 per level (two tricks per level each succeeded completely). Let's take a median of +1.5 per level, which would mean that the average kitsune starting play with a Prestige score of 10 (though it could be higher with a decent Cha modifier) could reach 7 tails by approximately 11th level. At that point, an 11th level kitsune would have to wait at least one more level for the next available feat at 12th level to take Craft Shrine Realm. However, a kitsune who isn't taking levels in either Myobu or Nogitsune, preferring standard character classes, will likely want or need to take other feats as they advance in level.
2) Myobu and Nogitsune can gain extra tails at 4th, 7th and 10th levels. This will quicken the rate at which she can qualify for certain powers. It is conceivable that either a Myobu or Nogitsune could gain Craft Shrine Realm before 12th level due to their extra tails class feature, and because they also gain additional fox magic powers as a class feature.
I would say that an NPC kitsune would be somewhere between 12th and 15th level (if non-Myobu or Nogitsune) or between 9th and 15th (if Myobu or Nogitsune) when they gain Craft Shrine Realm as a power.
I hope this lends some clarity to the issue. If anyone has additional questions, or still needs further explanation, just post and I will get back to you!
--Matthew A.J. Gregory
KITSUNEMORI
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