Sly Shapeshifters: The Yelkhulda for Blood & Treasure (and Rolemaster!)

One of the most common Beastkin lineages, the vulpine Yelkhulda are found across the New Kingdoms, putting their cunning and cleverness in the service of all manner of foolishness: although highly intelligent, the Foxfolk are constantly overestimating their abilities and misreading the situations around them. Despite this unintentionally comical facet of their personality, they are generally good-natured and courageous, if somewhat pompous in speech and outrageously flashy in dress. 

They have many of the physical characteristics of the fox: long, whiskered muzzles, fox ears and the russet-and-white colouring of their forebears. They are a little shorter than humans - averaging 62" - and much more wiry. Their bodies and faces are lightly furred and their eyes a sparkling, friendly - and somewhat calculating - brown. 

Yelkhulda are known for their elusive and agile physicality, along with an innate ability to change their form to resemble those around them. This, along with their tendency to concoct convoluted schemes, causes others to view them as untrustworthy. In terms of alignment, the Yelkhulda favour Neutrality: they are seldom Lawful and even more unlikely to be Evil. Yelkhulda start play with one local human language, usually Hyarene, Urdrinn, Kanastasi or Avronakiyan. 

Yelkhulda are tough, swift and clever, but also prone to folly and physically weak, adding 1 to their CON, DEX and INT scores, but subtracting 1 from WIS and 2 from STR. Their movement rate is 40’. They have the following minimum/maximum ability scores: STR 3/16, INT 7/19, WIS 3/18, DEX 6/19, CON 7/18, and CHA 3/18. They roll 3d4 for their Heritage score. 

The Yelkhulda can deliver a nasty bite, doing 1d3 damage. Rolls to hit with the bite attack apply the Yelkhulda’s DEX modifier rather than the usual STR (although this still affects damage). The cheerful Fox-folk add +1 to any Reaction checks. They also add +1 to AC and all Move Silently, Hide in Shadows and Pick Pockets task checks. All Yelkhulda can reduce their attack rolls by 2 in order to add 2 to their AC (as per the Expertise feat). 

The ability for which the Yelkhulda are most famous, however, is their ability to magically change their appearance. All Yelkhulda can cast change self once per day, whilst those with a Charisma score of 13 or more can also cast alter self once per week. 

However, Yelkhulda are often overconfident, with a 1 in 6 chance of entering situations or arrangements that they are not equipped to handle (TK discretion; excludes combat). Thus, the Fox-folk sometimes find themselves in some trouble - usually for some task they fail to complete or an agreement broken. Their judgement of character is often poor, leaving them vulnerable to the depredations of shysters. Finally, Yelkhulda must be wary when in the wild: eagles and mountain lions seem to have a great appetite for the Fox-folk, attacking them with a +1 bonus and adding 2 to any damage rolled. 

The Yelkhulda may select from the following class options: Acrobat, Alchemist (Natural only), Assassin, Bard, Charlatan, Druid, Duellist, Elementalist, Fey-Mage, Fighter, Jack-of-all-Trades, Jester, Magic-User (Conjurer, Enchanter, Illusionist, Transmuter), Priest (Travel, Trickster), Ranger, Scout, Shadowdancer, Shaman, Sorceror, Thief, Venturer, Warlock, Zodiac. 

The Fox-folk also have the following multi-class options available to them: Conjuror-Fighter, Conjuror-Thief, Duellist-Thief, Illusionist-Fighter, Illusionist-Scout, Illusionist-Thief, Fighter-Shaman, Fighter-Thief, Shaman-Scout, Sorceror-Thief.

...& for those who play Rolemaster Fantasy Role Play...here are the Yelkhulda's stats: