[5e] Spell & Crossbones

[Quickleaf]

Hm, do druids get a Speak with Animals ability?

I need my book in a PDF so I can sneak peeks at it at work!

I feel your pain! Hmm, I am 98% sure that Speak with Animals is a level 1 divination (ritual) spell. So as long as you prepare it, you can cast it at-will when casting it as a 10-minute ritual without expending a spell slot.

 

[Unsung]

1st level divination ritual, all correct. I can only assume the way rituals work in 5e is the reason why it's not a class feature. 5e does seem keen on avoiding redundancy. Although given that it only lasts 10 minutes at a stretch, it seems like it could be frustrating in a pinch. Maybe a druid could train in some version of the forest gnome's Speak with Small Beasts trait, as if it was a language?

 

[Quickleaf]

Yeah, that seems reasonable.

 

[Shayuri]

I don't mind it being a ritual. I just had mischief in mind for it, if it was something druids could do naturally.

It's all good then. Carry on.

 

[Unsung]

Yeah, that seems reasonable.

Sweet! I don't suppose that's something a kenku could learn as well? Using Mimicry? No big deal if it's not, but something to keep in mind if it is.

 

[Quickleaf]

Sweet! I don't suppose that's something a kenku could learn as well? Using Mimicry? No big deal if it's not, but something to keep in mind if it is.

Haha, that's actually a great idea. So...my thinking is that yes, you could mimic animal calls, but to understand what you're "saying" and what's being "said" back to you would be a Nature check, or perhaps as a language you could select Bird Language?

I've actually studied some bird language, so I can recognize the five main bird calls (baseline calm, alarm, territorial aggression, mating call, feed me) across most bird species. One hike I actually did call and response with a Malaysian thrush who landed nearby for ten minutes, and man! That little guy had a lot to say, even if I wasn't sure what half of it was B)

Sorry, tangent... If you want something more "foolproof", you could make a custom Fortune augmenting your mimicry. I know I made a bunch of Fortunes for you to choose form, but hopefully by now you guys realize I'm very game for trying new things out and house ruling stuff. Fortunes are a good place to customize.

 

[Unsung]

Ah, but an interesting tangent. How was Malaysia?

I intend to make the most of Caillou's downtime. Plenty of skills and tool proficiencies I want more of. Understanding animal calls seems like it'd be in his wheelhouse-- maybe something he used to know before he was first captured and taken to Europe, and is only now re-remembering. Kenku who are raised in the flock are probably more skilled mimics than Caillou is, so that's something that can come up in play.

 

[Quickleaf]

Ah, but an interesting tangent. How was Malaysia?

Haven't been, but I'd love to go! There are Malaysian thrushes here in Hawaii, one of the many transplants, like me

I intend to make the most of Caillou's downtime. Plenty of skills and tool proficiencies I want more of. Understanding animal calls seems like it'd be in his wheelhouse-- maybe something he used to know before he was first captured and taken to Europe, and is only now re-remembering. Kenku who are raised in the flock are probably more skilled mimics than Caillou is, so that's something that can come up in play.

I dig it. Once your characters get on the water, I expect multi-day or possible multi-week journeys to be commonplace, so plenty of time for downtime activities.

And I have a plot twist involving island kenku, Caillou, and Sir D'Arcy that should be a lot of fun

 

[Unsung]

Shades of the Island of Dr Markov... Though I actually picture Sir D'Arcy as being a good deal more rational, if not necessarily saner. Looking forward to it!

 

[Hannerdyn]

[MENTION=20323]Quickleaf[/MENTION]. Wow. Regardless of how badly Hugo loses the arm-wrestling match it was a blast. You're a badass DM and a hell of a writer. Thank you. That was fun.