D&D 5E Kenku - Poorly thought out race no matter how cool
LudicSavant
Villager
My opinion is that Kenku are one of the most poorly thought out races in 5th edition.
Even if we put aside the whole creativity/speech gimmick, Kenku are one of the worst balanced races in the game. Their racial features are practically nonexistent compared to other Dex races, such as halflings, elves, goblins, or tabaxi. And then, of course, there's the creativity/speech gimmick.
The most frustrating thing about Tengu is that it's rather unclear what "incapable of creativity" actually means in practice, and many interpretations seem to simply be inconsistent, self-contradictory, or so constrictive as to render the race unable to perform basic adventuring tasks. For instance, we're told that they can't be creative, but that they can communicate by reorganizing previously-heard phrases into novel contexts to communicate... which seems like it would require some level of creativity. The fact that you're not using original sounds doesn't mean that you're not communicating something new, after all.
Generally, creativity means the ability to come up with original ideas. But, the Kenku lack of creativity can't actually mean that, because we totally see kenku in the lore producing ideas of their own (like desiring to fly, deciding to seek out ruins that reach to the sky, or applying mimicked sentences or schemes in new contexts). As such the line between what they can and cannot do tends to come off as weirdly arbitrary and vary widely by table.
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MechaPilot
Explorer
It's difficult to play a non-speaking character, especially a caster.
I recall playing a magic user in AD&D 2e whose tongue had been cut out before she was banished for being a "witch." It was exceedingly difficult for her to communicate with the rest of the party in any meaningful way in any situation where she couldn't write notes and have them read by the party.
When it came to spellcasting, my DM and I came to the conclusion that she would've found alternate ways to cast her spells. She used a belt of bells played by moving her hips (essentially belly-dancing) to replace her verbal components. It basically ruined her ability to be stealthy to any appreciable degree; even wrapping a cloth around her hips to hold the bells in place and muffle their sound only did so much. But, at least she could still cast spells.
She was also deathly afraid of being captured again (for obvious reasons, given her history) and carried a vial of deadly poison to drink if it seemed her capture was imminent.
She was a fun but extremely challenging character to play, while she lasted. She eventually killed herself by drinking the poison. A significant fight went badly for the group; the group was badly outnumbered, everyone was hurt, one of them laying on the ground nearly dead, she'd burned through the last of her spells, and the bandits they were fighting charged her to take down the party's only offensive spellcaster. The party managed to eke out a victory, barely, and she died in the arms of the fighter who she'd developed a great affection for in their travels; unable to profess her love for him before she died.
I recall playing a magic user in AD&D 2e whose tongue had been cut out before she was banished for being a "witch." It was exceedingly difficult for her to communicate with the rest of the party in any meaningful way in any situation where she couldn't write notes and have them read by the party.
When it came to spellcasting, my DM and I came to the conclusion that she would've found alternate ways to cast her spells. She used a belt of bells played by moving her hips (essentially belly-dancing) to replace her verbal components. It basically ruined her ability to be stealthy to any appreciable degree; even wrapping a cloth around her hips to hold the bells in place and muffle their sound only did so much. But, at least she could still cast spells.
She was also deathly afraid of being captured again (for obvious reasons, given her history) and carried a vial of deadly poison to drink if it seemed her capture was imminent.
She was a fun but extremely challenging character to play, while she lasted. She eventually killed herself by drinking the poison. A significant fight went badly for the group; the group was badly outnumbered, everyone was hurt, one of them laying on the ground nearly dead, she'd burned through the last of her spells, and the bandits they were fighting charged her to take down the party's only offensive spellcaster. The party managed to eke out a victory, barely, and she died in the arms of the fighter who she'd developed a great affection for in their travels; unable to profess her love for him before she died.
The total imbalance between subraces. The Fire Genasi is fine, the Water Genasi is acceptable, but the Air and Earth Genasi get a fraction of the abilties that the first two do, and all that the Air and Earth Genasi get is a good one day a use spell and an ability that is so circumstance based it's almost a ribbon ability. They made the mistake of basing them on the poor designed 2e Genasi instead of the more balanced and fair 3rd or 4Th edition Genasi.
Azzy
ᚳᚣᚾᛖᚹᚢᛚᚠ
That makes more sense... I played a fire genasi. I've never looked at the air or earth genasi.
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