D&D 5E Kenku - Poorly thought out race no matter how cool

[MonsterEnvy]

My initial thought was how the heck do you roleplay that? Can you never offer ideas when making a plan with the rest of the party? That doesn't sound fun at all.

It pretty much means like they will never be able to make something entirely new. Plans and such are not really new ideas.

Like a Kenku is not going to be able to invent guns and such in a D&D world unless someone else did it first. After which they can copy it. Someone has already created most combat and infiltration strategies so Kenku can use them.

But a Kenku will never be able to create something entirely new. A new recipe containing stuff no one has ever thought of mixing is beyond a Kenku.

 

[Gradine]

I think the idea is that Kenku value synthesis as opposed to genesis. To carry along the "recipe" metaphor, I think that a Kenku might be down with fusion cuisine (and might even "invent" a new fusion recipe by mashing two existing recipes together). They are cultural thieves; taking the pieces that suit them and discarding what doesn't.

What it doesn't mean is that they can't come up with plans. Ravens and crows (the inspiration for Kenku) are notable problem-solvers among bird species. But a Kenku's solution is going to be a solution they've already learned about, especially if the problem in question is a familiar one. If the problem is novel, the Kenku might try to apply a solution for a similar problem. A particularly clever Kenku might break apart the novel problem into familiar pieces, and then synthesize a solution together from the familiar solutions to those problems, but they're not going to come up with some new radical, out-of-box thinking.

 

[Terran5891]

Having played a kenku recently and in previous editions, I'd say its relatively safe to ignore the part of the 5e racial backstory saying they have no creativity, which by extension includes the spellcasting issue mentioned here. Creativity is the ability to problem solve as a tool using sentient being. Using a rope to traverse down a cliff is by definition creative, whereas a bird choosing to fly down the cliffside is not. Kenku are depicted wearing clothes, fighting with weapons, and expertly using crafting tools as well as possessing a human-level intellect via intelligent score. When the author speaks of their lack of creativity, the only logical conclusion is that he is talking about a complete disinterest in creating art for art's sake as long as there is a suitable set of art objects to steal or copy. Otherwise, we'd be talking about some very scrawny bugbears.

 

[gyor]

I agree, Kenku are cool race with the single worst mechanics in the game. A major disadvantage, and almost pure ribbon abilities for racial traits.

 

[seebs]

I had a kenku in a Dungeons: The Dragoning game. No "can only speak in mimicry" rule, but definitely tended to do that.

Also, if she saw herself in a mirror, she'd stop and say "ooh, who's a pretty bird? I'm a pretty bird. I'ma have a cracker." And then loudly and noisily eat a cracker. The entire party was stunned when they found out that the ostentatiously stupid princess was an assassin.

 

[iserith]

I had a kenku in a Dungeons: The Dragoning game. No "can only speak in mimicry" rule, but definitely tended to do that.

Also, if she saw herself in a mirror, she'd stop and say "ooh, who's a pretty bird? I'm a pretty bird. I'ma have a cracker." And then loudly and noisily eat a cracker. The entire party was stunned when they found out that the ostentatiously stupid princess was an assassin.

Funny, my kenku (parrot) Beakbeard is a hapless pirate and a warlock. His patron is Pretty Bird, a fey spirit that talks to him through mirrors. While Beakbeard does all the birb memes and rather stupidly bumbles his way through adventures, the real brain that keeps him alive is Beakbeard's fat sprite familiar Paulie, who loves crackers and speaks with a New Jersey accent.

 

[Umbran]

A kenku can read and write - they know language. All they need is for someone to read a dictionary aloud to them, and they have speech. They may tend to lose inflection, as they are stringing together pre-recorded words. Have a magic teacher speak all the relevant words to them, and they can read a scroll or a spell's verbal component.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I would argue that, in order to be able to read, they would need to know what the words they are reading sound like, so they ought to be able to say them out loud. They're just copying what someone else has written, after all. It might come out sounding like one of those early text-to-speech computer programs, but I'd say they'd be able to do it, since it doesn't involve any original thought on their part.

To be honest, it's that last part that I can't get my head around. How do you roleplay something that's incapable of thinking for itself? And what exactly does that mean anyway?

As written it’s a basically unplayable mess. It can’t have original thoughts. That literally means it can’t be a sapient person. My dog has original thoughts. Crows have.

That nonsense isn’t even allowed at my table, ever. Want to play a kenku? We can homebrew one based on the very well made 4e kenku.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Having played a kenku recently and in previous editions, I'd say its relatively safe to ignore the part of the 5e racial backstory saying they have no creativity, which by extension includes the spellcasting issue mentioned here. Creativity is the ability to problem solve as a tool using sentient being. Using a rope to traverse down a cliff is by definition creative, whereas a bird choosing to fly down the cliffside is not. Kenku are depicted wearing clothes, fighting with weapons, and expertly using crafting tools as well as possessing a human-level intellect via intelligent score. When the author speaks of their lack of creativity, the only logical conclusion is that he is talking about a complete disinterest in creating art for art's sake as long as there is a suitable set of art objects to steal or copy. Otherwise, we'd be talking about some very scrawny bugbears.

Not even a bugbear! Bugbears are fully sapient beings! They’d be automatons!

 

[pukunui]

As written it’s a basically unplayable mess. It can’t have original thoughts. That literally means it can’t be a sapient person. My dog has original thoughts. Crows have.

That nonsense isn’t even allowed at my table, ever. Want to play a kenku? We can homebrew one based on the very well made 4e kenku.

Exactly. That whole PC races section in Volo’s is a pretty big mess. Given that the draft version and the published version are virtually identical, I’m fairly certain the designers made no attempt to revise/balance those races. It was 5e’s first sour note for me (and unfortunately it wasn’t the last).