So in an upcoming game I'm playing a kenku warlock if the undead, and I'm not quite sure on how I should go about roleplaying him. Ik roleplaying a bird-man that only speaks through mimicry is pretty straight forward, but for a roleplay heavy game it is pretty restricting. Maybe I might use gestures often as well? And for his background he was a smuggler, so maybe I'll have some quotes from when he worked on the docks?
To be quite honest I'm not sure on how to go about any of this, but I'm determined to find a way to make it interesting. Any ideas or suggestions?
Play up the dread and sinisterness the popular imagination sometimes assigns ravens and crows. Be fairly laconic socially, speak in sparse mimicry of only a few key words spoken by others, like you literally mark their words and haunt them with it. You're the spooky sound effects bringer to spook your opponents so you don't have to fight them. Like, when you're interrogating or interviewing someone for information, don't talk just sit there quietly and look at them ... real world interviewing technique, sometimes uncomfortable silence will lead your subject to say anything you want to hear. You're a warlock of the undead, go for the creepy, usually silent type, which makes it that much weirder when you make a sound. Be a bad omen.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
When I role played some kenku NPCs, I started with a number of bird-themed aphorisms like, "Birds of a feather flock together," and, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." I had like eight of these and chose the most apt one for any response. I started to supplement these by repeating back phrases the players had said.
You could play up the imitation aspect by selecting a collection of iconic quotes from your favorite movies and shows, and using these as you're repertoire. For a PC I recommend having more than eight quotes at the ready. Up to 100 might be good, or choose something on the fly, but never make up your own sentences. Say something that you, the player, can remember someone having said before, either in the campaign or other media or real life.
Funny voices is the least of my worries, especially if you consider that a working vocabulary of about 400 words is sufficient for everyday conversations. If you spend enough time with someone, a kenku will be able to copy the individual words, and then merely recombine them in whatever fashion they chose. Thus, there would be no problem for a kenku to 'talk', even if it is in words from different people.
However, if you are true to the lore #HopelessPlagiarists, they cannot be creative. This means they cannot recombine words into new sentences. They must use a phrase to express the meaning they want to convey, and they need to copy that phrase from someone who expressed the sentiment they want to say.
And on top of that, they can't even come up with new ideas for anything. Essentially, they lose everything that makes a PC.
Hopeless Plagiarists
As a result of their lack of creativity, kenku function comfortably as minions of a powerful master. Flock leaders enforce discipline and minimize conflicts, but they fail at effective planning or crafting long-term schemes.
Although unable to speak in their own voices, kenku can perfectly mimic any sound they hear, from a halfling’s voice to the noise of rocks clattering down a hillside. However, kenku cannot create new sounds and can communicate only by using sounds they have heard. Most kenku use a combination of overheard phrases and sound effects to convey their ideas and thoughts.
By the same token, kenku have no ability to invent new ideas or create new things. Kenku can copy existing items with exceptional skill, allowing them to become excellent artisans and scribes. They can copy books, make replicas of objects, and otherwise thrive in situations where they can produce large numbers of identical items. Few kenku find this work satisfying, since their quest for the freedom of flight makes them ill-suited to settle into a routine.
Edit: I realize that this is not a good answer to your question, so here is where I am at: Ignore the lack of creativity and play your kenku as you wish. Throw in a few 'canned' catchphrases, and write down anything memorable your fellow players say. Then repeat those words back at them at an opportune moment.
Kenku make for very fitting Undead Warlocks, if only because crows & ravens are often symbols of death and other grim omens.
Kenku are rather straightforward to roleplay: when someone says something you find interesting, maybe write it down.
You can use these phrases at amusing moments.
Sometimes, using the kenku’s natural Stealth, you can observe NPC’s so you can imitate their words to mess with them psychologically.
”Who’s there!?”
Kenku: (imitates guard) “It’s me, Jeff! Open up!”
…or something along those lines.
You’ll figure out the fun of playing the Kenku race as you go along.
I once had a Gloomstalker Kenku who was essentially The Predator…invisible in darkness, he would confuse & terrify his quarry by mimicking their voices.
Funny voices is the least of my worries, especially if you consider that a working vocabulary of about 400 words is sufficient for everyday conversations. If you spend enough time with someone, a kenku will be able to copy the individual words, and then merely recombine them in whatever fashion they chose. Thus, there would be no problem for a kenku to 'talk', even if it is in words from different people.
However, if you are true to the lore #HopelessPlagiarists, they cannot be creative. This means they cannot recombine words into new sentences. They must use a phrase to express the meaning they want to convey, and they need to copy that phrase from someone who expressed the sentiment they want to say.
And on top of that, they can't even come up with new ideas for anything. Essentially, they lose everything that makes a PC.
Hopeless Plagiarists
As a result of their lack of creativity, kenku function comfortably as minions of a powerful master. Flock leaders enforce discipline and minimize conflicts, but they fail at effective planning or crafting long-term schemes.
Although unable to speak in their own voices, kenku can perfectly mimic any sound they hear, from a halfling’s voice to the noise of rocks clattering down a hillside. However, kenku cannot create new sounds and can communicate only by using sounds they have heard. Most kenku use a combination of overheard phrases and sound effects to convey their ideas and thoughts.
By the same token, kenku have no ability to invent new ideas or create new things. Kenku can copy existing items with exceptional skill, allowing them to become excellent artisans and scribes. They can copy books, make replicas of objects, and otherwise thrive in situations where they can produce large numbers of identical items. Few kenku find this work satisfying, since their quest for the freedom of flight makes them ill-suited to settle into a routine.
Edit: I realize that this is not a good answer to your question, so here is where I am at: Ignore the lack of creativity and play your kenku as you wish. Throw in a few 'canned' catchphrases, and write down anything memorable your fellow players say. Then repeat those words back at them at an opportune moment.
The problem with that citation is that it contradicts itself further down the write up:
ROLEPLAYING A KENKU
If you’re playing a kenku, constant attempts to mimic noises can come across as confusing or irritating rather than entertaining. You can just as easily describe the sounds your character makes and what they mean. Be clear about your character’s intentions unless you’re deliberately aiming for inscrutable or mysterious.
You might say, “Snapper makes the noise of a hammer slowly and rhythmically tapping a stone to show how bored he is. He plays with his dagger and studies the Lords’ Alliance agent sitting at the bar.” Creating a vocabulary of noises for the other players to decode might sound like fun, but it can prove distracting and could slow down the game.
There's another thread that's got some Jeremy Crawford tweets clarifying the Kenku, I'll reproduce what I wrote there, where I also talk about this thread:
The description of the race contradicts. It does say Kenku aren't inventive and are best at following instructions and reproducing ideas through plagiarism. But it also, specifically in "role playing a Kenku" in the same race description, specifically discusses uses metaphorical associations to communicate (a stone tapping hammer sound to signify boredom). They're remixers. They can use audible signifiers and mix them up to communicate, make meaning. Bumblebee in the Bay Transformers continuity is actually a weak but accessible Transformers reference. What you really want as a model is Wreck Gar the Junkion from Transformers the Movie and subsequent season of the original animation. I mean, it's likely the writers of the race weren't as steeped in the psychology of creativity and its interrelationship with language and the aesthetics of remixing/sampling (which has been considered legitimate forms of creativity since techniques proliferated going back to at least Warhold and the earliest Hip Hop, just to drop the accessible beats in that line of thinking) so didn't realize how their text was short circuited, but it seems clear the strictures of the curse in the entry as written and as clarified by JC clearly poses the language games of Kenku as a creative challenge to play with (game, not sufferfest, right?) not something the DM needs to lean hard on policing.
In another (EDIT: this) thread I was encouraging a Kenku player to play up to the sinister/dreadful cultural associations sometimes ascribed to ravens and their corvids, and make use of the mimicry for max effect. The mimicry abilities of The Predator would be another fun styling in that regard. For anyone wishing to thank me for that recommendation, I can only say, "Anytime..."
I would love to see a Kenku player throw back an NPCs or even another PCs words at them, I'd probably award inspiration.
I know RL Ravens capable of mimicry can be trained to reproduce certain sounds on command, there's probably scholarship/research as to why/when Raven's employ the trait out of captivity. Ravens are considered an inventive species, so I imagine a humanoidish reference to them would be too.
Depends on how you wan't to play it. While being kind of creepy as a Undead Patron is a good suggestion, it's not your only option. Kenku can me difficult to roleplay, but I think this is an area where DM's should be lenient, seeing as how it is so hard. So I would say Kenku in normal lore can't fully talk (speak in their own voice), but there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to string words together, from people they've heard (sort of like broken english). I think restricting them to only mimicking is kind of harsh, and is easier if its a DM controlled NPC, but more difficult when a player is trying to roleplay it for a whole campaign.
So in an upcoming game I'm playing a kenku warlock if the undead, and I'm not quite sure on how I should go about roleplaying him. Ik roleplaying a bird-man that only speaks through mimicry is pretty straight forward, but for a roleplay heavy game it is pretty restricting. Maybe I might use gestures often as well? And for his background he was a smuggler, so maybe I'll have some quotes from when he worked on the docks?
To be quite honest I'm not sure on how to go about any of this, but I'm determined to find a way to make it interesting. Any ideas or suggestions?
Play up the dread and sinisterness the popular imagination sometimes assigns ravens and crows. Be fairly laconic socially, speak in sparse mimicry of only a few key words spoken by others, like you literally mark their words and haunt them with it. You're the spooky sound effects bringer to spook your opponents so you don't have to fight them. Like, when you're interrogating or interviewing someone for information, don't talk just sit there quietly and look at them ... real world interviewing technique, sometimes uncomfortable silence will lead your subject to say anything you want to hear. You're a warlock of the undead, go for the creepy, usually silent type, which makes it that much weirder when you make a sound. Be a bad omen.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
When I role played some kenku NPCs, I started with a number of bird-themed aphorisms like, "Birds of a feather flock together," and, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." I had like eight of these and chose the most apt one for any response. I started to supplement these by repeating back phrases the players had said.
You could play up the imitation aspect by selecting a collection of iconic quotes from your favorite movies and shows, and using these as you're repertoire. For a PC I recommend having more than eight quotes at the ready. Up to 100 might be good, or choose something on the fly, but never make up your own sentences. Say something that you, the player, can remember someone having said before, either in the campaign or other media or real life.
Roleplaying a kenku is what ruins them for me.
Funny voices is the least of my worries, especially if you consider that a working vocabulary of about 400 words is sufficient for everyday conversations. If you spend enough time with someone, a kenku will be able to copy the individual words, and then merely recombine them in whatever fashion they chose. Thus, there would be no problem for a kenku to 'talk', even if it is in words from different people.
However, if you are true to the lore #HopelessPlagiarists, they cannot be creative. This means they cannot recombine words into new sentences. They must use a phrase to express the meaning they want to convey, and they need to copy that phrase from someone who expressed the sentiment they want to say.
And on top of that, they can't even come up with new ideas for anything. Essentially, they lose everything that makes a PC.
Edit: I realize that this is not a good answer to your question, so here is where I am at: Ignore the lack of creativity and play your kenku as you wish. Throw in a few 'canned' catchphrases, and write down anything memorable your fellow players say. Then repeat those words back at them at an opportune moment.
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
Kenku make for very fitting Undead Warlocks, if only because crows & ravens are often symbols of death and other grim omens.
Kenku are rather straightforward to roleplay: when someone says something you find interesting, maybe write it down.
You can use these phrases at amusing moments.
Sometimes, using the kenku’s natural Stealth, you can observe NPC’s so you can imitate their words to mess with them psychologically.
”Who’s there!?”
Kenku: (imitates guard) “It’s me, Jeff! Open up!”
…or something along those lines.
You’ll figure out the fun of playing the Kenku race as you go along.
I once had a Gloomstalker Kenku who was essentially The Predator…invisible in darkness, he would confuse & terrify his quarry by mimicking their voices.
The problem with that citation is that it contradicts itself further down the write up:
There's another thread that's got some Jeremy Crawford tweets clarifying the Kenku, I'll reproduce what I wrote there, where I also talk about this thread:
The description of the race contradicts. It does say Kenku aren't inventive and are best at following instructions and reproducing ideas through plagiarism. But it also, specifically in "role playing a Kenku" in the same race description, specifically discusses uses metaphorical associations to communicate (a stone tapping hammer sound to signify boredom). They're remixers. They can use audible signifiers and mix them up to communicate, make meaning. Bumblebee in the Bay Transformers continuity is actually a weak but accessible Transformers reference. What you really want as a model is Wreck Gar the Junkion from Transformers the Movie and subsequent season of the original animation. I mean, it's likely the writers of the race weren't as steeped in the psychology of creativity and its interrelationship with language and the aesthetics of remixing/sampling (which has been considered legitimate forms of creativity since techniques proliferated going back to at least Warhold and the earliest Hip Hop, just to drop the accessible beats in that line of thinking) so didn't realize how their text was short circuited, but it seems clear the strictures of the curse in the entry as written and as clarified by JC clearly poses the language games of Kenku as a creative challenge to play with (game, not sufferfest, right?) not something the DM needs to lean hard on policing.
In another (EDIT: this) thread I was encouraging a Kenku player to play up to the sinister/dreadful cultural associations sometimes ascribed to ravens and their corvids, and make use of the mimicry for max effect. The mimicry abilities of The Predator would be another fun styling in that regard. For anyone wishing to thank me for that recommendation, I can only say, "Anytime..."
I would love to see a Kenku player throw back an NPCs or even another PCs words at them, I'd probably award inspiration.
I know RL Ravens capable of mimicry can be trained to reproduce certain sounds on command, there's probably scholarship/research as to why/when Raven's employ the trait out of captivity. Ravens are considered an inventive species, so I imagine a humanoidish reference to them would be too.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Depends on how you wan't to play it. While being kind of creepy as a Undead Patron is a good suggestion, it's not your only option. Kenku can me difficult to roleplay, but I think this is an area where DM's should be lenient, seeing as how it is so hard. So I would say Kenku in normal lore can't fully talk (speak in their own voice), but there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to string words together, from people they've heard (sort of like broken english). I think restricting them to only mimicking is kind of harsh, and is easier if its a DM controlled NPC, but more difficult when a player is trying to roleplay it for a whole campaign.
Updog
Make hoops and beeps like R2D2 and when someone asks were you heard that, shrug then hoop and beep some more…