If kenku can only mimic sounds that they hear, wouldn't it be really difficult to perform spells that require spoken incantations? Do they have to have party members speak them aloud for them?
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I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Have you ever seen one of those old movies where they record some in a conversation and then chop it up to sound like they said something else and it sounds a little janky? I imagine they must do something similar, but I’m no expert.
If kenku can only mimic sounds that they hear, wouldn't it be really difficult to perform spells that require spoken incantations? Do they have to have party members speak them aloud for them?
Listen to Bumble Bee from the transformers movie that is how they would talk saying 1 word from each source, personally the communication issues is why I won't play one trying to do all of that is annoying to myself as a player.
In one of my campaigns I had a kenku wizard who had been a wizards apprentice. He picked up his spell vocabulary from having heard his master cast spells. As the character advanced the player made note of all the spells cast by NPCs and added these to his list possible spells. The player loved the challenge.
There are ways around it, but they are best with sneaky-stealy-stabby roles.
In addition to those above: Otherworldly patrons can bestow the necessary words to cast the abilities the patrons grant (or the patron could command the minion to figure it out without help).
There's a campaign where the Kenku periodically drinks a potion to allow the Kenku to speak with its own words. Definitely not my favorite homebrew solution to watch - all the benefits and none of the drawbacks. While the Kenku's mimicry-only trait would be annoying to watch, I find it more annoying to just Eagle away the problem and I stopped watching them.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
I think the confusion comes from this idea that they can only mimic "cries". A Kenku can replicate full sentences, even speeches they've heard before. If a Kenku has witnessed a single person cast a spell, they then know the incantation for that spell... even if they don't yet have the necessary skills to cast it.
That said, the vocal element of a spell is extremely vague. No spell is overtly given a specific vocal element... it could very well be a series of bird whistles or disjointed phrases. I know that it's not uncommon for bards to sing as their vocal element, so depending on how the player wants to flavor their spellcasting there's nothing that makes Kenku disabled in the process of spellcasting.
I think the confusion comes from this idea that they can only mimic "cries". A Kenku can replicate full sentences, even speeches they've heard before. If a Kenku has witnessed a single person cast a spell, they then know the incantation for that spell... even if they don't yet have the necessary skills to cast it.
That said, the vocal element of a spell is extremely vague. No spell is overtly given a specific vocal element... it could very well be a series of bird whistles or disjointed phrases. I know that it's not uncommon for bards to sing as their vocal element, so depending on how the player wants to flavor their spellcasting there's nothing that makes Kenku disabled in the process of spellcasting.
At least you thought of a current movie reference. First thing that popped into my head was Sneakers.
So you only watch “good” movies then 🙂
“Myvoiceis mypassport. Verify me.” Lol
Nah, I just only remember the good ones. That last Bumblebee movie wasn’t terrible. Michael Bay should be sent to his room to think about his mistakes with those Transformers movies though.
If kenku can only mimic sounds that they hear, wouldn't it be really difficult to perform spells that require spoken incantations? Do they have to have party members speak them aloud for them?
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
- Litany Against Fear, Frank Herbert
Have you ever seen one of those old movies where they record some in a conversation and then chop it up to sound like they said something else and it sounds a little janky? I imagine they must do something similar, but I’m no expert.
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Listen to Bumble Bee from the transformers movie that is how they would talk saying 1 word from each source, personally the communication issues is why I won't play one trying to do all of that is annoying to myself as a player.
At least you thought of a current movie reference. First thing that popped into my head was Sneakers.
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In one of my campaigns I had a kenku wizard who had been a wizards apprentice. He picked up his spell vocabulary from having heard his master cast spells. As the character advanced the player made note of all the spells cast by NPCs and added these to his list possible spells. The player loved the challenge.
There are ways around it, but they are best with sneaky-stealy-stabby roles.
In addition to those above: Otherworldly patrons can bestow the necessary words to cast the abilities the patrons grant (or the patron could command the minion to figure it out without help).
There's a campaign where the Kenku periodically drinks a potion to allow the Kenku to speak with its own words. Definitely not my favorite homebrew solution to watch - all the benefits and none of the drawbacks. While the Kenku's mimicry-only trait would be annoying to watch, I find it more annoying to just Eagle away the problem and I stopped watching them.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I think the confusion comes from this idea that they can only mimic "cries". A Kenku can replicate full sentences, even speeches they've heard before. If a Kenku has witnessed a single person cast a spell, they then know the incantation for that spell... even if they don't yet have the necessary skills to cast it.
That said, the vocal element of a spell is extremely vague. No spell is overtly given a specific vocal element... it could very well be a series of bird whistles or disjointed phrases. I know that it's not uncommon for bards to sing as their vocal element, so depending on how the player wants to flavor their spellcasting there's nothing that makes Kenku disabled in the process of spellcasting.
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This^
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So you only watch “good” movies then 🙂
“My voice is my passport. Verify me.” Lol
Nah, I just only remember the good ones. That last Bumblebee movie wasn’t terrible. Michael Bay should be sent to his room to think about his mistakes with those Transformers movies though.
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Agreed on both.