We're running a one-off adventure with some players who are very new to dnd and thought it would be fun to run an all-bard battle of the bands adventure. For an extra layer of flavor and challenge I decided to play a Kenku for the first time, since I was our vocalist. Has anyone played one in the past? Any insights into how role-playing one would work? I definitely want to try and actually play out the vocal quirk (I'm *big* into character voices) but it seems like it would be very difficult to keep track of everything everyone has said.
The biggest problem with the race is that Kenku are described as not being creative. The example of a Kenku using mimicry to making a hammer on stone sound to indicate boredom seems somewhat creative to me, I think there has to be some level of sentient/inspired decision making involved for the Kenku race or they would never have a good idea, or a clever plan. Only acting on orders or reacting to a situation as it happens would also be rather limiting.
In a nutshell, both the player and the DM would have to let this race play out with a few less limitations than the description suggests. Just in my opinion by the way.
I've been planning on a Kenku character that I just haven't had a chance to play yet. One thing I have planned is to have a few "voices" that my character knows from their past when discussing certain subjects, so you can justify ad-libbing something and just saying that it's attributed to someone your character knew in the past. The character is a Warlock, and has a "professor" voice that he uses to explain magic and history, and he's also gang member so there's a "ruffian" voice he uses when discussing something related to crimes. Have some fun with it and maybe throw in some obscure movie quotes or something.
However, if one of the other player characters says something that sounds particularly quotable or if it feels like it would be fun to use it out of context on purpose, maybe write down a note. Even if you don't get the quote 100% accurate at some point in the future, most tables aren't going to crucify you for it.
Also, don't be afraid to just say what concept your character is trying to convey. Like, "My character starts making snoring sounds to show he's ready for a Long Rest". It can be fun to try and roleplay out everything and hope your group gets what you're going for, but if you're just trying to keep the game flowing you can simplify things on purpose. It might also be a good idea to simply carry a small chalkboard for writing things down when you can't think of how to convey something through the usual Kenku limitations.
We're running a one-off adventure with some players who are very new to dnd and thought it would be fun to run an all-bard battle of the bands adventure. For an extra layer of flavor and challenge I decided to play a Kenku for the first time, since I was our vocalist. Has anyone played one in the past? Any insights into how role-playing one would work? I definitely want to try and actually play out the vocal quirk (I'm *big* into character voices) but it seems like it would be very difficult to keep track of everything everyone has said.
The biggest problem with the race is that Kenku are described as not being creative. The example of a Kenku using mimicry to making a hammer on stone sound to indicate boredom seems somewhat creative to me, I think there has to be some level of sentient/inspired decision making involved for the Kenku race or they would never have a good idea, or a clever plan. Only acting on orders or reacting to a situation as it happens would also be rather limiting.
In a nutshell, both the player and the DM would have to let this race play out with a few less limitations than the description suggests. Just in my opinion by the way.
I've been planning on a Kenku character that I just haven't had a chance to play yet. One thing I have planned is to have a few "voices" that my character knows from their past when discussing certain subjects, so you can justify ad-libbing something and just saying that it's attributed to someone your character knew in the past. The character is a Warlock, and has a "professor" voice that he uses to explain magic and history, and he's also gang member so there's a "ruffian" voice he uses when discussing something related to crimes. Have some fun with it and maybe throw in some obscure movie quotes or something.
However, if one of the other player characters says something that sounds particularly quotable or if it feels like it would be fun to use it out of context on purpose, maybe write down a note. Even if you don't get the quote 100% accurate at some point in the future, most tables aren't going to crucify you for it.
Also, don't be afraid to just say what concept your character is trying to convey. Like, "My character starts making snoring sounds to show he's ready for a Long Rest". It can be fun to try and roleplay out everything and hope your group gets what you're going for, but if you're just trying to keep the game flowing you can simplify things on purpose. It might also be a good idea to simply carry a small chalkboard for writing things down when you can't think of how to convey something through the usual Kenku limitations.
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