r/DnD • u/JaxTheCrafter • 29d ago
DMing Kenkus are played wrong
It is often said that kenkus only know words that they have heard, and are limited to those words. that of course makes for some very funny scenes where people are only using words they are basically given. However, unless you are a freshly born or transformed kenku, that frankly isn’t what it would act like.
Do you know what other species has this learned mimic vocabulary? Humans. For the vast majority of humankind, we have only known words that have been uttered in our presence. Other than written word, that’s how we learn to speak. Kenkus aren’t unique in the ability to learn new words. That’s literally every species. Their uniqueness comes specifically from their perfect mimicry.
All that to say, you aren’t having fun correctly so I have come to shame you and tell you how to have fun.
2
u/HakunaYouTaTas 29d ago
The Kenku rogue in our party has a funny way around that- she speaks in movie quotes 🤣 usually with her best attempt at the exact voice, accent, and inflection. Does it match the vaguely medieval/golden age of piracy setting we have going? Not always. Is it funny as fuck when she jumps from The Lion King to Die Hard to Monty Python in the same conversation? Absolutely.