Kenku
Feathered folk who resemble ravens, kenku are blessed with keen observation and supernaturally accurate memories. None of them can remember the origin of the first kenku, however, and they often joke that there are as many kenku origin stories as there are kenku. Some of them paint their genesis as a curse, being a flightless bird people doomed to mimic other people's creations. Other kenku recite cryptic but beautiful poems about their advent being a blessed event in which they were sent into the multiverse to observe and catalog its many wonders.
Whatever their true origin, kenku are most often found in the Shadowfell and the Material Plane, and they tend to have the coloration typical of ravens.
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
Kenku
ability score increase:
Choose one of: (a) Choose any +2; choose any other +1 (b) choose three different +1
age:
Kenku have shorter lifespans than humans. They reach maturity at about 12 years old and can live to 60.
alignment:
Kenku can be of any alignment
Size:
Medium
speed:
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages:
You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for your character.
race features:
Expert Duplication. When you copy writing or craftwork produced by yourself or someone else, you have advantage on any ability checks you make to produce an exact duplicate. Kenku Recall. Thanks to your supernaturally good memory, you have proficiency in two skills of your choice. Moreover, when you make an ability check using any skill in which you have proficiency, you can give yourself advantage on the check before rolling the d20. You can give yourself advantage in this way a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Mimicry. You can accurately mimic sounds you have heard, including voices. A creature that hears the sounds you make can tell they are imitations only with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check against a DC of 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier.
Expert Duplication. When you copy writing or craftwork produced by yourself or someone else, you have advantage on any ability checks you make to produce an exact duplicate. Kenku Recall. Thanks to your supernaturally good memory, you have proficiency in two skills of your choice. Moreover, when you make an ability check using any skill in which you have proficiency, you can give yourself advantage on the check before rolling the d20. You can give yourself advantage in this way a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Mimicry. You can accurately mimic sounds you have heard, including voices. A creature that hears the sounds you make can tell they are imitations only with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check against a DC of 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier.
Volo's Complete Subrace Handbook
Harrowfeather Kenku
Those who know of them call them Harrows. The Harrowfeather scour the battlefield for a greater purpose. No one knows who or what drives them to the grisly life of a reaper, but all who are born of the Harrowfeather commit themselves to the mirthless duty of ensuring that those who die stay that way. They see their duty as most honorable and tenaciously hunt the undead. They rely on their medical expertise to save the living from disease as they believe that those who die of disease will carry their illness into the afterlife. Most Harrowfeathers wield a sickle or scythe, and some say a Harrowfeather’s scythe can steal the essence of a creature’s soul.
ability score increase:
Choose one of: (a) Choose any +2; choose any other +1 (b) choose three different +1
age:
Kenku have shorter lifespans than humans. They reach maturity at about 12 years old and can live to 60.
alignment:
Kenku can be of any alignment
Size:
Medium
speed:
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages:
You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for your character.
parent race:
Kenku
race features:
Plague Doctor. You are proficient in the History and Medicine skills. You also have advantage on saving throws against diseases. Reaper of the Crop. You are proficient with sickles You may also use sickles as a spellcasting focus for any class that uses one. Final Words. You can mimic the words of the dead much like you can the living. Once per day, you can use an action to touch a corpse that is not undead and speak the last sentence they spoke in a perfect imitation. Marked for Death. Once per long rest, when you are within 15 feet of a creature that is below half its maximum hit points, you may use your bonus action to mark it for death, surrounding it with an aura of dark energy. Any healing the creature receives from spells or magical effects is reduced by half for 1 minute or until you and the creature are separated by more than 30 feet. Constructs are unaffected by this trait. Mimicry. You can accurately mimic sounds you have heard, including voices. A creature that hears the sounds you make can tell they are imitations only with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check against a DC of 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier.
Plague Doctor. You are proficient in the History and Medicine skills. You also have advantage on saving throws against diseases. Reaper of the Crop. You are proficient with sickles You may also use sickles as a spellcasting focus for any class that uses one. Final Words. You can mimic the words of the dead much like you can the living. Once per day, you can use an action to touch a corpse that is not undead and speak the last sentence they spoke in a perfect imitation. Marked for Death. Once per long rest, when you are within 15 feet of a creature that is below half its maximum hit points, you may use your bonus action to mark it for death, surrounding it with an aura of dark energy. Any healing the creature receives from spells or magical effects is reduced by half for 1 minute or until you and the creature are separated by more than 30 feet. Constructs are unaffected by this trait. Mimicry. You can accurately mimic sounds you have heard, including voices. A creature that hears the sounds you make can tell they are imitations only with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check against a DC of 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier.
Volo's Complete Subrace Handbook
Shroudeye Kenku
Shroudeyes are wanderers, rarely staying in one city for more than a few days, collecting trinkets from the far off lands they visit. They fortell ill-omens in the hope that some may avoid their grim fates. Because of this, they are often associated with that which they predict, and called “Harbingers of Disaster”. Likewise, many are afraid to associate with them for fear they may discover something they do not wish to know. They pay close attention to actions others take, as if studying every person they meet. One can be sure these feathered gypsies learn more of someone than their fortunes reveal.
ability score increase:
Choose one of: (a) Choose any +2; choose any other +1 (b) choose three different +1
age:
Kenku have shorter lifespans than humans. They reach maturity at about 12 years old and can live to 60.
alignment:
Kenku can be of any alignment
Size:
Medium
speed:
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages:
You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for your character.
parent race:
Kenku
race features:
Oracle. You are proficient in the Arcana and Religion skills. Eye of Omens. You know the guidance cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the animal messenger spell on a bird once with this trait as a 2nd-level spell. Once you reach 5th level, you can cast the augury spell once with this trait as a 2nd-level spell, and you regain the ability to cast these spells this way when you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. Bird's Eye View. Through sounds and gestures, you can communicate simple ideas with Small or smaller birds. In addition, when you are within 25 feet of a non-hostile Small or smaller bird you can see, you may use your action to point at it and see through that bird's vision, blinded to your own. The effect ends if the bird flies more than 50 feet away from you, and you may end the effect by using your bonus action. Mimicry. You can accurately mimic sounds you have heard, including voices. A creature that hears the sounds you make can tell they are imitations only with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check against a DC of 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier.
Oracle. You are proficient in the Arcana and Religion skills. Eye of Omens. You know the guidance cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the animal messenger spell on a bird once with this trait as a 2nd-level spell. Once you reach 5th level, you can cast the augury spell once with this trait as a 2nd-level spell, and you regain the ability to cast these spells this way when you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. Bird's Eye View. Through sounds and gestures, you can communicate simple ideas with Small or smaller birds. In addition, when you are within 25 feet of a non-hostile Small or smaller bird you can see, you may use your action to point at it and see through that bird's vision, blinded to your own. The effect ends if the bird flies more than 50 feet away from you, and you may end the effect by using your bonus action. Mimicry. You can accurately mimic sounds you have heard, including voices. A creature that hears the sounds you make can tell they are imitations only with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check against a DC of 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier.
Volo's Complete Subrace Handbook
Snatchbeak Kenku
Snatchbeak, the most common type of kenku, are often seen living in large cities acting as vagabonds and petty criminals, this is in part due to their namesake, their beaks, which allow them to swiftly snatch away most items in an instant. As such, Snatchbeak Kenku are occasionally turned away from wealthy establishments where thievery is a rampant problem. Many Snatchbeaks make an easy living serving as messengers, spies, and lookouts for thieves' guilds, bandits, and other criminal cartels.
ability score increase:
Choose one of: (a) Choose any +2; choose any other +1 (b) choose three different +1
age:
Kenku have shorter lifespans than humans. They reach maturity at about 12 years old and can live to 60.
alignment:
Kenku can be of any alignment
Size:
Medium
speed:
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages:
You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for your character.
parent race:
Kenku
race features:
Expert Duplication. When you copy writing or craftwork produced by yourself or someone else, you have advantage on any ability checks you make to produce an exact duplicate. Kenku Recall. Thanks to your supernaturally good memory, you have proficiency in two skills of your choice. Moreover, when you make an ability check using any skill in which you have proficiency, you can give yourself advantage on the check before rolling the d20. You can give yourself advantage in this way a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Snatchbeak. You may use your beak to make Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks. Dark Feathers. You can take the Hide action as a bonus action whenever you are in dim light or darkness.
Expert Duplication. When you copy writing or craftwork produced by yourself or someone else, you have advantage on any ability checks you make to produce an exact duplicate. Kenku Recall. Thanks to your supernaturally good memory, you have proficiency in two skills of your choice. Moreover, when you make an ability check using any skill in which you have proficiency, you can give yourself advantage on the check before rolling the d20. You can give yourself advantage in this way a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Snatchbeak. You may use your beak to make Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks. Dark Feathers. You can take the Hide action as a bonus action whenever you are in dim light or darkness.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Given that kenku can duplicate any sound, their names are drawn from a staggering variety of noises and phrases. Kenku names tend to break down into three categories that make no distinction between male and female names.
Kenku thugs, warriors, and toughs adopt noises made by weapons, such as the clang of a mace against armor or the sound made by a breaking bone. Non-kenku refer to the kenku by describing this noise. Examples of this type of name include Smasher, Clanger, Slicer, and Basher.
Kenku thieves, con artists, and burglars adopt animal noises, typically those common in urban settings. In this manner, kenku can call out to each other while those who overhear them mistake them for common animals. Non-kenku use names that refer to the sound made or the animal a kenku mimics, such as Rat Scratch, Whistler, Mouser, and Growler.
Some kenku turn their back on crime to pursue legitimate trades. These kenku adopt noises made as part of their craft. A sailor duplicates the sound of a fluttering sail, while a smith mimics the clanging of a hammer on metal. Non-kenku describe these folk by their trade sounds, such as Sail Snap, Hammerer, and Cutter.
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