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| #1JohnLynchJan 29, 2015 0:22:07 | I love the kenku race. From the moment I've heard about them they reminded me of City Elves from Dark Sun. They are the mafia. They have gangs in all the major cities across the land and they get involved in all sorts of feuds and turf wars, unknown to the other races. I've seen Kenku in D&D 3.5e (thanks to online previews), 4th edition and Pathfinder, and so I've decided to make up a PC version for 5th edition based on all of these.
Racial Traits for KenkuKenku receive the following racial traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity increases by 2, and your Charisma increases by 1.
---- Unlike my Doppelganger/Changeling PC racial traits, I've tried to go a bit more outside the box.
In 3.5e, Pathfinder and 4th ed kenku have always had an extra bonus to flanking or "aiding another". This isn't something that's in the core rules of 5th edition so I've avoided using it wholesale. Instead I've introduced a new take on Flock Tactics where you can give an ally advantage as a bonus action. For TWFers and other classes with bonus actions this will be a tactical choice that you may choose not to use on any given round. This is my 3rd take on the racial trait as I've struggled to find the right balance between useful and overpowered. Do people think I've managed it? Or have I missed the mark?
As for a kenku language, the Monster Manual version doesn't have one. I personally don't like that (in my worlds kenku do have their own racial language), but to keep this compatible with the MM I've elected not to include a kenku language hardcoded into the race. If in your world kenku have a racial tongue you can easily get players to take it as their second language (or Auran if that's what you decide to use).
I've chosen not to give the kenku any skill or tool related bonuses as I'm not sure what the power level of ambusher, flock tactics and mimicry are and wanted to hear whether people thought they needed a small boost, a nerf or if they were good just the way they are. I'm expecting they make great rogues, although I'd hope they're still attractive for other classes too. |
| #2rampantJan 29, 2015 7:38:50 | The reliance on attack rolls is a bit dicey for a race. |
| #3Regin_VargtassJan 29, 2015 8:14:02 | Comparing to other races (in the MM) I think it would be reasonable for Flock tactics to grant advantage only to another ally with Flock tactics.
The combination of Ambusher and Flock tactics is neat. |
| #4Cyber-DaveJan 29, 2015 8:38:14 | I really like it. I don't agree with Rampart. I don't think attack bonus based mechanics are dicey for a race. Every class can gain access to an attack roll based mechanic, and many racial features already favor some classes over others. Likewise, while the MM often groups something like "flock tactics" as being usable only by someone else with the same trait, that would be far too much of a limit for a PC benefit. I think you can keep the race as is and call it balanced/well designed. I like it allot. I would use it at my tables. (On the other hand, I am not the biggest fan of your doppleganger, but that is another story.) |
| #5Tempest_StormwindJan 29, 2015 20:12:13 | EDIT: The grammar on this reply was awful. Blasted mobile site...
I like the race more or less as it is (I have no problems with racial abilities linking into attacks; see also: Tiefling's Hellish Rebuke), but I do have a proposed compromise. How about linking it to the Help action? For instance, "If you have advantage on an attack roll or ability check, you can take the Help action as a bonus action after completing the attack roll or ability check. You have to help on the same kind of roll on which you have advantage." That inherits existing rules widely, includes a non-combat use of the ability, and it still requires a situational trigger (but it's really good if you have a way of consistently assigning that). The last sentence is designed to prevent someone from using a spell or something to grant advantage on an ability check and daisy-chaining that onto an attack roll, for instance; although it's not explicit, it's implied that a Helped attack has to target your attack's target as well. I'm not familiar with how 4e handled kenku (though I'd wager it was definitely combat-focused!), but in their 3e incarnation, their Great Ally ability didn't just extend to flanking - it increased both the flanking bonus and the bonus from Aid Another, which is the precursor to 5e's Help. (Yes, Aid Another does exist in 5e, but with a much simpler name and support for accuracy bounds.)
There is a slight problem with it as written and with this approach, though: for it to be useful in combat, you need to have both advantage and an ally within 5' to make use of it. This is hard, unless you're already ganging up on the target (and the target can easily slip away, especially with Disengage and the like). It's not like you can dive in first (which Ambusher rewards!), strike, and then wait for your buddy to take his turn before using Flock Tactics on him. I wouldn't add another limiter on this as a result - it's much more useful outside of combat than inside combat.
My only other suggestion is to copy the kenku's language a bit more closely, as follows:
Languages: You can read, write, and understand Common and Primordial (Auran). You can only speak using your mimicry ability, meaning you cannot speak sentences you haven't heard, but can add in any sound (or collection of sounds) you have heard instead, even if they come from a language you don't understand (or no language at all). As an adventurer, it can be safely assumed you've spent enough time around humanoids to have a wide enough library of words to speak coherently, even if your voice appears to change mid-sentence or your sentences don't always precisely match the topic on which you're speaking, and you may occasionally add in other sounds instead (especially on particularly complex subjects).
This way, communication isn't quite as large a problem as it would be, but you still don't suddenly get kenkus capable of delivering a spoken response to Kierkengaard on the spot. Instead, you might get a collection of different sentences, in different voices, interspersed with non-vocal sounds - which is basicaly what the kenku race (as described in the MM) would do. However, the assumption allows players to speak more or less normally except when they feel the need to pepper their speech with kenku-isms for performance reasons - i.e., more or less exactly what an improvising DM would do with, say, a kenku merchant. Incidentally, you might want to retain the "Wisdom check to identify a sound as mimicry" clause, to prevent players from using this as a no-save, at-will, auditory illusion.
Incidentally, that last bit? It also counts as a minor "skill bonus" to Deception, in that you can flawlessly mimic sounds you've heard, which work well for creating distractions, selling a disguise, and related auditory effects.... without even rolling a check, since there's no chance for it to fail. The only factor is if they're recognized as a fake, which is easy enough to use with the saving throw (though that could be rolled into Deception, if you want the race's rogues to be good at it and, say, their wizards to be bad at it). I don't think the race needs anything specific to skills or tools, especially if Flock Tactics uses Help (and thus extends a kenku's advantage on one ability check to another person).
(This also changes a pet peeve of mine, where Primordial is used in the Player's Handbook (with Auran being one of its four dialects, capable of communicating with Ignan, Aquan, and Terran while still being distinct), but the Monster Manual uses its four dialects as if they were separate, distinct, languages.) |
| #6JohnLynchJan 29, 2015 23:00:57 |
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| #7Tempest_StormwindJan 29, 2015 23:28:43 | And they aren't already anthropomorphized crows?
Honestly, it's no bigger a deal at a table than someone who adopts an accent (and I'm positive at least someone has made their dwarf "Scottish" already), or unusual grammatical structure (i.e. Hulk Speak, Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness, speaking.... very.... slowly..... -- some of which the PHB actually recommends for some traits) for spoken-in-character lines, as long as you keep the assumption there that they've heard quite a lot already. Since they can chain together words they've heard, I imagine they've got plenty of options already (though they'd be missing certain sophisticated or specialized words... exactly as often as the player wants), even though that sentence might not sound like it's coming from a single voice.
I don't have anything against a more standard approach to language, mind; I just think this is an area that the kenku can really stand out in on the performance front.
In either case, Mimicry still needs a way to be detected as false, because as written it's a perfect auditory illusion with no save (as long as the kenku himself isn't seen as the source of the sound). |
| #8JohnLynchJan 30, 2015 0:02:57 |
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| #9LuisCarlos17fJan 30, 2015 4:54:31 | Keys of a PC race:
- Interesting background.
- Right balance of power.
- Fun gameplay. (Some racial traits have a right balance of power, but they are too boring to be used)
- To avoid being too "spesialized" (if a PC race is only good to be warrior, spellcaster or stealth, then you are doing it wrong).
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About background.... in a fantasy world if kenkus only are thiefs... they would be expeled from everywhere. |
| #10JohnLynchJan 30, 2015 7:09:59 |
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| (Reply to #10)LuisCarlos17f |
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| #12JohnLynchJan 31, 2015 1:10:37 | Why are Italians and japenese "tolerated" in cities? |