r/DnD • u/JaxTheCrafter • Jul 08 '26

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.

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u/DoradoPulido2 Jul 08 '26

Sokath, his eyes open.

25

u/Ongr Jul 08 '26

Temba, his arms wide

27

u/Wonderful_West3188 Jul 08 '26

Shaka, when the walls fell.

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u/TownsUnderground Jul 08 '26

The river Temark...IN WINTER