Kenku

The statistics block below contains details for more than one class of kenku. Use the horizontal scrollbar below it to display the desired one or select from the links below that.

Kenku, 1st-Level Warrior • Kenku Sneak, 1st-Level Rogue

Kenkus evolved from avians, although they no longer possess wings or the ability to fly. Soft, dark feathers cover a kenku’s head and torso, although its scrawny arms and legs remain bare.

Selfish and secretive in their dealings, kenkus gather in large cities, lurk in dark alleys, and hoard purloined gold. They rarely travel alone, instead preferring to roam the streets in small gangs, all the while hatching plots to amass more wealth and power. Due to their penchant for shady ventures, they are often employed as thugs, thieves, spies, and assassins.

A kenku averages 5 feet in height. Because its bones are partly hollow, it weighs a mere 75 pounds.

Kenkus speak Common and their own language, Kenku.

Beneath their unremarkable brown robes, kenkus conceal a variety of useful tools and weapons. Vicious but cowardly, kenkus usually flee or surrender the instant things start to go badly for them.

The kenku warrior presented here had the following ability scores before racial adjustments: Str 13, Dex 12, Con 8, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 9.

Great Ally (Ex): Kenkus work exceptionally well with their allies. When successfully aided on a skill check or attack roll by an ally, or when aiding another, a kenku applies or gains a +3 bonus on its check or attack roll (instead of the normal +2 bonus). Furthermore, a kenku gains a +4 bonus on attack rolls against an opponent flanked by an ally (instead of the normal +2 bonus).

Mimicry (Ex): A kenku can perfectly mimic familiar sounds, voices, and accents. This ability does not enable the kenku to speak languages it can’t normally speak. To duplicate a specific individual’s voice, a kenku makes a Bluff check; a listener familiar with the voice being imitated must succeed on an opposed Sense Motive check to discern that the voice isn’t genuine.

Skills: Kenku have a +2 racial bonus on Hide checks and Move Silently checks.

A kenku sneak uses its skills to serve more powerful creatures as a spy or assassin. In combat, it relies on sneakiness, cooperation, and initiative to survive. In addition to its weapons, a kenku sneak carries its own sets of thieves’ tools.

The kenku rogue presented here had the following ability scores before racial adjustments: Str 10, Dex 15, Con 8, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 14.

A kenku sneak uses its rogue abilities to great effect, preferring to work with an ally to flank and sneak attack a foe.

Kenkus hatch like birds and dwell in family aeries and nests, most of which are located in or near large cities. At age nine, a young adult kenku leaves the home-nest forever and strikes out on its own, usually falling in with small groups of like-minded kenkus. Adult kenkus remain with these groups for mutual protection and gain. A few strike out on their own or partner with other types of creatures who value the services a kenku can provide.

Kenku characters tend toward neutrality; although most kenkus are evil, neutral and neutral good kenkus also exist. Kenkus favor the rogue class and often pursue the assassin prestige class. Kenku clerics are rare, but those that exist typically worship Vecna, the god of secrets.

Kenkus possess the following racial traits.

A network of kenku spies calling themselves the Nightswift has infiltrated various metropolitan cities across Khorvaire. The Nightswift maintains secret meeting halls (called “eyries”) in Zarash’ak (the Shadow Marches), the Great Crag (Droaam), Sharn and Starilaskur (Breland), Wyvernskull (Darguun), Taer Valaestas (Valenar), and Newthrone (Q’barra). Guilds of kenku thieves and assassins are equally prevalent; the largest of these is called Shadoweye’s Flock, based in Starilaskur. The stately guildmaster, Shadoweye (NE female kenku rogue 8/assassin 4), has white plumage that testifies to her advanced age, and rumor is she’s looking for a worthy successor.

Kenku inhabit cities across southern Faerûn, with a large but loose guild of thieves and assassins called the Daggertalons based in Zazesspur. Kenku living in the eastern nations of Veldorn and Estagund trace their ancestry even farther east, to Kara-Tur.