5th Edition Birdfolk

Four varieies of "birdfolk" have been presented in secondary and tertiary sources for 5th Edition D&D:  The aarakocra was presented as a playable race in the Elemental Evil Player's Companion; the kenku in Volo's Guide to Monsters; and the aven and siren in two installments of Plane Shift (Amonkhet and Ixalan, respectively).  From three of these--aarakockra, aven, and siren--a common base race can be extrapolated; the remaining details of each race can then become the various birdfolk sub-races.

There are two methods of determining base traits:  1) Use the aarakocra traits from Elemental Evil, but disregard the features identified below as being specific to the aarakocra subrace; 2) alternately, use the aven base traits as-is.  In either case, apply the traits of the desire sub-race to the chosen base traits.  All birdfolk in the same campaign should use the same base traits. The only real differences between the two are alignment and age.

Kenku are specifically excluded from the birdfolk below.  Unlike aarakocra and aven, kenku are flightless--a feature core to the lore of the race.  Kenku should be treated as a unique race, related to other birdfolk as gnomes are [often] related to dwarves.

Other Races in Monvesia?

This post supersedes a portion of "Other Non-Humans of Monvesia."

Part of what makes a campaign setting unique is not only what races are included in the setting, but also which races are excluded.  Several new race options have been introduced in sourcebooks and "Unearthed Arcana" articles.  Some races, either common to most D&D worlds, or unique to some, may not have a place in Monvesia.

I had introduced a rating system for aversion in "Creatures NOT of Monvesia," so will use that again here.  Some of these races may be considered for inclusion in the setting in the furture, should there be a need for it.