Bird Brains: Roleplaying Birds

Something the current version of the game doesn’t cover is what kind of birds you are portraying. Are you cartoon birds like the Goodfeathers, is there a bird society like Legend of the Guardians, or are you just regular old birds cawing and squawking at each other?

Anthropomorphized Birds

These cartoon birds are basically human. They can talk, use their feathers like fingers, they probably have human-like eyes and even teeth behind their beak. Feel free to give them accessories like hats and scarves, but use their plumage and coloring to imply clothing. These birds can probably interact with humans or at least have some opinions about them. Since this is a cartoon what outlandish secrets do your birds know, what zany antics are these birds getting up to, did a cat have the bird whacked because they knew too much?

Bird Language and Society

These birds look and act like normal birds, but they think and speak like humans. Watership Down and Legend of the Guardians are good touchstones here. Though they are talking they wouldn't be able to speak to or understand humans. They probably have their own customs and histories. When writing secrets consider the unique world of birds. What are they scared of, what do they value, and why do they cherish secrets?

Normal Birds

These are normal birds. They can't talk to each other. Describe their actions more thoroughly and talk about their intent and inner monologue. What do they say with their song? Songbirds are known to pass on knowledge of predators and where to find food. Try to keep that in mind when creating their secrets.

Fun Fact: When a crow dies other crows will investigate the murder and work together to drive off the culprit. So you can absolutely play regular birds.

Something Else

Want to be the animatronic birds from the Tiki Room or a sophisticated Amazon delivery drone? When you play #birdsecrets what are your birds like? The discussion boards are now open.