Want to play a Duck?

Michael O'Brien

Hero
Publisher
Screenshot2025-11-17at4_35_05PM.png.90ae3e35b01517b430d4a8e549978ff1.png

Want to play a Duck? After appearing as a location and then counters in Greg Stafford's 1975 board war game White Bear and Red Moon ("Ducks, Ducks, and More Ducks"), as TTRPG creatures Ducks first appeared in RuneQuest first edition.

This was way back in 1978, as something that could be a hobbit equivalent. Ducks were first depicted in art by Jennell Jaquays as cover art for issue #8 of Chaosium's house zine Wyrm's Footnotes (1979).
Screenshot2025-11-17at4_44_02PM.png.d8ff02f1d45b6ec49052e41f0ce9e308.png

Our new Basic Roleplaying: Creatures book features TTRPG stats for Ducks.

DuckBRP.png.b7ff4f0cf109a5cea450c98054444dd3.png

You can also download (free) a Duck Adventurer as part of our RuneQuest Elder Race Adventurers pack. Art for both of these is by Lionel Marty.

Screenshot2025-11-17at4_52_26PM.png.5b027486ec8bfc30466da449a70252db.png

Our forthcoming Lands of RuneQuest: Sartar book has a section on Creating Duck Adventurers, with art by Ossi Hiekkala.

Screenshot2025-11-17at4_32_39PM.png.a344e13b1b3c0b66bcc3b049bd472a05.png

There's also more Duck art coming by Mark Smylie. Ducks, Ducks, and More Ducks.
And you can read more about the origin of the Ducks in this post by Chaosium President and head of the Nostalgia Department Rick Meints:
 

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I want to like them, but cannot get past thinking that Thanksgiving dinner is trying to fight back. To be fair though, I am not a fan of any animal PCs in general. The new art is better than the Daffy Duck old style.
 




Ah, Runequest. Loved the setting and the game but never played a duck; probably my fault for lack of adventurous spirit.
I did DM a 2E game where the wizard used a polymorph self scroll to turn into a duck (his choice!) to escape a pack of dire wolves. It didn't end well!
 

Screenshot2025-11-17at4_35_05PM.png.90ae3e35b01517b430d4a8e549978ff1.png

Want to play a Duck? After appearing as a location and then counters in Greg Stafford's 1975 board war game White Bear and Red Moon ("Ducks, Ducks, and More Ducks"), as TTRPG creatures Ducks first appeared in RuneQuest first edition.

This was way back in 1978, as something that could be a hobbit equivalent. Ducks were first depicted in art by Jennell Jaquays as cover art for issue #8 of Chaosium's house zine Wyrm's Footnotes (1979).
Screenshot2025-11-17at4_44_02PM.png.d8ff02f1d45b6ec49052e41f0ce9e308.png

Our new Basic Roleplaying: Creatures book features TTRPG stats for Ducks.

DuckBRP.png.b7ff4f0cf109a5cea450c98054444dd3.png

You can also download (free) a Duck Adventurer as part of our RuneQuest Elder Race Adventurers pack. Art for both of these is by Lionel Marty.

Screenshot2025-11-17at4_52_26PM.png.5b027486ec8bfc30466da449a70252db.png

Our forthcoming Lands of RuneQuest: Sartar book has a section on Creating Duck Adventurers, with art by Ossi Hiekkala.

Screenshot2025-11-17at4_32_39PM.png.a344e13b1b3c0b66bcc3b049bd472a05.png

There's also more Duck art coming by Mark Smylie. Ducks, Ducks, and More Ducks.
And you can read more about the origin of the Ducks in this post by Chaosium President and head of the Nostalgia Department Rick Meints:
Dragonbane.
 

Dragonbane.

Seriously. How could a thread on this topic NOT include the Assassin Duck from Dragonbane?

1763387511865.png
 

It's funny, in all these years, I never got the throughline from Hobbits to Ducks. But I can see the case for it. Characters that are outside their element, out of their depth, have been with fantasy since the beginning.

I remember the ad for Runequest that ran in Dragon magazine that was a Wanted poster for a Duck bandit back in the day.
 

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