Mongoose's Runequest, Anyone have it?

[rvalle]

Did they define if they are humanoids cursed to be like ducks or ducks cursed with intelligence and hands?

I always liked that line from the old RQ.

rv

 

[Dragonbait]

Did they define if they are humanoids cursed to be like ducks or ducks cursed with intelligence and hands?

I always liked that line from the old RQ.

rv

Seems like they kept that the same, as in, the curse might be one way or the other.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Related slight divergence: I somewhat recently picked up a copy of the PC game King of Dragon Pass. Good story game. When my tribe had an incident with the "adventurers" I nearly wet my pants...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Did they define if they are humanoids cursed to be like ducks or ducks cursed with intelligence and hands?

I always liked that line from the old RQ.

I'm hoping it remains ambigious. It seems somehow poetic to raise the specter that becoming more human is a curse in the animal world. (But it would be trite to come right out and say it. )

 

[ColonelHardisson]

The ducks, as far as I can tell, were put in because someone pre-publication was a big fan of (the then popular comic) Howard the Duck and the duck race has about the outraged pissed-off attitude you'd imagine Howard the Duck would have in a violent fantasy world.

I'm sure you know it, but I thought I'd mention that this is the Howard the Duck of the comic books, not the godawful movie, for those who are only acquainted with Howard via that celluloid turd.

The comics were pretty cool, especially for their time period - often surreal, with a lot of interdimensional (gamers would say "interplanar") adventures, especially at the beginning of his run. His first issue was a classic swords & sorcery story, much like Conan comics of the time. Howard came from a world that was very much like our own, except ducks and chickens were the sentient species.

Howard spent much of his time pissed off about his fate - "trapped in a world he never made!" Much of this anger came from his indignation at being in a world run by "hairless apes." So, given all that, I'm very inclined to believe Howard is the inspiration for ducks as a PC race in RuneQuest, at least in part.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I can only imagine Howard was especially pissed about the movie.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I can only imagine Howard was especially pissed about the movie.

Yeah, no kidding. He was probably just as pissed at the comic miniseries Steve Gerber put out a few years back. Ye gods it was bad.

 

[Dragonbait]

Yeah, no kidding. He was probably just as pissed at the comic miniseries Steve Gerber put out a few years back. Ye gods it was bad.

Quoted for truth. He spent most of the time as a mouse in that one.

The duck minis seem to have more in common with the movie Howard the Duck rather than the cigar-smoking, spats wearing Real Howard. ;_;

Was the duck race the only humorous thing in RuneQuest? Were there other similar creatures? Did they make it to the latest edition?
And how would the converting process go to take monsters/races/spells from the existing system to d20? Not that I don't like the existing system, but, y'know, there are people out there that would want it done...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There are humorous elements in the trolls (whose name for themselves is essentially "us"), but it's a serious race for the most part. "Trollpak" is widely credited for being the first great monster book in the vein of Draconomicon, etc.

 

[catsclaw227]

I see that there is an SRD and an Open License, does anyone know if there are any third party companies planning to release some content?