Duckbunny
Tiny Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 1/2d10 (2 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 20 ft (4 squares), swim 30 ft
Armor Class: 16 (+2 size, +4 Dex), touch 16, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/-10
Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d2-3 plus snap)
Full Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d2-3 plus snap)
Space/Reach: 2 1/2 ft/0 ft
Special Attacks: Snap
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision
Saves: Fort +2 Ref +6 Will +2
Abilities: Str 5, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 7
Skills: Listen +4, Spot +4, Swim +12
Feats: Weapon Finesse (plus one bonus?)
Environment: Any land
Organization: Solitary or pack (2-10)
Challenge Rating: X
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: ---
Level Adjustment: +X (cohort)
This creature might have a more bizarre appearance than the platypus. It has the beak and webbed feet of a waterfowl, and the body and long ears of a rabbit. Its body is white, with orange-yellow bills and feet, and its eyes are big and black.
The duckbunny is the result of magical crossbreeding experiments; in this case, this creature is the result of combining a snowshoe hare and a duck. Since such experiments are dangerous endeavors, enterprising wizards prefer to start with tamer beasts than something like an owlbear. From the combination of mammal and bird, many young wizards learn a valuable lesson in the art of crossbreeding species.
Duckbunnies tend to live like normal rabbits, with a few exceptions. Like rabbits, they live in underground burrows, and eat mostly vegetables. Like ducks, they lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young, are excellent swimmers, and do eat the occasional fish. If a duckbunny is freed into the wild, it will make its home along the banks of a small body of water, such as a lake or pond. A duckbunny can live on the water plants it finds there, but can be as big a nuisance to vegetable gardens as a normal rabbit.
Duckbunnies sometimes become familiars to wizards and make excellent pets, with their big eyes, floppy ears, and soft, downy fur. They cry out with a loud quacking sound when disturbed or surprised, making a duckbunny a rather inexpensive alarm system. Though they won’t attack like a guard dog, a killed duckbunny is easy to replace due to their high breeding rate.
The duckbunny also has several practical uses. Their eggs are delicious, and they breed like rabbits, which ensures a steady supply. Their downy feathers provide excellent insulation, such that their skins make excellent cloaks, capes, and boots. Duckbunny meat also makes for a good stew and tastes just like rabbit meat.
A duckbunny is X inches long, and weighs only X pounds.
COMBAT
Duckbunnies generally take the first opportunity to flee from any hostile encounter. If cornered, a duckbunny will snap its beak at any extremities within reach, from fingers to noses. Many creatures are shocked by an attack from such an inoffensive-looking creature, giving the duckbunny its chance to escape.
Snap (Ex): When a creature is hit by a duckbunny's bite attack, it must succeed on a DC 14 Will save or be dazed for 1 round. Once a creature witnesses this attack, it can never again be affected by a duckbunny's snap attack. The save DC is Dexterity-based.
Skills: A duckbunny has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.
Duckbunnies use their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier for Swim checks.
Dragon Magazine #243 ("The Dragon's Bestiary," January 1998, Johnathan M. Richards).
