What do you think about Mallards (Duck People)? If you're a fan, what is the core fantasy/enjoyment of playing one? Hoping this will help me run for players who want to play them in my game.
Hi! Speaking as someone who's played Dragonbane(Drakar & Demoner) since the 90s. I love playing the Mallard race, I've played everything from a white mallard merchant to a black mallard pirate. The short and sweet answer is "because I want to be Darkwing Duck" or "Why not?". The longer answer is that we in Sweden are slightly obsessed with Donald Duck, (comics, Ducktales, we love anything Donald duck and Scrooge McDuck far far more than Mickey Mouse) and this is why the Mallard is a playable race in Dragonbane. It also explains the racial description of the Mallard points out it's legendary aggressiveness and shrewd bartering. Mallards are by nature ambitious and in search of fortune, that makes it very easy to create a character that very much WANTS to go adventuring. And since ambition and the concept of fortune is very malleable you can make anything from a lofty mallard knight with high ideals but in need of coin, a sailing merchant down on their luck, a mallard thief seeking to claw their way out of destitution or why not a mallard wizard who's ambition and fortune hunting leans more towards ancient tomes of arcane knowledge. On a side note. I love the new artwork for Dragonbane, the black mallard thief is stunning and I knew as soon as I saw it that I would make another black mallard thief as my first character. For earlier renditions of Mallards look for the artwork of Nils Gulliksson, the original illustrator and co-writer of Drakar&Demoner. Back then you could choose to play white, black or brown mallards and whites where always merchants, black pirates and brown warriors. I'm glad they dropped that rule.
@@Hrafnasil Wow! Thank you so much for watching and for your thoughtful response! This gives me a lot more to chew on as I try to flesh out my inevitable Dragonbane campaign.
I love Glorantha, big fan of King of Dragon Pass, so Duck-people hold a special place in my heart. I love having that sense of whimsy, especially when you play them a bit psychotic. It reminds me of the medieval marginalia where monks would draw ducks hunting dogs or killing humans.
@@RuneforgedTabletopGaming Glorantha was first created all the way back in 1966, and then used in the 1975 board game 'White Bear and Black Moon' for Chaosium. It then became the 'default' world for the TTRPG Runequest. Runequest pretty much uses the same system as Call of Cthulhu, and Dragonbane is pretty much that except they replaced the d00% skill checks with a d20 roll instead.
I wouldn't play a duck as my first choice but I got a buddy who loves Darkwing Duck, so playing a ego manic rogue/fighter type would be something he would love to do. I'd even let him do the opening monologue because honestly the voice he uses for the character is great. Plus it just makes him so happy to belt out "I am the terror!" Won't stop me from having a manticore eat him, however.
Love it. I've been running the box set campaign for months now and we're almost at the end. Roll20 has a good port of the game and the initiative via cards is simple and dynamic (you can swap cards as needed). While the game uses death saves in a way much like 5e's Three Strikes "Mortality Baseball". If you recover, you gain some HP and can act. UNLIKE D&D 5e, getting nearly killed is really dangerous and you have to roll the severe injuries are nasty. They add a lot of drama and tension. It's nice not to just be playing PC Whack-a-Mole. Willpower based heroic abilities are great. My group is using Pre-Gens and despite not hand crafting them from jump, all of them have developed and become full of character to the extent that I forget they were once stock. Our version of the old mage has had two spell fails that made him younger. He's now a teen and has sweet boots made out of a certain white sea snake. Oh, and monsters having random and often auto hit attacks, it's wonderful. It makes them scary and interesting for all at the table. Fights are also faster, by far, than D&D 5e. Regular NPCs, like Goblin scouts, can be deadly, especially in groups. Again, we're near the end of the campaign. Most PCs are powerhouses, they STILL are in danger in battles and that is a really good thing.
I just picked this up last week and haven't read it yet. I don't really love the mallards, just like I am not thrilled with samurai frogs in Crown and Skull, but I will wait until I actually read the book to decide. The system itself looks good and the art alone was almost enough for me to buy it.
Clearly you were not a fan of Duck Tales or Darkwing Duck, otherwise you would not have asked the mallard question. 😅 I have played a mallard knight and it was some of the most fun Inhad. Check their ability!
