[Labyrinth Lord] Duckfolk

Duckfolk

Requirements: DEX 9, CON 9

Prime Requisite: WIS and CON

Hit Dice: 1d6

Maximum Level: 10

Duckfolk (or Ducks) are a quite agreeable race that resembles anthroid, oversized ducks. Despite their biological differences to most other races they integrate easily into other societies, in most cases living the quite and unremarkable life of artisans and tinkerers. Some of them are driven to adventure though, some by a remarkable drive to do better than normal, some by sheer misfortune, and some for an uncommon fondness for gold.

Ducks are a bit smaller than Dwarves. They weigh around 100 pounds and reach a height of around 3.5 feet. Their body is covered with feathers that give them excellent heat insulation. They sport a duck beak, webbed feet and palmed arms.

They generally prefer a life of leisure, they value many activities that do not put themselves too much into danger. They will engage in relaxing activities when not on an adventure. Because of their small size and palmed hands, Duckfolk may not use large and two-handed weapons, but may use any other weapon and armor. They must have at least 13 in one or the other prime requisite in order to get the +5% to experience. They must also have a DEX and CON of 13 to get the +10% bonus.

Duckfolk are very good swimmers and are able to stay up to five minutes underwater. As they are covered in feathers they do normally not need further clothing. To show their rank and occupation they will wear shirts and jackets, as well as hats. They do not need to wear trousers and prefer not to in general. A quirk that sometimes leads to conflict with more conservative members of other races, despite the fact that members of both genders do show neither primary nor secondary sex characteristics.

Because they are so small, Duckfolk have a lower armor class (-1) when attacked by creatures greater than human sized.

Even unarmed they can be dangerous, when threatened their beak (which is, unlike those of real ducks, fitted with strong teeth) can cause mean wounds when used to bite an opponent (1d4).

Reaching 10th Level: When a member of the Duckfolk reaches level 10 they can found a village. These villages will be in serene valleys along rivers, lakes, or the shore of the ocean. Duckfolk and others will come to settle there. The character becomes the leader of the people and must rule them wisely.

Duckfolk Level Progression

Hit Dice: 1d6 per level

Experience (Level) Pick Pockets Move Silently Hide in Shadows

0…………….. (1)……….23 23 13

1,565……….. (2)……….27 27 17

3,125……….. (3)……….30 30 20

6,251……….. (4)……….37 37 27

12,501……… (5)……….40 40 30

25,001…….. (6)………..43 43 37

50,001…….. (7)………..53 53 47

100,001…… (8)………..63 63 57

200,001…… (9)………..73 73 67

300,001…… (10)………83 83 77

400,001…… (11)……….93 93 87

500,001…… (12)……… 105 95 90

As an Advanced Edition Character Race

Duckfolk

Requirements: DEX 9, CON 9

Ability Modifiers: CON +1, STR -1

Ability Min/Max: STR 3/17, DEX 3/18, CON 8/18, INT 5/18, WIS 3/18, CHA 6/18

Duckfolk Classes Available

Class Level Limit

Fighter 8

Thief 14

Druid 10

Magic-User 9

Duck-Folk Thief Skill Adjustment

Pick Pockets +10%

Move Silently +5%

Hide in Shadows +5%

Well, it’s not hard to notice what particular ideas I drew upon for that. Ducks somehow lend themselves to be thought as as characters, and then one thinks about it a bit more and notices: no wait, that might be stupid. Nevertheless they seem to have been a part of the Runequest rules since the very beginning (even if I only know the 3rd edition, the sample adventure in the rulebook had a duck in it, even though the rest of the rulebook was set in some sort of fantasy Europe…).

This article was sent to the newsletter of the Labyrinth Lord Society, but for some reason it stopped publishing once I did so. So I guess I broke the newsletter. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!

Illustration by the most awesome Steve Zieser.

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[Labyrinth Lord] The Neanderthal

Neanderthal

Requirements: CON 9
Prime Requisite: DEX
Hit Dice: 1d8
Maximum Level: 8

Cousins to the humans these humanoids often are assumed to be brutish due to their large brow ridges, receding chins, and slightly shorter, denser bodies. Nevertheless when found in human cities their physical closeness to “normal” humans makes them blend into these societies comparatively easy. At heart they are wilderness dwellers though, and only a few of them ever will find it necessary to move closer to their human cousins.
However, though they live a seemingly primitive lifestyle, they are as intelligent as humans. They often utilise more primitive weapons they can craft themselves, often only stone blades or traded bronze, but they are not above using other weapons if they find it necessary.Their society is one that values strength and fighting spirit and only the strongest one may become the leader. This often leads to them going wandering on their own to become more experienced to be able to become leader at one point.
They can Climb Walls and Hear Noise like a thief of equal level,
Reaching 6th Level: After reaching 6th level a Neanderthal can start a settlement of his/her own and become the leader of a tribe. Neanderthals revere cave bears, and will hunt them for rites of passage and religious purposes. They despise kobolds, goblins, and morlocks, but enjoy the company of gnomes and dwarves.

Neanderthal Level Progression
Experience……..Level…….Hit Dice (1d8)
0……………………..1…………….1+1
2,187……………….2…………….2+1
4,375……………….3…………….3+2
8,751……………….4…………….4+2
17,501……………..5…………….5+3
35,001……………..6…………….6+3
70,001……………..7…………….7+4
140,001……………8…………….8+4

For some reason the neanderthal, or caveman, is one of these ‘monsters’ that always showed up in early roleplaying games, yet for some reason they always were kind of underutilized. Or can you remember more than one or two modules that ever had them appear in any way? I can remember exactly one, a German adventure for Das Schwarze Auge. The authors had to write in some cavemen because the cover art their publisher bought  featured them too prominently. Obviously the module was intended to be about elves, but can anything be bad when there are cavemen on the cover?

On the one hand their appearance actually makes a bit of sense, after all in most fantasy worlds humans are living right next to a plethora of different races, why should the neanderthal die out as he did in our world?

On the other hand the picture of the neanderthal we have, and as it was propagated by these roleplaying games, is in a large part a fantasy themselves. Neanderthal society was quite sophisticated from everything we can see from their remains. This stereotype of the brutish caveman is more one of modern media. Which is of course the only place where we find any depictions of neanderthals at all. It’s kind of a vicious circle.