full of information to help fill out the background of any ducks. great illustrations.

In 1982 Chaosium published the innovative species-specific “splatbook” Trollpak. This boxed set detailed the culture, religion, history, and society of the Uz—called trolls by humans—thereby fleshing this species out as a player option, rather than a statblock. It seems rather fitting that a nice, round forty years later indie publisher Legion Games began to release their homage: Duckpac.

Duckpac is being released as a series of short PDFs on the Jonstown Compendium. Each release echoes one volume of the original Trollpak boxed set: Lore, Adventurers, and then playable Adventures. This review focuses on the first two volumes, which have been collected in a single Print On Demand hardcover. Legion Games has also produced a solo adventure, titled Redfeather Dreaming. Their adventures for Duckpac are forthcoming.

WHAT’S INSIDE? This book provides a detailed description of the Durulz Tribe of Sartar, better known as the ducks. They are small anthropomorphic ducks, similar in shape to cartoon characters like Donald or Daffy Duck. While the ducks are a naturally comic idea, Duckpac has a generally serious presentation of their culture.

The first section of the hardcover explores this culture in detail both extrapolated from prior publications, and independently developed by the authors. I’m not familiar enough with prior perspectives to pick these threads apart, but the overall presentation here seemed to me both thorough and coherent. There was no clear sign to me where old development ended, and new ideas began. Topics covered include duck anatomy, mythology, history, culture, and their relationship with humans, much like the presentation of Trollpak.

Of particular note is the focus on recent Durulz history, due to the “Duck Hunt” ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the Lunar Empire—the setting’s conventional baddies. Duckpac takes an unflinching look at these horrors, and describes a traumatized culture. While this topic is gruesome, I felt that the authors handled it well. The Lunar objectives for the Duck Hunt are described, but never justified. The whole section puts the ducks into sharp perspective in the gaming milieu, going beyond “the Durulz are cursed” to “here’s a recent trauma, and how it impacted your adventurer’s experience.”

It really fits quite well into RuneQuest, in my opinion. I’d not want to play adventurers hunting ducks, but the detail with which the Hunt is presented demonstrates that the people of this fictional setting can be unsettlingly human. Quite on tone for a game infamous for a combat system in which you’re likely to lose as many limbs as Monty Python’s Black Knight.

Overall the first half of Duckpac is quite comprehensive in its description of the species. I would have enjoyed further mythological speculation, and exploring the history of the ducks in more depth prior to the Resettlement of Dragon Pass. But, as I often remind myself, 90% of the time wanting more means that a book was just right.

The second half of Duckpac is a full adventurer creation system for creating Durulz adventurers. You’ll need both Duckpac and the RuneQuest core rules. This includes amendments to the original Family History, custom occupations based upon Durulz culture, thoughts on the ducks’ “Cowardly” presentation (and Passion), and additional heirloom items to further customize your character. This system is significantly more satisfying than the minimal nonhuman adventurer creation rules in the Glorantha Bestiary, and certainly a highlight of the book.

When compared to Trollpak, the only element not present is additional cults. Yet I’d not call cults “missing,” because the Durulz worship roughly the same religion as the Sartarites of Chaosium’s default setting and culture. Would I have enjoyed a custom duck-headed variation on Engizi the River God, or Orlanth himself? Yes. Would that have been a good inclusion? Eh, probably not.

Instead of cults, we have two “Voices” articles, “The Redfeather Shaman Speaks” and “What the Safe Leader Told Me.” Seven pages of question-and-answer text describe Durulz perspectives on religion, culture, their neighbors, and ways of living. They’re good additional reading, and the non-player characters’ tone adds pleasant variety to the book’s prose.

Finally, this section is rounded out with a short default setting, Redfeather Safe, from which I presume the forthcoming adventures will be set. A “safe” is a type of Durulz marsh settlement raised on stilts, and requiring river traffic for access. The physical description meshes nicely with a demonstration of the social dynamics presented earlier in the book, and is well diagrammed for the reader to explore.

The book closes with a collection of illustrated pre-generated adventurers, for immediate use by players. These are similar to Vasana & Co. from the RuneQuest core rules. Each two-page spread includes an illustration, adventurer history, their statblock, and relevant equipment.

My only criticism of the content is that it could have used another proofread. The prose is enjoyably readable, but there are occasional grammar or spelling typos throughout. They aren’t egregious; I’d say roughly “indie average” for textual polish. And really, if my only real comment is “this has too many typos,” that means Duckpac is damn well written.

ILLUSTRATIONS Duckpac is nicely illustrated with a blend of black & white and color art. It does include images generated by AI, and was released prior to Chaosium’s ban on that resource in the Jonstown Compendium. My hardcover is a “Standard Color” version, but after reading the book I do think I should have shelled out the additional $10 for a “Premium Color” version instead. Some of the art in my copy is a bit dark but, in my experience this is likely a result of the bargain color rather than poor quality.

Overall, Legion Games has done a great job curating and utilizing their artwork in this book. Some of my favorite pieces include a Durulz version of DaVinci’s “Vitruvian Man,” and the incredibly worried, earnest expression on the face of Ankka Littlebill, one of the pre-generated adventurers. There’s also a great depiction of Redfeather Safe at sunset, which helps evoke the settlement’s remote location.

I should also note that I like the cartography throughout quite a bit. There’s a fair bit, and it’s all fairly high quality.

CONCLUSION Duckpac attempts to bring ducks to your RuneQuest table as a fully detailed species for players, and it succeeds admirably. The book is enjoyably written, and the material is well presented with evocative art and clean graphic design. In my mind, this is yet another book which is absolutely not “just” a fan publication. Rather, I would call Duckpac another indicator that the Jonstown Compendium is maturing into a full “indie” or “third-party” publishing platform for RuneQuest.

That’s awesome.

On my “armchair to table” spectrum, I’d place this book pretty much in the middle. It’s not the type of book I see being held open and referenced for a full game session, but Duckpac is absolutely intended to create more ways to play on the table. And it succeeds! I think playing a duck (or gamemastering for a duck adventurer) with this book’s support sounds like a lot of fun. My own experience of the book was an armchair one, though, and I think it holds up on that end too. I enjoyed reading through this quite a bit, and I do think it’s worth picking up on those merits.

Duckpac is indisputably a master class on ducks in RuneQuest. Is it a “must have” for every single RuneQuest fan? Mm, hard to say. If you have even a tangential interest in new species as player options, you should pick it up. It does everything it says on the tin.

Until next time, then.

This review was originally posted on my website, akhelas.com.

Wow, this is a great great great publication. It's an absolute beauty to behold; lovingly researched, expertly written and a gorgeous array of art (both figures and background). Superb stuff!

This review if for the series (books 1 2 3 so far). Superbly written, and brings great pathos and depth to this rather 'odd duck' aspect of glorantha.

What delights me the most is that it leans into the aspects of ducks that makes them appear on the surface as a foolish addition to a game -' the Cantankerous, almost animated presntation of their personality. But then it builds on that to make it believable, tragic and relatable. A wonderful way to breath life into the old goose yet...

This first volume of Duckpac is absolutely essential if you are an admirer of Glorantha's most undercooked, er, sorry, "underlooked" race, the Ducks. It successfully treads the fine line between pathos and humour that is needed given the Ducks' frequent role as the both victims of organised bullying (sometimes on a grand scale) and as the willing or unwilling butt of many jokes. It reveals the history and myth of the Ducks, and very sensibly it refuses to reach a firm conclusion on whether any of the myth it presents is actually true. I think it's better that some air of confusion is allowed to remain about the origin of this species.

There is plenty of material on Duck society (within the region of Dragon Pass), culture, habits, relationships, cult membership, customs, anatomy, food - even their hygiene! The book includes a short but genuinely helpful gazetteer of the Duck related territories.

There is a good mix of art, some of it AI-generated, and the layout and writing are both exemplary, top quality for the Jonstown Compendium.

I loved this book so much. An amazing deep dive into duck culture and mythology. Ducks are unique to RuneQuest's Glorantha, so this work is necessary. The authors did a tremendous job outlining every detail. They injected just the right amount of humor into the writing. The subject itself is inherently funny, but they avoid being shticky or corny about it, choosing wisely to slip in a sly reference or wry observation instead. The subject matter is nonetheless treated just as seriously and respectfully as you'd find in any other works on Gloranthan races and cultures (the title even calls back to the classic Chaosium publication on Uz (trolls), "TrollPac"). The artwork is remarkable, easily worth the price of the supplement alone. Eagerly looking forward to Book2!

Definitely a good introduction and summary to the Ducks of Dragon Pass in one easy to read book! If you're going to be using any of the duck areas around the Upland Marsh, a new GM (and even more experienced ones) really should have this.

I really like this book, and in particular the fact that the authors took the stance that the Durulz should be sesen as serious, real, legitimate people in the world of Glorantha - and not some silly comic-relief as has been seen in the past. Only the occasional puns are included (which were clearly intended).

The writing is quite clear and fairly logically ordered (although, I would have put the general personality traits higher up to make more sense of some other sections that come before it). As the introduction to a 4-part series, it very good!

There's a good history of the Durulz in the DP area, as well as some mention of ducks across the lozenge. Anatomy of ducks, culture and society, timelines of their movements, and especially more recent events, as well as some theorising of politics. Local geography is handy with some good explanations and examples. Useful maps included (although, a bit more detail of ducks in the Marsh would be a good addition).

The artwork is great! Some are very simple, and yet have a very evocative feel to them that is so appropriate. I want to give special mention to those on pp. 8-11, 16, and 47, and the duck shaman at the end. Also, 27 & 33 (other than the anatomy). And, of course, the duck Vinci is a great addition. This is not to say that any of the others are bad - not in anyway. Just htat those are the ones that grabbed me! However, in saying that, there are other pictures that are out of place. Many of the images of the ducks don't actually conform to their stated physiology, lacking the rump and tail-feathers (where appropriate) that ducks are supposed to have, and are thus more like a human with a duck's head and feet (not unlike a minotaur). I will say, howerver, that Balin Balmyr seems just like a random pic insertion.

One other reason for taking of that 5th star - it really needs another proof-reading, especially in the second half of the book. The 'Fassur' is particularly grating to me, as well as a couple of other misspellings of relevant names ("a ferry across the Steam"). I'm sure these will be quickly corrected though.

Some readers should be aware that the strange duck magics of KoDP and other sources is not even hinted at here - which is fine, unless you were expecting/requiring it.

I'm eagerly awaiting the 2nd (and following) books!