Ducks an OSR racial class and advanced race

Castles & Chimeras will take a look at Dungeons & Ducks the first feathered rpg (that had a lot of international translations, in Italy it had a rough history changing his name a lot of times  from the first translation "Antri ed Anatre", the second one "Pertugi e Paperi" up to the final one "Pericoli e Paperi".

Ducks are a small humanoid race that migrate between prime materials plane, they usually stay in one plane for thousand of years and then most of them go to find new lands. Ducks are very versatile and they adapt and prosper in many worlds.

Ducks are a very brave race, are very good at getting along with other races and they are able to live well in almost any place.

Ducks as a playable race are found in many games, they are very famous in Glorantha (also known as Durulz) and in the swedish Drakar och Demoner  which has been translated to english as Dragonbane.

Here we present an OSR racial class for most of the OSR games (Labyrinth Lord, Basic Fantasy RPG, and so on).

DUCK

Prerequisite: DEX 9

Primary: COS

Hit Dice: 1d4

Max Level: 13th

Armors: any (but must be adapted to the small size), any shield

Weapons: any (for their small size)

Languages: Alignament, Ducktongue, Common, Draconic, Halfling*, Gnomic*

*ducks seem to have a knack for learning other small race languages 

Ducks are anthropomorphic beings covered in feathers with beaks, arms and hands and webbed feet, between 90 and 112 cm tall (88 + 2d12) but are very light for their height (30-40 kg). The plumage can have many colors but is often white or black. Ducks have four-color vision so apparently similar ducks have subtle differences in the color of their feathers that make them immediately different in the eyes of other ducks.

Combat

Ducks can use all armor and all weapons as long as they are suitable for their small size.

Hiding

Ducks are very skilled at hiding. This skill starts at 5 out of 12 at first level and improves by 1 every 3 levels (up to 9 out of 12 at 13th level)

Moving Silently (Stealth)

Ducks are very skilled at moving silently (also thanks to their feathers). This ability starts at 5 out of 12 at first level and increases by 1 every 2 levels up to a maximum of 11 out of 12 at 13th level)

Feather Fall

Ducks are very light, if not encumbered their falls are reduced by 30' and they receive half the damage for the rest of the fall. If the damage taken is greater than the remaining hp the ducks can make a saving throw vs. death if they pass it they remain with only 1 hp but unconscious for 1d6 turns.

Reading languages

Ducks in their migrations have known multiple writings. At first level they have a 7 out of 12 chance of understanding any non-magical text, this probability increases by 1 every 4 levels up to a maximum of 10 out of 12 at 13th level

Flock

If at least three ducks work together in combat they receive an offensive bonus of +2 to attack rolls and a defensive bonus of -2 to opponents' attacks, they can also decide who in the flock receives the damage (they cannot divide the damage at will but decide who in the flock will take the hit), they can do this only 2 times during a single combat, 3 times if there is at least a 7th level duck and 4 times if there is at least a 13th level duck.

Use of scrolls and magical items (use magic)

Ducks can try to use any scroll and magical items restricted to other classes, the operation is not without risks especially at the first levels. Use without problems starts from a probability of 3 out of 12 at first level and increases by 1 every 2 levels up to a maximum of 9 out of 12 at 13th level. A result of 12 means that the item or scroll does not function as it should and has dire (and often hilarious) consequences for the duck.

Duck Curiosity (Knowledge)

Ducks are very curious and gather knowledge and curiosities, they have a small chance of having some information about places, stories, magical items and monsters they encounter. This chance is equal to 1 in 12 at first level and increases by 1 every 4 levels up to a maximum of 4 in 12 at 13th level.

Advanced Options

In the advanced rules, Ducks are a race with the following characteristics

Duck

Prerequisites: minimum DEX 9

Ability Modifiers: +1 DEX, +1 CON

Languages: Alignment, Ducky, Common, Draconic, Halfling*, Gnomish*

Description and Powers: as above

Maximum Level per Class

Rogue: 13th

Fighter: 10th

Mage: 9th

Illusionist: 11th

This article is the english version of my italian article here: https://d20d12.blogspot.com/2021/05/paperi-una-razza-classe-vecchia-scuola.html

[CC BY-SA 4.0] [2024] [Fabio Milito Pagliara]

The Martial Elf an ACKS Wednesday post

Martial Elf

Not all elf are innate arcane caster, a long time ago an elf Senate decided to devote their society to develop the art of fighting.

Their longevity and connection with nature helped them to become great fighters.

This article (the second of the ACKS Wednesday) present a variant elf race using the rules of the Adventurer Conqueror King System (as seen in the ACKS Player's Companion book also considering the additional information from the Autarch Forums.

One of the thing that made me think of this is the fact that doing a martial elf let you build the canonical elven racial classes (or something very similar) and that even if the possibility of doing an Elf(mage)/Divine caster has always been there it's not a very popular choice. Indeed instead of creating an elven mage/cleric it was preferred to create a new race, the Nobirean, in the ACKS Player's Companion to fit the idea of a race/class that could mix arcane and divine casting.

And I must also cite the beautiful articles on Divine Elves by M. Blackburn who helped me think of doing a martial version of this great and proud race.

Martial Elves

When building an elven custom class, assign between 0 and 4
build points to the class’s Elf Value.

At Martial Elf 0, all elves gain the
following five elven custom powers:

1. Attunement to Nature: All elves gain a +1 bonus to surprise rolls when in the wilderness.
2. Elf Tongues: All elves speak four bonus languages: Elf, Gnoll, Hobgoblin, and Orc.
3. Keen Eyes: All elves detect hidden and secret doors with a proficiency throw of 8+ on 1d20 when actively searching, or 14+ on casual inspection. 
4. Connection to Nature: All elves are unaffected by the paralysis ghouls can inflict, and gain a +1 bonus on saving throws versus Petrification/Paralysis and Spells.
5. Animal Friendship: Whenever elves build fastnesses, all ordinary animals within 5 miles of the stronghold become kind and helpful to the elves.
6. Longevity: All Elves characters are ageless and enjoy a lifespan three times longer than that of normal men.

Value	Elf	XP cost
4	Elf + d8 + Fighting 2	2125
3	Elf + d6 + Fighting 2	1625
2	Elf + d6 + Fighting 1a	1125
1	Elf + Fighting 1a	625
0	Elf	125

Racial Classes

What follows are just some notes on what kind of racial classes can be created for the Martial Elves. More details in future post.

Arcane Sword: Elf 3 + Mage 4 (this is very similar to the canonical ACKS Spellsword)

Arcane Gladius: Elf 2 + Mage 4 (this is very similar to the previous with the ability of doing rituals)
Force of Nature: Elf 4 + Divine 2 (trade off turn undead, spells like shaman/druid)
Night Knife: Elf 2 + Mage 2 + Thief 2 (this is very similar to the ACKS Nightblade)
Ambassador: Elf 2 + Mage 2 + Thief 1 (this is similar to the courtesan)
Forest Guardian: Elf 4 + Thief 2 (power trade off for advanced bowery and ranger abilities)

High Guardian: Elf 4 + Fighting 1 + HD 1 (this means hd d10 and fight progression as monsters)

As for arcane/divine casting the Martial Elf can go for: Elf 2 + Mage 2 + Divine 2 for full divine casting and half arcane casting.

Martial elves