Is the Dragonbane TTRPG All It's Quacked Up to Be?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- In this video, I give my first impressions of the Dragonbane TTRPG by Free League Publishing.
Art in this video was made by Johan Egerkrans, Anton Vitus, and Niklas Brandt and was made available for use by Free League Publishing via their Dragonbane Press Release Kit.
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![Dragonbane RPG - Mirth, Mayhem, Danger [TTRPG REVIEW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/D7vOmHxzBIo/mqdefault.jpg)
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.
@@qzamap3870 Thanks for sharing! Not super familiar with Glorantha or Dragon Pass. I’ll check them out.
@@RuneforgedTTRPG 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.
I have been learning to play the game and this has been great to keep me keen on learning the game :)
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.
Sounds awesome! I'm definitely going to get around to playing it in the next few months. Thanks for watching and sharing your experience!
There are 2 types of people, those who loves the Mallard and those that are wrong.
The truth is that we Sweden just loves Donald Duck an that's why Mallards exist. But the other reason is that they have a long and very interesting history and lore. However you would have to read the old Drakar och Demoner books to get that information.
Mallards are adventurers by nature, they love to explore the world, they love to expand their coin purses, they are merchant, pirates and warriors. Back the day they where the most reliable way to cross the oceans as well.
Also, in Dragonbane they are the only once that starts with 2 Racial traits and the only race that can swim without issues. It doesn't come in to play to often, but when it does it's great.
They also add a bit of whimsical to the very gritty world of Dragonbane. You sort of forgot to mention that unlike DnD, you have very little HP, a character can easily hit 0 HP in 2 hits and die very quickly after that. So a bit of whimsical isn't a bad thing 😅
Monsters not missing makes monsters monstrous. Duck people rule to suggest otherwise is fowl.
I see what you did there 🤣 Thanks for watching!
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.
Pretty much my exact same thoughts. The art is insanely good, and right up my alley. Thanks for watching!
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!
Getting angry all the time, quite a Donald Duck like ability... Also good swimmers.
All these people upset over duck race, but they forget you can just pretend it's not in the game lol.
That’s true. For me, though, it’s one of the things my players are looking forward to most about playing this system. 🤣
@@RuneforgedTTRPG Exactly
Interesting
I’ve not tried this game yet
Yes, Dragonbane uses a D20 but the game system is based on BRP, the game system for call of Cthulhu and Runequest. The Duck come from Runequest.
Im not going to lie, it is hard to take this game seriously.
@@NemoOhd20 Why’s that? Is it the ducks? 🤣