Spring...

... and a new blog entry. My resolution for the year: one blog entry per season...

He. look out, ducks!

Something completely different indeed: the Mongoose publishing ducks for their edition of the mythic rolegame Runequest.

Runequest was the first rolegame I played, and I still have a soft spot for the setting, the world of Glorantha, and the BRP system. To me, it remains "the" rpg, the standard. After Runequest I stayed in the BRP world, playing Hawkmoon, Call of Cthulhu, Elric and so on.

So nothing to do with objectivity here: for me, Runequest, Glorantha and the Chaosium system are for ever linked to these wonderful first experiences of rolegaming. And Mongoose's version looks promising. I have bought the basic book so far, but with no time to play I cannot really judge the whole thing. To me, Mongoose has a reputation for shabby proofreading and rather messy rulesets. This has spoiled the fun of some of their games which I was ready to embrace otherwise.

But they decided to produce minis also, and they started with Ducks and Broos. Immediately things looked much brighter, and I had to buy the only box of ducks in the local shop. I came out, holding it to my chest under the laughs of the ignorant crowd: Ah! ducks! ridiculous!. Fools! :P

Ducks, or should I say Durulz, are Nobel-class unadultered genius, easily Greg Stafford's best idea ever. It shows Runequest at its best: as an inventive setting putting a nice twist on the classical fantasy "races", and creating its own. Plus, who would not like diminutive weaklings with a dark family secret and a past full of betrayal and mishief?

Two minis from the box:





The fighter is not based.

These are nice. The box is not too expensive, the sculpts are ok, devoid of glaring problems (seamlines very discrete, no flash...). They paint easily, and the sorcerer is a nice touch. I still have about half a dozen of those to paint. They will be perfect for playing with A Song of Blades and Heroes...

As an aside, the box seems to be impossible to find anymore. Most e-shops do not carry them, and they have disappeared from mongoose's site. ?-(