From the Introducktion:
concerning Ducks - Drew BAker
Ducks, possibly the most controversial of all
the player races in RuneQuest, but love them or hate them they are part of the world. It has always been a mystery to me why ducks are treated as comic relief and so vilified for it. Ducks are, of course, inherently funny but few say that the Praxian baboons are unrealistic, Morokanth (those sentient tapir-like creatures) are unbelievable or that trollkin are just too silly. So why are ducks singled out for such treatment? The answer possibly lies in the representation of ducks that many of us grew up with. Donald, Daffy and Howard, all of which are culturally set as comical characters, reinforced a certain stereotype for the race. However, Gloranthan ducks are not the ducks of our reality, just as Gloranthan trolls and elves are not those of Tolkien from European folklore. So maybe it is time for us to reconsider the race in the latest version of RuneQuest: Glorantha and put aside those preconceived ideas.