Duckbunny

And now for another one of my all-time favorite D&D monsters (if you haven't guessed by the name of this blog), the often-maligned  Duckbunny. 

Created by Johnathan M. Richards (with a nifty illustration by George Vrbanic)and first featured in Dragon magazine #243, the poor duckbunny has been tossed onto a lot of hackneyed  internet "stupidest D&D monster" lists.  Luckily, though, it has its fair share of defenders who understand the little web-footed anatileporid's* importance. Indeed, I don't think it's too far to say that some of D&D's more iconic monsters wouldn't even exist were it not for the humble duckbunny. 

First, let's talk about owlbears. A staple of D&D throughout all its editions, the owlbear is-- you'll never believe this-- a magical hybrid with the sharp beak, talons and keen eyesight of an owl merged with the bulk and strength of a grizzly.

 Sure the owlbear looks cool but, honestly, where the heck did this thing come from? If you want to get technical, the owlbear was originally created by D&D cofounders Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson based off of a cheap plastic "dinosaur" toy they used as a miniature for this weird pen-and-paper fighting game they were developing based off "Chainmail", Gygax's earlier medieval fantasy tabletop wargame. Here's an article by fantasy artist Tony DiTerlizzi talking about the owlbear's origins in more detail, along with other classic monsters like the Bulette and Rust Monster: 

But what's the in-story explanation for this weird hybrid? On the one hand, you could say that since the D&D multiverse is high fantasy, the owlbear just sort of "is", much like numerous hybrid monsters from myth: griffons, chimerae, quilin, uktena, etc.  The actual D&D lore, however, usually says that owlbears are magically-crafted guardian animals that proved too dangerous and untamable and were ultimately released into the wild.  Yeah, there's a fair amount of D&D lore that boils down to "a wizard did it", or for the even crazier, nonsensical stuff, "a mad wizard did it!"

Of course, why stop at making just one magical hybrid?  Richards' article provides several  pretty nifty crossed animals, including a cougar crossed with a giant salamander (an aquatic cat for defending moats), a dog with a scorpion (an enhanced guard dog with a stinger) and a giant turtle with a dragonfly (flying living transport-- which is totally getting its own post eventually).  

All this mixing begs a question, though: where does a sorcerous genesplicer start out?  You don't want to dive right into magically mushing a bunch of critters together without at least a little practice.  You'll likely either end up with a Cronenbergian horror-blob, or an out-of-control killing machine that will rip your throat out.  No, the aspiring wizard needs to start small, merging animals that couldn't possibly pose any danger.  Like, say, maybe a rabbit and a duck? 

So yes, the duckbunny is the apprentice biomage's entrance exam.  Though come to think of it, why not create a duckbunny?  You could make millions in the pet trade.  Who wouldn't want to own one of these things as a pet? 

A sentient platypus contemplating a duckbunny.  Done mostly because I wanted to draw a platypus wearing pince-nez

The duckbunny resembles a small platypus covered with white fur, bearing the rabbit's long ears and ducks yellow bill and webbed feet. Behavior-wise, it favors its rabbit progenitor, spending most of its time eating grass and hiding in underground burrows near water where it can indulge its anatidian side.  The article lists game stats for the creature, though these are mostly in place because every animal in old school D&D needed stats.  The things are barely worth any experience points, and are explicitly said to be unable to fight or cause damage.  Under that light, it's easy to see why the more "hack and slash and grab the treasure, raaaaawwwwrrgh!" section of gamers would dislike the duckbunny.  But hey, not every fantastical creature in your fantasy world needs to be able to eat your face off.

               

*I knew the Insomniac's Dictionary that I keep on my desk would come in handy someday.

Insomniac's Dictionary by Paul Hellweg.