Are duck coward?

[David Scott]

3 hours ago, Rubble-Runner_Ed said:

I am finding cowardice as a standard duck passion instead of honor difficult to accept.

The bestiary states Most ducks, not all ducks. Just assume that any duck with a warrior occupation, doesn't have the passion. Others that acquire the honour passion at a higher level can basically ignore it. 

3 hours ago, Rubble-Runner_Ed said:

This would make them rather uninteresting as NPCs, and unplayable characters. "You hear a sound like someone counting out gold wheels. What are you going to do?" "I'll hide in cover in the rushes and swim silently in cover away from the noise!" "Me, too." "Seconded!" "I'll just hide in the rushes until something changes." etc.

It's a 60% passion, so not all the time by far. You might find it easier to treated it as a flight or fight reaction, so no fight no reaction. Have a look again at the passion rules (RQG 236).

[Shiningbrow]

My 2bolg's worth...

If you're small, and so have a high SR, and possibly negative Damage Bonus, and a lower Movement rate than most other creatures (read, those that may try to attack you), it doesn't really seem like 'cowardice' to take a position of advantage (e.g., a marsh), and wait it out.

Add to that, with the above issues, there's one way that makes those just go away - use a crossbow - from a good hiding place! And, I would imagine, most cultures would consider it 'honourable' to get up close and personal (ie, melee combat), and thus 'cowardly' to do what would be a normal survival mechanism for them.

Sure, it's changing the meaning of the Passions, but I think it fits... that is, they don't enjoy combat, and avoid it as much as they can - but they'll most definitely fight when they need to - just now how others want them to.

[soltakss]

7 hours ago, David Scott said:

10 hours ago, Rubble-Runner_Ed said:

I am finding cowardice as a standard duck passion instead of honor difficult to accept.

The bestiary states Most ducks, not all ducks. Just assume that any duck with a warrior occupation, doesn't have the passion. Others that acquire the honour passion at a higher level can basically ignore it.

Or, give some Ducks a Brave and a Cowardly Passion and have them roll them against each other in an opposed roll:

• Brave Wins: The Duck is scared but does something heroic anyway
• Cowardly Wins: The Duck acts in a cowardly fashion despite possibly being Brave
• Tie: The Cowardly and Brave fight to a standstill and the Duck is torn by indecision.

Sometimes internal conflicts are really good drivers of behaviours.

 

 

[Godlearner]

Cowards, no. Poultry, yes. 

[Ali the Helering]

Just because one may be cowardly doesn't mean that when cornered that person won't become a raging combat monster.  Survival can be a powerful urge. 

[Rodney Dangerduck]

2 hours ago, soltakss said:

Or, give some Ducks a Brave and a Cowardly Passion

Yes, but, instead of a generic "Brave", make the passion more specific and relevant e.g.:  "Hate Undead", "Loyalty Family" or "Devotion Humakt".  So when the undead crawl out of the Upland Marsh and threaten their family, the duck bravely springs into action.  When a chaos monster attacks a random merchant from a rival clan, not so much...

[Zebraman1]

 

13 hours ago, David Scott said:

The bestiary states Most ducks, not all ducks. Just assume that any duck with a warrior occupation, doesn't have the passion. Others that acquire the honour passion at a higher level can basically ignore it. 

It's a 60% passion, so not all the time by far. You might find it easier to treated it as a flight or fight reaction, so no fight no reaction. Have a look again at the passion rules (RQG 236).

Quoted for truth.

When thinking about Passions it is very important to remember that Mandatory roles only occur over 80%. This means a duck could have a Passion of Cowardly 60% for an entire lifetime and never once need to act upon it.

At this level if Passion it is a strong preference, one in which the character may focus on and inspire themselves with, but equally ignore.

Also, and I think this is equally important, Glorantha is explicitly noted as being a violent place, where the use of force is the norm, even more so than the real world.

Orlanth culture to which the ducks belong have the mantra "Violence is always an option". It is a society of Humakt warriors and Stormbull berzerkers.

In that context a society/person which would rather just flee/avoid a confrontation rather than fight might be considered Cowardly by those in Glorantha.  But probably would be seen as pretty reasonable in the real world. Again emphasising that if it comes down to it the Duck warrior can certainly fight without any mechanical disadvantages. 

 

[Bill the barbarian]

When the name of your species has a homonym whose definition is, and I quote:

Quote

duck2 | dʌk | verb1 [no object] lower the head or the body quickly to avoid a blow or missile or so as not to be seen: spectators ducked for cover | [with object] :  he ducked his head and entered. • (duck out) depart quickly: I thought I saw you duck out. • [with object] avoid (a blow or missile) by moving quickly: he ducked a punch from an angry first baseman. • [with object] informal evade or avoid (an unwelcome duty or undertaking): a responsibility which a less courageous man might well have ducked | [no object] :  I was engaged twice and ducked out both times. 

Whatcha gonna do? Me, I will duck this argument!