Ulysses Duckler, also known as usducktape and Duck, has already made a big impact within the handful of years he’s been publishing TTRPGs online. While early releases such as The Quiet Life and Cuticorium were conceptually interesting and novel games about nuns and bugs respectively, his most recent major release, To Change, is a real milestone.

To Change is, essentially, a generic transformation RPG, with a tarot card-based resolution system. The game is not only well-made in itself, but it also has found an audience outside of usual TTRPG spaces. Duck is currently working on a stand-alone game that uses To Change as a base called The Island of Doctor Moreau. I decided to ask Duck a handful of questions about IoDM, To Change, and other RPG related things over Discord.

Full disclosure: Duckler hangs out in the Cannibal Halfling Discord server, and has also been friends with Sabrina TVBand for a few years. Sabrina TVBand also participated in a To Change playtest, and might compose music for the Island of Doctor Moreau soundtrack. None of this is relevant for the purposes of a casual game design interview, but we felt it was worth telling you anyways.

Sabrina TVBand: Let’s start with a few questions about your Island of Doctor Moreau campaign setting book. Tell us about your history with IoDM, and what inspired you to make your book.

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Sure. IoDM was a roleplay group on GAIA Online headed by Arania, who is now the preeminent professional TF artist on the internet. The basic concept was a ‘petshop’ group where players brought in characters with the expectation that they would be changed into some kind of animal creature on an isolated island setting. The three mods took the roles of the three main doctors, and there were many storylines with much shipping between characters. It’s hard to understate how fantastic the art was for this group, some of the most lavish TF sequences ever produced, all basically done for free. It really was a labor of love by all who participated.

That was from 2005 to 2007. I am 30 now so I was like 12-13 when the original IoDM rp group concluded. I was just starting to look up furry and TF content online at the time, so I was watching the tail end of this collaborative TF experience. I made fanfiction of the characters when the RP stopped, my own headcanons of how their stories could continue. Later I would learn that I was not the only one who was influenced by this group, as it held a very fond spot in many people’s hearts. When I started making TTRPGs, a recreation of IoDM was one of my first ideas. But I had to build up my experience, establish myself as a TF creator, and reach out to Arania.

Sabrina TVBand: How has Arania contributed to your project?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: She is acting as an artist of course, her TF sequences are unmatched. Along with the other mods of the original RP group, they also act as the project’s creative directors. All the other art and writing pass through them for approval, since we are using their characters whole cloth. I find that this is an additional guiding hand to give the project a cohesive vision.

Sabrina TVBand: I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard of an RPG being inspired by an online community quite like this; it’s a very interesting conceit for a game. As the author of the game, what’s the process like coordinating with the original group? Do you defer to them a lot and mostly focus on the mechanical / gameplay side of things? How much of the module did you have ready when you approached them?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: That’s right, they mostly let me take over on the mechanical, funding, and book production side. Arania is a big fan of DnD so some of her suggestions have pushed for compatibility with other systems like that. It’s been a very smooth process which makes me confident I am hitting the sweetspot for the game’s feel.

I had the core rules done and the first playtest almost concluded when I reached out to Arania. Of course much of the rules and characters have changed (lol) since then.

Sabrina TVBand: Your IoDM press kit mentions that the game has a static cast of 44 characters. Is the finished book going to include some notes for players that want to create original characters in the setting?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Yes, it’s part of the game for players to create their own characters too. From there, players can take over members of the cast, who are not as static as you might think. The book mentions the possibility of playing Dr. Moreau as a woman very early on, so altering the details to suit player preference is very much encouraged.

Sabrina TVBand: In your IoDM game the GM plays as Dr Moreau instead of the default, which is not acting as a specific character. Are there any games with a similar approach to having the GM play a character that inspired you?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Not really, which is why I think the idea deserves exploration. DnD has danced around the idea of the GM as this cloaked shadowy figure behind the action, so it’s not too far fetched. Within the realm of the island, Dr. Moreau is omnipotent and omniscient, so it works really well as a starting point, before seeing their powers get stripped away. The game becomes more GM-less at that point.

Sabrina TVBand: You mention in your presskit that a second player can co-GM as an assistant doctor. Does this replicate the slightly antagonistic relationship between Dr. Moreau and Montgomery?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: There is a much more equivocal character to Montgomery elsewhere on the cast list, but you almost have the right idea. The assistant doctors are in equivalent positions of power on the island, which makes them great roles for assisting GMs, but their relationships to Dr. Moreau are just as complex. There is some antagonism, but there is also some attraction. I think of them like the left and right brains of the Laboratory.

Dr. Lockheart is the scientific genius, much more so than Dr. Moreau, but she is also Dr. Moreau’s fiancée. Their relationship is ripe for manipulation, breakups, and affairs.

Dr. Duvert is an artistic visionary, much more so than Dr. Moreau, and they also have many secrets up their sleeve. Their relationship can be very teasing, with pokes and prods from either side.

Sabrina TVBand: You told me a few months ago that you’d never seen a film adaptation of The Island of Doctor Moreau. Considering you’re making an entire module based on the book I was a bit surprised you hadn’t; after completing the campaign setting do you plan on watching any of them?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Shameful, isn’t it? No, at this point I don’t plan on watching any of the films. I’m much more interested in the literary interpretations. Novels such as the Daughter of Dr. Moreau, The Album of Dr. Moreau, and Dr. Franklin’s Island all have much more in common with the IoDM that I know. With my limited knowledge of the films, I don’t think they do H.G. Wells’s book much justice either.

Sabrina TVBand: I did watch the 90s film quite recently, and was very disappointed that the cat woman’s “regression” was just her getting fangs.

Let’s circle back around to your earliest TTRPG experiences. What were the games you played most often, from when you first started playing TTRPGs to when you first started playtesting To Change? How did your tastes and preferences evolve as a gamer?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: I started TTRPGs with dnd 3.5e, and my first indie game experience was with GRIN, which showed me the joys of simpler systems. Expanded out to other indie games that I picked up through itch bundles from there.

I’ve found that I really value simple systems and that hasn’t changed as a player, with medical school robbing all my available brain cells. I like capsule games that give you everything you need to start playing, even the characters. Those games, like Yzebas and Sapphicworld, are a big influence on IoDM. These days, my attention is dragged in so many directions that I can’t afford to play games that require additional homework.

Sabrina TVBand: Was there a particular moment or experience playing TTRPGs that made you want to design your own games?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Hmm. I can’t think of a particular moment, it was more just discovering the vast innovations of indie TTRPGs during a crucial time in my life where I had a lot of free time and had just started writing for myself again.

Sabrina TVBand: To Change has a great premise in that it’s about something very specific, transformations, but also quite open ended. Have you heard about any To Change games that really surprised you in terms of subject matter?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Haha, not really! Most To Change games I’ve seen are people using the system to run very conventional and fun TF stories. I spoke to you about this before, but I find that people who immediately try to be subversive in the TF community are unserious. To Change is still a young game so people are still making content directly hitting at the transformation they want to see. My co-author, Ewen Albright, is sitting on some very interesting game concepts though, some that really surprised me in playtesting. We’ll see if she publishes them.

Sabrina TVBand: Just clarifying for our readers, when you say “subversive / unserious” you’re referring to trollish TF premises, right? e.g. an animal transforming into a guy with a shitty white collar job, etc.

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Correct. It’s funny in concept for a few seconds but has no audience.

Sabrina TVBand: Do you have a favorite experience GMing To Change?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: I gravitate towards more recent experiences. Just finished a NSFW game that was a lot of fun, centered around donkey transformation! My first time GMing that type of game but it was very satisfying.

Sabrina TVBand: You’ve collaborated with Ewen on To Change and IoDM. What’s it like working together remotely on a big TTRPG project? Any tips you’d like to share?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Ewen is much more of a writer than designer, this was actually her first introduction to TTRPG. The important part of working together with anyone is establishing expectations at the outset, as there can be a lot of friction if you don’t see eye to eye with your collaborators even if you might love their work.

Sabrina TVBand: You once told me you’re not a very good player. Are you a forever GM? Can you tell me about that?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Ooh that’s a tough one. If I’m going to be honest with myself, it probably came from a lot of bad experiences with DnD groups and many factors out of my control that I blamed myself for. I’m probably not as bad of a player as I say, but I know I’m a better GM so I stick to that, and it makes me want to see more games where the GM also feels like a player.

Sabrina TVBand: How do you feel about GM-less games like Fiasco?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: I’ve had pretty good experiences playing GMless games, even though I usually end up taking the lead on a lot of the decision making. I don’t discount them, but I don’t seek them out either.

Sabrina TVBand: MelSpontaneus seems to be your most frequent art collaborator across all of your projects. Would you like to talk about her work?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Sure. We met on Tumblr in our respective Homestuck eras and I was always incredibly pleased with her work. She is very fast, very communicative, and we have the same brainworms about horny art. She also has a knack for replicating other styles. When you find an artist who you mesh with like that, you should think about bringing them into every project you do. I will continue to work with her until more people recognize her genius. Seriously, she deserves hundreds of people on her Patreon (instead she just has one, me).

Sabrina TVBand: Why isn’t your stuff on DriveThruRPG?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Just never bothered really, though I always felt like my games weren’t suited for that site, which leans more towards the OSR crowd. IoDM might be the first game I put there since it has elements that could appeal to those players.

Sabrina TVBand: Since your customers don’t buy your books from a print-on-demand service, what is the physical sales stuff like? Where do you keep your stock? How do you order your books to sell? What’s distribution/fulfillment like?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Indie Press Revolution does most of my distribution which suits me very well as a busy almost-doctor, I can’t have the lifestyle of stacks of books in my house. To Change is also available through Knave of Cups and Spearwitch because of its tarot ties. It sells out pretty fast there too. I order my books from IPR when I need copies on hand.

Sabrina TVBand: So did you send IPR the PDF and they print it for you?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Oh sorry if you mean who prints my books, I use Mixam, but prefer local print shops when I can.

Sabrina TVBand: Now that you’re an almost-doctor, are you working on any vivisection experiments we should know about?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Sadly no, but I would like to work with FFF (Freedom of Form Foundation) in the future to help realize species transformation as an aspect of medicine.

Sabrina TVBand: After your Doctor Moreau supplement, do you have any plans for future games or further supplements? Are there any other works of public domain literature that you think could be turned into meaty campaign modules?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: I think after IoDM, I want to make a visual novel with my friend Mel, maybe with some TTRPG influences, and otherwise stick to smaller games and more supplements/reskins. In terms of pure TTRPGs, eventually I want to do a GM-less game that emulates the Boogiepop light novels, and an expansion to my bug game, Cuticorium.

Sabrina TVBand: Anything you’d like to say to our readers?

Dr. Ulysses Duckler: Pro Gamer Tip: Cannibal Halfling Gaming is an awesome spot to get TTRPG news, articles, and cool interviews like this! But you already knew that, didn’t you?

Check out SabrinaTVBand’s other interviews here, and support IoDM if you can here.

Duck can be found on itch.io and Twitter.