They've also been part of Dungeons & Dragons, sort of, as can be seen in 1985's White Dwarf #67.
That's from "A Murder at Flaxton", an adventure for AD&D1, by Michael Heaton. I'm fairly sure the art is by the legendary -- and recently retired -- John Blanche.
Is the adventure set in the Warhammer World? Beyond the picture there's nothing else to suggest it is, but there's nothing that rules it out either. If you choose to believe that it is, then this may be the earliest Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (sort of) adventure in print.
Since it's an AD&D adventure, by someone who to my knowledge never wrote anything for Warhammer, published before WFRP was released, which contains no mention in the text of Bugman's or anything connected with Warhammer, I think the Bugman's references can be considered an artistic embellishment by Blanche. I think it might also be the only mention of Bugman's rum, but I could be wrong.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting, though, that 'A Murder at Flaxton is tonally similar to WFRP. However, the same could be said of the TSR UK adventures. There was already a certain style of adventure in the UK, which in my opinion WFRP built on.
Oh yes, a very tenuous connection at most!
DeleteI don't think we ever see Bugman's Rum again. Must have been a poorly-received experiment and quickly dropped from the catalogue.