A new tabletop role-playing game based on Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and created by Modiphius Entertainment, has launched a campaign on Kickstarter. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld RPG: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork had an initial goal of $130,000, which it eclipsed in just 27 minutes.
The Kickstarter project has now reached $1 million in pledges, unlocking all but the last two stretch goals. With three weeks left on the campaign, it’s likely that those will also be unlocked. Fulfillment is expected in August 2025.
The Discworld series of fantasy books was written by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, starting with The Colour of Magic in 1983 and culminating with The Shepherd’s Crown in 2015. The disc-shaped world sits on top of the back of four elephants who, in turn, are standing on the back of a giant turtle called Great A’Tuin.
There are more than a thousand characters named throughout the 41 books in the series. Sir Terry was known for creating deep characterization and a satirical, hilarious take on life – a combination fans will hope to see in the final product of this campaign.
Fans of the series, and RPG fans looking for something a little different from the usual fare (think more Dungeon Crawl Classics than Dungeons & Dragons), can back the Discworld Kickstarter now.
The game is being created by Modiphius Entertainment, which has considerable experience making tabletop RPGs. They are the team behind Dishonored, Dragonbane, and Lord of the Rings role-playing games as well as Fallout: Factions and The Elder Scrolls: Call To Arms wargames. It says it has aimed to translate Pratchett’s humor into an immersive and playable role-playing game. Pledge levels range from a PDF version of the rulebooks and companion goals to the full collector’s version that includes physical books signed by legendary artist and longtime Sir Terry collaborator Paul Kidby.
Stretch goals, most of which have already been met, include dice sets, replica watch badges, and character sheet postcards.
The first series of Discworld RPG adventures will be set in Ankh Morpork, Discworld’s most celebrated (if you can call it that) city. Players can create unique characters, choosing whether to play as members of the watch, a student of the assassin’s guild, one of the wizards of Unseen University, or any of the other groups of the city. Modiphius has said that if the first launch goes well, they will return to create adventures set in other areas, including Lancre.
This isn’t the first Discworld RPG: Sir Terry Pratchett partnered with game designer Phil Masters in 1998 to create GURPS Discworld. It was the first to use the GURPS Lite rules, which were included in the GURPS Discworld book, which meant players didn’t have to buy the core rulebook itself. A sequel, GURPS Discworld Also, was published in 2001 by Steve Jackson Games, again in partnership with Sir Terry.
Other games have also been published set in the mythical world. Discworld and Discworld II were point-and-click adventures for the PC, featuring the voice of Eric Idle as Rincewind the “wizzard”. However, even these games, published in 1995 and 1996 respectively, were predated by the 1986 text-based adventure game The Colour of Magic on the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64.
Board games Ankh Morpork, Guards! Guards!, The Witches, Clacks, and Thud are also available, although some can be difficult to find because they are out of print and popular with collectors.
