FantasyRPGs tend to be serious business. ThoughThe Witcher 3andBaldur’s Gate 3have light moments, they still have fundamentally world-threatening threats. Their characters go on emotional journeys, with sometimes tragic stakes. These games often have plenty of humor — Baldur’s Gate 3 blew up because of a bear sex scene, after all — but at heart, they’re about saving the world from powerful and supernatural threats.
Discworld Shows The Sillier Side Of Fantasy
Though Terry Pratchett’s work often deals with the mystical and magical, it approaches fantasy from the opposite angle. Instead of being fundamentally serious with occasional silliness, Pratchett’s work finds occasional moments of profundity in fundamentally silly stories. The satirist is best known for the creation of the fantastical setting Discworld, which borrowed the mythical concept of a flat, circular world that was balanced on the backs of four elephants who, in turn, are balanced on the back of a giant turtle swimming through space.
If you don’t know Discworld, you may be familiar with Good Omens, which Pratchett co-wrote with Neil Gaiman, and which was adapted into a popular Prime Video series beginning in 2019.
2024 has been my Year of Fantasy. I finished Baldur’s Gate 3 andDishonored 2, and I’m in the middle ofDragon Age: Inquisition. I’ve been plowing through Brandon Sanderson’sCosmerenovels. And I really did mean to watchHouse of the Dragonseason two but time got away from me. Amid all those big, time-consuming, serious works, the Discworld books have been a delight to return to periodically. Unlike other fantasy series, it’s really easy to dip in, read a novel, then move on to the next thing, without worrying you’ll forget important information by the time you return to the series.
Though you may basically pick up any of Pratchett’s books and have a good time reading it standalone, the books are split up into sub-series which focus on different characters and locations on the Disc. My first Discworld foray was Eric, which stars Rincewind, the cowardly wizard who serves as the reluctant protagonist for one sub-series of Pratchett’s books. Other sub-series star Death himself, a group of witches, a con man, and other denizens of the Disc. But, my favorite Pratchett novel I’ve read so far (and I’ve only read five of the 40-ish books in this very long series) is Guards! Guards!, the start of the City Watch sub-series. Its sequel, Men at Arms, is my runner-up.
Please, Someone Make Disc(w)o(rld) Elysium
The City Watch books have some of Pratchett’s funniest writing, most compelling characters, and page-turningest plots. The Rincewind books can be funny, but I don’t care what happens to him. He’s more a plot contrivance to scoot the book from scenario to scenario than an actual character. But the people of the City Watch are endearing and fun to watch bounce off each other. Carrot is a slightly simple hero. Vimes is a world-weary old-hand who can’t pry himself away from his detective work. Nobby is basically a goblin in human form. Colon is just kinda a pretty normal guy who’s decent at his job and doesn’t really rock the boat. But, the goings-on in the book’s setting Ankh-Morpork, the biggest city on the Disc, keep the gang busy in really fun ways.
In fact, Guards! Guards! would make for an entertaining RPG in the mold ofDisco Elysium. The book centers on a group of summoners who are attempting to bring a massive dragon to Ankh-Morpork — the Disc is normally only home to dog-sized dragons — and the Watch’s attempts to stop it while navigating with the city’s leadership and guilds. It all seems ripe for a comedy detective RPG, and I want someone to make it happen.
Pratchett’s work has been adapted in interactive form before, primarily as a trilogy of point-and-clicks back in the ’90s. Those games have been unavailable for decades, butcould be headed for a re-release soon. The first game, simply titled Discworld, mixes and matches elements of the books, which actually led to a loose retelling of Guards! Guards! with Rincewind as the lead, instead of the Watch. So, if an RPG with a Guards! Guards! vibe never materializes, I can at least hope that those long lost games get found again.
