Play Discworld in Singapore — Adventures in Ankh-Morpork

What is Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork?

Published by Modiphius and approved by the Pratchett estate, Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork is a tabletop RPG set in the greatest city on the Disc. You play citizens of Ankh-Morpork; watchmen, thieves, wizards, and anyone else the narrative requires, navigating a city where the gods play games with the lives of men and the post still gets delivered (eventually).

The Kickstarter raised over £2.4 million from nearly 18,000 backers. This is not a niche curiosity; it's a game a lot of people have been waiting a long time for, and it delivers.

If you've read the Pratchett novels, you'll feel at home immediately. If you haven't, the game is still entirely accessible; it just means you have an excellent reading list waiting for you afterwards. Lots of folk in Singapore have been introduced to the series through the game, and that's something to be proud of.

The system: Narrativium, Traits, and spectacular failure

Discworld runs on the Narrativium system, and it's unlike anything in D&D. Your character isn't defined by ability scores or spell slots; they're defined by Traits. These are phrases that describe who your character is: things like "Built like the proverbial shithouse" or "Light-fingered" or "Knows everyone in the city who matters." When you attempt something, you argue how one of your Traits applies to the situation, and the GM decides what die you roll based on the strength of your argument.

This is where the game gets interesting. The rules explicitly encourage you to twist Traits far beyond their original intent. "Light-fingered" can justify picking a lock, but it can also justify setting something on fire (delicately). The reward for creative, punchy reasoning is a better die. The reward for truly inspired Pratchett-esque logic is the best die available.

You roll your outcome die against the GM's Narrativium die (always a d8). Beat it and you succeed. Fail and you face Consequences: narrative complications that twist the story in weird, logical, or wonderfully absurd directions. Tie, and you succeed but the world pushes back anyway.

There are no hit points. There is no death (unless you engineer something impressively catastrophic). There is Luck; a finite resource representing the Lady's fickle favour, which you can spend to avoid Consequences or help a fellow player's roll. It runs out. The Consequences stack up. This is entirely the point.

Who is Discworld for?

Players who think like writers. One of the best descriptions of this game heard at the table: "It makes you think more like a writer than a character." You're not optimising a build; you're crafting a story. The mechanical feedback loop rewards people who are funny, lateral, and willing to fail entertainingly. And it's good for players who want to think this way — the game makes it easy to practise.

It's also for Pratchett fans, obviously. If you've ever wanted to play a watchman under Carrot's command, or navigate Ankh-Morpork's Guild system as a freelance thief, this is the game that makes that possible.

And it's genuinely good for players who bounced off D&D's mechanical complexity. There are no spell slots to track, no action economy to optimise. If you can argue your case and roll a die, you can play Discworld.

What it isn't: a game for players who want tactical combat, clear mechanical structures, or unambiguous success states. The whole point of Discworld is that stories are messy and consequences are inevitable. If that sounds like a problem rather than a feature, pick a different system.

What to expect at a Discworld session in Singapore

The quickstart adventure (Up in Smoke) involves the City Watch investigating stolen dragons. This gives you a sense of the default register: comedic, investigative, consequence-heavy, and set firmly in Ankh-Morpork's glorious chaos.

Sessions run by GMs on TTRPGoblin tend to be one-shots of three hours. The system is particularly well-suited to this format; the Narrativium mechanic builds naturally toward climaxes, and the Luck resource creates a satisfying arc without needing a multi-session campaign to pay off.

Familiarity with Pratchett. Some GMs explicitly welcome players with no prior Discworld knowledge; others run sessions that reward recognition of the setting's lore. The description will usually indicate which.

Tone. Discworld sessions can range from pure comedic chaos to genuinely affecting character drama (often in the same session). Pratchett himself managed this; good GMs do too.

Character approach. Some sessions provide pre-generated characters with established Traits; others let you build your own. Building your own Traits is part of the fun, but it takes a bit of time before play starts.

The Singapore angle: a small but passionate scene

Discworld has 51 waitlisted players and 5 active modules on TTRPGoblin. That's a small but clearly dedicated player base; the kind of scene where you genuinely might end up playing with someone who owns a first edition of Guards! Guards! and has Opinions about the Nac Mac Feegle.

GMs running Discworld on the platform are running it because it's their game. That enthusiasm is audible in how these sessions are described and run.

If no session is currently scheduled, join the waitlists for modules that interest you. When a GM schedules a run, you'll be notified via Telegram. Given the session count is still low, getting on the waitlist now puts you near the front of a queue that's only going to grow as the game reaches more tables.

How to get started

You do not need to have read the novels. You do not need to know the rules in advance. You need a willingness to argue your case with a straight face and roll dice in the full knowledge that the story is going to do something unexpected regardless. Straight face optional. Probably discouraged.

Find a beginner-friendly session on TTRPGoblin, filtered to Discworld. Read the description carefully; these GMs have usually thought hard about what kind of table they're running. Join the waitlist if nothing is scheduled right now.

And if you have read the novels: welcome. You're going to enjoy this enormously.