A few friends made a trip to Indigo at the O2 in Greenwich for a one-off show called Discworld Live. This show was based on the tabletop roleplaying game Adventures in Ankh-Morpork, which was released earlier this year. This was a Kickstarter campaign funded project, officially endorsed by the Pratchett Estate.
The evening began with some improv comedy from Shoot From The Hip, a group of D&D gamers / comedians. They were funny and fast paced, and really gave the start some energy.
We then had a lovely introduction from Rob Wilkins, Terry’s representative on earth. He talked about how much Terry loved gaming. Throughout his life he had a passion for gaming and played extensively. Rob explained when he first received the email from creators and publishers Modiphius asking permission to license the game, he was ready to just delete it. However it was son Louis who persuaded him that they were “the real deal”, so it was only thanks to Louis we were here. They met with the publisher and Rob was convinced, and the result is this new game. He finished by saying Terry would have absolutely been in the front row tonight, heckling and enjoying it all.
The cast for the night then came to the stage, from a live D&D podcast called High Rollers. The 5 players were led by Dungeon Master (DM) Andy Farrant, and each took on an anthropomorphic personification such as a Dust Bunny and a Creature That Causes Minor Inconvenience.
I have no knowledge of tabletop gaming, so I was kind of confused at first. The terms used and gaming process were all new to me. In short, this is collaborative storytelling by the fictional characters, guided by a set of pre-agreed rules. This might include a general storyline, the ultimate aim of the game, and the powers that each character has to use during the game. Within that the DM can ask the character to roll dice (“Roll D12”) that send the story in a new direction, in order to add a random element into the game.
They played the Hogswatch adventure for this event, just in time for the season. The story was effectively that these characters had to save Hogswatch and make children believe in The Hogfather again, making their way through a house where each door led to a new level of the game. Terry’s storyline and comedic style were very much kept intact.
The players were really enthusiastic and entered into the spirit of things really well, but then they are professionals at this so no surprise there. They were also clearly knowledgeable about Terry’s work, making it funny and keeping the game moving. It made it interactive for the audience. There were calls from the audience at certain jokes or to throw in ideas. I can see how this type of game can become addictive, and a game could last for days if you keep the story going.
I happened to bump into Rob later and he said it was great to see lots of new faces, people he wouldn’t see at a convention or similar event. I really liked that some people had come in DW cosplay – I spotted a Rincewind and Twoflower amongst others.
Overall this was a really fun event and even though I know nothing about gaming it was great to be part of it. It was really well put together, the DM was nicely in control and the end result was great. Some of our party said their cheeks hurt from laughing so much. We would absolutely go again if they ran another one in future.