Runescape is based on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels
Yes, I believe so. Maybe not exactly “based”, but definitely heavily influenced and inspired by. You can see and feel it everywhere: the way NPCs talk, quests structured, in behavior and customs of Runescape races, even while skilling!
The game is filled with intangible signs: drunken dwarves fighting in taverns with rock cakes, wizards doing strange machinery in their towers, gangs lurking in dark alleys of Ankh-Morpork… Oops, sorry. I meant Varrock, of course.
There are even direct quotes. Take a look and compare:
Gold leaf and marble
Ever wondered where gold leaf and marble came from to be luxury Construction materials? Here is a quote from Terry Pratchett’s ‘Guards! Guards!’ novel:
“When Nobby had shambled out Vimes took another look around the room. It did, indeed, lack the gold leaf and marble that Nobby felt was compulsory for people of a high station in life.”
Sea Turtles
Terry Pratchett’s ‘Small Gods’ novel is about a God who comes to Discworld in the form of a turtle. The God’s Prophet and only believer travels around with the turtle and they have lots of adventures together. Everywhere they go people notice the turtle and say “There’s very good eating on one of these.” It is a repeating catch-phrase of the book.
Now look what Runescape Fishing Tutor has to say about turtles:
Sounds familiar?
And so it goes…
If you have read some of the novels, I am sure, you would agree and, hopefully, I helped you to explain the feeling of strange recognition you might get while playing Runescape. For all you, who haven’t read the novels but love Runescape, I would strongly recommend to read these books. I assure you that you’ll enjoy Runescape even more as a result. Finally, if you don’t care about Runescape, well, there is a saying for you too:
“There are two types of people in the world: those who love the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett, and those who haven’t read them yet.”
Credits: thanks to Knifestorm for the help with this article! It wouldn’t have been written without him.
Posted by vrunewise (owner of Runewise and Runescape Reader’s Digest)
Did You Enjoy this Post? Subscribe to Runescape Haven for Free Today!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
(10 votes, average: 3.7 out of 5)
Loading ...
October 29th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Before creating RuneScape, Andrew Gower created a Worms clone for the Atari ST called Battle Zone (this was in 1996 under the name Cunning & Devious Games). Many of the default teams were based on sci-fi/fantasy characters. One team was called “Discworld”, and featured the team members “Rincewind”, “Granny”, “Librarian” and “Detritus”.
John Brown Says:February 27th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
You missed the Monty Python references, the easiest to test is to take a raw herring, and use it on a tree. you will get a message stating that “this is not the mightiest tree in the forest.”