On the surface, the new Discworld RPG is a game all about, as we Brits would call it, 'playing silly buggers'. It's a one-shot-friendly tabletop RPG system that encourages creative puns, general tomfoolery, and Antics with a capital A. Despite this, publisher Modiphius hasn't shied away from Terry Pratchett's tendency to make political points using comedic fantasy. In fact, when it comes to using Ankh-Morpork to discuss real-world issues, the Discworld RPG pulls zero punches.
The Discworld RPG's $3.2 million Kickstarter campaign hasn't finished fulfillment yet, but backers have already received their PDF copies of the core rulebook. Since I'm among that number, I've already read one of the adventures included with the rules - Little Women.
Little Women is bookmarked by a slapstick adventure starring the Thieves Guild and another slapstick romp at Unseen University, but it takes a markedly different tone from its siblings. Little Women, in fact, begins with a content warning. "Many of the themes in this adventure are particularly pertinent to Roundworld hatreds, and it may be uncomfortable for gay or trans players."
Without giving too many spoilers, here's the gist of the adventure. Your party are all members of the City Watch, and you've been summoned to investigate the ransacking of a dwarf book club.
All the dwarfs victimized by the crime are female, and they're the type of female dwarf that likes to outwardly display their gender by wearing skirts, makeup, and ribbons in their beards. That's actually a rather controversial fashion choice in the Discworld, where, until recently, all dwarfs tended to outwardly present as male and go by 'he/him'.
You can already see how parallels can be drawn between Discworld's dwarfs and the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people. These are explored in Terry Pratchett's novels (especially the 1996 banger Feet of Clay and 2003's Monstrous Regiment), but the tabletop RPG makes the parallels more current and overt. Your division of the City Watch will end up investigating parties that believe that dwarf women are "not real women" and are, in fact, dwarf men dressing up as women to do some sort of undefined harm to other women.
There are protests with slogans like "Morpork for Morporkians", hosted by a mob whose stat block includes the trait "putting a lot of effort into making it look like they're legitimately concerned about women's rights". There are plenty of references to characters that, if you squint, bear some resemblance to real world figures involved in 'gender critical' debates.
Little Women clearly states the agenda of its narrative before you begin playing. "By the end, as in all Discworld adventures, the hatred should be defeated and exposed for how ridiculous it really is". There's still plenty of comedy in the adventure, but it's openly at the expense of a political group that doesn't particularly like it when you call them 'TERFs'.
Basically, if you're the kind of person who wants to 'keep politics out of gaming', the Discworld RPG isn't designed for you.
If you'd like to learn more about how the Discworld TTRPG plays, check out my thoughts on the Quickstart rules (and keep an eye out for my upcoming review). Or, for more on RPGs in general, here's all you need to know about DnD classes and DnD races. We'll even give you some extra character-building pointers if you ask nicely in the Wargamer Discord.