Knave second edition is a double recommendation from me. I think it’s a brilliant system, for sure; however, it’s also a fantastic resource regardless what tabletop RPG a gamemaster is using. Knave 2e fans, other OSR systems, D&D 5e tables, it doesn’t really matter; Knave offers a lot no matter what groups are playing.
What is Knave 2e?
A rules-light roleplaying game, by Ben Milton, laser-focused on two major pillars of play: exploration and dungeon crawling. It’s fast—games with no preparation can get started within 10 minutes; it’s easy to learn—one of the better systems that helps people new to the hobby join in quickly and smoothly; and it’s powerful—the book gives gamemasters (GMs) the raw materials to make campaigns that can go on forever.
Knave is definitely an OSR game. It pushes players to solve problems creatively. There are no lists of skills or feats; players must use their brains and their character’s inventory to create solutions. Nowhere is this more obvious than the spell list. There are 100 listed spells, yet none of them let characters directly harm enemies. Instead, spells give utility; they help characters to transform or sidestep obstacles; they can trap, charm, confuse, calm, or scare non-player characters; they even summon allies—a heroic knight on a giant snail is my favourite—but they will never target an enemy’s Hit Points. The character sheet gives tools, not answers.
Knave’s design has been an important influence on the wider hobby. Yochai Gal’s Cairn, the biggest game in the NSR, uses Knave’s inventory system and character generation.
What About The Book?
The book itself is lovely. The art—all by Peter Mullen—is really evocative; the two quickstart maps at the back—a dungeon and an overland hexcrawl by Kyle Latino—are equally inspiring. The font is easy to read, rules clear and direct, and they never need page-flipping; this all makes it really fast and easy to use during a session. Furthermore, the endpapers have the most important rules and roll tables—with page references!—to make rules-checking even faster.
Core Features of Knave 2e
Central to Knave’s elegant design is its inventory system. A character’s gear defines their abilities; there are no classes. A character wanting to cast spells will need to find a spellbook. A character wanting to fight in melee will need a weapon. Single-handed weapons do d6 damage; two-handed weapons do d8. Ranged attacks do a d4 or a d6, depending on type. This keeps combat fast, let’s players use whatever weapon they want without penalty, and doesn’t overwhelm players with false choices.
Another benefit of the inventory-defines-abilities is it makes versatility easy. A gish just needs to carry a weapon, a spellbook or two, and whatever armour they want. However, Knave’s design ensures inventory is a constant source of tension and interesting decisions.
Characters have a number of carrying slots equal to 10 + their Constitution score—meaning space for 10 to 22. Everything takes up a slot: weapons, spellbooks, armour, gold—used for level ups—and anything else that’s useful. Particularly large items take up more than one slot. Weapons break. Spellbooks have just one spell, and can only be cast once a day. Players can sacrifice armour to avoid damage; their Armor Class is 11 + the number of different armour pieces they are wearing—the material makes no difference; all of these, of course, take up a slot.
It should be clear inventory will be constantly changing, challenging players. So, characters can be versatile, but it’s actually more accurate to say they must be versatile to survive.
No Inventory, No Life
The importance of inventory management doesn’t stop there. Characters have d6 Hit Points at first level, gaining an additional d6 for each level up. One basic goblin does d6 damage. Consequently, it’s no surprise the book advises to avoid combat where possible, and fight dirty when characters have to. When characters run out of Hit Points, damage starts removing inventory slots. When a character’s Hit Points and inventory slots are all gone, they die. Hit Points come back after an eight-hour rest; wounds don’t come back till the character can rest in a safe haven.
It’s brilliant design that makes inventory a compelling part of the game at every stage of play. It’s also a great way to create story organically. Players are making decisions for their characters that challenge their priorities and identity all the time. Every session, players are getting a steady supply of roleplaying opportunities to take advantage of, if they want to.
Knave 2e’s Innovation, Not Revolution
In many other ways, Knave will feel very familiar to anyone who has played a traditional d20 RPG. Checks are a d20 + attribute score + modifiers. It’s a roll over target number system. Although it’s open about its OSR influences, many complex subsystems have been elegantly reduced to a single, unified d20 roll. There is enough complexity to keep challenging groups with interesting decisions; however, the rules for GMs and players stay lightweight enough, every part of gameplay is speedy.
As a side note on rules, it’s refreshing Ben writes GMs should change any rules they like—on page 2! He directly tells GMs the rules serve them; the GM does not serve the rules. It’s always a good sign when a game is confident enough to trust the GM. It also works to empower them, inspiring more confidence to run the game.
A Super Resource For GMs
Empowering GMs with tools to take on most situations in a fantasy tabletop RPG should really be Knave’s second tag line. Ben has somehow included 82 roll tables into an 80-page book—76 of them are d100s! This is why the book is a double recommendation from me. It provides so much raw material for a GM to make a fantasy adventure or long-term campaign.
Weather changes, dungeon themes, new spell generation, alchemical monster harvesting, street names, tavern menu options, faction missions, rewards, NPC mannerisms…the list goes on. All d100s, all ready for GMs to use as they like.
The potential here is simply awesome. In fact, it was the main inspiration for my article on getting the most out of roll tables. Some people have bought the book just for the roll tables. It’s worth noting, Knave doesn’t include strict guidelines on how to incorporate most of the roll tables into a game. That’s another theme of the book; it empowers GMs with all these tools, but never forces any one way to play. GMs have the freedom to use what they like in the way that suits them best.
By way of an example of just how powerful these tools are, check out this video by Baron de Ropp. In it, he outlines how he used the book to create a complex hexcrawl campaign, complete with factions and politics. He even kindly included everything to download for free in the description!
Knave 2e Won’t Please Everyone
As with any of my recommendations, Knave won’t be for everyone. The system itself is highly lethal—level 1 characters especially will die a lot. That’s a theme of the OSR. Players wanting to play out high fantasy heroics should probably try another system. However, as a side note, it only takes a couple of minutes to make a character; consequently, players are never out of the action for long.
At first, my own group thought the hazard die was too brutal. While the characters are exploring, the GM rolls a d6 every four hours. On a result of 1-3, something bad happens. However, I improvised a simple change. Instead, I rolled 2d6, one red and one white. Checking the red die, on a 2-3 the environment changed; on 4-5, the party found signs of a random encounter; on a 6, there was no change. If the red die rolled a 1, then I checked the white die. The three negative effects were spread out equally over the values of this die. If an area was particularly harsh or dangerous, these numbers changed a bit. Problem solved.
This actually highlights another major strength of Knave: it’s so easy to hack. The modular feel to many of the subsystems means GMs can edit things really easily. Additionally, it makes copying ideas and putting them into other systems really simple. As an extra bonus, the rules’ powerful but lightweight potential means taking adventures from other systems and using them with Knave is achievable with relative ease.
Knave 2e Has A Strong Following
Perhaps this is one reason why there is so much support for Knave online from other creators. A quick search on Itch.io shows sci-fi, horror, and post-apocalypse conversions available, just to name a few. Ben himself has made some great adventures for Knave as well. My personal pick is The Waking of Willowby Hall, which is actually one of the best printed adventures I have ever run.
Another likely reason for Knave’s fanbase is Ben’s support for the tabletop RPG hobby as a whole, especially the OSR.Under the name Questing Beast, he has an active Substack, monthly newsletter, and YouTube channel. These offer news, advice, interviews, and reviews related to the hobby.
Showing And Telling
Recently, he uploaded a live play of him running this Mothership RPG one-shot. If you activate subtitles and choose Klingon, he’s edited them to show important thoughts as he GMs the game. This is a no-frills live play; he’s literally set up a camera on the table with his home group, hit record, and started. It’s a brilliant way to give insight into one experienced GM’s thinking during a real game—banter and derailings included!
This is an example of why Ben is a popular figure in the hobby. He wants the world of tabletop RPGs to be as accessible as possible. This desire is really obvious in Knave. In the back of the book, there is a creator’s commentary. In it, he breaks down each section of the rules and describes influences and reasons for the choices he’s made. Of course, this could read as a defence for design decisions; however, recall the advice on page 2 for GMs to change anything they like. By showing people his thought processes, he removes the mysticism of gaming and design. Why do this? To empower more people to make and play games, helping the hobby grow.
So Who Is Knave 2e For?
It’s no surprise, then, many see Knave as a good introduction into the OSR. However, perhaps more importantly, it’s a good gateway into tabletop RPGs generally. The game is so easy for players and GMs alike to pick up and play.
This also makes it great for people wanting a break from a long running campaign, need a quick one-shot, or want to try GMing OSR style. Knave needs so little prep, it should be a good match for busy GMs, too.
In large part, this is because it’s such a comprehensive roll table gold mine. I’ll repeat my double recommendation here. Even GMs that are using another system will probably find good value in the book.
How To Get Started
Anyone interested can find Knave 2e here. Ben recently mentioned the book is having another print run, so it’s a good time to order directly; the PDF comes included.
To get more content and ideas from him, check his YouTube channel here, and sign-up for his newsletter—called The Glatisant—here. For anyone who is a fan of the hobby or curious about the OSR, they’re well worth a look.
To Sum Up Knave 2e
Knave is lightweight, flexible, and powerful. Its elegant design equally empowers players and GMs. Unusually, it’s also a great resource for people less interested in the actual system as well. There’s so much inspiration in this book that’s so easy to access. This makes it great for preparing upcoming games as well as improvising mid-session. I believe it’s well worth checking out!
