Knave 2e: The Most Value I've Ever Seen in an RPG Book

Knave Second Edition by Ben Milton. I’m a huge fan of Ben’s stuff - Maze Rats is my go-to, and I’ve got a lot of mileage out of the original Knave.

I backed this primarily to support Ben. I didn’t think I’d use it. Then I read it.

Boy was I wrong.

This is not just a game system. It’s 88 pages that let you create spells, monsters, NPCs, an entire campaign - all at the table without ever looking at an adventure. That is astonishing.

The Inside Covers Alone

This is amazing design. Open the front cover: nearly all the rules. Open the back cover: the rest. You can find anything within seconds without going into the book.

Everything is done in facing-page design. Everything you need for a particular subject is contained on two pages.

No Classes, No Dump Stats

There are no classes. You define your character by what you carry.

• Strength - Fighter ability, melee attacks
• Dexterity - Thief ability, dodging, sneaking, lockpicking
• Constitution - Adventurer ability, added to hit points
• Intelligence - Magic user ability, cunning, alchemy
• Wisdom - Ranger ability, ranged attacks (not Dex!), perception, foraging, navigating, resisting spells
• Charisma - Cleric ability, initiative, number of blessings, number of companions

Wisdom for ranged attacks. Charisma for initiative. Suddenly there are no dump stats. You’re struggling where to put your points.

Advantage Is Everything

Checks start at DC 11 plus modifiers. The average DC is 16. That’s hard for starting characters unless you find advantage.

Advantage is +5. The entire game is about finding ways to get advantage. Creative problem-solving, not just rolling and hoping.

No Knowledge Checks

“Do not make knowledge checks.” PCs know all common knowledge and career-related knowledge. All other knowledge must be sought out.

You have to adventure to find information. This is the key to the whole game: how do you get people out adventuring and doing the fun stuff? Because they need to.

Item Slots Are Everything

You have 10 + CON item slots. This is how you define your character.

• Magic users need spell books
• Clerics need relics
• Fighters need weapons

By changing what you carry, you change what your character can do.

Here’s the genius: damage can be abstract. Hit points regenerate easily. But direct damage bypasses hit points and fills your item slots. As you take damage, your ability to carry stuff decreases. When all slots are filled, you die.

This puts players in constant hard choices. How far do they push? The further they go, the harder it is to come away with good stuff.

One Page Covers the Magic System

Spell books take one slot and contain one spell. Want to cast lots of spells? Your inventory fills with spell books. You naturally can’t be a fighter.

Spells can’t be created or copied - they must be found by exploring dungeons. More reasons to adventure.

Chaos books are brilliant: the spell changes to a random new one every dawn. You never know what you’ll have.

Unlimited Spell Creation

100 spells included, but you can create unlimited spells using the tables.

Roll wizard name + effect + form: “Fulgrim’s Petrifying Bolt.” You and the player figure out what it does. Your Intelligence modifier affects power.

The amount of spells you can create with these tables is literally unlimited.

Unlimited Everything

These tables combine to create anything:

• Mutations
• Curses
• Delusions
• Magic schools
• Patrons
• Relics
• NPCs
• Monsters
• Magic items
• Traps
• Dungeons
• Cities
• Factions

You can create an entire Wilderness. An entire dungeon. An entire city. Unlimited NPCs with personalities, goals, mannerisms.

Connecting the random dots is my GM paradise. I don’t like coming up with stuff from a blank page. I like having a few dots and creating the links between them. This is my dream for doing that.

Patrons and Relics

Create clerics properly. The PC finds a relic, goes to a patron’s shrine, the patron gives them a mission. Complete it, return to the shrine, the relic gets blessed.

Actions contrary to a patron’s goals incur disfavor. You have to go on missions to regain favor. Every reason for players to go do stuff.

Carousing

Double-dipping XP. You get 1 XP per coin found. Players can spend gold on whatever - or blow it on carousing to get MORE XP for character upgrades.

But carousing creates story. Brilliant.

The Designer Commentary

At the end: designer commentary on every section. Where each idea came from. Why each rule exists.

“This is a framework that makes playing old school RPGs straightforward, intuitive, and easy to run.”

“I can’t build the world for a GM but at least I can give you all the tools.”

That’s literally what this is: a complete GM toolkit.

My Verdict

This is the most value I’ve ever seen squeezed into a book since Maze Rats.

88 pages. £20 for the PDF seemed steep to me at first. Then I read it.

You could have this without anything else and run games for years without ever looking at an adventure.

Certain coastal-dwelling magic users pay by the word and have very wordy stuff that’s very big. I’ve never seen anything by them that has anywhere near the value this has.

This puts me in the mind to just run a campaign with people, create everything at the table, and see what happens. It would be a joy to run.

Sorry this review is so long. I’m not sorry. This book deserves it.