Knave: Species

 

Art by LadyofHats

Considering my recent addiction to Knave, I must say that one facet of the rules players are often dissatisfied with is the absence of non-humans. People want to play dwarves! While I can simply make such species completely descriptive, I feel that they should have a mechanical implication as well.

In the Knave spirit, I keep these rules to a bare minimum. Each species has an Ability Score requirement, an edge, and a flaw. This may seem somewhat minor in scope compared, say, to the OSE treatment of such creatures. However, once again, this is Knave, and Knaves tread lightly.

Below is a tentative list of species I may permit in my Knave campaigns:

Dwarf: minimum Constitution Defense of 13. Advantage on any roll related to construction or mining and searching for secret doors. Base speed is 30' rather than 40'.

Elf: minimum Charisma Defense of 13. Advantage on stealth rolls in natural surroundings. Suffer a -10% penalty to XP.

Geckofolk: minimum Dexterity Defense of 13. May effortlessly walk on walls; may walk on ceilings at half speed. May not use two-handed weapons due to size; may not climb or cling when wearing boots or gauntlets.

Gnome: minimum Intelligence Defense of 13. Knows one level 1 illusion spell - chosen one the player - requiring no inventory slot, which they may cast once a day per 2 levels of experience (e.g., a level 4 gnome can cast it twice). May not use two-handed weapons due to size.

Halfling: minimum Dexterity Defense of 13. Advantage on throws to pick pockets and other tricks of sleight of hand. Consumes twice as much food a day than other species.

Human: no Ability Score requirements. Neither an advantage nor a disadvantage. Default species.

Insectoid: minimum Dexterity Defense of 13. Immune, poison, disease, and ghoul paralysis. Disadvantage to any social rolls (other than intimidation) with other species.

Lizardfolk: minimum Strength Defense of 13. May hold breath for 10 minutes and swim effortlessly at 40' per round. May not wear helmets or boots designed for other species due to different morphology.

Orc: minimum Strength Defense of 13. May become enraged once per encounter, granting an advantage to Attack Rolls for 1d6 rounds. Disadvantage to any social rolls (other than intimidation) with other species.

Knave Reference: Slender Horrors

I've compiled a monster reference sheet/Cheat Sheet for Knave. It lists a good number of common monsters for easy reference. No descriptions included; this is a reference card for referees who usually already know the said monsters but want to see their stats comfortably and quickly.

Get it HERE!

Knave variant: A Slender Lout

As noted in my previous posts, I recently fell in love with Ben Milton's Knave rules for lightweight d20/OSR gaming. So, I had the idea of condensing the Knave rules onto a two-sided A4 sheet. Just print, laminate, and have accessible and handy rules while running games.

So, A Slender Lout is the result (based on the Creative Commons license Knave uses).

Next in line is a monster cheat-sheet and a spell cheat-sheet, based on OSE monsters and spells converted to Knave... Each cheat-sheet on a two-sided A4 page, printed and laminated. Fastest reference access I need!

Knave variant rules: Religion

Art by Hannah Saunders

Interestingly enough, the base Knave rules touch religion only in passing. Ben Milton's draft Knave 2E rules, available to his Patreon's patrons, include new religion mechanics, centered around Saints. However, I came up with my own religion rules for the current (1E) Knave rules.

The main purposes of these rules are to offer game mechanics encouraging the role-playing of fantastic religious devotion in Knave games, and to cater to players who want to play holy men and women. I steered clear of any class mechanics for clerics and paladins, as class rules go against the grain of Knave.

The simplest part of these are clerical spells. These are indistinguishable, mechanically, from any other spells, requiring spellbooks (codices?) to cast. Their religious significance would come from their in-game description, such as being relics of faith, sanctified items, and scrolls of holy scripture.

Additionally, a character may take vows of faith, and dedicate themselves to the service of a God (or gods). A vow must create a challenge in play, but not prevent meaningful adventuring. For example, a vow of Poverty (must donate  90% all wealth to the Church/the needy/sacrifices to the gods, apart from money and magical items used for personal adventuring needs ); vow of Vegetarianism (cannot eat meat; faces issues in overland travel and may require heavier rations in the dungeon); vow of Sacred Wrath (cannot retreat from battles with undead and demons); vow of Clean Hands (cannot steal); vow of Sanctity (cannot disturb quiet dead; can still slay undead and take their treasures, though); Vow of Truth (cannot lie). 

On the other hand, a vow of Pacifism will usually be inappropriate for most games, as it impedes gameplay too much. The other side of the coin is a vow of Celibacy, which will create only minor annoyances unless romantic encounters are a major part of the game, and thus would not work well as a vow.

Adhering to vows for a certain time (as determined by the Referee; a good benchmark is 3 or so adventures), as well as role-playing the character's religion (preaching, praying, and so on), marks the Knave as devout.

Devout characters, as long as they adhere to their vows and faith, enjoy two main mechanical benefits.

The first is prayer. Once a week, a devout Knave may pray to his or her God(s) and receive an Advantage to a single die roll within the next hour.

The second is rebuking undead. Once per encounter with undead, a devout Knave may hold up their holy symbol and proclaim the might of their God(s). All undead in sight of the Knave level or higher must make an Opposed save (Knave's Charisma vs. the undead being's Constitution). Undead who fail this Opposed save cower before the God(s) might and suffer Disadvantage to all rolls against the devout character and his or her allies for 1d6 rounds. At the Referee's discretion, this may apply to demons, or even Fey, as well. Note that certain holy relics may enhance the rebuke, forcing undead to flee. Mighty relics of faith may even turn undead into dust upon a failed Opposed save!

Breaking a vow removes the devout status from the character for at least the 1d6 months and requires penitence (usually an adventure for the God(s)) to regain this status.

From OSE to Knave

 

I love, and I write, 2d6-based OSR games, such as Cepheus Deluxe or Barbaric!. However, some of the fine people I play with love d20-based games. So far, I usually ran Old School Essentials (OSE; by Necrotic Gnome) for them. This is a perfectly edited, clearly laid-out, quite faithful version of B/X "Box" Dungeons & Dragons.

However, if found out that I was not using a significant part of the OSE rules. In the beer & pretzels d20 games I typically run, a lot of stuff gets overlooked, and some players dislike the various non-uniform task resolution systems (such as thief skills; some are roll-low d100, others are roll-low d6, and regular ability checks are roll-low d20). So, we found ourselves improvising a lot, and ignoring much.

Such heresy led me to look once again at Knave, by Questing Beast Games. It is a rules-light d20-based OSR game, merely seven pages long. Furthermore, most of these seven pages are filled with various one-word random tables. The actual rules, sans random descriptive tables and spell list, can simply fill two pages (or a single two-sided sheet). A simple, fast-play ruleset, which packs a lot of unexpected complexity into its slender frame.

The core of Knave are ability checks and inventory management. Especially inventory management. You play the eponymous Knaves - adventurers of shady background and shady pursuits who partake jobs of questionable morality, loot tombs, and explore dungeons. There are no classes in this game. Rather, your equipment, limited by your very finite inventory space, determines your capabilities. Want to play a knight? Burden yourself with heavy arms and armor. Desire a sorcerer? Carry several spellbooks (each containing one spell and usable once a day). There are 11 to 20 inventory spaces, depending on your Constitution modifier and "defense" (more on than later), and armor takes a lot of space, as do spells.

Knave uses the six usual d20 ability scores, namely Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. At character generation, you roll 3d6 for each, in order, and note the lowest die. That is your ability modifier. Then, you add that number to ten. That's your ability defense. Most rolls are ability checks, called "Saving Throws" in Knave. Essentially, roll 1d20 + your relevant ability modifier; 15+ is a success. When opposed by another character or creature, you must beat their relevant ability defense. Monster ability modifiers and defenses are equal to their hit dice (which are always 1d8 each).

When you level up - based on goals rather than loot or combat (a part I like less about this system) - you gain an additional hit die and add +1 to three ability modifiers/defenses, to a maximum of a modifier of +10 or an ability defense of 20. The maximum level is 10.

Combat is quite usual - a Strength vs. Armor Defense (i.e., armor class) opposed saving throw for melee; Dexterity for ranged. Initiative is per side and rolled once per round. The rest - surprise, morale, and so on - is close enough to OSR standards.

As noted above, Knave uses a simple magic system - you carry Spellbooks (which can be anything from an actual book to a shamanic talisman), each taking one inventory slot and each granting you the ability to cast a spell once per day. You may cast any OSR spell your Referee permits, provided that its level is equal or lower than yours (i.e., a level 3 Knave can cast fireball once a day if they find the right Spellbook!).

In general, this system is sleek and fast, better designed than I have originally thought. I recommend it to anyone desiring a rules-light d20 OSR ruleset.

By the way, I intend to return to writing this blog in the near future. I will probably focus on Traveller, Cepheus, and Knave material...