Streamline Your Games ALL The Way Down With ‘Knave’
Knave is an old-school-style tabletop RPG that lets you take a full adventure with just seven pages and no classes.
There is still a soft spot for old school D&D and classic fantasy tabletop RPGs. But the RPGs of right now tend to be a little more simplified and a little less crunchy. And this is where seven-page Knave comes in.
Knave
That’s right, seven (7) pages. It’s not quite one of those one-page-RPGs, but it’s still very rules lite. A second edition of Knave was funded on Kickstarter earlier this year. While that book looks like it will be longer and more fleshed out, at eighty pages, it will still be one of the shorter tabletop RPGs on the market.
Knave is a toolkit that’s compatible with old school RPGs so little to no conversion is necessary. But it also works as its own standalone game that easy to pick up and run with. Knave allows newcomers to the hobby to make a character and start adventuring in minutes, and it’s versatile enough to host your entire adventure. This is the RPG equivalent of putting a lawn mower engine engine on a bicycle to make a motorcycle… And having an end product that sort of rules.
This is a super, super streamlined game though. The rules aren’t just cut down, they’re hardly there. Knave gives you everything you need to start on your adventure, and nothing more. In fact, in its current form it’s almost a game designed to be built up, either with other classic RPG supplements or your DM’s own imagination and work. Second Edition with its 73 additional pages may add a little more to the system, but even if it doesn’t, Knave works remarkably well and is very fun all on its own.
Character Creation and Game Play
Character creation in Knave is meant to be fast. Really fast. To start, there are no classes. Everyone plays “a Knave, a tomb-raiding, adventure-seeking ne’er-do-well who wields a spell book just as easily as a blade.” This is supposed to help players feel less stuck in the focus on their character’s role in the party. Instead, you’re free to focus on whatever and pursue whatever interests you or your character have in the moment and build your own destiny a little more.
Characters have the six standard D&D abilities (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma), their hit points, and a few other note to fill in on the character sheet, and you’re good to go. Abilities rolls are made with the standard D20 and it keeps the math simple. Spells also have no level in Knave, if your character has the necessary spell book, you can cast the spell, and the bestiary isn’t exactly gigantic. Which means that Knave is an incredibly portable game. There are no books to lug around and reference unless you’re choosing to incorporate outside material. Which players are always welcome to do.
To learn more about Knave or play it for yourself, you can get more information on the Questing Beast website, here.
Have you played Knave? Do you prefer a game that’s cut down to its basics, or when your RPG has multiple books worth or rules? What do you think of the no-class system? Let us know in the comments!
Happy adventuring!
