Knave 2e
This page collects thoughts on what MyRPG can learn from Knave 2nd Edition by Ben Milton (Questing Beast).
Note: Based on the published rules and previews plus Beau Rancourt’s analysis. I have not run a full Knave 2e campaign.
✅ Worth Adopting
Slot Pressure (Soft Version)
Gear competing for space creates real choices (armor vs. torches vs. loot). MyRPG takes the soft version: carrying too much may impose Stress or Exhaustion at the GM’s discretion—no full slot grid.
Wounds That Force Choices
At 0 HP in Knave, harm costs you options. MyRPG already has Serious/Critical thresholds; a mild version could have a Critical wound impose a named condition or make a piece of gear temporarily unusable.
Career / Background Loadouts
Knave hands out starting kits by career instead of shopping lists. Adopted: the handbook now uses Background Starting Kits. Domains give powers; Background gives your stuff.
d100 GM Tables
Dungeons, regions, factions, spells. A great candidate for a separate GM Toolkit module, kept out of the core rules.
Utility-First Magic
Many Knave spells solve problems rather than deal damage. Push Thaumaturge, Theurgy, and nature spell lists toward utility.
No Checks for Common Knowledge
What your Background or Domain would know, you know. Roll only when information has to be sought. This matches the Aspect philosophy.
🎓 Lessons to Learn
- One competing resource focuses play. MyRPG already has Action Load and Stress. Don’t add a third scarce resource unless it replaces one.
- Big, clear modifiers beat tiny ones. Knave’s ±5 is the cousin of our Advantage/Disadvantage on d4 pools.
- Treasure-as-progress shapes behavior. XP-for-gold makes exploration the point; MyRPG’s narrative Tier requirements already do this, with combat as one path among several.
- Hazard die: elegant, but noisy. If we use one, make it one check per meaningful stretch of time, not several per watch.
🚫 Do Not Adopt
- Weapons breaking on a natural 1 as a default
- Wounds filling every inventory slot until death as the default death spiral
- Ration and torch depletion roulette every watch
- Carousing XP and comedy mishap tables as core rules
- Classless “anyone can cast” play that flattens Domain identity
📝 Takeaway
Steal slot pressure, GM tables, and career kits. Leave the attrition roulette and weapon-break lottery alone.