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Love this product. fast and easy on the fly generation for short-prep time adventuring. Have used this as the plot and challenge generator for my 5e gestalt-darksun-luchador-campaign. Also used for my eberron-whispering_woods-hexcrawl-campaign.
7 stars if possible.
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I switched from Pathfinder to 5E D&D because I love how simple and flexible it is. It allowed me to share the hobby with a lot more people in my life because it was less intimidating and confusing and generally overwhelming. But that being said, a lot of times I'd have friends still reject the chance to do a one-off over board games because making characters would still take them at least an hour or two at the beginning of the night and that's no fun.
The point is, Knave is so accessible I got my mom to try it. Hell, I ran a one-off dungeon using Knave with my friends and in about 3 hours of play we went through 3 different parties because characters kept dying, and we could roll up new ones in about 5 minutes. I still love 5E a lot, and it'll be my game of choice in my regular group, but Knave is definitely my game for ad-hoc one-off sessions with miscellaneous people in my life who don't play D&D that regularly. It's fucking brilliant.
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My go to 1 shot for OSR adventures. I print out a bunch of generated characters from http://character.totalpartykill.ca/mazerats/ and have all we need for a fun night.
Highlights:
-The spell system engages the players and GM to make a cool story based on the word pairings
-The tools table puts a focus on solving things through being clever over brute force
-So easy and quick to get going, yet gives you all you need for a night of dungeon delving.
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Knave |
by Bryan F. [Verified Purchaser]
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Date Added: 10/31/2018 20:41:36 |
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I ran my first session of Knave last week. I've been DMing a 5e campaign for over a year and wanted to try something a little simpler. Character creation is really easy and fun, combat was fast and brutal, and we didn't have to spend half the session looking stuff up in the rulebooks. It was great. My players and I both had a lot of fun and we are excited to play again this weekend.
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Knave |
by Arthur R. [Verified Purchaser]
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Date Added: 09/11/2018 07:23:28 |
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A skeleton Alternative PC System suitable for use with your entire OSR library.
The game doesn't have classes. What differentiates one character from another is the gear the character hauls into the dungeon. Each item in the character's kit takes up one or more slots, including spellbooks which each contain one spell, usable once per day. The game doesn't address filling slots with tools to perform skills. This seems to be in keeping with the original game, which didn't waste pages on non-magic/non-melee rules. However, it would be interesting to see supplemental material expand on the kit concept, so that items like a Dark Cloak or Soft Boots allows a character to make Hide or Sneak Checks with their full Dexterity.
Very little was done to balance the encumbrance system and it will take some work on the group's part to come to a consensus on how certain things might work. For example, a weapon that does 1d10 damage takes 3 slots. A spell takes up 1 slot. As stated above, a spell can only be used once per day. But this slot can be filled with any spell the character finds. A 9th Level Spell and a 1st Level Spell use up the same amount of space. Spells have to be found during the course of play and the method of duplicating spell books has been lost to the ages.
As for magic, the 7 page ruleset dedicates a page and a half to alternative level-less spells. These spells get a line of description and don't always have scaling guidelines. The section is so roughly drafted that it should have been dropped in favor of a deeper treatment of the Encumbrance system or a bibliography of sources that present the subject of magic in more detail.
Knave seems to accomplish precisely what the author set out to do: Present a simple class-less OSR meant to get players up and running without having to teach them some times byzantine OSR concepts. I took marks because nearly 25% of the page count could have been spent more wisely.
I hope the kids the author runs games for appreciates his efforts and I hope he uses the money from DTRPG purchases to buy them all sturdy #2 pencils so they have something to write with while he extolls the virtues of having a high Constitution. Game on!
edit: grammar
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Knave |
by Brett M. [Verified Purchaser]
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Date Added: 09/07/2018 00:58:46 |
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There's really nothing too special about Knave. But it's because of this that it might just be one of the greatest additions to the OSR that I've ever seen. A lot of brilliant OSR games out there do one of three things: emulate the wheel, attempt to reinvent it, or a little of both. (read "wheel" as D&D) Labyrinth Lord? Emulation. DCC RPG? Reinvention. LotFP? A little of both
Here is what I believe lies at the core of the OSR: There are as many unique systems as there are gaming groups. Every group has different tastes, and the easiest way to match those tastes is by taking away or adding rules to the game.
However, all of the games out there, including old-school D&D, have assumptions built into them. DCC RPG assumes that your gaming group would rather have a crazy romp than a serious hexcrawl. LotFP assumes the opposite. ACKS assumes you'll make it to the later levels to use its subsytems. Even OD&D had the assumption that characters should be differentiated by classes/abilities. These assumptions are what create followings behind certain games. But what if there were a game that focused on having as few assumptions as possible?
In comes Knave. It doesn't try to emulate or reinvent the wheel. Instead, it seeks to be the axle that turns the wheel. The easiest way to explain Knave is to say that it just "is". It's like if you took the math problem 1+3=4, but got rid of everythning except the 1. Knave is the integer of role playing games. The lowest common denominator. You can't really say it's objectively bad, because it possesses no inherent meaning; that's something you and your group will flesh out as you play.
To wrap things up, I'll say that fantasy adventure games are meant to inspire wonder in players because of all the choices and freedom. Knave still does this. But it inspires Referees too because there's so much freedom to hack and add to the system.
Knave need not be your system of choice, but if you're interested in crafting your own game from the ground up, save yourself some time and use Knave as your foundation.
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Knave |
by Jon S. [Verified Purchaser]
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Date Added: 09/01/2018 12:37:32 |
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When I saw author Ben Milton's g+ posting about his game I was intrigued and so spent a small fraction of my treasure hoard on this gem. And that is what it is! Having only just downloaded and read the game I’ve not played it yet, but reading it through I can see it is stuffed with smart and simple ideas. Some parts of the game borrow concepts from other ultra rules light games (Black Hack: simplicity and boiling things down to common sense solutions, Maze Rats: great random tables) and some features from bigger games (Torchbearer: value of resource management, Tunnels and Trolls: degradation of armour) and some are unique. But it reads as if it hangs together really well and could easily be used to build your own version of the game. Knave has been designed to be used straight with OSR resources and it looks like almost all monsters and magic items could be used with very little hacking or conversion needed. Excellent stuff Ben. I hope and expect this will build quite a dedicated little following!
Buy it folks!
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Knave |
by Alex W. [Verified Purchaser]
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Date Added: 08/31/2018 13:45:58 |
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Concise rules, yet contain great design notes about why certain choices were made, and variants for you to consider. Great tables that I will likely find myself using in other games as well. Knave is definitely on the top of my pile for go-to systems.
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KNAVE is a skeleton ruleset that combines flexibility with a clean numerological system. It avoids the pitfalls of number scaling so commonly found in most tabletop rpg games and motivates players to find creative solutions to various situations without recurring to their "skills". It is quick, easy to understand and prêt-à-porter. Characters can be done in a matter of minutes, which is perfect for one shots and short sessions, so you can gather a large group for a session and be ready to play in short amount of time.
This is a game for those who look for a healthy dose of simplicity in a D20 system and have no problems creating house ruling for any vaccuum found in effects or descriptions.
This is also a game for those who want to develop an RPG game with the familiar D20 system, but need a solid structure from where to work on.
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Maze Rats + Trilemma Adventures = night of great adventuring.
Maze Rats is one of a spate of great, quick rules engines that are now redily available and wonderful. It is squarely aimed at Person with some experience with RPGs who wants to run a low-overhead pickup game and/or run a game for folks without much expereience.
Great job!
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The ultimate pickup game: you can get going in the space of minutes with no prep. Perfect for new or younger players.
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Maze Rats most resembles a lightweight version of Dungeon World in terms of its fundamental dice mechanics, but with brilliant twists of its own. The randomized magic system is perhaps my favorite element; rolling up the spell "Illuminating Tar" and having to figure out what its effects might be got my creative juices going in a way that few RPGs manage.
I'm sharing the system with a group of my high-school and middle-school students who have never experienced tabletop RPGs, and I think it's nearly perfect as an introduction to the hobby. Truly excellent.
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This system is great! I run a campaign for some high schoolers and Maze Rats lets them pick things up quickly without having to squabble over the details. If they've played any rpg, tabletop or otherwise, they can jump right into the game.
The way the system is built lets their creativity come through, since there aren't many mechanics in the way of interesting solutions. The magic system might be my favorite part. The players and I will barter on the effects of a spell, and it really engages them.
The ease of use also makes it easy to port adventures from other systems. I've been running one-offs in Yoon-Suin (with a different group) and the two systems mesh well together.
Just get to the table, roll characters, and have an adventure. Highly recommended.
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A nice, tight little system that marries elements of new school mechanics into an old school package. Perfect for introducing new players to thehobby
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I really enjoy running and playing Maze Rats. It is fast to get going, easy to explain, light enough to explain on the go but robust enough for a variety of situations that might come up.
It is my go to for one-shots, but I also like it for campaigns.
Seperately, I love the random tables. These alone are definitely worth paying for, and bring value to any game that you are playing. I use Maze Rats when I am prepping 5e, Dungeon World, and just about every other game I run.
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