Knave: Second Edition, authored by Ben Milton and published by Questing Beast Games (yes, that Questing Beast) featuring artwork by Peter Mullen and Kyle Latino was released in 2023. If you’re an OSR fan, you’ll find a lot to love here. It’s built with simplicity in mind, staying compatible with the countless modules, monsters, and magic items developed over the past five decades.

This means you can grab just about any classic adventure—whether it’s Keep on the Borderlands or something you pulled from a zine—and run it without much conversion.

Knave: Second Edition doesn’t ask you to relearn the game. It gives you a streamlined system that lets the world and the players drive the action rather than getting bogged down in rules. The mechanics are minimal, designed to get out of the way so the focus stays on player decisions, problem-solving, and emergent storytelling.

In fact, one of the best things about Knave: 2nd Edition is that it doesn’t pretend the rules are sacred. Right from the start, it encourages GMs to tweak, hack, and customize the system to fit their own tables. If something doesn’t work for you, change it. If your players come up with something unexpected, roll with it. The game doesn’t provide rigid guidelines for every possible situation; instead, it trusts you as the GM to make rulings that make sense for your world.

But don’t take my word for it; if you want to dig deeper into Ben’s intent with Knave: 2nd Edition, there’s a commentary section at the back of the book where he talks you through his thought process on this.

Tables: A GM’s Best Friend

I’ve played this game three times to-date, all three were one-shots. I ran it twice and I had the chance to be a player once. And before you ask, “Bill, why are you recommending a game that you’ve only played three times?” Let me explain… I’m already playing in three campaigns right now, a D&D 3.5 game, (Hey Dave 👋) an OSE game, (What’s good Peter 👋) and I’ve been running my own Shadowdark campaign which has been going for well over a year. Add to that this blog, my YouTube channel, and ya know… My day job and it doesn’t leave a ton of time to start a campaign in a new system, no matter how good that system is!

Despite this, believe me when I tell you that this book is at my table, at my side, or in my hand every time I run a game. Regardless of the system, regardless of the rules, regardless of the group, this book is always with me.

Why?

Although it’s a great game, and one worth playing in its own right, the real value in this book lies in the ideas, the game philosophy, the mechanics, and sheer number of random tables found within its pages.

Almost every aspect of the game world, any game world—monsters, locations, encounters, names, dungeon features—has been broken down into d100 lists that let you generate content on the fly.

This makes session prep a breeze, but it also keeps your game unpredictable in the best way possible. Players always have a habit of going off in directions you never expected, and these tables help you keep up without missing a beat.

You can roll randomly or just pick results that fit the situation, and some tables even reference others, creating deeper layers of complexity. For example, when designing a new monster, you might roll twice on the animal table and get “donkey” and “porcupine.”

That’s already an interesting image, but you can take it further by rolling on the monster traits table to give it a venomous bite or add a weakness table result to make it vulnerable to fire. Used well, these tables don’t just create content—they spark inspiration.

The beauty of Knave: Second Edition, the beauty of these ideas, these mechanics, and these tables is in their flexibility. You can use them to prep entire adventures or just improvise when your players inevitably do something unexpected.

If you’re the kind of GM who loves running a game with minimal prep, these tables are a godsend. Grab your percentile dice, roll a few times, and suddenly you have a living, breathing world filled with strange creatures, dangerous ruins, and powder-keg situations ready to explode.

How to Play and Run Knave: Second Edition

Knave: Second Edition is an old-school RPG where the world doesn’t revolve around the players, and the game doesn’t hold their hands. It’s not about balanced encounters, linear plots, or pre-written stories. It’s about exploration, problem-solving, and making choices that have real consequences.

The GM sets the stage, but the players drive the action. Whether you’re running or playing Knave 2e, the key is embracing the open-ended nature of the game and letting events unfold organically. Ben explains this perfectly at the beginning of the book by outlining both GM and Player duties.

For GMs: Build the World, Then Step Back

Your job as the GM isn’t to tell a story—it’s to create a world that feels real, alive, and reactive. Fill it with interesting locations, factions, and mysteries. Make dungeons more than just monster zoos; give them traps, secrets, and history.

Populate towns with NPCs who have their own goals, loyalties, and grudges. Don’t plan out a storyline. Instead, set up situations with multiple moving parts and see how the players interact with them.

Keep the game moving. If players start overanalyzing, ask what they’re doing and move things along. Use common sense when adjudicating actions, and don’t call for rolls unless success or failure would be interesting. Be fair, be consistent, and roll in the open whenever possible.

Players should feel like they’re up against the world, not the GM. And always give them enough information to make informed choices—if they die, it should be because they took a risk, not because they lacked crucial details.

For Players: Take Control of Your Adventure

In Knave 2e, no one is going to tell you what to do. There’s no main quest, no safety net, no guarantee of survival. You need to take initiative. Want to explore a dungeon? Find out where one is. Want to steal from a noble? Plan a heist. The best Knave players create their own goals rather than waiting for the GM to hand them one.

Information is your best weapon. Ask questions, investigate your surroundings, and never assume something is safe just because it’s in the room. Every object, NPC, and environmental detail is a potential tool. If you’re relying on dice rolls to get out of trouble, you’re playing wrong.

Make plans so solid that rolling is a formality. Think laterally—use distractions, trick enemies, and set traps instead of charging in headfirst.

Combat in Knave: Second Edition is brutal and often unfair. If you have to fight, stack the odds in your favor. Strike from the shadows, poison food, collapse tunnels—whatever it takes to avoid a fair fight. And if a fight looks like a bad idea, run. Survival is more important than heroics.

Embrace the Danger

Death is part of Knave: Second Edition. Your character will probably die, and that’s fine. This game is about the world, not about any single hero. When a character falls, roll up a new one and jump back in.

Maybe your new PC has a grudge against the thing that killed the last one. Maybe they were an old rival, a sibling, or just some fool who picked up the dead guy’s sword. Every death adds to the history of the world, and every new character keeps the story going.

The best games of Knave 2e are the ones where players think creatively, take risks, and own their decisions, and where the GM lets the world react naturally to their actions. There’s no right way to play, but if you embrace the freedom and danger of the OSR style, you’ll end up with stories you’ll be telling for years.

Ability Scores in Knave: Second Edition

Knave 2e uses six ability scores, just like classic D&D, but they work a little differently. Instead of rolling 3d6 and getting random stats, you start with 0s across the board and get 3 points to distribute however you want.

Want to be a brute? Dump it all into Strength. Prefer to be quick and sneaky? Dexterity is your friend. This gives players a bit more control over their starting character while keeping things simple.

Each ability score ranges from 0 to 10 and gets added directly to a d20 roll when making checks. Think of them as your modifiers rather than your stats, so if you add all three to Strength, you now have a +3 in that ability etc. Here’s what each ability does:

• Strength (STR) – The Fighter’s ability. Used for melee attacks and physical feats like climbing, lifting, or breaking things.
• Dexterity (DEX) – The Thief’s ability. Used for sneaking, dodging, picking pockets, and any action that requires agility or finesse.
• Constitution (CON) – The Adventurer’s ability. This is crucial for survival. It determines how well you resist poison, disease, and harsh environments. More importantly, your item slots and wounds are based on CON—you get 10 + CON for both. That means high CON characters can carry more gear and take more damage before dying.
• Intelligence (INT) – The Magic-User’s ability. Helps with things that require cunning or knowledge, like lockpicking, alchemy, and (of course) spellcasting. Your INT score also determines how many spells per day you can cast.
• Wisdom (WIS) – The Ranger’s ability. Used for ranged attacks, perception, survival skills, and resisting magic. If you’re the type who wants to spot hidden dangers before they kill you, WIS is a good investment.
• Charisma (CHA) – The Cleric’s ability. Determines how well you handle social situations, take the lead in combat, and influence NPCs. It also determines how many hirelings and patron blessings you can have.

Knave 2e cuts out the ambiguity of traditional ability scores and focuses on what really matters. There are no dump stats—everything has a use. The ability to freely assign your three starting points also means you aren’t locked into a rigid class structure. Want to play a tough, silver-tongued fighter? Pump CON and CHA. Prefer a sneaky spellcaster? DEX and INT make a great combo.

This approach is fast, intuitive, and leaves plenty of room for creative problem-solving.

Creating a Knave: Second Edition Character

Character creation in Knave 2nd Edition is exactly what it should be—fast, flexible, and straight to the point. There’s no agonizing over class choices, no min-maxing a character build, and no front-loaded mechanics to slow things down. You roll a few dice, make a handful of quick choices, and boom—you’ve got an adventurer ready to hit the dungeon.

Knave 2nd Edition is a classless system. Instead of being locked into a rigid archetype, you just assign a few points to ability scores and roll with it. If you want to be a tough fighter, dump points into Strength and Constitution. If you want to sling spells, put them in Intelligence.

The career system is a stroke of genius. Instead of skills or proficiencies, you get two careers that define your background and knowledge. A Sailor & Alchemist is going to approach problems differently than a Knight & Thief, even if their ability scores are the same. There are no hard mechanics tied to careers, but they provide just enough implied knowledge and roleplaying hooks to make your character feel unique.

Gear is handled just as efficiently. You roll for starting money, and get a few essentials (rope, torches, rations), and pick whatever armor and weapons you can carry. If you’ve got points in Intelligence, you might even start with a random spellbook.

Armor is another elegant part of the system. Instead of tracking damage reduction or different types of armor bonuses, it’s as simple as counting pieces. Each piece of armor gives you Armor Points (AP), and your AC is 11 + AP. That’s it. No need to worry about layered armor penalties, weight, or other fiddly mechanics—just put on more armor, get harder to hit.

Once the mechanical stuff is done, Knave 2e encourages players to add a bit of personality without overcomplicating things. You don’t need a full backstory—just a name, a quirk, maybe a superstition or a strange physical trait. Small details like a fear of open water, an old war injury, or a belief that owls are bad luck can do more to make a character memorable than a five-page backstory.

The beauty of Knave 2e’s character creation is how quickly you can get to actually playing the game. You’re not building a hero—you’re creating a desperate treasure hunter, an opportunist, or a reckless fool looking to get rich or die trying. Whether you survive is up to your ingenuity, luck, and ability to navigate a hostile world. It’s the perfect OSR approach—fast, flexible, and entirely in the players’ hands.

Item Slots & Wounds: Inventory is Your Lifeline

Knave: Second Edition streamlines inventory management, makeing every piece of gear a strategic choice (similar to Shadowdark), but it also turns injuries into a spiraling death mechanic rather than a binary “you’re up or you’re down” system. This is exactly what OSR combat should feel like—fast, brutal, and forcing players to think ahead.

Knave 2e gives every character 10 + CON item slots. Each item takes up a slot, from weapons to torches to potions, and if you try to carry too much, you’ll run out of space for more important things—like food, rope, or that sack of gold you’re hauling out of a dungeon.

Like Shadowdark, this keeps inventory a real decision-making process. Do you really need to carry extra weapons, or would it be better to have more tools? Can you afford to pick up that extra pile of treasure, knowing you might need the space to absorb wounds later?

Because wounds, wounds are where things get nasty. You start with a small pool of HP, and once that’s gone, every extra point of damage eats into your inventory slots as wounds. Get stabbed for 3 damage after hitting 0 HP? That’s three of your item slots gone, and anything that was in those slots gets dropped on the spot! This creates an incredible downward spiral where the longer a fight drags on, the worse things get—not just because you’re closer to death, but because you’re literally losing the tools that could save you. I love this!

Then there’s direct damage, which bypasses HP entirely and hits straight to wounds. This means things like falling, getting ambushed, or being caught in an explosion are especially deadly, and it makes environmental hazards and clever ambush tactics just as important as a strong sword arm.

For monsters, direct damage is even worse—they take triple damage from it, making it an incredible equalizer. If you can’t beat something in a straight fight, drop a rock on it or lure it into a trap.

Healing in Knave 2nd Edition reinforces survival over instant recovery. If you get a full night’s rest and eat a proper meal, you get your HP back, but wounds stick around unless you make it back to a safe haven.

What makes this system work so well is that it keeps combat deadly without slowing things down. There’s no fiddling with negative HP, no long stabilization rules—you either manage your wounds and survive, or you don’t. It also reinforces tactical, smart play. If you jump into fights without a plan, you’re going to burn through your inventory and end up dead. But if you use the terrain, ambushes, and every tool at your disposal, you can tilt the odds in your favor and make it out alive—with a bag full of treasure to show for it.

Leveling Up in Knave: Second Edition – Treasure is the Path to Power

The way Knave: Second Edition handles leveling is simple, meaningful, and ties directly to risk and reward. There’s no XP for fighting monsters, no arbitrary quest rewards, and no “good roleplaying” bonuses. If you want to get stronger, you have to go into dangerous places, recover treasure, and make it back to civilization alive. That right there is classic old-school design.

This system forces players to think like treasure hunters, not murderhobos. Combat in Knave 2e is fast and deadly, and fighting everything you see is a great way to get yourself killed.

But if you’re clever—if you sneak past enemies, trick them, bribe them, or trap them instead of facing them head-on—you still get XP as long as you bring back treasure. It shifts the focus from “how do we kill this thing?” to “how do we get the loot and get out alive?”

Leveling itself is quick and streamlined. Instead of juggling class abilities, feats, or skill trees, you increase three ability scores of your choice and re-roll your HP using one extra d6. This keeps power progression organic—your character gets better at the things you want them to, but there are no sudden, game-breaking jumps in power.

One of the best parts? XP doesn’t reset after leveling up. You just keep accumulating it toward the next level. This keeps the game flowing smoothly instead of giving players that “reset to zero” feeling that Shadowdark has.

What makes Knave 2e’s XP system so good is that every dungeon dive feels like a calculated risk. The deeper you go, the more treasure you can find—but the greater the danger. You can’t just grind your way to power. You have to make smart choices, weigh the risks, and decide when to cut your losses and head home. If you play too safe, you’ll fall behind. If you push too hard, you’ll die. That balance—risk vs. reward, survival vs. greed—is what makes OSR gameplay so thrilling, and Knave 2e nails it.

Checks in Knave: Second Edition – Keeping It Simple, Keeping It Smart

Knave 2e’s approach to checks is fast, intuitive, and focused on player decisions over dice rolls. Instead of relying on mechanics to determine success, the game puts the responsibility squarely on the players. If something can be solved with logic, creativity, or the right tools, there’s no need to roll. But if the outcome is uncertain or risky, that’s when the dice come out.

This is how old-school play is meant to work. Rolling dice is a last resort, not the first step. If players take the time to ask the right questions, examine their surroundings, and think through their actions, they should be rewarded with success without needing a roll at all.

When checks do happen, they’re clean and efficient—d20 plus an ability score, beat the target number, move on. No bloated modifiers, no stacking bonuses, just a simple resolution system that keeps the game moving.

One of the smartest mechanics here is player-facing rolls. Instead of the GM rolling for enemies, everything can be flipped so that players roll all the dice. If a goblin attacks, the player rolls their defense. If a trap is sprung, the player rolls to avoid it. This keeps the action focused on the players and eliminates the need for behind-the-screen number crunching. It also reinforces the impartiality of the game—there’s no fudging rolls if the players are the ones making them.

Instead of rolling two d20s for advantage or disadvantage, Knave 2e adds +5 or -5 modifiers for each meaningful advantage or disadvantage. Honestly, I prefer the simplicity of rolling two dice and taking the higher, or lower, but I can see how this mechanic is appealing to players. A clever player can stack multiple advantages, getting +5 for each one.

Social interactions are handled exactly how they should be—roleplay first, roll second. Players can’t just roll high on a persuasion check and change an NPC’s mind. Their approach, leverage, and relationships matter. Bribes, threats, faction ties, and reputation all come into play before any dice are rolled.

When a check does happen, it’s not just about a single high number—it’s about how well the player has set themselves up for success, thanks to that stacking +5 advantage modifier.

The way Knave: Second Edition treats knowledge and searching is another highlight. There’s no “I roll History” to instantly recall lore—if a player’s background gives them knowledge, they just know it. If they want to learn more, they need to seek it out in-game by talking to NPCs, reading ancient tomes, or experimenting.

Searching works the same way—there’s no “I roll Perception” to magically find hidden objects. If players want to discover something, they have to describe how they’re searching, where they’re looking, and what they’re interacting with.

This system embodies everything that makes old-school play great. It rewards problem-solving over dice rolling. It keeps mechanics simple and decisive. It makes success the result of smart choices, not lucky rolls. Instead of treating ability checks as a routine mechanic, Knave 2e uses them only when necessary, keeping the game fast, immersive, and driven by player decisions.

This is how OSR checks should work—quick, impactful, and always secondary to actual play.

Traveling in Knave: Second Edition

Travel in Knave: Second Edition is challenging, unpredictable, and filled with meaningful choices. This isn’t a game where you abstract the journey into a quick dice roll before jumping to the next dungeon. Travel itself is the adventure, and every decision along the way can make or break an expedition.

The watch system is what makes it shine. By breaking the day into six structured time slots, players have to actually prioritize their actions. Do they press forward to another hex, knowing they might risk exhaustion? Do they stop to forage for food, even though it costs them valuable daylight? Do they take time to explore an area, hoping to uncover something valuable, or do they move quickly to avoid encounters? Every action costs time, and the longer you’re on the road, the more the wilderness starts pushing back.

Navigation isn’t just a binary success or failure check—it’s an ongoing challenge. I love that the GM rolls navigation in secret, because it adds genuine tension. Players won’t immediately know if they’re lost, which forces them to pay attention to landmarks, track their path, and actually think about where they’re going instead of relying on a single skill check. This is pure OSR design—problem-solving and risk management over dice rolling.

Exploration feels just as engaging as dungeon crawling, because it’s active, not passive. Players don’t just roll to find secrets—they search, investigate, and interact with the world. If they want to uncover something hidden, they have to spend time looking for it, but that time is a limited resource. This system ensures that exploration always comes with trade-offs, and that makes every discovery feel earned.

Foraging is another great mechanic because food actually matters. It’s not just an assumed resource—you run out, you’re in trouble. The WIS check for foraging makes sense, but failure costs you time, which makes every attempt feel like a real decision instead of just a background mechanic. There’s real tension in managing supplies, knowing that starvation could become a real threat if you don’t plan properly.

What makes this system so great is that it turns movement into an adventure instead of a transition. The road is dangerous, unpredictable, and filled with decisions that can make or break an expedition. You can’t just assume you’ll have enough food, a clear path, or good weather—you have to plan ahead.

Getting lost is a real threat, and rushing forward without thinking can get you killed. But if you take your time, explore carefully, and respect the wilderness, it will reward you. This is exactly what OSR travel should feel like—a test of preparation, survival, and smart decision-making.

Dungeon Delving in Knave: Second Edition

Dungeon delving in Knave Second Edition is tense, methodical, and constantly pushing players to make hard choices. This isn’t a game where you just march from room to room, rolling perception checks and killing everything in sight. The mechanics force players to think, to manage resources, and to respect the dungeon as a living, deadly environment.

The Dungeon Hazard Die means that every single turn, something could go wrong—monsters move, torches burn out, dungeon elements shift. You can’t just sit in a room debating your next move without risking the dungeon pushing back. Time isn’t just a vague concept—it’s a resource, and the longer you linger, the worse things get. This creates urgency without a countdown timer or a ticking clock.

Movement is another brilliant piece of the system. Crawling, walking, and running each come with real trade-offs. Crawling is safe but slow, walking risks surprises and traps, and running is pure desperation—a last-ditch move when everything is going wrong. This turns navigation into a real decision, not just a matter of moving from one mapped room to another.

Then there’s light, and Knave 2e rivals Shadowdark in how well it handles this. Most modern games take light for granted, but here, it’s as important as weapons or food. If your light runs out, you are dead—you can’t see, you can’t map, and you’ll walk straight into traps and enemies. Torches burn out randomly, thanks to the Dungeon Hazard Die, so even if you’re prepared, you’re never completely safe. This forces smart logistics—players need to carry backups, spread light sources among the party, and always have an escape plan.

Everything in Knave 2e’s dungeon delving mechanics reinforces the core OSR philosophy—the world is dangerous, resources matter, and players succeed through planning and smart decisions, not dice luck. The dungeon isn’t just a backdrop for combat—it’s a living, hostile force, and if you don’t respect it, it will kill you.

Combat in Knave: Second Edition – Quick, Lethal, and Unfair

Combat in Knave is fast, brutal, and never a sure thing. It doesn’t waste time on fiddly mechanics or overcomplicated initiative systems. When a fight breaks out, it gets resolved quickly, and the players will feel every moment of it.

Knave 2e’s initiative mechanic requires a CHA vs. CHA check between leaders each round, and whoever wins goes first. That means a battle can feel wildly different depending on who wins initiative, and it also makes leaders and battlefield presence matter more than just dexterity rolls. When a side gets their turn, everyone acts at once, letting players plan their moves together rather than waiting for their turn in a long initiative order. That alone keeps things fast and tactical.

Attacks are simple—roll a d20, add STR for melee or WIS for ranged, and beat the target’s AC. No to-hit bonuses, no attack matrices, just straightforward resolution. But what makes Knave 2nd Edition shine is that combat isn’t just about dealing damage—it’s about maneuvering, surprising enemies, and fighting smart. Maneuvers are one of the best parts of the system because they let players do things other than just whittling down hit points.

Tripping, disarming, shoving enemies off ledges—these all make combat feel dynamic and tactical, especially when facing stronger foes. Instead of just swinging harder at a regenerating troll, why not set it on fire or pin it under a collapsed pillar?

Combat also punishes carelessness. Weapons can break on a natural 1, and power attacks might double damage but shatter the weapon in the process. Positioning matters, too—ranged attacks suffer if the target is in melee, elevation and cover provide clear advantages, and fighting in darkness is a death sentence. This system rewards thinking ahead rather than just running in and swinging a sword.

Then there’s morale, which is still one of my favorite parts of old school combat. Most enemies wouldn’t fight to the last hit point, and Knave 2e reinforces that. Once a fight starts turning against them—when they lose half their numbers, suffer their first casualty, or see their leader go down—they might break and run. And they can rally if a strong leader is present, meaning that battles can shift dramatically based on leadership and the tides of war. It makes combat unpredictable in the best way—players don’t know if enemies will stay and fight or if they’ll suddenly bolt for the exit.

What Knave 2nd Edition gets right is that combat is not the main event—it’s just one of many tools available to players. You don’t fight every monster you meet, because every fight is dangerous. If you get into a battle, you better have a plan, stack the odds in your favor, and be ready to run if things go south. It’s not just about winning—it’s about knowing when to fight, how to fight, and when to cut your losses and escape.

This system is lethal, fast, and player-driven, exactly the way old-school combat should be.

Spellcasting in Knave: Second Edition – Magic is Rare, Dangerous, and Unpredictable

Magic in Knave: Second Edition feels dangerous, mysterious, and earned, which is exactly how it should be in an OSR game. There are no spell lists handed out at level-up, no academies full of wizards learning fireball like it’s just another school subject. If you want magic, you have to find it, steal it, or take it from the dead. That alone sets Knave apart from most fantasy RPGs where spellcasting is just another progression system. Here, magic is a resource, not a guarantee—something powerful, but always limited, and often unpredictable.

Instead of filling your head with memorized spells, each spell is tied to a physical spellbook that takes up an item slot. Want more magic? You’ll need to carry more books, which means sacrificing space for food, weapons, or treasure. And since spellbooks can’t be copied, every single one is a unique and valuable find. This instantly changes the way players think about magic. Instead of just assuming they’ll get stronger spells as they level up, they need to venture into the unknown, search forbidden places, and take magic wherever they can find it.

Casting is just as simple and elegant as the rest of the system. Each spellbook can only be used once per day, and you can cast a number of spells per day equal to your INT score. That means spellcasters can’t just fire off spells left and right—they have to think carefully about when to use their magic and when to hold back.

And then there’s Chaos Spellbooks, which add another layer of unpredictability. These books don’t hold onto their spells permanently—every dawn, they change into a new spell, meaning the caster never knows exactly what they’ll have each day.

This is the kind of wild, dangerous magic that makes role playing games exciting. It also means that even the most experienced magic-user is never completely in control—they might wake up with an incredible spell or something utterly useless. It’s a fantastic way to reinforce the idea that magic is an unstable, shifting force that isn’t always on your side.

And if all of that wasn’t good enough, Knave 2e lets GMs generate brand-new spells on the fly. Using random tables, you can create new magic with strange names, bizarre effects, and unpredictable consequences. This means magic in Knave 2e never feels stale or generic—each campaign can have its own unique spells, forgotten sorceries, and magical oddities.

The example spell, Asterwin’s Iridescent Tears Circle, shows just how much flavor and creativity this system allows. It makes magic feel like a living part of the world rather than just a list of abilities in a rulebook.

What makes Knave 2e’s spell system so great is that it completely changes how players approach magic.

Spells aren’t just resources to be refreshed after a long rest—they’re treasures to be hunted, risks to be managed, and tools to be used wisely. Every spellbook is a potential game-changer, but only if you know how to wield it, when to cast it, and when to hold onto it for the right moment.

This is exactly what OSR magic should feel like—rare, volatile, and just a little beyond human understanding.

Monsters in Knave: Second Edition – Quick, Deadly, and Unpredictable

Knave Second Edition handles monsters the same way it handles everything else—fast, simple, and brutally effective. There’s no need for massive stat blocks or complex abilities. If you need a monster, you can make one in seconds, pull something from another game, or even just use existing stats as a template and tweak as needed. The system keeps the focus on the fiction, rather than getting bogged down in mechanics.

Everything about Knave 2e’s monster design is built for speed and improvisation. A monster has just a handful of essential stats—Armor Class, Hit Points, Level (which doubles as its default bonus for checks), and Morale. That’s it. If it should be tough, give it a high level. If it should be cowardly, give it a low morale. Need a quick HP value? Just multiply its level by 4 or roll that many d8s. No need for endless adjustments—just assign numbers and keep the game moving.

Combat is fast and brutal. Monsters don’t have complex turn sequences—they attack, move, or do something terrifying. Instead of just swinging at the players every round, big monsters should be grappling, throwing, and smashing, while intelligent monsters should be feinting, flanking, or using the environment to their advantage.

The system also makes it clear that most monsters won’t fight to the death—they’ll break and run when things start going south. That keeps fights from feeling like grinds and makes every encounter feel dynamic.

This is exactly what OSR monster design should be—easy to improvise, fast in play, and rewarding for creative players. Monsters in Knave 2nd Edition aren’t just bags of HP to whittle down—they’re real threats that players have to think their way around.

If you charge in blindly, you’re probably going to die. But if you use the terrain, outmaneuver enemies, or break their morale, you stand a chance of walking away alive. And that’s what makes Knave 2e’s monsters feel dangerous, unpredictable, and fun.

Knave: Second Edition – A Designer’s Perspective

The designer’s commentary at the back of the book is one of my favorite sections, and something I wish more game designers would include. It really gives insight into why the game works so well.

It reveals Ben’s thought process, his inspirations, and his gaming style. You can tell that every rule, every mechanic, and every design choice was made with a clear purpose—to create a streamlined, flexible system that gets out of the way and lets you actually play.

This isn’t a game that’s trying to reinvent the wheel or load you down with unnecessary mechanics. It’s taking the best parts of old-school play—fast character creation, dangerous combat, player-driven problem-solving—and stripping away anything that doesn’t serve that experience.

What really stands out is how the commentary reinforces Knave’s DIY mindset. The game isn’t trying to be a complete, unchangeable system—it’s a toolkit. The rules are meant to be hacked, adjusted, and tailored to whatever kind of OSR experience you want. The inclusion of random tables, open-ended mechanics, and guidance on how to improvise shows that this game is designed to empower the GM, not restrict them.

It’s also clear that Knave 2e was built with usability at the table in mind. The control panel layout makes everything easy to reference, the lack of clutter keeps play moving, and the game avoids unnecessary complexity. There’s no wasted space—every mechanic is there because it adds to the experience rather than slowing it down.

Knave 2e embraces the heart of OSR play—creative problem-solving, dangerous and unpredictable worlds, and a system that lets players shape their own stories rather than following a pre-written path. Ben’s commentary really drives home that this game isn’t about telling you how to play—it’s about giving you the tools to create the kind of game you want to run. And that’s exactly what an OSR system should do.

Final Verdict on Knave: Second Edition

Knave 2e strips the game down to its most essential parts, cutting away anything that slows down play while keeping everything that makes old-school adventuring tense, dangerous, and player-driven.

This isn’t a game that holds your hand, balances encounters, or gives you a character arc wrapped in a neat little package. It’s a toolkit for open-ended, high-stakes adventure, where survival isn’t guaranteed, and every success feels earned.

The classless system is a breath of fresh air. Instead of getting locked into a rigid role, you build your character based on your choices, your gear, and how you play the game. The career backgrounds do so much with so little, giving just enough flavor to spark creativity without tying you down with mechanics. Magic is rare, unpredictable, and something you have to seek out—no automatic spell lists, no guaranteed power-ups, just lost knowledge waiting to be recovered by those bold (or foolish) enough to hunt for it.

The mechanics are lean and fast, designed to keep the game moving without sacrificing depth. The item slot system is brilliant, making inventory management a real strategic decision instead of just a bookkeeping exercise. The way damage and wounds spiral into a death mechanic keeps combat brutal and meaningful—if you’re reckless, you will die, and the game doesn’t apologize for that. But if you’re smart, if you use your tools, plan ahead, and think like an actual adventurer, you’ll live longer and come out richer.

The morale and reaction mechanics make monsters feel like actual creatures with their own motivations, not just bags of hit points waiting to be slaughtered. Running away is often the best option, and if you pick your battles wisely, you might never have to swing a sword at all. Knave encourages clever play over brute force, and that’s what OSR games are all about.

And the DIY spirit of the whole thing, how every rule feels like it was built with hacking and customization in mind. The random tables, the simple monster creation rules, the open-ended spell system—it’s all there to make the GM’s life easier while giving players the freedom to tackle problems however they want. This isn’t a game about following pre-written adventures—it’s about exploring worlds that feel alive, where the choices you make actually matter.

At the end of the day, Knave 2e gets everything right that an OSR system should. It rewards player skill, not character stats. It makes survival a challenge, not a given. It keeps mechanics lightweight but impactful, so the focus stays on exploration, problem-solving, and high-stakes decision-making. And most importantly, it gives you the freedom to make the game your own.

Whether you’re a veteran GM looking for a clean, flexible system or a new player dipping into old-school play for the first time, Knave 2e is a fantastic place to start! Whether you use the system as your game of choice, or you run something completely different and end up using it as a source of inspiration and advice Knave 2e is a must buy!

But I want to know what you think! Drop a comment below and let me know what you think of Knave: Second Edition. Do you own it? Have you played it? Run it? What did YOU think? Let me know!

If you don’t own it yet, you can pick up a PDF copy of Knave: Second Edition at DriveThruRPG!

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