Playing the Game

Playing the Game

Abilities

Each of the six abilities is used in different circumstances.

• Strength: Used for melee attacks and saves requiring physical power, like lifting gates, bending bars, etc.
• Dexterity: Used for saves requiring poise, speed, and reflexes, like dodging, climbing, sneaking, balancing, etc.
• Constitution: Used for saves to resist poison, sickness, cold, etc. The Constitution bonus is added to healing rolls. A PC’s number of item slots is always equal to their Constitution defense.
• Intelligence: Used for saves requiring concentration and precision, such as wielding magic, resisting magical effects, recalling lore, crafting objects, tinkering with machinery, picking pockets, etc.
• Wisdom: Used for ranged attacks and saves requiring perception and intuition, such as tracking, navigating, searching for secret doors, detecting illusions, etc.
• Charisma: Used for saves to persuade, deceive, interrogate, intimidate, charm, provoke, etc. PCs may employ a number of henchmen equal to their Charisma bonus.

Designer’s Note: In a system that relies so heavily on the six abilities, it’s important for each of them to play an important role, to discourage dump stats. Non-magical characters tend to dump the mental abilities, for example, so I increased their usefulness.

Item Slots

PCs have a number of item slots equal to their Constitution defense. Most items, including spellbooks, potions, a day’s rations, light weapons, tools and so on take up 1 slot, but particularly heavy or bulky items like armor or medium to heavy weapons may take up more slots. Groups of small, identical items may be bundled into the same slot, at the referee’s discretion. 100 coins can fit in a slot. As a general guideline, a slot holds around 5 pounds of weight.

Designer’s Note: Using item slots makes encumbrance simple enough that players will be willing to track it. Slots are also the key to character customization, as a PC’s gear helps determine who they are. Raising Constitution, therefore, will probably be a priority for most characters.

Making Saves

If a character attempts something where the outcome is uncertain and failure has consequences, they make a saving throw, or “save”. To make a save, add the bonus of the relevant ability to a d20 roll. If the total is greater than 15, the character succeeds. If not, they fail.

Designer’s Note: Requiring saves to exceed 15 means that new PCs have around a 25% chance of success, while level 10 characters have around a 75% chance of success, since ability bonuses can get up to +10 by level 10. This reflects the general pattern found in the save mechanics of early D&D.

If the save is opposed by another character, then instead of aiming to exceed 15, the side doing the rolling must get a total greater than the opposing character’s relevant defense score in order to succeed. If they fail, the opposing side succeeds. This type of save is called an opposed save. Note that it doesn’t matter which side does the rolling, since the odds of success remain the same.

Example: A wizard casts a fireball spell at a goblin, who gets a saving throw to avoid. This is resolved as an opposed save using the wizard’s Intelligence versus the goblin’s Dexterity. The goblin may roll plus their Dexterity bonus, hoping to exceed the wizard’s Intelligence defense, or the wizard may roll plus their Intelligence bonus, hoping to exceed the goblin’s Dexterity defense.

Designer’s Note: An ability’s defense score is essentially its average roll. Requiring the rolling side to beat the opposing defense allows contests to be settled more quickly, eliminates the possibility of ties, and allows the game to be run with players doing all of the rolling if they so choose, since the odds of success are the same no matter which side rolls.

If there are situational factors that make a save significantly easier or harder, the referee may grant the roll advantage or disadvantage. If a roll has advantage, roll 2d20 and use the better of the two dice. If it has disadvantage, roll 2d20 and use the worse of the two dice.

Designer’s Note: The referee is of course free to impose positive or negative modifiers rather than use the advantage system, but most players seem to enjoy it and it simplifies the math.

Reactions

When the PCs encounter an NPC whose reaction to the party is not obvious, the referee may roll 2d6 and consult the following table.

Combat

At the start of each combat round, determine initiative by rolling a d6. On a 1-3, all of the enemies will act first. On a 4-6 all of the PCs will act first. Reroll initiative each round.

Designer’s Note: Using simple group initiative speeds up combat, keeps all of the players engaged, and avoids bookkeeping. Rerolling initiative every round makes combat more dangerous, since it’s possible for one side to go twice in a row.

On their turn, a character may move their speed (usually 40ft) and take up to one combat action. This action may be casting a spell, making a second move, making an attack, attempting a stunt, or any other action deemed reasonable by the referee.

Melee weapons can strike adjacent foes, but ranged weapons cannot be used if the shooting character is engaged in melee combat. To make an attack, roll a d20 and add the character’s Strength or Wisdom bonus, depending on whether they are using a melee or ranged weapon, respectively. If the attack total is greater than the defender’s armor defense, the attack hits. If not, the attack misses.

Alternatively, an attack roll can also be resolved by the defender rolling a d20 and adding their armor bonus, hoping to roll a total greater than the defense of the ability the attacker is using. If they succeed, the attack misses. If they fail, the attack hits.

Designer’s Note: In other words, attacks are resolved the same way as opposed saves, just using Armor in place of an ability.

On a hit, the attacker rolls their weapon’s damage die to determine how many Hit Points (HP) the defender loses. A bonus damage die of the weapon’s type may be added to the roll if the ideal weapon was used against an enemy type (for example, using a blunt weapon vs. a skeleton).

When a character reaches 0 HP, they are unconscious. When they reach -1 HP or less, they are dead. Players should roll up a new level 1 PC when their old one dies, and should rejoin the party as soon as possible.

Stunts

Stunts are combat maneuvers such as stunning, shoving, disarming, tripping, sundering armor, and so on. They are resolved with a versus save. They may not cause damage directly, but may do so indirectly (for example, pushing an enemy off of a ledge). The referee is the final arbiter as to what stunts can be attempted in a given situation.

Advantage in Combat

Characters can gain advantage in combat by attacking a target that is unaware, on lower ground, off balance, disarmed, distracted, or tactically disadvantaged in any significant way. The referee, as usual, has the final say.

When a character has advantage against an opponent on their combat turn, they may either A.) Apply advantage to their attack roll or stunt against that opponent or B.) Make an attack and a stunt attempt in the same round against that opponent, without advantage.

Critical Hits and Quality

During an attack roll, if the attacker rolls a natural 20 or the defender rolls a natural 1, the defender’s armor loses 1 point of quality and they take an additional die of damage (of the weapon’s type). If the attacker rolls a natural 1 or the defender rolls a natural 20, the attacker’s weapon loses 1 point of quality. At 0 quality, the item is destroyed. Each point of quality costs 10% of the item’s cost to repair.

Designer’s Note: The slow degradation of their gear is another resource clock ticking down during long dungeon raids alongside hit points, spells, torches, and so on.

Morale

Monsters and NPCs all have a morale rating, usually between 5 and 9. When they face more danger than they were expecting, the referee will make a morale roll by rolling 2d6 and comparing the result to the NPC’s morale rating. If the roll is higher than the rating, the NPC will attempt to flee, retreat, or parley. Morale rolls can be triggered by defeating half of an enemy group, defeating a group’s leader, or reducing a lone enemy to half HP. Other effects may trigger a morale roll at the referee’s discretion.

Hirelings also make morale rolls when they aren’t paid, their employer dies, or they face extraordinary danger. Morale may also be improved by paying hirelings more and treating them well.

Healing

After a meal and a full night’s rest, PCs regain lost hit points equal to a d8 plus their Constitution bonus. Resting at a safe haven restores all lost HP.

Designer’s Note: Constitution bonuses do not affect maximum hit points like in most OSR games, but it is a big help when it comes to healing.

Monsters

All monsters from OSR bestiaries should work as-is in Knave with no major conversion needed. Here are some guidelines.

• Hit Dice/Hit Points: All monster hit dice can be assumed to be d8s unless otherwise specified. To get the monster’s hit points, just multiply the number of hit dice they have by 4 (or 5 if you’re feeling mean).
• Armor: Monster AC (if ascending) is identical to Armor defense. If the AC is descending, subtract it from 19 (if it is from OD&D or B/X D&D) or from 20 (if it is from AD&D) to find its ascending equivalent.
• Attack Bonus: Any attack bonus given is unchanged, and can be added to both melee and ranged attacks. If an attack bonus is not given, assume that it is the same as the monster’s number of hit dice.
• Damage: Damage remains the same.
• Morale: Morale rating remains the same.
• Saves: Since OSR monsters usually don’t come with ability scores, assume that monsters have ability bonuses equal to their level, with the corresponding ability defenses.

Example: A typical 4 HD monster would have a bonus of +4 and a defense of 14 in all of its abilities by default, unless modified by the referee.

Designer’s Note: Due to the unified 1-to-10 scale of Knave, monsters and NPCs essentially add their hit dice or level to any attacks or saves they make. Obviously this should be adjusted by the referee when it doesn’t make sense.

Advancement

Whenever a PC accumulates 1000 XP, they gain a level. As a guideline, PCs receive 50 XP for low-risk accomplishments, 100 XP for moderate-risk accomplishments, and 200 XP for high-risk accomplishments. The referee should freely notify the PCs of how much XP different objectives are worth when asked.

Designer’s Note: This is the way I run advancement because it’s simple and easy to understand. Of course, swapping in milestone advancement, session advancement, or an XP-for-coin system works perfectly well. If using XP-for-gold or silver, note that a gold piece is 100 copper, and a silver piece is 10 copper.

When a PC gains a level, they roll a number of d8s equal to their new level to find their new HP maximum. If the result is less than their previous maximum, their maximum HP increases by 1. They also raise the defense and bonus scores of 3 different abilities of their choice by 1 point. Abilities may never be raised higher than 20/+10.

Designer’s Note: You can also raise abilities randomly if you want. My preferred method is to roll a d20 for each ability, in any order, raising that ability by 1 if the roll is less than that ability’s defense. Keep cycling through the abilities, stopping when three abilities have advanced, and skipping any abilities that have maxed out. In this method, natural talents will tend to advance faster than weaknesses, which makes PCs more varied and specialized.