Exploring Knave Second Edition
A design delve into Ben Milton's newest beast for the OSR.
You're entering a Design Delve, A semi-regular Explorers Design book critique. You can find previous delves when you subscribe for free or become a member.
Starting the Delve
Most adventures start with a rumor, but this design exploration needs no introduction. Knave 2E is the project of Mr. OSR himself, The Questing Beast, Editor of the Glatisant, YouTuber, writer, designer, and prodigious reviewer—Ben Milton.
This is one of the rare instances where the designer's tastes, preferences, and personal bugbears are publicly known. On the Questing Beast, "good" roleplaying games are marked by their functionality, value, and adherence to OSR principles espoused in the Principa Apocrypha. However, this grading rubric also has a few unwieldy kobolds, like a general suspicion of whitespace, an obsession with random roll tables, and a few information design maxims that can't be backed by academic rigor outside of what is conventionally understood by the play culture.
Still, knowing what we do, we can confidently compare this book with the author's intent. If someone else had made this book and mailed it to Ben Milton, it would have gotten a glowing review on The Questing Beast. His tastes are consistent, and his design decisions are cogent. This is good. The only mark against this book, by Questing Beast standards, is that its construction lacks one hyper-functional form factor Milton often gushes about in other reviews. It doesn't lay flat.
Besides that, if you love Ben Milton's work, you'll probably love this book. It doesn't levy any surprises save for a few, which we'll cover here.
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Until then, never stop exploring!