Rascal (Knave Hack)

I’ve been reading and watching and reading Goblin Slayer (watch it on Crunchyroll, NSFW) and Vinland Saga (watch it on Amazon Prime, rated mature for violence and language), both very OSR types of anime/manga. Consuming these has put me in a very inspired, creative mindset. So, I refurbished my hack of Knave and gave it a name. “Rascal” is a synonym for “Knave” and still keeps that “down in the dirt” medieval fantasy that I’m going for.

Here are the rules

I use the Knave character sheet (which doesn’t even say “Knave” on it. Score!).

Changes from OG Knave:

• Item slots = Strength defense
• HP = Constitution defense, this way early levels are tankier and HP doesn’t fluctuate much. Lethality is maintained.
• Dexterity is closer to what we think of as Agility, speed and reflexes. Intelligence is more about precision. This makes Intelligence more useful, less about knowledge, and more about skills.
• Added item slot initiative, side-based but bonus to go first is based on how many item slots you have that are empty.
• No armor = armor defense of 10 and bonus of +0, all armor reduced by 1. This way, armor bonus = slots it takes and, more importantly, people hit each other more often.
• Balanced starting Armor against starting Spells, better Armor, fewer Spells and vice versa
• Same as above, but for also weapons and protections (ie helmet and shield)
• RANDOM NAMES ADDED, going for that Rascal-ly feel
• d100 Spells, tweaked with some classic spells
• Spellbooks take one hand instead of two
• Six total pages, grouped in twos (rules, chargen/equipment, spells), making it easy to print

I’ve been meaning to read more Adventurer Conqueror King as well to really get that “Mount and Blade” feel. Opening the game up to more political, Strongholds and Followers, Birthright game has always been a big dream of mine.

I may also end up using this for Adventures in Middle-Earth (originally a 5e game), sans spells obviously.