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[Knave] [OOC] The Return
Endless_Serpents
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey folks, this is the recruitment thread for a play-by-post game of Knave, which is an extremely simplified D&D game. Up front it’s not the best game ever made, I’ve simply decided to use it because it’s only a dozen pages long, so we’ll all know what we’re playing and I’ve got room to do what I do best, making shit up.
Here it is:
I’m hoping it can be a West Marches style game. What’s that you ask? Essentially you can drop in and out of the game after each party defined quest. A bunch of you will hop in here (this is soon to be an out of character thread), decide where you want to go and what you’ll do there (I’ll set up an in character thread for it), and once your quest is complete and you’re back somewhere considered safe, that’s it. You’re done. You can either join another party, continue on with your current party or leave the game, and your character will remain on the periphery should you ever want to play again.
Here’s the pitch for the setting and why you’re doing what you’re doing:
The time has arrived. Your elders have spent the past decades acting as ‘adventurers’ for the locals of this land, putting their lives on the line to gather the resources necessary to fund your initial expedition and later, a full blown resettlement of your homeland, the island.
You are part scout, part hunter, part guard. You’re heading back to the island first and are expected to carve out at least the hex (your people’s measurement of a large area) you arrive at, if not a few hexes around it. Without a doubt you’re going to wind up here:
You can rename the area later, but for now it’s Canoe Hills. Warmer than the land you sailed from, sparse with trees but coated in long grasses, some up to your neck or higher still. It’s always windy and you hear the laughter of unseen birds.
Oral tradition has given you at least some insight into the shape and terrain of your island. Cloudy Water is marshy. Long Autumn is known for its orange leafed trees all year round. These names too are subject to change, as they’re half remembered, and may no long apply once you actually go and see what has become of the island.
Much has been lost, but with your skills and determination your people may once again have a home, and you shall become storied heroes for all time!
So that’s your excuse to do this hex crawl. Every hex is a full day and night’s travel, assuming nothing slows you down. Therefore in practice you’re probably going to make camp somewhere within a given hex and then go again in the morning, so these are pretty big hexes. Every hex has at least one major landmark which, hey, maybe you’ll stumble into along the way. Each landmark is only five rooms big, so if you see a cave or ruin you might as well pop your head in, I think any bigger would be to cumbersome in play-by-post.
I’ve got more to say but this post is big enough. Hope to see some hapless fools in here soon!
Here it is:
I’m hoping it can be a West Marches style game. What’s that you ask? Essentially you can drop in and out of the game after each party defined quest. A bunch of you will hop in here (this is soon to be an out of character thread), decide where you want to go and what you’ll do there (I’ll set up an in character thread for it), and once your quest is complete and you’re back somewhere considered safe, that’s it. You’re done. You can either join another party, continue on with your current party or leave the game, and your character will remain on the periphery should you ever want to play again.
Here’s the pitch for the setting and why you’re doing what you’re doing:
Listen well child, what I tell you now is no legend.
Our people were brought to life on a distant island by four great spirits. Ama, Ete, Oho, Uru; know these names above the names of all others.
There was a balance then, not only peace, no, but neither did we stagnant. It was as it should be.
One hundred years ago warrior-mages descended from the north, and carried with them death and plague.
The greatest of these man-cutters claimed the title of king, and so the people of the island united to stand against him.
Nearing the end of the terrible war that followed, the king turned to an owl-witch for aid, and a pact was made with her.
Three demons were summoned yet that king was the first to die by their talons. The eldest is Wind-Biter, the youngest is Dream-Eater and between is Ghost-Maker. If you ever learn their true names, dare not speak them.
Now we are adrift, migrants held on shores that do not want us. Out there, the island awaits us, so ruled by three beasts, our homes overgrown, our spirits blinded.
But one day… One day I promise you… We will return!
The time has arrived. Your elders have spent the past decades acting as ‘adventurers’ for the locals of this land, putting their lives on the line to gather the resources necessary to fund your initial expedition and later, a full blown resettlement of your homeland, the island.
You are part scout, part hunter, part guard. You’re heading back to the island first and are expected to carve out at least the hex (your people’s measurement of a large area) you arrive at, if not a few hexes around it. Without a doubt you’re going to wind up here:
You can rename the area later, but for now it’s Canoe Hills. Warmer than the land you sailed from, sparse with trees but coated in long grasses, some up to your neck or higher still. It’s always windy and you hear the laughter of unseen birds.
Oral tradition has given you at least some insight into the shape and terrain of your island. Cloudy Water is marshy. Long Autumn is known for its orange leafed trees all year round. These names too are subject to change, as they’re half remembered, and may no long apply once you actually go and see what has become of the island.
Much has been lost, but with your skills and determination your people may once again have a home, and you shall become storied heroes for all time!
So that’s your excuse to do this hex crawl. Every hex is a full day and night’s travel, assuming nothing slows you down. Therefore in practice you’re probably going to make camp somewhere within a given hex and then go again in the morning, so these are pretty big hexes. Every hex has at least one major landmark which, hey, maybe you’ll stumble into along the way. Each landmark is only five rooms big, so if you see a cave or ruin you might as well pop your head in, I think any bigger would be to cumbersome in play-by-post.
I’ve got more to say but this post is big enough. Hope to see some hapless fools in here soon!
Endless_Serpents on
+4
Posts
Now as with all good old school games, here’s my house rules for The Return campaign!
In Knave proper you’ve got to roll 3d6 for each stat and use the lowest score, but that feels needlessly complex just to appear like an optional rule from basic D&D. Instead, roll 6d6 and assign them in order. For example, if you roll a 1 to start, that’s 11 Strength with a +1 bonus to rolls. I’m not fussed if that gives you a chance at better stats, you can still die very fast if the party is hilariously foolish.
Stunts rule, do stunts
I’d rather someone try something cool than attack. I will reward cool ideas equally, if not significantly more, than landing a hit with your sword. A stunt does not by default require a save; dice will only be rolled if it’s verging on some crazy 1080° kick flip of an action. Try things often. Do kick the empty barrel onto the bandit’s head, do show a mirror to a basilisk, do lasso the wyvern. Naturally, if it makes sense or you’re busy that day, just hit mans.
Ideas are better than saves
Building on that: While it’s true you’ll be rolling when the outcome of your action is uncertain, I want to reduce that as much as we can. Instead, before even thinking about rolls, tell me what you want to do (or we can even work back from the outcome you want). You might just be able to do it, or it’s assumed the whole party will get you through it, and if not, perhaps expending equipment, resources, time or hit points is enough. Beyond that, a good or really stupid idea is far more interesting to me than rolling dice. Sure, you could pick the lock on the door, but ten minutes and a crowbar is just as good, so long as you accept that is noisy work… and really, why pick the lock at all when you could throw the little guy up to the open window?
This is not an idiot simulator. You’re all competent. With that in mind, when the dice come out it’ll be because the consequence of failure is dire and the task difficult.
Up front target numbers
I’ll post the number you’ve got to match or exceed for anything you want to go for that you’d have time to think about. You might call that out of character information, but you can use it in character to determine whether you’re up for it, so I think it works best for this style of game.
Default Knave is a purely roll over system, but we’re all more familiar with match or exceed, I bet, so we’ll be doing that.
Environmental Initiative
Deciding who goes first every round can lead to harsh results, and wastes time better spent fighting. So, instead:
- By day, the party go first, then their enemies, every round.
- By night or deepest darkness, their enemies go first, then the party, every round.
- At a prepared, defensive position the defenders go twice in a row during the 1st round.
- If ambushed, the surprised skip the 1st round.
Equipment Feats
Knave doesn’t really do character advancement, it’s all about equipment. But I know you all want cool moves even if you’re into finding unique uses for a bedroll, a mirror and a hooded lantern, so to that end I have scattered many items across the island that will give you what are pretty much exactly later edition feats. You’ll want to follow clues about different locations to get yourself the character build you desire, such as heading to the Eagle Shrine if you’re looking to get a movement related feat, or looking out for places of magic if you’re after a spell…
I’m also gonna do some fun stuff with cooking and item creation, but we’ll cover that when it comes up.
———
The people are your other character
While any given adventurer might die, your kin are slowly following in your wake, reclaiming what was once yours. By signing on, you’re agreeing to make a character who wants this island returned to the people, and for their settlements to grow strong. Helping this come about will give everyone playing access to unique feats, better starting characters and equipment over time.
Casting votes
A small game within this game. Every season there will be a question to be answered or a choice to be made. I’ll ask those playing to answer and the people will move forward based on the highest result. During this it’s not exactly an adventurer doing the talking, though they may agree with a players decision, you’re just voting as the general populace. You can do a bit of roleplay in your vote post if you like.
A winnable game
The island is finite, and barring some random encounters, the creatures and locations on it are finite. The island can be cleared of major foes, and the minor pushed back into the darkest pits. In theory the whole island can be resettled. If such an end point is reached I’ll rack up past votes and choices made and describe an outcome for the island’s future. Will you be victorious?
If you’re on mobile and struggling to see the screenshots, Knave 1E is easy to find online and can be bought just as easily from QuestingBeast on itch.io.
Questions?
—
Heroes
@Albino Bunny as Irina the Shrewd — 1st level — 700 experience
@joshgotro as Malosi — 1st level — 700 experience
@El Skid as Phil — 1st level — 700 experience
@discrider as Jenna Fie — 1st level — 700 experience
Folks
Kap, old fletcher
Henna, even older healer
—
Knowledge of the Island
As various parties journey across the island what they learn will be recorded here for anyone to reference. I imagine at some point I’ll break this post’s word count and I’ll have to link it elsewhere, but here’s good for now.
Landmarks
—
Creatures
Swoopiner
A large flightless sea bird.
? HD - ? AC - ? damage - 10 ft. move (70 ft. in water) - ? morale
Attacks by swinging its head like a mace (70%) or stabbing with its beak (30%) on land. Diving strike from above in water.
+2 reaction if you back off when approached.
Water Wolf
Not a wolf, not a boar, some kind of killer aquatic mammal. Like to sing.
1d6 HD - 14 AC - 1d6 damage - 30 ft. move (60 ft. in water) - 5 morale
Hunt in packs. Bite, latch on and try to drag victims into water.
—
Ingredient Effects
You’ll notice there’s no pre-defined lore to the people, so whatever you cook up I’ll work it into the settlers that trickle in as seasons pass.
Character stuff:
STR:12 DEX:16 CON:15 INT:16 WIS:14 CHA:16
HP: 7/7
Armour Defense: 13
Gear: 8/15 item slots
2 days of rations
Spear: d8 damage, 2 slots, 1 hand, 3 quality
Gambeson: D12, 3Q
Shield: +1 Defense
Grapling hook
A wooden flute, sized for a child.
Descriptors: A lanky woman with a narrow face. Some people call it beak like but Irina insists that's just being type cast by the feathered hair and splotches of feathers that fall like failed, torn wings along her arm. In spite of a body clearly cursed by the spirits the raven haired.... raven flitted from job to job. Often performing acceptably but never feeling like she'd found a calling.
She started to regret trying to find her calling in the homeland on the rainy, miserable boat ride over.
STR:16 DEX:16 CON:16 INT:13 WIS:13 CHA:14
HP: 4/8
Armour Defense: 12
Gear: 7/16 item slots
2 days of rations
(BIG) Cleaver: d8 damage, 2 slots, 1 hand, 3 quality
Gambeson: D12, 3Q
Rope 50ft
Chain 10ft
Drill
Face paint
Physique: Towering
Face: Wolfish
Skin: Sallow
Hair: Luxurious
Clothing: Foreign
Virtue: Courageous
Vice: Cruel
Speech: Squeaky
Background: Butcher
Misfortune: Cursed
In case anyone has forgotten, once the game is underway we’ll roll using the forum’s own friendly dice roller, Geth. All you got to do is type something like:
Geth roll 1d6 for Rolling Dice
Geth roll 1d20+1 for Strength Save
There’s a bunch of more complex formulas, but I tend to forget them myself:
Format
XdY to roll X dice of Y sides.
Prefix N# to roll the dice N separate times.
Operators allowed are +, -, *, and / which follow order of operations. Division rounds down. Use parentheses if needed. Full format is any number of terms combined with the operators, where term is a literal number or a roll. N can be a term itself.
Combinatorics are possible as well. N-choose-K results can be of the form NcK, the value will be the number of combinations to choose K items from a set of N items, and return a random one of these sets in the details. (i.e. 4c2 might result in 6 [4c2=1,3]) Permutations are possible in the form NpK. These terms are useful for generating sequences.
Options
Append the following modifiers as desired, if using multiple then they must be added in the order below. Some combinations may be invalid.
rZ - reroll die if result is Z or lower
roZ - reroll die only once if result is Z or lower
mZ - count result as Z if roll is lower than Z
eZ or oZ - extra / open roll when the die is Z or higher, extra grants one bonus roll only
kZ or lZ - keep the highest / lowest Z rolls, drop others
tZ - target number Z, count rolls that meet or exceed Z as successes (if Z > Y, implicit oY)
hZ - hits Z, count rolls that meet or exceed Z as successes, max roll grants bonus roll (implicit oY) (WoD)
xZ - hits Z, count rolls that meet or exceed Z as successes, max roll grants bonus success (Exalted)
uZ - under Z, count rolls that are equal to or under Z as successes
! - when at the end of any roll, turns on verbose mode (shows all dice rerolled and modified)
Some D&D roll examples:
2d20k1+5 for a roll with Advantage and a +5 modifier
2d20l1+5 for a roll with Disadvantage and a +5 modifier
1d12ro2+3 for a Great Weapon Fighting style damage reroll where you reroll once if the first result is a 1 or 2 (in this example the character has a +3 modifier to their damage roll)
1d20+1d4+5 for a roll with Bless and a +5 modifier
1d20-1d4+5 for a roll with Bane and a +5 modifier
5#1d20+1 for rolling 1d20+1 five times
Geth roll 1d6 for Dex
Geth roll 1d6 for Con
Geth roll 1d6 for Wis
Geth roll 1d6 for Int
Geth roll 1d6 for Cha
Geth roll 1d20 for armour
No armour
Geth roll 1d20 for helmet
Helmet
Geth roll 2d20 for starting gear
Sack, lantern
Geth roll 1d20 for gear 1
Saw
Geth roll 1d20 for gear 2
fake gems
Geth roll 1d20 for Physique
Ripped
Geth roll 1d20 for Virtue
Disciplined
Geth roll 1d20 for Vice
Arrogant
Geth roll 1d20 for Background
Mercenary
.. Except she's Jenny.
Immediately gets hit with a log trap and dies.
Gender: Male
Str: 11 (+1)
Dex: 15(+5)
Con: 16 (+6)
Int: 15 (+5)
Wis: 12 (+2)
Cha: 14 (+4)
Defences: 12
HP:4/10
Items:
Crossbow (d8, 3 slots, 3 quality)
Gambeson (12 def, 3 quality)
Chalk, 10
Pulleys
Nails
Tar pot
Green glass ball
Physique: willowy
Face: Ratlike
Skin: Pale
Hair: Wispy
Clothing: Antique
Virtue: Curious
Vice: Suspicious
Voice: Whispery
Background: Pickpocket
Misfortune: Disowned
Alignment: Chaos
Geth roll 1d20 for shields and helmets
Geth roll 1d20 for dungeoneering gear
Geth roll 1d20 for gear 1
Geth roll 1d20 for gear 2
Geth roll 1d8 for HP
Geth roll 1d20 for Skin - Burn Scar This is apparently the War Paint slot, so that's where that goes.
Geth roll 1d20 for Hair - Wispy
Geth roll 1d20 for Clothing - Frumpy Sun's out, Guns out
Geth roll 1d20 for Speech - Quaint
Geth roll 1d20 for Misfortune - Abandoned
More players can turn up any time, and they’ll arrive on the island by their own canoe after you lot.
———
For the purposes of your opening quest, I say you’re all in the same party. After that you’ll hop in here whenever you want to play and I’ll figure it out.
The 1st Party
@Albino Bunny as Irina the Shrewd
@joshgotro as Malosi
@El Skid as Phil
@discrider as Jenna Fei
Didn’t see that thanks!
Geth roll 1d20 for 2nd dungeoneering gear
Yo disc you need a name, but you can do that in your first post in character.
Check it out here if you want to read along:
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/250428/knave-ic-hitting-the-beach#latest
Or do we think we'll have enough success at the new location that we can rustle up food when we get there?
I think we've only got two days of food on each of us.
I'm sort of of the opinion that we don't just land and start murderin'.
(I would suggest trying to ride them, but they seem .. ungainly)
Aggregated stat block:
Str: 15 (+5)
Dex: 12 (+2)
Con: 14 (+4)
Wis: 11 (+1)
Int: 16 (+6)
Cha: 13 (+3)
HP: 9/11
Armour: 12 (+2)
Gear (7/14):
No armour
Helmet (+1 defense)
Sack
Lantern
Saw
fake gems
Hogfather's longsword (1d10, 2h, 3q)
Chalk (0 slots)
Character
Physique: Ripped
Virtue: Disciplined
Vice: Arrogant
Background: Mercenary
Misfortune: Abandoned
Face: Impish
Skin: War Paint
Hair: Wispy
Clothing: Where we're going we don't need sleeves. Currently thinking Moana, but with shoes. And a Kakomora helmet.
Speech: I don't know what Quaint is.
Height: Average
Age: As young as would have been invited on expedition. Or whatever 2 on 2d6 is. But she's a Merc, so presumably there's some experience?
You can also pick up anything that’s not nailed down, even if it doesn’t make sense as a Game Item. You want carry around mud? Mud, 1 slot, ruining your pack. You want… more mud? Fill up your slots to the max if you so desire.
I’ll add what knowledge you’ve gleaned to first posts in here, which is going to grow into a bestiary you can use as in-character knowledge.
And I guess we should look at this cooking thing.
If you wanna cook, cook!
You know… there’s a risk of it being lost as a consequence of your actions, but the Philbarrow can probably hold 6 slots worth of stuff once he’s ready to walk again. Risky, but could be worth using from time to time! Just thinking aloud, I’ll check the thread later to see if I’ve already said what it can carry.
She's not 100% sure she can take a demon yet, and perhaps there's more information about the whole deal at their people's ancestral home.
And it's sort of on the way.
Really, asking Digging Bear where to set up was to ask for permission to camp. But now that's he's given it, Jenna's not completely sold on going straight for the demon.
However, it’s summer and we’re busy! That’s good! Even for me! So I’ll be dropping this campaign when/if we take the fort.
I do think I’ll come back to this. Multiple parties take on an island sounds cool to me. If I do your progress, whether you’re playing or not, will carry over.