In the world of Knight (known as Avalon), you play a part of a specialized team tasked with protecting humanity from strange, unsettling creatures that come from the darkness after humanity has been devastated by disease, famine and war. Did we mention that you also wear high tech suits and your team is loosely based on Arthurian legend? This Deluxe English edition/remake of the French will be live on Backerkit starting April 16, 2024. You can follow before launch here.
Was this game sent for review or self-purchased?: Sent for review. Note that all images are from Antre Monde Editions as we reviewed this digitally.
In two sentences, what do you do in the game: You wear a high tech suit that was built by Merlin and worn/made popular by Arthur who are both immortal because of nanomachines in an alternate future. You then use said suits to fight off strange, unsettling creatures with your team who answers to a S.H.I.E.L.D-like organization whose officers are codenamed after the Knights of the Round Table.
Have we played any other titles by this publisher?: No, this is the first time we have played any games by this publisher.
What was surprising about this title: The complex and deep lore was surprisingly detailed. This game has a very well established history and world that is well suited to a novel. Countries have fought against each other prior to the supernatural events even starting and the events that happened shape the world that you play in. The organization your players are a part of, are headed by Knights of the Round Table and are responsible for different tasks.
As a second item, the dice system feels a little wonky. In Knight, you roll a number of d6s equal to the sum of your base Aspect and the Skill. Even numbers count as successes and you must get a certain number of successes in order to pass a skill check. The numbers of successes range from easy (1 success) to impossible (15). These can be modified by cooperation and automatic successes called Overdrives (the game’s equivalent of inspiration). This makes rolling feel a little disorganized, and while almost every tabletop role-playing game has an element of luck, this game feels strange to roll for.
How likely is this to return to the game table?: For one shot adventures, very likely but for campaigns not likely. The game’s world is very fun and exciting to play in but so complex that it can be difficult to immerse yourself outside of the campaign you are playing in. The game’s lore is very deep and requires players to do a hefty amount of reading if they want to understand why the world is ravaged, separated into 300 sheltered cities, why there are immortal beings, and why the population is led by a few immortal humans and how they became immortal.
Game length: Several hours. Like any RPG, the game’s length depends vastly on the players at the table and an adventure can last a few hours in a single session to several hours over the course of multiple sessions.
Language Barrier Playability: If a player can communicate and translate the rules it’s definitely possible but may become cumbersome depending on how many players need translation.
Artwork: Creepy dystopian Arthurian mechs. It’s bizarre but works surprisingly well. The smoothness and precision of the artwork is very well juxtaposed to the terrors that have fallen over humanity.
Quality: This one is a digital copy so there is limited information that we can give at this time.
Strategy: The pre-written adventure included in the Quick-Start is a fun whodunnit/mystery adventure that can be played a number of ways. While not necessarily strategic, it is a fun way to play through an adventure that has a single conclusion at the end.
Instruction Manual: Very well made and detailed. The Quick-Start gets you to play as quickly as possible, giving you the bare minimum to get players into the game. The Core Book has vastly more details compared to the Quick-Start. It has an immensely dense history of the world and detailed mech histories and stats for each.
Organization: The Quick-Start and Core Book are both well organized, transitioning from history, the divisions of the group Avalon, rules, character creation to world building and bestiaries.
Final thoughts: The game of Knight: An Avalon RPG is very detailed and unique in terms of ideas and content. The dice system feels a little like playing Yahtzee but is by no means bad. It’s refreshing to see a new dice system implemented in a new game and it does well with what it has. Also, who doesn’t think Arthurian legends in mech suits mixed with a science fiction horror world sounds amazing?
Sushiball Games 