Motive Knight is a Table-Top Role Playing Game
Heroes
Without Glory
We cannot stop the invasion - that war was lost long before we were born. The forces of The Adversary sacked our cities, conquered our nations, and laid claim to our very souls. The demons now live among us unseen. They exploit the greed of our leaders, they mislead our cultures and communities, and they condemn our world and every species in it to ruin.
A Motive Knight knows that the enemy has already won - but keeps fighting regardless. Armed with the supernatural powers of an Awakened Soul, a Motive Knight is our only weapon against the corruption. A Motive Knight is someone who struggles to restore justice in an unjust world, who fights to make space for autonomy beneath the bootheels of oppressors, and who risks their life and their soul hoping to make the world a better place. A hero in the shadows, with no need for honors, and with no hope for glory.
We, Motive Knights, fight on knowing that we will probably fail, knowing that the enemy is better armed, more numerous, and more capable than we are. We do this knowing that we will likely die long before we see a day without evil in this world - if such a day is even possible. But the question we seek to answer is not whether a day without evil is possible, but whether we have done everything we can to make it possible.
Will you join us?
The Motive Orders
About the Game
The Game Rules of Motive Knight are built on two fundamental principles:
1. Everything is a Skill
In Motive Knight, nearly anything you can do, you can improve. There is little or no difference between being skilled in combat, being skilled in conversations, or being skilled in the supernatural. Everything is built on the same fundamental system so that your character can have as much, or as little, proficiency in any given area as you want them to have.
2. People are Not Archetypes
The rules of Motive Knight require you to make choices about your character when you first create them, but those choices are about the fundamental building blocks of your character. Choices about who your character was, not who they will be. Whenever it comes time to gain new Skills and Abilities, nothing is chosen for you. Some later choices will depend on, and might be influenced by, those building blocks you chose for your character at the beginning, but you will never gain any new character feature without having a choice.
The Setting of Motive Knight is also inspired by two guiding principles:
1. The Need for Heroes is Not Temporary
Like in reality, no one person can save the world. That opportunity - if it ever truly existed - came and went a long time ago. What is left now is an ongoing struggle to reduce the influence of the vile and the corrupt, and to try to make room for peace and fulfillment in people’s lives. Every day spent doing something else is a day evil goes unopposed. Motive Knights are the few people who are both equipped with the supernatural abilities necessary to have a fighting chance, and who have chosen to dedicate their lives to this deadly task.
2. Abandon your Preconceptions
Motive Knight is not a ‘traditional’ fantasy setting.
First of all, this game exists in an era of technology very similar to the early modern period of the real world. The proliferation of the sea trade has begun a process of globalization - a process that some societies have been quick to embrace, while others have been quick to reject. And while fighting with swords and bows is still common enough in certain settings, the world’s grand battlefields have now long since become the purview of muskets and cannon fire - at least for those who can afford it.
Furthermore, you will not find ‘dwarves’ and ‘elves’ and ‘gnomes’ in Motive Knight. There are still fantastical creatures drawn from or inspired by elements of earthly lore and legend (such as fey, people-animal hybrids, and various beasts of legend), but most of them are a fair bit different than what you are probably used to in other media. And of course there are many creatures created from whole cloth from their own unique sparks of inspiration.
Finally, this setting is filled with supernatural influences, but does not contain “magic” in the way it is often portrayed elsewhere. The realm of the supernatural is the realm of the immaterial. It is the manipulation of minds, and spirits, and the very principles of physics, all shaped and powered by a creature’s very essence - their Soul. Many supernatural creatures are effectively corrupt or misplaced Souls themselves, just as visible to the naked eye as the wind, and more susceptible to a well-researched exorcism than to any well-aimed thrust or shot.
About the Creator
Motive Knight is a solo, independent project.
Apart from freelance artists who were commissioned out of pocket for their work, and a the incredibly helpful feedback from a small group of volunteer play-testers, the entirety of Motive Knight’s concepts, rules, creatures, setting, and stories were created by one person. I have a separate, full-time job that is completely unrelated to gaming, and unlike many other creators out there I don’t have a pre-existing community from a social media channel, lets-play series, or other public project to rely upon.
This is my first published project, and my first project of this scale period. I am extremely proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish in making Motive Knight, and I hope it brings you at least as much joy and inspiration as it has brought me.
I hope to continue supporting Motive Knight with new stories and expanding the setting. If you’re interested in seeing where this goes in the future you can sign up to the mailing list or joint the community discord (link in the footer). If you are passionate about supporting independent projects, solo creators, or Motive Knight specifically - but you’re wondering what more you can do - I’d like to encourage you to just play some games of Motive Knight with your friends.
<3 - Lunar