Playing a Moto Avenger

[Death Spectre 7]

Hi all!

My gaming group and I will be started an L5R campaign soon and  I'll be playing as a player (rare for me!). This is my first time using the L5R system other than the beginner game (which I also tried as a player when it first came out) and based on our campaign brief, the Moto Avenger looks quite interesting to me. I was wondering what the general advice was playing characters from this school in terms of character development mechanically and more importantly, the types of activities they get up to. The one page of them I saw in the Shadowlands book doesn't go into much detail beyond:

• They revere the cycle of life and death and guide the spirits to their proper place to ensure the cycle continues.
• They are trained to rectify any perversions to that cycle (such as destroying undead creatures that thwart the life/death cycle)
• The Moto Avengers in particular specialize in hunting down fallen Moto who have succumbed to the taint.

If anyone has an experience with them, i'd love to hear your thoughts!

 

[Hida Jitenno 586]

So, drawing on the previous editions a bit, the Moto Avengers seem to be a combination of the White Guard and the Death Priests.

There isn't really any lore about them in 5e, save for the single page in Shadowlands.

[Void Crane 189]

Five things that stand out to me. 

(a) You are a shugenja and as such are primarily oriented toward mediating between the spiritual world and the physical world. More than most Shugenja you are combat capable. But your first emphasis should still be "spiritual" IMO.

(b) This isn't explicitly spelled out anywhere, but I believe your traditions are sufficiently different (foreign!) from the Isawa of the Phoenix lands that there is probably some friction there. Especially with Meshido magic being something they look askance at. (Yes yes ... even though Meshido isn't really your thing). Adjusting the "life force" isn't maho, but I can see how it could be misinterpreted as such. With by a samurai of good will but who thinks they're the most informed Shugenja in the room, or  even more from a political rival who thinks they can make hay out of the topic.

(c) yeah. You have a special role fighting the undead and your tainted brethren. That can bring you not contact with the Kuni, the Toritaka and the Asoko. They all do similar things but have different spins on them.

(d) between b & c you spend at least a little time thinking about how you want to deal these friction points. And/or if these friction points led to interesting events in your background

(e) You are a Unicorn samurai and should also think about where you come down on the desire to continue to integrate back into Rokugan Society vs. hold on to the values of the Moto who still live in the Burning Sands. You should also think about how the Bushido value of Compassion will intersect with your character. Finally you might want to think about how your character interacts with the Unicorns friends (the Dragon) and their rivals (the Lion). And the constant friends/not friends dance with the Crane (the Crane leadership want the Unicorn as a military counter to the Lion BUT the cultural differences often result in frictions on the one on one interactions by the rank and file).

Hope that helps!

[DanGers 55]

If it sounds fun, consider playing up the character's "foreignness" a bit.  That's what I liked about playing a Unicorn character.  First, there are little things that make you stand out like sitting on a giant horse and looking down on everyone.  Your character might also be physically taller than most Rokugani (except the Hida, perhaps), have a thicker beard if male, and generally look different.  The character might wear leather boots, a loovuuz hat (https://www.google.com/search?q=loovuuz&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS838US838&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjCtd_Mn-7jAhXSxFkKHQqDDPUQ_AUIESgB&biw=1920&bih=969), and instead of a kimono wears a thick deel (https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS838US838&biw=1920&bih=969&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=7HJJXZv-BPDn_Qaxh73QDQ&q=deel&oq=deel&gs_l=img.3..0l7j0i10j0l2.2918.2918..3116...0.0..0.55.55.1......0....1..gws-wiz-img.Qi7iad7tHc4&ved=0ahUKEwibpMvun-7jAhXwc98KHbFDD9oQ4dUDCAY&uact=5).  If you want to play with this mechanically, consider taking the Gaijin appearance disadvantage.  I believe there is also a Blunt disadvantage that could represent the character's ignorance of Rokugani subtlety.

That sense of otherness might extend to the character's views on death.  Unlike more squeamish samurai, your Moto character might wear leather, eat red meat, and be able to touch the dead without flinching.  This may stem from differing ideas about purity and cleanliness, but it might also reflect a notion that death is just a natural part of the cycle of life and not something to be feared by itself.  This could be represented by Disdain for Honor.  Taking things even further, your character could have some closer relationship with the old gods of death that plagued the Moto in the AEG fiction (https://l5r.fandom.com/wiki/Shi-Tien_Yen-Wang).  You could take the Haunted disadvantage to reflect this.

Lastly, and just because it's cool, if your character is a shugenja with access to invocations (you are, right?), you might want to learn Yari of Air, Tetsubo of Earth.  Each of these allows you to summon a melee weapon and each allows to you change the weapon with a opportunity.  Imagine a righteous Unicorn charging into battle against the undead waving a scimitar made of the elements themselves.

Edited August 6, 2019 by DanGers
removed unavailable invocations

[DanGers 55]

-

Edited August 6, 2019 by DanGers
not relevant

[Scrivener Spills 122]

Largely agreed with most everything said.  They do seem to be a new shuggy version of the white card / toned down death priests.  The book doesn't say you use the foriegn names for invocations, so you aren't using meishodo Names of Power, you ARE invoking Kami by the common Rokugani names, so thats a likely non tension with Phoenix. 

 

more than most, you have something to prove, for your Family and clan.  The Dark Moto fell, and that is a stain on your own honor that can never be cleansed while any still walk.  You're going to likely be fanatical, and very black and white, things are either according to nature's law, and to be sustained, or against it, and to be destroyed. 

 

also, you DONT get a unicorn horse in your starter pack. 
Fix that.  Fix that quickly.  and if you have a water focused shuggy, or you pick up a lot of augment invocations, get sympathetic energies.  it will allow you to share those effects that are often caster only, both with your party, AND your horse. 

Edited August 6, 2019 by Scrivener Spills

[Alisair Longreach 221]

The Moto Avenger don't get a horse. That is an obvious oversight as all the othe Unicorn schools grant a horse. The Moto Avenger isn't a full Shugenja, they only get access to Air and Earth Invocations

[UnitOmega 2,818]

It's probably because they're a school in Shadowlands, likely to do shadowlands things, and we don't bring horses into the Shadowlands. This is a bad idea. If NOT doing a shadowlands campaign, you can probably arrange with your GM to get a Unicorn warhorse, as you are, y'know, unicorn. 

[Avatar111 553]

46 minutes ago, UnitOmega said:

It's probably because they're a school in Shadowlands, likely to do shadowlands things, and we don't bring horses into the Shadowlands. This is a bad idea. If NOT doing a shadowlands campaign, you can probably arrange with your GM to get a Unicorn warhorse, as you are, y'know, unicorn. 

no. its probably because they forgot it.
but yeah, a GM would be a real doozy not to give them a unicorn horse tbh.

Edited August 6, 2019 by Avatar111

[Void Crane 189]

11 hours ago, UnitOmega said:

It's probably because they're a school in Shadowlands, likely to do shadowlands things, and we don't bring horses into the Shadowlands. This is a bad idea. If NOT doing a shadowlands campaign, you can probably arrange with your GM to get a Unicorn warhorse, as you are, y'know, unicorn. 

The picture of them in the book is ... mounted. I personally think the lack of horse is an oversight on their part. Perhaps one shouldn't take a horse into the Shadowlands. But I think the Moto Avengers have more to offer than just hunting their lost kin.

[Death Spectre 7]

These are all great suggestions thank you! I’m going to dwell on them while I’m at work and respond fully once I’m back.

[Death Spectre 7]

On 8/6/2019 at 2:17 AM, Void Crane said:

Five things that stand out to me. 

(a) You are a shugenja and as such are primarily oriented toward mediating between the spiritual world and the physical world. More than most Shugenja you are combat capable. But your first emphasis should still be "spiritual" IMO.

(c) yeah. You have a special role fighting the undead and your tainted brethren. That can bring you not contact with the Kuni, the Toritaka and the Asoko. They all do similar things but have different spins on them.

(e) You are a Unicorn samurai and should also think about where you come down on the desire to continue to integrate back into Rokugan Society vs. hold on to the values of the Moto who still live in the Burning Sands. You should also think about how the Bushido value of Compassion will intersect with your character. Finally you might want to think about how your character interacts with the Unicorns friends (the Dragon) and their rivals (the Lion). And the constant friends/not friends dance with the Crane (the Crane leadership want the Unicorn as a military counter to the Lion BUT the cultural differences often result in frictions on the one on one interactions by the rank and file).

Hope that helps!

Amazing post, thank you. When I first envisioned him (my lore is still pretty weak), the concept was closer to a Toritaka Phantom Hunter but I will happily admit to my ignorance and not even reading on the Toritaka. It was a case of seeing the picture art of the Moto Avenger and saying “Him. I want to play him”. Having done a bit more research I’m more than happy to stick with my choice. There is one other player who will be playing a Toritaka Phantom Hunter. The opening of the campaign is that we’re effectively on shore leave from the wall, and alongside the crab bushi player, we are raising awareness in the clan daimyos that the Wall needs aid. The one other player will be playing a Dragon Monk who we’ll be recruiting to our cause.

Thank you for the lead on the Moto and the Burning Sands. I will research that as I know nothing about that.

On 8/6/2019 at 6:17 AM, DanGers said:

If it sounds fun, consider playing up the character's "foreignness" a bit.  That's what I liked about playing a Unicorn character.  First, there are little things that make you stand out like sitting on a giant horse and looking down on everyone.  Your character might also be physically taller than most Rokugani (except the Hida, perhaps), have a thicker beard if male, and generally look different.  The character might wear leather boots, a loovuuz hat (https://www.google.com/search?q=loovuuz&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS838US838&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjCtd_Mn-7jAhXSxFkKHQqDDPUQ_AUIESgB&biw=1920&bih=969), and instead of a kimono wears a thick deel (https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS838US838&biw=1920&bih=969&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=7HJJXZv-BPDn_Qaxh73QDQ&q=deel&oq=deel&gs_l=img.3..0l7j0i10j0l2.2918.2918..3116...0.0..0.55.55.1......0....1..gws-wiz-img.Qi7iad7tHc4&ved=0ahUKEwibpMvun-7jAhXwc98KHbFDD9oQ4dUDCAY&uact=5).  If you want to play with this mechanically, consider taking the Gaijin appearance disadvantage.  I believe there is also a Blunt disadvantage that could represent the character's ignorance of Rokugani subtlety.

That sense of otherness might extend to the character's views on death.  Unlike more squeamish samurai, your Moto character might wear leather, eat red meat, and be able to touch the dead without flinching.  This may stem from differing ideas about purity and cleanliness, but it might also reflect a notion that death is just a natural part of the cycle of life and not something to be feared by itself.  This could be represented by Disdain for Honor.  Taking things even further, your character could have some closer relationship with the old gods of death that plagued the Moto in the AEG fiction (https://l5r.fandom.com/wiki/Shi-Tien_Yen-Wang).  You could take the Haunted disadvantage to reflect this.

Lastly, and just because it's cool, if your character is a shugenja with access to invocations (you are, right?), you might want to learn Yari of Air, Tetsubo of Earth.  Each of these allows you to summon a melee weapon and each allows to you change the weapon with a opportunity.  Imagine a righteous Unicorn charging into battle against the undead waving a scimitar made of the elements themselves.

Very useful, thank you. It gives me an idea of how to play him when I’m not “south of the wall”. I’ll look up the Gaijin Appearance disadvantage because it seems more thematic than what I currently have which is at odds with the unicorn virtue of compassion.

Plus Yari of Air!?! So much yes. I’ll look into this.

On 8/6/2019 at 10:14 AM, Scrivener Spills said:

also, you DONT get a unicorn horse in your starter pack. 
Fix that.  Fix that quickly.  and if you have a water focused shuggy, or you pick up a lot of augment invocations, get sympathetic energies.  it will allow you to share those effects that are often caster only, both with your party, AND your horse. 

 

On 8/6/2019 at 11:59 PM, Void Crane said:

The picture of them in the book is ... mounted. I personally think the lack of horse is an oversight on their part. Perhaps one shouldn't take a horse into the Shadowlands. But I think the Moto Avengers have more to offer than just hunting their lost kin.

 

Didnt realise it was a unicorn. Thought the horn was a spike on the mask! The campaign will definitely involve venture into the shadowlands. I’m guessing daemon corrupted horse bad?

[Void Crane 189]

The Horse is a horse and not a unicorn. But the Unicorn steeds are markedly superior to anything "home grown" in Rokugan which are generally called ponies. There is a little side bar by unicorn ponies in the back of the core book that shows the adjustments for transforming them into a unicorn steed.

Yes. Tainted horses are bad.

In a worse case scenario, after your group kills your horse ... all that gear you don't think about in the saddle bags? You now get to haul that out on your own two legs. Come to think of it the saddle isn't walking home either. If you still have you saddle and saddlebags. Maybe if your horse goes bad just rides away with your supplies?

[DanGers 55]

12 hours ago, Void Crane said:

The Horse is a horse and not a unicorn.

It must be a narwhal with legs.

"He's a mysterious Moto with a dark past and a thirst for vengeance.  She is a maho-mutated narwhal with a chipper demeanor and a knack for gadgets.  Together, they fight crime!"

These campaigns write themselves.

[Scrivener Spills 122]

yeah, the unicorn is the clan, but they all get horses, generally.   Tainted horse means demon steed that will turn against you at a moments notice, and horses are NASTY!  my party just took out a minor oni last game, and my horse did about as much damage as the bushi. (now, to figure out how to give its horseshoes the sacred quality....)

 

 

[Masakiyo 73]

Don't want to derail too much but personally, I never liked the unicorn moniker; should keep kirin for the proper flavor.  I know that was to emphasize their "foreigness," but why not just go with qilin, then, which would be the Chinese (as opposed to Japanese) rendering of the mythical beast in question?  And the giant horse thing is funky if you're using the Mongols as inspiration since their horses are pretty small, but hey I get that it's a game first and foremost.

[Avatar111 553]

33 minutes ago, Masakiyo said:

Don't want to derail too much but personally, I never liked the unicorn moniker; should keep kirin for the proper flavor.  I know that was to emphasize their "foreigness," but why not just go with qilin, then, which would be the Chinese (as opposed to Japanese) rendering of the mythical beast in question?  And the giant horse thing is funky if you're using the Mongols as inspiration since their horses are pretty small, but hey I get that it's a game first and foremost.

Rokugan is not really feudal japan. Inspired, but they pushed some concept way further and stricter. Basically an heavily romanticized version with added touch of western societies. The Lion clan is what represents feudal japan the most, but even then.

[Tonbo Karasu 2,606]

6 hours ago, Masakiyo said:

Don't want to derail too much but personally, I never liked the unicorn moniker; should keep kirin for the proper flavor.  I know that was to emphasize their "foreigness," but why not just go with qilin, then, which would be the Chinese (as opposed to Japanese) rendering of the mythical beast in question?  And the giant horse thing is funky if you're using the Mongols as inspiration since their horses are pretty small, but hey I get that it's a game first and foremost.

There's a huge amount of background, both in universe and in the real world, for why it's the Unicorn Clan.  The easy answer is that John Wick didn't think Americans would understand what a Ki-Rin was, and would recognise a Unicorn.  It's why there's a Lion Clan as well, when lions aren't a particular thing in Japanese mythology.

In universe, the Moto came from the nearby Steppe, with ponies, but later the Unicorn Steeds came from pseudo-Arabia.

[Scrivener Spills 122]

On 8/10/2019 at 2:34 PM, Tonbo Karasu said:

There's a huge amount of background, both in universe and in the real world, for why it's the Unicorn Clan.  The easy answer is that John Wick didn't think Americans would understand what a Ki-Rin was, and would recognise a Unicorn.  It's why there's a Lion Clan as well, when lions aren't a particular thing in Japanese mythology.

In universe, the Moto came from the nearby Steppe, with ponies, but later the Unicorn Steeds came from pseudo-Arabia.

This.  (and lets face it, he's right.  When I was first introduced to the original card game by a group of 5 players, and they told me about the Unicorn, I said, should't it be ki-rin?  and one dude nodded in agreement, and the other four were clueless) 

And yeah, the Moto had good strong reliable ponys.  The Utaku steeds that were power clydesdales came from further afield, and then were bred with the Moto ponys to get todays average Unicorn Warhorse.