Please, be careful. This town will shatter if it's disturbed.
But if we're quiet, we'll get to see something hideous bloom.
Fate/Edelweiss
Since the disappearance of Fuyuki's Holy Grail at the conclusion of the Third Holy Grail War, numerous Imitation Grail Wars have been attempted around the world. Most have ended in failure or disaster. Despite this, it seemed there was always someone remaining to try once again.
In 2016, a Swiss mage family of some renown claims to have finally perfected a Holy Grail that will surpass even Fuyuki's. No matter how many times that claim has been made before, it still turns some heads in this day and age. Once again, the curious and the desperate will come flocking. Perhaps it is mankind's curse, to never be able to free themselves from this thing called wishing.
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Here's something I've been hankering for lately: a Holy Grail War RP. That is, a PvP game set in a slightly varied timeline of the Nasuverse, based on Fate/Stay Night. I don't know how many of the old Fate RP enjoyers still use this site, but anyone is welcome to express interest. Advanced knowledge of the Fate franchise or the broader Nasuverse is definitely not needed. I'm aiming to keep things nice and casual in that regard. Even if you've just seen a bit of any one anime from the franchise, that should be plenty of context.
Our story will cover a Holy Grail War, this time in a small town in Switzerland. Seven mages, branded as "Masters" by the Command Spells on their bodies, will each summon a "Servant" in a tag-team Battle Royale to claim a wish from the Holy Grail. The Servants are figures from human history, real or mythical, and their powers are great enough that their battles may turn this little town into dust by the war's climax.
This is nominally a PvP roleplay, although our true focus should be on collaborative storytelling, exciting battles, rivalries, alliances, and conflicts, rather than on trying to rapidly kill off your fellow players. There may also be certain NPCs to deal with beyond the seven pairs. Grail Wars are rarely straightforward, after all!
Each player will be allowed to create two characters: one Servant and one Master. Ideally, each of your characters will be paired with a different player, although you are also welcome to pair your characters together or simply to create only one character.
I'd like at least a handful of people to run this game for. If we don't have enough to fill a full roster of 7 pairs, that's fine. I'll just create some NPCs to fill the ranks. If we end up with more than enough people, I'll simply bend the rules to allow more than seven pairs to be summoned.
Lemme know if there's any interest!
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Character Creation
Masters - Original characters only. - Dead Apostle Ancestors, True Sorcerers, and other beings that could defeat a Servant are not allowed. - In general, the highest possible power level for a Master is someone who could defend themselves and potentially survive an encounter with a weaker Servant, but could likely not defeat them. - Masters cannot be more than 200 years old by any means.
Servants - Both original characters and canon Servants are acceptable. - Top-grade Servants at the level of King Arthur, Heracles, Gilgamesh, etc. are too powerful for this War, but high-grade Servants at the level of Mordred, Beowulf, and Atalanta would be acceptable. - Heroes must be born after Gilgamesh but before 1901. - Divine Spirits, elementals, and similar are not allowed. Humans, animals, monsters, mixed bloods, and machines are acceptable. - A Servant generally has one Noble Phantasm, and sometimes a second, weaker Noble Phantasm. The greatest legends might have three Noble Phantasms. Four or more Noble Phantasms are reserved only for those heroes who are not only legendary, but who are specifically known for possessing many different armaments or achievements. - In a similar vein, try to shoot for three personal skills. Four or five personal skills are acceptable if having such a diverse set of skills is the hero's main gimmick.
Appearance: (An anime style faceclaim is ideal.)
Name Titles: Gender: Age: Alignment: (As D&D alignments.) Affiliation: (If the Master is deeply involved with an organization or simply working for one currently, note it here, especially if they are representing that group in the Holy Grail War.) Clock Tower Rank: (Frame, Count, Cause, Fes, Pride, Brand, or Grand. This can be decided by a mage's talents, but also by the reputation of their bloodline, by politics, and so on. A mage totally disconnected from the Mage's Association may have no rank. If you're uncertain, leave this blank and it will be assigned to you.) Command Spell: (Briefly describe the appearance of the Command Spell and its location on the body. An image is also good.)
Background (Give us a sense of the Master's life up to this point.)
Personality (What do they believe? How do they conduct themselves as a Magus? This may be a good place to mention their wish for the Grail.)
Magecraft Information Elemental Affinity: (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, or Ether. Multiple affinities are allowed. You can also list an Origin here if it is relevant.)
Number of Magic Circuits: (Ranked E-A) Quality of Magic Circuits: (Ranked E-A)
Magecraft: (Describe the fields of magecraft your Master is studied in, ideally with examples of spells they tend to use. Feel free to include "the basics", which would include things like setting up a workshop, detecting magical energy, and contracting a familiar.)
Magic Crest: (If your Master has a family Magic Crest, note its approximate age and any other relevant details.)
Mystic Codes (List any magical items the Master has brought with them to the War.)
Nonmagical Assets (This section is for items, resources, skills, etc., that fall outside of magecraft. Money, henchmen, martial arts expertise... List anything here that may be a boon to your Master in the War. Since we're talking about Mages, things like a Cell Phone are not a guarantee, so note down basic equipment as well.)
Appearance: (An anime style faceclaim is ideal.)
Name Titles: Class: Gender: Era: (The period of the hero's life and exploits. A century is fine if it is known.) Alignment: (As D&D alignments.) Attribute: (Man, Earth, Sky, or Star. If you are uncertain, leave this blank and it will be assigned to you.)
History (Give us a sense of the hero's legend. No Wikipedia links. Any creative changes should be noted here.)
Personality (What do they believe? How did they conduct themselves in life, and what is their disposition towards their role as a Servant? This may be a good place to mention their wish for the Grail.)
Parameters (Each ranked E-A. A plus modifier indicates the capacity for a brief momentary doubling of the rank. A minus modifier indicates the stat falls just a touch below the rank. The EX rank represents something truly special, beyond our ability to quantify.) Strength: (Lifting, striking power.) Endurance: (Constitution, hit points.) Agility: (Dexterity, evasion.) Mana: (Magical energy capacity, the size of your "gas tank".) Luck: (Defiance of fate.)
Class Skills (Name of Skill) (Rank E-A): (Provide a brief explanation of why this Servant has this skill at this rank, then list its effects.)
Personal Skills (Name of Skill) (Rank E-A): (Provide a brief explanation of why this Servant has this skill at this rank, then list its effects.)
Noble Phantasms Name Title: Rank: (E-A. Plus and minus modifiers are also allowed here. EX in special cases.) NP Type: (Anti-Unit, Anti-Army, Barrier, etc.) Range: (The minimum and maximum range in meters. For example, range 2~50 indicates an NP that can be used on a target within 50 meters, but can't be used at point blank range.) Maximum Number of Targets: (A number of people from 0-1000) Description: (Explain the reasoning behind the existence of the Noble Phantasm and describe its capabilities.)
Great, we have a couple people already. I'd say 4 players is my minimum number to commit to running the game.
@Letter Bee Yes, if I see a bit more interest for this, I'll create a Discord server, character creation rules, and sheets. All that will come with the OOC or maybe a bit earlier.
The OOC thread is now up, and you're welcome to start submitting characters there. As you write your sheets, please do let us know what class of Servant you're planning to make!
@eugalB We actually have even more than that, but I'm not capping it at 7. Right now the only limit is 2 Servants to a class until we see at least 1 in every major class.
Yaaaay, thank you! I'm going to make a servant right away. It's going to skirt the rules a bit, so tell me if it's not okay. I got others ideas ready anyway.
