Fate/Awakening World
A Heaven's Feel set in Vienna
The call has gone out. Magi from across the world have dreamt of the Holy Grail and Command Seals have appeared on their hands, indicating the start of a Holy Grail War in Vienna, Austria. A Grail has been crafted, and it will be filled with the mana of seven Masters and their Servants, to grant a wish to one of each. The Mage's Association, the Salem Academy, the Anglican Church, the Einzbern family, a descendant of an ancient fangshi family, a monster and a renegade homunculus have all been gifted the chance, and each has prepared carefully for the battles to come.
However, not all is exactly as it seems in Vienna. The residents are haunted by odd dreams, and the city seems to hold its breath in anticipation. In the shadows, a mysterious cult worshipping “the White Princess" has made itself known, and mana seems unusually thick in the air. Something stirs beneath the streets, its ancient seal weakening slowly, just waiting for someone foolish enough to break it free, while people have been vanishing from the Thirteenth District, only to reappear some days later, their existence a Mystery beyond what even many magi have experienced. A mysterious white-haired Servant stands atop der Stephansdom, watching and waiting, while in the distant East, a woman leaves the home that has been her refuge for decades to investigate her dreams...
Hello all, and welcome to my first attempt at doing an RP here on this site. I have pitched this idea in various corners across the internet, but have never quite managed to get enough consistent interest and attention that it's ever taken off in a real way.
A few things about me:
- I have about a decade’s worth of experience in roleplaying, much of which has been on the GM’s side of the table. I try to be the best partner I can to my players, with the exception of when outside circumstances that force me to act otherwise.
- I’m not neurotypical. Generally, this means that unless you say something directly, I may not understand what it is you intend to say. Implications are often lost on me in ways that I find difficult to express, because they are such large blind spots to me.
- I am very uncomfortable with OOC drama and conflict, and as such, I ask that if you want to join this game, play nice with myself and any other potential players. Be gentle with me – like many people, I do not always grasp sarcasm or jokes when they’re transmitted across the textual medium.
With that out of the way, I think I should explain in further detail what this RP shall entail. The short version is that Fate/Awakening World is intended to offer one or two players a more interactive Fate/Stay night VN experience. What does this mean specifically?
Well, I will be taking on the role of the Storyteller, GM, DM, or whatever you want to call it, and portraying the world in which your character(s) interact and play. I am looking specifically for either one or two players who are reasonably familiar with the Type-Moon material (having read the VN for FSN is a huge plus), who want to play a Master, a Servant, or a Master/Servant pair that are engaged in the Holy Grail War described in the plot hook above.
The world of Fate/Awakening World (and isn't that just a marvelous mouthful?) departs from the world of Fate/Stay night in a number of ways. Below are a few things that will differ from what is usually assumed about the Fate world.
- After the Fourth Fuyuki Grail War (which occurred somewhat differently than it is shown in Zero), the Greater Grail was stolen from Fuyuki City by forces unknown, whereupon it was transported to its current resting point along the Danube river nearby to Vienna, Austria.
- This critically weakened the already flagging Matou family of Fuyuki, and it faded swiftly from prominence, having lost both its patriarch and its heir in swift succession.
- Magi and other scholars of Mystery have been noticing an unusual amount of mana being generated by the planet - it is as though, in contrast to what had been thought to be the previous trend, Gaia is reviving. There are mixed feelings on this matter, ranging from absolute terror to an almost religious ecstasy.
- Just recently, the Catholic Church has announced the discovery of another Holy Grail, and Command Spells have appeared on magi across the world. Dreams have become vivid, a call has been sent out. A wish will be fulfilled, and it will be fulfilled in the ritual of the Heaven's Feel - a Holy Grail War.
This will be a freeform roleplay, in that I’m not using any specific dice-based rules. This does mean that I will be basically the final word on what works and what doesn’t, but I’m not here to stop you from having fun, and I want to enjoy this as much as I want my player(s) to. I may ask the player of a Servant to create (or share with me) their Parameters, as is often shown in the Fate media, or I might make one with them, if they prefer.
While romance may blossom – whether between the PCs or between a PC and NPCs, note that I’m not hugely interested in sexual content, and the tag above is purely there as a just in case clause – it might happen, but it might not, and if it does, it will be in a way that doesn’t violate the site rules.
Exactly what medium this will be taking place on or in is still an open question – it may be via Discord’s text chat function, it may be via PMs here onsite, or something completely different.
My understanding of the Nasuverse and of the mechanics of Fate and magecraft, in my humble opinion, is above average. Inasmuch as there is information available to English-speakers, I have collected and tried to grasp it. I've read the VNs (FSN and Hollow Ataraxia), played Extra, Extella, and Grand Order, and read the novels that have been fan-translated. This means that I may say no to certain powers or ideas that are pitched to me, because it contradicts what image of the lore I have.
That said, I am also very aware that Nasu is kind of reticent on the specifics, and that the specifics are enormously confusing. I'm here to help with that, and am also willing to throw out some of the more obscure "rules" of the setting in favor of what is awesome or makes for a good story.
Here's some of the administrative details of the RP, or a tl;dr, if you will.
- This will be a game wherein I play the role of the GM/ST/DM/whatever, portraying the world in which the player character(s) interact.
- I am looking for one or two players (with a hard cap on four) to play a Master and Servant pairing. Ideally, players will have a working knowledge of the Fate franchise.
- It is as yet uncertain what medium this game will take place over, but potential players should feel free to suggest ideas.
- For this role-play, I won't be using any specific Tabletop system, nor will there be much mechanical grit to get into. I may ask the player of a Servant to show off or create their set of parameters, as is often displayed in canon, but as in canon, there won't be a hard and fast ruleset to which those parameters cling.
- I won't be making you play in the role of characters that have already been made. You can play canon Masters, but note that the timeline in Awakening World is rather different than the one in FSN's mainline, and canon Servants are acceptable as well.
If you have any questions that burn so brightly that you need them answered, or if you just want me to talk your ear off about the ideas I have for this RP, I’m available on Discord as #2543. I’m not actually on the server for this site, because I find it far too overwhelming – too many people and too much happening all at once, and I get confused.
Depending on the level of interest I get, I may try to run more than one game of this concurrently, but at my current place emotionally and physically, I do not think that that is hugely likely. More likely, I’ll up the number of players I’ll accept to four, but that’s the hard cap – I prefer to go into more depth with the player characters, and thus having my attention divided makes that more of a struggle.
Hope that this interests some folks out there!
