The year is 2004- more specifically, the eve of Fuyuki's First Holy Grail War. There was not that first war which ended in anticlimax, that second war which ended in blood, that third war which ended in thievery, or that fourth war which ended in curses. The sins of the past are not present here, but neither are their lessons.
There is no overseer from the church, nor are there formal regulations. The founding families of Fuyuki are entrenched, but not almighty. The Holy Grail is untainted, a genuine wishgranting device.
The slate is clean.
Let us see if it stays that way.
This is a Holy Grail War in the style of the one from the backstory of Fate/Grand Order. By that, I mean that it is a timeline where this 2004 war is the first one ever held in Fuyuki, and that it is for an untainted Grail.
To explain the basics if you're unfamiliar, a Holy Grail War is a battle for a magical wishgranting device, where mages called Masters summon Servants (incarnations of legendary figures) as familiars. These Servants are summoned in 'classes' which determine things like the weapons they use and the kinds of abilities they have.
Exactly how things play out will depend on how many people display interest. If we only have around seven players, then it will probably be a more normal affair where we have one of each class, but if there's enough interest then I'm happy to expand things appropriately. I will also be considering allowing classes that aren't the usual seven, (Avenger, Ruler, Gatekeeper, Gunner, Strategist, and Saver) if that is something people would be interested in, so don't hesitate to make your feelings known.
I'm of course available for any other questions you might have.
At the close of the eighteenth century, the Einzbern factory partnered with Makiri Zolgen and found a partner in the Tohsaka family, Second Owners of a first-rate spiritual land in Japan. Their goal was the establishment of a Holy Grail, which was accomplished through the sacrifice of a homunculus who had lived for a near-millennium, the Winter Saint Justeaze.
The Holy Grail War was intended to occur soon after, and indeed, the three families of Fuyuki know that the Holy Grail activated as was scheduled. However, the war did not occur. No Servants were summoned. The Greater Grail itself became a black box, bound shut and refusing to open.
Precisely six months later, in the midst of the three families investigations, something occurred which stopped these very investigations. The Holy Grail War did not occur, and those rumors of a ritual in a magical backwater faded away.
With the passage of two centuries, there was no word of this ritual. It was a mere footnote even at its inception in the eyes of the magical world, and so now it had been entirely forgotten. Nonetheless, in 2004, the doors opened once again, and the announcement was made.
Come one, come all, for the Holy Grail has awakened.
A new chapter begins.
1. The golden rule, please respect one another. I know roleplays like this can have people getting upset with each other, but let's try and be friends here.
2. The flipside to rule 1. Sometimes people violate rule 1, and I'm not privy to what happens or don't pick up on it. Please let me know if something like that happens, and I'll talk to both parties and do my best to resolve it.
3. I'd like anyone interested be willing to apply both a Master and a Servant, and you're free to pair up with another player or pair both of your characters with one another. If you only want to apply for one or the other, that's a little harder for me to allow unless we have someone who's the opposite, since I want our number of Masters and Servants to be balanced.
4. This is technically speaking a PvP sort of roleplay and one where characters will die. I just want that to be super clear so nobody winds up feeling cheated. Your character can die depending on the events of the roleplay, so if you're against that, this might not be the most fun for you. On a similar note, this roleplay will contain mature themes such as violence and death, so please keep that in mind too.
5. On the other hand, while this will have players fighting and trying to win, I would also like players interested in building a story together and having fun at the same time. It's still just a game, so let's not get too serious about it.
6. Try to avoid typical RP faux-pas, like controlling other people's characters without their consent. With regards to stuff like saying 'X hit Y' instead of 'X tried to hit Y', we'll say that it expresses your character's intention rather than what factually happened, since not every attack will land and things like that.
7. Have fun!
Character Sheets
As a note, please make your Servant with the mindset of them not receiving any bonuses from being summoned on their home turf. If you are summoned on your home turf, bonuses will be applied separately.
Name:
Title(s):
Class: You can see a full list of the classes we're using and their rough descriptions below!
Gender:
Attribute: Just leave this blank during application!
Alignment: Things like Lawful Good or Neutral Evil.
Personality: How detailed you get in here is entirely up to you.
Objective for the Grail: Your character's wish.
Character Objectives: What your character wants to accomplish here besides their wish/winning the war, and what you as a player would like to do with your character. PM this to me, rather than including it in the public sheet!
Appearance: What your character looks like. You can use a picture instead- if you do, just delete this section and throw the picture up top!
Biography: A description of the life of your Heroic Spirit. You only really need to fill this out if you're taking creative liberties from the legend, like genderbending. Otherwise, a link to Wikipedia will do.
Weapon: Some Servants may use non Noble Phantasm weapons in combat. Usually this should only be one or two things as appropriate.
Parameters:
STR: Physical might.
END: One's HP.
AGI: Dexterity, reaction time, and movement speed.
MGI: The amount of magical energy a Servant can control.
LCK: Ability to defy fate.
Class Skills: You can find the class skills for your class in the relevant collapse below (we are not using the Grand Order style for classification)! Please include a description of what they do, instead of just name and rank.
Personal Skills: Abilities that your Servant has due to their legend. The limit for these is generally going to be four, unless you're using a canon Servant who has more.
Noble Phantasm: Your trump card and the symbol of your legend as a whole. The limit for these is generally going to be two, unless you're using a canon Servant who has more.
Name:
Title: Usually an explanation like "Sword of Promised Victory" in the case of Excalibur.
Rank:
NP Type: The most common ones are Anti-Unit, Anti-Unit (Self), Anti-Mind, Anti-Army, Anti-Fortress, Anti-Country, Anti-World, and Barrier.
Range: 1 is minimum, 99 is maximum. Format is usually something like 2-50, that's Via Expugnatio and Bellerophon's range. That means Via Expugnatio cannot attack you if your range is 1 from it.
Maximum Number of Targets: 1 to 1000. The format is usually a single number. This may get weird depending on your classification.
Description: What does it do? A paragraph for fluff and a paragraph for its actual effect is usually best, but that's up to you!
Name:
Title(s):
Appearance: What your character looks like. You can use a picture instead- if you do, just delete this section and throw the picture up top! If you'd like to also provide a picture or description of their Command Seal, feel free (for balancing purposes, everyone seals will be on the back of their dominant hand).
Gender:
Age: No characters that are 300 years of age or older. Anyone at or over the 200 year mark will probably be distorted in some fashion.
Alignment:
Rank: How the Mage's Association would rank you. Leave this blank during application!
Objective for the Grail: Your character's wish.
Character Objectives: What your character wants to accomplish here besides their wish/winning the war, and what you as a player would like to do with your character. PM this to me, rather than including it in the public sheet!
Personality: How detailed you want to get here is up to you!
Biography: You don't need to get too detailed, but if you come from a magus family, especially a big one, provide information on it here as well.
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Magic Circuit Switch: Optional fluff. Something you use as a mental switch to activate your Magic Circuit, like a sound/smell/image you think about. As an example, Rin's is the sound of stabbing herself in the heart.
Number of Magic Circuits: Number of circuits. Ranked A-E.
Quality of Magic Circuits: Amount of magical energy one circuit can safely hold. Ranked A-E. Modifiers may be requested, but don't include them on your initial sheet.
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Elemental Affinity: Valid elements for most magi are Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Ether, but these may shift with the culture of your magical foundation (for instance, the Chinese Elements). Special elements beyond these are acceptable, but are under scrutiny. Average Ones and people with two elements are fine as well. You can list your Origin here if you want to bother with it.
Magecraft: Include all schools of magecraft you know, including General Magecraft (basic things that students at Clock Tower would know), and a basic estimation of what they can do with it and their level of expertise. If something is not mentioned here, it's assumed that particular type of magecraft is not something within their capabilities, so make sure you put everything here. Please don't list spells out individually.
Magic Crest: The legacy of your magus family. State how old it is in years- more entrenched families will have Crests of several centuries, while younger ones might only be at one century or lower. Crests of over 1000 years will be very heavily scrutinized.
Equipment: Anything they brought to Fuyuki with them, including mundane stuff as well as Mystic Codes (magical items). An average magus would have 2-3 Mystic Codes.
Exceptional Benefit: A bit of added flair for your character. Pick one from the collapse below, and explain how your character achieved it (this can be a brief description).
You may pick one.
Second Owner: Your magus family owns spiritual land somewhere in the world. You may summon your servant within Fuyuki like the other players, or within your own land.
Contacts: You have friends within a specific local organization, such as a hospital or a company. You may make reasonable requests to them and have them fulfilled discretely. Mundane organizations only, and requests which are especially expensive, strange, or risky will have a chance of failing.
Superior Mystic Code: You possess an exceptional Mystic Code (this does not count towards your Equipment section) at the highest tier. An example could be a puppet body that could even defensively fight a Servant. Do not include this in your public sheet, as this will be private information.
Finality: A trump card spell, a secret technique of your family. Only older families can have these. An example could be a spell that enforces a honorable duel between two targets, even if the targets are in the classification of Servants. Do not include this in your public sheet, as this will be private information.
Early Summoning: Your master summoned a bit earlier than others during the Grail War. They can summon their servant half a day before the war begins. Include what they did with the Servant, if relevant.
Preparation: Your master arrived a bit early to the Grail War. They took two days to prepare a workshop in advance. Include what preparations they took.
Secured Leyline: Your master arrived and immediately secured an unoccupied leyline. It is only recommended you take this option if you can get 9 other Magi, or have a Servant with magecraft- otherwise you would need outside help to properly make use of the leyline.
Supply Line: Due to support or contacts with an external organization, you will receive backup from an allied organization of your choice. This organization will send wares it has access too. This can take the form of resources, mystic codes, and so on. For this to happen, you must first request the item you want. There is a chance this request may fail depending on the rarity/value of that item (to the organization), or how many times you have recently requested an item.
Support Magi: You arrive with a single (magus) assistant. Every two days (at the start of the day), three more assistants will arrive.
Ruler: You cheated the system and successfully summoned a Ruler-class Servant, violating the rules, and obtaining the most powerful class for a war in the process. The rank of God's Resolution will be lowered due to this, though.
Three Families: You are the representative of one of Fuyuki's Three Families, founders of the Holy Grail War and the only parties to enter the war with your preparations already completed and your house already fortified. You are aware of some of the war's background information that others are not privy to. Choose one of the families below. Each family can only have one representative.
A factory of homunculi whose creators abandoned them, and now pursue the recovery of the Third Magic. They are likely to make use of a homunculus in this war, and are geniuses of creating homunculi, ones who have Magic Circuits surpassing any human. However, they are fundamentally not combatants or killers. They are in possession of the cup known as the Lesser Grail, the destruction of which will ruin the war, and own the Einzbern Castle and the swath of the forest it sits within. The Einzbern Master may summon their Servant in Germany, if they so choose.
A family of insect-users hailing originally hailing from Kiev under the name 'Zolgen', but this is unknown to all but the Tohsaka and Einzbern. They are currently led by Matou Zouken, an enigmatic man who has departed from the city for unknown reasons and left the representative in charge of his estate. They specialize in insect familiars and utilize the attribute of Absorption, but are also skilled in Binding magecraft. They are based out of the Matou manor.
The weakest of the families, and the only of the three families to be considered below-average as magi. They specialize in a mixture of magecraft and martial arts, but have been dipping their toes into jewel magecraft in the last couple of generations. While weak in individual power, the Tohsaka are the formal Second Owners of Fuyuki, possess ties to the True Magician Zelretch, are friendly with the Holy Church. The power of their connections cannot be underestimated. They are based out of the Tohsaka Manor. This is their greatest asset, because unknown to anyone (even themselves), this is the site where the Lesser Grail will materialize at the war's end.
Helpful Information
Knight of the sword, Saber. Swordsman of great power, the 'strongest' combatants. Magic Resistance: Immunity/resistance to a certain level of spells. Riding: Riding mounts, like chariots, cars, or animals.
Knight of the lance, Lancer. The agile spearman. Magic Resistance: Immunity/resistance to a certain level of spells.
Knight of the bow, Archer. Independent Action: Ability to survive for a time even without a Master (Servants without this can only last for a matter of moments if their Master dies). Magic Resistance: Immunity/resistance to a certain level of spells.
Mounted soldier, Rider. Riders of great mounts, whether flesh or wood. Riding: Riding mounts, like chariots, cars, or animals. Magic Resistance: Immunity/resistance to a certain level of spells.
Magus, Caster. Users of magecraft or weavers of wondrous things. Item Construction: Creating magical items. Territory Creation: Creating a magical base.
Silent killer, Assassin. One who can move unseen. Presence Concealment: Lets you become magically undetectable/hard to notice (does not make you invisible on its own).
Mad warrior, Berserker. A crazed battle-monger, or one beset by insanity. Mad Enhancement: Passively increased parameters in exchange for lost sanity.
Living Bulkwark, Gatekeeper. One who defends a space. Fortress Creation: A form of territory creation that focuses on creating a place advantageous for you in battle, rather than making a place advantageous to you as a mage.
Modern Sharpshooter, Gunner. Someone whose skill in firearms is at the peal. Marksmanship: Skill at shooting techniques. Independent Action: Ability to survive for a time even without a Master (Servants without this can only last for a matter of moments if their Master dies).
Master of Battle, Strategist. A master of war. Advice of the Strategist: Understanding situations and giving advice to allies. Command of the Strategist: Bringing forth the maximum power of your army.
Herald of Salvation, Saver. A messiah, a savior. Charisma: Charm and leadership ability for armies/nations. Counter Hero: A being who opposes/denies hero and so is especially strong against them.
Spirit of Vengeance, Avenger. Someone who burns with hatred or is filled with ridiculing love. Avenger: Nature as someone who receives hatred and grudges. Memory Correction: Never forgetting one's grudges. Self-Replenishment: Recovery of a minuscule amount of magical energy passively (minor even at high ranks).
Impartial Moderator, Ruler. Someone who has no wish for the Grail. Magic Resistance: Immunity/resistance to a certain level of spells. True Name Discernment: Ability to see a Servant's abilities/name when meeting them. God's Resolution: Command Spells that can be used on other Servants in the war.
Unnamed Stand-in, Faker. One who existed to pretend at being another. Independent Action: Ability to survive for a time even without a Master (Servants without this can only last for a matter of moments if their Master dies). Disguising: Ability to conceal one's true information (parameters, class) from observers.
A rough measure of your talent as a magus by the Mage's Association. This does not necessarily reflect your Circuits, though having good ones will make being a powerful magus easier. Ranks can be inflated by prestige or politics rather than talent, however. An example of a magus of this caliber is next to each Rank. Rank will be assigned by the GMs around the time of approval.
Grand: Crown (Touko Aozaki) Only a handful of Magi in the existence of the Association have ever reached this point. This is the height of Magecraft in the modern era, a level even the Lords of Clocktower are unlikely to reach. Put simply, monsters in the form of humans.
Brand: Color (Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald) The level of a talented Lord of Clocktower. A true prodigy is at this rank, someone who can revolutionize an entire field of magecraft just by existing. Around the absolute limit of someone like say, Rin Tohsaka. Those truly at the level of Brand in the Clocktower probably number in the couple hundred at most in its entire history.
Pride: Law (Nigel Sayward) Exceptional Magus. Only a handful of Magi in a families entire history may exist at this rank. In fact a family is quite lucky to have such a great magus as their head at all. The difference between "Pride" and "Brand" is like the difference between the Heavens and the Earth below it.
Fes: Festival (Norikata Emiya) A magus who has broken through the barrier that is 'my craft has matured and stabilized' and gotten past that important roadblock. A Fes is nothing to scoff at, if they received the rank from actual talent. In the history of their family, they will definitely be a noteworthy family head.
Cause: Open (Protagonist F/GO) A magus who has fully stabilized their magecraft and its foundation. While this could be considered average, it is genuinely a feat to reach this point at all. Someone at this level is a "matured magus".
Count: Eldest Child (Kiritsugu) Someone who uses magecraft at a level above a greenhorn, but has yet to stabilize their craft properly.
Frame: Youngest Child (Ayaka Sajyou) Someone totally new to magecraft. A bit above the likes of Emiya Shirou, who can barely practice magecraft. At this level it's probably more about theory then actual magecraft.
(As an aside, highly ranked Masters will have their identity made public to other roleplayers.)
Servants: Gilgamesh, Ozymandias, non-Berserker Heracles, joke Servants, Grand candidates in canon, and Servants who are normally unsummonable (Divine Spirits and Grand Order-specific weird cases). This may not an exhaustive list. Servants who we don't have complete materials sheets for will be case-by-case and depend on what we do have. Servants must be born before 1902 AD and must have had their legends form after that of Gilgamesh. Double Summon is not permitted.
Masters: Guidelines are mostly in the sheet already, but in addition, please avoid any Master who can fight a Servant, defensively or not (unless it is through a Superior Mystic Code or Finality). This means a Dead Apostle Master is not allowed, as well.
Command Seals Can be used to temporarily boost the fighting strength of your servant, or bail out of a terrible situation. Additionally, they can be used to give absolute orders to your servant. However, the more vague or long term an order is, the weaker it becomes. Additionally, they can even be used by a master to increase their own abilities temporarily. Command seals have various functions, and some aren't listed here.
It is recommended to be very careful with the wording of your command seal. It takes approximately one second to use a command seal, the same as using a Noble Phantasms True Name.
Actions It takes time to actually complete most tasks. This won't be emphasized much in the roleplay, but it is a guideline to determine exactly how much a character can get done in a given post compared to an enemy if there is a conflict. Basic logic however does apply, so keep that in mind.
However, Servants move at extreme speeds and have varied reaction times, so speed depends on the character. Typically Lancers will outdo Casters when it comes down to burst, melee speed and so on. Keep in mind that even the slowest Servant is easily faster than the fastest human.
This is more relevant for Mages, as magecraft incantations are measured by single actions, bars, and so on. Please refer to CM3 for more information.
Advice There is an faq section of the discord, so please take advantage of it. However, the GMs would also like to avoid propping one side of a fight up against another. Part of losing fights is making mistakes.
Good tactical thinking, creativity, and good RPing should be rewarded in equal measure.
Travel Time With some exceptions for exceptionally fast servants, it is generally best to account for lag time if you wish to participate or intervene in a scene with other characters, even if you are in the same district. This obviously increases if you are in different districts. The roleplay won't be any fun otherwise.
It would be easy to assume Servants can dash everywhere, but travel time also accounts for Servants trying to avoid detection from familiars or others looking for them.
Preparation Time Between night and day, there is usually a timeskip to give a few hours of rest between battles. Use this to establish your workshop, prepare items, send your servant to scout, or any other multitude of actions. If you aren't participating in a days events, you can also take that time to work on various projects.
Defensive Alliances Alliances against a specific foe are a good idea against particularly strong enemies, or a super-bloc that forms. If there is in character motivation to do so and you desire to win the Holy Grail War, it is recommended you take advantage of this diplomatic option. Strong enemies that you cannot defeat now should always be your initial target, and multiple weak servants can take down even the strongest servant with planning and teamwork.
Sometimes, it takes an angry mob to win a Grail War too.
Scouting/Roaming It is recommended that you constantly scout for enemy workshops and bases as much as possible. This can be done by sending your servant out to scout the map over timeskips or during an active phase. Just message the GM, and they can give you the results of your scouting. From there, you can attack a discovered enemy or return to base with your newfound knowledge.
Super-Alliance A super-bloc is most likely inevitable in this RP, so it is recommended that you prepare to band together against it when that happens. Simply allowing them free reign will not help your chances of survival, let alone winning.
Inactivity Simply hiding in your base the entire war is not recommended as Caster or the average master. Eventually, your base will be found and stormed. It is recommended you establish objectives and work toward them while you still have the advantage of not being found. This means that outside of a few exceptions, you should be on the offensive.
Additionally, if a large bloc(or powerful singular pair) forms but refuses to take action and is passive for too long a time, there will be dire in character consequences for them.
I said this in the rules, but just to be extra clear, this roleplay will contain mature themes such as violence and death, so it isn't for all players. Please only state interest if you're okay with those sorts of things being present.
A lot of the ideas here, such as the Exceptional Benefit system and using magus ranks in the sheet, are not my original ideas and are taken from Fate roleplays that were run by @Red Alice, because I thought they seemed like the makings of a fun system. I've requested permission to use them via PM, but they don't seem to have logged on recently. Just want to have this here, since it feels scummy to use someone's ideas without crediting them.
Edit: @BB has just requested Einzbern, so that covers the three families! If anyone would also like to vie for one of those slots, it's probably best to talk it out with them.
Just for the record, I'll be trying to get the OOC up a little bit later today, and the more formal application process will be kicking into gear then. I'm also looking for a co-GM, so if you'd be interested in that, shoot me a PM and we can chat about that!
Edit: Also, if anyone has interest in playing the Einzbern or Matou representative, let me know! Cu Chulainn's already asked for the Tohsaka. If nobody wants them then no biggie.
The only valkyries summonable with the summoning system we're using would be ones who've lost their divinity, like Brynhildr, so you can use her or a similar case if you can find one!
Sending out preliminary reviews for submitted characters now, via PMs!
@Esailia, I'm sorry for the inconvenience and hope you haven't put too much time into thinking about the sheet yet, but Arke is a Divine Spirit, and so is ineligible for application here.
@Crusader Lord I personally don't think Houyi qualifies for Saver in any light, really, so I'll have to say no to that. Another, more pressing issue, is that we do have somebody currently working on an Archer Houyi as well.
If he never went berserk or anything resembling such, then it's hard to just shoehorn him into Berserker. We do have a full fourteen classes available for your selection, though, so I'm sure you can find something suitable!
@Crusader Lord A savior in the sense of a messiah sort of figure is fine. Someone who saves people by eradicating a great evil like a monster is more general, as I see it, though- if that was the case, the vast majority of Age of Gods heroes would qualify for Saver.
I'll be trying to get out preliminary reviews on the sheets I've received so far by this evening!
Happy New Year, everyone! Character sheets and some additional information's now been added to the OP, and I've added a small disclaimer at the bottom since a lot of the more novel ideas in the character sheets are not my own original creations. At people's request, I've also made a rough banlist for Masters and Servants.
If you have any questions, let me know!
Edit: I'll probably be making the OOC in the next couple of days, but feel free to send in sheets before then if you're so inclined! I'll only be doing preliminary reviews until the OOC is up, though.
