Post by DreadLasagnaArchduke on Apr 1, 2018 16:11:59 GMT
FATE/ENDLESS DESTINY
For many hundreds of years, tournaments have been fought between mages in order to have a wish granted by the legendary Holy Grail. Every fifty years or so, seven mages chosen by the Grail will meet and fight amongst each other with Heroic Spirits, with the last one standing earning the right to the wish granted by it. In the town of Dust Springs, the time has come again for a Holy Grail War to be fought, and only time will tell how events unfold.
The Plot
The year is 201X, sixty years after the previous Holy Grail War, of which most records have been lost. Unexpectedly, Command Seals begin appearing on people, signaling the start of another Grail War, to be held in an obscure American town without much prior notice. As per usual, the selected mages are expected to arrive and battle for the opportunity to have their wish granted, or for whatever other motivation they have in mind, despite the fact that this largely seems like it could be a trap. Whatever anyone or anything’s reason in this, it’s sure to be entertaining.
The Setting
Dust Springs, New Mexico was founded in 1905 by Elias Dust in an attempt to defraud investors in his western lands. Somehow, a town came out of it and experienced modest growth, while others had the same idea as the founder and came bringing industry and development, once again succeeding for a while before everyone forgot why they bothered with the land. Most of the town’s history for the next century or so would follow the same basic formula with slight variations. Still alive after all this time, the town is now home to the latest Holy Grail War, and probably not going anywhere even if you ask nicely.
Important Locations in Our Wonderful City:
Commercial District - Where most of the town’s development and attempts at development occurred, this cultural center is home to the Zebediahs Roquefort Memorial Shopping Mall, boasting three stories and a movie theater, as well as an assortment of luxury shops and restaurants! The surrounding area is likewise where most of the townspeople choose to make their livings, owning and operating gift shops, fast food franchises, and almost whatever else you could possibly want. If it’s not there, chances are someone will set up a stand for it once they notice.
Amusement District - Dusty Waters Splash-O-Rama is one of the town’s prime attractions, especially popular during the summer. The water park has received several favorable reviews from local news stations and is one of the most popular in the state! On top of that, there’s a rollercoaster park, another movie theater, and even more specialty shops, as well as at least three laser tag places, five bowling alleys, a few motels, and probably more bars. Bring the kids, they’ll love it!
Administrative District - Probably not as exciting as the others, the administrative district is one of the most important parts of the town, pumping blood to all the others. The palatial Dust Springs Town Hall houses the town’s courts, legislature, and mayor’s office, as well as the records office and most things relating to the town itself. Branch headquarters for companies with locations in the town are also here, as are other public services, such as the library, the hospital, the auditorium, and the rec center.
Residential District - The town’s other other lifeblood, the people! Those who don’t live out of the motels live here in Dust Springs’ scenic homes and apartment buildings, as well as the Grand Dust Hotel, with affordable rates and discounts offered on tickets for the Splash-O-Rama and other local attractions for guests. Heloise Dust High School, as well as the town’s other proud education institutions, are a short walk, drive, or bus ride away from people’s homes, as are award-winning playgrounds and parks.
Important Background Information
The RP is unrelated to series canon, so you’re not required to know much about it except for the basics of how it works, which I’ll explain below.
Masters are mages who fight in the Holy Grail War through the use of a Servant, in order to have a wish fulfilled by the Grail. Their ability in magic can range from extremely limited to expert, with ordinary people sometimes having the capabilities within them due to mage bloodline.
Servants are Heroic Spirits, legendary, mythical, or historical figures summoned by a mage to fight in the Holy Grail War, and are bound to them by a contract. Masters use their magical energies, or mana, to supply power to their Servants and allow them to manifest in order to fight for them.
As part of the contract, the Master is equipped with Command Seals, symbols on the Master's hand allowing them to issue three commands that the Servant must follow, willingly or unwillingly. Once a command has been issued, one of the symbols fades. When all three have faded, the Servant is no longer under the Master's control, and the Master is no longer an official participant in the Grail War.
Noble Phantasms are a Servant's most powerful ability. It acts as a representation of their legend or myth, and can be extremely powerful. Noble Phantasms may be weapons, attacks, alterations to the environment, spells, and even more. They are not to be used lightly, and are usually kept a secret until the right time.
There are seven Servant classes, only one of each which can be summoned in most Grail Wars:
-Sabers are armed with a sword or other powerful blade, often a mythical weapon associated with their legend.
-Lancers tend to fight with lances or other polearms, sometimes related to their legend or myth.
-Archers are armed with projectile weapons, sometimes bows, though oftentimes they are firearms or unconventional weapons.
-Casters are sorcerers and experts in magecraft, rarely fighting in direct combat and favoring the use of spells.
-Riders may utilize many different weapons, but make use of some form of riding mount in their combat, whether a vehicle, animal, or otherwise.
-Assassins, like Casters, avoid direct attacks, preferring to use stealth and deception to take out their targets, much of the time targeting Masters rather than Servants.
-Berserkers are powerful but unpredictable and difficult to control, and have legends related to their having gone mad during their lives.
Servants are Heroic Spirits, legendary, mythical, or historical figures summoned by a mage to fight in the Holy Grail War, and are bound to them by a contract. Masters use their magical energies, or mana, to supply power to their Servants and allow them to manifest in order to fight for them.
As part of the contract, the Master is equipped with Command Seals, symbols on the Master's hand allowing them to issue three commands that the Servant must follow, willingly or unwillingly. Once a command has been issued, one of the symbols fades. When all three have faded, the Servant is no longer under the Master's control, and the Master is no longer an official participant in the Grail War.
Noble Phantasms are a Servant's most powerful ability. It acts as a representation of their legend or myth, and can be extremely powerful. Noble Phantasms may be weapons, attacks, alterations to the environment, spells, and even more. They are not to be used lightly, and are usually kept a secret until the right time.
There are seven Servant classes, only one of each which can be summoned in most Grail Wars:
-Sabers are armed with a sword or other powerful blade, often a mythical weapon associated with their legend.
-Lancers tend to fight with lances or other polearms, sometimes related to their legend or myth.
-Archers are armed with projectile weapons, sometimes bows, though oftentimes they are firearms or unconventional weapons.
-Casters are sorcerers and experts in magecraft, rarely fighting in direct combat and favoring the use of spells.
-Riders may utilize many different weapons, but make use of some form of riding mount in their combat, whether a vehicle, animal, or otherwise.
-Assassins, like Casters, avoid direct attacks, preferring to use stealth and deception to take out their targets, much of the time targeting Masters rather than Servants.
-Berserkers are powerful but unpredictable and difficult to control, and have legends related to their having gone mad during their lives.
If there are other questions relating to this, I’d be glad to help answer it or redirect you to an appropriate wiki article.
Gameplay
As this is a Holy Grail War, much of the flow will be dictated by the actions of its participants. Once Servants are summoned, Masters are free to hunt down others, fight, explore the town, investigate mysterious occurrences, and whatever else strikes their fancy. Events will probably occur throughout, though the precise nature of them remains to be seen. NPCs and specific locations will be available to interact with and can be created as needed. Player interaction is obviously going to be a big thing, so feel free to form alliances, rivalries, and what have you.
Combat will be RP’d out, and while Servants are by nature overpowered, the usual rules against godmodding and railroading apply. Losing a fight does not necessarily mean death, though do try to be reasonable about it.
If a Servant dies, their Master is eliminated from the Holy Grail War, but may continue to interact with others and affect the Grail War from outside. In some cases, they may even take on Servants whose Masters have died, though this is not usual.
There’ll probably be a day and night system implemented depending on activity and how much happens within a particular period of time.
The Rules
-One Master and one Servant per player.
-Masters and Servants can and will die. If a Servant dies, their Master is eliminated from the Holy Grail War. However, that doesn’t mean that Master's story is over, as they can continue to be involved with things.
-No canon characters, though I may allow variations of canon Servants depending on the circumstances.
-Cooperate with other players when writing out combat stuff, plan out the outcome if it helps.
-Further Servant-related guidelines will follow below, but as a general rule, make sure you can justify them as a Heroic Spirit and you should be fine.
-The RP is planned to have six participants excluding myself, though I may consider more depending on interest.
Servant Guidelines
-No canon Servants, a list of which can be found on the wiki page linked here.
-Servants should have some sort of myth or legendary status behind them or their story.
-As a general rule, nobody who would be alive within the last hundred years should be a Servant, though depending on the circumstances I might be willing to make exceptions.
-Fictional character Servants are allowed, but they should have a significant legend attached to them, and the previous hundred years rule still applies.
-Divine Spirits, i.e. gods and the like, will most likely not be allowed, though demi-gods and similar figures could qualify.
-Most important about these guidelines is that they're guidelines! Aside from the canon Servants rule, I'm willing to make exceptions to most of these if they can be properly justified. Feel free to get creative as far as backstory and appearance goes, as the series does take creative liberties with many of the historical figures, sometimes even genderswapping them.
The Applications
You can DM these to me on the forum or on Discord, ideally in a Google Doc but not necessarily.
Mage App:
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Nationality:
Appearance:
Personality:
Backstory:
Magical Abilities:
Other:
Motivation for Fighting:
Servant App:
Class:
Heroic Spirit:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance:
Personality:
Backstory:
Weapons and Abilities:
Noble Phantasm:
Other:
Motivation for Fighting:
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Nationality:
Appearance:
Personality:
Backstory:
Magical Abilities:
Other:
Motivation for Fighting:
Servant App:
Class:
Heroic Spirit:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance:
Personality:
Backstory:
Weapons and Abilities:
Noble Phantasm:
Other:
Motivation for Fighting:
For any other questions or concerns, you can reach me through Discord or here.