Fate/rebirth: the Grail Must Be Destroyed

[GaiTavMag]

OPEN on the GRAIL, in its traditional image of a jeweled cup.

NARRATOR (V.O): The Holy Grail War.

Three silhouetted human figures rise into the shot, surrounding the Grail: a central white one with red eyes, a red one with teal eyes on the right, and a black one with purple eyes on the right. Each holds one hand above the cup.

N: The year is 1848. Three of the great families of magi, each in possession of great power and forbidden lore have pooled their knowledge in an effort to reach Akasha; the Root of All Worlds. The source of all knowledge...and of all power.

Rotate to the black interior of the Grail, as cards fly out from it, bearing the images of warriors: a knight with a sword, a lightly armored spearman, an archer with bow drawn back, a charioteer, an old man in a hooded cloak with a long white beard, a man in black with a skull mask and a naked man with he head of a wolf. Each one goes across the screen for a second.

N: Central to this great ritual were seven Heroic Spirits, legendary people alive yet again, summoned by seven magi. Each Heroic Spirit was to be a Servant to his summoner, to fight-

Silhouette of a swordsman fighting a lancer, being forced apart by a fireball from a wizard.

N: -to kill-

The swordsman cuts down the lancer and the wizard.

N: -to die at their command.

The swordsman struggles with an unseen force, falling to his knees and then his face, fading away. More such scenes, of fighting and death, are described through silhouette.

N: Three times, the ritual failed; the lure of power led to betrayal and strife. Its original purpose was left by the wayside; such power was, in effect, whatever the winner of these small but fierce wars desired. But there were no winners to be found.

SMASH CUT to the GRAIL. It overflows with black sludge that slowly fills the screen.

N: The Fourth Holy Grail War was the bloodiest yet...and for the least gain of all. The Fifth was a small, short, desperate affair that exposed the truth: the Grail was broken. Corrupted from within, and rotten to the core.

Golden light fills the screen, along with a sound of a choir. It fades away to a blasted hill, with birdsong.

N: So it was destroyed. But the ambition of mages is not so easily sated. The year is 2014. The remnants of the Grail are enough for one last War. Instead of seven Magi and Heroes all against each other, they are united against the Grail, seeking to smash the cursed chalice for good.

SMASH CUT to black and silence.

N: In theory.

__________________________________________________ ____________________________________


Amateur scriptwriting exercises aside, in this Campaign, the PC's will be Heroic Spirits, legends with super-powerful weapons and skills based around their deeds in life and in tale, summoned by modern Magi to destroy a cursed artifact that can grant any wish...though destruction.

System is Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition. PL is 12. Masters will be NPCs, and not necessarily telling you the truth. Three Servants have already been summoned by the time the game begins, but, for reasons I'll explain once I'm sure we'll have 4 players, all Classes are available.

For people wanting in on this, I want three things:

A Legend. Who are you? Any historical figure from World War II or earlier is fair game, as is any literary or mythological character from 1915 or earlier. No Servants from any canon Fate work, though; I want original material here.

Spoiler

Show

Except Robin Hood. There were a dozen people that took the name Robin Hood in my Nasuverse head canon. I may even allow multiples.

A Class. What can you do? There are seven classes, each representing a field of expertise:

Saber, a swordsman without peers (except other people that qualify for the class), often having the best base abilities of any class and always having an awesome sword,

Archer, master of long range (not necessarily with a bow), often possessing the most varied skill set of all classes,

Lancer, master of polearms, often the best class defensively with high speed and endurance,

Rider, master of beasts (or vehicles), often possessing the most powerful weapons of any class, living or otherwise,

Berserker, a class that trades sanity for power,

Caster, master of magic lost to mankind,

Assassin, master of stealth and ambush.

A Twist. What did history or myth get wrong? How are you making this character your own? What do you want?

Any non-spoiler questions will be answered. I choose the 4 most compelling pitches on Saturday, and the game starts Monday.

Proceed.

[cybric]

Color me interested I'll get to work on a character after work.

[WrathOfLife]

Interested but at work. I'm thinking either a lancer or assassin. Maybe a misunderstood Jack the Ripper.

[GaiTavMag]

Interested but at work. I'm thinking either a lancer or assassin. Maybe a misunderstood Jack the Ripper.

Actually, that's been done. Assassin...and a mentally unstable 11-year-old girl.

Yeah. It's just as creepy as it sounds.

[zabbarot]

Interested in playing Captain Ahab as Berserker.

[GaiTavMag]

Interested in playing Captain Ahab as Berserker.

Nice concept. Moby **** is actually confirmed to exist in the Nasuverse, and as a very powerful magical creature, at that. What's the Twist?

EDIT: You're kidding me. I guess the forum censorbot can't grok context.

[DrakeRaids]

No chance to play as a master?

[cybric]

Rider sounds interesting as a class. I like the agility theme. Could fenrir or Spartacus it into there?

[GaiTavMag]

No chance to play as a master?

Nope. Sorry. I learned the hard way not to mix power levels.

Rider sounds interesting as a class. I like the agility theme. Could fenrir or Spartacus it into there?

If you can come up with a twist for it, sure. Might want to go with the gladiator instead of apocalypse wolf.

[DoctorFaust]

Oh hells yes. Probably going to try and put together a Saber, likely Miyamoto Musashi, with his backstory pretty much being exactly what it was in real life.

As for the twist, he was actually a woman, bewitched to posses some of the physical traits of a man because of the prejudice in feudal Japan against female Samurai.

Except not really. I'll probably try to think of something decent once I've made the sheet.

[GaiTavMag]

Oh hells yes. Probably going to try and put together a Saber, likely Miyamoto Musashi, with his backstory pretty much being exactly what it was in real life.

As for the twist, he was actually a woman, bewitched to posses some of the physical traits of a man because of the prejudice in feudal Japan against female Samurai.

Except not really. I'll probably try to think of something decent once I've made the sheet.

Hey, I've seen worse ideas. I've had worse ideas. Granted, the same applies to better ideas, but it's the execution that matters.

Still, famous historical figure being secretly a woman? Been done. By a principle Fate character.

[DoctorFaust]

Hey, I've seen worse ideas. I've had worse ideas. Granted, the same applies to better ideas, but it's the execution that matters.

Still, famous historical figure being secretly a woman? Been done. By a principle Fate character.

I know. At least three characters were genderbends that I can remember, all of them Sabers. Though that idea was supposed to be a joke.

[GaiTavMag]

I know. At least three characters were genderbends that I can remember, all of them Sabers. Though that idea was supposed to be a joke.

What does it say about the universe were working in that I completely failed to understand that that was a joke?

[DoctorFaust]

What does it say about the universe were working in that I completely failed to understand that that was a joke?

That it's a common enough trope that it wouldn't be out of the ordinary?

[GaiTavMag]

That it's a common enough trope that it wouldn't be out of the ordinary?

That'd be it.

[DoctorFaust]

Actually, I thought of a decent twist that fits with his wandering nature. He's actually a Counter Guardian. Had he not made a contract with the world for power, he would have been an entirely unremarkable person, and he knows it.

[zabbarot]

Did you want concepts or completed characters by Saturday?

If you're picking concepts early on Saturday I can sit down and grind out a character before Monday. I doubt I'll have time for that before the weekend though.

[cybric]

Spartacus it is. It would be kinda funny if he had a power that had illusions that shouted "No I'M SPARTACUS!" causing havoc at times lol

[Sephir]

Quite interested. Could i roll characters from LoTR, since it's written before 1915 ? I'm particularly interested in Fingolfin. Probably a saber class, or a rider

[Mathemagics]

Spartacus it is. It would be kinda funny if he had a power that had illusions that shouted "No I'M SPARTACUS!" causing havoc at times lol

Spartacus already exists within the Fate continuity as Berserker of Red in Fate/Apocrypha unfortunately.


I have no prior experience with this game system, but given my interest in the Fate/Stay Night series I'll see about putting something together. I have enough concepts for potential characters that I'll probably never get the chance to use them all, so it may take a bit to come up with something I'd be happy with.

As a question though, how do you plan to handle Masters? It sounds like we'd only be creating Servant characters? I ask because in certain cases I'd find a particular Servant concept to be far more interesting to play based on what kind of Master they'd have been summoned by.

Edit: Also, just to know all the options, is the Grail still corrupted so as to allow the summoning of evil-aligned heroic spirits?

[Sephir]

Just asking, how will you insert prana in the system ?

[DoctorFaust]

And actually, how are you going to do the prana form?

[zabbarot]

Quite interested. Could i roll characters from LoTR, since it's written before 1915 ? I'm particularly interested in Fingolfin. Probably a saber class, or a rider

LoTR was published in 1954. Even the Hobbit wasn't published until 1937.

[Randal_Aldent]

Sir Issac Newton as Caster. He was a brilliant alchemist in his time, but all of his famous discoveries were stolen from other people through his use of magic.

[DoctorFaust]

Alright, my Saber is done, more or less. I'll probably stick a few more complications on there as I think of them.

[Grim ranger]

Interested in this, but already bogged down with writing tons of other profiles. Still, if I manage to acquire time for writing one, so interested that it hurts.

[cybric]

Cao Cao then?

[delta639]

Did you want concepts or completed characters by Saturday?

If you're picking concepts early on Saturday I can sit down and grind out a character before Monday. I doubt I'll have time for that before the weekend though.

Interested in the game and setting, but I'd like to know this too. Going to be pretty busy until the weekend, but I can probably put something up on Saturday if not before it.

Not as sure about a concept yet, I have a few ideas but none I'm entirely satisfied with. (Considering Genghis Khan as an Archer-class, Aleister Crowley as a Caster, and Blackbeard or the Headless Horseman as a Rider. Or on the fictional side, maybe Faust as a Caster or Princess Kaguya as...something.)

[Batpope Scott]

Posting as Camilla, the Archer. Old Roman heroine who killed any man who stood before her. Unfortunately one of those men got the idea to shoot her from hiding.

I'm thinking her twist will be is that the mighty Camilla is actually fairly young and timid. The stories played up her stature so much to emphasize how much respect she deserved as a mighty warrior.

[GaiTavMag]

I only need concepts, codified. Like so

Legend:

Class:

Twist:

In fact, it's a little gun-jumpy to make a sheet so soon. I like to work with players on stuff like that.

Actually, I thought of a decent twist that fits with his wandering nature. He's actually a Counter Guardian. Had he not made a contract with the world for power, he would have been an entirely unremarkable person, and he knows it.

...perfect. Codify that into a list as I put it, and you'll have the first completed concept. The sheet is fine, but if (very small if, at this rate) you get in I'd like to talk about it.

Spartacus already exists within the Fate continuity as Berserker of Red in Fate/Apocrypha unfortunately.


I have no prior experience with this game system, but given my interest in the Fate/Stay Night series I'll see about putting something together. I have enough concepts for potential characters that I'll probably never get the chance to use them all, so it may take a bit to come up with something I'd be happy with.

As a question though, how do you plan to handle Masters? It sounds like we'd only be creating Servant characters? I ask because in certain cases I'd find a particular Servant concept to be far more interesting to play based on what kind of Master they'd have been summoned by.

Edit: Also, just to know all the options, is the Grail still corrupted so as to allow the summoning of evil-aligned heroic spirits?

Ah. I had forgotten about that. I haven't heard of Cao Cao being used so go ahead on that.

Only Servants. No mixed power groups; it never ends well. Masters are NPCs; I'd welcome some input on basic character traits, but their actions are up to me.

And yes, the Grail that the central plot of the entire campaign is destroying is still corrupted.

Just asking, how will you insert prana in the system ?

A standard issue Complication, should the lack of it come up at all.

Sir Issac Newton as Caster. He was a brilliant alchemist in his time, but all of his famous discoveries were stolen from other people through his use of magic.

Love it; list it by Legend, Class, Twist.