*Fate/Heaven's Gate*
RP IRC: #FateHG
IC thread
Welcome to Fuyuki City, home to the esoteric ritual called Heaven's Feel, where magi battle to the death with the spirits of legendary heroes at their side in the quest to gain the Holy Grail.
It is January 16, 2007 AD, two weeks prior to the beginning of the Fifth Grail War. Those who know of the ritual (the Association, the Einzberns, the Tohsaka, and Makiri) have begun hasty preparations to head to Fuyuki City and summon a Servant, as the lure of a wish and nigh-infinite power is tempting beyond all reason.
But such has attracted the notice of other powers, and machinations beyond mundane understanding have been set into motion.
Premise:
You (a member of Beast's Lair) awaken to find yourself in a different body - that of one of the assigned masters of the Holy Grail War (or closely associated character), two weeks before the outbreak of battle. You are not entirely yourself, nor are you entirely the character whose body you wear, as something of a merger of minds has happened.
You possess whatever canonical knowledge and abilities the character did, PLUS anything your RL self might bring to the table, so make good use of the two weeks you have to prepare for the war. Train, search for a catalyst, make friends and connections, dispatch your enemies - but be warned, should you go too far out of character, those around you may notice and the resident personality may intervene.
So open your magic circuit, and choose your partner. Put shape to mind, images to fantasy - know power, and become glorious.
Available characters:
Magi:
Shirou Emiya (open)
Rin Tohsaka (Dark Pulse)
Matou Sakura (open)
Luvia Edelfelt (TheMegas)
Ayaka Sajyou (mangafreak7793)
Bazett Fraga McRemitz (open)
Illyasaviel von Einzbern (open)
Other:
Ayako Mitsuzuri (Kuroyuki)
Shinji Matou (open)
Issei Ryuudou (Caster)
Yumizuka Satsuki (EnigmaticFellow)
Kuzuki Souchirou (Milbunk)
GM Controlled:
Anything else not listed
Notes:
* Illya is the one character who cannot change her Servant
** Shinji may obtain temporary circuits via the Kariya method, but it will kill him by war's end.
*** Issei has some training as a monk, which may help, but not on the level of full magecraft.
On being out of character: You are a merger between you and the canon character, so you can do some things the character wouldn't within reason (like having a bit more restraint or such). Just don't do something extreme like having Shirou become an evil douche who lives to cause misery, ok? Use your judgement.
IMPORTANT! A number of new mechanics will be introduced to make things fairer and more interesting:
Personal Profile: Where you list out the abilities and skills *you the player* came with, as distinct from your host. You will also list out the 10 pieces of Nasuverse lore you are bringing with you. Certain abilities may be shared, certain may only be used when you are in control (due to incompatibility), and most will affect the integration vs rejection level. Do you want to build yourself as similar to the host? Completely separate? Rely on cooperation and facilitate their strengths? Take mental resistance and attempt to dominate? The choice is yours! PM me for details.
Boons and Geases (non-magi): Pretty much lifted wholesale from Usandru's F/HG version on Spacebattles. As a special opportunity for those that need the reassurance of more Power or more Knowledge, it is possible to enter a Contract during the insertion, with whatever entity or force has brought you to Fuyuki. Such a Contract should be considered carefully, as they come with a cost that some may not be prepared to pay...
The Contract is such that any non-Magi may request a Boon, of Power or Knowledge. They will then be offered a Geas that they must accept to enter the Contract, with a collateral that will be taken should they fail. No collateral can be reused... except for one's life. Should the Geas be refused, no more Boons will be granted, though the previous ones will remain. Boons will stack, more giving appropriately greater advantages. Equally, the Geas will grow in difficulty, and the collateral must grow appropriately in worth as well. Specific Boon will have a higher cost...
Remember too that the Contract must be acceptable both for yourself and your host, or it may be rejected...
Gamechanger (magi): Magi, with their power levels, are not eligible for the boons and geas system, but may accept a Gamechanger, giving them an abilitythat grants significant power, with major in-world drawbacks. While there will be no geasa they are compelled to obey, rest assured there is a balance of a sort. Gamechangers will be offered to the player by the GM at the time of character selection and may include things such as demonic ancestry, possession by ancient vampiric wraiths or other such.
Ego Points - Integration vs Rejection: Since you are a foreign spiritual entity being transplanted into the vessel of your host, there are two risks to keep in mind. The first is complete rejection, where the host casts you out into the screaming Void, leading to player death. The second of course, is being subsumed by the host personality entirely and losing all individuality, again leading to payer death. They are two opposite sides of a spectrum, and can be affected by the actions you take, the abilities you hold, and the way you interact with the character. Note that the closer one is to rejection, the fewer abilities can be shared and less communication will take place. The closer one is to being subsumed, the easier it will be to draw upon the host's skills and abilities and vice versa...
With Ego Points (which regenerate each day and increase as you move towards rejection), you may be able to take control of an unwilling host for a time, boost it against a third party's attacks, or overcome the inte/share abilities, but the first moves you towards rejection, and the second and third towards full integration. Keep in mind that this is an increasingly unstable system as you move towards an extreme - the further you push a host in one direction, the larger the gains from any subsequent push in that direction...
Social/Concept Link: In the Nasuverse, who and what you Link yourself with is important. If you form a Link to a person , interactions with that person may be easier - and you may be able to push past certain limits when doing something for that person's sake (Shirou's attachment to Sakura, as an example). Similarly, you may Link to a concept or ideal (like...Swords or Justice) that grant bonuses to activities in line with those concepts, but penalize actions that go against them. Note that your host already has certain links (One may be say...an Ally of Justice) and that having your Links align with theirs will lead to powerful synergies of action (and make it easier for the host to agree), while Links in opposition may effectively neutralize one another.
Character Alternates: Given how by virtue of your participation, this Grail War itself has become an AU, I am willing to use certain AU traits for your hosts - usually in terms of specialized abilities or attitudes. Rough power level and ability will remain similar to canon. If these are available when you choose a character, I will PM you the variant names and brief description, and you may choose one if you wish.
Rejoice Beast's Lair, for thy wishes...may be granted!