[FF] Reign of Winter I - Lost in the Snow (Grail Works, Ltd.: Type-Moon/Pathfinder/Multi-X-over)

[Kieran]

Doesn't ring a bell.

He's more detailed in the Pathfinder Adventure Path Reign of Winter (and in the Irrisen splat).

No wonder. I barely even know the title much less the characters.

Yeah, that does sound like a problem, doesn't it?

He is mentioned in the chapter itself - and earlier on in the story, as the one Rider the Irriseni forces have failed to capture/eliminate. More detail will be forthcoming, however, when he gets where he's going; not only because he has an importance to this part of the story, but because I/Kurai actually know some of the folklore surrounding Baba Yaga, and the contrast between that and how it's represented here will be noted.

[Xamusel]

Er, Kieran, I hate to necro this thread, but... well, when's the next update for this or any of your other stories?

[Kieran]

Does it count as a necropost if you ask a genuine question, and the author's around to answer, I wonder . . .?

With luck, I'll have the next chapter of "Trinity" finished and posted this weekend - which means I can then go back to working on this. The later segments should be interesting, now that I've an idea of where and how my game version is going to go off the Adventure Path's rails . . .

[Xamusel]

Oh, good, I was honestly worried about that.

Still... how do you plan to take it off the rails?

[Kieran]

Oh, good, I was honestly worried about that.

Still... how do you plan to take it off the rails?

That would be telling . . .




DISCLAIMER: Lunar Legend Tsukihime, Fate/Stay Night, and all related characters and concepts are the creation and property of Kinoko Nasu and TYPE-MOON, along with whomever they’ve happened to license them to, such as Geneon and Funimation. The Pathfinder RPG and the “Reign of Winter” Adventure Path, along with all related characters and concepts, are the creation and property of Paizo Publishing and its employees. Disney’s “Frozen” and all related characters and concepts are the creation and property of Walt Disney Animation and its employees.

Additional Disclaimer: This chapter contains dialogue from the Pathfinder Adventure Module “Reign of Winter: The Snows of Summer.” No copyright infringement is intended by its usage.

This is a not-for-profit, just-for-fun project.




The Kingdom of Arendelle



Ilyasviel was lost to shock, or something like it, for several minutes. Her brain was stuck on a loop that kept repeating variations of the same phrase.

That stupid, arrogant, self-sacrificing, scruffy-looking, tofu-brained . . .

She struggled for a moment to come up with an appropriate term for him, unable to choose between the many, many accurate options, before settling on one.

IDIOT . . .!

And, as further proof that his obsession with “Star Wars” had wormed its way into her brain, a snarky approximation of Kurai’s voice immediately replied from the back of her mind, “Who’s ‘scruffy-looking?’”

Under normal circumstances, she would happily leave him to his fate – partly out of spite, and partly because sacrifice was a core concept among magi. She didn’t really have a reason to be attached to him, or his life, and even if she had, as a magus it would be expected of her to be able to disregard that in furtherance of her goals: in this case, her continued survival. And given that he had chosen to sacrifice himself so that they – and she – could escape, that would normally be all right . . .

. . . Except that her major goal beyond survival was to get home, to Onii-chan — and Kurai, (or at least, the people he was apparently connected to) was the most likely possibility she had right now for pulling that off.

So really, there was only one thing she could do, wasn’t there?

Ilyasviel jumped off the sled and darted back the way they’d come, heedless of the others’ cries of alarm. She ran as fast and as long as she could, noting more evidence that while she was in a lot better shape than she’d been as an elementary school student, it was definitely below what would be expected of a Heroic Spirit. Hopefully, though, she’d still be enough to keep Kurai from getting killed —

At the top of the path, she stopped dead in her tracks, momentarily dazzled by a blinding flare of light. When her vision finally cleared, she could see Kurai in the midst of dodging sword swings from some dark-haired guy. That was enough to galvanise her into summoning her blades; but before she could throw them, she caught a glimpse of something from the corner of her eye that made her switch targets.

Specifically, two skeletons, engulfed in clouds of frost — skeletons that were walking out of the lodge . . .





Rohkar heard the devastation before he saw the results; that many screams were too difficult to miss. However, it wasn’t until he saw its results that he understood just what he lost: his prisoner, his entire band — and any chance that Queen Elvanna, her White Witches, or whomever he would answer to, would let him live.

He could run, but he had no idea where he was, or what sort of resources he might be able to find here. Thus far, he’d seen little of what there was to this place, and that little did not inspire confidence that it would be able stand up to the might of Irrisen. The land was small and isolated, true, but Baba Yaga had, according to legend, created the Demon Lord Kosticheche, the god of the frost giants — and Elvanna had defeated her.

Considering the involvement of that level of power . . . Even death wouldn’t be enough to escape Irrisen’s reach — or its queen’s wrath.

Black despair and red fury mingled within his frame, igniting into white-hot rage. And with a stroke of fortune that seemed almost an insult compared to what he’d just lost, a perfect target for that rage literally dropped out of the sky.

His first swing was sloppy; even after taking the fall, the boy managed to avoid it. And he was a boy — some sorcerer pup, perhaps, with that power? Whatever it was, he showed no sign of unleashing it a second time. Indeed, judging by the trembling and uncertainty in his movement, doing whatever he had was draining in the extreme.

Good. Let him die, helpless and hopeless, as Rohkar was going to; then, Rohkar would raise him from the dead, so that his true suffering could begin —

The world suddenly went white — and cold.








It was stupid, it was suicidal and worse, it was stereotypical — but stereotype or not, the man inside Kurai’s youthful frame had spent his childhood in the part of his province of Canada known as “the snow belt”.

As such, the manoeuvre was as much born of reflex as desperation: he quickly crushed a handful of snow into a crude ball, and flung it at his attacker. That he hit the man at all, let alone hit him in the face, was down to a large smattering of luck, and the fact that his hand-eye coordination in this body was far better than it had been previously.

And that the man’s mouth had been open at the time was simply icing on the cake.

In a too-familiar gesture, Kurai’s attacker began gagging, as snow suddenly clogged his esophagus and nasal passages. Kurai would’ve been sympathetic, remembering the condition himself, if the guy hadn’t been trying to kill him at the time. As it was, he quickly climbed to his feet, and unleashed a textbook-perfect double punch and frontal kick combination that would’ve earned praise from his old karate instructor.

The first shot landed in his throat, the second was aimed for the solar plexus, and he went for the groin with the final attack. Any one of those blows could’ve taken the swordsman out of the fight; as it was, all three together had him curled up in a ball of gagging, wheezing agony, which Kurai quickly silenced with a vicious stomp to the temple.

“Hah! I know kung fu!”” he crowed, as the man went limp. Then he blinked, as the implications hit him. “Wait — what?”

Yeah, he’d taken karate lessons, and from an instructor that required you to earn a white belt (the otherwise-standard beginner’s rank) . . . But even accounting for the increased effectiveness of his new physique, that had been over twenty years ago — realistically, there was no way he ought to be this good, was there?

I really wish I could get a look at my character sheet, he thought, grimacing. I know this is a D&D-compatible world, but without some idea of how I’m ranked and/or represented . . .

He sighed. Even in the normal world, before I ever found that shop, or the Works, I had a better idea of what I could or couldn’t do. But this body isn’t mine or Kieran’s, so I’m basically flying blind with every action and encounter—

“Kurai!” cried a desperate voice. “Could I get a little help here?”

His head snapped disbelievingly in the call’s direction. Kuro?!

Sure enough, the little imp was dashing through the snow (without the benefit of a sleigh, one-horse, open, or otherwise), trying her best to keep her distance from a pair of animated skeletons covered in what looked like clouds of hoarfrost. Unfortunately, her small legs and the deep snow weren’t doing much for her speed or mobility — and her efforts at throwing her “broken” psi-blades didn’t seem to be doing the creatures a lot of damage, either.

Damn it, I sent her away from here so she’d be safe . . .!

He’d never seen or heard of skeletons like those in D&D; or if he had, he didn’t remember. Certainly, he had no memory of Kieran, or any of his other RPG characters, facing things like that before — but that didn’t mean that they were wholly alien to him, either. The “Castlevania” video game series had enemies like that, and knowledge of them gave him some idea of what to expect from them, and how to fight them.

Skeletons in D&D tend to resist weapon attacks that aren’t purely bludgeoning in nature, and the skeleton types in Castlevania that look like that tend to explode when they’re destroyed . . .

With his psychic powers drained, he didn’t have a ranged attack worth the name; and with those auras, he didn’t fancy just taking them on barehanded. He needed some kind of weapon—

Like, for example, the sword in his would-be killer’s hand.

Kurai considered the option quickly. The flat of the blade should count as “bludgeoning,” and it had a wider surface area than the edge, which ought to make it easier to hit with. And it wasn’t like he knew how to use a sword properly anyway, so he’d have been swinging it around like a club, regardless . . . But barring the sudden appearance of a sledgehammer, it’d have to do.

With an effort, he pried it out of the man’s hand, steadied his grip on it, and began running, hoping that he wasn’t about to get them both killed.








Ilyasviel cursed whatever had brought her to this world, cursed whatever had screwed up her magecraft, cursed snow, cursed her desire to please her Onii-chan by following his rules — which meant diving into a potentially lethal situation to save another idiot that was, improbably, just like him . . .

. . . But most of all, she cursed the shambling undead that just. Wouldn’t. Freaking. DIE ALREADY!

Her arms ached with strain, but she did it again anyway: willing her blades to form, to break, and hurled them against the skeletons — and as always, if they took more than a scratch from the effort, Ilyasviel couldn’t see it. All her strength, all her skill, and she was barely nicking the things; her swords just didn’t have the bite needed to do real damage.

Nevertheless, she tried again, and found herself crying out in victory, as the skeleton abruptly flew apart—

However, her victory cry quickly turned into a scream of pain as the icy energies which had sheathed the skeleton were apparently highly volatile once their anchor was destroyed. The cold was as sharp as her blades, and so fierce it burned, blinding her to all else surrounding her.

Ilyasviel felt more than heard the thump as her body hit the ground, though oddly, there was a distant-sounding echo of it a heartbeat later.

No, her mind registered dimly, as she became aware of a torrent of invective that began filling the air at an impressive volume. That’s Kurai — he must have destroyed the other one . . .

Oh good, she thought suddenly, as realisation of what that meant hit her. He survived . . . Are you happy now, Onii-chan . . .?

When the girl came to, she found herself on a hard wooden floor, half-buried in a mound of sweet-smelling hay, wrapped in some kind of heavy fur — and Kurai, oddly enough.

“Sorry,” he said, withdrawing from her. “You passed out — hypothermic again from the frost, I was afraid — so I had to warm you up, quick.”

“. . . I’ll take it out on you later,” she murmured, clutching the fur closer. She was cold, still. “So, what’s our situation?”

“Not good,” Kurai admitted. “We’re holed up in the stables, as you could probably guess; it was the only building I could guarantee would be warm, or at least warmish, but far enough away that we could the bandits coming, in case I missed a few or they had reinforcements.” He shook his head. “Nothing yet, so far — but the good news, such as it is, is that there are horses and tack here. That means that we can make a quicker getaway, if we need to.”

Her eyebrows rose. “You can ride a horse?”

“It’s been a couple of decades,” the young man admitted, “so if nothing else, I’m liable to be sore tomorrow — but I think I can remember enough of it to get us out of here in a hurry . . .” He trailed off.

“If only you knew where to go?”

“Pretty much,” he admitted with a grimace. “At best, we can hope our trail here doesn’t get blown away or snow-covered in the night, and figure out how to trace where the princesses were taken; then we can hopefully get proper supplies while we figure out where this winter is coming from. Failing that, maybe we can trace it, instead —assuming it came from some sort of civilisation, and one with magic, at that, we might be able to find a way back home. Either way, though, it’ll have to wait ‘til morning — it’s too dark and cold to risk travelling now. But we’ll have to keep watches to make sure the bandits don’t creep up on us. It’s not like we can expect a knight on a white horse to come charging to our defence—”

There was a sudden thunder of hooves and jangling metal (plate mail?), accompanying by a distressed yell in a young but familiar voice.

Recognising it, Ilyasviel bolted to a sitting position. “Onii-chan?”

Kurai blinked, then abruptly pointed, saying rapidly, “Or a million U.S. dollars’ worth of genuine, untraceable gold bars to suddenly appear right there!”

No such thing appeared, and his shoulders slumped.

“Damn it . . .”








Shirou had never been exposed to films much, growing up.

Not necessarily out of dislike, but Kiritsugu hadn’t often had the energy to take him, and Taiga’s taste in movies at the time wasn’t all that appropriate for a young boy (exceptions being made for certain things, like sentai films).

Certainly, he’d been largely unaware of the “Western” genre (as in “Wild West,” not simply “American”) — but since Kurai had joined the household, that had changed. Not that the foreigner had a particular love of those films, per se, but that he had talked most of the girls into insisting on “movie nights,” because there were certain films it was apparently criminal not to see.

Among those was a comedy trilogy called “Back to the Future” — well, Kurai insisted that it was a comedy, more than any other genre. In any case, upon seeing the part of the third installment where the hero found himself dragged along behind a horse, Shirou had winced with sympathy. Even with all he himself had been through, the Japanese would-be saviour had thought it rather painful to watch, much less to go through.

But if anything, he was discovering, the movie had understated things dramatically.

His arms felt like they were being ripped from their sockets, even after he’d reinforced them as far as he dared to. The strength — no, the desperation — of the rider and mount he’d chained himself to was simply that great, that undeniable.

In one tiny corner of his mind, Shirou was unsurprised; after all, he’d made it into Avalon, and only someone that desperate could. The rest of him, on the other hand, was occupied in simply trying to hold on.

As the boy was dragged onward, the world around him was a literal blur to his senses — cold, motion and darkness were the only constants. And then the motion abruptly came to a complete and absolute stop, and it was all he could do not to pitch face-first into the snow.

. . . And then his exertions caught up with him, and he pitched face-first into the snow, anyway — he just didn’t go flying on top of it.

When he regained awareness, he heard Ilya saying, “Onii-chan?” Except, it didn’t quite sound like Ilya—it was her voice, with her natural inflections, but it sounded as though she was deliberately trying to deepen her voice for some reason . . .

He opened his eyes to behold Ilya . . . Well, sort-of Ilya.

She would’ve been his sister, Shirou imagined, if Kurai had been her father, rather than Kiritsugu. She certainly had the same dark skin and pointed ears that the half-drow had possessed; snow-white hair, too. But then again, that was as much Irisviel’s trait as Kurai’s, from what he’d heard. That being so, he supposed that he couldn’t necessarily ascribe it to the (what did he call it? Ah, yes) “ardrow” genes of the druid.

“Onii-chan?” the dark faerie girl repeated, her expression worried — and oddly enough, Shirou had the impression that it was alien to her face, despite the fact that Ilya had looked that worried from time to time.

“Ilya, what happened to you?” he asked. He got wrapped in a bear hug in response — and it was only then that he realised a heretofore-unnoticed, but crucial detail.

“Ilya!” he cried, scandalised. “You’re not wearing anything!”

“My clothes are drying by the fire,” she explained, as though that made it OK. Then she began grinding against him. “What’s the matter? Does his little sister’s bare body excite my Onii-chan . . .?”

“GAH!”

A series of three sharp claps suddenly drew both of their attention, causing Ilya (if it was Ilya) to cease in her molestation attempts.

“Better you than me,” Kurai said. “Much better you than me.”

To be honest, Shirou recognised him more by the voice more than the appearance. While there was some resemblance to the gaunt-looking man who’d showed up at the Works with body parts randomly morphing into those of fantasy creatures, it wasn’t close; this version looked like he’d taken some steroids and lost two decades.

“And what happened to you?” the redhead asked.

“Long story,” Kurai replied, before jerking his thumb behind him. “And speaking of stories, what’s this guy’s?”

“This guy,” as it turned out, was a sallow, withered old man, garbed in the armour (minus the helmet) of the rider Shirou had tried to stop.

“He’s a potential client, Ilya thinks — but he blew right through Avalon without stopping.”

“Well,” Kurai told him, “unless you can get Ilya to send Rin here via Door, along with one of those ‘decade’s worth of stored prana’ gems, he’s not going to be a potential anything for much longer.”

Shirou blinked. The man was slowly leaking blood, from what looked like an arrow wound.

“I suspect it was cursed, since I can’t stop the bleeding using cold or pressure,” he continued, “and unless you’ve hidden a trick from me, none of us have healing magic.”

“But there has to be something we can do!” Shirou protested.

“Take up . . . My mission . . .” the old man wheezed, startling everyone; none of them had been aware that he was awake.

“I . . .” the elder warrior groaned, “Once, I was called Illarion Matveis; now, I am known as Black Midnight. I am Baba Yaga’s Black Rider, harbinger of the Witch Queen’s return.”

“Who did this to you?” Shirou asked.

“The servants of Queen Elvanna, ruler of Irrisen and betrayer of her own mother,” the Rider replied. “Something has happened to Baba Yaga; every hundred years, she returns to Irrisen to place a new daughter on the throne — but Queen Elvanna has other plans, it seems. Baba Yaga has not appeared as planned, and Elvanna intends to slay everyone loyal to her mother. She hunted down those of us who would herald Baba Yaga’s return and slew my associates. I am the last of the Three Riders, and a threat to Elvanna’s plans.”

“The way you phrased that implies that the Queen wants more than the throne,” Kurai remarked. “What plans, exactly?”

“To take Baba Yaga’s place, and claim all of Golarion as her personal kingdom. Irrisen is a land of endless winter, created by Baba Yaga’s magic. Elvanna seeks to cover the entire world in ice and snow, using magic portals like the one here.”

“How do we shut down the portals?” Shirou demanded.

“You can find its source in the Pale Tower, on the other side,” the Rider answered, “but this portal is but one of many. Through them, Elvanna will spread a new ice age across your world, consuming it for all eternity. Closing this portal might save your kingdom, but your planet is still doomed.”

None of them corrected the man’s mistaken assumption that they were locals, and they didn’t need to prompt him to learn what to be done. “You must find Baba Yaga. Only Baba Yaga can defeat Elvanna. Only the Queen of Witches can undo what her daughter has done.”

“All right,” the dark-skinned Ilya-lookalike agreed. “And how would we do that?”

“You must use her Dancing Hut to follow her,” the Black Rider told them. “The Dancing Hut is a powerful artefact that can cross great distances, even travel between worlds. If you can control the hut, it can take you to Baba Yaga.”

“Where is it?” Shirou asked. This promised to be another big mission, like the one in Spira — the kind he’d formed the Works for. A mission that would save an entire world . . .

“Elvanna stole the hut and put it on display in Irrisen’s capital, Whitethrone, as a symbol of her power. You must go through the portal to Irrisen and find the Dancing Hut.

“The hut has many keys — objects attuned to the hut — that can take it almost anywhere. I managed to secure two of these keys, but Elvanna stole their power to prevent anyone from using the hut to find her mother. Once they are reactivated, placing the keys in the hut’s cauldron will retrace Baba Yaga’s path.”

He coughed wetly, and with struggling hands, produced a lock of knotted hair or fur, some kind of mask, and a knife. His voice growing steadily weaker, the Rider continued desperately, “I can reactivate the keys, but I no longer have the strength to carry out my mission. Will you accept this task?”

“Absolutely,” Shirou said firmly. “We all will.”

“So be it,” the Rider wheezed. “The mantle of responsibility is yours . . .”

And with that, he slit his own throat. Arterial blood sprayed across the items and the three of them, before igniting with an eldritch light, and burning itself away.

“Onii-chan, you idiot!” the dark-skinned girl snarled. “What have you gotten us into now?”

And like some form of bizarre echo, Ilya’s ghostly projection suddenly appeared, yelling, “Onii-chan, you IDIOT! What have you gotten yourself into NOW?”

[Xamusel]

Huh... thank goodness you actually had this ready last week.

Still, now that I'm curious, what will you update next?

[Kieran]

"Trinity," of course - I alternate stories, update by update, in an attempt to be fair.

[Xamusel]

Right... I see now.

Well, hopefully you can update Trinity and this faster, but it seems to be a slow process these days.

[Kieran]

Right... I see now.

Well, hopefully you can update Trinity and this faster, but it seems to be a slow process these days.

As always, I'll do my best.



. . . On another, related topic - part of accepting the Black Rider's quest grants a permanent +2 bonus to any one Ability score (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma, for those who aren't D&D/Pathfinder-conversant). Does anybody have a preference for which ones Kuro and Shirou should get increased?

For example, if Kuro gets +2 to her Constitution, she'll not get tired as easily. Alternatively, +2 to her Dexterity would give her E-rank Agility, on the Servant scale. A Constitution bonus for Shirou would allow him to Reinforce himself further without damaging his body, for example; a Charisma bonus might increase his girl troubles - that kind of thing. (Kurai, I already have plans to enhance, though those with preferences may voice them, of course.)

As it's liable to be a while before I get back to this, take your time in thinking about it - I know, by the view counter, that people are reading this, even if you don't have much to say.

[Xamusel]

Personally? I think that Kuro should have Constitution increased. That would also help her get over her health deficiency very easily.

As for Shirou... what sort of eroge protagonist would he be without girl troubles?

[Kieran]

Personally? I think that Kuro should have Constitution increased. That would also help her get over her health deficiency very easily.

This is true. On the other hand, upping her Strength would allow her to carry more stuff, upping her Dex would actually increase her damage with her blades, Intelligence means skill points, Wisdom means Power Points for her psionic tricks (if I recall correctly), and Charisma would make talking or moe-ing her way out of trouble easier - not to mention that it might improve her chances of seducing her Onii-chan . . .

As for Shirou... what sort of eroge protagonist would he be without girl troubles?

Except that he already has them - do we really want to make them worse?

(. . . And what will Ilya do to us if we do?)

[Xamusel]

I think we should at least have a clear look at the stats for all three participants in the party at present. That's the best I can say at present.

As far as Shirou and his girl troubles... yes, we do want to make them worse, and Ilya can't control it.

[Kieran]

I think we should at least have a clear look at the stats for all three participants in the party at present. That's the best I can say at present.

Well, Shirou doesn't actually have stats, per se, since he's never been translated into d20 - but here are Kurai's and Kuro's.

As far as Shirou and his girl troubles... yes, we do want to make them worse, and Ilya can't control it.

And adding Kuro isn't enough (for now, at least)?

[Xamusel]

Wait... why didn't you get to translating Shirou to d20? That would make more sense to do now before anything else can happen!

Yep, adding Kuro is not enough, ever.

[honed]

I like how Kurai's abilities match right up with his nature.

[Kieran]

Wait... why didn't you get to translating Shirou to d20? That would make more sense to do now before anything else can happen!

Mostly because Shirou's abilities don't really translate well to d20 - Kuro's about the closest I can manage, and as you can see, she's way off.

. . . And partly because having a guy who can Excaliblast things might be useful.

Yep, adding Kuro is not enough, ever.

Well, for the moment, I'd say it is - give her a chance to stake her claim before the competition shows up, would you?

I like how Kurai's abilities match right up with his nature.

How so, in your opinion?

[Incarnite Azurnum]

Wait... why didn't you get to translating Shirou to d20? That would make more sense to do now before anything else can happen!

Mostly because Shirou's abilities don't really translate well to d20 - Kuro's about the closest I can manage, and as you can see, she's way off.

Trying to convert Typemoon Characters into d20 is usually hilarious due to the lack of analogues (the abilities are just too abusable in a normal game); or analogues exist but have been mugged in a dark alley by the Nerf Gang. The Soulknife seems to be a good analogue for Shirou/Kuro as they can 'make weapons' but they can't duplicate many NP, not unless you go through a lot of hoops (it was even worse in 3.5, you could only make a shortsword unless you spend feats).

There is literally no analogue for UBW (the drag everyone into the Reality Marble bit) in the d20 system unless you go through homebrew or 3rd party material. The closest analogue is the Genesis spell which creates a permanent demiplane with traits of your choosing and is a 9th level spell.

. . . And partly because having a guy who can Excaliblast things might be useful.

The Blast effect is interestingly enough one of the easier things to replicate mechanically: its a x/day hilariously large cone or line shaped blast vs reflex save.

Also Kurai should have half-sworded and used mordhau on the skeletons. Amnesia must be one hell of a drug.

[Xamusel]

Well... Kieran, at least Elsa and Anna are nowhere nearby, otherwise that +2 Charisma boost will be super irreversible.

Also, I do believe I know of a system which has a very close analogue of UBW, if you don't mind my saying so.

[Incarnite Azurnum]

Also, I do believe I know of a system which has a very close analogue of UBW, if you don't mind my saying so.

What system? White Wolf probably has something tucked away in one of the Mage books though nothing else really comes to mind (this is excluding rules-light systems like FATE).

[Kieran]

Trying to convert Typemoon Characters into d20 is usually hilarious due to the lack of analogues (the abilities are just too abusable in a normal game); or analogues exist but have been mugged in a dark alley by the Nerf Gang. The Soulknife seems to be a good analogue for Shirou/Kuro as they can 'make weapons' but they can't duplicate many NP, not unless you go through a lot of hoops (it was even worse in 3.5, you could only make a shortsword unless you spend feats).

There is literally no analogue for UBW (the drag everyone into the Reality Marble bit) in the d20 system unless you go through homebrew or 3rd party material. The closest analogue is the Genesis spell which creates a permanent demiplane with traits of your choosing and is a 9th level spell.

Basically, what he said. Moreover, there's really not much point to copying Kuro - she's already in the party. So, for the moment, at least, keeping Shirou outside the system is the better way to go.

The Blast effect is interestingly enough one of the easier things to replicate mechanically: its a x/day hilariously large cone or line shaped blast vs reflex save.

True - and it's not as though I don't have examples of ridiculously powerful blasts, either; I can always refer to the d20 version of the Dragon or Giga Slave.

Also Kurai should have half-sworded and used mordhau on the skeletons. Amnesia must be one hell of a drug.

Actually, I've never heard of that technique until now - but even if I had, Kurai wouldn't have tried it. Gripping a sword by the blade is not a good idea when you're unsure of your overall skills; even less of a good idea when you're wearing thick winter gloves, rather than metal gauntlets.

Well... Kieran, at least Elsa and Anna are nowhere nearby, otherwise that +2 Charisma boost will be super irreversible.

Super problematic, more accurately.

Also, I do believe I know of a system which has a very close analogue of UBW, if you don't mind my saying so.

What system? White Wolf probably has something tucked away in one of the Mage books though nothing else really comes to mind (this is excluding rules-light systems like FATE).

Again, what he said.