Create-a-Servant

[terraablaze]

I think there might be as many profiles of him as all the other modern hero concepts I've seen put together.

[Spinach]

A nice blurb encouraging creativity in creating custom personal skills, rather than sticking with canon skills only would be nice.

[Seika]

Canon definition of abnormal classes (Avenger, Ruler, Saver) would be nice to avoid confusion. Not that people should stop jamming their stuff into classes we barely know about because, well, this is the CaS thread and we're not that picky most of the time anyway, but it'd be nice to let people know that this shit wouldn't fly in a normal Nasuverse context.

I did Avenger, thought of Saver and had no idea what to say, and forgot about Ruler. The first I can at least handle, but we know so bloody little about Ruler or Saver classes. I guess I can at least point out that Ruler is 'moderator of the war', not 'ruled some place'.

A nice blurb encouraging creativity in creating custom personal skills, rather than sticking with canon skills only would be nice.

Ja, that's there.

[Spinach]

Thanks, doll.

[Asdfghl]

Okay. This could get pretty long.
1. Research. One Wikipedia page isn't going to cut it. Go further. Click links. Paper books sometimes have interesting information.

2. Format. If your sheet looks messy, all the comments will be about that.

3. Genderswapping. Genderswapping can be good if done well, but it does not automatically add depth to a character.

4. Characterization. Backstory changes are okay, if done correctly, and can even, if tied in properly, improve the sheet.
Examples:

Good: Jason dumps Medea because she isn't helping him be a hero, and being a hero is his goal in life. He is single-minded to the point that he loses because of it.
(You)

Bad: [servant] is a girl. She angsts about being a girl. (An attempt to copy Saber. Saber doesn't angst about being a girl, she just doesn't think of herself as a person allowed to love (the king must put his/her country first) at first and then is uncomfortable with her feelings for Shirou.)

Good: Sokrates is an obstinate Servant. He likes to argue, and frequently poses random philosophical problems at the worst possible times.
(Seika)

Bad: [servant] has extreme honor alalalatheend. Remember, Servants die, in some cases, for their honor. Do they become disillusioned? Are they the kind of person who never gives up hope? Do they just want to die again so their honor can be appeased? Go further into this idea.

5. Hax. All Servants should have some form of hax, be it an insta-kill technique, the ability to track anything down (my Prokris still wants reviews), extra lives, an army of Servants, or a shield that blocks all thrown projectiles. However, NEVER copy a canon Servant's Noble Phantasm completely. An Army of Servants, in particular, is overdone. How about the ability to turn normal humans into copies of your past soldiers to symbolize raising an army? Hax should always have a loophole/restraining bolt. Gate of Babylon allows UBW to copy it. Avalon is stuck in Shirou, and as such can't be used. Ea requires charge time and is held back by Gil's arrogance. Excalibur drains Prana like you wouldn't believe.

6. Grammar. If it isn't written in complete and logical grammar, less people will want to read it.

7. Power levels. Oh dear. If your servant can beat Gil in a straight fight, unless you explicitly say that your servant isn't canonical, it probably won't be accepted.

8. Time. If your servant isn't from about 200 years ago or earlier, unless you explicitly acknowledge that they are modern, they probably won't get accepted.


Last number: Don't get defensive. Don't get aggressive. This applies to both sides. You are asking somebody to critique your Servant. If they find flaws, that's a good thing. You are being asked by somebody to critique their Servant. Don't get ticked off at them for asking for help.


Still writing.

[Seika]

1. Research. One Wikipedia page isn't going to cut it. Go further. Click links. Paper books sometimes have interesting information.

Yup, have this.

2. Format. If your sheet looks messy, all the comments will be about that.

Point. I have an empty sheet as a sample, but haven't made a full point of how it should look good.

3. Genderswapping. Genderswapping can be good if done well, but it does not automatically add depth to a character.

Have this.

4. Characterization. Backstory changes are okay, if done correctly, and can even, if tied in properly, improve the sheet.

Have this.

5. Hax. All Servants should have some form of hax, be it an insta-kill technique, the ability to track anything down (my Prokris still wants reviews), extra lives, an army of Servants, or a shield that blocks all thrown projectiles. However, NEVER copy a canon Servant's Noble Phantasm completely. An Army of Servants, in particular, is overdone. How about the ability to turn normal humans into copies of your past soldiers to symbolize raising an army? Hax should always have a loophole/restraining bolt. Gate of Babylon allows UBW to copy it. Avalon is stuck in Shirou, and as such can't be used. Ea requires charge time and is held back by Gil's arrogance. Excalibur drains Prana like you wouldn't believe.

Good, though I think my view is that hax is the norm but not a necessity (and I would write that). If you just want to make the proverbially average Servant with a B-rank NP that can be converted into numbers, that's actually kinda interesting in itself.

6. Grammar. If it isn't written in complete and logical grammar, less people will want to read it.

I like this, though we'll see if it fits in a guide which is meant to be more specific. Might have to tack it on to the formatting note.

[Mcjon01]

7. Any worthwhile Servant profile should involve extensive image editing to recreate the exact look and feel of the status screens from FSN, packaged into an interactive Flash animation that lets you click through the menus just like you would in the game. All art used should be commissioned from a professional artist, for a high-quality and consistent look.


If you can't even do that then don't even bother trying.

[Asdfghl]

(I thought that was obvious.)

[Petrikow]

Mmkay, I'm writing up my thoughts on how to create a Servant profile, which I promised some time ago. Not just for serious characters, though it does mainly talk about them. It'll probably end up in a separate thread in GD, because it's already looking like a pretty big textwall at 3.5k words, and I'd like to be able to take each section in a separate post anyway.

Point is, does anyone have a particular topic they'd like me to talk about in there? For example, I've already got a bit on gender-bending your Servant and how you can do that interestingly: anything of that sort, or any other persistent issues you think are deserving of some mention? I don't promise to include it, but if I've got enough of an opinion, I probably will.

1. Getting ranks right. Do it very thoroughly.

2. Syncretising several different myths into the nasuverse.

3. Not using the Ruler and Saver class.
4. Disregarding Fate/EXTRA when necessary
Very important.

7. Any worthwhile Servant profile should involve extensive image editing to recreate the exact look and feel of the status screens from FSN, packaged into an interactive Flash animation that lets you click through the menus just like you would in the game. All art used should be commissioned from a professional artist, for a high-quality and consistent look.


If you can't even do that then don't even bother trying.

I actually tried this once but then I was an idiot and got impatient with Actionscript 3.0 since I only know 2.0 and quit.

Images here.

[Trevelyan]

That Karna profile was exemplary, Petrikow. Could have been cut and paste straight from the VN.

[Petrikow]

That Karna profile was exemplary, Petrikow. Could have been cut and paste straight from the VN.

Gosh, th-thanks.

[Spinach]

Okay. This could get pretty long.
1. Research. One Wikipedia page isn't going to cut it. Go further. Click links. Paper books sometimes have interesting information.

2. Format. If your sheet looks messy, all the comments will be about that.

3. Genderswapping. Genderswapping can be good if done well, but it does not automatically add depth to a character.

4. Characterization. Backstory changes are okay, if done correctly, and can even, if tied in properly, improve the sheet.
Examples:

Good: Jason dumps Medea because she isn't helping him be a hero, and being a hero is his goal in life. He is single-minded to the point that he loses because of it.
(Lycodrake)

Bad: [servant] is a girl. She angsts about being a girl. (An attempt to copy Saber. Saber doesn't angst about being a girl, she just doesn't think of herself as a person allowed to love (the king must put his/her country first) at first and then is uncomfortable with her feelings for Shirou.)

Good: Sokrates is an obstinate Servant. He likes to argue, and frequently poses random philosophical problems at the worst possible times.
(Seika)

Bad: [servant] has extreme honor alalalatheend. Remember, Servants die, in some cases, for their honor. Do they become disillusioned? Are they the kind of person who never gives up hope? Do they just want to die again so their honor can be appeased? Go further into this idea.

5. Hax. All Servants should have some form of hax, be it an insta-kill technique, the ability to track anything down (my Prokris still wants reviews), extra lives, an army of Servants, or a shield that blocks all thrown projectiles. However, NEVER copy a canon Servant's Noble Phantasm completely. An Army of Servants, in particular, is overdone. How about the ability to turn normal humans into copies of your past soldiers to symbolize raising an army? Hax should always have a loophole/restraining bolt. Gate of Babylon allows UBW to copy it. Avalon is stuck in Shirou, and as such can't be used. Ea requires charge time and is held back by Gil's arrogance. Excalibur drains Prana like you wouldn't believe.

6. Grammar. If it isn't written in complete and logical grammar, less people will want to read it.

7.

Last number: Don't get defensive. Don't get aggressive. This applies to both sides. You are asking somebody to critique your Servant. If they find flaws, that's a good thing. You are being asked by somebody to critique their Servant. Don't get ticked off at them for asking for help.


Still writing.

And as I go through this list I find myself looking at the EXTRA Servant sheet that I let you see and remembered that I forgot to send my version of his backstory at all, explaining how he got his mindset. Fuckity fuck ducks.

[Five_X]

And as I go through this list I find myself looking at the EXTRA Servant sheet that I let you see and remembered that I forgot to send my version of his backstory at all, explaining how he got his mindset. Fuckity fuck ducks.

But EXTRA hardly ever updates anymore ;__;

[Spinach]

If those EXTRA GMs don't speed up we should threaten to pour salt on them!

[Five_X]

ALL OF THE SALT!

[You]

Good: Jason dumps Medea because she isn't helping him be a hero, and being a hero is his goal in life. He is single-minded to the point that he loses because of it.
(Lycodrake)

Heeeeeyyyyyy, that was mine, no Lycodrake's.

[Asdfghl]

Sorry. I went back and it was yours, You.

[You]

Ego Boost Complete

[IhaxlikeNoob]

How often does I3uster update the OP?

[Asdfghl]

Haven't been here long enough to find out.

Oh, it says page 151.