Fate/Destiny (Quest)

[GilgameshKingOfMemes]

Authors Introduction

Hey, thanks for taking interest in this. I've been inspired by some of the Quest series on this site and I wanted to give a try so now I am. This is the first time I've really done something like this, I've never done a proper fanfic or anything before so I can't promise quality but I'm happy you were willing to give this try even if it turns out poorly. I am kind of using this project as an experiment so I'll be testing out some mechanics and ideas I've had, but if people dislike them I can remove them or edit them to try and find balance. Basically none of the features listed below will necessarily stay in the same form for the entire quest. I'll also be drawing the major characters of the story myself for some art practice, so you'll have to forgive me if the major characters don't look that good as they won't really be shaded or colored as I'm still not that good at doing it digitally. I'm also completely available to suggestions of any kind, be it an ability or mechanic and I'll answer basically any question, worst case scenario I'll just I can't because spoilers. I'm posting this now but exam season starts soon so outside of giving the results of the character creation there probably won't be a post for another week or so, but that just gives a lot of time to debate the character creation choices seeing that it appears more expansive some other quests. If I didn't mention something that feels like it should there tell me I could have forgotten, but usually it's just because this follows other quest formats. Also because I canceled this quest once before it ever came out, there are some spoilers out there for it, so just a warning I guess. Anyways I hope this looks interesting enough and you don't cringe too hard, thanks for reading.

Fate/Destiny
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"It was always meant to be. Mankind's karma shall return to 0. Humanity shall be reincarnated this day. Resurrected like a Phoenix, in hellfire."

Like a puppet, humanity dances on strings bound around them like chains. A show put on for one man alone by a god from beyond.

This is a tale of humanities end. From centuries of sin, the vices of humanity culminate in a terrible fate starting here. It's time to reap what you sow.

It's up to you, as destiny ordained, to find salvation and escape this hellish World War III.

Story Arcs

This serves as both a teaser for what is to come and a catalog of the various chapters (When they happen)

Prologue:

The Endless Night Parade

China:

The Ultimate One Man Army

India:

Oasis Within A Sea of Torment

Japan:

The Witching Hour

Russia:

The Sea of Souls, Tamoanchan

America:

Curses of Fate

The Scandinavian Alliance:

The Orchestra of Genesis

The South American Confederation:

Character Creation

Magecraft

Magecraft in this quest will work a little differently from the other quests. The way it works is that there will be a selection of "Skill trees" to pick from, and every so often throughout the story you will get free time. One of the options during this period is to do training which will give you one single skill point to spend and obtain a new ability from the skill tree. All the spells available to you will vary both in how many skill points are needed to pick it and how much mana is required to cast it. Some skills even require resources which you can pick up over the course of the story through actions, its not that complex it's just something of an extra time investment. Magic which requires resources will usually have a recipe for crafting which tells you the items to get, but you can also come up with one on your own if everyone agrees with your idea. Ideally over the course of the story you will have enough skill points to max one skill tree and then some. I however have never done this mechanic before and without a way to really beta test it, if things progress too fast or too slowly some chances might be made to the cost of things. As a side note if you think of an ability or something I'm willing to add it to the skill tree just send it to me.

To save me time of making an entire skill tree for a type of magic you won't use I instead made a general outline of what you can do and have created a Pro's and Con's list for each one. You start with 3 skill points to start with, so pick one or two skill trees and once that's decided I'll release the available abilities and you can vote on what else you want. Also, mostly because I'm lazy, some types of magecraft have been merged together such as curses and witchcraft.

Alchemy

Pros:
. Many strong late game abilities
. Many abilities ignore durability to some degree
. Boosts intelligence
. Good utility




Cons:
. Weak early game
. High investment to get a return
. Can be mana intensive
. Limited defensive options

Innate bonus - You start with low level structural analysis

Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Transmutation (I)- A skill which allows the user to turn one material into another. At this level you can produce some basic metals out of mundane objects. Some very basic items can be transmuted if the materials are present. Cost 20 mana to use.

Runes

Pros:
. Cheap mana cost
. Great amount of variability
. Low resource cost
. Decent strength available in early game
. Can be considered a “balanced” skill tree ( it lacks notably low level abilities)


Cons:
. Can be considered a “balanced” skill tree ( it lacks very high level abilities)
. Often requires some prep to use your spells most effectively

Innate bonus - The time it takes to cast a spell is shortened

Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Ansuz - a simple starting rune, it posses the ability to set things ablaze when magical energy is run through it. It is good for both close quarters and long range. Cost 20 mana to cast.

Witchcraft and Curses

Pros:
. Very Strong offensive capabilities
. Good for stealth
. Decent mana cost


Cons:
. Few defensive options
. Support abilities usually have negative side effects
. Many abilities need prep time and special resources
. Can have negative effects on your mental state

Innate bonus - your attacks are stronger when either you or your opponent possess lower mental health.



Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Gandr - One of the most basic curses, though it possesses overlap with rune magic, it serves as the starting skill of this skill tree. By channeling mana into the index finger the player is able to curse an enemy slightly lowering their health. Cost 10 mana to cast.

Transference

Pros:
. Strong healing capabilities
. Can greatly expand mana reserves
. Many mental attacks
. Can support the magecraft of allies
. Meshes well with other skill trees


Cons:
. Lacking in offensive options
. Can be costly to use

Innate bonus - Your ability to resist mental attacks is increased by default.
Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Healing (I) - Healing magecraft which can heal minor wounds. Costs 30 mana to cast.

Familiars

Pros:
. Allows access to some of the most powerful abilities
. Has good versatility
. Somewhat customizable to fit a given playstyle


Cons:
. High mana cost
. The most powerful abilities are time limited
. Abilities to buff yourself are very limited if not non existent depending on your choices, leaving your character basically powerless themselves
. Some what luck based (in terms of obtaining powerful familiars)

Innate bonus - the mana burden of using your servant is reduced
Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Familiar (I) - basically a starter Pokémon. A skill which allows for the summoning off a low level familiar. Pick between offense, defense and support. Having your familiar active reduces your total mana by 20%, using their ability costs 20 mana.

Necromancy

Pros:
. Cheap individual cost allows for wave tactics
. Zombies are difficult to kill
. Good offense
. Very strong in certain chapters


Cons:
. Difficult to control
. Finding materials can have negative effects on your mental health
. Most people do not like necromancers
. Very weak in certain chapters


Innate bonus - you inherently have a strong stomach for death and brutality, the mental damage from seeing such things is reduced by default.
Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Resurrection (I) - Allows for the resurrections of weak undead for a short period of time. While stronger than most humans they are fairly weak at this level overall. Cost 20 mana to cast, revives one corpse at a time.

Elemental

I can't really make a pro and con list for this as it depends on which elements you pick. Basically just imagine what it is like to be a bender from Avatar.
Innate Bonus: You take less damage from spells that use your own element.
Starting Skill (1 Skill Point): Power Enhancement: You do more damage by channeling mana based on your element into your fist.

Skill Tree

Here is where the skill trees you have currently unlocked are stored. Graphic design is my passion so it looks terrible but it functions I suppose. I'm posting the imgur link so you can hopefully zoom in and open it in a new tab or whatever as your leisure. The skill trees could be updated at any time but here is what exists currently. Also if I messed up something let me know cause I do that all the time.

https://imgur.com/a/Hy0sfV9

If someone desires a different magic type to pursue and I decide to add it, it will go here.

Perks

Perks are very much a Fallout New Vegas sort of mechanic and encompass basically all the abilities you have that are not spells. Like Fallout certain perks can open new doors for you giving you special choices and what not. Each perk is unlocked by a perk point. You get at least one at the end of every chapter but they can also be granted by other means through out the narrative. There will be more perks but in order to make this whole extensive mechanic thing less overwhelming then it already is I'll list only a few of them first.
You start with one perk point.

Brawler (I) - A perk which grants the player offensive hand to hand combat capabilities. This perk focuses on strong offensive combat allowing the user to deal lots of damage in short bursts. This combat style is brutal and generalized, it should be considered to be like street fighting. At rank one your base attack potency is E+


Brawler (II) - Requires Brawler (I). It’s the same perk but now with an inherent supernatural edge. Increases your base attack potency to D


Martial Artist (I) - A perk which denotes a practitioner of traditional Martial Arts. Compared to Brawler this is combat style is focused more on defense. Defense while in combat is increased to E+.

Martial Artist (II) - Requires Martial Artist (I). It’s the same perk but with a supernatural edge. Increase defense in combat to D, allows for some of your punches to ignore durability on human opponents.


Charismatic - A perk which denotes someone who is considering naturally charming and possess a particularly effective way with words. Adopting this perk increases the effectiveness of options which require you to convince someone of something, and sometimes opens new choices entirely. Choices which require a certain level of bond to achieve can now be achieved at a lower bond and bond level increases quicker.


Historian: A perk which denotes someone decently knowledgeable about history. When analyzing entities with a historical or mythological basis such as servants you get more information out of it then you would otherwise.


Swordsmanship - a perk which denotes ones talent with a sword, is grants a combat bonus when using melee weapons in close quarters combat and allows you to use them effectively. Some items found throughout the quest cannot be used properly without this perk.


Ranged Weapon expert - A perk denoting someone with sufficient training with ranged weaponry. Grants a combat bonus when using ranged weaponry and gives the player above average aim. Some items can not be used properly without this perk.


Medic: A perk denoting someone with medical training. This allows the player to carry out basic medical treatments and diagnosis. It also boosts healing magecraft.


Carnival Phantasm - a perk for the insane. Gives ridiculous plans a greater chance of success the less severe the situation. Also allows for special encounters.

Special Perks

Special perks while giving the main character some slight benefits, are really just for fun. They pretty much serve as achievements for doing something stupid or significant in the plot. While I haven't revealed them as I want them to be reached naturally, I will give some examples of what it's like.

Good enough for Government work - Die within the first 3 choices after starting a new task. (Suicide does not count). Once a chapter you can turn a choice which normally leads to a bad end into a successful choice.


“Of course I’m a human doctor, now let’s see that brain” - operate on someone with the veterinarian skill but without the medic perk. Health increases by 20%

Characterization

Who do you want to be? (Pick up to 2):
1. I want to be smart

2. I want to be a genius

3. I want to be strong

4. I want to be special

5. I want to be beautiful

6. I want to be powerful

7. I want to be talented

Decide on a elemental Affinity as well:
Earth
Fire
Water
Wind

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Vices:
Vices define your most notable character flaw. They will be one of your characters defining characteristics and will influence the choices you can make and the flow of the story. They also serve as a debuff which gives your character a weakness.
You must take at least one vice, but if you want it is possible to take all of them. For every vice taken over one you will get the following benefits:
-Spoilers.
- For Every additional vice taken your total mana capacity is increased by 15%.




Gluttony: Your max stamina is reduced by a quarter by default and by half when hungry. Your character gets hungrier faster and you get filled up slower. Other characters in your party may go hungry by eating more than your share if food is scarce.


Sloth: Every time you attempt to spend a skill point there's a chance it will fail and you will not receive anything. This is decided by rolling a die and landing on a specific number of the audience's choice.


Lust: Your character is much more susceptible to being charmed or seduced.


Wrath: Negative mental states or character relations can result in the audience losing control of their character in rage. You get angrier easier. You also hold grudges, making it much harder to improve bond with characters you have a poor relationship with.


Greed: Options to perform actions of charity and sharing are much rarer, if not nonexistent in more casual situations.


Envy: Your mental status and bond with another character drops if you witness them with something you covet.


Pride: Failure decreases your mental health. Determining the strengths of an opponent you look down on sometimes fails. The more valuable something is, the more entitled your character feels to it, sometimes removing the option for other characters to obtain buffs.

I get there are a lot of choices so if you want for me to say, make a poll or something that can be done. I'm also looking for a name for the main character cause I hate names, they are a girl and I’m currently just looking for the name.I'm also unsure about the quest name so we will just deal with it for now.

Mechanics

Combat

Combat functions fairly simply. You get a choices based on the abilities you have available or you use the write in option to suggest your own plan. Physical combat costs some stamina, ranged combat cost ammo, and magic attacks cost mana.

When judging the strength of an opponent, item or spell, it obeys the following system. The system is more of an estimation of somethings strength, and the strength increases exponentially. So someone with E rank strength can engage in combat with someone with strength E+ as a disadvantage, but someone with C strength might get decimated by someone else with C rank Strength, but they can still harm each other. All ranks have both a + and - rank, but if its not listed here it is because I couldn't think of a good example. Characters can also have multiple ranks as they may possess an ability of a greater rank then their average, such as a Noble Phantasm.

E- : Below average human strength, such as a rabbit
E: Average Human Strength
E+: Athletic Human, such as a body builder
D: Magically enhanced mages, guns
C: Missiles
B: Powerful Phantasmal Beasts
A: A Servant
A+: many Divine Beasts
A++: Dragons
EX: Beings from beyond humanity like BB

Stats and Status

Status encompasses your various stats and mood.

Mental Health: The main defining status of your nonphysical well being. It varies to based on the situation such as happy, sad, angry, fearful and so on. Feeling a particular emotion once is fine, but the more you experience negative emotions the redder your mental health status becomes. Poor mental health can effect the story, changing options normally achievable into bad ends and just defining how you interact with others. You can improve your mental health by engaging with what your character likes. This can include your vices.

Health: Your total health, the lower it goes the more injured you become. When your hp reaches 0 you die. Your physical health can also effect the story.

Stamina: Determines your available physical energy. The lower it goes the more tired you become, and when it reaches 0 you will pass out. Unlike other stats this can recover fairly quickly.

Mana: Determines all the mana you have available. Spells cost mana which lowers your pool. When you hit 0 you can't use magic. Mana will reset to full by sleeping.

Hunger: Hunger is a minor stat which is only relevant in scenarios where food is scarce. When hungry your stamina regenerates much slower and it effects mood and strength. It is possible to starve to death but that's probably not gonna happen.

Free time and Bond

Free time are short breaks in the main narrative to focus either on your abilities or character. This includes bonding with other characters, obtaining skill points or forging for extra materials.

Bonding occurs during both the story and this free time. Bond level determines how you interact with other characters. It goes from 0 to 15. 0 being hatred and 15 being close family for life. Most characters start at about 1 which is neutral. Starting at bond 5 you can get access to interludes, which are basically just more special bonding scenes then normal.

Secret Mechanics

I feel like this is maybe a more controversial choice in my story design but whatever I think it is fun. Basically there are two abilities/story mechanics available from basically the start of the story but you won't be told exactly what they are right away. One of them is admittedly very hard if not impossible to fully figure out until chapter 3, but the other is something you can uncover if you make the right (Or wrong) choices. You find out both of these in chapter 3 as you won't be able to get through that scenario without them.

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Profiles

Formatting is too hard on Beast Lair, Profiles Moved to google docs
Profile Doc - Google Docs