Grail war Servant creation guide

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A thread for character aplications will be opened on january 1st 2009
all submitted profiles will be inspected for compliance with the rules players
will be contacted by pm if any changes need to be made to their profiles
this will not exclude them from the war as they will be given to opportunity
to make the necessary changes.

If you have any questions about character generation contact me via pm
you may also pm me a character profile before January first to have it evaluated
that way you can be sure that your profile is in full compliance when you submit it


I will start off by posting a few rules and list of what should be expected in a servants profile
followed by a description of all servant types and the stipulations attached to each class,
followed by a description of nobel phantasms and the different skills available to servants.

Rules

1. Read the servant class descriptions before making your servant, each class has restrictions and bonuses which must be included in your profile
2. no using gods as servants. Servants can have high levels of divinity from being the children of gods but they cant actually be gods
3. Servants must be characters from ancient legend or people from history not characters from anime or modern works of fiction
4. Servants may have up to 3 noble phantasms unless stated otherwise these phantasms must be justified by at least being loosely associated with the legend. The Phantasm must be one of the 4 types out lined in the Phantasm explanation below
5. Servants may have up to 6 abilities from the list unless stated otherwise try to choose abilities that best match the servants class and their abilities in the legends and were ranks are mentioned try to choose the rank that best matches the servants ability in the legend we are leaving this as a matter of good fate on the players part
6. You may change your servants sex if you wish but only if it is a character from legend not a person who actually existed
7. reality marbles are not allowed

Profile

1. A Picture any art style will do once it helps us to visualize the character
2. Class, Identity and physical description
3. Background, a brief description of the servants legend or history
4. Personality
5. Abilities
6. noble phantasms
7. A catalyst (this is something associated with the servant used for summoning it can be anything from personal items to things associated with the servant )

A sample profile will be posted in the the final part of this thread

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Archer
One of the three Knight classes, together with lancer and Saber.
Servants placed within this class are usually proficient with projectiles,
and have the special ability Independent Action. This means means
that the Archers are fully capable of fighting without being in proximity
to their master for extended amounts of time, they can survive for a
certain time after their contract with their Master was severed. This
ability also tends to make them rebellious and harder to control than
other servants. They also tend to have many more noble phantasms at
there disposal than other servant classes.

Archers must take independent action as an ability
Archers may take an additional noble phantasm
Archers have a rebellious attitude towards their masters

Assassin
Servants of this class must be skilled at operating covertly, stealthy and
silently. Basically a Servant type that is only effective in killing Masters
and not Servants. Considered to be one of the weaker classes at
fighting. Their unique ability is Presence Concealment. Normally only
the 19 Hassan-i Sabbah can summoned as assassins. The "assassin" that
caster summoned was an exception, as it was a "fake" copy of a real heroic
spirit, and thus in a sense, a fake assassin.

Due to the casters work during the 5th grail war any assassin can be
summoned now, this isn't limited to just full time assassins anyone who
used disguises or stealth in their legends can be summoned as an assassin

Other people who were not assassins can be summoned as fake assassins but
they will suffer penalties such as losing the advantages gained from assassins
special abilities

Assassins must take presence concealment as an ability (only assassins may take this ability)
Assassins must take independent action as a special ability.
Assassins are not physically strong and must rely on stealth and cunning in battle

Fake assassins cannot use presence concealment or independent action
Fake assassins must use Transparency as an ability.
Fake assassins are bound to their masters and must stay in close proximity losing
their ability to scout and spy however, they don't suffer a loss in strength and can go
toe to toe with other servants acting like a body guard fighting by their masters side

Berserker
berserkers are heroes of varying strength who have gone berserk at one stage
in their lives. They have an ability called Mad Enhance where they trade their sanity
for an large power boost upon activation when mad enhanced, Berserkers become
almost impossible to control and require strong masters to be kept in check. Because
they are so powerful Berserkers drain their master manna faster than any other class
so a master needs to have potent magical abilities because if they run out of manna
the berserker will stop moving and disappear.

Berserkers must take Mad Enhance as a special ability.
When mad enhanced berserkers go mad they become stronger but are
almost impossible to control they are able to ignore their masters until
the mad enhancement is deactivated

Caster
Servants placed within this class are adept in magecraft and have a number
of abilities exclusive to their class. it must also be noted that a casters abilities
comes at the expense of physical strength powerful sorcerers are scholars not
warriors, A warrior with spell casting abilities would make a low level caster with
powers on par with the abilities of a Mage because large sorcerer rank spells
require allot of concentration which one cannot do while locked in physical combat

Casters must take take all of the caster only abilities
Casters have one less Nobel Phantasm than other servants
Casters are poor at physical combat and good at magic.

Lancer
One of the 3 knight classes along with archer and saber, Lancers are the
most agile and fastest of all servant classes and are powerful fighters skilled
in ranged melee weapons such as spears, lances and other pole arms.
Because of their speed they are adept at avoiding projectiles and can
deflect them by twirling their lances.

lancers must take the ability protection from arrows

Rider
Servants placed within this class place emphasis upon speed and
powerful Nobel Phantasm and their special skill is Riding, which allows
them to fully utilize abilities of their mounts (ranging from simple horses,
through motorcycles, to divine creatures).

Riders must take riding as an ability and get an A+ rating in it

Saber
Saber is one of the 3 knight classes along with Archer and Lancer
Servants placed within this class are agile and powerful melee warriors
and it is commonly assumed to be the best class overall, with high
ratings in all categories and also possessing the Riding skill like the rider
class.

Sabers must take riding as an ability

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Nobel Phantasms

These are weapons artefacts or abilities owned by a heroic spirit
(servant) In the legend of a hero, there is not only the man that the
hero was, but the anecdotes about him, his arms and weapons: all of
this is the "symbol" of his existence. Those "symbols" are the ultimate
mysteries that the Servant, the embodiment of the heroic spirit, carries
as a trump card. Those are the deadly weapons commonly called "Noble
Phantasms". Noble Phantasms are the crystallization of the historical
facts and anecdotes that made the heroic spirit famous, but that
doesn't have to be a weapon; it can be an artefact like a shield, a ring, a
crown, but also a specific ability or a unique mean of attacking.

A servant can have up to 3 of these unless stated other wise in the
servant description Phantasms must be justified they have to represent
or loosely reflect part of the servants legend

There are 4 types of noble phantasms
Anti-unit which is an attack focused on dispatch or hinder a single opponent
Anti-fort which is a powerful attack capable of destroying a fortress
Anti-army an area effect phantasm which attacks multiple targets
Support a move which is designed to bolster the users abilities



Abilities
The following is a list of abilities that appear in fate/zero and fate/stay night.
A servant can use up to 6 of these unless stated otherwise and must take
any abilities stipulated by their class description

Battle Continuation
The ability to stay alive. It allows for battle even on the verge of death,
and allows the user to stay alive until they receive a clearly fatal blow

Bravery
This ability allows a servant to continue fighting unarmed the damage
inflicted by the servants bare hands increases gradually as the battle
continues mental discipline also increases with rank C or higher giving
defence against mental interferences that acts on fear

Rank A Illusions, confusion and temptation have no effect
Rank B Confusion and temptation have no effect
Rank C Temptation has no effect

Charisma
This is the rare talent that allows people to charm and influence others

Rank A gives someone the ability to rule the world
Rank B gives someone the ability to rule a country
Rank C gives someone the ability to lead an army
Rank D gives someone the ability to lead a war band

Clairvoyance
Enhanced visual perception and premonition

Rank A servant receives visions as well as abilities from Ranks B and C
Rank B servants get a scene of deja vu or early warning giving them a
split second to react before an attack as well as abilities of Rank C
Rank C servants are capable of accurately aiming at targets at the very
least as far as 4 km and is able to keep track of bodies moving at
enormous speed.

Divinity
Strength of one's god-like nature. The more godlike blood possessed, the
higher this stat becomes with Rank A being the first generation son of a
god/goddess and mortal man/woman

Disengage
This ability makes it easy for servants to escape if the battle is not
going their way It provides distraction in the form of a flash of light coupled
with a temporary burst of speed that allows the servant to escape

Eye of the mind (True)
The ability to effectuate rapid and precise judgements gained through
experience and training Servants with this skill are capable of calmly
analysing situations even during a battle, applying strategy and skills to
turn the tables in there favour. As long as there is at least a 1% chance
of victory, they are able to devise a plan to exploit that possibility,
although does not guarantee victory though

Eye of the mind (fake)
an ability used by animalistic servants it allows them to avoid danger
though gut feeing or sixth scene (they can "feel" a sneak attack about
to happen or the activation of a noble phantasm)

High-Speed divine words (Caster only)
Allows the activation of magic without connecting the Magic Circuits or
incantation of spells. Even great magic can be activated with just a single
action. It is a language from the age of the gods, so modern humans
cannot pronounce it.

Independent action
Gives a servant the capacity to subsist without a Master.

Rank A can exist 4 days without established contact from the master
and can survive 48 hours if the master is killed (assassin only)
Rank B can exist 2 days without established contact from the master
and can survive 24 hours if the master is killed
Rank C can exist a day without established contact from the master
and can survive 12 hours if the master is killed

Instinct
This is the ability to "feel" the best course of action to take during
combat it's effects make it as though barriers to vision and hearing are
reduced by half

Item Construction (caster only)
This gives the servant the expertise to create magical items like potions
and charms

Knowledge of foremost harmony (martial atrs masters only)
This ability can only be used by hero who were considered to be martial
arts masters such as teachers this is a special ability that prevents
reduction of the effectiveness of an attack, no matter how many times
it is used on the same opponent. Attacks will not be perceived by the
opponent

Mad Enhancement
(I've had to add onto this because I had potential berserkers asking just how it worked)

This is an ability only berserker can use while it is activated the berserker gains
a power boost at the cost of it's sanity. It is this ability that makes a berserker
stronger than any other servant type when it is deactivated the berserker is an
average servant, activating Mad Enhancement produces an effect similar to the
incredible hulk the servant become way stronger but goes insane and and looses
the ability to think and as a result can no longer use any skills or phantasms that
require coherent thought "Hulk Mad! Hulk Smash" you get the picture

Magic resistance
This ability cancels the effects of magic

Rank A makes it impossible for any living magi to hurt the servant with
magic casters are still capable of doing so (Caster Only)
Rank B Nullifies all magic that requires less than three verses or chanting
Note that here a 'verse' is constituted of at least three phrases
Cannot block large-scale magic such as great magic or ritual magic.
Rank C Nullifies all magic that requires less than two verses or chanting
Rank D Nullifies all magic that requires less than one verses or chanting

Mana Burst
This transfers magical energy into one's weapon and body, and by
releasing the magical energy instantaneously, it increases one's ability.
Simply said, it is like magical energy jet propulsion it allows the user to
move faster and hit harder

Mystic eyes/face
this is an innate ability the servant possesses eyes or a mark on his/her
face that as an effect on the world when the are exposed for example
Medusa (rider fate/stay night) had the ability to turn people to stone by
gazing on them that's whey she was blindfolded

Persance concealment (assassin only)
Hides one's presence as a Servant. Suitable for spying this ability will
conceal the servants energies when they are moving in stealth or hiding
once they take action and attack or is spotted it stops working until the
assassin manages to get away and hide.


Protection from arrows (Lancer Only)
This is an ability that lancer are adept at it gives Improved defence
against ranged attacks due to accurate prediction of its trajectory by
extraordinary means such as hearing the sound of the projectile cutting
the wind or feeling the enemy's killing intent. As long as the shooter is
within his field of vision, the lancer can track down the shot with his
eyes and defend against it. This does not apply to attacks from super
long range or that have a large area-of-effect.

Riding
The ability to ride beasts and vehicles

Rank A+ can ride all animals vehicles and divine beasts but cant ride
dragons (only a rider class servant can achieve this Rank)
Rank A can ride all animals and vehicles
Rank B Can ride all animals and simple vehicles like cars motorbikes
Rank C Can ride all animals

Rune magic (origin restricted read description)
only servants of Celtic or Scandinavian origin may use this skill it is the
same skill that masters can use were symbols are inscribed and
automatically activates a spell accordingly with the meaning that they
represent however for servants the effects are more potent as their
skills were learned at a time before Rune magic fell into decline amongst
Magi

Self Modification
This ability is uses to describe any abnormal trait a servant had in life
such as transforming into animals reattaching severed limbs or breathing
under water

Sorcery (caster only)
This gives the servant ranks in old world spell casting, only casters use it

Transparency
This gives a servant the ability to move around with stealth it is like the skills
a commando uses when infiltrating an area and is nowhere near as effective as
presence concealment

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Class - Lancer
Identity - Scathach the shadowy one
Eyes - Violet
Hair - Auburn
Height - 5ft-6"

Legend
Scathach ("the shadowy one"), is a warrior queen and mistress of a school for young
warriors. The school was located in the land of shadows off the cost of Scotland and
students travelled from all over the Gaelic world to learn from her. Gaining her tuition
was not an easy task, prospective students faced many trials to reach her, such as
crossing plain or razor sharp grass that pierced the feet of those who stepped on it and
an enchanted bridge that tried to cast all who stepped on it to their death

She initiated young men into the arts of war, as well as giving them the"friendship of
her thighs", (she thought them how to have sex). She had magical abilities and the
gift of foresight which she used to tell her student Cuchulain of the hardship that lay
ahead of him she also forsaw that his best friend/foster brother and fellow pupil Ferdiad
would die by his hand. She was the original master of the Gae Bolg and as Cuchullain
impressed her when she lead her students to war against her rival Aoife she made
him her protégé, gifted the spear to him and thought him to use it in order to set him
apart from his fellow students

In some sects of the Druidic religion some believe that she ascended after her death
and became the Goddess of the dead who acts as a Valkyrie guiding the soles of
the dead to Tír na nÓg the land of eternal youth.

Personality
Scathach as a teacher carries herself with dignity and a quiet reserve although she
comes across as being strict and harsh she has a large soft spot in her heart for
children and protects her students with a mothers instinct. Teaching role aside she
is an avid socialite enjoying parties and can be described as a nymph for her behaviour
towards men.

As a warrior she follows a strict code of honour and values a fair fight
she will avoid underhanded tactics such as holding people hostage and would rather
meet her opponent face to face instead of setting up an ambush or a sneak attack

Abilities

Knowledge of Foremost Harmony
A special ability that prevents reduction of the effectiveness of an attack, no matter
how many times it is used on the same opponent. As a master of the martial arts
Scathach has learned to add minute variations to her attacks each time she uses
them so they cannot be precieved as the same attack .

Eye of the Mind (True)
The ability to effectuate rapid and precise judgements gained through experience and
training. Scathach is capable of calmly analysing situations even during a battle,
applying strategy and skills to turn the tables in her favour. As long as there is at least
a 1% chance of victory, she is able to devise a plan to exploit that possibility.

Magic Resistance Rank: B
Nullifies all magic that requires less than three verses. Cannot block large-scale magic
such as great magic or ritual magic.

Rune Magic
only servants of Celtic or Scandinavian origin may use this skill it is the
same skill that masters can use were symbols are inscribed and
automatically activates a spell accordingly with the meaning that they
represent however for servants the effects are more potent as their
skills were learned at a time before Rune magic fell into decline amongst
Magi

Clairvoyance Rank: A
Enhanced visual perception. At this rank, Scathach is capable of seeing targets at the
very least as far as 4 km and is able to keep track of bodies moving at enormous speed.
This also allows her to glimpse things that are yet to come

Protection from arrows
This is an ability that lancer are adept at it gives Improved defence
against ranged attacks due to accurate prediction of its trajectory by
extraordinary means such as hearing the sound of the projectile cutting
the wind or feeling the enemy's killing intent. As long as the shooter is
within his field of vision, the lancer can track down the shot with his
eyes and defend against it. This does not apply to attacks from super
long range or that have a large area-of-effect.

Nobel Phantasms

Shadow shroud - Support rank: N/A
By twirling the Gae Bolg she creates a shadowy veil that masks her movements making it
harder to judge where her attacks are going to strike

Gae Bolg the spear of striking death flight - Anti-Fort. Rank B+
This technique is how gae bolg is supposed to be used utilizing the full potential of
Gáe Bolg's curse, converting Mana into energy and releasing the accumulated power
and releasing it on contact after the spear is hurled, it puts greater emphasis on raw
power and has a wider area of impact, similar in concept to detonating an explosive
device

Gae Bolg 30 agonies - Anti Unit Rank: B
This is he true form of Gae Bolgs Curse the spear was carved from the bone of a sea
monster giving it abnormal abilities such as the one used in this phantasm. Calling the
word Gae initiates the curse once it is lodged in the target calling Bolg evokes the
curse causing 30 barbs to grow from the spear tip and rip the victim apart