The Twelfth Holy Grail War of OT

The twelfth war is mainly focused on meaningful tactical decisions and will feature many unique and game-altering abilities. Camping will be heavily discouraged, but a points system will not be implemented to achieve this goal.

Background
The Holy Grail Wars of OT are based on the Fate/Stay Night series. The Holy Grail War is a competition in which 7 magi compete to obtain the Holy Grail. These magi are referred to as masters and summon powerful servants with powerful abilities to help them defeat the opposing servants to obtain the Grail. In the original series, servants are heroes of myth and legend whose identities are generally kept secret in order to hide the servants greatest abilities and weapons, known as Noble Phantasms. Servants are summoned into a unique class and use their class as a pseudo-name. The series acknowledges that there are other classes, but these are the 7 classes shown (descriptions from main article):

Saber - Saber classes are characterized by their strong abilities in melee combat. This class usually wields close-range melee weapons like swords or axes. They are known to be the most magically resistant class. They are considered to be one of the most versatile classes because of their wide array of abilities.

Archer - Archer classes are anime characters who specialize in ranged combat. Since Archers excel in ranged combat, their known weakness is close ranged fights with tougher servants. They possess a form of magical resistance though not as powerful as the Saber class.

Lancer - Lancer classes are anime characters who wield long-ranged melee weapons such as spears. They are an agile class though they possess less physical strength and endurance that the Saber Class. Their magic resistance is second only to that of a Saber's.

Caster - Caster classes are characters who are usually magically aligned or at least possess a form of magical energy. They are a fragile class but are capable of powerful offensive spells when left alone. A Caster's main specialty is affecting a wide-area with magic.

Rider - Rider classes have a history of riding a form of beast, or a machine in their original lifetimes. They are just about as fast as Lancers and while possessing some strength comparable to a Saber. They are also known for possessing multiple Noble Phantasms.

Berserker - Berserkers are known to be anime characters who have gone berserk in at least once in their lifetimes. They are generally hard to control in combat and are capable of dealing and taking the most amount of damage in melee fights. Multiple servants are usually required to kill one, or an indirect approach is needed.

Assassin - Assassins are technically the weakest class in terms of all attributes, but they make up for this for being nearly completely invisible throughout the whole game. Assassins must be stealthy and patient, who often engage in mindgames more than direct combat.

These will be the 7 classes used in the Twelfth Holy Grail War, and each will be suited to its own style of play. Instead of heroes of myth however, this war will use video game, manga and anime characters as servants. Masters will be original creations. Remember that the descriptions above are only generalizations and may not reflect the full reality of this war.

General Outline
Players will play in teams of two, one being a master and the other a servant. In general, masters have powerful abilities that allow better positioning, and servants have powerful abilities that are suitable for direct combat. The objective of the game is to be the last team with a servant standing. Teams will have a private board where they can coordinate and strategize.

Characters
In general there are three types of characters: masters, servants, and summons. Each player will either play a servant or master. However, players may also control summons that can be created by certain abilities.

Health and Mana
Characters have health and mana. If a character's health reaches zero at any time, that character is dead. If a servant's mana reaches zero at anytime, that servant is dead.

Regeneration
In the Upkeep Phase of each turn, each character regenerates health and mana. Regeneration is calculated by taking the base regeneration (given on the character sheet), and applying other upkeeps, buffs, and debuffs.

Note that unlike in previous wars, there is no formal concept of "in battle", so regeneration occurs on every turn by default.

Abilities
Unless otherwise stated, a character may use one support ability and one combat ability per turn. In general, abilities have a mana cost and a rank (indicating the general strength of the ability). Unless otherwise stated, abilities are limited to the area that the user is in. Here is an example of an ability:

[To be Completed]

Attributes
Attributes have ranks, ranging from E to A, indicating the power of the character. A rank can also have +'s (eg. B+++). If a rank has more than three +'s, it moves to the next rank (B++++ equals A). A rank can not decrease below E nor can it increase above A+++.

There is also a special rank called EX, which can not be achieved through normal rank increase.

Strength and Magic Attack

These parameters amplify the damage of the character's combat abilities. Each + adds .05 to the damage multiplier

Endurance and Magic Resistance

These parameters reduce the damage taken by the character. Each + substracts .05 to the defense multiplier

Agility

Agility determines the order of actions in each phase. Characters with faster agility ranks perform their abilities first (unless otherwise specified in the actions). Agility also determines how many movement points a character gets each turn.

Luck

Luck is the parameter most shrouded in unknowns. In all situations comparing agility, Luck will be used as a tie breaker in case agility ranks are tied. Certain abilities may use luck in determining their effects.

Movement
Every movement phase, each character is allocated movement points based on their agility and other factors. A character can move up to X spaces during the movement phase, where X is the number of movement points he/she possesses.

Formally, there are 9001 movement steps in the movement phase. You may spend a movement point to move during any of these 9001 steps or choose not to move.

Should you encounter a character in the same area anytime during the movement phase, you may choose to skirmish with the target. Skirmishing will automatically remove both player's remaining movement points.

Masters
Masters possess command spells signifying their control over their servants. If a master has died in the area, he/she may be consumed instead of a regular civilian. If a master is consumed this way, the character is healed 50% of his/her maximum health and mana.

Additionally, masters have the opportunity to take unused command spells from a dead master. This can be done as a free action during the upkeep phase (however, the master may not have been consumed).

All tie-breakers will be decided by agility and luck.

Servants
Servants are the most powerful beings in the game and have some additional rules.

Spirit Form

All servants are capable of entering spirit form, where they can not interact with the surrounding world. Observers will be able to detect a servant in spirit form but will not be able to see him. During the Upkeep Phase, a servant can choose to go into spirit form only if his/her master is present in the same area, and a servant will return to corporeal form if his/her master is not in the area. Servants in spirit form can not be targeted nor will they be affected by abilities; however, servants in spirit form can still be detected in the area (although their identities are hidden). Performing any action returns the servant to corporeal form. Servants in spirit form will be able to block normally and use any abilities that they can normally use.

Masterless

Servants require a contract to a master in order to gain mana. Servants and masters share a special bound, and masterless servants will lose 20% of their maximum mana during regeneration.

Passive Abilities
These abilities are applied automatically without any manual intervention and require no mana cost.

Support Abilities
These abilities generally apply buffs or debuffs and do not do direct damage.

Sustained Abilities

A subset of support abilities are Sustained Abilities. They act like Passive Abilities but have an initial activation cost and require a mana upkeep each turn. The sustained ability can be disabled at any time as a free action.

Combat Abilities
These abilities do direct damage. Combat abilities specify a base damage, and total combat damage is calculated by: Total Damage = Base Damage * Damage Multiplier * Defense Multiplier Base Damage: From ability Damage Multiplier: Based on Strength or Magic Attack (specified by the ability) Defense Multiplier: Based on the target's Endurance or Magic Resistance (specified by the ability)

Basic Attack

This is a special attack available to all characters that does not take mana to use. The attacker gets the choice to use Strength or Magic Attack for this attack. The base damage of this ability is 30.

Anti-Personnel

This is an attack targeted against one character.

Anti-Fortress

This is an attack that targets multiple characters.

Anti-Army

This is an attack that affects all characters in the area.

Reality Marbles
Reality marbles are self-enclosed areas of magical space. Upon its use, a Reality Marble will transport all characters in the area to a temporary location, and characters may not enter or leave the marble. When the marble is terminated, all characters inside will be transported back to the original location.

Noble Phantasms
Only servants possess these abilities. Noble Phantasms are a servant's strongest abilities and can have any other ability types. This class of abilities can have no specific characteristics by themselves and can be treated as a title.

Command Spells
Command Spells are spells of absolute command and proof of a master. Each master has three Command Spells at the start of the game. These spells are considered abilities and have the highest priority among all abilities. Command spells allow masters to give one of his contracted servants powerful effects.

Once a command spell is used, it is permanantly gone, careful consideration should be exercised before using one. The only way to obtain more is taking them from dead masters or participating in a transfer.

The following Command Spells are available:

Fight Harder - The target servant gains a rank in each parameter for 1 turn.

'''Survive at all cost! - '''The target servant gains EX Endurance and EX Magic Resistance until the end of the turn

Come to me! - Instantly summons the target servant to his or her location.

Block that attack! - The target servant can block for an additional target this turn.

Shake it off! - All debuffs are removed from the target servant.

Don't give up! - The target servant gains +40 health and mana regeneration for 1 turn.

Obey me! - The user controls the target servant's actions for 1 turn.

'''Obey me later! - The user can use "Obey me!'''" once at any time.

'''Escape! '''- Teleport the target servant to any location on the map.

Turn Order
Unless delayed, actions in each phase will be carried out in order of the agility of the users (highest agility to lowest agility).

Each turn will consist of the following phases:
 * Upkeep Phase
 * Support Phase
 * Combat Phase
 * Movement Phase
 * End Phase

Upkeep Phase

Command spells can be used in this phase. Health and mana regeneration will be calculated from all buffs, debuffs and sustained abilities at the same time, and will be applied as the very last action of this phase. Servants can also choose to enter spirit form.

Support Phase

Support abilities can be used in this phase.

Combat Phase

Combat abilities can be used in this phase.

Movement Phase

This phase is divided into movement steps. In each movement step, characters can use a movement point and move one space on the map. Characters have different number of movement points.

For each movement step, every character will move simultaneously. The movement phase will last until there are no more movement steps to be processed, or until 9001 movement steps have been carried out. You may choose to delay until a certain movement step before using a movement point. This is also the phase for skirmishes.

End Phase

Civilians can be consumed in this phase. Buffs and debuffs are processed as the very last action of this turn. For each buff/debuff, the turns remaining decreases by one. If a buff/debuff has 0 turns remaining, then it is negated.

Map
http://s1.zetaboards.com/OT_Holy_Grail_War/topic/3485832/

Health and Mana Scaling
If a character's maximum health or maximum mana is increased, the character's current health and mana will increase so that the percentage remains the same.

Ex: A character having 200/400 health has his maximum health increased by 100. The original percentage was 0.5, so the character has 250/500 health after the increase.

Group Movement
Because of the special bond between masters and servants, the master may sacrifice all of his or her movement points and move with his or her servant. Both master and servant will move as one entity.

Skirmish
During the movement phase, if a character encounter another character in the same location, any one of them may choose to engage in a skirmish. Unless one character kills the other, skirmishing reduces both character's remaining movement points to zero. Skirmishing involves an exchange of basic attacks; each character can perform a basic attack on the other.

Blocking
A character may block for one character. Damage from all targeted attacks will be directed to the blocking character. Unless otherwise stated by the master, A servant will always block for his or her master. Anti-Army abilities can not be blocked other than by servants blocking for their masters.

Contracts
A contract is the bond between a master and a servant. As long as a master has command spells remaining, his or her servants may not disobey any movement orders or refuse to block. A master may choose to break a contract or contract with a masterless servant in the upkeep phase instead of using a command spell. Masters can form contracts regardless of their remaining command spells. However, servants can voluntarily break contracts if the master has no remaining command spells. A master who uses his last command spell will automatically uncontract his/her servants (but they can be recontracted).

Civilians
During the end phase, if a servant has not used a support or combat ability, he or she may choose to consume a civilian, instantly restoring 50 mana. However, all players will be alerted to the location where this occurred.

Conditionals and Delays
You may choose to only perform certain abilities in certain situations. This allows you to delay actions until a certain event occurs. Keep in mind that if you set a condition, the action will only occur after your character(s) observe that condition being fulfilled. Abilities that take place in earlier phases can always have priority over abilities in later phases.

If a deadlock occurs (such as none of your conditions being met or multiple characters delaying for the last action), then any actions set in this situation will be executed based on the agility of the characters in question. Characters with higher agility will get priority in any deadlock, meaning that the actual events will occur closer to their actions than characters with lower agility.

Communications
Players may not communicate with each other outside of the public topic (except for their partners). Upon meeting another player, you will be given that player's contact information, and can contact that player privately through whatever channels you desire.

Public Update
Public updates will narrate the most significant combat event that ocurred during the turn. If no significant combat occurs, then filler will be used instead.

Victory Condition
At the end phase of each turn, if one servant remains, contracted to a master, then that servant and master wins the game. If it is not possible for this condition to be fulfilled in any future turns, then the game ends in a stalemate.

Logic Game
The logic game has been a standard part of all Holy Grail Wars played so far. This metagame is based on Umineko no Naku Koro ni and is used to obtain information on the current game. The logic game is quite simple and there are two types of special text to consider.

Red Text

Text in red text are considered absolute truths. Any player can post in red and the content should be true to the best of the player's knowledge. If the GM notices any discrepencies between what the player knows and the truth, he will try to talk to the player privately before publicly correcting the mistake. Deceptive, but true, red text carries no penalties and is even encouraged. Red text is created on GameFAQs through the tags < b >< i >text< /em > < /b > < /i>.

Blue Text

Text posted in blue are considered theories and suppositions. Blue text must be directed to another player and have an adequate basis for the accusation. If these two conditions are met, then the accused player must respond to the blue text with red text. Should there be any challenges on the validity of the basis, the GM will make a ruling. Private information can not be considered a valid basis. Accused players have two game turns to respond to the blue text or face penalties.

These special text are only binding when posted in the public update topics. The GM will not recognize any special text sent privately. Participation in the logic game is mandatory. Players must respond within two game turns of blue text being posted.