The Eleventh Holy Grail War of OT

Designed by Sceptilesolarbeam, this War is intended to, in the style of the 5th War, manage to succeed in having interesting Servants, good balance, and a clever plotline.

This War is also intended to feature ideas from several other Wars, as well as including a number of improvements of its own.

As of 8/8, the current version of the rules:

The Background
The Holy Grail War is a competition between magi to determine who among them is to be given access to the Holy Grail: a priceless magical artifact capable of granting one’s wish. Each magus summons to them a Servant, a hero or villain from the past who has been preserved by the Holy Grail, and uses them to eliminate all opposing Servants, and claim victory.

In these Wars, the summoned Servants happen to be from anime, manga, visual novels, anime-esque JRPGs, and the like, so their identities should be discernable to the careful observer.

This War is unprecedented in scope. A confusion has occurred. Additional Servant classes that have been forbidden and not present in previous Wars have been summoned, and three additional magi have entered the fray; in other words, this War is a struggle between twenty characters, rather than the ordinary fourteen.

General Rules
Some of the below rules, marked by asterisks (*), have an example given at the end.
 * 1) The War ends the moment only one team comprising one Master and exactly one Servant remains and the formation of other teams is impossible.
 * 2) With regard to these rules, rules < sheets < GM; in other words, the rules below only provide a general set of conditions that apply unless they are directly contradicted by individual sheets. For example, it is stated here that a Master may not be damaged while they have a Servant of theirs present in the same location as them, but that does not preclude a skill that specifically inflicts damage on Masters. And the GM’s word has precedence over both, though he’ll use it sparingly, right~?
 * 3) A character's sheet and abilities are not to be released in any form even if they are dead. All sheets will be posted at the same time once the War ends, so players are advised not to post any... or suffer the consequences.
 * 4) The GM will do his best to answer any questions, but if any of them are related to balance choices, he reserves the right to remain silent if he feels it would compromise another character's sheet.

The Parameters
A Servant's capacities, measured in several ways, are colloquially referred to as their "stats". These stats, as determined by the War Moderator, can be taken as a good measure of a Servant’s capacities. Magi have also been assigned stats by the Association, though the stats of a Servant are on a completely different level from those of a mere human mage.

Health
Determines a character’s remaining stamina; attacks will reduce Health over time. When a character’s Health reaches 0 or below, they are simply considered dead. All Servants possess roughly the same maximum Health, as do all Masters. Because of the superhuman capacities of the Servants, their maximum Health is significantly higher than that of their Masters. Servants' maximum Health is set at 300 for this War; Masters' maximum Health, 150. Familiars may have any amount of Health. Attacks made by any character whose Health is 1/3 or less of their maximum Health inflict 25% less damage.

Health Regeneration
Determines how quickly a character’s body recovers from injuries while resting out of battle. This stat varies across the board.

Mana
Determines the amount of magical energy that a character is capable of accessing. Most skills will reduce one’s store of Mana. Because Servants are magical beings, they die if their Mana reaches 0 or below; Masters simply are unable to cast spells. All Servants possess roughly the same maximum Mana, as do all Masters. Because of the miraculous existence of the Servants, their maximum Mana is significantly higher than that of their Masters. Servants' maximum Mana is set at 200 for this War; Masters' maximum Mana, 75. Familiars may have any amount of Mana.

Mana Regeneration
Determines how quickly a character restores their store of Mana, thus allowing additional usage of skills and spells. This stat varies across the board.

Strength
Abbreviated as STR, this stat measures the capacity for a character to inflict physical damage on their opponents. The higher a character's STR, the greater the damage they can inflict with physical skills and direct blows. The following values are used for each rank in STR:

E: 0.05 (5%)

D: 0.25 (25%)

C: 0.45 (45%)

B: 0.65 (65%)

A: 0.85 (85%)

EX: 1.30 (130%)

Each subrank ("+" or "-") is equivalent to 0.03 (3%).

Endurance
Abbreviated as END, this stat measures a character’s skill at resisting attacks. The higher a character's END, the less damage they will receive from physical attacks. The following values are used for each rank in END:

E: 0.05 (5%)

D: 0.25 (25%)

C: 0.45 (45%)

B: 0.65 (65%)

A: 0.85 (85%)

EX: 1.20 (120%)

Each subrank ("+" or "-") is equivalent to 0.03 (3%).

Magical Energy
Abbreviated as MAE, this stat measures the capacity for a character to inflict magical damage on the opponent and how capable they are at casting spells. The higher a character's MAE, the greater the damage they can inflict with spells of all sorts. The following values are used for each rank in MAE:

E: 0.05 (5%)

D: 0.25 (25%)

C: 0.45 (45%)

B: 0.65 (65%)

A: 0.85 (85%)

EX: 1.30 (130%)

Each subrank ("+" or "-") is equivalent to 0.03 (3%).

Magical Resistance
Abbreviated as MAR, this stat measures a character’s skill at shrugging off magical damage. The higher a character's MAR, the less damage they will receive from magical attacks. Only the "Knight" classes tend to have high MAR. The following values are used for each rank in MAE:

E: 0.05 (5%)

D: 0.25 (25%)

C: 0.45 (45%)

B: 0.65 (65%)

A: 0.85 (85%)

EX: 1.20 (120%)

Each subrank ("+" or "-") is equivalent to 0.03 (3%).

Agility
Abbreviated as AGI, this stat measures a character’s speed. The higher a character's AGI, the faster they can move both in and out of battle and the greater the chance of them possibly obtaining additional blows. At the beginning of a Turn, if the difference in AGI between a character and their opponent(s) is greater than two full ranks, or if a character has AGI ranked EX and their opponent(s) does not, the character with the higher AGI gains 1 more AP during that Turn. If a character is battling multiple opponents, the highest individual AGI amongst their foes is used.

Luck
Abbreviated as LCK, this stat measures a character’s luck. It is unknown how this is measured, but it seems as though certain skills base themselves off their user’s LCK, and particularly lucky people can avoid negative effects from those skills. This stat is also used as a tiebreaker in determining the order of actions. Finally, at the beginning of a Turn, if the difference in LCK between a character and their opponent(s) is greater than two full ranks, or if a character has LCK ranked EX and their opponent(s) does not, non-Special damage inflicted by the character with the higher LCK increases by 25% during that Turn. Even in a battle against multiple enemies, only the LCK stat of the opponent being targeted is used.

Acuity
Abbreviated as ACT, this stat measures a character’s acuity from visual, auditiory, and other kinds of cues. The higher a character's ACT, the greater the detail of their Nightly updates, as well as the more specific the information presented within is. At high ranks, a character can pick up extremely subtle changes, which can provide very useful information on enemy skills. This stat is special and is not considered with the main six stats for the purposes of skills.

N/A: The character does not gain information about identities or dropped items in a location. They will only be able to identify the number and type of characters in an area. They will also learn the identities of those characters only if those characters have already encountered a character with a real ACT value; otherwise, they gain no info.

E: The character's acuity is actually impaired, so they gain less information than even a normal human would.

D: The character has an ordinary human ability to read one’s situation, so they gain only basic information.

C: The character has slightly higher than average ability, so they gain more detailed information.

B: The character has a high ability to read a situation, the level of a well-trained human or magus, so they gain very detailed information and can notice subtle changes that hint at skill effects.

A: The character has an amazing ability to read a situation, beyond human capacity. Their information is complete and they can understand their opponent’s personality very quickly.

EX: The character has a flawless ability to read a situation. Their information is complete, they can notice any subtle change, and they can understand their opponents instantly.

This skill cannot gain subranks.

Noble Phantasm
Each Servant possesses at least one "Noble Phantasm", a special skill of astonishing power. Abbreviated as NP. A character's NP rank measures the overall effectiveness of their Noble Phantasm(s). This stat is special and is not considered with the main six stats for the purpose of skills. A Noble Phantasm's subranks only mean that it is not quite the same strength as its base rank, but that difference isn't great enough to constitute a full rank.

The Classes
Each Servant is categorized under a class, which provides a rough estimate of their strengths and weaknesses. Ordinarily, there are seven classes used, but three others have been added here.

Berserker

A tough and powerful melee fighter that loses their sanity in order to increase their own capacities.

Saber

A skilled swordsman, known as the most balanced class. The Saber class tends to also be the most powerful class, and many Sabers have won previous Wars.

Lancer

An agile warrior known for their extreme speed in battle.

Rider

A master of beasts who uses the "Riding" skill to ride creatures and vehicles into combat.

Archer

Capable of many ranged and long-ranged attacks, this Servant excels at scouting and attacking from a distance.

Assassin

A sneaky Servant that makes up for physical weakness with many powerful skills and the ability to move unnoticed.

Caster

A fragile Servant that excels in dealing magical damage. Of the main seven classes, this class is the only one to be magic-oriented.

Avenger

A warrior with a unique ability to reduce or reflect enemy attacks.

Artillery

A fragile Servant that excels in firing from long-range, but quickly falls at close-range.

Summoner

A defensive Servant with low physical capacity that can create familiars out of battle.

Familiars
Many characters may possess the ability to summon unique familiars with special abilities. Unlike in previous Wars, a familiar will not intercept attacks that target their summoner by default; this must be provided in their description. A familiar will automatically transmit what they see to their summoner under normal circumstances, though the level of detail can vary greatly; some familiars may only be intelligent enough to transmit the number and types of characters in an area without providing any details on their identities.

Actions
It is possible for characters to use several actions per Turn, depending on the costs of each.

At the beginning of each Turn, all Servants and familiars gain a number of Action Points, abbreviated as AP, listed on their individual sheets and 1 Support Point, abbreviated as SP, to spend on actions. In addition, they may gain or lose AP depending on skill effects and AGI. Even if a character's AP is affected at some point during the Turn, that change won't take effect until the following Turn. Any AP or SP a character still has at the end of a Turn will not be carried over and will simply disappear. Some skills may consume no AP or SP, though most skills in general still have limitations on their use. With regard to summons, because they appear after the beginning of the Turn, they will have 0 AP and SP during the Turn they are summoned.

Masters do not have AP or SP; instead, at the beginning of each Turn, they simply get one Turn Action to spend on skills.

At the beginning of each Turn, all Masters and Servants also gain one Move Action. Moving does not cost AP, SP, nor Turn Actions, but a skill that has a cost of "Full Turn" will consume the caster's Move Action for that Turn.

A skill that has "Full Turn" as a cost requires the caster to not make any other action during that Turn, aside from scouting.

Attacks*
There are several types of attacks, each using a different formula to calculate damage; offensive skills will have their type listed in their description. Many skills also inflict damage based on their rank.

Physical Attacks – An attempt to kill an opponent with a punch, a sword, or any other means considered physical. Inflicted damage is calculated by this formula:

Damage Inflicted = Base Damage * (STR – END + 1)

Ranged Attacks – Many Servants possess attacks that are considered ranged attacks. Inflicted damage is calculated by this formula:

Damage Inflicted = Base Damage

Long-ranged Attacks – A special subtype of ranged attacks as they can be used from other locations. Inflicted damage is calculated by this formula:

Damage Inflicted = Base Damage

Magical Attacks – A few Servants can attack magically as well as physically. Inflicted damage is calculated by this formula:

Damage Inflicted = Base Damage * (MAE – MAR + 1)

Special Damage – Some skills may deal unique forms of damage. Skill effects that would reduce most other forms of damage do not affect attacks of this type. Inflicted damage is calculated by this formula:

Damage Inflicted = Base Damage

Basic Attacks – Not a special attack type; basic attacks are attacks of many types. A Servant’s Basic Attack consumes only 1 AP and has no other cost; they are separated from other skills on that Servant's sheet.

For the purposes of skills, an attack is defined as any skill that can inflict damage. However, some skills may have multi-hit capabilities; in this case, each hit is considered a separate attack.

Abilities
A Servant tends to possess a set of varied class and personal abilities, all of which are passive skills specially related to their identity and class. Abilities will follow the same format as skills, listed in the next section.

Skills*
The key to battling is judicious use of various skills. With that in mind, an in-depth dissection of a skill is needed.

SKILL FORMAT:

Name:

Rank:

Type:

Max Number of Targets:

Type of Target:

Damage:

Cost:

Requirements:

Description:

Name: The name of the skill. No significance.

Rank: A rough estimation of the skill’s power. Magical skills are more able to pierce resistance depending on their rank.

Type: The skill's type. -      Instant: Occurs during the Instant Phase. -      Prepared: Occurs during the Prepared Effect Phase. -      Passive: Activates instantly, affecting solely the user, and is not considered an action. -      Surprise Attack: Occurs during the Instant Phase. Disables opponents from acting during that Turn of battle. Fails if a target detects the user. -      Summoning: A summoning-type skill, creating some kind of familiar to aid the caster. -      Bounded Field: A special kind of spell that targets a location. Only one Bounded Field can be active in any given location at a time; if a Bounded Field is cast despite this, it will be canceled, and all activation costs of that spell will be refunded to the caster. -      Reality Marble: A unique skill that pulls all opponents in the immediate area into a special separate area controlled by the user. Only one Reality Marble can be active in any given location; if a Reality Marble is activated from inside another, both Marbles will be canceled.

Max Number of Targets: The maximum number of targets that can be selected for the skill.

Type of Target: The potential targets for the skill. A skill is required to target at least one of each type listed when cast.

Damage: The amount and type of damage the skill inflicts.

Cost: The costs the caster must pay in order to activate the skill. Most skills have mana, AP, or SP costs, but some skills may have other unusual kinds. Several skills can be prolonged over a period of time, so the upkeep cost in order to prolong the skill each Turn will be listed here as well.

Requirements: The conditions required in order to activate the skill. If even one condition was not met beforehand, all activation costs of the skill will be refunded to the caster.

Description: A description of how the skill works and of any special effects it may have.

Status Effects
Several Servants possess skills capable of inflicting status effects on either their opponent(s) or themselves. Some of these have been listed, but some characters may possess other kinds of status effects; regardless, the effects of any status on a character will always be provided to their player.

Poison – At the Instant Phase of a Turn, the victim receives Special damage. Will be marked as "Poison T/D" or something similar to that format, where T is the number of Turns the status lasts for and D is the amount of Special damage it inflicts each Turn.

Stunned – At the beginning of a Turn, the victim loses 1 AP. Since Masters do not have AP to begin with, they are immune to this affliction. Will be marked as "Stun T" or something similar to that format, where T is the number of Turns the status lasts for.

Any status effect inflicted will be received regardless of type or version. However, the victim will only suffer from the most severe version of each status.

For example, a Servant could receive "Poison 1/6", "Poison 3/30", "Poison 5/15", "Stun 2", "Stun 7", and "Stun 22" in the span of a single Turn. If they are left unchecked for the rest of the War, they would:


 * lose 1 AP at the beginning of each of the next 22 Turns


 * receive 30 Special damage during each Instant Phase of the next 3 Turns, then receive 15 Special damage during each Instant Phase of the following 2 Turns

All versions of a negative status effect will be removed the moment the victim is treated by a skill or location effect.

Contracts
A Master has a special connection to their Servant: the contract formed with them. This contract is signified through the Master’s Command Spells, so once those spells are gone, the Master loses their qualifications as a Master and is considered disqualified, and every contract they have with a Servant is broken immediately. A disqualified Master can re-establish their contract with their original Servant; in this case, that Master will not gain any new Command Spells from this action, and they will be unable to regenerate normally while their Servant is not in Spirit Form. A disqualified Master cannot establish new contracts.

Once a Servant is freed from their contract through either their Master's death, disqualification, or whim, that Servant will be unable to regenerate, and they will lose 40% of their maximum Mana each Night. The "Independent Action" ability can circumvent this somewhat. To prevent dying from mana loss, a Masterless Servant can contract with any qualified Master, even if that Master already had or has a Servant.

If a Master has contracts with more than one Servant, the drain on that Master's body will become more strenuous. If a Master has contracts with two Servants, that Master will be unable to regenerate. If a Master has contracts with three or more Servants, every member of that team will be unable to regenerate, and that Master will lose Mana at the Initial Phase of each Turn according to this formula:

Mana Lost = 10 * (Number of Servants Contracted - 2)

If that Master is unable to pay that upkeep cost, their Servants who aren't in Spirit Form will be forced into entering Spirit Form; if those Servants are unable to enter Spirit Form, they will lose Mana as if they lacked a Master. Again, the "Independent Action" ability can circumvent this somewhat.

When a qualified enemy Master is killed, any surviving Servant who was contracted with that opponent can immediately be contracted by the Master of the team that killed that opponent if that Servant so chooses; this is because that Servant is capable of defending the remaining Command Spells on that opponent's corpse that would allow the transferral of their contract. Unless that Servant allows themselves to be contracted or is unable to protect their dead Master, a contract cannot be forcibly formed.

The Command Spells
Each Master begins the War with a contract with a single Servant. As proof of this contract, each Master possesses three Command Spells. These spells can grant numerous effects that make a Master’s Servant surpass all others for a time, but once all three are used, all contracts between the Master and their Servants are broken, and only the contract between that Master and their initial Servant can be reformed. These spells are considered Instant actions that do not cost the caster part of their Turn. Command Spells circumvent skill effects if a conflict of effects arises. A Command Spell can affect only one of the caster's Servants, but only the Command Spell "Summon!" can be used when that Servant is in a different area.

The available Command Spells:

“Kill them no matter what!” – Provides extra power to one of the caster’s Servants, giving them 1 positive subrank to all their stats. Lasts three Turns. Does not stack with itself.

“Survive at all costs!” – Increases the defensive capabilities of one of the caster’s Servants greatly. Damage they receive decreases by 50%, but damage they inflict also decreases by 50%. Lasts two Turns. Does not stack with itself.

“Withstand it!” – Provides one of the caster’s Servants with temporary immunity to any negative status effect. Lasts three Turns.

“Obey me!” – One of the caster’s Servants will fulfill the order that follows this spell's activation without question. Lasts indefinitely.

“Defend X!” – One of the caster's Servants will intercept any attack that is directed at the specified target without question. If the specified target is a Master, that Servant will intercept any attack that is directed at that Master even if it would normally damage just the Master. That Servant still partially protects their Master even while this spell is active, but in the case of an area skill, that Servant will protect their specified target over their Master. Lasts as long as desired by the caster.

“Get behind me!” – One of the caster's Servants will stop taking hits for their Master, and the caster will intercept any attack directed at that Servant. This effect will be canceled if the intercepted attack would normally kill the caster, so the caster will not die as a direct result of this spell. Lasts as long as desired by the caster.

“Flee this battle now!” – One of the caster's Servants does their best to attempt to escape from battle. At the end of the Instant Phase, that Servant and the caster will warp to an adjacent location of the caster's choice. This spell circumvents abilities intended to prevent fleeing. This spell's effect is considered fleeing, and consumes the Move Actions of both that Servant and the caster.

“You can’t escape!” – One of the caster’s Servants is encouraged to pursue a fleeing opponent. If the specified target flees to a location through any method, that Servant will move to that location immediately. In addition, the battle is considered as though it had not ended.

“Take on Spirit Form!” – One of the caster's Servants enters Spirit Form immediately even if they're in battle. This spell circumvents the restriction on Spirit Form.

“Leave Spirit Form!” – One of the caster's Servants who is in Spirit Form leaves Spirit Form immediately. This spell occurs at the beginning of the Instant Phase, before any other effects can be applied.

“Summon!” - One of the caster's Servants who is currently not in the same location as their Master is summoned to the caster's location immediately. This skill does not consume that Servant’s Move Action.

Conditionals*
Players are allowed to place conditionals on any of their moves. The basic foundation of a conditional is, "If X, do A; otherwise, do B." A player can use almost any condition, as long as it would be apparent to either them or their character. Examples of illegal conditionals will also be provided.

Delaying Actions*
Normally, actions may be delayed within a Turn or even within a phase. An action can be delayed to any phase that is later than the action's normal occurrence, and within a phase, an action can be delayed to any AGI rank that is lower than the user’s current AGI. Alternatively, an action can be delayed based on conditionals. If two or more characters are delaying their actions to the same time, the character whose skill gets to go last will be determined by the same conditions that are used to determine Turn order.

Order of Turns
Each Turn is divided into several phases.

Within each phase, the Turn order is determined by the differences in AGI between characters, with AGI subranks considered first tiebreakers. If there is no difference in AGI between at least two characters, then LCK will be used as the second tiebreaker, with LCK subranks considered third tiebreakers. If there is no difference in both AGI and LCK between those characters, the skills they use will occur simultaneously.


 * 1) Daily Move Phase (Scouting)
 * 2) Initial Phase (Upkeeps, Regen, Per Turn Effects occur)
 * 3) Instant Phase (Instants, Surprise Attacks, Command Spells)
 * 4) Support Phase (Supports)
 * 5) Attacking Phase (Anti-)
 * 6) Prepared Effect Phase (Prepared)
 * 7) Movement Phase (Move Action)
 * 8) 2nd Instant Phase (Instants, Surprise Attacks, Command Spells)
 * 9) 2nd Support Phase (Supports)
 * 10) 2nd Attacking Phase (Anti-)
 * 11) 2nd Prepared Effect Phase (Prepared)

The Turn begins with the Daily Move Phase, which can only be used by characters that weren't in battle during the previous Turn to scout and has no other significance.

The first important phase is the Initial Phase, in which regeneration and skill upkeeps occur.

The second phase is the Instant Phase, in which Instant skills, Surprise Attacks, and Command Spells take place.

Note that any action in the Daily Move Phase, Initial Phase, or Instant Phase occurs simultaneously with all others in the same phase as them.

The third phase is the Support Phase, in which nondamaging skills take place.

The fourth phase is the Attacking Phase, in which offensive skills take place.

The fifth is the Prepared Effect Phase, in which skills that require charging take place.

The final phase of combat is the Movement Phase, in which a character fleeing from battle is allowed to escape, and all characters not involved in combat move.

After the Movement Phase, if a character enters battle, they will experience a second combat round spanning from the Instant Phase to the Prepared Effect Phase. However, this second round is only available to characters who did not participate in the first one earlier in the Turn.

Home Bases
All Masters have been given a certain location to act as their Home Base. A Home Base possesses a low-level Bounded Field that will alert the owner if anyone else enters it. However, that Bounded Field is unable to reveal any details regarding that intruder and is so low-level that it is not considered with the "one Bounded Field per location" restrction. In addition, while a Master is inside their Home Base, the regeneration values of both them and (if they're also in that location) any Servant that's contracted with them increase by +5. Masters cannot exchange ownership of their Home Bases with each other during the course of the War. At the beginning of the War, all characters will be positioned inside their respective Home Bases.

A Home Base's ownership can be claimed. If an enemy Master is killed or consumed, all Home Bases that they owned is given to the Master of the team that killed or consumed that opponent; if a Masterless Servant killed or consumed that opponent, those Home Bases will not alert that Servant of intruders, and they will be given to the first Master that contracts that Servant.

Daily / Nightly Actions
Each day, a player or their partner is expected to post their actions for the upcoming Turn. Depending on their situation, that post may either contain all sorts of conditional moves or be very short.

A player has the ability to make both daytime and nighttime moves during this War; verterans of previous Wars will recognize these daytime moves as basically identical to the scouting system used back then. Nighttime moves are simply the normal, more important actions done within the Turn, where skill usage, battles, and movement take place.

Daily Moves
The first half of a player's actions each Turn. Many players might not have an opportunity to use these, as they are only available to players that were not in battle during the previous Turn.

During the Daily Move Phase, a character can scout, meaning that they can make a single temporary move to a location and observe people there before returning to their original location afterward. While scouting a location, a character will gain information on other characters there, and they may also be able to detect other scouting characters. A character in the area with ACT ranked equal to or higher than that of a scouting character will detect that scouting character; this also applies to other characters that are scouting the same area!

During the Daily Move Phase, all scouting will occur simultaneously. Scouting is not considered normally moving; a character can scout and move in the same Turn, and they can scout even if they somehow lost their Move Action at the beginning of that Turn or otherwise cannot move.

Regeneration and Spirit Form
All characters restore some Health and Mana each Turn they aren't in battle. A character's regeneration takes place at the Initial Phase of each Turn as long as they weren’t in battle during the previous Turn, "in battle" defined as "using or being affected by any skill capable of inflicting damage". A Master is also considered "in battle" if they're in an area where their Servant and/or other familiar is also in battle.

Servants are capable of entering Spirit Form to speed up regeneration. While in Spirit Form, both of a Servant's regeneration values increase by 50%, but they cannot use nor be targeted by skills, and they cannot intercept attacks that target their Master. A Servant cannot normally enter Spirit Form while in battle, but if they manage to, they will not be considered in the battle while in Spirit Form, so regeneration will begin to occur. Entering Spirit Form is considered a Support action that consumes 1 SP.

A Servant who's in Spirit Form can leave Spirit Form, which is also considered a Support action that consumes 1 SP.

Beginning of Battle
During a Servant’s first Turn of battle, they can only use 1 AP or 1 SP in skills, not both; this applies both to the beginning of a battle and to any late entrants. During a Master's first Turn of battle, they may use their Turn Action, but only if they have not already used their Move Action earlier in the Turn. Surprise Attacks circumvent these limitations.

Attacking Masters
Servants automatically protect their Masters while in the same area, so skills that inflict damage cannot do so on a Master if a Servant of theirs is in the same location as them and is capable of intercepting it. If a Servant is in Spirit Form, in a different location from their Master, incapacitated by an effect, or dead, then that Master can be attacked directly.

Late Entrants
When a character moves, they may come into contact with hostile foes, and are allowed to enter battle immediately; this results in a new combat round, as described above. In addition, due to certain skills, a character might enter a location in the middle of a battle, before the Movement Phase; should this be the case, they will gain knowledge of the battle, but be unable to enter the first combat round of that Turn. However, they will still be able to enter battle during the second combat round.

Aerial Combat
Some characters may possess Flight as a class ability, or are capable of acquiring Flight through skills. Flight grants a number of positive effects against Flightless opponents. A character with Flight receives 15% less damage from physical attacks made by a Flightless opponent and 10% less damage from magical attacks made by a Flightless opponent. In addition, during a turn, unless they themselves used an attack, they cannot be targeted by physical attacks made by a Flightless opponent.

A character with Flight can still be targeted by a physical attack if that attack was made by an opponent with Flight, but if their Flight rank is higher than that opponent's, they will still receive 15% less damage from that physical attack. A character gains no negative effects when they are in battle with an opponent whose Flight rank is equal to or greater than their own.

Retreats
Battling characters can retreat for whatever reason. If a character chooses to flee, that action will always go last in the Turn. This is considered a regular move that will consume that character’s Move Action for that Turn.

A character can only retreat on or after the second Turn of battle; if a character attempts to move during a Turn, but is pulled into a battle before they can move, their move will be canceled. The Command Spell “Flee this battle now!” circumvents this.

Movement
A character may move to an adjacent location each Turn. All characters move simultaneously during the Movement Phase of each Turn. After a character moves, if they wish to battle any character that's been found in their new location, a second combat round takes place as per specified in the Turn order. Moving consumes the character’s Move Action for that Turn. A team moves together when they're moving to the same location. No other action can occur during the Movement Phase.

Combat Points
Abbreviated as CP, a Master will earn this special currency that can be used to activate certain effects around the map if they and/or any of their partners inflict and/or receive damage. The amount of CP a Master gains at the end of each Turn is calculated by this formula:

CP Gained = Damage Inflicted + Damage All Their Servants Inflicted + 0.5 * (Damage Received + Damage All Their Servants Received)

Any member of a team can access its Master's CP in order to purchase items. Since only Masters can hold CP, all CP a team has is still held by the Master of that team should a contract within that team be broken. CP is not considered an item, so it cannot be exchanged between characters nor dropped in an area. If the Master of a team dies, that Master's CP disappears.

A character is unable to earn CP for the Master of their team from battling any other character that was partnered with them at the beginning of that Turn. Masterless Servants are unable to earn CP.

At the end of every seventh Night, all Masters' CP stores will disappear.

Bounded Fields and Reality Marbles
In this War, there are numerous different kinds of Bounded Fields: unique effects on certain locations. A Bounded Field remain active even if the caster leaves the area, and unlike with most other effects, the caster's team is usually subject to the effects of the caster's own Bounded Field. A Bounded Field does not automatically let the caster detect those that enter them, though some (such as the Home Base enchantment) do possess that effect. Regardless of anything else, a character with ACT ranked EX will always detect an active Bounded Field.

Reality Marbles have a particularly special effect in that they seal off the caster and their targets inside a world of the caster's creation and cannot be escaped through normal means. When a Reality Marble is cast, it automatically covers the entire location; anyone inside that location who isn't being forced into the Marble will be pushed to an adjacent location of the caster's choosing. Furthermore, while that Marble is active, characters cannot enter that location, target it, nor affect it at all from outside it, and the caster is unable to regenerate normally. Maintaining a Reality Marble for frivolous purposes will not be permitted; if a team is inside a Reality Marble but is not in combat, the Master of that team will lose CP at the end of each Turn according to this formula:

CP Lost = 50 * Number of Successive Combat Rounds Unused

Consuming
A Servant is able to gain advantages from civilians, as they can consume one civilian per Turn to restore 10% of their maximum Mana; this action has a cost of "Full Turn". Every location is generally considered to contain an infinite number of civilians. These civilian killings, which will be reported in the public updates, can possibly hint to that Servant’s identity, so consuming multiple people tends to be risky.

A Servant may consume a dying qualified Master on the Turn in which that Master's Health was reduced to 0 or less in order to restore 30% of their own maximum Health and Mana. Disqualified Masters cannot be consumed.

Seal of the IGM
At the end of every seventh Night and before all Masters' CP stores disappear, every member of the team(s) with the least available CP will be marked as a special target (as in Fate/Zero); if two or more teams are tied for last, all members of those teams will be marked. The Master of the first team that kills a mark will gain an additional Command Spell; even disqualified Masters can become Masters again through this event, but if a Masterless Servant kills a mark first, that Servant will not gain the Command Spell. The hunt lasts until either a mark is killed or three Nights pass, whichever comes first. Until the hunt ends, any effect that would prevent either a mark from being targeted or a mark's location from being entered will be negated, and Reality Marbles cannot be cast.

Story-Granted Skills
Starting from Night 10, a countdown will begin until the War experiences a Night with no combat whatsoever, at which point special story updates will occur; as a result of these story updates, all surviving Masters will gain new skills. Then, ten Nights after the first set of special story updates have appeared, a second countdown will occur. For example, if Night 10 experienced no battles, thus unlocking the first set of story updates, the next countdown to the second set would begin on Night 20.

IGM System
In order to manage each War, the Association has sent a special person to assist the participants. That person will remain in a specific location during the course of the War, and is permitted to exchange information with other characters.

While at that location and once per Turn, a player may offer either information on their team or 150 CP in order to gain information or a service from the IGM. If info is offered, it must not have already been declared in red in the public updates, and it must belong to one of these categories: -      The Master's name and the class of one of their Servants -      The Master's name and (if that Master are inside the IGM Office and Central Skyscraper) a description of their overall appearance -      The name and description of a Servant’s non-Basic Attack skill -      The name and type of a Servant’s Noble Phantasm

If that player requests information from the IGM, then the IGM will give that player a randomly chosen piece of information that doesn't refer to any member of that player's team. At the beginning of the War, the IGM will possess ten pieces of information, each a unique hint about one Servant. The IGM will not give out the same piece of information more than once.

If that player requests a service from the IGM instead, they can choose one of the below effects. However, the Fast and True Healing can only be paid for with CP (150 CP/300 CP respectively), and each can be requested only once per week. -      Fast Healing: Restore 15% of the maximum Health and Mana of either that player or a Servant they're contracted with. -      True Healing: Restore 40% of the maximum Health and Mana of either that player or a Servant they're contracted with. -      Instant Teleport: That player is teleported instantly to a location of their choice. -      Memory Erase: The inhabitants of the Fancy Mansion forget their encounter with that player, allowing that player an additional visit.

The IGM can also provide Masters with shelter. A Servantless Master can stay in the IGM’s location; while there, they are given immunity to all effects and damage, and cannot die. However, once they choose this option, they are not allowed to rejoin the War.

Items
A character can, at the cost of CP, purchase items at either the Advanced Hospital (one purchase once per Turn) or the Super Mall (indefinite purchases indefinitely). Using an item will make it disappear from its user's inventory.

The available items for purchase at the Advanced Hospital:

Status-curing Pills (300 CP) - The user is cured of all negative status effects. Using this item is considered a Support action that consumes no SP.

Splint (200 CP) - The user circumvents the penalty regarding low Health. Using this item is considered a Support action that consumes no SP. Lasts indefinitely.

The available items for purchase at the Super Mall:

Focus Band (100 CP) – The holder gains the following skill: -      Battle Continuation (E) – Allows the user to survive a fatal blow with 1 Health. At rank E, this skill will activate only if the user’s Health after the fatal attack would reach between -10 and 0 inclusive. If the user’s Health is 1 or lower, and they receive a fatal attack, this effect will be negated.

This effect will apply the moment this item is purchased. Lasts until the aforementioned skill is activated.

Charged Potion (400 CP) – The user’s original regeneration values increase by 125%. Using this item is considered a Support action that consumes no SP. Lasts two Turns.

Teleporter (250 CP) – The user is able to transport themselves and/or (if in the same location as them and willing) the character they're contracted with to a location of the user's choice. This item can only be used during the Movement Phase. Using this item is considered a normal move that consumes the Move Action of each character it affects.

Magic Glasses (400 CP) – During the Turn in which this item is used, the user’s ACT increases to rank EX. Using this item is considered a Support action that consumes no SP.

Mana Detector (500 CP) – During the Turn in which this item is used, the user will detect the areas (but not ownerships) of all Bounded Fields (Home Bases included) and activated Noble Phantasms. Using this item is considered a Support action that consumes no SP.

A character can give any item they are holding to any other character in the same location as them. A character can drop any item they are holding at any location, and that item will be noticed by any character with an existing ACT rank that enters that area. If a character is killed or consumed, every item they were holding will disappear.

Miscellaneous
The range of a skill is confined to the location it was activated in unless stated otherwise in the skill description.

A skill effect that is confined to a character’s location will disappear the moment that character leaves that area unless stated otherwise in the skill description. Bounded Fields are an exception.

A skill with an upkeep cost will be canceled the moment the user dies; otherwise, it will remain as normal.

The moment a Servant enters Spirit Form, their active skills will be canceled. Any skill with a target of [Self] is an exception.

When a skill refers to "regeneration", it generally means both Health and Mana regeneration. When a skill refers to "foes", "enemies", or "opponents", it means anyone the user is not partnered, allied, or has a ceasefire with at that time.

Any active effect with an upkeep cost can be canceled during the Initial Phase by the user refusing to pay that cost. Any active effect with a definite duration cannot be canceled prematurely unless that skill has a target of [Self], in which case it follows the following addendum. Any active effect with neither an upkeep cost nor a definite duration can be canceled during the Support Phase as a Free action.

A team is immune to their own members' area effects unless stated otherwise in the skill description. Bounded Fields are an exception, as it affects everyone inside it by default.

Some skills may prevent a character from leaving a certain area. To prevent players from confining others within an area and leaving, that part of the skill's effect will apply only when the user is also in the area.

A character can access the effects of a location (IGM Office, Shopping Mall, etc.), which is considered a Support action that consumes no SP. A character cannot access the effects of locations while that character is in battle.

For a skill that has a specified duration, that duration counts down at the end of each Turn; the Turn in which it was cast counts as the first turn for that skill. A skill with a duration of 3 Turns will last through the Turn it was cast and the following 2 Turns, and end once that last Turn ends.

When choosing targets for a skill, the same target cannot be chosen twice over.

Alliances and Communication
In order to defeat powerful foes, some teams may choose to ally with each other. However, alliances and ceasefires have no formal significance in this War. Any player may communicate over PM with others that are in the same area as them. All players may communicate with each other in the public updates.

Focus Character and Public/Personal Updates
In this War, players' updates will be made fairly detailed, especially in comparison to the public updates available to all users; this allows a more strategy-focused management of info, as well as providing a good incentive for the GM to develop the storylines of all characters.

One Master has been specially chosen this War to act as a focus character. Public updates will revolve around their viewpoint, which contrasts the general updates that have been used in previous Wars. Of course, the public updates will be shorter and less detailed in comparison to that Master’s private updates. In addition, that Master has been granted a slightly more powerful set of skills to make up for their time in the spotlight.

A secondary focus character has also been selected. They will replace the primary focus character in the event of that character’s death. Should both focus character die, the public updates will contain very little detail, only serving to report civilian deaths, and battles and activated Noble Phantasms will be mentioned briefly.

Regardless of the state of the focus character, civilian killings will always be reported in the public updates.

Logic Game
A system of reasoning has been developed for use in the update topics. Participation is entirely optional.

For a person to state something that they guarantee to be true, they should use red text, which on GameFAQs is created through the tags < b >< i >text< /em > < /b > < /i > (remove the spaces within the tags). A person is not allowed to state something untrue in red. If they do so, the GM is forced to correct it, and that person will receive a strike; if they are proven to have intentionally stated that incorrect red, they will instead receive three strikes. If they correct their incorrect red before the GM themselves can do so, they will not be penalized.

For a person to state a hypothesis or supposition, they should use blue text, which on GameFAQs is created through the tags < b >< b >text< /b >< /b >< /em > (remove the spaces within the tags). However, not just any hypothesis can be stated in blue. Blue hypotheses must have an adequate basis to support them that makes them sound more plausible than any other alternative; their plausibility can be increased by combining them with red text that eliminates possibilities.

If another person considers a possibility that is as plausible as the one that person stated, they can avoid answering that person's blue by stating their counter-hypothesis in blue; if not, they are obligated to respond with red text that either denies or confirms that blue. If that person fails to respond to a blue by the time of the next update, they get a warning; after that, they will instead get one strike on subsequent failures.

The moment a person receives three strikes, they are banned from participating in the Logic Game, their red loses the guaranteed property of being true, and other people have no obligation to respond to their blue.

If the GM wishes to make a statement, they can use gold text. Gold text is always true, and it is guaranteed that no mistake is being made. Other people are not allowed to use gold.

Endings
Some players might think it’s good enough to just be part of the last team surviving at the end. There are also different endings to the conclusion of the War, determined by the conditions some characters have fulfilled along the way at at the end. Only Masters have endings. The conditions needed for a character to fulfill their ending is listed in their individual profile.

Endings can belong to the following types:

Best End: The best possible resolution to the War. In order to get a Best End, that character must win the Holy Grail War and get either a Good End or Normal End; if the winning Master got a Normal End, they must also successfully solve the closing puzzle.

Good End: The best possible resolution for that character. Only a winning Master can get a Good End.

Normal End: An ordinary resolution for that character. Only a winning Master can get a Normal End.

Bad End: The worst possible resolution for that character. Only a winning Master can get a Bad End.

Shared Good End: A good resolution for that character that is indirectly fulfilled by the Good End of a different character. Only a surviving Master who has lost can get a Shared Good End.

Shared Normal End: No resolution at all for that character. Only a surviving Master who has lost and got neither a Shared Good End nor Shared Bad End can get a Shared Normal End.

Shared Bad End: A bad resolution for that character that is indirectly fulfilled by the actions of a different character. Only a surviving Master who has lost can get a Shared Bad End.

Dead End: That character died. Did that player make a wrong choice somewhere? They can either go back now, or go get a tip from our Dojo- wait a minute... Anyway, they’re dead. No ending for them.

A player going through their time in the War should keep these conditions in mind!

Examples
Basic Attack

Name: Rapid Cut

Rank: C-

Type: Anti-Personnel

Max Number of Targets: 1

Type of Target: [Any]

Damage: 25 Physical

Cost: 1 AP

Description: The opponent is repeatedly slashed with a sword.

Name: Double Bullet

Rank: C-

Type: Anti-Personnel

Max Number of Targets: 1

Type of Target: [Any]

Damage: 25 Ranged

Cost: 1 AP

Description: Two bullets are fired in an instant, striking an opponent for moderate damage.

Name: Longshot

Rank: C-

Type: Anti-Location

Max Number of Targets: 1

Type of Target: [Location]

Damage: 10 Long-ranged

Cost: 1 AP

Description: Many bullets are fired into the distance, damaging everyone in the target area.

Attack Skill
Name: Lightning Storm

Rank: A-

Type: Anti-Army

Max Number of Targets: 99

Type of Target: [Any]

Damage: 30 Magical, Stun 1

Cost: 2 AP, 50 Mana

Requirements: "Rain Manipulation" must be active.

Description: A number of lightning bolts are created that strike many targets in the area for high magical damage.

Support Skill
Name: Teleport

Rank: B

Type: Support

Max Number of Targets: 3

Type of Target: [Self] [Contracted Partner] [Location]

Cost: 1 SP, 25 Mana, 1 Move Action

Description: The caster and their contracted partner are warped to a distant location.

- The moment this skill is cast, the caster and the character they're contracted with are relocated to the target area.

- Anyone in the caster's location with ACT ranked B or higher before this skill is cast will learn this skill's target area.

Damage
Saber (B+ STR) used "Rapid Cut" on Caster (E END). 25 * (.68 - .05 + 1) = 40.75 damage.

Caster (A++ MAE) used "Lightning Storm", and damaged Rider (C MAR). Damage = 30 * (.91 - .45 + 1) = 43.8 damage.

Archer used "Double Bullet" on Saber. 25 damage.

Delayed Move
Saber (A AGI) can cast Teleport (defined above). It is a Support skill, so when can they use it?

It can be delayed to a later phase, so Saber can cast it during or after the Support Phase. Perhaps they wish to cast it after they are attacked normally, so they delay it to the end of the Attacking Phase.

It can also be delayed within a phase; since Saber has AGI ranked A, they can place it during a phase as though they had AGI ranked B, C++, D---, etc.

Saber can also delay their Teleport to the end of the Prepared Effect Phase, thus casting it at the absolute end of the first combat round.

Alternatively, Saber could simply delay Teleport as a reactionary skill by stating "after an opponent makes an action".

Conditionals
A player can base their moves on conditions.

"If a character enters this location and attacks my team, use this skill."

"If Saber attacks Caster's Master first, attack Caster; otherwise, attack Saber."

Some conditionals, however, are illegal; a player cannot make a conditional based on an action that they wouldn't know.

Illegal: "If Saber would use a Long-ranged skill..."; the key words here are "would" (reacting to a yet-unknown action before it can be made) and "Long-ranged" (their character might not know that skill's attack category yet).

Illegal: "If Saber has less than 50 Health"; unless that character would somehow know Saber’s Health at that moment, this conditional will be ignored.

Damage (Advanced)
Name: Skill X

---

Damage: 25 Physical

---

Description: A rapid cut.

-Damage inflicted increases by 50% if the user has 30% or less of their maximum Health.

-Damage inflicted decreases by 15% if the target has LCK ranked A or higher.

Saber (B+ STR, 6/20 Health) attacks Archer (C-- END, A+ LCK) with this skill.

Damage is first calculated as per normal; since this skill is a physical one:

25 * (1.68 - .39) = 32.25 damage

50% of that damage is added (because Saber has exactly 30% of their maximum Health), and 15% of that damage is subtracted (because the target has LCK ranked higher than A). These occur simultaneously, so the resulting damage is:

32.25 * (0.50 - .15 + 1) = 32.25 * 1.35 = 43.5375 total damage.

Skill Progressions
Some skills can take on different values depending on certain situations. Consider the following:

Name: Power Boost

---

Description: The user's skill rises greatly.

-Upgrades "Power Blow".

Name: "Power Blow" - Crushing Punch -> Instant Crushing Punch

Rank: D -> D+

Type: Anti-Personnel -> Instant

Max Number of Targets: 1

Type of Target: [Any]

Damage: 25 Physical -> 50 Physical, Stun 1

Cost: 1 AP, 0 Mana -> 2 AP, 35 Mana

---

This indicates that when "Power Boost" is used, "Power Blow" will take on the latter of the values listed on the skill effect.