4th vs 5th

[Kiritsugu_Emiya]

Well I've been thinking about this idea for a while, at first it was as a fanfic but I've realized that it could work better as an RP. The basic premise is that the participants of HGW 4 find themselves in HGW 5 with their servants. So as such we have 14 Servants and 14 masters in HGW 5 now let's see how this goes. As for time frame for the Zero Masters this is the morning after the 4 way battle (The one that occurred in Zero Episodes 4-5) and they have found themselves in 2004 Fyuki. Shirou has started the Fate Route and it's Day 5 of the War so now you have 14 Masters hunting the grail, let's see what happens.

You can play as up to 4 of the following and while you can chose to control your servant you can also chose to control another servant instead. Please try to keep the characters IC.

You can play as

1. Kiritsugu: Open
2. Irisiviel: Open
3. Maiya: Open
4. Tokiomi: Open
5. Kayneth: Open
6. Sola Ul: Open
7. Kariya (You get Lancelot as well): Open
8. Rynosuke: Open
9. Waver: Open
10. Kirei (Fate Zero Ver): Open
11. Arturia (Fate Zero Ver): Open
12. Gilgamesh (Fate Zero Ver): Open
13. Diramuid: Open
14. Iskander: Open
15. Gilles: Open
16. Hassan: Open
17. Shirou: Open
18. Rin: Open
19. Kirei (FSN Ver): Open
20. Illya (You get Herk as well): Open
21. Kuzuki: Open
22. Zouken: Open
23. Shinji: Open
24. Sakura: Open
25. Arturia (FSN Ver): Open
26. EMIYA: Open
27. Cu: Open
28. Medea: Open
29. Sasaki: Open
30. Medusa: Open
31. Gilgamesh (FSN Ver): Open

Please have fun with the RP guys and if you have any questions either PM me or post in thread.

[Cherry Lover]

Hmm, what about Sakura? I mean, you've got Zouken as a playable character and master (even though he's not a master in Fate, and only gets involved if Sakura does), but Sakura isn't. What happens if Shinji is killed, or if Sakura is somehow persuaded to take back Rider?

[Kiritsugu_Emiya]

I forgot to list her by accident

[Cherry Lover]

Well, I'd be interested. I'm not 100% sure who I'd play yet, though.

[Soldat der Trauer]

Ehhhhh, I've seen doujins and fanart w/ a similar basic premise, but doing it this way in RP format seems a tad unwieldy.

It's too large, and if hoping to get all/most spots on that list filled in, well you might want to reconsider a potential restructuring.

[Cherry Lover]

Restructuring in what manner?

[Soldat der Trauer]

Mainly streamline the RP; seriously, at maximum optimism, you will get a dozen or players taking up the mantle of multiple PCs. DSM is, strictly speaking, not as popular as BL, nor does it have as many members registered, and not all those who *are* care for rehashed vanilla Grail Wars.

I'm not a GM, so I can't speak w/ any real authority on the subject, but making a large player roster and expecting to be able to fill it up for something like this seems like baiting stagnation. I'm not gonna say "Do one like Alf's RPs," but I *would* implore for some increased verisimilitude; maybe try something like an AU Hollow Ataraxia that's closer in presentation of drama and action like the original Melty Blood?

[Cherry Lover]

What do you mean by an "AU Hollow Ataraxia"?

[Soldat der Trauer]

What it sounds like. :V

Remove the gratuitous slice of life and romcom aspects, focus on a more coherent War-related plotline. "Hollow Ataraxia" was referred to simply out of convenience, as it involves the timey whimey ball that were the looped days and memory alterations featuring the 3rd War. You need something even vaguely like that in order to ground the crossover b/t the 4th and 5th War participants.

Make PCs a shortened roster of options, and make anyone/-thing unchosen NPCs that *will* be encountered.

The closest comparison off the top of my head would be the "world invasion" mechanic of Demon's Souls or Dark Souls, where you'd get triggers at certain times and/or places that'd pit your PC against a "Phantom" from another world/time.

Hell, maybe even try running two games in one under that setup: some players are strictly in the altered 4th War worldline, and some stuck in the 5th, but there are bleed effects b/t the two and someone/-thing can cross over into a time they shouldn't belong, forcing characters who *do* to intercept the intruders.

[Cherry Lover]

What it sounds like. :V

Remove the gratuitous slice of life and romcom aspects, focus on a more coherent War-related plotline. "Hollow Ataraxia" was referred to simply out of convenience, as it involves the timey whimey ball that were the looped days and memory alterations featuring the 3rd War. You need something even vaguely like that in order to ground the crossover b/t the 4th and 5th War participants.

Make PCs a shortened roster of options, and make anyone/-thing unchosen NPCs that *will* be encountered.

The closest comparison off the top of my head would be the "world invasion" mechanic of Demon's Souls or Dark Souls, where you'd get triggers at certain times and/or places that'd pit your PC against a "Phantom" from another world/time.

Well, presumably it would also need some mechanism to deal with the different Grail War endings, and things like Sakura's situation.

Hell, maybe even try running two games in one under that setup: some players are strictly in the altered 4th War worldline, and some stuck in the 5th, but there are bleed effects b/t the two and someone/-thing can cross over into a time they shouldn't belong, forcing characters who *do* to intercept the intruders.

Well, that limits the ability of the players to do stuff, really. Plus, the characters from the fourth and the fifth are connected, so they're not going to just kill each other easily.

[Soldat der Trauer]

Well, presumably it would also need some mechanism to deal with the different Grail War endings, and things like Sakura's situation.

This is simply rectifiable by the GM either picking a "canon" lineage and going from there, or by making it up to the players to decide upon. Foolproof, no, but still a thing.

Well, that limits the ability of the players to do stuff, really. Plus, the characters from the fourth and the fifth are connected, so they're not going to just kill each other easily.

Not as limiting as you may be thinking, but surely you can see the issue in what you yourself just brought up? That is a serious storywriting concern (as if everyone really *cared*, sadly... >__>), and deserves to be addressed in a constructive fashion that is not simply ass-pulling a handwave for simplicity's sake. :V

[Cherry Lover]

Not as limiting as you may be thinking, but surely you can see the issue in what you yourself just brought up? That is a serious storywriting concern (as if everyone really *cared*, sadly... >__>), and deserves to be addressed in a constructive fashion that is not simply ass-pulling a handwave for simplicity's sake. :V

I'm not sure why their refusal to kill each other is an issue. Half of the masters in the fifth war won't kill each other either....

[Soldat der Trauer]

Not as limiting as you may be thinking, but surely you can see the issue in what you yourself just brought up? That is a serious storywriting concern (as if everyone really *cared*, sadly... >__>), and deserves to be addressed in a constructive fashion that is not simply ass-pulling a handwave for simplicity's sake. :V

I'm not sure why their refusal to kill each other is an issue. Half of the masters in the fifth war won't kill each other either....

It's not obvious? If there's not enough drama or action to justify such a mass crossover, then what was the point of handling the premise in this fashion? You might as well have gone w/ an alternative idea that *does* present conflict.

...Unless you *want* something more on the slice of life side of things?

[Cherry Lover]

There will be conflict, just not a "last man standing" kind of conflict where only one person is left at the end. Which is fine by me, because I don't want that sort of conflict, especially with the canon characters.

[lantzblades]

I think that the overall concept is interesting but it's overblown as it stands, even doubling up you'd need more than seven players and that's a bloated game at seven.