Dreamlike Charisma: A - "The ability of personal charm. A skill indispensable for kings and leaders, but for some reason Merlin naturally possesses it."
He has an unnatural amount of charm and knack for drawing others in due to his incubus heritage. Game-mechanics-wise, it would probably only be used for either demon negotiation, such as magically smoothing things over in a negotiation gone wrong, or used like a spell, to restore some magical/mental energy to his party, while temporarily buffing their attack power.
Illusion: A - "Magecraft that deceives others. Refers to mental interference and false images projected into the real world. At A rank, it can create not only nightmares within the world of the mind, but in the real world as well. It could easily create false images powerful enough to affect an entire village."
Due to his incubus heritage, lies, deception, and matters of dreams are his specialty. He can use illusionism magecraft the "typical" way, conjuring decoys, tricking or distracting targets by making them see things that aren't there, to create openings or getaway opportunities. He can also use it to conceal information and aspects about a target, such as when he faked Bedivere's parameters to fool Chaldean sensors to conceal the fact that he was the living, breathing human Bedivere from over 1500 years ago, and not a Servant Bedivere summoned to deal with the Lion King.
Dream-diving, dream manipulation, trapping a target in in their dreams via mental interference etc. are also parts of this illusionism. He can also connect people's dreams together via opening a channel, as he does in Lancer Artoria's interlude. However, while he's entering people's dreams, he also becomes powerless if the dreamer notices his presence and makes a mental effort to kick him out.
He can use it on himself to shapeshift into various forms, taking on the form of Fou more than once.
I will, of course, nerf aspects of his illusionism to the ground, set up a permissions post, as well as communicate with other players as necessary.
Hero Creation: EX - "The skill to cause the birth of a king and raise them. Merlin can be said to be King Arthur's true father, and is one of the most famous kingmakers in the world."
One of his signature skills, Merlin chooses 1 target to temporarily infuse with enough power to rival a king. They can hit much harder (50% damage increase), take more hits (increases max HP by a notable amount), and any strikes at weaknesses are made that much more lethal (increase critical damage).
Magecraft: Given that his name is synonymous with magic, Merlin is unsurprisingly very knowledgeable about the workings of all kinds of spells and magic systems, aside from those of other cultures he's as not familiar with, such as Japanese onmyodo, Scandinavian Primordial Runes, Chinese Taoist arts, etc.
To put things as simply as possible, imagine all the typical things a high-level DnD/Western fantasy tabletop RPG wizard can do with spells, and more likely than not, he can do it. Shoot a fireball or beam? Yep. Conjure up some water from the moisture in the air? Yep. Levitate an object? Uh-huh. Buff his allies or weapons with reinforcement spells? You got it. Sleep spell? His favorite.
Other magecraft besides illusionism that he's canonically demonstrated include: teleportation (short and long distance), projection (materializing items temporarily, these can include weapons), alchemy (stuff like potions and medicine), concealment (Invisible Air), alteration (changing Chaos Tide mud into flowers), defense (throwing up a magic shield to block attacks from Cu Alter), created Bedivere's silver arm that functions as his Noble Phantasm, and more. On a pettier note, he once cursed a king to have a unibrow for the rest of his life.
Territory Creation: C - "Creation of a "Workshop" territory that is advantageous to himself as a magus. But since he tends to get tired of it, he usually just tosses it away halfway."
Falls under the same umbrella as magecraft, but technically listed as a separate skill, so here it goes. He can magically set up a mage's workshop full of bits and bobs specific to magecraft things, such as potions, magical items, summoning circles, etc.
Item Construction: C - "Creation of tools tinged with magic energy. The man himself is full of confidence but it's hard to say that he is superiorly talented for it."
See above, same umbrella, etc. He can create magical items a la wizards in tabletop RPGs. Love potions, amulets that provide protection from fire, gems that hold a set amount of magical energy so the user can break them in case of emergency for a quick boost of power, that sort of thing. He can also create general items such as clothes using materials and magical energy...like how he created his own summer outfit exclusive clothing line...and Percival's.
Noble Phantasm: Garden of Avalon - "Eternally Secluded Utopia. Merlin recreates the tower where he is still sealed away. Flowers bloom on the ground, and warm sunlight pours into the surroundings, even in the darkest depths of hell."
A Servant's trump card of sorts, a Noble Phantasm is typically the embodiment of a Heroic Spirit's mythos, something they are known for (a legendary weapon, a powerful ability, etc.). Merlin's Noble Phantasm is Garden of Avalon, which temporarily changes his nearby environment into a recreation of the area of Avalon he's been trapped in. Game-mechanics-wise, it basically provides a powerful party-wide health regen, a less-powerful-but-still-nice magical energy regen, and makes it notably easier for him and his allies to land critical (more lethal) hits on their opponents.
As a note for regains and whatnot, if any of these need further tweaks, I'd be happy to do so. My plan is to handle magecraft regains via tier system like tabletop RPGs, basic magecraft = low level magic like lighting a fire or magically stitching up some clothing seams, intermediate magecraft = temporary concealment a la Invisible Air or projecting a temporary weapon without any of its special abilities, high-level magecraft = teleportation, etc., and nerfing into the ground as needed. My main guideline for handling this canonically broken, absurdly flexible, and annoyingly open-ended skillset that this Level 19/20 wizard has is basically: "everything in service of the narrative".
On a character level, Merlin himself only really goes all out in extremely dire, end-game situations where everything is bleak and it looks like there is absolutely no way out, such as dealing with Gorgon/Tiamat in Babylonia and (LB6 spoilers) helping Chaldea deal with Cernunnos, and explaining Faerie Britain's real origin story, at the very end when it looks like they can't turn things around. Otherwise, he considers himself an outside observer, a guide, and a background player first and foremost, and lets conflicts play out how they do, even if he has the ability to solve things in a snap. Things wouldn't be interesting otherwise. The most he does is grease a wheel or two or guide people along a path they're already traveling.
On a player level, it's no fun for anyone if his abilities defang or make things too smooth for what's supposed to be a mystery/survival game. For example, a character comes across potato seeds, while fresh food is scarce. Does Merlin know magecraft that could make plants sprout instantly, essentially quickly solving a food shortage problem? Yes. Would or could he use such magecraft in-game? No. Instead, that magecraft would be toned down to something weaker, such as a spell to help speed up growth so they grow in less time. Or an alternative such as...if the character desperately needs the seeds to grow ASAP for whatever reason, it would require a trade or sacrifice, such as additional magical energy provided from blood. Things like that. Basically, I try to stick with whatever makes things more narratively interesting.
Weird™ in-between:
Mixed Blood: EX - "Has the blood of a non-human within him. Merlin is part incubus, and has inherited its special traits. [...] This skill makes Merlin immortal, so the second his body is destroyed, he'll simply reappear in Avalon."
Merlin is a cambion, the half-demon spawn of a human woman and an incubus, so he naturally operates differently than humans. For one, he doesn't need to eat food like humans do. Instead, he specifically feeds off of and gains nutrients from human mental activity, such as dreams, nightmares, and the sentiments behind actions. He then uses said nutrients as fuel to generate his own emotions to feel, and maintain his ego and personality. Much like how humans can smell or taste food, Merlin can ascribe a "taste" and "texture" to the mental energy he feeds on, such as calling the thoughts behind someone giving him a Valentine's day chocolate out of pure gratitude "sweet".
The immortality/returning to Avalon part is obviously going to be struck, and he'll adhere to the death rules in-game the same as anyone else.
Game-mechanics-wise, it's a passive skill that gives him some amount of innate magical energy regen...that he can't make use of anyway because he currently can't cast spells...
High-Speed Incantation: C - "The ability to hasten magic incantation speed. All Casters have beautiful pronunciation, though there are one or two exceptions. If he talks fast sometimes he bites his own tongue so the rank is low."
He can chant magical incantations for his magecraft more quickly than average mages due to years of practice and experience, although he still accidentally bites his tongue sometimes.
Self-Manifestation: A - "The ability to manifest in the world on one's own."
This is essentially his way of circumventing the usual "cannot be summoned as a Heroic Spirit unless dead" rule in the Fate/ universe. Obviously, not really applicable here.
Clairvoyance - "The Eyes Which See through the World".
He was born with eyes that can see everything, everywhere in the world, as long as it is in the present (not future or past, like other types of Clairvoyance), like an extremely powerful telescope that can see anything anywhere, as long as he is standing still. Obviously, this is going to be completely out.
Prophecies - As a young boy, he was known for making prophecies about the future, his most famous one being the birth of King Arthur and how he would be selected by the sword in the stone. Obviously, this is out.
Swordplay - He was King Arthur's own instructor in this. He more than knows how to handle himself in a swordfight, as he was skilled enough to handle the Lahmu in the Babylonia Singularity in melee combat.
powers takes up an entire comment, i hate this so much
The absolute worst section for any Fate/ character, I'm so sorry.Link to his abilities at the Type-Moon wiki, as well as a link to the FGO-specific wiki.
Abilities that would have to be regained:
- Dreamlike Charisma: A - "The ability of personal charm. A skill indispensable for kings and leaders, but for some reason Merlin naturally possesses it."
- He has an unnatural amount of charm and knack for drawing others in due to his incubus heritage. Game-mechanics-wise, it would probably only be used for either demon negotiation, such as magically smoothing things over in a negotiation gone wrong, or used like a spell, to restore some magical/mental energy to his party, while temporarily buffing their attack power.
- Illusion: A - "Magecraft that deceives others. Refers to mental interference and false images projected into the real world. At A rank, it can create not only nightmares within the world of the mind, but in the real world as well. It could easily create false images powerful enough to affect an entire village."
- Due to his incubus heritage, lies, deception, and matters of dreams are his specialty. He can use illusionism magecraft the "typical" way, conjuring decoys, tricking or distracting targets by making them see things that aren't there, to create openings or getaway opportunities. He can also use it to conceal information and aspects about a target, such as when he faked Bedivere's parameters to fool Chaldean sensors to conceal the fact that he was the living, breathing human Bedivere from over 1500 years ago, and not a Servant Bedivere summoned to deal with the Lion King.
- Dream-diving, dream manipulation, trapping a target in in their dreams via mental interference etc. are also parts of this illusionism. He can also connect people's dreams together via opening a channel, as he does in Lancer Artoria's interlude. However, while he's entering people's dreams, he also becomes powerless if the dreamer notices his presence and makes a mental effort to kick him out.
- He can use it on himself to shapeshift into various forms, taking on the form of Fou more than once.
- I will, of course, nerf aspects of his illusionism to the ground, set up a permissions post, as well as communicate with other players as necessary.
- Hero Creation: EX - "The skill to cause the birth of a king and raise them. Merlin can be said to be King Arthur's true father, and is one of the most famous kingmakers in the world."
- One of his signature skills, Merlin chooses 1 target to temporarily infuse with enough power to rival a king. They can hit much harder (50% damage increase), take more hits (increases max HP by a notable amount), and any strikes at weaknesses are made that much more lethal (increase critical damage).
- Magecraft: Given that his name is synonymous with magic, Merlin is unsurprisingly very knowledgeable about the workings of all kinds of spells and magic systems, aside from those of other cultures he's as not familiar with, such as Japanese onmyodo, Scandinavian Primordial Runes, Chinese Taoist arts, etc.
- To put things as simply as possible, imagine all the typical things a high-level DnD/Western fantasy tabletop RPG wizard can do with spells, and more likely than not, he can do it. Shoot a fireball or beam? Yep. Conjure up some water from the moisture in the air? Yep. Levitate an object? Uh-huh. Buff his allies or weapons with reinforcement spells? You got it. Sleep spell? His favorite.
- Other magecraft besides illusionism that he's canonically demonstrated include: teleportation (short and long distance), projection (materializing items temporarily, these can include weapons), alchemy (stuff like potions and medicine), concealment (Invisible Air), alteration (changing Chaos Tide mud into flowers), defense (throwing up a magic shield to block attacks from Cu Alter), created Bedivere's silver arm that functions as his Noble Phantasm, and more. On a pettier note, he once cursed a king to have a unibrow for the rest of his life.
- Territory Creation: C - "Creation of a "Workshop" territory that is advantageous to himself as a magus. But since he tends to get tired of it, he usually just tosses it away halfway."
- Falls under the same umbrella as magecraft, but technically listed as a separate skill, so here it goes. He can magically set up a mage's workshop full of bits and bobs specific to magecraft things, such as potions, magical items, summoning circles, etc.
- Item Construction: C - "Creation of tools tinged with magic energy. The man himself is full of confidence but it's hard to say that he is superiorly talented for it."
- See above, same umbrella, etc. He can create magical items a la wizards in tabletop RPGs. Love potions, amulets that provide protection from fire, gems that hold a set amount of magical energy so the user can break them in case of emergency for a quick boost of power, that sort of thing. He can also create general items such as clothes using materials and magical energy...like how he created his own summer outfit exclusive clothing line...and Percival's.
- Noble Phantasm: Garden of Avalon - "Eternally Secluded Utopia. Merlin recreates the tower where he is still sealed away. Flowers bloom on the ground, and warm sunlight pours into the surroundings, even in the darkest depths of hell."
- A Servant's trump card of sorts, a Noble Phantasm is typically the embodiment of a Heroic Spirit's mythos, something they are known for (a legendary weapon, a powerful ability, etc.). Merlin's Noble Phantasm is Garden of Avalon, which temporarily changes his nearby environment into a recreation of the area of Avalon he's been trapped in. Game-mechanics-wise, it basically provides a powerful party-wide health regen, a less-powerful-but-still-nice magical energy regen, and makes it notably easier for him and his allies to land critical (more lethal) hits on their opponents.
- As a note for regains and whatnot, if any of these need further tweaks, I'd be happy to do so. My plan is to handle magecraft regains via tier system like tabletop RPGs, basic magecraft = low level magic like lighting a fire or magically stitching up some clothing seams, intermediate magecraft = temporary concealment a la Invisible Air or projecting a temporary weapon without any of its special abilities, high-level magecraft = teleportation, etc., and nerfing into the ground as needed. My main guideline for handling this canonically broken, absurdly flexible, and annoyingly open-ended skillset that this Level 19/20 wizard has is basically: "everything in service of the narrative".
- On a character level, Merlin himself only really goes all out in extremely dire, end-game situations where everything is bleak and it looks like there is absolutely no way out, such as dealing with Gorgon/Tiamat in Babylonia and (LB6 spoilers) helping Chaldea deal with Cernunnos, and explaining Faerie Britain's real origin story, at the very end when it looks like they can't turn things around. Otherwise, he considers himself an outside observer, a guide, and a background player first and foremost, and lets conflicts play out how they do, even if he has the ability to solve things in a snap. Things wouldn't be interesting otherwise. The most he does is grease a wheel or two or guide people along a path they're already traveling.
- On a player level, it's no fun for anyone if his abilities defang or make things too smooth for what's supposed to be a mystery/survival game. For example, a character comes across potato seeds, while fresh food is scarce. Does Merlin know magecraft that could make plants sprout instantly, essentially quickly solving a food shortage problem? Yes. Would or could he use such magecraft in-game? No. Instead, that magecraft would be toned down to something weaker, such as a spell to help speed up growth so they grow in less time. Or an alternative such as...if the character desperately needs the seeds to grow ASAP for whatever reason, it would require a trade or sacrifice, such as additional magical energy provided from blood. Things like that. Basically, I try to stick with whatever makes things more narratively interesting.
Weird™ in-between:- Mixed Blood: EX - "Has the blood of a non-human within him. Merlin is part incubus, and has inherited its special traits. [...] This skill makes Merlin immortal, so the second his body is destroyed, he'll simply reappear in Avalon."
- Merlin is a cambion, the half-demon spawn of a human woman and an incubus, so he naturally operates differently than humans. For one, he doesn't need to eat food like humans do. Instead, he specifically feeds off of and gains nutrients from human mental activity, such as dreams, nightmares, and the sentiments behind actions. He then uses said nutrients as fuel to generate his own emotions to feel, and maintain his ego and personality. Much like how humans can smell or taste food, Merlin can ascribe a "taste" and "texture" to the mental energy he feeds on, such as calling the thoughts behind someone giving him a Valentine's day chocolate out of pure gratitude "sweet".
- The immortality/returning to Avalon part is obviously going to be struck, and he'll adhere to the death rules in-game the same as anyone else.
- Game-mechanics-wise, it's a passive skill that gives him some amount of innate magical energy regen...that he can't make use of anyway because he currently can't cast spells...
Non-regainable, non-applicable, and/or non-magical abilities: