The fate of a
Hero dictates their beginning to end, it decides weather they end up a beggar on the street or a
Hero who all aspire towards. in C&S fate exists as a mechanic for players to change their own fate altering to outcome of a scenario to be more favorable towards themselves. Many players will find themselves primarily using this mechanic as a way to give themselves a boost in the midst of combat, however, it can help significantly outside of it, such as making your words seem just a tad more persuasive to whomever the player may be speaking towards.
The player starts with 3 fate, they than gain a fate point every 25 event points. Furthermore, fate can either be spent normally boosting certain actions or attacks, or used in a special manner called burning fate, which permanently uses the fate point but gives a massively increased effect, or for the usage of a classes' ultimate.
Uses and limitations
There are a variety of ways to use fate both in combat and outside of it, additionally fate can also be used in different circumstances for certain classes and
In Combat Usage
improve damage of a skill/attack
if a skill notes it has a "chance" to activate, this chance increases.
Can use a fate point to increase a skill's tier or attribute by 2, if this is used on a skill with dual attribute scaling, the bonus is split in half.
improve a stat by 2 for the duration of an attack
Restore reserves equal to double soul attribute: EXAMPLE: if you have 10 in soul you gain 20 reserves(your max would be 100), effectively restoring 20% of your reserves. NOTE, this can only be used twice per battle. This can ONLY be used if you have none of the character's physical Attributes exceed the character's Magical Power (this is because this is mainly meant to support blaster casters which notably run out of reserves frequently).
use 50% of user's max fate (rounded up) to give the user a full reaction even if they would normally only have a minor reaction.
Out of Combat Usage
Can find a clue in tracking oriented scenario, clue will likely be limited to things that can only be discovered through luck.
Words are viewed more favorably whilst persuading or diplomatizing, depending on circumstance may also work for bargaining. Note: this will not make someone hostile or overly cautious of you suddenly accept anything you say.
Can increase the character's "luck" for a particular scenario but not for a specific thing. For example while at a casino a player could use a fate point to naturally increase their luck, but they could not use a fate point to increase their luck of "everybody suddenly sneezing during poker and showing me their hands".
Limitations
when increasing a stat you can only increase a stat once per turn
fate can't be used to regain charges, stamina, fury, or other resources unless specified otherwise.
fate cannot be used to enhance a completed action, for example if an attack misses a player can not then state they wish to use a fate point to make it more accurate, similarly if a fate is used to enhance damage, tiers, or any other factor it must be stated beforehand.
the user/player is commonly limited to 2 fate per turn, they may exceed this limit but for every additional fate they use they must pay another as a form of tax, the exception to this is burning fate. (subject to change)
the user/player can only improve the same stat twice per hour as they are pushing their bodies to the limit. (subject to change)
Burning Fate
The ultimate choice, a character burning away at the very essence of their soul to lethally injure a foe warranting such a decision. Burning a fate is only to be used in the most dire of circumstance, as it permanently reduces the maximum number of fate points a character can have at any time by one. The slight silver lining, is that any time a character burns a fate point, they in return gain a stunt slot. Normally burning a fate point is used to enhance an attack by a massive amount, however, most classes will have some form of "ultimate ability" which can significantly increase the effectiveness of burning a fate. The abilities per class are shown below with the exception of knights as their ultimate abilities are tied to their
Knight houses.
I recommend Ctrl+F and typing in your class or subclass
A fate point can be burnt to ignore any Sacrifice for 3 full turns. (ending at the end of the third turn of this effect)
(in the future I may scrap this and instead have separate burnt fate options for each element)
Curse Augmenter : Black blood and Occult bones
A fate point can be burnt for the enhancer for 3 turns to add their magic to all three of their physical stats (this effect ends at the end of the user’s turn).
Curse Mystic : Esoteric Insight
A fate point can be burnt for the emitter for 3 turns to be able to cast two magical skills simultaneously, whilst also halving the reserve cost of all their magical techniques.(ending at the end of the second turn of this effect)
Curse Conjurer : Cursed Apotheosis
A fate point can be burnt to create a powerful conjured creature which is sentient and ignores the orders of its creator. This creature has only one objective : destroy the enemies of its creator. This creature lasts 5 turns and the appearance and abilities can be somewhat customized by the user.
Curse Conduit : Power Overwhelming
unlimited reserves, items are not needed for magical skills, and magical power is increased by 50%(rounded up). The duration of the ability depends on the current state of the user, if at 2 fatigue, this lasts 1 turn, if at 1 fatigue, this lasts 2 turns, at 0 fatigue, this lasts 3 turns. However, there are two major downsides to this ability, first of all regardless of the duration, once it ends the user immediately passes out, second, the user can only "safely" use this twice, afterwards, their death is practically guaranteed upon using this ability. (should this be used a third time even despite knowing the consequences, the user will instead increase MP by 100% and duration is 1 minute regardless of fatigue.)
Curse Fabricator : Stratified Magic Complex
The Fabricator can create a new spell through layering fabricator magic one atop another, they can do this as many times as they wish as long as they would have enough reserves to cast all those magics at one exact moment. However, for the purpose of this ability, the cast cost is reduced by 75%. Lastly, regardless of the cast duration of the spells included this will always take 2 actions to cast (for this reason any spell with a cast time beyond 30 seconds can't be added).
Curse Mutator : Corrupted Evolution
The mutator temporarily transforms his own body to be similar to that of a curse growing a grotesquely flesh like layer of curse energy around themselves in a near instant. The user may decide to have certain monstrous elements to this change such as an increase to size, claws, and other abilities, alongside this, their physical abilities increase by 3 and their MP by 5, however, 1/3rd of their MAX soul decays at the end of every round. Right before this ability is used the user must declare a primary opponent, this ability cannot be ended until that opponent is defeated, if 3 turns pass the user will then enter a state of rampage as they have let the mutation overtake them, this rampage lasts for 5 turns, with their rampaged state mainly attacking the primary opponent, if the opponent is defeated early they will then attack the closest living creature until the effect ends.
Remnant Fragment of Oaths :
A fate point can be burnt to declare an extreme show of willpower towards a oath, for example, a regular oath could be "i want to kill a stisedan counselor", but when they do so whilst burning a fate point they could do the same but with a higher emphasis on this oath as the end all be all current goal of the character, to this extent, any amount of straying from this oath will count as a failure towards it.
Remnant Fragment of Reincarnation :
Reincarnate into a future reincarnation
Remnant Fragment of Corruption :
A fate point can be burnt to invert the effect of any and potentially all chosen corruption effects.
Deshi : Dragon’s Outburst
A fate point can be burnt while using a Hakari to in an instant apply the Jiyuna effect and enhance the entire skill by 1.5. This outburst of Jiyuna does not deplete any turns of Jiyuna the Deshi would normally have and is so rapid that even if used against a non-curse will not be recognized as an illegal use of Jiyuna.
Makos : Culmination of Fury
A fate point can be burnt for the
Makos Warrior to instantly gain an amount of fury equal to ¼ of their PP & ¼ of their VIT (both rounded up) then added together. Additionally, the
Makos Warrior can spend double the fury cost of a skill to make the skill 1.5 times stronger.
Dytos :
Warrior of Divine : Wrath of the Gods
A fate point can be spent to choose one of three effects representing each of the three most important Okunrin :
For 5 turns any skill can be used and all skills get their power increased by 1.25 times.
Perform an unarmed strike at double the user’s PP which is unavoidable.
Mark an opponent for Vengeance dealing double damage but gaining a fatigue every turn.
Warrior of Retribution : Unison
A fate point can be burnt to use an amplified skill that is a combination of a Ravage skill alongside a Restrict skill.
Warrior of Ferocity : Unrelenting Assault
Perform three Teaching of the Asale in rapid succession.
Fiend : Ace up the Sleeve
A fate point can be spent for the
Villain to temporarily be able to put a spin on their skills making them nigh impossible to react to for 3 turns. Additionally, a one time use to have their Despoil be guaranteed to work on ANYTHING the opponent has that is under 5 pounds, even if it something the opponent is holding.
Assassin : The Perfect Strike
The assassin must not have attacked in this combat yet, and be majorly or entirely undetected. If the conditions are satisfied the Assassin becomes effectively undetectable, (barring obvious things like standing out in the open in front of the opponent) additionally, at the end of each turn after this is activated the assassin receives a multiplier to their damage of their next attack based on the distance to their target (at 10 meters this is 1x, at point blank this caps out at 2x). However, at the end of each turn, the assassin also receives an entire fatigue of full damage as they stress and exert their body to the fullest tensing their muscles for the preparation of an attack and spending the utmost care with the slightest micromovements. This effect ends immediately if the user is detected or after their next attack.
Infiltrator : Silver tongue and blade
The user can burn a fate point to guarantee the opponent (if they are intelligent) to temporarily stop attacking them, either by surrendering, playing dead after an attack, or a very convincing speech to join the enemy. The user then gains 200% empowerment on a single hidden tactic the moment they decide to betray the opponent's expectations, the opponent is given no reaction to this attack.
Artificer : Epiphany
A fate point can be burned during downtime when an
Inventor usually uses inspiration to create items, this time due to an Epiphany they create something far stronger than the user could usually create. The item created is permanent but what can be created still must be discussed with the GM.
Battle-Forged : Like an Open Book
A fate point can be burned to target an opponent (the Battle-forged must have more Mind than the opponent and been in combat with them for at least 2 turns to target them) the battle forged then becomes able to "read" their opponent. Simply put the GM will give the player an accurate assumption about what their opponent plans on doing on their turn (but not for reactions), additionally any schemes or feints are laid bare before the user.
Tinkerer : Induced Biological Malfunction
A fate point can be burned to take a sharp weapon or object and jam it inside their opponent in a way that largely inhibits their motor functions, due to this all actions the opponent takes for the rest of the combat takes one extra action to perform.
Commander : Genius of Battle
Captain -
all troops gain +2 to all physical stats for 3 turns
Leader -
Can have any number of Maneuvers ongoing at the same time and can ignore Stratagem restrictions for 3 turns.
Sworn Ally -
Guardian doesn’t cost fate and all Stratagem costs are halved for 5 turns.
When a fate point is burned the
Traveler multiplies the benefit of well traveled by 3, making it so that they are effectively applying double their dex to movement, this lasts 24 hours.
Champion : Justice Prevails
When the
Hero dies or is knocked unconscious, they immediately burn a fate point to come back from the dead at the start of their 2nd fatigue point. They can then immediately activate challenge on their opponent (if it was not already active) even if they are still suffering from a failed challenge, lastly their fate is restored to full (excluding the burnt fate).
Guardian : I WILL Protect Them
The guardian can only use this while their are people who they wish to protect, upon activation the guardian will ignore (but still take) damage for 3 rounds, this means that while the guardian can be damaged, they can't be downed and ignore fatigue penalties. (this can only be used on the guardians turn and before receiving any attack on his turn to prevent exploiting this)
Idealist : A Heart for a Heart
The Idealist guarantees a lethal injury to all but the strongest of opponents, but guarantees a similar injury to himself, this can only be used on 2 fatigue and will knock the Idealist unconscious, Furthermore, if the Idealist is alone they will succumb to their injuries without any sustained medical assistance, even with such assistance, it is likely that the Idealist gains some form of permanent injury in the attempt. Due to what was mentioned previously, in terms of raw power this is strongest martial burnt fate option (assuming this character has equivalent PP to others).
