☆★☆Merlin☆★☆ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gardenerofavalon) wrote2019-01-10 11:54 pm
gardenerofavalon) wrote2019-01-10 11:54 pm
Stats, Powers, and Abilities
Will be made to look prettier and more thorough later. Maybe.
Servant Stats
STR: B End: E
AGL: D MP: A
LUK: C NP: C
Alignment: Lawful Good
Servant Skills
Dreamlike Charisma
Rank: A
The ability to charm people.
A skill said to be indispensable for kings and leaders, for some reason Merlin spontaneously possesses it.
Game effect: Increases ATK (3 turns) & NP Gauge for all allies
Merlin possesses a certain charisma that can inspire and empower allies to fight harder and stronger. It not only causes them to temporarily increases their strength, but also replenishes a degree of magical power. This skills seems to be representative of how, when he puts in the effort, Merlin can spur others onward to achieve great things. But unlike the typical Charisma skill, his connection with dreams due to his heritage means he also restores some of their energy, as well.
Illusion
Rank: 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.
Game effect: Apply Invincible (1 turn) & increase C. Star Drop Rate (1 turn) for all allies + decrease Critical Rate for all enemies (3 turns)
To put it simply, Merlin is a master of illusions. Perhaps this is an affinity that comes in part from his incubus heritage, but whatever the reason, he's quite skilled at it indeed. In the game, this manifests in the form of making the entire party "invulnerable" for an entire turn of combat; this can probably be interpreted as casting a perfect illusion that deceives the enemy into harmlessly attacking nothing, while the real party is unharmed.
Obviously, there's the implication that this has other uses both in and out of combat, but beyond the scope of what the game can allow for.
Hero Creation
Rank: 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.
Game effect: Increase Buster Card effectiveness (3 turns) & Max HP (3 turns) & Critical Strength (1 turn) for one ally
Simply pulling a magic sword from a stone isn't enough to make a legendary king; that king must be strong and skilled enough to be worthy of the title. In order to ensure that the right person has the right attributes at the time they need, Merlin meddles by any means he deems necessary. As a Servant, this has granted him a skill that allows him to greatly empower an ally for a brief period of time, thus temporarily turning even someone relatively weak into a proper hero.
Territory Creation
Rank: C
The ability for a mage to create a territory that benefits them.
But, because of his flighty-natured irresponsibility, he usually tosses it midway through.
Game effect: Slightly increase your Arts Card effectiveness
Like virtually all mages, Merlin is capable of setting up a workshop to better pursue his magecraft. This isn't about simply constructing a building or modifying terrain to suit, however. Rather, it's both finding the most advantageous possible location to start with, then enhancing and protecting that area to create a suitable and secure environment.
At least in theory. Merlin's just as likely to change his mind or decide he has a better idea halfway through and (perhaps literally) toss out much of his hard work as not.
Item Construction
Rank: C
The ability to create magically-enhanced tools.
The man himself is full of self-confidence, but it's hard to say he has noteworthy talent.
Game effect: Slight increase your Debuff Chance Rate
If you were to ask him, Merlin would say that of course he can make all sorts of fantastic magically objects and devices! Whether he can actually produce those kinds of results, however... Well, let's just say his talents lie more in illusions than in the real thing and leave it at that.
Rapid Casting
Rank: C
The ability to speed up magecraft casting.
In terms of beautiful pronunciation, he competes for first or second, but as he seems to sometimes bite his tongue when speaking quickly, his rank is lower.
Game effect: N/A
Merlin is superbly skilled at spellcasting. Or would be, if he didn't get ahead of himself to his own detriment. He could probably do better if he bothered to practice. Or just pay more attention.
Mixed Blood
Rank: EX
Has the blood of a non-human within him. Merlin is part incubus, and has inherited its special traits.
Game effect: Increase NP Gauge each turn for yourself
Essentially, Merlin has a considerable amount of extra magical energy available to him due to his supernatural heritage. This allows him to more quickly store up and/or regain the power needed to use his Noble Phantasm than other Servants are typically capable of.
Self-Manifestation
Rank: A
The ability to manifest in the world on one's own. Merlin is not normally summoned as a Heroic Spirit. This is because there is no future where he can die. He serves his Master as a Servant to vent his selfish desires, which could essentially be called a hobby. In order to indulge this hobby of his, he single-handedly obtained this skill that only a certain special class could possess, and pretends to be summoned as a Servant.
Game effect: N/A
This is the skill that the Beasts use to manifest themselves in the world, since obviously no one in their right mind would deliberately summon them. How Merlin obtained this skill is unknown, but possibly may be related to having taken Cath Palug as a familiar for a time... Or it might be for other reasons entirely. Because of this skill, however, Merlin can quite literally summon himself, and presumably doesn't actually need a Master to contract with to remain manifested in the world.
Though he may still choose to make such a contract for the fun of it.
Garden of Avalon
Rank: C
Type: Anti-Personnel
Range: 1-5
Max Targets: 7 people
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.
Even if he were trapped in the smallest and darkest of cells, his only view a fragment of the sky far above, his utopia would continue to manifest.
The place where Merlin, the Mage of Flowers, dwells will never be a hell.
It will be a land filled with hope.
Game effect: Restore HP each turn (5 turns) & Increase NP Gauge each turn (5 turns) for all allies + gain C. Stars each turn for yourself (5 turns)
Merlin magically creates a vast field of flowers, restoring hope and vigor to the party. This is a powerful Noble Phantasm, as it both heals and restores magical power to the party over the course of a short span of time. Needless to say, this implies the transfer of immense amounts of magical energy to do so. Outside of game mechanics, experiencing Garden of Avalon being used is probably something akin to feeling suddenly refreshed, one's wounds healing and fading away while at the same time having one's internal power gradually restored.
Other Skills
Clairvoyance
All Casters with the potential to be a Grand Caster are powerful clairvoyants. Solomon's eyes, for instance, can see the past and future. King Gilgamesh can see the future. And that scoundrel in front of you can see everything in the present. Some can see more clearly or further than others, but all possess the power as observers. But their superpower is basically magic sight. And Merlin's the worst of them! He's nothing more than a magical telescope! The only thing Merlin can do is view the entire world from the Tower of Avalon. In the modern world, it'd be like having the power to look into any computer network―――――Oh.
To put it simply, Merlin is clairvoyant. In his case, he can observe anything in the present he so desires, no matter where in the world it may be. There's no limitations on this power itself--he could spy on a god if he so wanted. He won't, though, because the god would probably notice and punish him accordingly, but he could. However, he's not omniscient, he can't see everything at once; rather, Merlin has to choose where he's going to look, and probably has a limit to how many things he can keep an eye on at a time. He apparently is quite capable of using his Clairvoyance to observe content on the internet, and in fact has even managed a website/blog online before.
It's also suggested that Merlin does have some prophetic ability, as well. While certainly not near the level of Solomon or Gilgamesh, his profile mentions him making various prophecies, and he once revealed Arturia's future to her if she continued on the path she was on. Presumably this is a very limited ability, however.
Magecraft
You've secretly provided us with magical energy resources, haven't you? The Incineration of Humanity destroyed the world, but Avalon, where you are, is still standing. So you've been using a replenishing method similar to the Rayshift to kindle Chaldea's reactor... The Fire of Prometheus. You've been doing it in secret, and only when we really needed it, without the King of Mages finding out. Impressive.
Perhaps this goes without saying, but Merlin can use magecraft. And is quite powerful at it, as well, probably in part due to his heritage. Some of the things he's referenced as having done in canon, aside from what's described in his Servant skills, include feats such as causing a child to be born with a trace of dragon blood, magically creating/summoning a carriage to travel in, (temporarily) giving a woman functioning male genitals, and using the life energy of Tiamat's Chaos Tide to cause flowers to bloom in the underworld itself.
There's a reason his MP stat as a Servant is rank A, in other words.
Still, Merlin has limitations. Particularly, he tends to get tongue-tied or even bite his tongue when chanting spells, especially if he's nervous. He's also capricious and lazy, so while he can do extraordinary things when he puts his mind to it, he often favors more expedient options like just stabbing something with a sword. He's a very powerful mage, maybe even a highly skilled one, but that doesn't make him a good one.
Swordsmanship
Perhaps surprisingly, Merlin is actually a quite competent swordsman. He personally tutored Arturia in swordsmanship, carries a sword in a scabbard mounted via a complex latching device in his staff, and even materializes Excalibur itself for brief moments when attacking within the game. His high Strength stat as a Servant also seems to support this.
Incubus Powers
Emotion/Dream Eating
Incubi don't eat normal food, but rather are sustained from the energy of the human psyche. Emotions and dreams in particular have been mentioned, with Merlin himself remarking that nightmares provide more nutrition than pleasant dreams. And, of course, there's sex, which aside from the high emotional state most people are probably in during it, probably also is connected with the fact that bodily fluids carry a high concentration of mana.
Merlin does take after his incubus side on this point, and is sustained by feeding on the emotions and dreams of humans. That and sleeping with women as often as he can get the chance.
Immortality
I didn't mention this before, but I'm immortal. After all, I'm half-incubus. The second this body is smashed, I will reappear in the world of dreams!
Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. Incubi are a Phantasmal Species, they exist in a different state than mortal creatures. Merlin apparently has inherited enough of an incubus's power that he shares this trait, and is both ageless, and virtually impossible to actually kill. Killing his physical body merely inconveniences him for a while.
Shapechanging
Incubi naturally lack naturally fixed forms. It's suggested that Merlin is capable of altering his appearance at will, even to the extent of becoming physically something other than human. While illusions certainly factor in to this, the extent and degree seems to go above and beyond merely the use of magecraft to do so.
Dream Manipulation
Merlin's true body exists in the realm of dreams, and he's capable of moving through and manipulating them (almost) as he pleases. He's even able to trap a goddess in a deep dream, for example, and has been known to wander through other peoples' dreams by accident. There's a noteworthy weakness to this, however: if an individual is in REM sleep, their consciousness can still exert some control over their own dreams, resisting or even negating Merlin's influence entirely. Because of this, he hates REM sleep.
Servant Stats
STR: B End: E
AGL: D MP: A
LUK: C NP: C
Alignment: Lawful Good
Servant Skills
Dreamlike Charisma
Rank: A
The ability to charm people.
A skill said to be indispensable for kings and leaders, for some reason Merlin spontaneously possesses it.
Game effect: Increases ATK (3 turns) & NP Gauge for all allies
Merlin possesses a certain charisma that can inspire and empower allies to fight harder and stronger. It not only causes them to temporarily increases their strength, but also replenishes a degree of magical power. This skills seems to be representative of how, when he puts in the effort, Merlin can spur others onward to achieve great things. But unlike the typical Charisma skill, his connection with dreams due to his heritage means he also restores some of their energy, as well.
Illusion
Rank: 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.
Game effect: Apply Invincible (1 turn) & increase C. Star Drop Rate (1 turn) for all allies + decrease Critical Rate for all enemies (3 turns)
To put it simply, Merlin is a master of illusions. Perhaps this is an affinity that comes in part from his incubus heritage, but whatever the reason, he's quite skilled at it indeed. In the game, this manifests in the form of making the entire party "invulnerable" for an entire turn of combat; this can probably be interpreted as casting a perfect illusion that deceives the enemy into harmlessly attacking nothing, while the real party is unharmed.
Obviously, there's the implication that this has other uses both in and out of combat, but beyond the scope of what the game can allow for.
Hero Creation
Rank: 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.
Game effect: Increase Buster Card effectiveness (3 turns) & Max HP (3 turns) & Critical Strength (1 turn) for one ally
Simply pulling a magic sword from a stone isn't enough to make a legendary king; that king must be strong and skilled enough to be worthy of the title. In order to ensure that the right person has the right attributes at the time they need, Merlin meddles by any means he deems necessary. As a Servant, this has granted him a skill that allows him to greatly empower an ally for a brief period of time, thus temporarily turning even someone relatively weak into a proper hero.
Territory Creation
Rank: C
The ability for a mage to create a territory that benefits them.
But, because of his flighty-natured irresponsibility, he usually tosses it midway through.
Game effect: Slightly increase your Arts Card effectiveness
Like virtually all mages, Merlin is capable of setting up a workshop to better pursue his magecraft. This isn't about simply constructing a building or modifying terrain to suit, however. Rather, it's both finding the most advantageous possible location to start with, then enhancing and protecting that area to create a suitable and secure environment.
At least in theory. Merlin's just as likely to change his mind or decide he has a better idea halfway through and (perhaps literally) toss out much of his hard work as not.
Item Construction
Rank: C
The ability to create magically-enhanced tools.
The man himself is full of self-confidence, but it's hard to say he has noteworthy talent.
Game effect: Slight increase your Debuff Chance Rate
If you were to ask him, Merlin would say that of course he can make all sorts of fantastic magically objects and devices! Whether he can actually produce those kinds of results, however... Well, let's just say his talents lie more in illusions than in the real thing and leave it at that.
Rapid Casting
Rank: C
The ability to speed up magecraft casting.
In terms of beautiful pronunciation, he competes for first or second, but as he seems to sometimes bite his tongue when speaking quickly, his rank is lower.
Game effect: N/A
Merlin is superbly skilled at spellcasting. Or would be, if he didn't get ahead of himself to his own detriment. He could probably do better if he bothered to practice. Or just pay more attention.
Mixed Blood
Rank: EX
Has the blood of a non-human within him. Merlin is part incubus, and has inherited its special traits.
Game effect: Increase NP Gauge each turn for yourself
Essentially, Merlin has a considerable amount of extra magical energy available to him due to his supernatural heritage. This allows him to more quickly store up and/or regain the power needed to use his Noble Phantasm than other Servants are typically capable of.
Self-Manifestation
Rank: A
The ability to manifest in the world on one's own. Merlin is not normally summoned as a Heroic Spirit. This is because there is no future where he can die. He serves his Master as a Servant to vent his selfish desires, which could essentially be called a hobby. In order to indulge this hobby of his, he single-handedly obtained this skill that only a certain special class could possess, and pretends to be summoned as a Servant.
Game effect: N/A
This is the skill that the Beasts use to manifest themselves in the world, since obviously no one in their right mind would deliberately summon them. How Merlin obtained this skill is unknown, but possibly may be related to having taken Cath Palug as a familiar for a time... Or it might be for other reasons entirely. Because of this skill, however, Merlin can quite literally summon himself, and presumably doesn't actually need a Master to contract with to remain manifested in the world.
Though he may still choose to make such a contract for the fun of it.
Garden of Avalon
Rank: C
Type: Anti-Personnel
Range: 1-5
Max Targets: 7 people
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.
Even if he were trapped in the smallest and darkest of cells, his only view a fragment of the sky far above, his utopia would continue to manifest.
The place where Merlin, the Mage of Flowers, dwells will never be a hell.
It will be a land filled with hope.
Game effect: Restore HP each turn (5 turns) & Increase NP Gauge each turn (5 turns) for all allies + gain C. Stars each turn for yourself (5 turns)
Merlin magically creates a vast field of flowers, restoring hope and vigor to the party. This is a powerful Noble Phantasm, as it both heals and restores magical power to the party over the course of a short span of time. Needless to say, this implies the transfer of immense amounts of magical energy to do so. Outside of game mechanics, experiencing Garden of Avalon being used is probably something akin to feeling suddenly refreshed, one's wounds healing and fading away while at the same time having one's internal power gradually restored.
Other Skills
Clairvoyance
All Casters with the potential to be a Grand Caster are powerful clairvoyants. Solomon's eyes, for instance, can see the past and future. King Gilgamesh can see the future. And that scoundrel in front of you can see everything in the present. Some can see more clearly or further than others, but all possess the power as observers. But their superpower is basically magic sight. And Merlin's the worst of them! He's nothing more than a magical telescope! The only thing Merlin can do is view the entire world from the Tower of Avalon. In the modern world, it'd be like having the power to look into any computer network―――――Oh.
To put it simply, Merlin is clairvoyant. In his case, he can observe anything in the present he so desires, no matter where in the world it may be. There's no limitations on this power itself--he could spy on a god if he so wanted. He won't, though, because the god would probably notice and punish him accordingly, but he could. However, he's not omniscient, he can't see everything at once; rather, Merlin has to choose where he's going to look, and probably has a limit to how many things he can keep an eye on at a time. He apparently is quite capable of using his Clairvoyance to observe content on the internet, and in fact has even managed a website/blog online before.
It's also suggested that Merlin does have some prophetic ability, as well. While certainly not near the level of Solomon or Gilgamesh, his profile mentions him making various prophecies, and he once revealed Arturia's future to her if she continued on the path she was on. Presumably this is a very limited ability, however.
Magecraft
You've secretly provided us with magical energy resources, haven't you? The Incineration of Humanity destroyed the world, but Avalon, where you are, is still standing. So you've been using a replenishing method similar to the Rayshift to kindle Chaldea's reactor... The Fire of Prometheus. You've been doing it in secret, and only when we really needed it, without the King of Mages finding out. Impressive.
Perhaps this goes without saying, but Merlin can use magecraft. And is quite powerful at it, as well, probably in part due to his heritage. Some of the things he's referenced as having done in canon, aside from what's described in his Servant skills, include feats such as causing a child to be born with a trace of dragon blood, magically creating/summoning a carriage to travel in, (temporarily) giving a woman functioning male genitals, and using the life energy of Tiamat's Chaos Tide to cause flowers to bloom in the underworld itself.
There's a reason his MP stat as a Servant is rank A, in other words.
Still, Merlin has limitations. Particularly, he tends to get tongue-tied or even bite his tongue when chanting spells, especially if he's nervous. He's also capricious and lazy, so while he can do extraordinary things when he puts his mind to it, he often favors more expedient options like just stabbing something with a sword. He's a very powerful mage, maybe even a highly skilled one, but that doesn't make him a good one.
Swordsmanship
Perhaps surprisingly, Merlin is actually a quite competent swordsman. He personally tutored Arturia in swordsmanship, carries a sword in a scabbard mounted via a complex latching device in his staff, and even materializes Excalibur itself for brief moments when attacking within the game. His high Strength stat as a Servant also seems to support this.
Incubus Powers
Emotion/Dream Eating
Incubi don't eat normal food, but rather are sustained from the energy of the human psyche. Emotions and dreams in particular have been mentioned, with Merlin himself remarking that nightmares provide more nutrition than pleasant dreams. And, of course, there's sex, which aside from the high emotional state most people are probably in during it, probably also is connected with the fact that bodily fluids carry a high concentration of mana.
Merlin does take after his incubus side on this point, and is sustained by feeding on the emotions and dreams of humans. That and sleeping with women as often as he can get the chance.
Immortality
I didn't mention this before, but I'm immortal. After all, I'm half-incubus. The second this body is smashed, I will reappear in the world of dreams!
Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. Incubi are a Phantasmal Species, they exist in a different state than mortal creatures. Merlin apparently has inherited enough of an incubus's power that he shares this trait, and is both ageless, and virtually impossible to actually kill. Killing his physical body merely inconveniences him for a while.
Shapechanging
Incubi naturally lack naturally fixed forms. It's suggested that Merlin is capable of altering his appearance at will, even to the extent of becoming physically something other than human. While illusions certainly factor in to this, the extent and degree seems to go above and beyond merely the use of magecraft to do so.
Dream Manipulation
Merlin's true body exists in the realm of dreams, and he's capable of moving through and manipulating them (almost) as he pleases. He's even able to trap a goddess in a deep dream, for example, and has been known to wander through other peoples' dreams by accident. There's a noteworthy weakness to this, however: if an individual is in REM sleep, their consciousness can still exert some control over their own dreams, resisting or even negating Merlin's influence entirely. Because of this, he hates REM sleep.