VTES Randy Gallegos Business Pressure

Greetings fellow Methuselahs,

THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE CONTINUES!

It has been 30 long, fun years of VTES, and that, of course, needs to be celebrated with a 30th Anniversary product. Above is the new art for one of the original set cards that will be reprinted in it, Business Pressure. The actual card is depicted below together with two other previews.

• Business Pressure is illustrated by Randy Gallegos, veteran VTES artist credited with about twenty cards since 1994, including favorites such as Decapitate, Slaughtering the Herd and Body Flare. We are, of course, delighted that Randy has returned to our game with this marvelous art for an original set card. Hopefully we get an interview with him for the newsletter soon!

• The deck in the 30th Anniversary box with be a Toreador vote deck including five new titled vampires. One of them is Marcos Belegrad, Prince of Bogota, Colombia. The art is by Black Chantry´s own Ginés Quiñonero - maybe some of you recognize who is depicted?

• Among the extra non-deck cards in the box will be group 7 Justicars for five clans. What do you think of the Ventrue one? Art by Mark Kelly.

Business Pressure Marcos Belegrad Lucinde Alastor (G7)

 

The release date for this 120-card product is September 2024. More previews coming soon - follow Black Chantry Productions in social media.


Warsaw Poland 
DATE SET FOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2024: 27-29 SEPTEMBER

Finally a date has been set for this year´s EC. The event will take place on September 27-29 in Warsaw, Poland. Presale of tickets will begin in early/mid May - please, buy early, to help the organisers. This time we WILL make this something really special - it´s not every year VTES turns 30! More detailed information will follow.


VTES Spanish National Championship 2024 
ISMAEL DÍAZ VALVERDE IS THE 2024 CHAMPION OF SPAIN!

121 players (!) joined for this year´s Spanish championship, held in Avilés, Asturias on April 20.

Read the full report: Spanish National Championship 2024


ARTURO PARISE IS THE 2024 CHAMPION OF ITALY!

49 players wanted to win this event in Caldonazzo on April 27.

Read the full report: Italian National Championship 2024


VTES Grand Prix Paris 2024 
MARTIN WEINMAYER WINS GRAND PRIX PARIS 2024!

57 players gathered for this event in Paris, France on April 20.

Read the full report: Grand Prix Paris 2024

The European VTES Grand Prix circuit moves on with May 19 in Aarhus and July 20 in Helsinki. The final with the top 5 players will be played in Warsaw during the EC weekend. More information about that when we have it!


VTES Grand Prix Dallas 2024

DARBY KEENEY WINS GRAND PRIX DALLAS 2024!

24 Methuselahs played this event in Dallas, Texas on April 27.

Read the full report: Grand Prix Dallas 2024 (Gulf Coast Roast 2)

The US "Gulf Coast Roast" Grand Prix circuit continues with Gulfport August 24, New Orleans October 12, Vidor December 7, with the final also in Vidor on December 8. Please join the fun!


 
PRAXIS SEIZURES


We have many new volunteer organisers, the ones we call Princes. The individuals listed below have joined in the last months. Thanks guys - you make tournament play possible!

• Brazil - Prince of Arapongas: Geraldo Antonio Nakajima

• Brazil - Prince fo Barra do Piraí: Daniel Iunes

• Brazil - Prince of Barra Mansa: Aylton "Joe" Cianni

• Brazil - Prince of Caucaia: Lucas Raphael

• Brazil - Prince of Londrina: Fernando Giannetti Fiorin

• Brazil - Prince of Mogi das Cruzes: Guilherme Araujo

• Brazil - Prince of Rio de Janiero: José Wilson O. Fontenele

• Brazil - Prince of Santos: Bruno Paramo Meleiro

• Chile - Prince of Providencia: Pablo Cabrera

• Finland - Prince of Akaa: Otto Kukkasniemi

• Finland - Prince of Helsinki: Jyri Puhakka

• Finland - Prince of Helsinki: Tero Aalto

• Finland - Prince of Mankkaa: Marko Saari

• Finland - Prince of Tampere: Joel Tikkala

• Hungary - Prince of Kecskemét: Ferenc Kósa

• Italy - Prince of Rome: Alessandro Spataro

• Netherlands - Prince of Tilburg: Guido Pollé

• Poland - Prince of Szczecin: Łukasz Ho Thanh

• Slovenia - Prince of Brežice: Dominik Trupčević

• South Africa - Prince of Cape Town: Skye Segal

• Spain - Prince of Córdoba: Ferdinand Portal

• Spain - Prince of Coya: Jaddou Nasra

• Spain - Prince of Madrid: Diego Farras

• Spain - Prince of Oviedo: Miguel Vega

• Sweden - Prince of Eslöv: Andreas Stjernfelt

• Sweden - Prince of Gothenburg: Simon Johansson

• United Kingdom - Prince of Bedford: Antonio Cobo Cuenca

• United States - Prince of Denver: Marshall Hogue

• United States - Prince of Fullerton: Jason K. Orman

• United States - Prince of Louisville, Kentucky: Sean Payne

• United States - Prince of Madison: Josh Whelan

• United States - Prince of New Orleans: Devin Villegas

• United States - Prince of Phoenix: Benjamin Billings

• United States - Prince of Richmond: Andrew Taylor

If you need to talk to your local prince, check out the VEKN Prince list. If you want to become a Prince and start organising tournaments, contact your VEKN National Coordinator.


VTES EC 2023 Barcelona

DO YOU WANT TO HOST EC 2025?

The application period is now open for the 2025 Vampire: The Eternal Struggle European Championship.

Interested organisers are encouraged to submit their proposals for consideration between today and August 31st to 

The proposals should include the following information (fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.), in addition to any other information that the organisers deem relevant:
• Country:
• City:
• Approximate dates:
• Scheduled off season (Y/N):
• Organizer(s):
• Head judge:

VENUE
• All inclusive location (room, hotel, food, refreshments) (Y/N):
• Accommodations close to venue (Y/N):
• Snacks and meals on-site (or within 5 minutes) (Y/N):
• Distance to major hubs:
• Distance to major city:
• Non-smoking venue (Y/N):
• Air-conditioned venue (Y/N):
• Enough area suited for mass registration (Y/N):
• Free WiFi available (Y/N):
• Microphone/loudspeaker announcements (sound system) (Y/N):
• Video projection system (remaining time) (Y/N):
• Opening hours:

ROOM(S)
• Enough room for 200 players (Y/N):
• Separate rooms for side events (Y/N):
• Comfortable chairs (Y/N):
• Table cloths (Y/N):
• Round tables for 5 players (Y/N):
• Are toilets close to reduce game delays? (Y/N):

ORGANIZATION
• On-site registration on multiple computers (number of players/30) (Y/N):
• On time registration, breaks and events (Y/N):
• Using armbands to indicate registration type (Y/N):
• FAQ (handout at registration) (Y/N):
• Lunch breaks (Y/N):
• Two head organisers (side events/main tournament) (Y/N):
• Organizers and judges properly identified (Y/N):
• Assistants (non VTES players) (Y/N):
• Documentation/archiving person (traceability) (Y/N):
• Spouse info/events (Y/N):
• Seating print-outs on multiple spots (Y/N):

SCHEDULE
• Last Chance Qualifier:
• EC Day 1:
• EC Day 2:
• Side events:

COVERAGE
• Live webcam as weekend documentation (Y/N):
• Detailed final round(s) report (Y/N):
• Final round video recording/streaming (Y/N):
 


 

Black Chantry logo

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: APRIL 2024

Promo Pack 4 is now available! Intended as promotional material for retailers and support for organizers of tournaments and other events, this is a 54 card mix of older promo cards and cards that really needed a reprint, but haven´t found its way into a normal product yet.

VTES Promo Pack 4 
• The 30th Anniversary box has been sent to print. Also described above in this newsletter (with three previews), this will be a 120-card product composed of a Toreador political deck and 20 other cards. It will hit stores in September, but look forward to deck list and cards spoiled soon.

• The (probably) last round of playtesting of the next products was concluded: the 30th Anniversary box, preconstructed decks for Hecata and Lasombra, New Blood packs for Hecata, Lasombra, Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce. Playtest coordinators Norman Brown, Serge Cirri, Dayvisson Alves and Dario Canto Fornell compiled a 211 pages long report for the design team to sink their teeth into – thanks to all of you that wrote long and detailed about your test games and opinions, you ROCK!

• Design of four Sabbat preconstructed decks is in progress. The two-player VTES variant is put on hold for now.

VTES Fifth Edition

 

Ravnos Salubri Tzimisce

Black Chantry Products 2022 October

Currently these Black Chantry products are available through GamepodDrivethrucards.com and other stores:

Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company by e-mailFacebookInstagram or Twitter.


 

RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS

Some highlights from the World of Darkness team over at Paradox:

• “Werewolf: The Apocalypse - The Book of Hungry Names” is a enormous interactive novel/computer game created by Kyle Marquis (who also made the acclaimed “Vampire: The Masquerade - Night Road”), now available on Steam, iOS and Android. To find out more, check out this developer deep-dive!

• There were two more clan-focused developer diary entries about “Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2”: clans Tremere and Banu Haqim.

• For the tabletop RPG Vampire: The Masquerade, the “Crimson Gutter” chronicle book is now available in PDF for everyone. There´s a bunch of thorough reviews of this book out there – try for example this video one over at Summoned Stories.

Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!


CALENDAR

Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Brazil x12
Chile x2
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
Germany
Italy x2
Mexico
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Serbia
Spain x5
Sweden

For details about these events, see the VEKN Event Calendar.

Remember: Online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!


CONTACT VEKN

You can contact the VEKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at VEKN.net. Also follow the official VTES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, the official VEKN X (Twitter) account @VEKN_VTES and the official VTES Discord server.

 

"The true man is revealed in difficult times."

Carmen Cornet VTES François Villon 

Greetings fellow Methuselahs,

THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE CONTINUES

It has been thirty years since this fantastic game was first published, and throughout the year it will be celebrated in various ways by VEKN, Black Chantry and players all around the world. There will be articles, events and, of course, a special 30th Anniversary product. Now we can reveal that this will be a Toreador deck with a group 6 and 7 Camarilla crypt, focused on politics. And YES, this will mean a significant strengthening of the clan, with several new library cards, high capacity vampires and a new Justicar. And YES, the product will also contain new Justicars for the other Camarilla clans! The design team is putting the last card wording details in place as this is written. Most of the new art is already in, for example the stunning new art for François Villon by Carmen Cornet you see above. Yes, Villon is back!

The release date for this 120 card product is September 2024.


VTES Grand Prix Iberia 2024

EDOUARD MENNESON WINS GRAND PRIX IBERIA 2024!

64 players turned up for this event in Lisbon, Portugal on March 9.

Read the full report: Grand Prix Iberia 2024

The European VTES Grand Prix circuit moves on - the upcoming tournaments are April 20 in Paris, May 19 in Aarhus and July 20 in Helsinki. The final with the top 5 players will be played in Warsaw during the EC weekend. More information about that when we have it!


VTES GP Fortaleza 2024

DANIEL SALES WINS GRAND PRIX FORTALEZA 2024!

43 eager Methuselahs wanted to play this event in Fortaleza, Brazil on March 17.

Read the full report: Grand Prix Fortaleza 2024

The upcoming tournaments in the Grand Prix Sulamericano are São Paulo April 14, Minas Gerais May 4, Macapá June 23, Paraíba August 9 and Nordestão November 16. Chile events to be announced!



KELLY LYONS WINS GRAND PRIX LAFAYETTE! (GULF COAST ROAST LEG 1)

22 players showed up for this tournament in Lafayette, Louisiana, USA on March 9.

Read the full report: Grand Prix Lafayette 2024

The US "Gulf Coast Roast" Grand Prix circuit continues with Dallas April 27, Gulfport August 24, New Orleans October 12, Vidor December 7, with the final also in Vidor on December 8. Please join the fun!


GREAT VTES CONTENT

Nowadays it´s impossible to keep up with all the great VTES content being published every month, but we want to highlight some stuff:

 

 

• A new introduction video to VTES is up! In English! This time it's by Lionel, creator of Codex of the Damned, who did a 10 minutes video available at the Codex KRCG channel. Big thanks, this kind of material helps the game a lot.

• The “Nossies” awards are an early popular survey with lots of categories; Best Card, Best Artwork, etc. Check it out at Charlotte By Night!

• Lies from the Tabletop continues to put up nice content – lastly a deck analysis of the “Goratrix High Tower” wall deck.

• Reading Between the Lyons does not only do the best VTES-related music ("Bleeds and Bounces!"), but also has many interesting clips about rules, strategy and news.

• The longtime foremost VTES blog is still doing it´s thing! In the last posting, VTES One talks about disciplines, before that it was statistics of clan cards.

• If you are a Facebook user and VTES player and still do not follow Martin Weinmayer on that platform, you should. He posts great thoughts about the game and gets good discussions in the comments. Recently he also published a very nice, event photo collection on YouTube - don´t miss it if you´re into VTES nostalgia!

• We are, of course, delighted to see that Stephen Buonocore (“The Podfather of Gaming”) mentions VTES as the best CCG/TCG ever in episode 12 of The Quad over at BoardGameGeeks YouTube channel. Check it out!


VTES EC 2023 Barcelona

DO YOU WANT TO HOST EC 2025?

The application period is now open for the 2025 Vampire: The Eternal Struggle European Championship.

Interested organisers are encouraged to submit their proposals for consideration between today and August 31st to 

The proposals should include the following information (fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.), in addition to any other information that the organisers deem relevant:
• Country:
• City:
• Approximate dates:
• Scheduled off season (Y/N):
• Organizer(s):
• Head judge:

VENUE
• All inclusive location (room, hotel, food, refreshments) (Y/N):
• Accommodations close to venue (Y/N):
• Snacks and meals on-site (or within 5 minutes) (Y/N):
• Distance to major hubs:
• Distance to major city:
• Non-smoking venue (Y/N):
• Air-conditioned venue (Y/N):
• Enough area suited for mass registration (Y/N):
• Free WiFi available (Y/N):
• Microphone/loudspeaker announcements (sound system) (Y/N):
• Video projection system (remaining time) (Y/N):
• Opening hours:

ROOM(S)
• Enough room for 200 players (Y/N):
• Separate rooms for side events (Y/N):
• Comfortable chairs (Y/N):
• Table cloths (Y/N):
• Round tables for 5 players (Y/N):
• Are toilets close to reduce game delays? (Y/N):

ORGANIZATION
• On-site registration on multiple computers (number of players/30) (Y/N):
• On time registration, breaks and events (Y/N):
• Using armbands to indicate registration type (Y/N):
• FAQ (handout at registration) (Y/N):
• Lunch breaks (Y/N):
• Two head organisers (side events/main tournament) (Y/N):
• Organizers and judges properly identified (Y/N):
• Assistants (non VTES players) (Y/N):
• Documentation/archiving person (traceability) (Y/N):
• Spouse info/events (Y/N):
• Seating print-outs on multiple spots (Y/N):

SCHEDULE
• Last Chance Qualifier:
• EC Day 1:
• EC Day 2:
• Side events:

COVERAGE
• Live webcam as weekend documentation (Y/N):
• Detailed final round(s) report (Y/N):
• Final round video recording/streaming (Y/N):
 


 

Black Chantry logo

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: MARCH 2024

• An odd piece of news is that the next printing of the New Blood packs for Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere and Ventrue will have 1 card less than the previous printings, so 55 cards instead of 56. This is because the printing had to be done in another factory that had a different capacity. This is sad for continuity, but not catastrophic for the actual product function. The cards removed are:
  Malkavian: -1 Wake with Evening's Freshness
  Nosferatu: -1 Forced Awakening
  Toreador: -1 Second Tradition: Domain
  Tremere: -1 Forced Awakening
  Ventrue: -1 Wake with Evening's Freshness

Gamepod.es has added the four legacy Sabbat precons (Den of Fiends, Libertine Ball, Pact with Nephandi, Parliament of Shadows) as well as Heirs to the Blood 1 & 2 and Promo pack 1-3 to their print-on-demand offering.

• A funny but hardly believable April Fools' joke was published. No, foil cards are not for VTES in the foreseeable future, but there will be a lot of full art promo cards coming up.

• As for the upcoming products, things are moving on smoothly. The Hecata, Lasombra and 30th Anniversary are all in the last steps of design and playtesting, as are a new bunch of New Blood packs. The two-player VTES variant is put on hold for now, as these other things have priority. Four Sabbat preconstructed decks are in early design stages, not quite ready for the first round of playtest yet.

VTES Fifth Edition 

Ravnos Salubri Tzimisce

Black Chantry Products 2022 October

Currently these Black Chantry products are available through GamepodDrivethrucards.com and other stores:

Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company by e-mailFacebookInstagram or Twitter.


Vampire: The Masquerade – Crimson Gutter and Bloodlines 2

RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS

From the World of Darkness team over at Paradox, this month we would like to mention:

• The Crimson Gutter is a brand new chronicle book for Vampire: The Masquerade, perfect for starting a new chronicle. It describes no less than 21 stories, 20 storyteller characters and 8 recurring locations ready to use in any city setting – sounds great, right?

• Another Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Clan Highlight is out, featuring Silky, Brujah Primogen in Seattle, an “eloquent, persuasive, and a man of letters, quoting Milton, Shakespeare, and the Sex Pistols with equal reverence”.

• We are still very excited for Vampire: The Masquerade - Gehenna War that was announced last month – an action-focused sourcebook now available on pre-order, for August 2024 release.

Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!


CALENDAR

Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Australia x2
Brazil x15
Czech Republic
Finland x3
France x3
Hungary
Italy x4
Mexico
Online
Poland x3
Portugal
Spain x10
Sweden
UK
USA x3

For details about these events, see the VEKN Event Calendar.

Remember: Online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!


CONTACT VEKN

You can contact the VEKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at VEKN.net. Also follow the official VTES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, the official VEKN X (Twitter) account @VEKN_VTES and the official VTES Discord server.

 

“Every man dies. Not every man lives.”

Camille Défarge preview

Greetings fellow Methuselahs,

It´s newsletter time again, and again we have the pleasure to start it with another preview of Camille Défarge art from an upcoming VTES card. Cool, right?


THE 30TH YEAR OF VTES CONTINUES

Some words by Hugh Angseesing, VEKN chairman and CEO of Black Chantry Productions:

Hello! I wanted to write a little about what I have been doing recently as we move into the 30th year of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle.

In December I was lucky enough to visit Milan for the start of the GP season. It was great seeing Miro, Massimo and the rest of the team including some cos players acting as promo giver outers. It was also the first time that players received Sense the Savage Way with beautiful new artwork from Noora Hirvonen. I also got an excellent shot of me and a castle as well as enjoying much gelato.

GP Milan 2023 floor GP Milan 2023 promo card

In January, I headed up for my birthday event (I considered it as such!) in Leeds where we had 16 players and I was able to demonstrate that cards from 2009 and before still do the job when needed.

In February I visited Vilnius for the Lithuanian nationals, this was my first time in Lithuania and I was very excited to meet some new players and do some sightseeing. The event was rather poignant as it was held in honour of Julius Stonis a Lithuanian player who died during covid, and coincided with the second year day of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It was good to see so many players gathered to celebrate a friend. Daniel and Nerijus who hosted the event treated us to an excellent lunch at a local Ukrainian restaurant. I spent a lot of time walking; the city is very walkable. I highly recommend a trip there.

VTES Lithuania 2024

In the middle of these exciting events I took delivery of all the new decks and reprints and with the team, arranged the next promo pack for the printers.

Thanks for that short report Hugh - hope this high energy of yours lasts the whole year, because it will be intense!


Lituania National Championship 2024

BARTOSZ KULINCZUK IS THE 2024 CHAMPION OF LITHUANIA

23 Methuselahas played this event in Vilnius on February 24th.

Read the full report: Lithuania National Championship 2024


VTES rulebook 1.1

VTES HAS A REVISED RULEBOOK!

A version 1.1 of the Fifth Edition rulebook is now available for download under "Utilities" at www.blackchantry.com. While no rules have actually changed, a number of clarifications have been made, as well as changes in the layout that we think will help players both old and new to more easily understand some of the trickier things in the game. Have a read through the full list of changes; maybe you find something that is new to you!


 VTES Grand Prix Europe 2023-2024

MORE GP DATES SET!

The European VTES Grand Prix tournaments of the 2023-2024 circuit are currently:

• December 9 Milan, Italy
• March 9 Lisbon, Portugal
• April 20 Paris, France
• May 19 Aarhus, Denmark
• July 20 Helsinki, Finland

... and then there will be a final of course, with the top five players, sometime during the European Championship weekend in Warsaw, Poland later this year. More information about that when we have it.


VTES Jyhad Sealed Zaragoza

PLAYING LIKE IT´S 1994 - A ZARAGOZA SEALED DECK CHRONICLE

On February 2, a Jyhad sealed deck event was played in Zaragoza, Spain. Words by Ivan Castro.

There is something particular about yearning.

I remember very well when I started playing VTES (back when Bloodlines was the new thing and Camarilla just came out). I experienced the card frame transition without too much thought and I kept exploring the game with teenager intensity. Vampire was such a different game from others like MTG or L5R, and the social and psychological dimension of it struck me quite hard and made me delve into the game.

I got in touch with classic strategies and started to collect my favourite cards. After some time I saw the (not so old back in the day) Jyhad collection of a friend of mine and I was instantly hooked! You see, I have always gravitated towards handcrafted and distinctive things, I am quite particular about this and oh dear, how outstandingly gorey VTES was showing itself!

VTES Jyhad Sealed Zaragoza
Would something like that pass the filter nowadays?

The art was so primitive, explicit and dark, the frame so cryptic, and so many cards had references to music that I was yet to discover and poetry that I had to read!

VTES Jyhad Sealed Zaragoza
All of my friends were obsessed with power metal, but... What the hell was Clan of Xymox?

Ages have passed since, and for most of them I have been apart from the game for personal circumstances. Last November and after eight years without playing I attended the European Championship in Barcelona, where a friend of mine offered me the chance to participate in 2024 in a small tournament: a sealed Jyhad. I was left baffled and I said "yes, even if I have to raise from the dead". How lucky could I be? Something like this in other games would be a grand event, but for some obscure reason that I do not grasp Jyhad is totally overlooked by the majority of VTES players. I was so excited!

VTES Jyhad Sealed Zaragoza
Have you ever seen something more tempting?

VTES Jyhad Sealed Zaragoza
I prayed so much to open this; we would be playing with the texts as originally printed!

After the European championship I played other small events across the north of Spain, and the eagerness was in crescendo every time we spoke about the Jyhad sealed.  "C'mon, we are adults, what's all that hype about?". I believe that now we savor every moment with gratitude, and perhaps we are old fogeys, but we enjoy the hobby in a different way. And a word about the community: I cannot describe with words how much the scene has changed since 2010. There is a sense of fraternity and glee that was totally absent back in the day, and every time we see each other is a small celebration.

What a lovely bunch!

So finally the 3rd of February came. The Second Succubus Club tournament was about to commence, held in a nice roleplaying club called “La Goblinera” (shout-out to those guys, very generous of them to having us!). Around the tables, sixteen Methuselahs from the city and some coming from the nearby Pamplona. We would open five boosters each player, and then pick from another three. Do you know the smell of old sealed cardboard? I had this feeling of guilt for opening all those old boosters, older than some of the participants! What would be inside? What would other players play? At my left sat my friend Iker who was showing a menacing grin: one Parity Shift! Was he mocking me? I opened my first booster in retaliation...

VTES Jyhad Sealed Zaragoza
My luck was sealed at the first glance: I will show them pain!

Two preliminary rounds were played in the morning. I was able to experience firsthand the vast playability of a first edition card game, it is awe-inspiring. How Richard Garfield could have learned so many lessons from the feedback of a single year of M:tG releases only? Yes, if we judge the individual cards from a modern perspective there is no such thing as balance, but we have to think that Mr. Garfield intended the game to be interactive more than collectible, and although the internet existed, there was not such a thing as "I put together 15 Governs and 10 Conditionings because that is the winning list of X tournament". You played with what you had the luck to open, and that was it. We now see things like Ante as absurd mechanics, but there was an effort to create alternative atmospheres within the game:

VTES Jyhad Sealed Zaragoza
There was no intent to create a competitive product. It was all about role-playing!

I would like to acknowledge too the fantastic direction of Sandra Everingham in the art department, and how her 80's inclinations permeated through and through the game, creating a consistent and immersive universe. Now we are accustomed to clean, almost (if not mostly) digital  illustrations, but the resource was not there back in 1994. As a photographer I hold the opinion that it's the very limitations of our artistic processes what set free our imagination. And Jyhad had such an explosive expressiveness, there is no denying it.


A reference to a pulp fiction book? Such style!

There were so many anecdotes to share (like the insistence of players of drafting again and again Masika). I made a really bad assessment during the construction of my deck. I believed that between Basilia and a good bunch of Protean aggravated strikes I would have a fantastic run, but clearly the baseline of common cards is filled with manoeuvers and dodges, and in two tables I managed to somehow land only two strikes. I lost my chance to participate as a finalist!

VTES Jyhad Sealed Zaragoza
A nice lunch all together after the second round!

The final looked like this: Luis Blasco » Jorge Cerdá » Iker Feliu » Raúl Perfecto » Nicolás (I don’t recall his surname. Sorry buddy!)

Again, four of the five finalists included Masika in their crypts, and they had to negotiate even before the first turn’s influence! After a few rounds, the table looked like this:

VTES Jyhad Sealed Zaragoza

Luis -> Natasha Volfchek and Ignatius.
Jorge -> Masika and Dorian Strack.
Iker -> Don Cruez and Tatiana Romanov.
Raúl -> Andreas, Bard of Crete, Black Cat and Zebulon.
Nico -> Lucian and Lydia Van Cuelen.

Iker, in a display of political prowess, plays minion tap Don Cruez of eight and manages to negotiate with Nico some votes to steal the Hunting Ground just played by Jorge. He was not so satisfied when immediately Raúl decides to Arson the stolen Hunting Ground. The room started laughing our arses off.

Nico, in turn, manages to successfully play a Parity Shift against Luis, but in order to pass the action he has to give 3 pool to Raúl, under the threat of Andreas blocking with an Assault Rifle… Dreadful!

Luis is under a lot of pressure, five points of pool is not a joke, even more so when being preyed upon by Lucian, so he decides to glass-cannon his turn with a Natasha playing Govern + Conditioning. Bleed of seven, the exact amount of Jorge’s pool! First victory point! Terrible bleed, and Jorge left the table like a gentleman. Maybe a little bit pale, but who is to blame?

Iker and Nico start to play Kine Resources Contested against Raúl and Luis, and in reply Luis bleeds without mercy. As a last resort, Iker decides to contest Luis’s Ignatius. Perhaps one less action could stop the onslaught?!

And here comes the moment of the tournament: Raúl plays a Malkavian Dementia on Lucian, the only vampire Nico left to defend (equipped with a Submachine Gun). Black Cat picks up the weapon of the Malkavian Justicar and the rest of Raúl’s minions go all-in with bleed and Kine Resources. Another victory point, this one for Raúl!

Iker’s efforts were insufficient to stop Luis playing another Govern the Unaligned paired with a Seduction. Second victory point for Luis, what a terrible deck!

In the one-on-one, Luis found himself at a significant disadvantage as his vampires were practically drained of blood. Conversely, Raúl's were well-fed thanks to a Hunting Ground.

With his forces fully equipped and ready for execution, Raúl stood poised for victory! Congratulations, Raúl!

What an intense final. We left with many promises of trying again next year, if the circumstances allow and there is another chance to buy Jyhad sealed material. Now I can truly say that although I was not playing this game back in 1994, I am now part of it in the intended way. It is a different feeling than playing a well sharpened and measured deck: you get to play as an explorer of a game that was hidden right in front of your very eyes, with all its beauties and where all its faults were really part of the charm. Do yourself a favor: play sealed. Not even Jyhad, that is not really important. Draft some crappy decks with your friends and let the game speak for itself...

VTES Jyhad Sealed Zaragoza

... And you’ll never say again that a card is bad!

Many thanks to David Villalva for hosting. You are my hero from now on. <3

Thanks to Iván for this very nice report, and we hope he returns with more stories from other events. Have you played something similar and want to share your thoughts? Please, contact the newletter editor at .
 


VTES EC 2023 Barcelona

DO YOU WANT TO HOST EC 2025?

The application period is now open for the 2025 Vampire: The Eternal Struggle European Championship.

Interested organisers are encouraged to submit their proposals for consideration between today and August 31st to

The proposals should include the following information (fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.), in addition to any other information that the organisers deem relevant:
• Country:
• City:
• Approximate dates:
• Scheduled off season (Y/N):
• Organizer(s):
• Head judge:

VENUE
• All inclusive location (room, hotel, food, refreshments) (Y/N):
• Accommodations close to venue (Y/N):
• Snacks and meals on-site (or within 5 minutes) (Y/N):
• Distance to major hubs:
• Distance to major city:
• Non-smoking venue (Y/N):
• Air-conditioned venue (Y/N):
• Enough area suited for mass registration (Y/N):
• Free WiFi available (Y/N):
• Microphone/loudspeaker announcements (sound system) (Y/N):
• Video projection system (remaining time) (Y/N):
• Opening hours:

ROOM(S)
• Enough room for 200 players (Y/N):
• Separate rooms for side events (Y/N):
• Comfortable chairs (Y/N):
• Table cloths (Y/N):
• Round tables for 5 players (Y/N):
• Are toilets close to reduce game delays? (Y/N):

ORGANIZATION
• On-site registration on multiple computers (number of players/30) (Y/N):
• On time registration, breaks and events (Y/N):
• Using armbands to indicate registration type (Y/N):
• FAQ (handout at registration) (Y/N):
• Lunch breaks (Y/N):
• Two head organisers (side events/main tournament) (Y/N):
• Organizers and judges properly identified (Y/N):
• Assistants (non VTES players) (Y/N):
• Documentation/archiving person (traceability) (Y/N):
• Spouse info/events (Y/N):
• Seating print-outs on multiple spots (Y/N):

SCHEDULE
• Last Chance Qualifier:
• EC Day 1:
• EC Day 2:
• Side events:

COVERAGE
• Live webcam as weekend documentation (Y/N):
• Detailed final round(s) report (Y/N):
• Final round video recording/streaming (Y/N):
 


 

Black Chantry logo

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: FEBRUARY 2024

• As mentioned above, the revised edition of the Fifth Edition VTES rulebook is now available for download at www.blackchantry.com/utilities. For a list of all changes, check out the original announcement. The changes are all clarifications, no actual new rules.

• On February 15, Black Chantry top ghoul Hugh Angseesing was interviewed on the official World of Darkness News show. This is recommended viewing for all who want to know about current and future VTES products!

• Another reprint promo card was revealed, Mythic Form for the Spanish National Championship in April, and then later also for distribution to other tournaments on that level. VERY NICE brutal and terrifying new artwork by Black Chantry's own Ginés Quiñonero!

VTES Mythic Form promo

• The design team is still digesting the report of the second round of playtesting of the Hecata/Lasombra decks, the Hecata/Lasombra/Ravnos/Salubri/Tzimisce New Blood decks and the 30th Anniversary preconstructed deck. We´ll probably need another round of testing of at least one of these three sets.

• The two-player variant of VTES, that has already gone through one round of playtesting, is put on hold. It needs more work, and the sets mentioned above have priority for 2024.

VTES Fifth Edition 

Ravnos Salubri Tzimisce

Black Chantry Products 2022 October

Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Gamepod, Drivethrucards.com and other stores:

Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company by e-mailFacebookInstagram or Twitter.


WoD News 

RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS

Of course we think the World of Darkness News interview with Black Chantry mention above is the most interesting thing from the World of Darkness team over at Paradox this past month, but, of course, there are other things too:

Dev Diary #9 for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is out, this time about clan Brujah, how they were re-invented in the current edition of the role-playing game and how that has been treated in the development of the upcoming computer game.

• The boardgame Vampire: The Masquerade - Chapters is back on Kickstarter with a Definite Edition, bigger, better and (optionally) more digital than before.

• At their virtual event Renegade Con, Renegade Game Studio revealed a lot of new stuff in their pipeline for all the World of Darkness games. We are especially hyped to hear about the Gehenna War sourcebook for Vampire: The Masquerade, preliminary out this August. If you are not up to date on what the Gehenna War is, investigate that and you will understand why we are so excited!

Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!


CALENDAR

Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Australia
Brazil x9
Finland
Italy x2
Online x2
Poland x2
Portugal x2
South Africa
Spain x9
Sweden
UK
USA x6

For details about these events, see the VEKN Event Calendar.

Remember: Online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!



CONTACT VEKN

You can contact the VEKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at VEKN.net. Also follow the official VTES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, the official VEKN X (Twitter) account @VEKN_VTES and the official VTES Discord server.


Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well.