Greetings fellow Methuselahs
Many mortals complain about immigrants these nights. They say “their” society is “collapsing”. I wish they had my undying perspective. I was in Latium, recently arisen from a period in cozy torpor, when Alaric the Visigoth besieged Rome – that was a REAL collapse! My ghouls had a hard time keeping me safe. They took me north, so I was in Albion when Vikings painted the cliffs of Lindisfarne with the blood of monks. What about that for a “system failure”?! Believe me, the Kine of today are lucky to be alive in these, the most civilised of times …

VTES PRODUCT UPDATE MARCH 2019

Some words from Ben Peal, Design Director of Black Chantry:

Hey, everyone! I figured I'd give you all an update on where we are now, where we're going, and how we're getting there.

So, where are we now?
Presently out in the wild are four pre-constructed decks to get people up and running with playing the game, five reprint bundles to make important and previously out-of-print cards accessible to both older and newer players, as well as an expansion bundle of entirely new cards to bolster clans that needed help and to inject some new blood into the game. We've also launched the Custom Card Creator for VTES on Drivethrucards.com to allow you to try out your own card ideas.

What´s next?
Arriving in April is a second printing of the Sabbat-themed pre-constructed decks. Coming up very soon afterward are a handful of promo cards in support of some upcoming major events. In the summer we'll celebrate the 25th anniversary of VTES with a special reprint bundle - we'll be digging very deep into the vaults for that one. Somewhere in the middle of all of that we'll be offering new demo decks to retailers so they can help us embrace new players. Following that, towards the end of 2019, we'll release a Camarilla-themed boxed set which will include everything needed to play VTES: pre-constructed decks, blood counters, an Edge marker, and an updated rulebook.

What else is down the road?
In the planning stages are pre-constructed decks for Anarchs as well as a follow-up expansion in support of the Camarilla box set. We're also in serious discussions about translating VTES into languages other than English – we'll have more information on that when we're prepared to announce it. We haven't met our original goals for making more reprints available, so we'll be pursuing that as well. Feedback for the Sabbat pre-constructed decks has been overwhelmingly positive and I expect we'll continue to pursue pre-constructed decks as a vehicle for reprints.

What is not planned?
I don't expect we'll return to the Sabbat until perhaps late 2020. We have a lot to work on for Camarilla and Anarchs for the next year or so, and there's still material to be developed for the Sabbat in V5 that we're waiting on so that the course is made clear. We'd love to work on Bloodlines clans again, particularly the ones we didn't cover in Lost Kindred, but those clans are on an indefinite hold until we get the green light from White Wolf for their development. The Laibon clans aren't on the horizon at this time.

How are we getting there?
VTES has always provided snapshots of the present state of the World of Darkness and it has always permitted you to mix both old and new elements in your games. We will continue that tradition in earnest and we're working with White Wolf to incorporate the developments of Fifth Edition Vampire: the Masquerade into VTES. We're giving the rulebook an overhaul, but it will remain the game as you have played it, just with a proper foundation for the game's mechanics. There are some changes coming, but those changes won't invalidate the cards you own and they'll help us grow and develop the game further. All of this will be tested and improved with the help of the game's community.

Many thanks to all of you for your continued support of the game and for your cameraderie!
 

 THE EC SITE IS UP
The European Championship is this year held in Paris, France on August 16-18 (with a “Week of Nightmares” of other events). The official site is now up, with information about venue, schedule, registration, registered players and a nice “History of VTES” slideshow. Check it out and register for the EC! No qualification required for this year's Day 1 tournament. Note that the booster draft tournament on Friday is limited to 40 players, so first come, first served for that one!

http://www.vekn.fr/ec2019

 
DANIEL GARGULAK WINS CZECH GRAND PRIX 2019
42 players turned up for this year's Czech VEG tournament in Brno March 16.

Standings before the final:
Daniel Gargulak 2 gw 7.5 vp
Tero Aalto 2 gw 7 vp
Kacper Marciniec 2 gw 6 vp
Anna Welpa 2 gw 6 vp
Radoslaw Staszewski 2 gw 5 vp


Final results:
Radoslaw: 1
Anna: 0
Tero: 0
Kacper: 2
Daniel: 2 – Champion because of first seed, congratulations Daniel!

Daniel in the middle.

Thanks to all attendants, the organizers and our sponsor Ultra Pro.

For more information on VEG, check out the official VEG page at VEKN.net

ENRICO DE STEFANO IS THE ITALIAN CHAMPION 2019
26 Methuselahs played the 2019 Italian National Championship in Brescia March 16.

Standings before the final:
Enrico de Stefano 3 gw 8.5 vp (!)
Gianluca Bianco 2 gw 9 vp
Danilo Torrisi 2 gw 8.5 vp
Gabriele Bugliani 2 gw 7 vp
Vanni Borz 2 gw 4.5 vp





Final results:
Enrico: 1.5 – Champion because of first seed, congratulations Enrico!
Danilo: 0
Vanni: 0.5
Gabriele: 1.5
Gianluca: 0

Enrico with the big prize.

Thanks to organizers, attendants and our sponsor Ultra Pro.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT VTES CARD CREATOR
Many of you have tried the Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Card Creator at Drivethrucards, and there have been many questions. Here are some common ones:

Q: What do the cards cost?
A: $0.50 each. There is a minimum 10-card order.

Q: Can I upload my own images to use in Card Creator?
A: Yes. To have them printed you need to own the rights for those images yourself, or use images not under any copyright protection.

Q: Can I order cards created by other customers?
A: Yes, all cards that are visible to you in the webshop can be purchased, as each customer that uploads, as the rights to those images have been cleared by the user agreement. Making a custom-created card public is an option at the end of the card creation process.

Q: Can I use other art that is the property of White Wolf?
A: No, not for printing. The only White Wolf art that you can print on a card created with Card Creator is the art already on the site, uploaded by White Wolf.

Q: Can I name a card what I want?
A: Yes, as long as the name is not protected by trademark (for example company names, brand names, etc.) We also ask you to apply common sense about what can be offensive.

Q: Are the cards I create in Card Creator legal in VEKN sanctioned VTES tournaments?
A: No. Each cards says “Not for legal play”.

Q: Does this mean proxies are no longer legal?
A: No, the existance of Card Creator does not affect the legality of printed proxies – that is covered in section 4.5 of the Tournament Rules.

Q: Is there any way to input artist credit?
A: Not at this point, but we are looking into that. You can always make the artist sign his/her name on the actual image.

Q: Why does it cost so much to ship from Drivethrucards to my country?
A: The cards are printed in the USA. All shipping costs are simply the cost of packaging and what USPS charges for shipping. Drivethrucards's system polls USPS servers in real time to get the shipping costs that are just passed through, without markup. Drivethrucards is actively seeking a European-based printing partner; when they find the right partner, shipping costs will decrease at that time.

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: MARCH 2019

• For clarity: the “March surprise” mentioned in last month's newsletter was the fantastic Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Card Creator. Please take it for a spin!

• Design Guidelines for the VTES Card Creator were published. Remember, these are just guidelines – designing balanced crypt cards for this game is by no way easy, especially if you consider the group rule.

• The four Sabbat pre-constructed decks and Anthology I have been reprinted and should be in stores again in the first week of April.

• For more information about current projects and the future, see Ben Peal's product update above. The first round of playtesting of the decks for the Camarilla-themed boxed set he mentions has just begun!


• Currently ten Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:
- Lost Kindred bundle
- Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1
- Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2
- Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 1
- Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 2
- Den of Fiends Preconstructed Deck
- Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck
- Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck
- Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck
- Anthology I bundle

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

EMBRACE “BLOODLINES 2”
Many fans of the World of Darkness were waiting, and last week Paradox Interactive and White Wolf Entertainment finally announced that a sequel to the very popular computer RPG “Bloodlines” is in the pipeline.

Created in an act of vampire insurrection, your existence ignites a blood war among the vampire factions who run Seattle. To survive, you’ll choose a clan and enter into uneasy alliances with the competing factions in a world which will react to every choice you make. Unleash your supernatural powers against your prey, but be mindful of your surroundings at all times or run the risk of breaking the Masquerade – the absolute law of secrecy that keeps Vampire society hidden from humanity.

“Bloodlines 2” is developed by Hardsuit Labs and will be ready for you to sink your teeth in by first quarter 2020 (preorders already possible).

https://www.bloodlines2.com

 
CALENDAR
Upcoming events:
April 6: Crepe Party - Vitrolles, France
April 6: Iberia Field Training - Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
April 6: Flesh Bond Stockholm 2019 - Stockholm, Sweden
April 13: Crónicas del Califa V: Bleed entre cirios e incienso - Córdoba, Spain
April 14: Elder Library War 3.0 - Espoo, Finland
April 20: Campeonato Brasileiro 2019 - Fortaleza, Brazil
April 20: High Ground - Monroeville, United States
April 20: Draft French Championship - Lille, France
April 21: Last Daughter of Eve - Lille, France
April 27: Crusade: Santiago - Santiago, Chile
April 27: Grand Prix Iberia 2019 - Lisboa, Portugal
April 28: Oper War - Tappa cittadina Bologna - Bologna, Italy
April 28: Communal Haven: Hotel - Lisboa, Portugal
April 28: Rage Across Appalachia 4 - Asheville, USA

For more information on upcoming events see the V:EKN Event Calendar.

CONTACT V:EKN
You can contact the V:EKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at V:EKN.net. Also follow the V:EKN Facebook group, the official V:TES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official V:EKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES

"Today I died. I died yesterday and tomorrow. At night I fly.”