Mark Kelly & Co


Greetings fellow Methuselahs
It is too cold for smalltalk - here´s the newsletter:


Anthology artWHAT ABOUT THE ANTHOLOGY 1 ART?
Many are asking, so we better make this clear: Most art in the upcoming Anthology 1 set will be the original art, i.e. the art used for the card in the first printing, not the art produced for the Berlin Anthology printing. This has now been marked on the list at the Anthology 1 product page.

This means the lucky persons who struggled to get hold of the Berlin sets are in possession of something special – Black Chantry will not reuse that art in the forseeable future, with the exception of the ten LARP-related cards produced for World of Darkness Berlin (Styles Margs, The Line, etc.) – these will be reprinted soon.

 


 Official Expansion Sets

CLARIFICATION: CARDS ALLOWED

Another question that pops up frequently for VEKN and Black Chantry officials are if the “pdf sets” produced by the VEKN 2013-2016 are legal for tournament play. The answer is: YES, they are legal until further notice. The pdf-files are found at Official Expansion sets page at VEKN.net, so go ahead, print and play!

The section in the tournament rules that covers this is:

4.1. Cards Allowed
All cards in a player's deck must be genuine Vampire: The Eternal Struggle or Jyhad cards, or official V:EKN issued cards from the only authoritative source www.vekn.net as listed here:
- Danse Macabre
- The Unaligned
- Storyline Rewards 2015
- Anarchs Unbound
When using V:EKN issued cards they must be preferably color printed on standard paper and inserted into opaque sleeves before another Vampire: The Eternal Struggle or Jyhad card, this requires opaque sleeves for the whole crypt and/or library. These cards are not considered as proxies. See http://www.vekn.net/official-expansion-sets

 


 Generation V videos


VTES CONTENT COMING ON STRONG

The VEKN are delighted that many new sources create great reading and viewing online. This month we want to give special credit to:

Carnet d'un Le Diableriste: Articles in the beautiful French language, created in Canada, mainly in a very informative questions-and-answer-form with great and funny illustrations. Top notch! http://diableriste.com/

Bindusara´s Jyhad Diary: This Australian site delivers “the oral history of VTES” in interesting interviews with players. Excellent content! https://bindusara.home.blog/

Information Highway: Top French players write this, and they do it very well. Recently we have seen four articles reviewing the upcoming Sabbat-themed preconstructed decks, with strategy advice and tips on how to modify them. We look forward to more! https://vtesinformationhighway.wordpress.com/

VTES One: German long-time blogger Extrala continues to update us on all VTES things. VEKN and Black Chantry frequently send beginners with questions to this site, especially to the deck list section and articles about deck archetypes. Thanks for all the work you put into this Extrala! https://vtesone.wordpress.com/

Generación V videos: The Palma players continue to deliver introductory videos about VTES – currently four clips are up. It is in Spanish, but subtitled to English. A great effort, and great result! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE2hQGYrXGxwsSInr2l4cWg

Do you also want to produce some VTES-related content online? You are very welcome, just remember that if you want to use White Wolf property extensively (for example card images), you have to add the Dark Pack logo and follow the Dark Pack rules: https://www.white-wolf.com/dark-pack



BCP logo


BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: JANUARY 2019

• The first US distributor for the European printed cards has been found: KGS Cards. Print-on-demand will continue on Drivethrucards, now also testing “European style” tuckboxes.

• January was spoiler month for the upcoming Sabbat pre-constructed decks. Now everything has been spoiled - check out each product page for all card and art previews.

• The release date for the Sabbat pre-cons AND Anthology 1 is nailed: From February 16th you will find these products in stores who made their orders on time, and on Drivethrucards.com.

A revised pdf rulesbook – in English and Spanish – is available on Blackchantry.com/rulebook. These are the latest official rules, and the version that will be tested and used as a base for the improved, illustrated and beginner-friendly variant that will appear later this year.

The site Blackchanty.com has received a minor face lift, but will still be kept rather simple. A more advanced site with all kinds of fantastic content is in the pipeline, but for now getting more VTES cards into the hands of players has priority.

Currently five 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

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.



Mark Kelly
ARTIST IN FOCUS: MARK KELLY
Mark Kelly immediatelly became a fan favourite when he started illustrating VTES in 2014. His realistic but yet horrific style has proven perfect for eye-catching portraits on VTES crypt cards. We caught Mark in a blur of hardware failures, deadlines and termites (!), and he had the kindness to handle our usual arsenal of artist questions.

Are you educated or self-taught?
- In my younger years I was always being creative and it started mostly when I got a copy of the second edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle with The Tragedy of McDeath when I was about 7 years old. I was always painting, drawing, sculpting and making things in general.
   After leaving school I started on the path to becoming an architect but I dropped out after two years and left sunny Scotland for Amsterdam. The next 10 years or so are a bit of blur... I spent mostly partying and playing video games. I eventually quit that lifestyle completely and threw all my energy into creative endeavors. That's when I discovered my love for photography. Initially I was drawn to more abstract photography and landscapes but I soon moved over to portraiture, which is my true passion.
   All aspects of my creative skill set are self-taught. From painting, illustration, photography, graphic design etc. I tend to jump in at the deep end and figure things out under pressure.


Mark Kelly artWhat kind of assignments do you prefer?
- Honestly, I'm all over the place really. I'm drawn as much to the creepy and macabre as I am to vibrant neon noir cassette futurism. What I prefer most in an assignment is being allowed the freedom to create, within the boundaries of the project of course. I am drawn more to the conceptual interpretation and less so to the generic RPG illustrative approach.

What techniques do you prefer?
- I prefer working with digital media. Mixing photographic elements, light, digital paint and textures. Anything that's going to allow me to convey the artwork as I see it in my mind's eye.

How do you work with models and photos?
- I work with a lot of models and usually cover a range of ideas during a shoot. Some will be more editorial or conceptual portraits while others will be base material for the more illustrative work. I do a lot of experimentation with lights and post processing techniques. Lots of trial and error. There is no default workflow that I follow for the most part. Some times it'll be pure digital paint others it'll be a mix. Anything goes :)

Mark Kelly art
You have made lots of work for VTES and others – what are you most proud of?
- My biggest creative achievement to date was for Mark Rein Hagen's I AM ZOMBIE RPG which was released a couple of years back. A huge project where I did all the artwork, layout, design and factory production management. A 288 page full colour book with bespoke spreads chock-full of artwork, 108 double-sided character cards with a unique portrait either side and the core rule book. Up until that point I'd never used any form of layout software let alone laid out a book, so it was a mammoth challenge that not only turned out to be a great education but a great product. I was also pretty chuffed to get my work included in the new Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition book. I did quite a few full pagers for that.

What other work do you do these days?
- Along with being the lead artist for Make Believe Games (MBG), I've been doing quite a bit of freelance work as both an art director and artist. I've recently started my own publishing company called Dirty Vortex where we'll be producing a range of RPGs and tabletop accessories such as dice sets and 3d terrain. One of our first projects is a collection of Art Deco inspired polyhedral dice called Deco Dice and great for any game set within the Jazz Age. It recently launched Kickstarter and funded within the first 24 hours so that was a fabulous way to start the year. Sets of 10 x D10s are available which are great for VtM and WoD.

Mark Kelly stuff
- We also have a range of indie RPGs in development that will be releasing in 2019. First up is Solemn Vale which is a folk horror roleplaying game set within an isolated village in the South West of England. It's being developed by Matthew Dawkins and has a bunch of great writing talent assigned. That'll be followed up by Endgame '85 which set in a world devastated by a recent nuclear war and is currently being written by the fabulous Brendan Carrion and Adam Sink from the Full Metal RPG Podcast. Last, but not least, we'll have The Sigma Syndrome where players take on the role of powerful psykers. We've yet to assign dev and writing on that.
   It's shaping up to be a solid year with many projects in the mix and as a huge VTES fan I hope to get a few more card illustrations done.

We thank Mark for this chat. If folks want to see more of his work, he recommends you to follow him on Instagram as he posts there more often than any other social media. You find him at @grimventures (personal work) and @dirtyvortex (Dirty Vortex work)

Please, also read our previous artist interviews, with Ken Meyer Jr, Carmen Cornet, Noora Hirvonen, Riccardo Fabiani and Heather Kreiter - many more will follow!


Onyx Path
CULTS OF THE BLOOD GODS
Onyx Path Publishing (which is doing Chicago By Night and The Fall of London for Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition) recently revealed yet another exciting V5 product in their pipeline: Cults of the Blood Gods. Not many details are disclosed at this point, but the book is developed by Matthew Dawkins and has been described by Onyx Path CEO (and VTES artist) Richard Thomas as "a book detailing the Hecata including Clan Giovanni, the various religions that have sprung out of vampire culture like the Church of Caine, and much more!" Hecata is the V5 catch all-name for the clans and bloodlines in the necromantic tradition; Giovanni, Harbingers of Skulls, Cappadocians and Samedi. We´ll see in the future what this means for VTES!


 
CALENDAR
Upcoming events:
February 2: First flight 2019 - Madrid, Spain
February 2: Rise of the Sabbat - Lisboa, Portugal
February 2: First Blood - New Holland, USA
February 3: Winter Tournament - Montréal, Canada
February 9: Infernal Forge - Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
February 9: Vampire Saturday - Waterloo, United States
February 10: Middle European Championship - Wien, Austria
February 16: Evento Preconstruido - Granada, Spain
February 16: Presentación Empire - Sevilla, Spain
February 16: Sabbat Preconstructed Decks Release Tournament - Stockholm, Sweden
February 17: Kiss of Judas - Palma de Mallorca, Spain
February 23: Summer time - Santiago, Chile
February 24: Diablerie in Milan - New Prince election - Milano, Italy

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

“We can either do politics or we can have politics done to us.”

Rurik Rakoczy - Art by Heather Kreiter
Rurik Rakoczy by Heather Kreiter. Art for the upcoming Den of Fiends pre-constructed deck.


Greetings fellow Methuselahs

New years – what do they mean? “Age is but a number” some people say, just before they are ousted by older and more powerful Methuselahs like me. Numbers are very important! For example, I have this thing for ousting my enemies in a certain order. I have to start at the left and then continue so, which can be rather problematic sometimes, when the next victim is defensive enough. So happy new year, and good luck with next prey!



Q1 2019 precons
FOUR NEW PRE-CONSTRUCTED DECKS EARLY 2019 RELEASE
As announced earlier this week, four brand new pre-constructed decks will be released in the first quarter of the new year. We asked Ben Peal, product director at Black Chantry and earlier also lead designer at V:EKN, some questions about these new decks:

How come did you choose four Sabbat clans for the these first pre-constructed decks from Black Chantry?
-
A few years ago, Mike Nudd and I were approached to design a collection of pre-constructed decks as part of a product pitch for bringing V:TES back into publication. A Sabbat theme was chosen as a follow-up to the Danse Macabre set we developed for the V:EKN with the intention of additionally getting Danse Macabre published in printed card form. With a need for a product to help new players get started with V:TES, and with the game being published again by Black Chantry, we felt it was time to get these cards finally into the hands of the players. As for Danse Macabre, some of that set made it into the Anthology set we published and some of the crypt cards have made it into these new pre-constructed decks.

The clans are Lasombra, Toreador antritribu, Tremere antritribu and Tzimisce. Why these clans?
-
We had a few design considerations when developing the decks. Rather than the usual “mix of everything” starter decks, we wanted to create decks that a new player could bring to their local playgroup and be competitive. We wanted them to be mono-clan decks for the sake of theme. We also wanted to offer a mix of strategies, with each deck bringing something different to the table. The Lasombra deck is a larger-capacity stealth-voter. The Toreador antitribu deck is a small-capacity breeder with Palla Grande. The Tremere antitribu deck is a Nephandus ally deck with some punch. The Tzimisce deck is an intercept-combat deck. I'm hesitant to call them “starter decks” as they're fully built and effective decks, but there's certainly room to add, modify, and tinker with them.

Are there new cards? And cards with new art?
-
Three of the decks have some new crypt cards to help fill out their clans as well as some crypt cards from Danse Macabre. The Tremere antitribu deck doesn't – it's a classic build of the Antonio d'Erlette deck. There aren't any new library cards but the cards we've chosen for the decks should make veteran players happy.

Will there be more pre-constructed decks soon?
-
We have another collection of pre-constructed decks currently in development and they'll tie into the V5 edition of Vampire: the Masquerade. We'll have more information about them to share in the coming months. I'm excited about this project as I'm looking forward to bringing V:TES into the present day as well as continuing it as the game we know and love.

The pre-constructed decks contain 89 cards at a suggested retail price of $22-24/€20. More information will follow, so keep an eye on Blackchantry.com and the social media channels.


 VEG 2018-2019 playmat - Art by Chad Michael WardThe official VEG 2018-2019 playmat, given to all participants, courtesy of our sponsor Ultra Pro.

VEG CZECH REPUBLIC 2019 SET
The VTES European Grand Prix Czech Republ
ic 2019 will be played at Black Oil in Brno. More info at the Facebook event "VEG Czech Republic". Very welcome everybody – remember that all VEG players get the awesome playmat pictured above!

Also visit the official VEG information page at VEKN.net



VEG Bologna 2018
VEG BOLOGNA 2018 RESULTS

32 players attended the first installment in the 2018-2019 VEG circuit in Bologna, Italy. The final table had Alessandro Donati Barga (Italy), Angelo Alvisi (Italy), Roberto Venturi (Italy), Martin Weinmayer (Austria) and Pau Vilar (Spain):

VEG Bologna 2018 final table

Bologna champion 2018 is Pau Vilar, scoring 0.5 victory points but winning with top seed position. Congratulations Pau! We haven´t seen a deck list yet, but reports talk of Valerius Maior, Orlando Oriundus and Frondator in the crypt.

Pau Vilar Bologna 2018 champion

More photos and a bit more info can be found at this Facebook post.

The VEG tournaments are sponsored by Ultra Pro.




Palma VTES videos
VIDEO INTRODUCTIONS TO VTES
Players in Palma, Spain, have started producing a series of video tutorials for beginner players. Two videos are published. Please, check them out and give feedback. Non-Spanish viewers can click the icon in bottom right corner to get English subtitles.

Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=velKoYv3LXM&t=6s&fbclid=IwAR00ds7MaibHn0Pn5rBYIzxM1XO_aNpa0MUme7B4eM0L7iUbqkJCGJNW750

Episode 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaO8LeFyMS0&fbclid=IwAR2sNqPF_QCuwgeQbLG8UFEK0l6ARxzuBtUqQIZU45HBP_7V-egR8styBxE



Chile 2018
CHILE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2018

This 16 player event occurred at Club Deportivo José Miguel Carrera in Santiago, December 15. After three preliminary rounds a final table was composed of Miguel Saito Vásquez, Gonzalo del Río, Luis Espejo, Juan Ignacio Oyarce and Jackson Kansho Iribarren. Decks were like this:

Chile 2018 final table

Take a look at some video content from the final at Facebook:

Chile 2018 video

Miguel Saito Vásquez is the new champion with 3 victory points in the final, congratulations Miguel! Check out his tournament winning deck at: Chilean National Championship winner


Rurik and Heather Kreiter

ARTIST IN FOCUS: HEATHER KREITER
This month we have the privilige to talk to Heather Kreiter. She has made beautiful art for VTES since Third Edition back in 2006, totally almost fifty pieces.

Heather, thanks for talking to us! What is your background as an artist?
- When I was 14 I discovered the artwork of Larry Elmore via the Dragonlance books. These helped me to discover the wonderful world of D&D. I then became obsessed with other artists, such as Fred Fields, Jeff Easley, and Clyde Caldwell. They were all oil painters, so *I* wanted to become an oil painter so that I too could work for TSR! That was the plan anyway when I was in Junior High.
   I received my BFA in Painting with a secondary concentration in Illustration from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania in 1996. Even though I technically have a formal art education, I feel that I honed my skills more once I was out of school and was creating art for myself. To this day, all of my art is created via traditional methods. I work almost exclusively in either oils or markers.

What kind of assignments do you like?
- I know that when it comes to creating art, I am VERY slow. I do not have a “quick sketch” mode. I prefer several months notice on a project and having several weeks to work on several pieces. Basically one painting per week at the very least with a definite deadline so I can plan my work accordingly. I have two calendars and a dry erase board in my studio so that I can attempt to keep track of all of my projects.
   With VTES, I definitely prefer working on the crypt cards as I feel most confident focusing on a single character. However, whether it's crypt or library, the darker and bloodier, the better. I've never been one to shy away from gore.

What artistical techniques do you prefer?
- Whenever I get assignments I like to take a few days and let the descriptions rattle around in my head so that I can “see” what I want to paint. Once I have my idea in place, I go in search of reference material from books, magazines, friends, etc.  I'll take bits and pieces from all of my source material and frankenstein it together in photoshop. Then, I'll make a sketch using the frankenstein piece for my reference, but I'll adjust everything accordingly to fit the project.
   Once my sketch is approved, I'll transfer it to a gessoed piece of illustration paper, block it off with painter's tape and go to it. Usually these paintings are small enough that I can kind of cradle them in my arm to work on them. I'm a very “close up” painter due to the fact that I'm legally blind in my left eye.
You have made lots of art over the years. If you had to pick one piece, project or period, what are you most proud of?
- As a whole, I had the most fun creating Gengis, Zach North, and Daliah for the Anarchs Unbound set. Every single one of these individuals is based on someone I know personally. Gengis is a mohawk sporting, hearse driving individual I know from the PCS (Professional Car Society). Zach North is Star Wars illustrator, and my oldest con friend, Jeff Carlisle. Daliah, is my tattoo artist, fellow collector of MLP, and one of my best friends, JerZy Milner.

What work do you do mostly these days?
- In 2013, I pulled myself out of the freelance artist's pool in order to fully focus on my own IP, My Little Demon, a Garbage Pail Kids-type version of My Little Pony. I still continue to create original content for My Little Demon, but I've recently started to branch out into customizing pre-existing toys such as Imaginext Dinosaurs. When I learned that VTES was going to be produced again by Black Chantry, I had to dip my toes back in the pool. I can't not work on VTES! It's the only CCG I've ever actually played, back in 1995 when it was called Jyhad.

Thanks for this interview Heather – your commitment to our game is heartwarming, and we of course look forward to giving you new VTES missions. Check out Heathers site My Little Demon, her Facebook page @heatherkreiterart and and tweet @HeatherVKreiter

Please also read our previous artist interviews, with Ken Meyer Jr,
Carmen Cornet, Noora Hirvonen and Riccardo Fabiani - many more will follow!




BCP logo


BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: DECEMBER 2018

In mid December, Heirs to the Blood and a restock of earlier products reached distributors and stores all over Europe and also Australia.

The four Sabbat-themed pre-constructed decks are revealed – see above. Details about this will follow in the coming weeks.

 Anthology 1 will be out at the same time as the Sabbat pre-constructed decks, if all goes well.

People ask for a new, better VTES rulebook. Bad news: You will have to settle for the current online one for yet some time. Good news: A new, better, illustrated and beginner-friendly rulebook is being produced. Black Chantry rules director Vincent Ripoll is in charge of the project at this stage – contact him via if you have any input on that. We plan to reach out for all kinds of testing and proofreading when it´s ready for that.

American players have trouble getting hold of the European printed cards and those nice tuckboxes that they come in. This is because Black Chantry doesn’t have any store distribution in North America (except Chile, in South America). If you or someone you know wants to distribute VTES, please tell us at

Ben Peal leads the design of the V5-themed box set. Setting issues have been discussed with White Wolf, and things are moving forward. More about this will be disclosed in the coming months.

Currently five Black Chantry products are available through DriveThruCards.com, and the top three can also be found in 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

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.




MODIPHIUS EMBRACES V5
This months most interesting news about White Wolf is that UK-based company Modiphius steps in to manage and publish the Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition (“V5”) product line. Modiphius has until now only been in charge of the V5 distribution, but now gets a broader deal. So, what does this mean for Black Chantry and VTES players: Not much. Black Chantry is a licensee of VTES just as Modiphius is of V5. Black Chantry might need to bounce some V5-related stuff with Modiphius, but otherwise production of VTES continues as planned.

Read Modiphius press release here - including V5 product news:  Modiphius Embraces World of Darkness - Announces The Fall of London V5 Chronicle

Read White Wolfs comment here: Vampire Modiphius Partnership

 


 
CALENDAR
Upcoming events:
January 1: Necrosis: Newark - Heath, United States
January 5: Living on the Edge - Bonn, Germany
January 6: Powerbase: Berkeley – Illegalism - Berkeley, United States
January 6: New Year, New Blood - Vilnius, Lithuania
January 19: Here we go again - Santiago, Chile
January 19: Giant´s Blood: Zagreb - Zagreb, Croatia
January 19: Thanks for the Donation Stockholm 2019 (SE) - Stockholm, Sweden
January 20: Zillah's Tears II - The Return - Vantaa, Finland
January 20: Under Siege: Charlotte - Pineville, United States


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

"That which we call substance and reality is shadow and illusion, and that which we call shadow and illusion is substance and reality."

Carolina Valez - Art by Ken Meyer Jr
Carolina Vález - Art by Ken Meyer Jr.


Greetings fellow Methuselahs
Winter is upon us, in all its dark glory! Celebrate the darkness, and remember that the most charitable thing you can do to a fellow Cainite is to deliver her the oust. Well, not charitable to her, but to yourself, and, after all, that is what matters, isn´t it? I am sure most of you agree, deep in your heart, that is why you have reached this esteemed age. So do not hesitate the next time you have a decent hand and your prey's pool is low enough and all her minions are locked – what could ever go wrong?



EC 2019 ParisEC PARIS WILL BE PLAYED AUGUST 16-18 2019
Organizers have announced the dates for EC 2019 in Paris, of course great for everyone who wants to plan their vacation and buy travel tickets early.

- “Week of Nightmares” with tournaments starts August 12th

- EC tournaments: August 16th to 18th

See this VEKN.net forum thread: European Championship 2019 (EC 2019) in Paris and the official Facebook event: Parisec2019vtes

 


 

VEG 2018-2019 playmat - Art by Chad Michael Ward
The official VEG 2018-2019 playmat, given to all participants, courtesy of our sponsor Ultra Pro.

VEG 2018-2019 TOURNAMENT SITES REVEALED!
V:EKN Organized Play Coordinator Orian Gissler has decided the schedule for the 2018-2019 V:TES European Grand Prix (VEG). The tournaments are:

Bologna, Italy (December 2018)

• Brno, Czech Republic (March 2019)

• Portugal (April 2019)

• Warsaw, Poland (TBA)

• Helsinki, Finland (July 2019)

Also, the V:EKN and Black Chantry Productions are proud to announce that game accessory manufacturers Ultra Pro continue to sponsor the VEG circuit. If you attend at least one of the five GP tournaments you will get one copy of V:TES playmat featuring Evil Jensen (see above).

Please visit the official VEG information page at VEKN.net for more information – details about each tournament will be added as they are set.

 


Ken Meyer Jr.

ARTIST IN FOCUS: KEN MEYER JR.
Ken Meyer Jr is one of the most iconic VTES illustrators. He has been creating flavorful and captivating artwork for almost every expansion since the original Jyhad set in 1994. Totally it has become 155 cards over the years. The VEKN and Black Chantry Productions are very happy to continue to work with mister Meyer now that the game is back in production again. You can see an example of that at the top of this newsletter – Carolina Vález from the upcoming Black Chantry product. And he also agreed to answer some questions in this interview - many thanks!

Ken Meyer Jr art for VTES
Let’s start from the beginning: What is your background as an artist?

- Well, I started drawing because of comic books. When I was very young, around 10 or less, I was tracing from the comics, using carbon paper. Later I would try to draw what I saw on the comic page beside the paper. Then, I made up some characters of my own, stories as well. I would try to get illustrations published in the fanzines of the day – this would be in the early to mid-70s. I always knew I was going to be an artist.
    Though I went to college, I was a terrible student, and the college wasn't that great to begin with, so I did not learn much. Most of what I knew was self-taught. I worked in many places; ad agencies, military contracts as a civilian, software companies, etc. I did do some comic work, but mostly for small publishers such as Caliber and Eclipse, with a few smaller jobs along the way for Marvel. But, I realized I just did not have whatever it took to really make it in that industry, though I continued to dabble in it.
    At some point, I did some work for a now defunct company, Mayfair Games, on a werewolf book called “Lycanthropes”. An art director there at the time, Maria Carbado, eventually went on to work for Wizards of the Coast, and because of that connection, I did some work for Magic the Gathering. But, all through that (and to this day), I did many illustrations for White Wolf games ... hundreds of paintings! I do regular work now for Onyx Path.

Ken Meyer Jr art for VTES

What artistic techniques do you prefer?

- As for media, for the longest time, I used watercolor primarily. I still use it, but use acrylic ink a lot more frequently. But I have also used other media such as acrylic, oil, mixed media, etc. I just use whatever seems to fit that particular job.

 What kind of motives do you prefer? What kind of assignments?

- I have to admit, I think I work better with deadlines and exact assignments. This whole “do what you want whenever” approach doesn't do me much good. I do like working with humanoid subjects when I can. I have the most fun with pictures that incorporate some sort of dramatic lighting ... which horror is tailor made for! In fact, I did not drift into the horror gaming genre because the horror aspect, but because of that dramatic lighting that so often you see in classic horror films. Most of my work early on was black and white, which fit it even more.

Ken Meyer Jr art for VTES

You have made lots of work for VTES, other games and other places – what are you most proud of?

- Well, many of the portraits I did for VTES are some of my favorite pieces, for example the whole book “Kindred Most Wanted” which was all me. I just love painting people. Along the same lines, some of my favorite pieces were done for the Clive Barker game Imagica, but the game went nowhere unfortunately. Many of the pieces in my first big assignment for White Wolf, “The Masquerade”, contains many favorite early pieces.

How do you work with models? Some of your pieces seem obvious model work, others are not so sure?

- Yes, at some point in the nineties, even in my comic work, I used more and more models and photo references, wanting to get the work as realistic as possible, and to get all those lovely shadows. It was usually a combination of shots I took myself, some friends took for me, and references I would find in books and later, the internet. You have to be able to do at least the basic work without a model when necessary, but there are so many specific, individual characteristics that are very hard to just dream up, especially when you apply out of the ordinary camera angles and all those ... shadows!

Ken Meyer Jr art for VTES

What other work do you do these days?

- I am always doing something! If it isn't a new Magic playmat to take to tournaments, it's altered Magic cards, or a commission... the variety of what I have done and do is pretty big. At the moment, I have four illustrations for Onyx Path, a portrait of a couple, some illustrations for an educational software company, a few "repaintings" of a few of my classic Magic cards, and god knows what else!
    Also, I do a monthly column on the fanzines of years gone by called Ink Stains. Each month, I cover a different zine or group of zines. They were a big part of my childhood and college years, so it is really enjoyable to me, and I like sharing them with people who had no or little chance to see them for themselves.
    I also teach some painting techniques at a local community college. I am also working on a cure for the common cold and a time travel machine in my spare time.

Thanks again to Ken Meyer Jr for this interview. Check out his work at www.kenmeyerjr.com, where you also can find links to his Ink Stains columns. Also visit his Storenvy-page, where you can buy art and a lot of other related things.

Please also read our previous artist interviews, with
Carmen Cornet, Noora Hirvonen and Riccardo Fabiani - many more will follow!


November 2018 VTES championships
ONE MONTH – THREE NORDIC NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS


By strange coincidence, three Nordic countries held their national championships this month. Let's take a look at the results!


DANISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2018

Final table: Michael (Tzmisce G2 wall) > Morten (Malkavian G3-4 stealth-bleed) > Rudolf (Tremere with obfuscate vote) > Jesper (Nergal Power-bleed) > Nikolaj (Gangrel G4-5 Rush & Block)

Final results: Rudolf 4, Michael 1

Champion: Rudolf Scholz (GER) – congratulations Rudolf!

For winning deck list more information: VEKN.net forum thread


SWEDISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2018

SNC 2018 Final table
Zack to the right, barely visible.

Final table: Randal (AUS midcap gun-wall) > Mathias (!Salubri rush/wall) > Zack (Harbingers Khurshid toolbox) > Erik (Sabbat OBF PRE vote) > Matti (Tremere anarchs with nec stealth-bleed)

Final results: Zack 1.5, Erik 1, Randal 0.5, Mathias 0.5

Champion: Zack Holmgren (SWE) – congratulations Zack!

Special thanks to all travelling players, extra special thanks to our Finland friends that showed up.

For winning deck list and more information: VEKN.net forum thread


FINNISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2018

For this we got some words from one of the organizers, Tero Aalto:

The tournament took place in the same venue as the previous two years: the library in the Center of Espoo, i.e. in the middle of nowhere. Attendance was significantly up from the previous years, a whole 33% from 24 to 32 players. The renewed availability of cards and beginning revival of the game must have had an effect. And in fact, during fall 2018, weekly games in the capital region have also been increasingly popular. Who knows, next year we may be forced to look for a bigger space for the Nationals, but that will be a positive problem.

The tournament was a success in other respects as well. Many players described the games as interesting and even pleasant. My personal experience supports this observation: it's hard to remember another tournament where in each of the three rounds (almost) everybody had the chance to play their own game and even to win the table. The decks were very varied, and generally not very aggressive. Even the trademark Finnish combat-heavy decks were quite few.

Two game wins were required to make it to the final, and only five people did (including one with three), so the cut-off was very clear. From what I saw, the final seemed very close.

FNC 2018 Final table

Final table: Matti (Tremere with nec anarch stealth-bleed) > Marko S (The Unnamed, Xeper & Annazir) > Otso (Girls stealth-bleed) > Juho (Setites with Bima stealth-bleed) > Jyri (Ventrue grinder)

Final results: Otso 1.5, Jyri 1.5, Matti 1

Champion: Otso Saariluoma (FIN) - congratulations Otso!

Otso Saariluoma
For winning deck list and more information, please also read the champion's own tournament report at the VEKN.net forum – a very good read!




BCP logo


BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: NOVEMBER 2018

• In the most recent production update, it was revealed that distributors are getting the Belgium printed Heirs to the Blood bundles and restock of Keepers of Tradition bundles by mid-December. So if you are a player that feels our products are missing from the shelves of your local game store – talk to the manager, and make that person talk to their distributors, who in turn will contact Black Chantry.

Four preconstructed decks are almost done for printing. If everything goes well they will turn up on both Drivethrucards and in stores early in the first quarter of 2019.

Anthology 1, which was revealed last month, is being prepared for printing. Most likely you will be able to get this too in first quarter 2019, both print on demand via Drivethrucards and normal printing in stores.

• The V5-themed boxed set is being designed. Product director Ben Peal and freelance game designer Mike Nudd are in charge, and hopefully the first round of playtesting will begin really soon. There are a number of setting-dependant issues to be cleared which are being discussed with White Wolf at the moment – Ben will talk more about that in an upcoming designers' diary-text.

• Rules director Vincent “Ankha” Ripoll is vetting wording all cards that are to be reprinted and also (in his spare time) rewriting the VTES rulebook. He is always pondering various changes for cards, rules and tournament rules – please check out his threads at the VEKN forum, for example about optimal seating and time limit variants for finals.

Currently five Black Chantry products are available through DriveThruCards.com, and the top three can also be found in 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

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.


CHICAGO BY NIGHT KICKSTARTED AT 296%
1 852 backers pledged $119 039 of av $40 000 goal to help bring Chicago By Night for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition to unlife. By looking at absolutelly FANTASTIC artwork spoiled at the Kickstarter page and the hundreds of pages of preview text files, this setting book is going to be a total blast. Now there will be lots and lots of waiting for the actual book, and hopefully some interesting tie-ins with future Black Chantry VTES products. According to that preview material, at least some of the lower capacity vampires already in VTES are still active in the Chicago area, and maybe also some of the really old ones …

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed


 
CALENDAR
Upcoming events:
December 1: Bleeding is Coming - Alicante, Spain
December 1: Friendly Saturday Tournament II - Bologna, Italy
December 2: VEG 2019 - Bologna, Italy
December 2: Loughman's Fifth Tradition Birthday - Heath, USA
December 8: IV. Round - Pest, Hungary
December 9: Natal na Camarilla - São Paulo, Brazil
December 15: Christmas massacre - Santiago, Chile
December 15: Crónicas del Califa: The Raid, fight for Córdoba - Córdoba, Spain
December 15: Black Forest Base - Hyvinkää, Finland
December 16: Algeciras Silent Death I - Algeciras, Andalucía, Spain December 16: Marató TV3 - Badía del Vallés, Catalunya, Spain

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

"With great power comes great responsibility."