Grafted weapon

Non-existant user wrote:

Because it adds moving parts, costs blood and gives something you don't need. The Tzimisce do not need more damage output in combat: they can already block the rescue attempts. What they lack is combat defense.

This card may not be useful on your stereotypical already existing tzimisce deck, and that's okay. But it open new possibility for tzimisce, enabling to remove a lot more blood per combat and / or to have a permanent damage source.

A tzimisce with a grafted weapon does not need much combat support usually, being it for three being pretty scary already, especially if you get some press.

I does not target this card to existing deck, I created the concept because it's cool, can allow alternative combat strategy, and make existing card (melee weapon) more useful.

Non-existant user wrote:

There could be one way to abuse it with Dagger: if it is ruled that a grafted dagger can be thrown and that it still counts as a hand strike, then one could use Chiroptean for aggravated damage at both close and long range.

Not sure. According to new rule clarifications, aggravated damage that is threated as normal still remains aggravated, so Soak may not be played.
Here may be similar situation: you are allowed to strike with this weapon as if it were a hand strike, but it doesn't become one.

Non-existant user wrote:

There could be one way to abuse it with Dagger: if it is ruled that a grafted dagger can be thrown and that it still counts as a hand strike, then one could use Chiroptean for aggravated damage at both close and long range.

I have not seen that and it is a valid concern. The card need, in addition to the fix highlighted by Ankha, to :
* restrict the "weapon as hand strike" to close range strike

It may also need to protect against destruction by other player and not by everyone. I can see abuse with Baal bloody talon, but it is far too weak to be a concern.

I made a few edits.
Keeping it safe from theft as well as Canine Hordes, Fast Hands, Broken Armament, "steal equipment abilities", etc.
It does allow you to do something like Baal's Bloody Talons or Heidelberg, it just hurts...

Grafted Weapon

While this card is on a melee weapon the melee weapon cannot be destroyed or stolen by cards or effects from other minions. If this weapon is moved or destroyed this vampire takes 2 unpreventable damage. This weapon may be used at any time when a hand-strike can be used.
+1 stealth equip action. Equip a non-unique melee weapon from your hand and put this card on the weapon. This acting vampire can pay the pool cost, incresed by one, with its blood.
As above, but only playable before range is determined in a combat.

In a general sens, making vampire pay 1 blood more than the pool cost is a good idea, and there is already some card implementing this idea.

For melee weapons, it reinforce the fact that they are way too costly. Seriously, even without the problem of equipment hate, all melee weapon could use a 1 pool reduction. I'm not even sure it would be enough.

jAvel wrote:

Not sure. According to new rule clarifications, aggravated damage that is threated as normal still remains aggravated, so Soak may not be played.

That's not new. [LSJ 20040517]

LSJ wrote:

> 4) Can a vampire who has played Skin of Night and taken aggravated
> damage play Soak to prevent it?

No. Soak cannot prevent aggravated damage, regardless of how the
minion will end up treating that unprevented damage.

The point being made in [RTR 2011-12-02] is that this existing ruling applies to the damage handled by the cards that have now been errata-ed. Previously, a few cards could actually change the damage to normal (so Soak would be playable, Rotschreck wouldn't) - but that damage now isn't being actually changed, so follows the existing ruling.