Card Idea: Shrouds of the Polis

Name: Shrouds of the Polis
Cardtype: /
Cost: 1 blood
+1 Stealth.

Damage from this vampire’s hand strikes is aggravated until the end of the current round.

As above, with an optional Strike: Dodge.

Game development:
- Increase the viability of the City !Gangrel through leverage of their clan disciplines.

Flavor:
- Obfuscate & Protean are eminently stealth/evasion disciplines. Mixing both these flavors in a single card and adding pro's aggro damage on top seems a good efficient fit for a card that represents urban predators.

Balance:
- After Ankha's keystone kine inspired design (that you should check out if you haven't already), that I claimed didn't save enough slots to really aid the City !Gangrel in a significant way, I tried to come up with a card flexible enough to save some serious slots while not going out of the disciplines' theme. The best design I know of that genre would have to be Swallowed by the Night since combat decks are usually hurting for stealth. The rest was simply combining the trademark agg-hands with defensive capability.

- The card seems well balanced on account of all effects being well costed: +1 stealth for 1 blood is sub-par, 1 blood for agg-hands is standard, 1 blood for a dodge is sub-par, the versatility (and Path of the Feral Heart) of the card is what makes it worth it.

- Note that the superior version gives an optional dodge _in addition_ to aggravating the hand damage, the better to synergize with CEL additional strikes.

- I made the card a primarily OBF card to have the third tier provide a useful effect and to increase the number of minions that can play it at superior.

- I didn't want this card to be outright superior to any given existing card. I believe that goal was achieved.

Competitiveness:
- High. If a City !Gangrel deck manages to slot this in lieu of the usual complement of Claws it will see its stealth package go up in a significant way and the high-caps will be better protected in combat. Not bad, for a combat card.


Drain

I like two first ablities but I feel final one could use some punch and more aggression. City gangrel don't need defensive abilities a lot, form of mist and earth meld are already excellent. Maybe ability like: As above, and if this minion was blocked and opposing minion is not ready anymore action continues as unblocked.

Surreal wrote:

I like two first ablities but I feel final one could use some punch and more aggression. City gangrel don't need defensive abilities a lot, form of mist and earth meld are already excellent. Maybe ability like: As above, and if this minion was blocked and opposing minion is not ready anymore action continues as unblocked.

Sounds more like celerity card than one. And i don't think it should be limited to just .

The problem with the city gangrel is PAYLOAD. What are they going to do with yet another stealth/combat card?

Surreal wrote:

I like two first ablities but I feel final one could use some punch and more aggression. City gangrel don't need defensive abilities a lot, form of mist and earth meld are already excellent. Maybe ability like: As above, and if this minion was blocked and opposing minion is not ready anymore action continues as unblocked.

Ironically what you suggest is also already covered by Form of Mist. I'm not sure I agree that !Gangrel don't need defensive abilities... they are tipically good at aggro-poke but cannot really deal with allies like Shamblers, War Ghouls or Nephandus other than avoiding them. This card is a one-stop for both of these tactics: aggro-poke for the vampires, dodge for the allies or other threats.

Dorrinal wrote:

The problem with the city gangrel is PAYLOAD. What are they going to do with yet another stealth/combat card?

Well, for starters they are going to save slots. Then they are going to gain in flexibility. Also, why complain here about this card's lack of payload when I've posted an Obf-Pro payload card in another thread at the same time?


Drain

Drain wrote:

Ironically what you suggest is also already covered by Form of Mist. I'm not sure I agree that !Gangrel don't need defensive abilities... they are tipically good at aggro-poke but cannot really deal with allies like Shamblers, War Ghouls or Nephandus other than avoiding them. This card is a one-stop for both of these tactics: aggro-poke for the vampires, dodge for the allies or other threats.

It can be different metagame. I haven't ever seen good rush aggra-poke deck and see rush aggra-poke decks very rarely (usually aggra-pokeish decks I see is with intercept and some votes like Tzimisce/Akunanse). City gangrel combat I see is with CEL and sticks or guns with some aggra included. Simple pursuit + stick manages allies very well.