[Submission] Ammo: Blanks (anti-gun Obfuscate)

Sort of inspired from Up Yours! , but gun-specific.

Blanks
Cost: 0
Text: Ammo. Only usable before resolution of a gun's strike. Cancel another ammo card (no cost is paid) or:
[obf] The opposing minions' first gun strike inflicts no damage this round.
[OBF] As above, but for the first three gun strikes this combat.

Game need: There exist a number of ammo cards in VTES - this proposition is effectively an anti-ammo card, and would allow non-Fortitude decks to better stand up to Celerity Gun decks. Also, Obfuscate doesn't have a strong combat presence (limited mostly to outside-combat actions, manoeuvres and combat support such as Disguised weapon ). Thinking about it, this could also protect retainers from being shot at range too. Scaled Obfuscate levels because the basic level represents the chambered round being a blank, the second the clip (simplified VTES reality here...). Clearly the shooter would soon realise they're not firing real bullets, hence why the Obfuscate abilities don't affect all strikes during the whole combat.

Happy Easter btw!

It's a little too corner case. Any card that is anti-card type will see little use.

If you play in a small group, you can anticipate the meta game to include such cards, but in larger scenes (any tournament with more than 1 table) such cards lose value exponentially.

Take a look at all the anti-clan cards.


One thing you can do is give the card an effect that has broader use:

"Displacement"
Combat
Prevent 2 damage from a ranged strike.
Prevent 4 damage from a ranged strike.

This has more use than a strictly anti-gun card while effectively being anti-gun. It's still a little corner case, but you are likely to run into some ranged strikes in any game, whereas you can go several games without seeing more than the occasional gun.
The vampire would be using her Obfuscate to cause the opposing minion to "see double" as opposed to seeing nothing, making ranged attacks less effective.

"Cloud Vision"
Combat.
Cancel an Ammo or Target card as it is played.
A ranged strike played by the opposing minion deals 0 damage.

This effect would be a focused psychic obfuscation. At a key moment, the opposing minion loses track of the obfuscating vampire and misfires her weapon or attack.

Actually I think you hit it on the nose with "Cloud vision", direwolf

direwolf wrote:

"Displacement"
Combat
Prevent 2 damage from a ranged strike.
Prevent 4 damage from a ranged strike.

Potentially interesting, though I'm not sure I fancy damage prevention going to Obfuscate particularly.

direwolf wrote:

"Cloud Vision"
Combat.
Cancel an Ammo or Target card as it is played.
A ranged strike played by the opposing minion deals 0 damage.

Target cards generally only affect the current strike, so a Dodge is just as good. Target Retainer would be a mild exception. Cancelling ammo cards might be mildly interesting, though most of them don't see that much play - and with DBR, you might prefer a Dodge anyhow.

And then the superior might just as well be a dodge, with the added benefit that you can play it against hand strikes and stickmen and things. You can't against IG obviously, or Scorpion Sting (playable, but not a huge mover and shaker) - but you can't play Cloud Vision usefully against those anyway, because they'll be close range strikes.

Basically, Behind You! and disciplineless Dodge feel like they're likely to be better plays. And if you're facing celeritous guns (additional strikes etc.), then No Trace might be the better call.

Direwolf's suggested cards allow the minion with to make a non-dodge strike himself, which makes them better than a dodge in a lot of cases. Target:Vitals is becoming so ubiquitous in our playgroup it might just allow for such an card (even though in another meta-environment it might have turned out to be too cornercase). That it also addresses the boring Joaquin/prince/Anneke-deck + disguised .44 is an added bonus IMO. Idem for all those vanilla-allies playing T:V (Nocturns, Imbued, even Carlton etc etc). Personally, I like Cloud Vision in particular. Simple and effective design yet perhaps it should be restricted to once per combat to prevent cycling redundant copies too easily (otherwise it could also prevent the additional strikes of said wall-deck and perhaps nerf them overly hard all of a sudden).


direwolf wrote:
"Cloud Vision"
Combat.
Cancel an Ammo or Target card as it is played.
A ranged strike played by the opposing minion deals 0 damage.

porphyrion wrote:

Direwolf's suggested cards allow the minion with to make a non-dodge strike himself, which makes them better than a dodge in a lot of cases.

That's true, but then the question is: what is that strike, and what is being used to provide it (clan, discipline etc.)? Because then you may very well have a better option. And you also have to factor in what the other strike is, if the issue is to try to provide defence against guns and ranged strikes.


City !Gangrel (obf/cel/pro) have options including: Leathery Hide, Flesh of Marble, Acrobatics (for dodge+additional), Stutter-Step (if at close range), or just plain old additional strikes. Fast Hands also exists - bear in mind that if you're hoping to capitalize on being able to hit back, you either need your own ranged strike or to have counter-maneuvered. Sideslip is niche but not terrible. Conceal might be a more versatile option - being able to destroy a Ventrue HQ is nice, and the anti-weapon edge to it isn't awful.

Samedi have a barrel load of Fortitude available, which is almost always going to provide a better option. Being able to prevent hand strikes is good!

Nosferatu can stay at close range with Drawing out the Beast, Immortal Grapple you, and punch you to death. A !Nos worried about gun walls could conceivably play Gang Tactics to alleviate the need for Animalism somewhat, which might weenify a deck fractionally better. If they're feeling less feisty, Canine Horde isn't terrible - it's first strike, and it's destroy equipment not weapon, so could conceivably be used to hit a Sport Bike or Cameraphone if guns don't show up. (Yes, obviously, your deck isn't going to be full of 30 Canine Hordes).

Assamites share a lot of tech with the !Gangrel. Silence of Death gives some potentially decent trump combat options - beat aggro-poke by aggro-poking first - and the Assamites may well have the maneuvers to maneuver back. Taste of Death is potentially solid, by sending them to torpor so they can't additional.

The Malkavians or !Malkavians might be interested, but the question is what are they hitting back with? Their own Concealed guns maybe, but not all that much else. They're not, in general, going to be good at maneuvering back to close range - the tech exists in Obfuscate and Auspex to do it, but they're not usually playing loads of it. Swallowed by the Night and Spirit's Touch are probably the best of that sort of thing, maybe. Psychic Assault is potentially interesting to Black Hand vampires and there are a few Black Hand !Malks.

Setites are in a similar position regarding hitback, in that they probably aren't going to be coming back to close range with much regularity, and lack really solid things to be doing if they lack their own guns. They have Presence for lots of S:CE, and if they avoid that for some reason then The Jones may be more versatile. Serpent's Numbing Kiss is potentially a lot stronger for them than hitback, because of the tap-and-don't-untap effect at superior. There is a clutch of vampires with Pot/Ser, but so far no-one's ever really made that work.

Going away from just the clans, Obfuscate Ventrue see a lot of play - but have a lot of Fortitude and Presence on hand, which is typically a lot better and more versatile. Probably not quite so much by way of hitback, though some such decks do play Alastor + Assault Rifle, or similar combinations.


So it's not really feeling like anyone benefits that much from getting this in Obfuscate. The few that might probably do it best via guns - and if the issue is that guns are dull, more guns as a result might not be the result you want.