Submission: Assassinate

Name: Assassinate
Cardtype: Combat
Cost: None
Capacity: Not applicable
Discipline: Obfuscate or Obtenebration
Clan: None
Only usable by a vampire that successfully used a minion phase action to enter combat. Play before range is determined during the first round of combat.
[obf] or [obt] The opposing minion cannot strike this round of combat.
[OBF] or [OBT] As above, this vampire may burn a blood for an additional strike or a maneuver during this round of combat.

Flavor text: "Surprise!" - The Spanish Inquisition.

Art Notes: A young vampire driving convertible car. He is framed by the cross hairs of scope mounted from an assault rifle looking down on the target from a tall building.

World of Darkness reference: The surprise round, this is described in virtually every World of Darkness combat rules system. In the case that the defender is not aware of the attacker, the attacker has a significant advantage. Obfuscate and Obtenebration both provide a means to enter combat without an enemy noticing their presence.

How does this card address a compelling game need?: Obfuscate lacks significant combat cards, especially combat oriented vampires with Obfuscate, specifically Nosferatu, Assamite, and Followers of Set. This card provides an advantage to those clans that actively initiate combat with a rush action. The balance of this card is that it can only be played on action initiated by the vampire and not a blocked action. This allows them to overcome cards that end combat with a strike, but doesn't stop combat effects that aren't strikes such as prevent. The important point is that this card is also only playable on the first round of combat and provides an incentive for those clans to actively initiate combat without fear of a powerful hit back effect from an opposing minion's strike. The reason that this card has both Obfuscate and Obtenebration is that the effect should be shared by both disciplines and having the same effect on the same card encourages deck design of mixed decks like Nosferatu Antitribu and Lasombra which share the same sect and Potence cards but are split between Obfuscate and Obtenebration.

Created by: Justin Lacey

Update: July 5th 2017
Here is text from the last update

This card was a real challenge to design but I have say it works really well in testing. A vampire with Obfuscate or Obtenebration that takes a rush action at another minion is really scary and that is a good thing. What I find is if player is using strike combat ends then they really want to block the rush action. So it isn't a silver bullet as some people might think, but it makes intercept (even light intercept) very valuable.

Assassinate

Only usable by a vampire that successfully used a minion phase action to enter combat. Play before range is determined during the first round of combat.
The opposing minion cannot strike this round of combat.
as
as with an optional maneuver.

"Surprise!" - The Spanish Inquisition.

Question: Nothing to do with balance, but as far as the card goes thematically, how would maneuvers work?

"i enter combat with this minion, who is so unprepared to see me doing so that they can't get a strike off"

"so be it, but by minion still decides to run up a ladder and jump a roof to get to long range"

Setting range and disallowing strikes is too powerful for one card imho. Thematically, the acting vampire is setting a trap but setting range can be difficult because unexpected things happen, car blocks viewing requiring the assassin to move closer to strike, random people may making getting close difficult or maybe someone shouts a warning at the last minute, the target doesn't see the attack coming but he runs in a direction that blocks line of sight. The reason that the superior text has a optional maneuver is that a powerful enough vampire might have the ability counter some movement or if the target doesn't move get an extra attack off in the confusion.

Thematically this works. We do have a similar effect in Hidden Lurker, that requires quite a bit of extra set up.

The effect is extremely powerful though. I'd rather tune it a bit from the get go to say the opposing minion can't play strike cards, or something. That way we'd still have the niche for Hidden Lurker, while retaining the intended effect.

I'd be careful with the naming though. Assassinate is something that I'd rather save for another, more cumbersome but effective card effect that does exactly that: assassinate. Furthermore it sounds something Quietus, Black Hand or Samedi should have.

Hidden Lurker is a prime example of this, since the flavor is a bit more obscure.

Obfuscate is one of the better disciplines as it is, and while I understand that it would help both Nosferatu and Assamites (and Samedi), there's the chance that this might be used in more bleedy and votey decks as well to survive damage instead of deal it. Could something be done to get around that?

I'm fine with the manouver issue, as well as the prerange issue with this. Jblacey's reasoning is spot on. Manouver might represent anything from bad positioning to actually running away.

While I'm kind of intriqued by your design choice of having a card use either X or Y, I think you could think about rather using the effect of the inferior as an outferior, while retaining the bigger effect for a selected discipline.

Like here:

the inferior effect
as above
as above, but with an additinal manouver

Like this it would be easier to maintain balance between displines as well, and help with wording.

Just some food for thought.

Krausedit\\ Nevermind about the misuse of the effect in a stealth discipline though! I based the comment on a first read of the card last night, and didn't bother to reread it this morning. My bad!

If it only procs on a successful rush, that's not going to be any issue.

1. Changing the name isn't a problem.
2. Assamite would love to not have wasted points in Obfuscate that they could use on a Contract. It is one of my biggest gripes with Nosferatu and Assamite (and Samedi) rush that Obfuscate is mostly a wasted discipline.
3a. outferiors, that is a valid option.
3b. That might shorten the text.
4. Yes, this card is meant to make rush actions that aren't blocked more threatening.

Name: Assassinate
Cardtype: Combat
Cost: None
Capacity: Not applicable
Discipline: Obfuscate or Obtenebration
Clan: None
Only usable by a vampire that successfully used a minion phase action to enter combat. Play before range is determined during the first round of combat.
The opposing minion cannot strike this round of combat.
as
as with an optional maneuver.

Flavor text: "Surprise!" - The Spanish Inquisition.

Name is easily changeable, that better?