Submission: Animal Sacrifice

Name: Animal Sacrifice
Cardtype: Action
Cost: 1
Capacity: n/a
Discipline:
Clan: n/a
Text:
+1 stealth hunt
You may burn an attached animal retainer to pay the cost of this card.
Add 3 to another vampire you control (4 if Nosferatu or Nosferatu antitribu ).
As above, but add the to uncontrolled vampire in your crypt instead.

Artwork: A pile of dead rodents bleeding into a cauldron.

Question: Why?
Answer: Blood and Pool management is a real issue with Nosferatu and Noferatu Anti because they are heavily dependent on combat. They don't have a passive bleed defense and their bloat options are limited. Combat is generally dependent on Taste of Vitae to replenish. Nosferatu hunt deck is something I didn't want to discourage so I specifically made the card a "hunt" action. I was looking at Rave, Fifth Tradition and Zillah's Valley for inspiration. In particular both Nosferatu and Nosferatu Anti need a way to get their larger vampires out quicker.

Update: Aug 4th

Animal Sacrifice

1
+1 stealth
You may burn a life from an attached animal retainer to pay the cost of this card.
Add 3 to another ready vampire (4 if Nosferatu or Nosferatu antitribu ).
As above, but add the blood to an uncontrolled vampire instead.

Notes: Burning life from an animal retainer, increases the efficiency of this card text and provides a reason to use animal retainers with more life beyond combat defense. Also removed unnecessary card text like "hunt" and references to the owner's vampires. If the acting minion wants to use an action to add blood to another vampire... that is completely fine.

jblacey wrote:

+1 stealth hunt

I would caution against doing this (making it a hunt action), when the recipient of the blood is someone else. It causes a bunch of potential weirdnesses for cards that are based on the recipient being the acting vampire e.g. Aaron's Feeding Razor: "When this vampire successfully hunts, he or she gains 1 additional blood." And the superior probably shouldn't be a hunt action.

Also, thematically, it's quite weird that I'm forced to hunt by being on zero blood (normal game rules), but my hunt action can be to squeeze a crow into someone else's mouth.

jblacey wrote:

You may burn an attached animal retainer to pay the cost of this card.
Add 3 to another vampire you control (4 if Nosferatu or Nosferatu antitribu ).
As above, but add the to uncontrolled vampire in your crypt instead.

I'm somewhat unconvinced that the "burn a retainer" option is that great.

a) Secret Library suggests that there are 11 animal retainers. 8 cost blood, 1 costs pool (Dog Pack), one is free but requires Laibon and is weird (Ilomba), leaving only Owl Companion for free. Which most people don't play in large quantities, because it's not that great. So much of the time, you're going to be 1 blood down on this vampire anyhow.

b) Getting the retainer into play first. Pack Alpha can get it into play without an action, but hits similar issues to Concealed Weapon and equipment (needing quite a lot of both in many situations). Nosferatu Bestial can get them into play without actions, but doesn't have Potence to take the action. (And it can take hunt actions, although I'd still prefer it wasn't a hunt action.) Zhenga can get loads, but doesn't have useful disciplines for a Nos deck.


So do you find yourself in a situation where you take an action to recruit a Raven Spy (or some other retainer people play a bit), lose 1 blood, then take a second action to get 3 or 4 blood onto someone else, for a total profit of 2 or 3 blood. Even if you assume the retainer was Owl Companion - so total profit 3 or 4 blood - would you just be better off having two vampires stuff rats into each others' mouths? Action one, -1 blood, but get 3 or 4 blood. Action two, -1 blood, but get 3 or 4 blood. Total profit, 4-6 blood from two actions, with no retainers needed.


Technical nitpick: vampires in your uncontrolled region aren't in your crypt.

jamesatzephyr wrote:

jblacey wrote:

+1 stealth hunt

I would caution against doing this (making it a hunt action), when the recipient of the blood is someone else. It causes a bunch of potential weirdnesses for cards that are based on the recipient being the acting vampire e.g. Aaron's Feeding Razor: "When this vampire successfully hunts, he or she gains 1 additional blood." And the superior probably shouldn't be a hunt action.

I agree. This card looks good, but it doesn't need to be a hunt action. That will most likely only create complications when interacting with other cards and serves no useful purpose.

Yeah, I agree. The card is still a work in progress but the mechanic to get blood back on vampires and for crypt acceleration feels critical to me. It is exactly what Nosferatu/Nosferatu Anti need. In addition, I have been playing around with a deck using Nana that this card works very well with. Everything else is unnecessary to me. The hunt mechanic over complicates a card that doesn't need it. Going to try to rewrite the card and update soon.

Animal Sacrifice

1
+1 stealth
You may burn a life from an attached animal retainer to pay the cost of this card.
Add 3 to another ready vampire (4 if Nosferatu or Nosferatu antitribu ).
As above, but add the blood to an uncontrolled vampire instead.