More political actions like Dramatic Upheaval?

Could we get some more cards such as those?

It bothers me that so many of the Political Actions are basically wall-paper or uninspired, weak pool burn cards.

Here is a quick breakdown:

There are 167 Political Actions.

23 Crusade Cards.
26 Praxis Seizure.
7 Justicar Cards.
4 Acceptance Cards, Ravnos, Setite, Giovanni, Assamite (Revocation of Tyre)
~11 Other Title Cards. Alastor, Archon, Cardinal Benediction, Hierophant, Imperator, Investiture (Priscus), Overseer, Persona Non Grata, Sabbat Inquisitor, Seraph, Templar.
4 Lose Title Cards. Command of the Harpies. Excommunication. Patsy. Wrath of the Inner Council.
24+ Burn Pool Cards.
13 Gain Pool Cards. Some of these overlap with the Pool Burn cards.
1 Banishment.

That's ~75 cards that just mess with vampire titles. Of the 24 pool burn cards, the two that really matter are Kine Resources Contested and Parity Shift. Ancient Influence, Reins of Power, Ancilla Empowerment & Anarchist Uprising (which are functionally the same card???), Reckless Agitation & Conservative Agitation, all get an honorable mention, but they're all competing with KRC and Parity Shift.

Of the ~100 Political Cards I listed, only a few seem to promote (in my opinion) the kind of political gameplay VTES wants / needs.

Dramatic Upheaval, Reversal of Fortunes, Year of Fortunes, Kindred Restructure, Political Flux, Disputed Territory, Brinksmanship, Rumors of Gehenna, Ancient Influence, Reins of Power, Banishment.

I am thoroughly flummoxed that Red List was not a Political Action card. Very strange design choice. And I understand that cards like Dramatic Upheaval were banned because tournament time-limits, but cards like that would make casual games very fun and interesting.

There is also only one Political Action card that I'm aware of that plays with contesting: Praxis Solomon. More cards which alter the way in which cards are contested would be very cool IMO. Here is an example:

Behind Closed Doors
Political Action
Successful referendum means this card is put into play. While this card is in play, instead of paying the cost to contest a card, each Methuselah contesting a card or title with another Methuselah secretly bids an amount of pool. The highest bidder burns that much pool and the contesting Methuselah yields that title or card. (In case of a tie, the card remains contested.) Any vampire may call a referendum to burn this card as a +1 stealth action.

Other cards to mix up table politics:

The Tides Turn
Political Action
Successful referendum means each Methuselah’s prey becomes the person to their right. (The person to each player’s left is now their predator.)

What Tangled Webs...
Political Action
Successful referendum means this card is put into play. If a Methuselah’s predator would be ousted, he or she gains the victory point instead of that Methuselah’s predator. Any vampire may call a referendum to burn this card as a +1 stealth action.

The Price We Pay
Political Action
Successful referendum means this card is put into play. The first time each turn that a Methuselah plays plays a card to grant stealth to a vampire, he or she must burn 1 pool or lock that acting vampire. Any Methuselah may burn 2 pool as a Master Phase Action to burn this card.

IDK, just some thoughts. I look through the list of Political Actions and they just seem very uninspired and, quite frankly, boring.

I am sure you all think I'm crazy.

LivesByProxy wrote:

Could we get some more cards such as those?
...
I am sure you all think I'm crazy

In order: please no, yes.

LivesByProxy wrote:

I am thoroughly flummoxed that Red List was not a Political Action card.

Trumped-Up Charges
Political Action
Requires a titled non-Red List vampire.
Choose a ready non-Red List minion. If this referendum succeeds, put this card on that minion. This minion is now Red List. In this referendum, the chosen minion's controller gets 2 additional votes for every Red List minion in play. Any titled vampire may call a referendum to burn this card as a +1 stealth political action. Burn this card if the minion is no longer Red List.

LivesByProxy wrote:

Successful referendum means this card is put into play. While this card is in play, instead of paying the cost to contest a card, each Methuselah contesting a card or title with another Methuselah secretly bids an amount of pool. The highest bidder burns that much pool and the contesting Methuselah yields that title or card. (In case of a tie, the card remains contested.) Any vampire may call a referendum to burn this card as a +1 stealth action.

Contesting happens sufficiently rarely that playing this is largely random. So people wouldn't generally choose to play it, except in rare situations.

LivesByProxy wrote:

Successful referendum means each Methuselah’s prey becomes the person to their right. (The person to each player’s left is now their predator.)

This is terrible for the same reason that Dramatic Upheaval is terrible - one player, through absolutely no fault of their own, gets to have two predators smacking them at once, with the second predator ready to swoop in with Dramatic Upheaval.

This isn't 'mixing up table politics', it is 'making one player's life hell, at random'. This is bad for the game, just as it was bad for the game when Dramatic Upheaval saw regular play.

LivesByProxy wrote:

Successful referendum means this card is put into play. If a Methuselah’s predator would be ousted, he or she gains the victory point instead of that Methuselah’s predator. Any vampire may call a referendum to burn this card as a +1 stealth action.

Again, this makes another player's life hell, at random, because their predator is trying to oust them, and their prey is trying to oust them, and then plays this just before they do. This is bad for the same reason that Dramatic Upheaval is bad.

LivesByProxy wrote:

Successful referendum means this card is put into play. The first time each turn that a Methuselah plays plays a card to grant stealth to a vampire, he or she must burn 1 pool or lock that acting vampire. Any Methuselah may burn 2 pool as a Master Phase Action to burn this card.

So, I start an action, locking the vampire. Then I play Lost in Crowds and... lock the vampire who is already locked, so that's fine.

LivesByProxy wrote:

I am sure you all think I'm crazy.

Suggesting cards that reintroduce V:TES's mistakes that have since been addressed, without explaining how and why you are avoiding those mistakes (and taking no steps to address those mistakes), is crazy, yes.

There are potentially issues that politics can be a bit stale. But reintroducing mechanics that hurt V:TES is bad.

So, on what James is saying:

Cards that do interesting and relevant things that are also playable are potentially good ideas, but reiterating junk makes junk and reiterating mistakes are mistakes.

The design space exists for all sorts of Interesting political actions that are solid. The last one that comes to mind would be Lily Prelude, where you have a Discipline based vote, so DoC are the only ones who can do it, but they have access to presence as well, and aren't printed with titles often, so the Anarch route is all I've typically seen tried with it. But its not a bad card.
Political actions are tricky to design well because they are unplayable or too playable easily based upon what has access to them.
Finding relevant territory is key though.