By now you may have heard the news that the VEKN, the official player organization for VTES, is going to publish a PDF-format card set in 2012. We would like to give you some background information and a general overview of what you can expect.

We recognize that there may be some concerns over the development of a VEKN set. One of our key motivations is to help preserve the value of the VTES intellectual property in hopes that a future company will eventually pick up the game again. This includes keeping players interested and excited about VTES as well as providing a solid base of new card content for future license holders to publish in a physical format. Our hope is that this is a temporary measure which will sustain the game and its player base until VTES leaves torpor once again.

The VEKN Design Team was assembled according to suggestions and feedback from the Inner Circle and National Coordinators. The members are enthusiastic players who are long-standing members of the VTES community and have previously contributed to the game in one form or another. Some have served in an official capacity within the VEKN while others have been past playtesters for VTES sets. There is a good balance in the team between canon knowledge, interests of the casual player and concerns of competitive tournament players.

The biggest change to our process compared with that of the WW/CCP era is that the design process is separated from the rules team (though the rules director is still providing feedback on the design process). Also, the design team now consists of more than just one person. This collective design arrangement has the positive result in that card proposals and mechanics are discussed and fine-tuned in often excruciating detail. The downside, however, is that the process itself takes a bit longer.

The design team strove to achieve several goals for the set. Among them, and not necessarily in any order of priority:

1. Preserving game balance and card balance.
2. Adhering to World of Darkness canon for crypt and library cards
3. Creating cards which enable portions of the game which are lacking or underdeveloped. (We are not making "hosers.")
4. Developing high-caliber cards which can be feasible in tournaments and fun in casual games.

The new set does not yet have a name. It will consist of over 30 cards, all of which will have original artwork. It is no big secret that the traditional Sabbat clans lack Group 5 crypt cards, so these will comprise a large portion of the set. We hope this will provide more options for viable Sabbat G4/5 crypts and additional synergy with G5/6 Bloodlines. The new G4/5 vampires are intended to work well with those previously established in G4, and we hope that G4/5 plays to different strengths and weaknesses than G2/3.

In addition to the new vampires, the Design Team focused on three other main themes. Stay tuned for more information on those in a future update.

Playtesting will hopefully start with the beginning of the new year. To keep things as professional as possible, we will emulate the process used by WW/CCP in the past. Playtesting will not be open, but there is a public application process and anyone who wishes to apply will be considered for participation. We intend for there to be substantial communication between the designers and the playtesters to create the best possible end product. There will also be a special discussion forum for playtesters to discuss issues amongst themselves.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We sincerely hope that you will enjoy the resulting set in 2012 and appreciate the efforts of your volunteer VTES community.


Regards,
The VEKN Design Team