Carmen Cornet 01
Art by Carmen Cornet from the upcoming set of preconstructed decks.


Greetings fellow Methuselahs
After months of horribly sunny weather, many of us now enjoy cozy, rainy dark autumn, well suited for shutting yourself in your crypt by a table with your favorite friends … enemies … frienemies? Oh, how I love to host them … socialize with them … manipulate them … dominate them!



VEKN on Facebook

VEKN IS NOW OFFICIALLY ON FACEBOOK
An official VEKN Facebook group has been created: “Vampire: Elder Kindred Network”. Here you can, under your own name, discuss anything that you previously used to discuss on the VEKN.net forum. The old forum will continue as normal – this will just be an alternative way to talk about our favorite game.

The guidelines for posting are in most ways the same as for the VEKN.net forum (plus any general Facebook rules). Please, read those rules in the top announcement before posting.

Also, as there won´t be any subsections, please remember to add a post topic and/or start your post with concrete subject, for example “Rules question:”, “New card idea:” or “Tournament announcement Mexico City:”.


 BCP logo

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: SEPTEMBER 2018

•  A set of preconstructed decks have been playtested by many groups, coordinated by Darby Keeney. Rules Director Vincent Ripoll is now struggling with playtest feedback on template issues to make all future cards worded in the best possible way. Artwork for the new cards in these decks is complete – one of the pieces can be seen at the top of this newsletter, by Carmen Cornet. Isn´t it fantastic?!

Pallets
Almost 1 000 kilograms of VTES cards were finally delivered from the print shop in Belgium. They are to be sent out to our first non-US distributors, and from there to stores and customers. This first batch is Lost Kindred and the two Keepers of Tradition reprint bundles, but more products will be made available this way gradually.

At the same time as new VTES cards will be available in other stores, you can still order print-on-demand cards from DriveThruCards.com. Current products are:
-
Lost Kindred bundle
- Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 1
- Keepers of Tradition Reprint Bundle 2
- Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 1
- Heirs of the Blood Reprint Bundle 2

Spiel •  Black Chantry will appear at Spiel ´18 in Essen, Germany on October 25-28. Spiel is the world’s biggest consumer fair for gaming, with 80 000 square meters of exhibition space, over 1 100 exhibitors and an expected 180 000 visitors. Please drop by the booth next to White Wolf, and please direct your curious friends to a demo game of VTES!

October surprise

A very special surprise product will appear early in October. Watch out for that announcement!


Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company
by e-mail, Facebook or Twitter.

 



 

LackeyCCG
Example of a heads-up play in Lackey with Toreador AAA vs Euro Brujah.


VTES ONLINE ON LACKEY – HOW DOES IT WORK?
People say VTES can´t be played online. Igor and Martin do not agree! They are two of the organizers behind VTES on LackeyCCG, the application for playing almost any collectible card game online. We had the opportunity to ask them some questions.

Who are you guys?

Igor: Hello, my name is Igor Beslin. I am a VTES and chess player from Serbia. I play chess for team Bezdan. In the last 11 years I attended every International Championship of Vojvodina. In my free time, I also like to watch football. My favorite team is Red Star from Belgrad. In the last couple years I also organized five VTES online tournaments on LackeyCCG.

Martin: Hi, my name is Martin Weinmayer. I am a VTES player from Austria. In my free time I love traveling the globe to compete in VTES tournaments. Other hobbies include computer games (mmorpg, moba, strategy), board games, pen & paper rpgs and all kind of sports. I have been leading a competitive World of Warcraft guild for 3 years, so I am familiar with building and maintaining an online community.

What is Lackey?

Martin: LackeyCCG is a tool for playing any type of card game online (or offline in solitaire mode). It is also a great tool for building and designing decks. You basically meet in a gaming lobby where you can chat and set up games with fellow players. The server is maintained by an American named Trevor, who is usually around in social media if we need help. The plugin used to play VTES on Lackey is maintained by Fernando Cesar, a Brasilian VTES player. Eternal thanks to both of them.

Igor: For me Lackey is a good place for fun. There I test my deck strategy, play with friends, talking and laughing. Since I don´t have a playgroup in my near vicinity, it is currently my only place to enjoy and play VTES. Some day I hope I can attend the European Championship and test my skills acquired in online play.

When did you start playing online? Who introduced you to Lackey?

Igor: I started to play VTES in August 2011, and on Lackey in December 2011. The player who taught me to play VTES introduced me to Lackey. Our first idea was to test our decks for real life play. At that time my English was not very good, and that´s why I very rarely played online. Unfortunately I lost my playgroup shortly afterwards, and then I focused to play VTES on Lackey.

Martin: It started for me when I met Bram van Stappen and Martin Schumacher at the Belgium GP earlier this year. I always felt that Bram and Martin, despite being great players, had a certain advantage because their decks are really well designed. I was curious to what part LackeyCCG played in all of this. It didn´t take me long to see the huge potential for VTES in online play, and ... here I am :-)

Can anyone play VTES on Lackey? What do you need?

Igor: First you need an internet connection. (Editors note: Currently Lackey run over Windows, MAC, iPad and Linux with emulator. No Android support yet). It is also important that you like VTES and have some free time to play.

Martin: Anyone can play, yes. If you are already a VTES player in real life, it takes me about 15 minutes to explain to you all the online mechanics used to play. It is surprisingly similar to real life games. It is also a good place for new players to explore and learn VTES at their own pace. You can play training games (solitaire mode even), work on your deck, or find other new players to explore the game together.

What are the main differences between playing on Lackey and playing the physical game?

Igor: I played real life VTES only as a beginner, and I also played with beginners, so I probably cannot get you the best answer. But the obvious differences are: you play the game on PC, not with cards. You don´t talk, you write messages, although the group playing with the voice-software Discord is growing each week. If you want to play VTES you do not need to travel, you can find online players and play with them.

Martin: The best thing about playing online is being able to connect to the entire VTES world and play games outside of your own continent’s meta. The experience you get is invaluable. You also have more freedom to experiment with deck ideas for real life tournaments, when you are not limited by organizing your physical cards. Another difference with online play is that you can have a game in your underwear while eating pizza if you feel like it :-)

How do VTES tournaments on Lackey work?

Igor: I organized five tournaments via Lackey until now. People choose their schedules (days and hours), and based on those schedules I made a calendar and tables for the games. Some of the tournaments took more than a month to finish, but the last one was finished in 8 days. We are planning our next online tournament to be a 1 day worldwide event coming this late October.

Martin: Currently we are organizing an Online World Championship. Games are played in a league once every Monday, from the 3rd of September until the 3rd of December. This is a total of 14 games, and you need 6 games to get a final ranking. There is still time to join! Players can choose to play in either the American League (7 pm PDT) or the European League (9 pm CEST). 50 players have participated in this first Online World Championship already. At the end of the league stage the best players from both leagues will fight for the Online World Champion title. The World Final will be played and streamed live on TwitchTV on the 15th of December.

How can Lackey help supporting the game?

Igor: Since I lost my playgroup, Lackey is the only way for me playing VTES. I hope that I will find a playgroup someday, and go to real life tournaments.

Martin: The community needs people playing the game, and there are lot of reasons why people stopped playing. Maybe they lost their playgroup like Igor, or they don´t fit into their playgroup, or they just don´t enjoy playing with those same people anymore, or they simply don´t find enough time to meet up in real life regularly. Online play can help with all of that, connect you to a wide range of players throughout the world and lets you keep playing the game. Because it’s so easily accessible, Lackey encourages you to experiment with new decks, and then buy or trade the cards needed to play.

Lackey players at EC 2018
A gathering of Lackey players at EC 2018 in Warsaw: Marius, Martin S, Bram, Martin W (interviewed) and Serge.

Are any deck type better or worse to play on Lackey?

Igor: I think vote decks have the best results. But I’m not 100 % sure, if you want to be sure, you can join in online games and test it ;)

Martin: I played almost all my tournament decks on Lackey with same results as in real life. So no, I don´t think any deck type is better or worse online.

If I want to start playing now, where do I go?

Igor: Turn on your PC, install LackeyCCG from www.lackeyccg.com and the VTES plugin from www.lackeyccg.com/vtes and have fun! We also have a League Webpage hosted by Kai Kimmerle for rankings and statistics: www.vtes-hook.com/liga/liga_liste.php

Martin: My first place to visit would be our group "VTES LackeyCCG" on Facebook. We also have Skype or Discord channels set up for connecting the players. You can also contact one of the admins for LackeyCCG:

Organizers American League:
Karl Schaefer () Lackey name: kschaefer
Mark Jasper () Lackey name: mjvtes
Adam Hulse () Lackey name: Erewego

Organizers European League:
Igor Beslin () Lackey name: Beslin Igor
Martin Weinmayer () Lackey name: angrynewb

Thanks for the answers guys. See you in hackerspace!


Rules questions EC 2018

RULES QUESTIONS FROM EC 2018
Here is a list of questions asked during Days 1 and 2 of the EC (and Polish NC), answered and compiled by the Head Judge Pascal Bertrand.

Ingrid Rossler - can I use the extra transfers immediately?
No.

I play a Torn Signpost. I play an Increased Strength. I handstrike. Why is it not for 5?
Because handstrike is not a strike requiring Potence.

Kindred Spirits cancelled by Veil of Darkness. Am I locked, and can I play it again?
No, and yes (like a DI).

Sascha Vykos’ controller plays a Wash on a Master. Can he draw before playing the Wash?
No. First goes Wash, then the opportunity to draw.

Malkavian Dementia: the stolen vampire is locked. Do you return them locked or unlocked?
Locked.

An imbued with React with Conviction is trying to cancel Xeper’s ability. What happens next?
Xeper is unlocked, and can do the same action again.

Who controls the Art’s Traumatic Essence?
It is a minion card, so the controller of the minion it is attached to.

Can I play multiple Spying Missions against the same Methuselah?
Yes. You play it before resolution, and the burning happens at resolution.

I played Forced Awakening, and they play Tangle Atropo’s Hand. Do I burn blood?
Yes.

Can I change the terms of a “discussed Banishment” after playing the card?
Yes. There are no terms before the resolution.

Can I stick to a deal if I have a GW?
Yes.

I have drawn for Uncoiling 2 turns ago. What should I do?
We removed a Dreams and didn’t fix anything else.

A contested imbued comes back during the unlock. Can he get a conviction (normal unlock conviction)?
Yes.

If they yield their title, do I get mine back immediately?
No, wait until your next unlock phase.

Two players left. Can we deal 3-2 if one player has 3 VPs already?
Yes.

If I hunt then play Change of Target, can I hunt again?
No.

I contest Unmada. Do I get momentarily +1 hand size?
No.

I Dodge against Flash Grenade. What happens?
You’re OK: Flash Grenade has no effect on the dodging minion.

Nephandus in combat with minion with Murder of Crows, what happens?
Nephandus takes unaltered damage from Murder of Crows (not opposing minion).

Opposing minion plays Serpent’s Numbing Kiss, I play Bond with the Mountain. Is my vampire locked or unlocked?
Locked.

In combat, I get hit by Flash Grenade. Can I play Cats’ Guidance?
Yes. End combat first, and then, at the end of the action, play Cats’ Guidance. You would be unlocked.

My grand predator is bleeding me for 2 and has a Spying Mission against me. Can I play Archon Investigation on him at some point?
No. AI is played before resolution, whilst Spying Mission burns at resolution.

If I play basic Majesty against Flash Grenade, do I get locked?
Yes.

He played Tangle Atropo’s Hand on a Govern the Unaligned. Why can he do it again?
Because it never reached resolution.

It’s my minion phase, but I forgot to take the Edge. Can I gain 1 pool from it?
No.

Dark Influences is in play. I play Delaying Tactics on a Parity Shift. Is my Delaying Tactics cancelled?
No. It isn’t a card that cancels a card.

I bleed. My prey doesn’t block, so I play Conditioning. My grand prey wants to Eagle’s Sight.
You should ask other players if they want to block after your prey declines.

Can I play superior Indomitability for a press when there is no damage to prevent?
Sure.

I play Concealed Weapon and Flash Grenade. But they DI the Concealed Weapon. Where should my Flash Grenade (that was in play) be?
Flash Grenade should not be in play. It remains in the hand until Concealed Weapon reaches resolution.

I am ousted, but I previously played a Dark Influences. Where does it go?
You control the card, so it is removed from the game.

I replaced a card without checking for Veil of Darkness. What should we do?
[Judge picked a random card from the deck and showed the rest of the players another card of that kind from the hand.]

I forgot to do stuff for Constant Resolution (1 counter) when I was at 1 pool on my turn.
[Judge discarded a random card.]

Can we get extra time because we called the Judge 3 times?
No. Judge grants time, not players.

Do I get to see the replacement card after using Le Dinh Tho’s ability?
No.

4-life Shambling Hordes declares a hand strike against Lucian the Perfect. What is the amount of damage the Hordes inflicts?
4.

Ashur Tablets: Do I announce which cards I want to get back when I play the third one?
No. The effect is to put them in play. What they do there is irrelevant.

Pentweret tries to steal an Imbued with his strike. The Imbued uses React with Conviction. Can Pentweret do it again?
Yes.

Can I steal an Imbued with just one corruption card that adds corruption counters?
No, you need to match cost, which is the number in the green circle.

Can I play a Telepathic Misdirection with the minion whose Telepathic Misdirection just got cancelled by Hide the Mind?
No.

Are Stone Dog and Razor Bat animals?
No.

I play Terra Incognita on a Telepathic Misdirection. Can they block?
No. The Telepathic Misdirection is cancelled, but they have already declined blocks.

My prey has 1 pool. I have Lutz and call a KRC. I put 1 on my prey, and 3 on my grand prey. Who burns 1 pool from Lutz’s ability?
Lutz’s ability triggers after the referendum, so after the prey burn 1 pool (and got ousted) and the grand prey burned 3 pool.

Can I play Villein on an empty vampire?
Yes.

Can I play superior Resilience to prevent damage from both Carrion Crows and Aid from Bats?
Yes.

Can I play Hidden Strength for a press if there are no damage to prevent?
No.

Can I bring Emerald Legionnaires in play from my ash heap if I don’t control any?
No. You need at least one.

Can I play Delaying Tactics before terms are set?
No.

Does Alexandra’s ability work in torpor?
Yes.

Can I play Sense the Savage Way + Eagle’s Sight to cross-table block?
No. Sense the Savage Way is a block attempt declaration, so you can’t play it to cross-table block.

Can I use Psyche! against Unleash Hell’s Fury ?
No. You’re not in combat with it.

Can Nephandus gain more than its starting life after burning people in torpor?
Yes. Allies don’t have a maximum life.

Toreador Grand Ball’s locked vampire is burned, does the other one remain unblockable?
Yes :)

 If I Touch of Clarity a Govern the Unaligned, can they play Govern the Unaligned again?
Yes.

Dragos plays superior Chiropteran Marauder, does he burn any blood?
Yes, 1 to Chiropteran Marauder’s cardtext.

I heard my predator say “No block”, but then grand predator said “why don’t you block, I won’t rush you”, and the other players didn’t hear the “no”
[Judge’s discretion.]

I get a Rowan Ring with Horrid Reality; does it get shuffled back in my deck afterwards?
Yes.

If I’m acting, can I play Target Vitals after the opposing minion declared their strike?
No.

If I bleed and they play Deflection and I play Touch of Clarity, can the same minion play Deflection?
No.

Is gaining 2 from the Rack mandatory?
Yes (currently by card text).

We are in my influence phase, but we realize I played an I Am Legion to cancel a Telepathic Misdirection while Dark Influences was in play, and then I played Enkil Cog. How do we fix this?
[Judge burned the Dark Influences, un-cancelled the Telepathic Misdirection, tried not to penalize too much on the increased hand, and moved Enkil Cog back to hand, and resolved the action.]

Can I play Will-o'-the-Wisp when no one declares blocks?
Yes.

My predator play Enchant Kindred to bleed me, can I play On the Qui Vive + Touch of Clarity? If they do, can I do it again?
Yes, and yes.

A player didn’t pay for the contest for several turns, and now we are in his minion phase and he didn’t pay. What do we do?
[I gave the player a warning for not paying for contested cards.]

Can I play Toreador Justicar and chose another vampire than the acting?
Yes.

Can Jerry’s ability be used when he is in torpor?
Yes.

A vampire with a contested Pentex Subversion is banished. Does the other Pentex come back?
Yes, during the unlock phase of the controller of the other Pentex.

My grand predator is bleeding for one, deflected to me. I have 3 pool. I play On the Qui Vive and My Enemy’s Enemy (which is illegal per cardtext) to deflect back to my predator.
[Judge decision: the block window is closed, take My Enemy’s Enemy back in hand.]

If my opponent in a duel withdraws, how many VPs do I get?
One.

Two players want to Life Boon the same player, what happens?
The clockwise order prevails when it comes to who gets to play a card first in this situation.

If I attempt to burn Smiling Jack and get blocked, and unlock, can the same minion do it again?
No.

I announced a diablerie on my prey, but then my prey convinced me not to do it. Can I rollback?
No (but the prey can block).

Can I play intercept cards when I’m not attempting to block?
No.

A Telepathic Misdirection is cancelled with Direct Intervention, can the same minion play another Telepathic Misdirection?
No.

Delilah invited Alexandra to the Toreador Grand Ball. However, Alexandra got afraid of Mekhet. And burned. Is Delilah locked forever?
She doesn’t unlock as normal, because Toreador Grand Ball is still there.

I think I didn’t take the pool from my Ashur’s Tablets, 10 minutes ago.
Too bad.

Can I On the Qui Vive + Touch of Clarity an action card?
Yes.

Can I play Eagle’s Sight to attempt to block even though I don’t have any intercept?
Yes.

Can I use my Warsaw Station to save my vampire from Vulnerability?
No.

I play Mind Numb on Anson. Does it burn during my unlock phase or their unlock phase?
Theirs.

Can I burn a Blood Doll from a vampire in the uncontrolled region (moved there by Banishment) with a Vessel?
No, the Blood Doll is not in play.

Would I be allowed to transfer out at the end of my next turn?
[Judge’s discretion.]

Feel to discuss one of these rulings? Use the VEKN.net forum or the brand new VEKN Facebook group!
 


LA by Night
V5 NOW IN STORES – AND IT´S A HIT!

The latest edition of VTES “mother game” Vampire: The Masquerade has been in stores for about a month, at it seems to be a great success. Old fans like it, new fans like it, even game reviewers like it. And White Wolf has a lot of stuff going on to promote the game. For example, check out the Los Angeles by Night campaign played on Geek and Sundrys Twitch-channel, with WW´s own Jason Carl as Storyteller.


CALENDAR
Upcoming events:
October 6: Elysium Reus IV - Reus, Spain
October 6: Torneo Estaliano Octubre 2018 - Córdoba, Spain
October 7: Make vampires great again: drain the crowd! - Utrecht, Netherlands
October 7: Children of Stone: Moss - Moss, Norway
October 13: 8th Hiekkaharju Nightmare - Vantaa, Finland
October 13: Renewed Vigor - Barga, Italy
October 14: Unnamed II: Boston - Billerica, United States
October 14: Neonate Breach! (Demo games) - Reykjavik, Iceland
October 20: Chilean October Tournament - Rancagua, Chile
October 20: Camarilla Conclave 2018 - Palma de Mallorca, Illes Balears, Spain
October 21: Maleficia: Newark - Heath, United States
October 26: Spiel ´18 (Demo games) - Essen, Germany
October 27: Spiel ´18 (Demo games) - Essen, Germany
October 28: Spiel ´18 (Demo games) - Essen, Germany
October 27: Fear Not This Night - Bochum, Germany
October 27: Rugir comme un lyon - Lyon, France
October 28: Crusade: Montreal - Montréal, Québec, Canada
October 28: Crusade: Montreal - Montréal, Québec, Canada


For more information on upcoming events see the V:EKN Event Calendar.


CONTACT V:EKN
You can contact the V:EKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at V:EKN.net. Also follow the official V:TES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official V:EKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES

"If you're gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right. You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run."