Preview art by Ginés Quiñonero.
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
Above you see the new, very nice preview art of a classic Vampire: The Eternal Struggle card that hasn´t been reprinted in a while. Do you have a guess what card it is?
SAC 2020 ON LACKEY: CONNECTING WITH THE COMMUNITY
Some thoughts from Mexico - this time also with a tournament winning deck:
During 2020, the whole world was submerged in the apocalyptic pandemic. It has affected all areas of life, including the gaming communities around the world, and VTES was no exception. All kinds of face-to-face meetings were suspended, and we saw a new phenomenon grow, that is not exclusive to VTES: the interaction with communities from different parts of the world through the internet.
In Mexico we do not have a very large community. Although we have records of almost 100 players, only a couple of dozens are currently active and meet regularly to play, and most of those have been playing for many years. And, although we knew there were player communities in other countries, we never had contact with them beyond occasional comments and sporadic greetings. When the pandemic began, we had recently begun to see the result of a work to disseminate the game in Mexico City, integrating new VTES players in our community by having constant meetings for new players. When we closed these meetings due to the health contingency, we thought that all our work had gone down the drain. But nothing was further from reality.
Thanks to the magic of the internet and social networks, and the need to stay at home, we gave ourselves the task of looking for alternatives to our game and our community. And thus, we discovered all the communities that were in a situation similar to ours. We got to know online gaming platforms, such as Lackey and Tabletop Simulator, which we began to use with our community, which was conducive to carrying out our first league and our first virtual tournament, in which we had the participation of fellow players from Brazil and Chile.
Subsequently, the opportunity to play the VTES World Championship online came, something that, at some point, we believed to be a very distant possibility for us to participate in person, even without the current sanitary conditions. And we met players from different parts of the world there, which, as a player, opens your eyes to different ways of conceiving the game, contrasting strategies and knowing what your level of play is.
Now in March 2021, the 2020 South American VTES Championship was organized by the Brazilian community, led by our friend Desso Alastor and his entire team. It was an event in which 68 players from all over the continent and also other places gathered, including six Mexicans. It was among the most gratifying experiences that I have had as a player, and my Mexican teammates share this opinion. From Mexico we are very excited to join the world community of VTES in all possible events and tournaments, and we hope to have the opportunity to organize an event for the entire community at the level of our Brazilian brothers.
Congratulations and a recognition to the 2020 South American Champion Richard Cortés and to all the players who participated. We look forward to the next confrontation with the Methuselahs of the world. In spite of all the nefariousness of this pandemic, we are happy that VTES lovers have approached and connected each other through distances and schedules to continue keeping this vibrant game alive.
Eduardo García Ayala, @LaloVtes
The VEKN also thank the organizers of this large tournament, and congratulate the champion Richard Cortés. Here is his tournament winning deck, “No secrets in sabotage”:
Crypt (12)
1x Foureyes 3 obf pot Nosferatu:4
1x Krid 2 obf Nosferatu:3
1x Mouse 2 ani Nosferatu:3
3x Nkule Galadima 8 ani aus pre ABO FOR Akunanse:4
4x Uchenna 7 ABO ANI FOR Akunanse:4
1x Clarissa Steinburgen 3 ani obf Nosferatu:3
1x Darva Felispa 3 ani pot Nosferatu:3
Library (65)
Master (15)
1x Ancestor Spirit
1x Guardian Angel
1x Powerbase: Montreal
2x Powerbase: Tshwane
1x Rack, The
2x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
2x Vessel
2x Wider View
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
Event (2 cards)
1x NRA PAC
1x Scourge of the Enochians
Action (13)
2x Army of Rats
6x No Secrets From the Magaji
5x Creeping Sabotage
Political Action (1)
1x Ancilla Empowerment
Ally (1)
1x Carlton Van Wyk
Retainer (4)
1x Mr. Winthrop
3x Raven Spy
Equipment (11)
3x .44 Magnum
2x Kevlar Vest
3x Sniper Rifle
2x Sport Bike
1x Camera Phone
Action Modifier (6)
6x Freak Drive
Action Modifier/Combat (6)
6x Predator's Transformation
Combat (6)
6x Rolling with the Punches
Do you also want to contribute to this newsletter? Please contact . Hope to hear from you!
RULES Q & A
Black Chantry Rules Director Vincent Ripoll answers some rules questions:
Q: During combat between vampire A (2 blood) and vampire B (2 blood), A plays a Carrion Crows at superior before range is determined, then maneuvers to long range and plays a Theft of Vitae at superior. Vampire B has no effective strike. What happens? Can B play prevent cards that cost blood before being stolen 2 blood in order to escape torpor?
A: Both stealing blood with a strike and inflicting damage with a Carrion Crows happen during the strike resolution. However, inflicting damage and preventing/handling damage are two different steps and stealing blood moves the blood counters before preventing/handling damage. So, B immediately loses 2 blood to the Theft of Vitae and takes 2 damage at the same time (to be handled in the next step); then, since B has no blood left, B cannot play cards that cost blood in order to prevent damage and therefore goes to torpor. (Read more about combat sequences in the Combat section of the rulebook, page 28, and about stealing blood in the subsection Strike Effects, page 33.)
Q: Player A bleeds Player B. Player B is considering whether to block or not. Can Player C play a card before Player B has chosen whether to block or decline? (For instance, Netwar at [aus] to see Player A's hand.)
A: No, the sequencing section in the rulebook indicates that the opportunity to play cards goes from A to B once A is finished. B can only give the impulse to C by declining to block. If B attempts to block, the impulse goes back to A. (See Sequencing in the rulebook, page 8.)
Update - Clarification: However, if B attempts to block, a new sequencing takes place during that block attempt: A can play cards (typically stealth), then B (following the sequencing rule), then the other players once B declines to play effects. The block attempt is not over until every player declines to play further effects. C is given the opportunity to play cards such as Netwar during the block attempt, or to give B some intercept with a KRCG News Radio for instance. Once everybody declines to play further effects, if the intercept is greater or equal to the stealth, the action is blocked; otherwise, B can declare another block attempt, or decline (giving the opportunity to block to the next player).
Q: The card text of Baron Dieudonne says “During your minion phase, Dieudonne can burn 1 blood to unlock after performing a successful action.” Can he keep spending blood and untap after each successful action performed successfully?
A: No. Baron Dieudonne's ability is restricted by the "during X do Y" pattern which limits doing X only once per Y (here: unlocking once per minion phase). (See Important terms in the game in the rulebook,
page 16.)
Q: Vampire A is in combat with a vampire, Nosferatu B. At close range, A plays a Coma to send the opposing Nosferatu B to torpor. Nosferatu B uses a hand strike to strike for 1. Does A lose 1 blood? Can B use Warsaw Station to go back into combat with A?
A: Both strikes resolve, the first one by sending B to torpor, and the second one by inflicting 1 damage to A. A has to handle that damage by either preventing it or mending it by burning 1 blood (see Combat in the rulebook, page 31). B is going to torpor, which ends the combat. The combat is not over immediately though, since cards usable at the end of the round can still be played (Taste of Vitae, etc.) If the Nosferatu B is not burned by a Decapitate or an Amaranth played by A, B ends in torpor when both Methuselahs decline to play other effects. Until then, the Warsaw Station cannot be used. B cannot go back in combat with A.
DECKS TO BEAT: MARCH
A retrospect by Henrik Klippström.
Time for another peek in the rear view mirror, this time on decks from March. These are the winning decks from the tournaments with most participants of March 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. Hopefully they will give you some inspiration for new builds!
Year 2000
Untitled deck by Jeff Dai
Deck type: Bigcap Dom/Obf vote/bleed
Praxis Seizure: Raleigh – Raleigh, North Carolina, USA – March 25 – Unknown no. of players
Notes from Jeff: “Bring out an 11 or 10 capacity vampire. GtU the other vampires out. Once you have enough, bleed and vote your prey out of existence.”
Crypt (12)
1x Arika 11 DOM FOR OBF PRE aus cel inner circle Ventrue:2
1x Etrius 11 AUS DOM OBF THA pro inner circle Tremere:2
1x Angelica, The Canonicus 10 DOM OBT POT cel obf cardinal Lasombra:2
1x Lucian 10 AUS DOM OBF cel tha justicar Malkavian:1
1x Queen Anne 10 DOM FOR PRE aus obf prince Ventrue:2
1x Roxanne, Rectrix of the 13th Floor 9 AUS DOM FOR OBF pot primogen Malkavian:1
1x Gratiano 8 DOM OBT obf pot priscus Lasombra:2
1x Justine, Elder of Dallas 8 AUS DOM THA obf primogen Tremere:1
1x Carlotta Giovanni 7 NEC POT dom obf Giovanni:2
1x Gilbert Duane 7 AUS DOM OBF prince Malkavian:1
1x Mariel, Lady Thunder 7 DOM OBF aus tha Malkavian:1
1x Didi Meyers 5 DOM aus cel obf Malkavian:1
Library (91 cards) [Say what? In the TWDA?!]
1x Asylum Hunting Ground
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
3x Effective Management
1x Information Highway
7x Minion Tap
2x Sudden Reversal
15x Govern the Unaligned
1x Ancient Influence
2x Conservative Agitation
8x Kine Resources Contested
1x Political Stranglehold
6x Cloak the Gathering
2x Conditioning
3x Faceless Night
3x Foreshadowing Destruction
2x Forgotten Labyrinth
4x Lost in Crowds
10x Deflection
10x Obedience
8x Wake with Evening's Freshness
2021 comments:
- Apart from the 91 cards problem, the deck is too thick. But it can be rather card intensive, so don´t go below 82-ish. Not hard though, just cut 10 percent in each card category.
- Switch Minion Taps for Villein, it will help the card flow a lot.
- Roxanne, Justine and Carlotta, sorry ladies, you have to leave. Sure 12 unique vamps and a smooth “Govern stair” in the crypt is nice, but not at any price. Consider Greger Anderssen and/or double up on the best ones.
- Depending on your enviroment, consider switching a couple of Kine Resources Contested for Ancillae Empowerment/Anarchist Uprising. Damage votes are important, but maybe switch 1-2 for Banishment, it is often very powerful.
- Switch about half of those Wakes for On the Qui Vive.
Year 2005
"Loyalists" by Reyda Seddiki
Deck type: Ventrue antitribu with Obtenebration vote
Coupe de Paris - Paris, France - March 12 - 39 players
Crypt (12)
3x Quentin 9 AUS DOM FOR cel obt bishop Ventrue antitribu:2
3x Gustav Mallenhous 8 AUS DOM for obt priscus Ventrue antitribu:2
3x Edward Neally 7 DOM FOR aus pre Ventrue antitribu:3
2x Gerard 5 aus dom for obt Ventrue antitribu:2
1x Samson 2 dom Ventrue antitribu:2
Library (90 cards)
3x Blood Doll
2x Creepshow Casino
2x Demonstration
2x Information Highway
1x KRCG News Radio
2x Minion Tap
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Secure Haven
2x Sudden Reversal
2x Dominate Kine
4x Govern the Unaligned
1x Mylan Horseed
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
4x Banishment
1x Blood Siege
3x Cardinal Benediction
4x Consanguineous Boon
2x Domain Challenge
8x Kine Resources Contested
2x Bonding
2x Bribes
2x Conditioning
2x Crocodile's Tongue
1x Cryptic Rider
1x Daring the Dawn
4x Freak Drive
1x Kiss of Ra, The
5x Seduction
2x Shadow Play
2x Shroud of Night
2x Stealth Ritus
2x Tenebrous Form
4x Shadow Body
5x Deflection
2x Telepathic Misdirection
3x Wake with Evening's Freshness
2021 comments:
- A rather original deck – there´s much to like here!
- Ventrue antitribu vote always seem a bit underplayed, and now we also have Framing of an Ancient Grudge and alternative crypts with Bruce de Guy and De Sade.
- Should go down to 82-ish cards to find those Demonstrations easier. Sadly the odd, fun stuff has to go. Blood Siege, Bribes and Stealth Ritus are too bad. Crocodile's Tongue is strong, but situational.
- I always want to build something with Cardinal Benediction! But those decks always fail. If you leave them out, but still want to stay in group 2-3, consider some titled Lasombra vampires instead of Edward Neally (love him, but he´s one of those “not quite good enough” vampires).
- You seldom see Consanguineous Boon in a non-weenie deck, and its worth pondering if you need them here. Sure they create pool, sure they can give you leverage in dealmaking, but might be better to focus on offense.
- I´d play 2 or 3 Daring the Dawn.
Year 2010
“Marchas de tranquis” by Gabriel Ron
Deck type: PRO royalty vote
Daring the Dawn – Barcelona, Spain – March 20 – 30 players
Note: Alessandro Donati won a 35 player tournament in Rome this month in 2010 (congratulations Alessandro!), but we leave that one out because he used a Una multi-act deck and Una suffered a errata in 2019 that makes it unplayable.
Crypt (12)
2x Angus the Unruled 10 ANI PRO cel for pot justicar Gangrel:1
2x Don Cruez, The Idealist 10 CEL POT PRE ani dom pro justicar Brujah:1
2x Ingrid Rossler 9 ANI FOR PRO dom prince Gangrel:2
2x Greger Anderssen 7 AUS OBF dom pro prince Malkavian:2
1x Marcellus 8 AUS CEL pro prince Toreador:2
1x Iliana 7 DOM FOR PRO tha Gangrel:2
1x Elisabetta Romano 6 dom pro qui tha primogen Tremere:2
1x Chandler Hungerford 3 PRO Gangrel:2
Library (78)
3x Blood Doll
1x Cavalier
1x Coven, The
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Monastery of Shadows
3x Protean
1x Temptation of Greater Power
2x Vessel
2x Villein
1x Scourge of the Enochians
1x Dual Form
6x Fourth Tradition: The Accounting
2x Judgment: Camarilla Segregation
1x Ancient Influence
1x Ancilla Empowerment
2x Banishment
1x Domain Challenge
1x First Tradition: The Masquerade
4x Kine Resources Contested
4x Parity Shift
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Reins of Power
3x Conditioning
4x Earth Control
1x Enkil Cog
2x Rapid Change
3x Claws of the Dead
6x Earth Meld
5x Form of Mist
4x Deflection
2x On the Qui Vive
6x Second Tradition: Domain
2021 comments:
- “All good decks start with a bunch of Discipline skill cards” is an old, highly ironic, saying. But there are exceptions! This is something as strange as a Gangrel vote deck with dominate, but without Stanislava. Well, there are some Malkavians here too, and the seldom seen Brujah justicar Don Cruez and other odd friends. Highly original, and not common to see on a final table.
- Large vampires without consistent multi-act is always hard, because every single action gets so important and you can´t really do any “launch turns”. I suggest at least one additional copy of Cavalier, replacing the now banned Temptation of Greater Power.
- The deck also lacks any serious crypt acceleration, not counting Fourth Tradition. I would add at least one more Dreams of the Sphinx though.
- The amount of bleed-bounce is low, but the other Methuselahs don’t know that! :)
Year 2015
Untitled deck by François Greiner
Deck type: Bigcap OBF-DOM vote
Hungarian ECQ – Budapest, Hungary – March 21 – 54 players
Crypt (12)
3x Mistress Fanchon 11 AUS CEL DOM OBF THA VIC inner circle Tremere:4
2x Rafael de Corazon 11 AUS CEL DOM OBF PRE inner circle Toreador:4
2x Alonso Petrodon 10 ANI DOM OBF POT for tha justicar Nosferatu:5
2x Gabrielle di Righetti 10 ANI AUS DOM THA obf pot justicar Tremere:5
1x Tryphosa 10 AUS DEM DOM OBF POT prince Malkavian:4
1x Neferu 9 OBF PRE SER THA dom nec 2 votes Follower of Set:4
1x Orlando Oriundus 9 AUS DOM THA obf bishop Tremere antitribu:4
Library (75)
1x Giant's Blood
1x Golconda: Inner Peace
5x Information Highway
1x Metro Underground
1x Monastery of Shadows
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
8x Villein
9x Govern the Unaligned
2x Helicopter
2x Alastor
1x Ancient Influence
2x Parity Shift
1x Reins of Power
3x Conditioning
4x Elder Impersonation
1x Enkil Cog
4x Faceless Night
1x Foreshadowing Destruction
5x Lost in Crowds
1x Perfect Clarity
2x Spying Mission
1x Hide the Mind
2x Swallowed by the Night
4x Deflection
3x Eluding the Arms of Morpheus
2x Mental Maze
7x Obedience
2021 comments:
- I haven´t done the research to know exactly how original this is, but this kind of deck has appeared a lot in the TWDA. Anyway, the Alastor-Helicopter combo is strong with this VERY strong crypt.
- I have played a variant that relied more heavily on voting, particularily Parity Shift, but that is less fun now when that card is changed.
- A variant is to use more Rafaels and Mistresses and throw in some Flurry of Actions, to be able to do more damage in a single turn.
- If you play in a vote heavy environment, consider using more copies of Orlando Oriundus. He is the king of voting. I recall one game at EC Mannheim 2014 when I had 16 votes on the table with Orlando, and still hadn´t the vote lock. That table had something like 39 votes on it!
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: MARCH 2021
• No, it was not a April Fool´s joke! VTES Fifth Edition in Latin is a real product - you can order the five decks in a bundle from Drivetrucards.com, and download both the rulebook and the help sheets in Latin from Blackchantry.com. Thank Ginés Quiñonero for this odd effort - we know you love it! Ginés also made five unboxing videos on the Black Chantry YouTube channel - of course in latin :)
• Playtest coodinator Darby Keeney has delivered a meaty report about Round 2 of the current playtesting batch (four precons - Brujah, Gangrel, Banu Haqim and Ministry, plus the Fall of London set). Some additional thoughts are needed, but most likely not a full third round of playtesting. Most of the art is done and printing is scheduled!
• One of the most common questions Black Chantry get is "What are the upcoming products?". In January, product director and lead designer Ben Peal answered this in an article at Blackchantry.com, but you have to understand that the company needs to be flexible because of various factors, for example the pandemic, printing scheduling, art issues and heavy workload for those involved. Ben gave a more elaborated answer on Facebook recently, here quoted in full:
We don't have a set-in-stone release strategy, but here's the general framework (which is totally subject to change):
NEW STUFF
- We'll eventually do a pre-constructed deck for every clan represented in 5th Edition V:tM. 5 already published, 4 coming a few months from now, maaaaaybe a few more at the end of this year, and then a couple more by spring 2022.
- Each of these clans needs follow-up material to fill out the crypt groupings, plus more library cards. Ideally, this follow-up material (fixed-content bundles) should come out immediately after the associated pre-con decks, but we've been bad about that. But expect follow-up material for the first 9 clans late this year.
- An annual mini-set with a storyline angle. We're wrapping up production on one for this year as we speak [Fall of London], but a release date for it is going to depend on when we're all vaccinated and able to host events again.
PROMO CARDS
- An annual promo pack.
- Stuff for Continental Championship events.
- Marketing tie-ins with other licensed partners.
OLD STUFF
- We're gradually getting all of the White Wolf/CCP era cards onto Drivethrucards.com. When this stuff is published is kinda random. Generally speaking, we're updating the text templating for the cards and getting replacement artwork for the cards that need it. As a given batch of cards (typically clan + clan-specific discipline) is ready, we put it up on Drivethrucards. The ultimate goal with this project is to give V:TES a permanent home so there isn't a reason for it to ever be out of print again.
- We're working on getting the VEKN sets published. Details on that coming very soon.
• Black Chantry want to acknowledge two other bits of news related to friends of the company: Firstly, VTES artist Mark Kelly has Solemn Vale folk horror RPG on Kickstarter right now, with contributions from Justin Achilli, Matthew Dawkins and others. Secondly, Onyx Path Publishing (with the original VTES graphic designer Richard Thomas as CEO) will have their Scion RPG developed into a tv show. Congratulations!
• Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:
- 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
- Den of Fiends Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
- Anthology I bundle
- VTES Card Creator (Drivethrucards only)
- 25th Anniversary
- First Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
- First Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
- VTES Legacy Card Singles (Drivethrucards only)
- Promo Pack 1 (Drivethrucards only)
- Promo Pack 2 (Event promos only)
- VTES "Parity Shift" playmat
- VTES card sleeves
- Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition (Currently stores only)
- Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition Latin (Drivethrucards only)
Do you have opinions or questions for Black Chantry? Start a topic on the VEKN forum, or contact the company by e-mail, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS
Some highlights of the past month:
• Justin Achilli wrote about defining clans in the Development blog, revealing the old VTES Obtenebration symbol will also be the symbol for the Oblivion discipline in VTM.
• "World of Darkness Stories" was launched, an expanding collection of short stories, on Facebook and Instagram.
• "Secrets and Shadows" is a new expansion for Vampire: The Masquerade - Night Road which unlocks five new clans, a new Discipline, and two sets of variant powers to explore.
• "The Barclay Mansion Challenge" is a interactive sneak peek at Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife.
CALENDAR
Upcoming events:
Follow local regulations on what physical events are possible. Notice that online tournaments are possible - just note "ONLINE" in the event name when you add the event to the calendar!
For more information on upcoming events see the V:EKN Event Calendar.
CONTACT VEKN
You can contact the VEKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at VEKN.net. Also follow the VEKN Facebook group, the official VTES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official VEKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES
"Always embrace 'I don't know'."