Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE CONTINUES
It has been thirty years since this fantastic game was first published, and throughout the year it will be celebrated in various ways by VEKN, Black Chantry and players all around the world. There will be articles, events and, of course, a special 30th Anniversary product. Now we can reveal that this will be a Toreador deck with a group 6 and 7 Camarilla crypt, focused on politics. And YES, this will mean a significant strengthening of the clan, with several new library cards, high capacity vampires and a new Justicar. And YES, the product will also contain new Justicars for the other Camarilla clans! The design team is putting the last card wording details in place as this is written. Most of the new art is already in, for example the stunning new art for François Villon by Carmen Cornet you see above. Yes, Villon is back!
The release date for this 120 card product is September 2024.
EDOUARD MENNESON WINS GRAND PRIX IBERIA 2024!
64 players turned up for this event in Lisbon, Portugal on March 9.
Read the full report: Grand Prix Iberia 2024
The European VTES Grand Prix circuit moves on - the upcoming tournaments are April 20 in Paris, May 19 in Aarhus and July 20 in Helsinki. The final with the top 5 players will be played in Warsaw during the EC weekend. More information about that when we have it!
DANIEL SALES WINS GRAND PRIX FORTALEZA 2024!
43 eager Methuselahs wanted to play this event in Fortaleza, Brazil on March 17.
Read the full report: Grand Prix Fortaleza 2024
The upcoming tournaments in the Grand Prix Sulamericano are São Paulo April 14, Minas Gerais May 4, Macapá June 23, Paraíba August 9 and Nordestão November 16. Chile events to be announced!
KELLY LYONS WINS GRAND PRIX LAFAYETTE! (GULF COAST ROAST LEG 1)
22 players showed up for this tournament in Lafayette, Louisiana, USA on March 9.
Read the full report: Grand Prix Lafayette 2024
The US "Gulf Coast Roast" Grand Prix circuit continues with Dallas April 27, Gulfport August 24, New Orleans October 12, Vidor December 7, with the final also in Vidor on December 8. Please join the fun!
GREAT VTES CONTENT
Nowadays it´s impossible to keep up with all the great VTES content being published every month, but we want to highlight some stuff:
• A new introduction video to VTES is up! In English! This time it's by Lionel, creator of Codex of the Damned, who did a 10 minutes video available at the Codex KRCG channel. Big thanks, this kind of material helps the game a lot.
• The “Nossies” awards are an early popular survey with lots of categories; Best Card, Best Artwork, etc. Check it out at Charlotte By Night!
• Lies from the Tabletop continues to put up nice content – lastly a deck analysis of the “Goratrix High Tower” wall deck.
• Reading Between the Lyons does not only do the best VTES-related music ("Bleeds and Bounces!"), but also has many interesting clips about rules, strategy and news.
• The longtime foremost VTES blog is still doing it´s thing! In the last posting, VTES One talks about disciplines, before that it was statistics of clan cards.
• If you are a Facebook user and VTES player and still do not follow Martin Weinmayer on that platform, you should. He posts great thoughts about the game and gets good discussions in the comments. Recently he also published a very nice, event photo collection on YouTube - don´t miss it if you´re into VTES nostalgia!
• We are, of course, delighted to see that Stephen Buonocore (“The Podfather of Gaming”) mentions VTES as the best CCG/TCG ever in episode 12 of The Quad over at BoardGameGeeks YouTube channel. Check it out!
DO YOU WANT TO HOST EC 2025?
The application period is now open for the 2025 Vampire: The Eternal Struggle European Championship.
Interested organisers are encouraged to submit their proposals for consideration between today and August 31st to
The proposals should include the following information (fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.), in addition to any other information that the organisers deem relevant:
• Country:
• City:
• Approximate dates:
• Scheduled off season (Y/N):
• Organizer(s):
• Head judge:
VENUE
• All inclusive location (room, hotel, food, refreshments) (Y/N):
• Accommodations close to venue (Y/N):
• Snacks and meals on-site (or within 5 minutes) (Y/N):
• Distance to major hubs:
• Distance to major city:
• Non-smoking venue (Y/N):
• Air-conditioned venue (Y/N):
• Enough area suited for mass registration (Y/N):
• Free WiFi available (Y/N):
• Microphone/loudspeaker announcements (sound system) (Y/N):
• Video projection system (remaining time) (Y/N):
• Opening hours:
ROOM(S)
• Enough room for 200 players (Y/N):
• Separate rooms for side events (Y/N):
• Comfortable chairs (Y/N):
• Table cloths (Y/N):
• Round tables for 5 players (Y/N):
• Are toilets close to reduce game delays? (Y/N):
ORGANIZATION
• On-site registration on multiple computers (number of players/30) (Y/N):
• On time registration, breaks and events (Y/N):
• Using armbands to indicate registration type (Y/N):
• FAQ (handout at registration) (Y/N):
• Lunch breaks (Y/N):
• Two head organisers (side events/main tournament) (Y/N):
• Organizers and judges properly identified (Y/N):
• Assistants (non VTES players) (Y/N):
• Documentation/archiving person (traceability) (Y/N):
• Spouse info/events (Y/N):
• Seating print-outs on multiple spots (Y/N):
SCHEDULE
• Last Chance Qualifier:
• EC Day 1:
• EC Day 2:
• Side events:
COVERAGE
• Live webcam as weekend documentation (Y/N):
• Detailed final round(s) report (Y/N):
• Final round video recording/streaming (Y/N):
BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: MARCH 2024
• An odd piece of news is that the next printing of the New Blood packs for Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere and Ventrue will have 1 card less than the previous printings, so 55 cards instead of 56. This is because the printing had to be done in another factory that had a different capacity. This is sad for continuity, but not catastrophic for the actual product function. The cards removed are:
Malkavian: -1 Wake with Evening's Freshness
Nosferatu: -1 Forced Awakening
Toreador: -1 Second Tradition: Domain
Tremere: -1 Forced Awakening
Ventrue: -1 Wake with Evening's Freshness
• Gamepod.es has added the four legacy Sabbat precons (Den of Fiends, Libertine Ball, Pact with Nephandi, Parliament of Shadows) as well as Heirs to the Blood 1 & 2 and Promo pack 1-3 to their print-on-demand offering.
• A funny but hardly believable April Fools' joke was published. No, foil cards are not for VTES in the foreseeable future, but there will be a lot of full art promo cards coming up.
• As for the upcoming products, things are moving on smoothly. The Hecata, Lasombra and 30th Anniversary are all in the last steps of design and playtesting, as are a new bunch of New Blood packs. The two-player VTES variant is put on hold for now, as these other things have priority. Four Sabbat preconstructed decks are in early design stages, not quite ready for the first round of playtest yet.
Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Gamepod, 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 and Gamepod 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 (Stores only)
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition Latin (Drivethrucards only)
Fifth Edition: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Toreador (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Tremere (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Promo Pack 3 (Event promos only)
Fifth Edition: Banu Haqim (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Brujah (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: Gangrel (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Fifth Edition: The Ministry (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
New Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
The Fall of London (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
Echoes of Gehenna
Shadows of Berlin (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Banu Haqim (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Brujah (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: Gangrel (Also Spanish, French)
New Blood: The Ministry (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Ravnos (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Salubri (Also Spanish, French)
Fifth Edition: Tzimisce (Also Spanish, French)
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
From the World of Darkness team over at Paradox, this month we would like to mention:
• The Crimson Gutter is a brand new chronicle book for Vampire: The Masquerade, perfect for starting a new chronicle. It describes no less than 21 stories, 20 storyteller characters and 8 recurring locations ready to use in any city setting – sounds great, right?
• Another Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Clan Highlight is out, featuring Silky, Brujah Primogen in Seattle, an “eloquent, persuasive, and a man of letters, quoting Milton, Shakespeare, and the Sex Pistols with equal reverence”.
• We are still very excited for Vampire: The Masquerade - Gehenna War that was announced last month – an action-focused sourcebook now available on pre-order, for August 2024 release.
Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!
CALENDAR
Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Australia x2
Brazil x15
Czech Republic
Finland x3
France x3
Hungary
Italy x4
Mexico
Online
Poland x3
Portugal
Spain x10
Sweden
UK
USA x3
For details about these events, see the VEKN Event Calendar.
Remember: Online tournaments are possible - just check the box "Online tournament" when you add the event to the calendar!
CONTACT VEKN
You can contact the VEKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at VEKN.net. Also follow the official VTES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, the official VEKN X (Twitter) account @VEKN_VTES and the official VTES Discord server.
“Every man dies. Not every man lives.”
