Written by Keith Lee, National Coordinator of Singapore:

On August 1st and 2nd, 2026, a team of four volunteers from the VTES community ran a demonstration table at Tablecon Quest, the largest dedicated tabletop gaming convention in Singapore. Two months of work had gone into preparing for this event, and the results exceeded our expectations. Here follows a brief report of the event, for the benefit of others planning to demo VTES to a wider audience.

 

Our goals

- Introduce as many people as possible to VTES and the World of Darkness.

- Focus on creating an engaging experience as opposed to a focus on rules and mechanics.

- Leave a strong positive impression of the game within the span of a 30–45-minute demo.

- Encourage demo participants to join our local community channels/chat group, for continuity.

 

Preparations

A couple of months before the convention, we began looking into the best ways for us to enter the event. The cost of a full exhibition booth was of course prohibitive for a team of volunteers, so we instead felt it best to rent one of the tables that the event was offering in their Demo Area. In the end however, we had the good fortune to receive support from HammerHouse, a local game store and the Asian regional distributor for VTES. As they themselves were planning to exhibit at the event, not only did they sponsor the costs for our demo table, but we were able to place the table within their large booth, benefitting from their presence as a much more well-known entity in the local tabletop scene.

With the largest cost out of the way for us, we turned our attention to the following prep work, which took the remainder of the two months we had before the event:

- Creating and testing five beginner-friendly decks, featuring five of the iconic clans.

- Ensuring all cards used had the latest text and were V5 or Print on Demand cards.

- Deciding on a sculpted opening hand for each deck, starting ready vampires, and table seating.

- Printing banners, flyers, standees, and t-shirts – Artwork courtesy of BCP, thank you!

- Printing playmats with player aids included – Designed by the Australian VTES community.

- Preparing promo cards as an incentive for participants to join our local channels/chat group.

- Preparing a waiting list in case of large crowds.

 

Sculpted demos

To ensure a mostly predictable opening round where the bulk of explaining the rules would take place, we decided on a fixed opening hand for each deck, consisting of at least one of each type of card (Master, Action, Modifier, Reaction, Combat), and 1-2 ready vampires with a total capacity of 8 already in the ready region. In addition, to keep demos swift and to let the participants have a good chance at experiencing an oust, each player’s pool was set at 15 (we later further lowered this to 12 upon review). Also, we determined an optimal seating for each deck to prevent any one player from too easily overpowering another or creating a negative play experience by removing the player’s agency.

The results

Over the course of the two days, spanning 20 hours of convention time, we ran a total of 16 rounds of demos, for a total of 42 people. Out of these, we had 25 signups for our local group chat, and are already planning follow-up sessions to introduce these players to the full game, in the hope of converting them into long-term players of VTES. While these numbers may be modest for a convention, we ultimately feel that the event was a great success, considering our small team and single table.

 

Key observations

- The majority of participants had positive reactions to the game.

- Presentation was crucial – People were drawn to the banners and overall table setup.

- A waiting list is important, both for managing crowds and also combining smaller groups.

- Groups of friends were the best targets – the existing rivalries and relationships within the group made for the most enjoyable experiences and the most unexpected interactions.

- The most successful demo games had 3-4 participants, with 2 volunteers guiding them along.

- Short game introductions and quick explanations of game mechanics were crucial in maintaining participants’ interest. By quickly getting into the first round, and giving them advice on good first-round options, we kept participants invested.

- People with knowledge of popular trading card games were the easiest to demo to, as they could grasp game mechanics faster.

- People who played the Vampire: The Masquerade RPG, or who were aware of the broader V:tM lore, were easy to onboard too, as they understood some of the vampire politics and terms used.

- Thematic Clan cards and beautiful vampire artwork really helped players’ interest.

- Drawing parallels with other mainstream TCGs such as Magic helped many players to grasp certain concepts in VTES (e.g. “Govern the Unaligned at superior is something like a Dark Ritual”).

- Associating particular card types with each phase of the game helped break down the rules into smaller chunks (e.g. “In your Master Phase, only look at cards labelled Master in your hand”).

- Many participants got frustrated trying to understand long card texts, and we smoothed it over by giving them the gist of the card (e.g. “KRC is basically distributing 4 points of pool damage among 2 or more players")

- Combat was the largest stumbling block – Many struggled to grasp combat; they also often assumed that bleeding was combat, and tried to play combat cards like action modifiers. Combat should be kept simple in demos to prevent overloading players, and not explain every combat step unless they had cards to be played in those steps.

- Giving out promo cards was a great incentive to get signups to our VTES messaging groups to continue engagement – Everybody loves freebies.

 

Notable words from participants

- “This game is really fun, and it’s 30 years old?! How did I never come to know about it??”

- “We were drawn to your table over the other games because the banners look really nice.”

- “The table interaction is very unique, the political element of the game.”

- “The mechanics and cards are really aligned with V:TM lore, I can feel the same atmosphere.”

- “If you hit me with that vote, I’m taking you down with me!”

- “Oh wow, it’s a really affordable game! Especially with no booster packs! I can buy a deck just to try it out.”

Demo decks design

The demo decks used were from a broader collection of “Rookie decks” that we had earlier designed and tested extensively. These “Rookie decks” came from a desire to have on-hand a number of rookie-friendly decks that newer players could borrow and enjoy playing during our regular game nights. The decks were exciting and clan-specific to establish theme, and allowed anyone who knew the broader Vampire: The Masquerade lore to find and identify with any one particular clan.

Furthermore, the “Rookie decks” should not need too much handholding in understanding what they do, while also helping players learn the different aspects of the game. Finally, we wanted the deck-lists to be easily replicated by newer players buying from BCP and/or print-on-demand only, so that they would not have to scrounge for older cards in the secondary market.

Thus, the demo decks were built with these goals in mind:

1. The decks were clan-specific, focused on their in-clan disciplines, and had to showcase what a typical deck of that clan does well. They should be of mainline clans that would be familiar to players who are aware of V:tM lore.

2. The decks had to be simple and clear in their game strategies, without using esoteric card combinations or niche card interactions that newer players would be overwhelmed.

3. The decks had to use cards that are easy to parse and their usage obvious.

4. The decks had to be robust enough to survive and maybe win, when played at a table with typical non-demo decks.

5. The decks should not skew too hard in any one aspect, and had to participate at least somewhat meaningfully at most major parts of the game

6. The decks are limited only to cards that are actively in print, i.e. V5 cards, plus print-on-demand cards.

 

Demo decks overview

1. Camarilla Malkavian Stealth Bleed: Typical OBF DOM V5 stealth bleed archetype. Actions were Governs, Dominate Kine, Conceal and KRC. Pool gain was Governs, bleed defence was Deflections, vote defence was inherent titles and Malkavian Rider Clause. Combat was just Target Vitals. This was the most straightforward deck that we directed the participant with least experience with card games or the Vampire lore to.

2. Anarch Gangrel Thing & Block: A well-known PRO-focused V5 Gangrel archetype with weenies. Actions were Thing, Rewilding, and bleeds boosted by equipment/retainers. Pool gain was Thing, bleed defence was Bait & Switch, vote defence was inherent titles, intercept was Org Resist, Protection Racket and Eyes of the Wild. Combat was Claws, Donnybrook and Earth Meld. This deck showed what heavier intercept and swarm-based decks could do.

3. Camarilla Ventrue Multi-act: G5/6 titled Ventrue archetype that could multi-act with Freak Drive. Actions were Governs, Dominate Kine, Fifth Tradition, KRC and Consang Boon. Pool gain was Governs, Consang Boon and Voter Cap. Vote defence was inherent titles, intercept was Second Tradition. Combat was Majesty and Rolling with the Punches. This was the most complicated deck among the four, the participant playing it needed extensive guidance. But it also showcased most clearly the political aspect of VTES and hence could not be swapped out.

4. Camarilla Lasombra Prince Toolbox: G6 Lasombra prince archetype that could do a little of everything. Actions were Governs, Dominate Kine and Umbrous Clutch. Pool gain was Governs. Vote defence was inherent titles, intercept was Second Tradition and Truth in Darkness. Combat was the most involved of the four, with Torn Signpost, Immortal Grapple and Shadow Shift. This was the most combat heavy deck, so it needed guidance in handling combat phases.

Acknowledgements

- Hugh Angseesing & Black Chantry Productions – Thank you for the support with the collaterals.

- Gerentt – Demos, Playtesting, Logistics, Event Prep

- Fauzi – Demos, Playtesting, Public Relations

- Zen – Playtesting, Event Prep

- Nono – Public Relations, Promotion

- HammerHouse Singapore – Special thank you for the overall event support.

 

Signing off,

Keith – NC Singapore