Greetings fellow Methuselahs,

THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE CONTINUES!

It has been 30 long, fun years of VTES, and that, of course, needs to be celebrated with a 30th Anniversary product. Above is the new art for one of the original set cards that will be reprinted in it, Business Pressure. The actual card is depicted below together with two other previews.

• Business Pressure is illustrated by Randy Gallegos, veteran VTES artist credited with about twenty cards since 1994, including favorites such as Decapitate, Slaughtering the Herd and Body Flare. We are, of course, delighted that Randy has returned to our game with this marvelous art for an original set card. Hopefully we get an interview with him for the newsletter soon!

• The deck in the 30th Anniversary box with be a Toreador vote deck including five new titled vampires. One of them is Marcos Belegrad, Prince of Bogota, Colombia. The art is by Black Chantry´s own Ginés Quiñonero - maybe some of you recognize who is depicted?

• Among the extra non-deck cards in the box will be group 7 Justicars for five clans. What do you think of the Ventrue one? Art by Mark Kelly.

 

The release date for this 120-card product is September 2024. More previews coming soon - follow Black Chantry Productions in social media.

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DATE SET FOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2024: 27-29 SEPTEMBER

Finally a date has been set for this year´s EC. The event will take place on September 27-29 in Warsaw, Poland. Presale of tickets will begin in early/mid May - please, buy early, to help the organisers. This time we WILL make this something really special - it´s not every year VTES turns 30! More detailed information will follow.

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ISMAEL DÍAZ VALVERDE IS THE 2024 CHAMPION OF SPAIN!

121 players (!) joined for this year´s Spanish championship, held in Avilés, Asturias on April 20.

Read the full report: Spanish National Championship 2024

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ARTURO PARISE IS THE 2024 CHAMPION OF ITALY!

49 players wanted to win this event in Caldonazzo on April 27.

Read the full report: Italian National Championship 2024

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MARTIN WEINMAYER WINS GRAND PRIX PARIS 2024!

57 players gathered for this event in Paris, France on April 20.

Read the full report: Grand Prix Paris 2024

The European VTES Grand Prix circuit moves on with 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!

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DARBY KEENEY WINS GRAND PRIX DALLAS 2024!

24 Methuselahs played this event in Dallas, Texas on April 27.

Read the full report: Grand Prix Dallas 2024 (Gulf Coast Roast 2)

The US "Gulf Coast Roast" Grand Prix circuit continues with Gulfport August 24, New Orleans October 12, Vidor December 7, with the final also in Vidor on December 8. Please join the fun!

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PRAXIS SEIZURES

We have many new volunteer organisers, the ones we call Princes. The individuals listed below have joined in the last months. Thanks guys - you make tournament play possible!

• Brazil - Prince of Arapongas: Geraldo Antonio Nakajima

• Brazil - Prince fo Barra do Piraí: Daniel Iunes

• Brazil - Prince of Barra Mansa: Aylton "Joe" Cianni

• Brazil - Prince of Caucaia: Lucas Raphael

• Brazil - Prince of Londrina: Fernando Giannetti Fiorin

• Brazil - Prince of Mogi das Cruzes: Guilherme Araujo

• Brazil - Prince of Rio de Janiero: José Wilson O. Fontenele

• Brazil - Prince of Santos: Bruno Paramo Meleiro

• Chile - Prince of Providencia: Pablo Cabrera

• Finland - Prince of Akaa: Otto Kukkasniemi

• Finland - Prince of Helsinki: Jyri Puhakka

• Finland - Prince of Helsinki: Tero Aalto

• Finland - Prince of Mankkaa: Marko Saari

• Finland - Prince of Tampere: Joel Tikkala

• Hungary - Prince of Kecskemét: Ferenc Kósa

• Italy - Prince of Rome: Alessandro Spataro

• Netherlands - Prince of Tilburg: Guido Pollé

• Poland - Prince of Szczecin: Łukasz Ho Thanh

• Slovenia - Prince of Brežice: Dominik Trupčević

• South Africa - Prince of Cape Town: Skye Segal

• Spain - Prince of Córdoba: Ferdinand Portal

• Spain - Prince of Coya: Jaddou Nasra

• Spain - Prince of Madrid: Diego Farras

• Spain - Prince of Oviedo: Miguel Vega

• Sweden - Prince of Eslöv: Andreas Stjernfelt

• Sweden - Prince of Gothenburg: Simon Johansson

• United Kingdom - Prince of Bedford: Antonio Cobo Cuenca

• United States - Prince of Denver: Marshall Hogue

• United States - Prince of Fullerton: Jason K. Orman

• United States - Prince of Louisville, Kentucky: Sean Payne

• United States - Prince of Madison: Josh Whelan

• United States - Prince of New Orleans: Devin Villegas

• United States - Prince of Phoenix: Benjamin Billings

• United States - Prince of Richmond: Andrew Taylor

If you need to talk to your local prince, check out the VEKN Prince list. If you want to become a Prince and start organising tournaments, contact your VEKN National Coordinator.

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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: APRIL 2024

• Promo Pack 4 is now available! Intended as promotional material for retailers and support for organizers of tournaments and other events, this is a 54 card mix of older promo cards and cards that really needed a reprint, but haven´t found its way into a normal product yet.

 
• The 30th Anniversary box has been sent to print. Also described above in this newsletter (with three previews), this will be a 120-card product composed of a Toreador political deck and 20 other cards. It will hit stores in September, but look forward to deck list and cards spoiled soon.

• The (probably) last round of playtesting of the next products was concluded: the 30th Anniversary box, preconstructed decks for Hecata and Lasombra, New Blood packs for Hecata, Lasombra, Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce. Playtest coordinators Norman Brown, Serge Cirri, Dayvisson Alves and Dario Canto Fornell compiled a 211 pages long report for the design team to sink their teeth into – thanks to all of you that wrote long and detailed about your test games and opinions, you ROCK!

• Design of four Sabbat preconstructed decks is in progress. The two-player VTES variant is put on hold for now.

 

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 and Gamepod only)
  Promo Pack 2 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
  Promo Pack 3 (For promotion only)
  Promo Pack 4 (For promotion 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.

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RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS

Some highlights from the World of Darkness team over at Paradox:

• “Werewolf: The Apocalypse - The Book of Hungry Names” is a enormous interactive novel/computer game created by Kyle Marquis (who also made the acclaimed “Vampire: The Masquerade - Night Road”), now available on Steam, iOS and Android. To find out more, check out this developer deep-dive!

• There were two more clan-focused developer diary entries about “Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2”: clans Tremere and Banu Haqim.

• For the tabletop RPG Vampire: The Masquerade, the “Crimson Gutter” chronicle book is now available in PDF for everyone. There´s a bunch of thorough reviews of this book out there – try for example this video one over at Summoned Stories.

Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news!

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CALENDAR

Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Brazil x12
Chile x2
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
Germany
Italy x2
Mexico
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Serbia
Spain x5
Sweden

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!

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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.

 

"The true man is revealed in difficult times."

 

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.

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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.”