Carmen Cornet VTES Fall of London preview

Preview art by Carmen Cornet from Fall of London, the
next expansion for Vampire: The Eternal Struggle.

Greetings fellow Methuselahs,

VTES EC2022

DON´T FORGET TO PRE-REGISTER FOR THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP!

Please pre-register if you plan to attend the EC, it helps a lot. Just fill in your name at the registration page at the official site vtes.orava.org, thanks!

The schedule:
25 July: Week of Nightmares Helsinki 2022 Monday
26 July: Week of Nightmares Helsinki 2022 Tuesday
27 July: Week of Nightmares Helsinki 2022 Wednesday
28 July: Helsinki tour and welcome event
29 July: Last Chance Qualifier (Top 5 to EC 2022 Day Two)
30 July: EC 2022 Day One (Top 40 to EC 2022 Day Two)
31 July: Best of the Rest
31 July: EC 2022 Day Two

Follow the EC in social media:
• Facebook: Vampire: the Eternal Struggle European Championship 2022
• Twitter: 2022Ec
• Instagram: vtesec2022


VTES NAC 2022 Bill Troxel

BILL TROXEL IS THE 2022 NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPION!

Didn´t we have an image of an happy Bill Troxel in the last newsletter too? Yes we did! But there´s nothing stopping this man.

After many tournaments (eleven to be exact) during the Week of Nightmares, the actual NAC gathered 25 Methuselahs at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio on June 11.

NAC 2022 final table seating
Congratulations Bill Troxel, new North American champion, who took 4 victory points in the final, while Kelly Schultz got 1.

As for all sanctioned and reported events, the full list of participants and their results can be found in the VEKN Event Calendar. A discussion thread with some comments from Bill ("Killiam") is at the VEKN forum.

NAC 2022 final table
Bill´s tournament winning deck: “ABC-EL Daughters: A Chorus of Legionnaires” aka “Pentex Is Still Good”

Crypt (12 cards)
3x Scout Youngwood 8 for qui MEL OBF PRE 2 votes Daughter of Cacophony:6
2x Hillanvale 5 obf FOR MEL Daughter of Cacophony:6
4x La Viuda Blanca 6 for obf AUS NEC Harbinger of Skulls:6
1x Colette 5 dom AUS OBF Malkavian:6
1x Pearl 4 obf AUS Malkavian antitribu:5
1x New Blood 2 san Blood Brother:ANY

Library (90 cards)
Master (15)
2x Agent of Power
1x Fame
1x Frontal Assault
1x Giant's Blood
1x Jake Washington
5x Liquidation
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Wider View

Event (3)
2x FBI Special Affairs Division
1x Unmasking, The

Action (22)
2x Concert Tour
20x Shattering Crescendo

Ally (12)
12x Emerald Legionnaire

Action Modifier (18)
3x Cloak the Gathering
3x Faceless Night
7x Forgotten Labyrinth
4x Swallowed by the Night
1x Veil the Legions

Reaction (20)
2x Delaying Tactics
1x Enhanced Senses
4x Eyes of Argus
2x My Enemy's Enemy
4x On the Qui Vive
7x Telepathic Misdirection

Thanks to the organisers, sponsors and players!


Grand Prix Finland 2022
NOORA HIRVONEN IS THE EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX HYVINKÄÄ CHAMPION!

25 brave Methuselahs turned up for this installment in the very, very long 2019-2022 European Grand Prix circuit. The location was sunny Hyvinkää, Finland, 50 kilometers north of the capital Helsinki. The event was hosted by the Hypecon convention.

VTES 2022 Grand Prix Finland final table seating
Congratulations Noora Hirvonen, who stood victorious even though the final table depicted above had some hard to beat decks and great players. As many already know Noora is also one of the talents that provide art for VTES these days - for example Matasuntha,

Noora´s tournament winning deck: "Girls will find... Inner Circles"
"Mostly after Jorge Delgado's EC2019 Day 1 winning deck - added Archon Investigation, some differentiating stealth, swapped Lucian to Mistress Fanchon, and totally forgot to put in Information Highway (which would have been very nice)."

Crypt (12 cards)
4x Cybele 10 ANI DAI OBF PRE SER THA Baali:4
4x Aksinya Daclau 9 cel tha ANI FOR PRE PRO Gangrel antitribu:4
1x Adana de Sforza 11 aus CEL OBF POT PRE PRO inner circle Brujah:4
1x Lutz von Hohenzollern 11 pot AUS DEM OBF PRE inner circle Malkavian:4
1x Mistress Fanchon 11 AUS CEL DOM OBF THA VIC inner circle Tremere:4
1x Rafael de Corazon 11 AUS CEL DOM OBF PRE inner circle Toreador:4

Library (78 cards)
Master (50)
1x Archon Investigation
15x Ashur Tablets
1x Coven, The
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
2x Golconda: Inner Peace
1x Jake Washington
7x Liquidation
1x Metro Underground
1x Monastery of Shadows
2x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
6x Villein
2x Wider View
7x Zillah's Valley

Event (1)
1x Scourge of the Enochians

Action (4)
2x Entrancement
2x Unleash Hell's Fury

Action Modifier (16)
3x Aire of Elation
2x Elder Impersonation
1x Enkil Cog
2x Faceless Night
3x Into Thin Air
1x Lost in Crowds
2x Spying Mission
1x Swallowed by the Night
1x Veil the Legions

Combat (3)
3x Majesty

Reaction (4)
1x Guard Dogs
2x Lost in Translation
1x Rat's Warning

Thanks to the organisers, sponsors and players!


Grand Prix Aix en Provence 2022 finalistsAlain in the middle.

ALAIN GREINER IS THE EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX AIX EN PROVENCE CHAMPION! 

23 Methuselahs came to the fifth Grand Prix tournament in Aix en Provence, just north of Marseille, southern France.

Grand Prix Aix en Provence 2022 final table

Congratulations Alain Greiner, winning the final with 1.5 vp (Jonathan, Bertrand and Orian got 0,5 each).

Alains tournament winning deck: "Dark Girls" (Original design by Jorge Delgado)

Crypt (12 cards)
1x Lutz von Hohenzollern 11 pot AUS DEM OBF PRE Malkavian:4
1x Mistress Fanchon 11 AUS CEL DOM OBF THA VIC Tremere:4
1x Rafael de Corazon 11 AUS CEL DOM OBF PRE Toreador:4
1x Adana de Sforza 11 aus CEL OBF POT PRE PRO Brujah:4
2x Tupdog 1 POT VIS Gargoyle:3
3x Aksinya Daclau 9 cel tha ANI FOR PRE PRO Gangrel antitribu:4
3x Cybele 10 ANI DAI OBF PRE SER THA Baali:4

Library: 80 cards
Master (51 cards)
1x Giant's Blood
2x Golconda: Inner Peace
1x Jake Washington
7x Liquidation
1x Archon Investigation
1x Metro Underground
1x Monastery of Shadows
2x Parthenon, The
15x Ashur Tablets
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
6x Villein
7x Zillah's Valley
1x Blind Spot
1x Coven, The
2x Dreams of the Sphinx

Event (1 card)
1x Scourge of the Enochians

Action (4 cards)
2x Entrancement
2x Unleash Hell's Fury

Action Modifier (20 cards)
2x Elder Impersonation
1x Enkil Cog
3x Faceless Night
5x Into Thin Air
3x Spying Mission
3x Aire of Elation
3x Swallowed by the Night

Combat (3 cards)
3x Majesty

Reaction (4 cards)
1x Guard Dogs
2x Lost in Translation
1x Rat's Warning

Thanks to the organisers, sponsors and players!


Spain VTES 2022 finalistsRicardo in the middle.

RICARDO FELIPE MARTA IS THE 2022 NATIONAL CHAMPION OF SPAIN! (139 PLAYERS!!)

Yes, that is correct, no less than 139 Methuselahas turned up to play the Spanish national championship in Zaragoza on June 4. One gets the feeling there was some built up longing for physical gaming after the pandemic, but also the translation to Spanish has of course contributed to increased populatity of the game and this huge event attendance.

Spain VTES 2022 floor

 

Spain 2022 final table seatingCongratulations to the champion Ricardo Filipe Marta, who gathered 4 victory points in the final, Manuel Teódulo got 1. A special site with some more statistics about the tournament can be found at bcncrisis.com.

Ricardo´s tournament winning deck: "Girls Will Find Boys"

Crypt (12 cards)
1x Lutz von Hohenzollern 11 pot AUS DEM OBF PRE Malkavian:4
2x Nana Buruku 8 ANI POT PRE Guruhi:4
1x Nergal 10 AUS DAI FOR OBF PRE THA Baali:5
1x Rafael de Corazon 11 AUS CEL DOM OBF PRE Toreador:4
1x Adana de Sforza 11 aus CEL OBF POT PRE PRO Brujah:4
3x Aksinya Daclau 9 cel tha ANI FOR PRE PRO Gangrel antitribu:4
3x Cybele 10 ANI DAI OBF PRE SER THA Baali:4

Library: 90 cards
Master (56 cards)
1x Giant's Blood
1x Golconda: Inner Peace
2x Information Highway
1x Jake Washington
9x Liquidation
1x Archon Investigation
1x Metro Underground
1x Misdirection
1x Monastery of Shadows
3x Parthenon, The
15x Ashur Tablets
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
7x Villein
1x Wider View
6x Zillah's Valley
1x Blind Spot
1x Coven, The
1x Direct Intervention
2x Dreams of the Sphinx

Event (1 cards)
1x Narrow Minds

Action (5 cards)
2x Entrancement
1x Intimidation
2x Unleash Hell's Fury

Political Action (2 cards)
1x Ancilla Empowerment
1x Autarkis Persecution

Action Modifier (17 cards)
2x Elder Impersonation
1x Enkil Cog
2x Faceless Night
1x Hide the Mind
1x Into Thin Air
2x Lost in Crowds
1x Mirror Walk
1x Perfect Clarity
1x Perfect Paragon
1x Veil the Legions
2x Aire of Elation
2x Cloak the Gathering

Combat (4 cards)
4x Majesty

Reaction (5 cards)
1x Guard Dogs
1x Lost in Translation
1x Mental Maze
1x Confusion of the Eye
1x Delaying Tactics

Thanks to the organisers, sponsors and players!


VTES France 2022 finalists All the finalists, "Nuggetz" with the trophy.

THOMAS "NUGGETZ" CORNAZ IS THE 2022 NATIONAL CHAMPION OF FRANCE!

This year´s French national championship was held in Metz in the northeastern part of France, just south of Luxemburg and also close to both Belgium and Germany. 43 eager Methuselahs turned up for the battle, and 1 game win with 6 victory points was needed to play the final.

VTES France 2022 floor VTES France 2022 trophy

France 2022 final table seating

Congratulations Thomas "Nuggetz" Cornaz! He had 2 game wins and 7,5 victory points in the preliminary rounds, and won the final with 3 victory points. Axel and Marius got 1 victory point each.

Thomas tournament winning deck: "Take cover Mr Emerald"

Crypt (12 cards)
5x Erlik 10 AUS CEL FOR NEC THN Harbinger of Skulls:3
2x Babalawo Alafin 7 AUS FOR NEC ani Harbinger of Skulls:4
1x Erebus 7 AUS FOR NEC dem Harbinger of Skulls:3
1x Mina Grotius 6 FOR NEC cel Harbinger of Skulls:3
1x Nicomedes 5 aus for nec vic Harbinger of Skulls:4
1x Solomon Batanea 5 AUS FOR nec Harbinger of Skulls:4
1x Anarch Convert 1

Library (90 cards)
Master (17)
1x Barrens, The
3x Direct Intervention
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant’s Blood
6x Liquidation
1x Pentex™ Subversion
1x Powerbase : Montreal
2x Vessel

Event (3)
1x FBI Special Affairs Division
2x Unmasking, The

Ally (12)
12x Emerald Legionnaire

Equipment (1)
1x Bowl of Convergence

Retainer (2)
2x Vengeful Spirit

Action Modifier (18)
4x Breath of Thanatos
5x Call of the Hungry Dead
6x Spectral Divination
3x Trochomancy

Combat (17)
3x Aura Reading
7x Rolling with the Punches
2x Spiritual Intervention
5x Target Vitals

Reaction (20)
4x Delaying Tactics
5x Eyes of Argus
1x My Enemy's Enemy
4x On the Qui Vive
6x Telepathic Misdirection

Thanks to the organisers, sponsors and players!


Singapore VTES demo 2022 Singapore VTES demo 2022

DEMO GAMES ALL OVER THE WORLD!

• The above images are from a VTES demo day held in Singapore. If you want to know more about this and other VTES activities in that part of the world, join the Facebook groups V:tES Singapore and VTES Asia.

• VTES demos was held at the XI convention of tabletop games "Queremos jugar” (We want to play):

 

Seville VTES demo 2022-06 Seville VTES demo 2022-06


Some words from Moisés Gámez, prince of Seville, Spain:

"On May 28 and 29, the XI convention “Queremos jugar” on board and role-playing games and other related hobbies were held in Dos Hermanas (Seville), with an attendance that exceeded 1,500 visitors. Members of the player community in Seville were there on the first day promoting the game. We were able to teach dozens of interested fans during the day, who were given a First Blood deck (courtesy of BlackChantry) to get started.

Nowadays games have become very popular, and this was noted in the type of visitors the convention had, totally family-oriented and very diverse in age, from little ones to very old. Fortunately, those times when the hobby was just a thing for guys are far away.

We were able to explain the game to several groups of parents with their children, to couples, to groups of friends and even to old players who rediscovered the game and did not know that it was still being published. The explanation had to be adapted to each type of group, but being able to teach them with the First Blood decks in Spanish and with such simple mechanics made things much easier.

At the end of the day we were exhausted, but with several new contacts of interested people who can join our community. Definitely, a day to remember."

Are you also interested in demoing VTES but need some help? Have a talk with your local game store or gaming event, and with your local Prince or National Coordinator, or with Black Chantry directly!

Great VTES content

GREAT VTES CONTENT

• After a long wait, Amaranth Deck Builder has now been updated with cards up to the New Blood release. Much appreciated!

Reading Between the Lyons is a new series of short videos by Kelly Lyons about VTES - in English!

Bleed de Tres is a new podcast in Spanish about VTES, with already seven episodes out. Check it out!

• Nathaneal Zheng continues to produce nice VTES videos in English, for example a good chat with "Disco Stu" about the upcoming Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce precon decks.


Black Chantry logo

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: JUNE 2022

• First: If you didn´t read Ben Peal´s production update in the last newsletter, go ahead and do that, it outlines plans for the coming year or so.

• Printing of Fall of London is somewhat delayed, but not much. Should be done in July, in English, French and Spanish. A first draft of the next batch of preconstructed decks (Ravnos, Salubri, Tzimisce) has been handed over from the design team to the rules director for a review of wordings. After that, they wil be sent to the playtest groups for a first round of testing. These decks look incredibly cool! If testing leaves them somewhat recognizable – and even makes them better – you will not be disappointed.

• We were a bit sloppy with the words in the last newsletter, sorry for that. What is next for upload to VTES Legacy Card Singles is the bloodlines cards that did not appear in Heirs of the Blood. Hopefully all of them have art that need not to be replaced or any other problems that prevents them from being published again.

• The Black Chantry crew are doing some event appearances this summer, for example Ben organised the NAC, Henrik and Hugh were at Grand Prix Malmö and Ginés, Henrik, Hugh and Vincent will be at the EC in Helsinki. They look forward to seeing you there, getting ousted and answering all kinds of impossible questions! :)

VTES Fifth EditionVTES Products 2021-11

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


World of Darkness Nexus 

RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS

Our picks this month:

• World of Darkness Nexus is the brand new official digital toolset for playing Vampire: The Masquerade. It is hosted on the Demiplane platform and features all kinds of nice features, such as a digital reader, rules search, playgroup matchmaking and video, voice and text chat for your digital game sessions. Early access is now open, have it a try!

• Hunter: The Reckoning is the second White Wolf tabletop roleplaying game to be given a new edition under the Paradox Interactive "Fifth Edition" lore. The Core Rulebook is produced by Renegade Game Studios and available here. For a nice preview of the creeds (the types of hunters), have a look at Martyna´s presentation in World of Darkness News of June 3.

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


 

CALENDAR

Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Belgium x2
Brazil x3
Chile
Finland x8
France
Poland
Portugal
Spain x5
Sweden
Great Britain
United States

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 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 


You said you would start months ago.

Mitch Mueller VTES Fall of London

Preview art from Fall of London by Mitch Mueller.

 

Greetings fellow Methuselahs,

VTES Production Update

VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE PRODUCTION UPDATE MAY 2022

Greetings, fellow Kindred! It's been a good while since I provided an update on where we at Black Chantry are at with Vampire: The Eternal Struggle releases and what's down the road. Last year, we had the release of the Banu Haqim, Brujah, Gangrel, and Ministry pre-constructed decks, as well as the successful Kickstarter for Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Unleashed. Additionally, we made available on Drivethrucards.com the legacy reprints of Followers of Set, Giovanni, Lasombra, and Ravnos, and Latin translations of the Fifth Edition decks.

So far this year, we've made the English language versions of the Fifth Edition decks available on Drivethrucards, as well as legacy reprints of Pander, Salubri, and Tzimisce. April saw the release of the New Blood introductory decks for Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere, and Ventrue. We're presently waiting for the artwork to be complete for the Fall of London storyline set. Mike Nudd is the lead designer for it, and he also is a co-author of the Fall of London book for Vampire: The Masquerade. We're expecting a summer release for that set.

We have a change in plans for what's coming after Fall of London. We had originally planned to release a follow-up set for the Camarilla, filling out the Group 6 crypts and adding new library cards for them. However, with the heavy Camarilla themes of the New Blood decks and Fall of London, we felt we'd be oversaturating you with Camarilla-related cards. We're presently planning for these cards – including the new Justicars! – to be in your hands in first quarter of 2023.

Coming after Fall of London, planned for the fourth of 2022, is another wave of pre-constructed decks. This time they'll be Ravnos, Salubri, and Tzimisce, updated accordingly for the Vampire: The Masquerade V5 canon. We're presently vetting the templating and mechanics of the cards and we'll have them sent off for playtesting in June. We'll have more information for you about those as we get closer to their release.

Heading into 2023, there's the aforementioned Camarilla follow-up set, and following that we'll have pre-constructed decks for the Lasombra and Hecata. We'll also be wanting to release follow-up sets for all of the clans, as we're definitely not done creating crypt and library cards for them. I'm frequently asked when we'll be making new cards for the Sabbat. We're very early in the concept and planning stages for the Sabbat, so they're further down the production timeline, but we're definitely excited for them.

I wish you all great summer nights and I look forward to seeing you at tournaments this year!

- Ben Peal, Product Director Black Chantry Productions


VTES EC2022

TIME TO PRE-REGISTER FOR THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP!

Good times for fans of tournament VTES coming up! Many championships in June, including the North American Championship and the Spanish Nationals with HUGE expected attendance. And please don´t forget to sign up for the European Championship in Helsiniki in July - the pre-registration is at the official site. Do this to help the organisers, and you can also see the exciting list of already registered Methuselahs that you will oust!


VTES Atlantic Cup 2022 champion

BILL TROXEL IS THE ATLANTIC CUP 2022 CHAMPION!

A report from organiser Lionel Panhaleux:

The Atlantic Cup was held on the 21st and 22nd of May, a massive online tournament with more than 50 players. The struggle was real, with a great variety of decks. The Brujah G6 were very much in the place with 4 decks, as the Malkavians and their antitribu with 7 decks. The Baali were very present too, with three The Unnamed decks and 4 vote decks featuring Arishat and G6 princes and Barons – variations around Bram van Stappen´s “Princes of Anarch” that won the Belgian Nationals last year in the hands of Emiliano Imeroni.

The Giovanni continue to be loved, but did not score much - we've seen Del Giorgio using Protean and Isabel and her friends bleeding or trying to invoke Khazar's Diary. The big classics were also represented, with a couple of !Ventrue Grinders, Girls, Parliament of Shadows and Goratrix Wall. Anarchs are very much in fashion, and more niche builds were present, like Anarch Gargoyles with their Razor Bats and Seterpenre playing so many Anarch tri-disciplines. They were also a few (four) Emerald Legionnaire decks, accompanied by Kurshid, or Summoned through History, or more unexpectedly, with a few Imbueds.

The bar for the finals was 1 game win and 6 victory points.

Atlantic Cup 2022 final table

Bill Troxel won with his very hatable deck called “Dumpster Fire of Pure Hate”. He explains: “As a hater of the Imbued, I see this deck as representing many of the worst aspects of the game, hence the title. Other unlikeable facets include Veil of Darkness (hardest card-text in the game to abide by), Liquidation, Unmasking, and of course, Emerald Legionnaire. If the mechanics of Ashur Tablets weren't antithetical to the workings of this deck, I would have searched for a way to include them as well.” More of Bill´s own comments can be found at this thread at the VEKN Forum.

Congratulations Bill, champion with an impressive 5 victory points in the final. For those who did not see the finals, the replay can still be seen at Twitch.

The tournament winning deck: “Dumpster Fire of Pure Hate”

Crypt (13 cards, min=15 max=24 avg=4.92)
1x François "Warden" Loehr 3 def jud Judge:4
2x Jack "Hannibal137" Harmon 4 def jud Defender:4
4x Jennie "Cassie247" Orne 5 inn jud vis Visionary:4
1x Marion "Teacher193" Perks 4 red jud Redeemer:4
4x Mina Grotius 6 cel FOR NEC Harbinger of Skulls:3
1x Nicomedes 5 aus for nec vic Harbinger of Skulls:4

Library (90 cards)
Master (29)
1x Barrens, The
1x Church of Vindicated Faith, The
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fortschritt Library
1x Fragment of the Book of Nod
9x Liquidation
4x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Specialization
4x Unity
4x Wider View

Conviction (13)
3x React with Conviction
7x Second Sight
3x Strike with Conviction

Ally (14)
2x Carlton Van Wyk
10x Emerald Legionnaire
2x Vagabond Mystic

Equipment (6)
2x Crusader Sword, The
1x Heart of Nizchetus
3x Ivory Bow

Power (8)
1x Champion
3x Discern
4x Vigilance

Action Modifier (3)
1x Call of the Hungry Dead
2x Change of Target

Action Modifier/Combat (5)
5x Breath of Thanatos

Action Modifier/Reaction (1)
1x Spectral Divination

Reaction (3)
1x Determine
2x On the Qui Vive

Event (8)
1x Nightmares upon Nightmares
1x Recalled to the Founder
4x Unmasking, The
2x Veil of Darkness

Thanks to all organisers, players and sponsors! 


Zaragoza VTES demos

DOUBLE DEMO GAMES IN ZARAGOZA!

A report by Raúl Perfecto, Prince of Zaragoza

La Goblinera
On May 7, 2022, we had the opportunity to present the New Blood pre-constructed decks at the Club de Rol La Goblinera located in Zaragoza, Spain. Coordinated by the club managers, we reached an impressive participation of 15 Methuselahs, which meant three tables of play with all five Camarilla clans in contention.

At the tables, there were both new players and former Methuselahs who had their cards gathering dust in a drawer. In common, the illusion shown by all, since the vast majority are also fans of the World of Darkness game saga.

A highlight: the great playability of the New Blood decks. A First Blood deck was also delivered. This material is the perfect invitation to start or to re-engage in the game.

We add a few photos to illustrate the great atmosphere enjoyed at the event.

Allow me to thank all the participants, La Goblinera for organizing everything and the Ancillae Iñigo Orbegozo and Alejandro Galve, who generously gave their time to teach the attendees how to play.

El Quinto Elemento
On May 14, 2022, we ran more demo games at the Quinto Elemento game shop in Zaragoza, Spain. Once again, 15 Methuselahs turned out to learn how to play VTES. However, since we had already run out of New Blood decks, we used First Blood decks instead. The demo games were a total success.


In summary, we can say with great pride that the Zaragoza VTES community is more undead than ever!

Are you also interested in demoing VTES but need some help? Have a talk with your local game store or gaming event, and with your local Prince or National Coordinator, or with Black Chantry directly!


Modena VTES 2022

DEMO GAMES AT MODENA PLAY!

Like we told you in the last newsletter, the Italian national coordinatior Simone Zanni organised demo games at big games fair Modena Play in Modena, Italy on May 20-22. He tells us it was a great experience! Everyone that played a demo got a free New Blood deck, and a lot of new and lapsed players were reached! He used some variant rules to make the demo games go faster: 20 pool, first victory point ends the game and 4 transfers for everyone from start.

Modena VTES 2022 Modena VTES 2022

 


Mexico City VTES Sealed
SEALED DECK TOURNAMENT IN MEXICO CITY!

We want to mention this, as it is a variant tournament event that is a bit more beginner friendly than the normal ones. Organiser Luis Jiménez tells us:

This was a tournament-like event with 15 players at Orc Stories in Mexico City, playing only with New Blood decks, opened at the event. It was a really fun and enjoyable gaming experience, the new embraces were really comfortable and two of them made awesome games against experienced Methuselahs. Thanks to Black Chantry for the prize support for these kind of events!

Mexico City VTES May 2022

Mexico City VTES May 2022 Mexico City VTES May 2022
 

VTES rules questions May 2022

RULES Q & A

Black Chantry Rules Director Vincent Ripoll answers some rules questions:

Q: "Bleed bounce" cards such as Deflection, Telepathic Misdirection or Bait and Switch state that they are only usable "after blocks are declined." What does it mean exactly? Does "Declining to block" mean that you haven't tried to block with anything? Or does it still count as "Declining to block" if you attempt to block but your minion gets out-stealthed?
A: Methuselahs can decline to block if they don't attempt to block at all, or once they are done with all their (unsuccessful) block attempts. A Methuselah cannot decline to block in the middle of a block attempt, but once there's no more ongoing block attempt (usually because it has failed due to a lack of intercept or a card that makes the block fail), that Methuselah can simply state that they don't make any further block attempts: they “decline to block”.

This is equivalent of the defending Methuselah to "pass" instead of declaring a block attempt, letting other Methuselahs the opportunity to block with cards such as Eagle Sight.
Once every Methuselah has declined to block, the impulse goes back to the acting Methuselah who can increase the bleed or pass, then to the defending Methuselah to can play "bleed bounce" cards, etc.

As reminded on those cards, changing the target of a bleed creates a new blocking opportunity for every Methuselah, starting with the new target of the bleed and following the sequencing order (see the Rulebook). For instance:
A declares a bleed action against B with Nonu Dis.
B, who controls Kuyén and Martina Srnankova (+1 intercept during bleed actions), tries to block with Kuyén.
A plays Swallowed by the Night for +1 stealth.
B does not increase Kuyén's intercept: the block fails. B could attempt to block with Martina Srnankova but decides to "decline to block". Other Methuselahs pass too.
A plays Aire of Elation to increase the bleed.
B plays Bait and Switch to change the target of the bleed to C.
C can now attempt to block the action.

By using this stratagem, B "forces" A to play stealth in order to hinder C once the bleed is redirected to him or her. However, if someone cancels the Bait and Switch as it is played, then B cannot backpedal and try to block with Martina since the block opportunities are over.

Q: Some cards ask the Methuselah to do “A or B” during the unlock or master phase, for instance Ex Nihilo (“During your master phase, this vampire burns 1 blood or is burned.”) Does the Methuselah get the choice between A and B?
A: Yes (this is a reversal for some cards). Those cards will be reprinted with “do B unless you do A” to make the choice more explicit. Some cards such as Fear of Mekhet don’t leave the choice and are explicitly written so (“During this vampire's unlock phase, they burn 5 blood. If they cannot burn the blood, they are burned.”)

Q: If Kuyén (with the text “Animals (allies and retainers) cost Kuyén 1 fewer blood or pool.”) recruits or employs an animal using Piper or Pack Alpha, is the cost of the animal reduced?
A: Yes, the cost applies as normal, this includes any applicable cost reduction or increase. Some cards (e.g., Charisma) only reduce the recruit or employ actions. In that case, the cost of recruiting an ally or employing a retainer through Piper or Pack Alpha is not reduced since those are not actions.

Do you have rules questions? The easiest way to get them answered correctly is to ask at the VEKN Forum, in the VEKN Facebook group or on the VTES Discord, sometimes by the rules director himself!


VTES stool
VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE STOOL OF THE MONTH

... rumored to belong to Dennis D of Belgium, but never trust VTES rumors!
 


Black Chantry logo

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: MAY 2022

• See the update from Ben Peal at the top of this newsletter!

• With lots of new cards up on the "pick and choose" VTES Legacy Card Singles service on Drivethrucards, the most common question to the Black Chantry customer support is, by far, "Will there be a European print-on-demand place soon?". The answer is: Unknown! Black Chantry have searched for such a printing partner facility since the company started, but so far with no luck. Do you have advice? Don´t hesitate to contract !

• The Fall of Sabbat set is being translated to non-English languages. June is printing time!

• Both Anthology 1 and the 25th Anniverary set is being reprinted.

• The five deck Fifth Edition box is being reprinted this summer, along with a updated rulebook.

• The bloodlines cards that did not appear in Heirs of the Blood are next up for upload on Legacy Card Singles, so those cards are now scrutinezed for rewordings, retemplating and maybe even nerfing!

VTES Fifth EditionVTES Products 2021-11

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


Swansong Hunter

RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS

Our two picks for highlights from the past month are:

Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong was released, available on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. This is a narrative-driven, single-player game where you take on the role of a vampire investigating Kindred-related mysteries in Boston.

• There´s a new Hunter: The Reckoning rulebook preview available for free download at Renegade Game Studios. This meaty excerpt explains some key concepts of the game, such as The Reckoning and The Drive. One wonders if anything of this finds it´s way into VTES soon?

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


 

CALENDAR

Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (booked so far) are in:
Spain x4
France x4
Czech Republic
Online
United States x14
Denmark
Finland
Chile x2
Poland
Italy
Brazil

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 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 


You can complain about the game or you can learn the rules.

Mitchell the Headhunter VTES John Bolton

John Boltons art for the 1996 classic The Sabbat card
Mitchell, the Headhunter, now in print again.

Greetings fellow Methuselahs,

MORE VTES NOW ON PRINT-ON-DEMAND!

Since earlier, cards for Assamites, Giovanni, Lasombra, Followers of Set and Ravnos are up on VTES Legacy Singles at Drivethrucards, and now also cards for Panders, Salubri and Tzimisce are available. Totally it´s 159 cards in this April update, including many player favourites such as War Ghoul, Legacy of Pander and Neutral Guard.

Hugh Angseesing, CEO of Black Chantry Productions, why did you prioritise these clans for print-on-demand now?
- We have put clans and disciplines on Drivethrucards as they have rejoined Vampire: the Masquerade Fifth Edition and we can see which cards won’t be being reused in a future retail set – for example Vicissitude cards will instead be represented with an amalgam power for the new Tzimisce.

Are there any plans to put more “staples” on print-on-demand, so one can order a whole custom-built deck?
- More cards will be added, and this will include more staples. However, our focus is getting cards which are not available in retail up first.

A lot of VTES players live in Europe – is there any hope for a print-on-demand service on other continents than America soon?
- We continue to work with Drivethrucards to locate a print-on-demand printer in Europe, which is about 60 percent of the VTES community. Covid and rapid changes to costs have slowed that process down along with printers not being totally comfortable with the “on demand” bit, i.e. please, don’t print 1,000 Eyes of the Dead just in case…
  However, note that UK and EU buyers now should have value added taxes calculated at checkout to reduce much of the risk of ordering overseas, though I understand postage is still more than we would like.

What comes next for print-on-demand?
- Our rules director AND layout guy Vincent Ripoll are working on the next cards to go up on Drivethrucards, and that is more bloodlines cards. The process involves us looking at the card set we have chosen and checking that we have the artwork or deciding if the artwork can be refreshed. Sometimes brand new art is needed, but a card needs to sell about 1,500 copies to breakeven, so some cards might not be worth creating new art for! Then we review the card for simple changes, for example, cost reduction or perhaps added stealth, and then modernising the card text to fit current wording templates.
  About that last bit, we’d love to hear from YOU if you have simple recommendations for cards going up to be fixed. But our focus with design and playtesters is on new cards rather than updating everything that has come before!

Concerning such modifications, this time only three cards have significant funtional changes:
• Lambach (ADV): Unlocking is now optional.
• Radu Bistri: Gaining blood is now optional.
• Szechenyi Jolán, Mother of Horrors: Unlocking her is now optional and happens during the discard phase.
These changes will be tournament legal on May 27, 2022.

To make it easier to navigate the offer, a complete list with all Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Legacy Singles is available separately.

Note also that all nine Fifth Edition preconstructed decks are now available on Drivethrucards, in English, Spanish, French and Latin!
 


EC 2022 Helsiniki

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2022 IN HELSINKI IS _ON_!

Finally, Finland gets to welcome you to a EC. The official website is updated with information about Helsinki, Ropecon and the tournaments, and the pre-registration will begin soon. Stay tuned for that in May!

Follow the EC in social media:
• Facebook: Vampire: the Eternal Struggle European Championship 2022
• Twitter: 2022Ec
• Instagram: vtesec2022


VTES NC Spain 2022 

SEVERAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS COMING UP!

SPANISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2022
June 4 in Zaragoza, Spain
For details, please visit V:TES España Noticias y Eventos

FRENCH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2022
June 5 in Metz, France
For details, please visit Championnat de France 2022 VTES

DANISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2022
June 11 in Store Andst, Denmark
For details, please visit V:TES - Danish National Championship

Also, of course, keep an eye on the VEKN Event Calendar - VEKN sanctioned events are always registered there!


 

VTES Atlantic Cup 2022

ATLANTIC CUP 2022 COMING UP!

This will likely be one of the largest online VTES tournaments this year, played on Lackey May 21-22. Learn more on VEKN Forum: Atlantic Cup 2022 and register on discord.gg/QD3GbBuKS2.


 

VTES Modena Diablerieste

NEW GREAT VTES CONTENT

• Know anyone going to big games fair Modena Play in Modena, Italy on May 20-22? There will be VTES demo games hosted by Camarilla Italy (large Vampire LARP community) and Italian National Coordinatior Simone Zanni. Welcome to that booth, and please send curious people there!

• Karl Schaefer of KGS Cards is doing wonders for VTES. Not only does he distribute the game, but he also writes nice articles, most recently a “Evaluating”-series about the New Blood packs. Check them out!

• We have mentioned the AWESOME French-language Carnet d´un Diableriste in this space before, but we have to do it again. Last month it had unboxing-videos of the New Blood packs. Totally great – what wouldn´t we do for this content in English?!

VDB is one of the best online card utility tools, maybe the very best. You probably know that already. But now it has changed URL, so update your booksmarks, etc – now it´s at https://vdb.im

• The Antediluvians are awakening! VTES blog Gaming with Brett S is posting again! Recently new posts are “Quick-Start Guide Update!”, “What we leave behind: A farewell to Serpentis” and “Our powers renewed: A welcome to Protean”. Great to see more original content like this again – VEKN approves, and will share!

• To finish this section: How cool is the below VTES trophy?! Found on Reddit, we really don´t know more. If you made it, or painted it, or adore it - comment everywhere :)


Ficzone VTES 2022

VTES DEMONSTRATION GAMES AT FICZONE

Speaking of great efforts to spread VTES, here´s some words from José Juan Ortiz Fuentes:

On the 2nd and 3rd of April 2022, Ficzone, the most important international film, comic book and game festival in southern Spain, took place in Granada, with around 30,000 people in attendance from different cities throughout the country.

A few Methuselahs from the city had the opportunity to attend on Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., to promote our beloved game by teaching VTES to anyone willing to give it a try.

In the morning, we had no clue of how many people would be interested in learning the game. In fact, we had brought our decks to play some games while waiting for possible Embraces to show up... We were greatly surprised when, shortly after starting our first game, the first interested group of people dropped by, followed by more and more people. By the end of the day, we had already taught 41 people to play VTES!

VTES Ficzone 2022 VTES Ficzone 2022
VTES Ficzone 2022 VTES Ficzone 2022
VTES Ficzone 2022 VTES Ficzone 2022

For these demos we used the First Blood decks, which are ideal in this type of event. We gave one of them to each participant, as well as some of this year's promo cards. We tried to spend no more than 35-40 minutes for each group of participants, getting them started with a general introduction to the game (story, background, etc.) and then playing no more than 2-3 effective turns (with vampires in play) per player, focusing mainly on the phases of the game, vampire stats (fundamentally disciplines), and having played some bleed, politics and combat.

At the end of the day, we raffled a Pact with Nephandi deck, some Nefertiti advanced promos, and a few First Blood decks.

VTES Ficzone 2022

We have to say that VTES was spectacularly well-received, exceeding our expectations by far. The participants were delighted with it, being aware of the complexity of its rules, and super happy at the end of the demo games.

So, although we were half hoarse and exhausted by the end of the event, and we will not know how many of these players will end up playing regularly with each other (time will tell), we left the festival proud and extremely satisfied with the great reception and acceptance of VTES and, of course, for having shared that day with some great people who have made us spend a memorable event that, without a doubt, we would definitely repeat.

Until next year, Ficzone!

Oh, of course we have to thank Ginés, Hugh and Arnau for having provided us with all the promotional material used (cards, decks, etc.). Without you this would not have been possible, thank you very much!

Are you also interested in demoing VTES but need some help? Have a talk with your local game store or gaming event, and with your local Prince or National Coordinator, or with Black Chantry directly!


Black Chantry logo

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: APRIL 2022

• The Pander, Salubri and Tzimisce cards are now up on VTES Legacy Singles at Drivethrucards - see the top of this newsletter. Next up are more bloodlines cards.

• The five New Blood introductory decks were officially released on April 17, and so they will be tournament legal on May 17. They are now available in stores all over the world.

• CEO Hugh guested long interview in Vtes México Youtube channel - practically everything anyone ever wondered about anything was answered there. Must-see-TV!

• Fall of London is not ready for print yet, but release is still mid 2022.

VTES Fifth EditionVTES Products 2021-11

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


 

World of Darkness Unbound

RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS

Three highlights from the past month:

• Paradox Interactive are taking the Vampire Jam one step further with World of Darkness Unbound! This allows you to create your own digital game based on the Vampire: The Masquerade IP and even monetize it, as long as you follow a licensing agreement and the rules of itch.io.

The Second Inquisition sourcebook for Vampire: The Masquerade is now available at Renegade Game Studios.

Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt from Sharkmob was released in April, so why not go crawl some rooftops in Prague?

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


 

CALENDAR

Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (booked so far) are in:

Spain x4
USA x3
Brazil x3
Mexico
Online (International)
Chile
France
UK
Hungary
Netherlands
Czech Republic
Portugal
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!



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 


No one cares what you do. They care what you can do for them.