Art by Carmen Cornet from the upcoming VTES 25th Anniversary product (see Black Chantry April Summary below).

Greetings fellow Methuselahs
Sometimes when I feel particularly kind I volunteer to train junior Methuselahs at my local Elysium gym. The most common question they have when it comes to hand-to-hand combat is “When do I extract my claws?”. My answer is of course “Whenever you feel like!”, but there are some common options. One is to show your claws very early in a battle, to maybe scare off your opponent [play Rötschreck if blocking], or to unharness some dammed creativity [play claws to draw into other cards]. Another very common option is to wait as long as possible, to avoid wasting energy on claw-sprouting in vain. So, I say “Wait until your fist is deep inside their gut!” [play claws in the “Resolve strikes” step, right before combat can be prevented]. And remember youngsters: Always target the vitals!

 
MARIANO CARBONERO ROMAN WINS GRAND PRIX IBERIA 2019
36 players showed up in Lisbon, Portugal on April 27 for this month's installment in the European Grand Prix circuit. The final table looked like this:



FBI Special Affairs Division and Smiling Jack was instrumental in giving Mariano Carbonero 3 victory points in the final, besting Orian Gisslers 2 victory points. Congratulations, Mariano!

The tournament winning deck:

Crypt (12 cards; Capacity min=5 max=10 avg=7.)
1x Nicomedes 5 aus for nec vic Harbinger of Skulls:4
1x Babalawo Alafin 7 ani AUS FOR NEC Harbinger of Skulls:4
2x Zygodat 6 pot AUS NEC Harbinger of Skulls:4
5x Erlik 10 AUS CEL FOR NEC THN Harbinger of Skulls:3
3x Erebus 7 dem AUS FOR NEC Harbinger of Skulls:3

Library: 88 cards
Master (21 cards)
1x Fear of Mekhet
1x Giant's Blood
1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
4x Liquidation
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Perfectionist
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Rack, The
1x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
1x Sudden Reversal
2x Vessel
3x Villein
1x Blood Doll
2x Dreams of the Sphinx

Action (1 cards)
1x Aranthebes, The Immortal

Action Modifier (12 cards)
2x Forced March
4x Freak Drive
2x Shroud Mastery
2x Inevitability of the Void
2x Call of the Hungry Dead

Action Modifier/Combat (4 cards)
4x Breath of Thanatos

Action Modifier/Reaction (2 cards)
2x Spectral Divination

Combat (8 cards)
2x Fake Out
2x Spiritual Intervention
2x Target Vitals
2x Blight

Ally (10 cards)
1x Ossian
8x Emerald Legionnaire
1x Carlton Van Wyk

Retainer (3 cards)
3x Vengeful Spirit

Equipment (5 cards)
1x Erebus Mask
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Sniper Rifle
1x Unlicensed Taxicab
1x Bowl of Convergence

Reaction (17 cards)
5x Eyes of Argus
2x Funeral Wake
1x My Enemy's Enemy
2x On the Qui Vive
5x Telepathic Misdirection
2x Delaying Tactics

Event (5 cards)
2x FBI Special Affairs Division
3x Unmasking, The

Check out the VEKN.net forum thread for a bit more details. For more information on the European Grand Prix, check out the official VEG page at VEKN.net

Thanks to all attendants, the organizers and our sponsor Ultra Pro.

MAILTON SILVA IS THE 2019 BRAZILIAN CHAMPION
The Brazil National Championship 2019 was played on April 20 in Fortaleza. 21 participants turned up, and after three ecstatic preliminary rounds, the five lucky and skilled finalists were these (also above):

Congratulations Mailton Silva, who won with 3 victory points, Renato Torres got 2.

Mailtons tournament winning deck: Resistência Anarch

Crypt (12):
4x Anarch Convert
1x Beetleman
1x Bobby Lemon
1x Celeste Lamontagne
1x Petra
3x Nana Buruku
1x Stick

Library (90):
Masters (26):
10x Anarch Revolt
1x Archon Investigation
1x The Anarch Free Press
1x The Parthenon
1x Giant´s Blood
2x Haven Uncovered
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fame
1x Tension in the Ranks
1x Libertas
1x Poacher Hunting Ground
1x Sudden Reversal
2x Villein
2x Wider View

Actions (10):
8x Deep Song
2x Taunt the Caged Beast

Combat (44):
14x Aid from Bats
9x Carrion Crows
5x Target Vitals
4x Terror Frenzy
2x Canine Horde
5x Taste of Vitae
2x Groundfighting
3x Hell-for-Leather

Reactions (9):
5x Cat´s Guidance
2x On the Qui Vive
2x Wake with Evening´s Freshness

Events (1):
1x Narrow Minds

See also the related VEKN.net forum thread.

Thanks to all participants, and extra thanks to organizer Mauro Ramos and judge Fernando Carvalho.

MAJOR EVENTS IN MAY
We have some large events coming up this month - hopefully many of you can attend at least one of them!

 ACCOMMODATION IN PARIS FOR EC 2019
Still not decided on attending the European Championship in August? Just do it! We´ll have a blast! Now the friendly organizers have negotiated a great prize at a hotel close to the tournament venue. Please have a look at the Accomodation section of the official EC site.

RULES Q & A
VEKN Rules Director Vincent Ripoll answers some common questions related to recently reprinted cards:

Q: Unleash Hell's Fury attempts to block a vampire with superior Obtenebration. Can the vampire play Tenebrous Form at superior? If so, what happens?
A: Unleash Hell's Fury can block as if it were a 9-capacity infernal vampire. Tenebrous Form can be played at superior, and since the Unleash Hell's Fury cannot burn blood, it cannot attempt to block this action anymore.

Q: Do Carrion Crows do 1 less damage on Nephandus?
A: Nephandus reduces only the damage of "strike or damaging effect made by the opposing minion". The damage from Carrion Crows is not inflicted by the opposing minion -- it is "environmental". Therefore, Nephandus takes the full damage from the Carrion Crows!

Q: I played a Fame on one of my prey's vampire, and my prey gets ousted. What happens to the Fame?
A: As a general rule, master cards are controlled by the Methuselah who played them, and minion cards by the controller of the minion they are attached to. When your prey is ousted, all the cards your prey controls are removed from the game. Since you control the Fame, that card goes to your ash heap.

Q: Are cards removed from the game public?
A: Yes, as long as the player who owns them is not ousted. (You cannot have a peek at an ousted player's library !)

Q: A vampire with a Fame is in combat and receives enough aggravated damage to burn. Does the controller of the vampire burn 3 pool? 
A: The controller of the vampire burns 3 pool after it goes to torpor. Since the vampire is burned outright, it does not go to torpor, and its controller does not lose 3 pool.

Q: Is it possible to play Obedience if not unlocked?
A: Obedience is a reaction card. By default, reaction cards can only be played by unlocked ready minions. You would need to play a wake effect first, or find a way to unlock.

Q: Is it possible to play cards such as vote modifiers or a Delaying Tactics during a blood hunt referendum?
A: There are multiple ways for a blood hunt referendum to be called:
 1) it is called automatically after a diablerie
 2) it is explicitly called by a card (Abactor, Bernard the Scourge...)
A blood hunt referendum is handled just like any other referendum  — "blood hunt" only means that the effect of the referendum is to burn the minion it is called on, and some cards have interactions with that kind of referendum (Urban Jungle, Ariadne...) However, most of the time it results from a diablerie (case 1/). In that case, and only in that case, a special rule applies:
"When a vampire commits diablerie, a referendum is automatically conducted to determine if a blood hunt will be called on the diablerist. If the referendum passes, a blood hunt is called, and the diablerist is burned. This referendum is not an action, so it cannot be blocked, and action modifiers and reaction cards cannot be played. Otherwise, this referendum is handled just like any other. "

Q: Is it possible to play a Freak Drive at superior if a Mirror Walk at superior was played, and the action was blocked.
A: Mirror Walk ends the action before block resolution. Since the action is ended, it is no longer possible to play other action modifier cards (or effects) for that action.

Q: What is the "block resolution"?
A: If a minion is blocked, the block resolves by locking the blocking minion, and making the acting and blocking minion enter combat with each other. The "lock + enter combat" part is called the block resolution, and is atomic.
    Obedience is played "if this vampire is about to enter combat with an acting younger vampire" (that is, right before entering combat). If the "enter combat" is part of a block resolution (e.g., the vampire attempts to block and is about to be successful), the card is played and ends the action before the "lock + enter combat" block resolution: therefore, the blocking vampire is not locked.
    Change of Target is played "if this minion is blocked, before block resolution." Since Change of Target ends the action, the block resolution never happens. Therefore, the blocking minion is not locked for blocking. (It would require explicit card text such as Mirror Walk that says: "lock the blocking minion and end the action before block resolution").

Q: So one can now forget to use Perfectionist and The Rack, but can one still forget to use The Coven?
A: Perfectionist and The Rack now say: "you can..." which is an optional effect. The Coven, on the other side, has two effects: an optional one ("lock to add 2 blood...") and a mandatory effect ("During your discard phase, your predator takes control of The Coven."). The optional effect can be "forgotten". However, when you are about to end your discard, the impulse moves to your predator who must take control of the Coven. Therefore, your predator can get an unlocked Coven if you forgot to lock it.

Do you have rules questions? The best place to ask them is either in the VEKN.net forum (subsection Rules Questions) or in the VEKN Facebook group.

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: APRIL 2019

• Promo Pack 1 was release this month, a bundle of 56 crypt cards that can be awarded to players by event organizers and at stores. Read more at Blackchantry.com.

• Henrik of Black Chantry hosted demo games at Swedens largest gaming convention Gothcon in Gothenburg April 19-21. Many new and returning Methuselahs were embraced. Are you too interested in running VTES demo games? Drop a mail to , and the company will try to support you!

• The first round of playtesting of the decks for the Camarilla-themed boxed set for late 2019 release is ending in mid May.

• Black Chantry will release a 25th Anniversary product this summer. The art preview by Carmen Cornet found at the top of this newsletter will feature on a reprinted classic card in this product - maybe you can guess what card it is? More about this will be revealed soon, keep watch in Black Chantry channels. And read the interview with Carmen Cornet in a previous newsletter!

• For more information about current projects and the future, see Ben Peal's product update in the March newsletter.


• Currently ten 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
- Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck
- Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck
- Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck
- Anthology I bundle

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

NO SHORTAGE OF VAMPIRE ACTION
After last months spectacular reveal of "Bloodlines 2", White Wolf has announced three new board game licenses:

• Legacy board game "Vampire: The Masquerade Heritage" is just ending a very successful Kickstarter - over 4,000 backers have pledged $380,000!

• "Vampire: The Masquerade Blood Feud" is a Mega Board Game from Everything Epic that will hit Kickstarter in June.

• "Vampire: The Masquerade Chapters" is a legacy style, story-driven roleplaying board game by Flyos Games that willl be on Kickstarter in early 2020.

Additionally, licensee Crossroad Press is making all the Vampire: The Masquerade Clan Novels available in e-pub formats.

 
CALENDAR
Upcoming events:
May 4: Bloody Tide - Mollina, Spain
May 4: Belgrade Vampires Tournament - Belgrade, Serbia
May 4: May the Fourth bleed with you - Pretoria, South Africa
May 5: Winter is Leaving - Mataró, Catalunya, Spain
May 5: Domingo de Shamblings 2019 - Palma de Mallorca, Spain
May 5: Fast Reaction: Columbus - Columbus, United States
May 11: New Blood - Vigo, Spain
May 11: 10th Hiekkaharju Nightmare - Vantaa, Finland
May 11: Forced Awakening Reykjavík - Reykjavik, Iceland
May 11: Blood feud - Quezon City, Philippines
May 11: Pandemonium! - Cape Town, South Africa
May 11: VTES at Sthlm Tabletop Game Expo 2019 - Stockholm. Sweden
May 12: Championnat de France 2019 - Décines-Charpieu, France
May 18: Fourth Tradition: The Accounting - Amadora, Portugal
May 18: Second Tradition - New Holland, United States
May 25: Enchant Kindred (German Nationals) - Bad Nauheim, Hessen, Germany
May 25: Spanish National 2019 - Barcelona, Spain
May 25: Fee stake: Santiago - Santiago, Chile
May 25: GP Poland - Warsaw, Poland
May 26: Polish Nationals 2019 - Warsaw, Poland
May 26: Spanish National Side Event: two-headed tournament - Barcelona, Spain

For more information on upcoming events see the V:EKN Event Calendar.

CONTACT V:EKN
You can contact the V:EKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at V:EKN.net. Also follow the V:EKN Facebook group, the official V:TES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official V:EKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES

"Those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do.”

Greetings fellow Methuselahs
Many mortals complain about immigrants these nights. They say “their” society is “collapsing”. I wish they had my undying perspective. I was in Latium, recently arisen from a period in cozy torpor, when Alaric the Visigoth besieged Rome – that was a REAL collapse! My ghouls had a hard time keeping me safe. They took me north, so I was in Albion when Vikings painted the cliffs of Lindisfarne with the blood of monks. What about that for a “system failure”?! Believe me, the Kine of today are lucky to be alive in these, the most civilised of times …

VTES PRODUCT UPDATE MARCH 2019

Some words from Ben Peal, Design Director of Black Chantry:

Hey, everyone! I figured I'd give you all an update on where we are now, where we're going, and how we're getting there.

So, where are we now?
Presently out in the wild are four pre-constructed decks to get people up and running with playing the game, five reprint bundles to make important and previously out-of-print cards accessible to both older and newer players, as well as an expansion bundle of entirely new cards to bolster clans that needed help and to inject some new blood into the game. We've also launched the Custom Card Creator for VTES on Drivethrucards.com to allow you to try out your own card ideas.

What´s next?
Arriving in April is a second printing of the Sabbat-themed pre-constructed decks. Coming up very soon afterward are a handful of promo cards in support of some upcoming major events. In the summer we'll celebrate the 25th anniversary of VTES with a special reprint bundle - we'll be digging very deep into the vaults for that one. Somewhere in the middle of all of that we'll be offering new demo decks to retailers so they can help us embrace new players. Following that, towards the end of 2019, we'll release a Camarilla-themed boxed set which will include everything needed to play VTES: pre-constructed decks, blood counters, an Edge marker, and an updated rulebook.

What else is down the road?
In the planning stages are pre-constructed decks for Anarchs as well as a follow-up expansion in support of the Camarilla box set. We're also in serious discussions about translating VTES into languages other than English – we'll have more information on that when we're prepared to announce it. We haven't met our original goals for making more reprints available, so we'll be pursuing that as well. Feedback for the Sabbat pre-constructed decks has been overwhelmingly positive and I expect we'll continue to pursue pre-constructed decks as a vehicle for reprints.

What is not planned?
I don't expect we'll return to the Sabbat until perhaps late 2020. We have a lot to work on for Camarilla and Anarchs for the next year or so, and there's still material to be developed for the Sabbat in V5 that we're waiting on so that the course is made clear. We'd love to work on Bloodlines clans again, particularly the ones we didn't cover in Lost Kindred, but those clans are on an indefinite hold until we get the green light from White Wolf for their development. The Laibon clans aren't on the horizon at this time.

How are we getting there?
VTES has always provided snapshots of the present state of the World of Darkness and it has always permitted you to mix both old and new elements in your games. We will continue that tradition in earnest and we're working with White Wolf to incorporate the developments of Fifth Edition Vampire: the Masquerade into VTES. We're giving the rulebook an overhaul, but it will remain the game as you have played it, just with a proper foundation for the game's mechanics. There are some changes coming, but those changes won't invalidate the cards you own and they'll help us grow and develop the game further. All of this will be tested and improved with the help of the game's community.

Many thanks to all of you for your continued support of the game and for your cameraderie!
 

 THE EC SITE IS UP
The European Championship is this year held in Paris, France on August 16-18 (with a “Week of Nightmares” of other events). The official site is now up, with information about venue, schedule, registration, registered players and a nice “History of VTES” slideshow. Check it out and register for the EC! No qualification required for this year's Day 1 tournament. Note that the booster draft tournament on Friday is limited to 40 players, so first come, first served for that one!

http://www.vekn.fr/ec2019

 
DANIEL GARGULAK WINS CZECH GRAND PRIX 2019
42 players turned up for this year's Czech VEG tournament in Brno March 16.

Standings before the final:
Daniel Gargulak 2 gw 7.5 vp
Tero Aalto 2 gw 7 vp
Kacper Marciniec 2 gw 6 vp
Anna Welpa 2 gw 6 vp
Radoslaw Staszewski 2 gw 5 vp


Final results:
Radoslaw: 1
Anna: 0
Tero: 0
Kacper: 2
Daniel: 2 – Champion because of first seed, congratulations Daniel!

Daniel in the middle.

Thanks to all attendants, the organizers and our sponsor Ultra Pro.

For more information on VEG, check out the official VEG page at VEKN.net

ENRICO DE STEFANO IS THE ITALIAN CHAMPION 2019
26 Methuselahs played the 2019 Italian National Championship in Brescia March 16.

Standings before the final:
Enrico de Stefano 3 gw 8.5 vp (!)
Gianluca Bianco 2 gw 9 vp
Danilo Torrisi 2 gw 8.5 vp
Gabriele Bugliani 2 gw 7 vp
Vanni Borz 2 gw 4.5 vp





Final results:
Enrico: 1.5 – Champion because of first seed, congratulations Enrico!
Danilo: 0
Vanni: 0.5
Gabriele: 1.5
Gianluca: 0

Enrico with the big prize.

Thanks to organizers, attendants and our sponsor Ultra Pro.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT VTES CARD CREATOR
Many of you have tried the Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Card Creator at Drivethrucards, and there have been many questions. Here are some common ones:

Q: What do the cards cost?
A: $0.50 each. There is a minimum 10-card order.

Q: Can I upload my own images to use in Card Creator?
A: Yes. To have them printed you need to own the rights for those images yourself, or use images not under any copyright protection.

Q: Can I order cards created by other customers?
A: Yes, all cards that are visible to you in the webshop can be purchased, as each customer that uploads, as the rights to those images have been cleared by the user agreement. Making a custom-created card public is an option at the end of the card creation process.

Q: Can I use other art that is the property of White Wolf?
A: No, not for printing. The only White Wolf art that you can print on a card created with Card Creator is the art already on the site, uploaded by White Wolf.

Q: Can I name a card what I want?
A: Yes, as long as the name is not protected by trademark (for example company names, brand names, etc.) We also ask you to apply common sense about what can be offensive.

Q: Are the cards I create in Card Creator legal in VEKN sanctioned VTES tournaments?
A: No. Each cards says “Not for legal play”.

Q: Does this mean proxies are no longer legal?
A: No, the existance of Card Creator does not affect the legality of printed proxies – that is covered in section 4.5 of the Tournament Rules.

Q: Is there any way to input artist credit?
A: Not at this point, but we are looking into that. You can always make the artist sign his/her name on the actual image.

Q: Why does it cost so much to ship from Drivethrucards to my country?
A: The cards are printed in the USA. All shipping costs are simply the cost of packaging and what USPS charges for shipping. Drivethrucards's system polls USPS servers in real time to get the shipping costs that are just passed through, without markup. Drivethrucards is actively seeking a European-based printing partner; when they find the right partner, shipping costs will decrease at that time.

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: MARCH 2019

• For clarity: the “March surprise” mentioned in last month's newsletter was the fantastic Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Card Creator. Please take it for a spin!

• Design Guidelines for the VTES Card Creator were published. Remember, these are just guidelines – designing balanced crypt cards for this game is by no way easy, especially if you consider the group rule.

• The four Sabbat pre-constructed decks and Anthology I have been reprinted and should be in stores again in the first week of April.

• For more information about current projects and the future, see Ben Peal's product update above. The first round of playtesting of the decks for the Camarilla-themed boxed set he mentions has just begun!


• Currently ten 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
- Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck
- Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck
- Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck
- Anthology I bundle

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

EMBRACE “BLOODLINES 2”
Many fans of the World of Darkness were waiting, and last week Paradox Interactive and White Wolf Entertainment finally announced that a sequel to the very popular computer RPG “Bloodlines” is in the pipeline.

Created in an act of vampire insurrection, your existence ignites a blood war among the vampire factions who run Seattle. To survive, you’ll choose a clan and enter into uneasy alliances with the competing factions in a world which will react to every choice you make. Unleash your supernatural powers against your prey, but be mindful of your surroundings at all times or run the risk of breaking the Masquerade – the absolute law of secrecy that keeps Vampire society hidden from humanity.

“Bloodlines 2” is developed by Hardsuit Labs and will be ready for you to sink your teeth in by first quarter 2020 (preorders already possible).

https://www.bloodlines2.com

 
CALENDAR
Upcoming events:
April 6: Crepe Party - Vitrolles, France
April 6: Iberia Field Training - Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
April 6: Flesh Bond Stockholm 2019 - Stockholm, Sweden
April 13: Crónicas del Califa V: Bleed entre cirios e incienso - Córdoba, Spain
April 14: Elder Library War 3.0 - Espoo, Finland
April 20: Campeonato Brasileiro 2019 - Fortaleza, Brazil
April 20: High Ground - Monroeville, United States
April 20: Draft French Championship - Lille, France
April 21: Last Daughter of Eve - Lille, France
April 27: Crusade: Santiago - Santiago, Chile
April 27: Grand Prix Iberia 2019 - Lisboa, Portugal
April 28: Oper War - Tappa cittadina Bologna - Bologna, Italy
April 28: Communal Haven: Hotel - Lisboa, Portugal
April 28: Rage Across Appalachia 4 - Asheville, USA

For more information on upcoming events see the V:EKN Event Calendar.

CONTACT V:EKN
You can contact the V:EKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at V:EKN.net. Also follow the V:EKN Facebook group, the official V:TES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the official V:EKN Twitter account @VEKN_VTES

"Today I died. I died yesterday and tomorrow. At night I fly.”