At the beginning of the year I set myself the task of coming up with some grand, epic events for the world of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle which could be played over the course of 2015.

Looking as usual to the role-playing game for inspiration, I came across a wealth of material concerning the crossover between Vampire: The Masquerade and Mage: The Ascension.

The Mage book Blood Treachery originally published in 2000 as part of White Wolf's 'Year of Revelations' explores the fact that some mages decided that a quick path to power was to steal the accumulated magical knowledge of vampires. And after dealing with vampires they discovered that Kindred vitae contained a magical essence which could be used in their own workings. A conflict then ensues between mages and Thaumaturgists which reaches - after facing mutual, assured destruction - something of a stalemate.

The Vampire book The Red Sign originally published in 2003 as part of White Wolf's 'Time of Judgement' puts forth the idea that a magical ritual might exist which when cast would return a vampire of any age to his or her original mortal self. This ritual is sought by a number of parties - some vampires yearn for their mortality, while others hope to emasculate their enemies. Mortal mages also seek the ritual, hoping either to restore the humanity of old friends, or to rid the world of the curse of vampirism.

I have already been speaking to Ben Peal and other members of the community about potentially expanding the role of allies within the game. Some of you may recall the Werewolf-themed Ragnarok event which I created for the European Championship in 2013, which I would deem to be a successful - although limited - experiment. I figure it's time now for something a little more ambitious.

The Red Sign will be a new Storyline running from 1st March to 31st August 2015 that will explore these narrative themes within V:TES. The Storyline will include a full set of new mage allies and new library cards usable exclusively by mages. The format will also include some new vampires, and an alternate win condition for each game. The cards and full rules will be published soon.

For this event I will be collating the game results - and feedback on the cards themselves - all of which will inform the future story of the game. The six-month time frame is intended to give each play group plenty of time to plan their events and perfect their deck designs. As per the last few events, this Storyline will be played in single games, and can be played multiple times by each group.

For those of you that will be at the European Championship in Warsaw in August I hope to see - and play in - at least one Storyline game using The Red Sign over the course of that weekend.

 

Mike Nudd

Storyline Coordinator

Of Interest to Scholars and Slanderers:

Hi, everyone!

It might be winter, but you're not letting it keep you in torpor!  The event schedule is picking up!  We have a full batch of updates for you this week.

Design Team News:

Gábor Németh has submitted both of the pieces he's working on for the Storyline reward cards.  Nagyon szépen köszönöm Gábor!  The last remaining piece has been commissioned, and we're awaiting its completion.  If the last piece isn't ready in time for the release of the cards, we'll go ahead with the rest of the cards and we'll release the last one when the art is complete.

Speaking of the release date, it turns out that our Rules Director, Pascal Bertrand, is on vacation in South America through February 15.  As a result, we need to push back the release of the storyline reward cards to February 21.  Playtesting of the Anarchs set will begin sometime after that, when Pascal and the Rules Team have done their final vetting of card text.

Storyline News:

Storyline Coordinator Mike Nudd has been working diligently on the storyline event for this year.  We're expecting a launch date of sometime in March.  More information on that when Mike makes that available.

Rules Team News:

The Rules Team has posted the list of players currently qualified for the 2015 Continental Championship season.  If you want to know who is currently qualified, just look here:

http://www.vekn.net/cc_qualified_2015.html

Major Events:

TempleCon starts only a week from now!  It runs from February 5 to February 8.  V:TES events include a Standard Constructed tournament, a Continental Qualifier, a draft tournament, a lot of open play.  Apart from V:TES, the convention is full of gaming, music, vendors, performers, and much more!  Check out www.templecon.org for more info.

Budapest, Hungary will be hosting the V:TES Hungarian Grand Prix from March 20 to March 22 at the Danubius Hotel Flamenco.  Events include a Nations Cup tournament, a draft tournament, a Continental Qualifier, and a Standard Constructed "Grand Prix" tournament.  The winner of the "Grand Prix" tournament will have their picture used in the next V:EKN expansion.  Check out http://www.vteshungariangrandprix.hu/ for more information and to preregister.

Artist News:

Francesc Grimalt has published a book called "Sanatoria: Historia Dos Nenos Raros", which is about insane children:

http://centrosanatoria.blogspot.com.es

It can be purchased here:

http://www.baiaedicions.net/galego/sanatoria-historia-dos-nenos-raros.html

Heather Kreiter's upcoming convention schedule:

Feb. 14-16 NY PonyCon
Feb 20 – Art’s Alive – Sharon, PA
March 13-15 Cleveland Concoction
April 10-12 - Steel City Con
April 24-26 C2E2

Ken Meyer, Jr.'s upcoming event schedule:

Magic: the Gathering San Jose Grand Prix, January 30 - February 1
Magic: the Gathering Grand Prix Las Vegas, May 28-31

Upcoming Tournaments:

http://vekn.net/event-calendar

31 January 2015

Elder Kingdom
Elche, Valenciana, Comunidad, Spain
10:30 - 19:30
Standard Constructed
http://vekn.net/event-calendar/event/7937

The Reboleira Codex
Amadora, Lisboa, Portugal
10:30 - 20:30
Standard Constructed
http://vekn.net/event-calendar/event/7949

06 February 2015

Focus the Blood: TempleCon
Warwick, Rhode Island, United States
19:00 - 23:59
Standard Constructed
http://vekn.net/event-calendar/event/7884

07 Feburary 2015

Northeast Regional VTES Qualifier: TempleCon
Warwick, Rhode Island, United States
13:00 - 23:59
Continental Qualifier
http://vekn.net/event-calendar/event/7885

Permanency Stockholm 2015
Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden
11:00 - 20:00
Standard Constructed
http://vekn.net/event-calendar/event/7959

08 Feburary 2015

Funeral Wake: TempleCon
Warwick, Rhode Island, United States
11:00 - 17:00
Limited
http://vekn.net/event-calendar/event/7886

Keystone Kine
Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
10:00 - 17:00
Standard Constructed
http://vekn.net/event-calendar/event/7911

Fee Stake Brescia
Brescia, Lombardia, Italy
11:00 - 20:00
Standard Constructed
http://vekn.net/event-calendar/event/7946

Year of Fortune MMXV
Itaocara, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
10:00 - 20:00
Standard Constructed
http://vekn.net/event-calendar/event/7954

Camarilla Rulez
Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
11:00 - 18:00
Standard Constructed
http://vekn.net/event-calendar/event/7955

14 February 2015

MQF SBN: The Unaligned
Soissons, Picardie, France
10:00 - 20:00
Unsanctioned Tournament - proxies allowed!
http://vekn.net/event-calendar/event/7951

15 February 2015

London Love
London, United Kingdom
11:00 - 20:00
Standard Constructed
http://vekn.net/event-calendar/event/7882

22 February 2015

End of Torpid Winter
Vilnius, Lithuania
12:00 - 21:00
Standard Constructed
http://vekn.net/event-calendar/event/7957


Music Selection:

Kittin is High, by Miss Kittin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cRDEHnD3Bs

Drink Selection:

Ben Nevis 10 Year Old
https://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/ben-nevis-10-year-old-whisky/?srh=1

Today's Quote:

"The mirror mixes with the eye.
Soon will it be the very eye.
Soon will the eye that was
The very mirror be.
Death, the final image, will shine
Transparently not otherwise
Than as the dark sun described
With such faint brightnesses."
(Laur

Of Interest to Scholars and Slanderers:
Happy New Year, everyone!
One of the VEKN's New Year's resolutions is to be proactive about keeping you all updated with news and events for Vampire: the Eternal Struggle. To that end, we decided to create a regular newsletter to be posted to vekn.net and emailed to the Princes. In this newsletter, we'll have updates and annoucements about tournaments, rulings, Storyline events, Continental Championships, the Design Team, our artists, and general announcements. If you'd like to be added to the email distribution list (open to everyone, not just Princes) or if you'd like to be removed from it, PM BenPeal on vekn.net or reply to this email.
- Ben Peal, Design Team Leader

Design Team News:
Round One of playtesting for the Storyline reward cards has concluded. Mike and I have finished making changes based on the playtest feedback and Round Two will begin the weekend of January 3. We have artwork for all but three of the cards, and the remaining three pieces have been commissioned. The release date has been pushed back from February 1 to February 8 to allow for a full month of playtest for Round Two.
Design of the Anarch-themed set continues. We expect to wrap that up in mid-January, with playtesting to begin at the end of the month to coincide with the conclusion of the Storyline reward cards playtest.

Rules Team Rulings:
The following tournament rules changes were announced on December 2, 2014 and are active as of January 1, 2015:

=====
Tournament Rules changes
3.1.1. Round Time Limits
Each round in the tournament has a time limit. The minimum time limit used in V:TES rounds is two hours. The time limit must be announced before play begins. The final round may last longer than the preliminary rounds, at the judge's option.
When the round is over, the judge will notify all players. The game will end with the current minion action - if any -, or at the end of the current phase, if the notification didn't happen during the minion phase.
=====

Continental Championships Qualifications changes

How To Qualify
[...]
The winner of a sanctioned, rated, standard constructed tournament of 8 or more players will be qualified for all Continental Championships.
[...]

Major Events:

The first Continental Qualifiers of the 2015 season are happening this weekend! On Saturday, January 3, there's one in San Jose, California, USA, and on Sunday, January 4, there's one in Utrecht, Netherlands. Check out the tournament listing below for more details.

There will be a weekend of V:TES at TempleCon in Warwick, Rhode Island, USA, from February 5 to February 8. Events include a Standard Constructed tournament, a Continental Qualifier, a draft tournament, a lot of open play, and a convention full of gaming, music, vendors, performers, and much more! Check out www.templecon.org for more info.

Budapest, Hungary will be hosting the V:TES Hungarian Grand Prix from March 20 to March 22 at the Danubius Hotel Flamenco. Events include a Nations Cup tournament, a draft tournament, a Continental Qualifier, and a Standard Constructed "Grand Prix" tournament. The winner of the "Grand Prix" tournament will have their picture used in the next V:EKN expansion. Check out www.vteshungariangrandprix.hu/ for more information and to preregister.

The 2015 European Championships will be held from August 27 to August 30 in Warsaw, Poland at the Warsaw Plaza Hotel. More info coming soon!

The 2015 North American Championships will be held from June 3 to June 7 at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio, with the Week of Nightmares events preceding the convention. More info coming soon!

Artist News:

Heather Kreiter has a sale going on! From now until Jan. 11 you can get 40% off of your Etsy purchase of $80 or more with code: HOLYCRAP
Riccardo Fabiani has self-published a sketch diary of his travels over the past ten years, called "Road Trippin":

Upcoming Tournaments:

Thursday, 01 January 2015

Year of Fortune
Fundao, Espírito Santo, Brazil
15:00 - 23:00
Standard Constructed

Saturday, 03 January 2015

Funeral Wake
San Jose, California, USA
11:00 – 17:00
Standard Constructed

Zephyr: Silicon Valley Regional Qualifier
San Jose, California, USA
18:00 - 24:00
Continental Qualifier

Sunday, 04 January 2015

Dutch ECQ 2015: Killer Vampires From Outer Space
Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
11:00 - 20:00
National Qualifier

1° Monster VTES Italian Tournament
Collegno, Piemonte, Italy
10:30 - 20:00
Standard Constructed

Sunday, 11 January 2015

Gear Up
Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
10:00 - 17:00
Standard Constructed

King's Favor, Paris
Paris, Île-de-France, France
10:00 - 19:00
Standard Constructed

17 January 2015

Torneig Sebastià
Palma de Mallorca, Illes Balears, Spain
10:00 - 19:00
Standard Constructed

24 January 2015

Gird Minions
Redmond, Washington, USA
11:00 - 19:30
Standard Constructed

Music Selection:

Sanri, by She Past Away

Drink Selection:
Old Ballantruan

Today's Quote:
"Boca que besas a distancia y llamas
En silencio, pastilla de locura
Color de sed y húmeda de llamas … " Delmira Agustini
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