Francisco Tébar VTES Preview 2023-03Preview art by Francisco Tébar for an upcoming Vampire: The Eternal Struggle card.

Greetings fellow Methuselahs,

VTES.se 2023

THE VTES EC 2023 SITE IS UP - WITH REGISTRATION!

Welcome to Barcelona on October 13-15! Check out the official Vampire: The Eternal Struggle European Championship 2023 website, and please register as soon as you find possible. If you do so before July 15, you get the event exclusive playmat. The VEKN and all involved aim to make this the largest and best VTES event ever - hope to see you there!


MORE EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX 2023 DATES SET!

The Grand Prix coordinator Orian Gissler tells us the following dates are now set:

• Grand Prix Liverpool, UK: May 20 at Kimos.

• Grand Prix Brussels, Belgium: July 16 at Outpost.

• Grand Prix Essen, Germany: September 17 at White Rabbit.

For more information about this, keep an eye on:

• The Grand Prix Facebook page

• The VEKN Event announcement forum

• The VEKN European Grand Prix page



ARNAU DÍEZ SANS IS THE SPANISH CHAMPION 2023!

Words by Ginés Quiñonero:

On March 25th, 146 Methuselahs gathered to participate in the Spanish Championship of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, which was held at the conference rooms of the Hilton Garden Inn hotel in the beautiful city of Seville.

VTES Spain 2023 entrance Spain 2023 floor
Spain 2023 floor Spain 2023 floor
Spain 2023 floor Spain 2023 floor


There were players from up to seven different nationalities (Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Chile) as well as a wide range of ages, ranging from 12 years old and above.

Both new and old blood mixed in such a great contest within a magnificent atmosphere of camaraderie, respect, and savoir faire.

Streaming of some previous rounds is at Twitch: videos/1775091845 and videos/1775301643

Standings before the final:
Arnau Diez Sans: 3 GW’s and 13 VP’s
David Tomasetti: 3 GW’s and 12 P’s
David Fraile: 3 GW’s and 8 VP’s
Alejandro Rodríguez: 2 GW’s and 10 VP’s
Tomàs López Jiménez: 2 GW’s and 9 VP’s

Spain VTES 2023 seating

 

Spain 2023 VTES final table

Congratulations Arnau Díez, 2023 Spanish champion! Final standings and all finalist deck lists are available at bcncrisis. Streaming of the final round is at Twitch: videos/1775522766.

Arnau´s tournament winning deck: "Atraco" (“robbery” in English)

Crypt (12 cards, min=17 max=30 avg=6)
1x Abraham Mellon         8 AUS DOM OBF for tha              Malkavian:6
1x Alexander Silverson    8 AUS DOM OBF pre       prince     Malkavian:6
1x Gilbert Duane          7 AUS DOM OBF           baron      Malkavian:6
1x Jason "Son" Newberry   7 AUS DOM OBF pre       primogen   Malkavian:6
1x Nathaniel Bordruff     7 DOM OBF POT ani                  Nosferatu:6
1x Andi Liu               6 DOM aus obf pre       prince     Malkavian:6
1x Darius Shirazi         6 AUS DOM obf                      Malkavian:5
1x Gelasia Fotiou         6 AUS DOM obf pre                  Malkavian:6
1x Colette                5 AUS OBF dom                      Malkavian:6
1x Evan Klein             5 OBF aus dom pre                  Malkavian:6
1x Sully                  4 aus dom obf                      Malkavian:6
1x Ashley                 3 dom obf                          Malkavian:6

Library (90 cards)
Master (14; 4 trifle)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
1x Barrens, The
1x Coven, The
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Elder Library
1x Giant's Blood
1x Information Highway
1x Misdirection
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
3x Wash

Event (1)
1x Bitter and Sweet Story, The

Action (17)
17x Govern the Unaligned

Action Modifier (39)
3x Bonding
4x Cloak the Gathering
7x Conditioning
4x Elder Impersonation
3x Faceless Night
2x Foreshadowing Destruction
5x Lost in Crowds
4x Seduction
7x Spying Mission

Action Modifier/Combat (6)
3x Hide the Mind
3x Swallowed by the Night

Reaction (13)
6x Deflection
2x Delaying Tactics
1x My Enemy's Enemy
3x On the Qui Vive
1x Telepathic Misdirection

Some players recreated the scene from the new illustration of Archon Investigation, the promo card commemorating the Spanish national championship that was given to each participant. Original art by Ginés Quinoñero.

VTES Archon Investigation promo Seville 2023 VTES Archon Investigation recreation Seville 2023
VTES Archon Investigation recreation Seville 2023 VTES Archon Investigation recreation Seville 2023


Many thanks to the organizers, who made this tournament a memorable event.

And also, many thanks to all the sponsors: sevillavtes.com/patrocinadores

VTES Judge test Spain 2023

THE FIRST OFFICIAL VEKN JUDGE TEST

During the Spanish championship weekend, on Sunday, March 26th, the test for judges of the Vampire: Elder Kindred Network organized by Arnau Díez, the national coordinator of Spain, and his small team, was taken at the Empire Games store in Seville. It gathered 24 players who wanted to test their knowledge of VTES and tournament rules, and that of card interactions.

Each player received a booklet of sheets with 100 multiple-choice test questions, which also included photocopies of all the cards mentioned in the questions for easy reference.

The required score to pass this test is 80 out of 100 points. After such an intense weekend, Arnau has finally graded all the tests, and five players have obtained their accreditation as VEKN Judges:

 

Judge test results Examinees %
<50 1 4%
50-59 2 8%
60-69 9 38%
70-79 7 29%
80-86 5 21%

 


Judge license.

 

Hugh Angseesing 2023

Q & A WITH BLACK CHANTRY CEO HUGH ANGSEESING

Hugh was lucky enough to travel to the Spanish Nationals in Seville and received a few questions that deserve a write up for everyone:

Q: Will Black Chantry be printing randomised boosters for Vampire: The Eternal Struggle?
A: We have been asked this a lot since day 1, for various reasons: Some players like random boosters. Some shops (but not the majority I have talked to) like random sets to drive sales. Some formats (e.g., draft) work better with random sets. But no, we do not expect to print randomised boosters, but will continue to look at what works for the VTES playerbase and other stakeholders.

Q: Why is Echoes of Gehenna a direct product?
A: This set is a test to see if it is a better way to get older out-of-print cards to players, over print-on-demand, which has some limitations. As the cards relate to historical and/or potential plot points in the World of Darkness, they are not part of Fifth Edition, and that means they cannot be placed into our normal retail or distribution channels. The selection or makeup perhaps could have been better. For our New Bood Banu Haqim, Brujah, Gangrel and Ministry demo decks (coming soon!) we have added a few more volunteers to help us design a good mix.

Q: In Echoes of Gehenna, why 5 copies of vampires that rarely see play and most players already have? Wouldn't 2 copies of each suffice?
A: Possibly, but we've generally assumed more of the new cards would be useful.

Q: Shouldn't Fortschritt Library have been obvious reprint in Echoes of Gehenna?
A: This is a test to see if it is useful or a better way to get cards out to the community. We cannot fit everything in there.

Q: What should I do if an attendee at an event wants a receipt for tax purposes?
A: Black Chantry cannot offer tax or accountancy advice to you. However, if a player would like a receipt or some way to make their attendance official, we would recommend you look at what the requirements are in your jurisdiction (e.g., across much of Europe, it is relatively easy to from non-profit clubs and societies, which can receive funds from members -e.g., subscriptions or event costs.) Things to think about:
- Treat organisers, host venues and attendees with respect.
- Players should not be running events to make a profit. You should cover costs, but not profit.
- Shops, stores, restaurants, hotels and other venues organisers hire may, of course, want and need to make profit on hosting events.

For answers to more Vampire: The Eternal Struggle FAQ, check out the Black Chantry FAQ page.

UK Games Expo

WANT TO HELP AT UK GAMES EXPO?

Black Chantry Productions will be demoing VTES at UK Games Expo; the UK’s largest board game convention. The Team will be sharing space with our friends at Null Signal games, who continue to support Netrunner.

There is space for some volunteers on the team. If you’re interested in working half or one of the days Friday 2nd June - Sunday 4th June, please contact .

Scalpel Tounge 
WORTH A SLOT #2: SCALPEL TONGUE

Words by Vincent Ripoll.

Welcome to our column dedicated to underrated cards you may not even know about, or that never make the cut into your deck. Today, let’s take a look at a card you can play with a (Scalpel) tongue in cheek.

Scalpel Tongue is originally a Toreador primogen power in Vampire: The Masquerade, but fortunately it can be used by a broader audience in VTES. The tournament winning deck archive has quite a few decks including it, but probably not as many as it should. Let me tell you why.

First of all, the card is really easy to include Discipline-wise. Of course, almost all Toreador and Brujah (and their antitribu counterparts) can play the card, but basic Celerity and Presence are widely spread out-of-clan Disciplines. And the card’s true beauty resides in the inferior level of the card rather than in its superior effect that just adds insult to injury.

Of course, one’s first thought would be to ask yourself the questions “Do I need to protect myself from political actions?” and “Is it better in that case than a Delaying Tactics?” or, if you like the spotlights of the stage, “Will it be enough to help me pass the referendums I call?”

If you don’t care about political actions, or if you don’t play those Disciplines, or if your swarm deck really fears that Ancilla Empowerment, you may want to either disregard this issue, or play safe with a Delaying Tactics.

But, if you want to expand your playstyle, read out:

Recently, we have seen a rise of tournament-winning decks based on Arishat’s ability that tend to show that forcing vampires to abstain can be an effective strategy to pass votes as it can easily negate between 2 and 4 votes (or the Prisci block) when played as an action modifier (much like a Bewitching Oration), and even more when played as a reaction since vote modifiers (such as Bewitching Oration, Awe, or Perfect Paragon) are always played by the acting vampire. But the true beauty of the card resides elsewhere: I am talking about the ability to instantaneously lock a vampire.

Usually, before you play your first copy, players will tend to toss all their votes blindly. Even if you don’t have an active part in the referendum (it may be a Kine Resources Contested that’s not specifically against you), you can play a Scalpel Tongue on the right vampire to:
• lock a would-be blocker or bouncer (or any vampire that would like to play reaction cards, such as Delaying Tactics), either during your turn or during another player’s turn. Oh, the fun to lock your prey’s vampire who is giving support to another player's political action!
• lock a vampire before they can act (Lutz is calling a vote? Sorry, Raphael de Corazon, you’ll have to wait until your next turn to do your Flurry of Action + vote trick)

Of course, this works better if you are stuck between two political decks. But if it’s not the case, then the voters are your allies, which is great too.

After you have played your first copy, you’ll notice that players will start to chicken out and to be reluctant to cast votes, making your referendums easier to pass, and the other players’ harder. Choices will have to be made (especially if you are playing Voter Captivation: do we want to cast votes to reduce the number of votes by which the referendum passes, and thus expose our vampires to a Scalpel Tongue, or not?)

The cool thing is that you can also play the card to improve your tap’n’bleed strategy, even if you are not playing votes yourself. The tables are full of cheap barons and princes these days. Chances are that you can play the card at some point for a surprise killing move.

So, keep your tongue sharp, and your opponents in doubt.

Maybe you too feel the urge to write an article like this? Or any other kind of VTES article? Please contact the editor at

Black Chantry logo

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: MARCH 2023

• Like mentioned above, CEO Hugh Angeseesing and art director Ginés Quiñonero from Black Chantry had the pleasure to attend the Spanish championshop in Seville. Of course, this is one of the things they enjoy the most about running the company - it´s always fun to meet the nice and beautiful players of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle!

Spain 2023 Gines QuinoneroGinés Quiñonero signing cards with his art.

• The 54 card Echoes of Gehenna set was revealed, ready to preorder exclusively from blackchantry.shop (why is explained by Hugh in the FAQ above).

• There will be another 54 card set called Shadows of Berlin - the details about that will be revealed really soon!

• The third, and likely last, round of playtesting of the next three preconstructed decks (Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce) is starting soon, but in the meantime some playtest groups have again received extra assigments related to possible errata of problematic cards. That help is invaluable!

• More cards are now available in the very important language Latin! This time it´s the New Blood decks: Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere, Ventrue, and a big bundle with one of each deck.

• The Baali and Daughters of Cacophony added to Drivethrucards Legacy Card Singles are very popular. Top sellers at this moment are Siren's Lure, Unleash Hell's Fury, Contagion, Cybele and Hoitzil ... Hutzily ... that guy, you know who we mean!

Black Chantry Products 2022 October

Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:

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.

Sins of the Sires
RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS

Some highlights from the last thirty days:

• Have you tried any recent Vampire: The Masquerade interactive fiction? “Sins of the Sires” by Natalia Theodoridou is nominated for a Nebula Award in Game Writing category, so that is probably an excellent place to start.

• The World of Darkness News show did a nice preview episode about the upcoming Vampire: The Masquerade Players Guide, highlighting Clan Bane variants, new Salubri character archetypes and much more. The PDF is out April 10!

• The Tremere update for Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt is here, giving us a new archetype: The Tremere Scholar. Available now for free on PS5 and PC!

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

CALENDAR

Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Austria
Belgium
Brazil x6
Czech Republic
Chile x2
Croatia
Finland
France x4
Italy x2
Mexico
Online
Poland x2
Portugal
Spain x5
USA

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 

Audio, video, disco. (I hear, I see, I learn.)

Riccardo Fabiani VTES 2023
Art by Riccardo Fabiani for an upcoming Vampire: The Eternal Struggle card.

Greetings fellow Methuselahs,


WHAT COUNTRY HAS MOST VTES PLAYERS?

That question is, of course, hard to answer, as most Methuselahs enjoy the game around a kitchen table or at their friendly local game store. But we do have statistics over tournament players! The number below shows unique active players, which means those who have registered for at least one tournament in the last 18 months:

VTES active players 2023-02

Some numbers might appear wrong, because all tournaments haven´t been reported yet. Please report your tournaments!

What conclusions can be drawn from these numbers? Well, the pandemic sure did disrupt this neverending game, but translations into Spanish, French and Brazilian Portuguese have helped some countries vitalize the tournament scene. The VEKN will, together with Black Chantry Productions, use these numbers (and others) to promote the game appropriatelly - both where it´s most popular and where it seems to be in decline. Do you have any ideas on how to help? Contact your VEKN National Coordinator or !


Legacy adds 2023-03 
BAALI AND DAUGHTERS OF CACOPHONY NOW ON DRIVETHRUCARDS

Black Chantry keeps putting up old cards for print-on-demand on Drivethrucards.com. The latest addition to the $0.35 per card offer is 87 different cards for Baali, Daimoinon, Daughters of Cacophony and Melpominee, for example, favorites like Huitzilopochtli, Siren´s Lure, Contagion and Choir. You can pick and mix freely among the singles, but also choose bundle offers. Read the full announcement at Blackchantry.com!

Spain promos 2023-03

150 PLAYERS REGISTERED FOR SPANISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS!

As you might know, the 2023 European Championship will be played in Barcelona, Spain in October 14-15. But there´s also a big Nationals in Seville on March 25, with the spectacular set of promo cards depicted above. The maximum number of players (150) has been reached, but there´s a waiting list to join if you desperately want to attend!

Great VTES content 2023-02 GREAT VTES CONTENT

• There is a new VTES podcast IN ENGLISH! In the first episode a highly original weenie Banu Haqim tournament winning deck is analysed – check it out at Youtube: Lies from the Tabletop

• Another new podcast (in Spanish) is El Libro de Noob (“The Book of Noob”), created by very dedicated Chilean players. You can find it on Spotify and surely other places.

• This is an interesting article found on Reddit posted a while ago that you might like. We would like to take the opportunity to remind you of the Reddit channel r/VTES, a nice place to discuss the game! - Top 12 Vampires in Tournament Winning Decks

• Toni, a player from Majorca, has created VTES Time Tracker, a nice tool for casual VTES play. It is currently available only for Android mobile devices, and in Spanish, but we explain how it works here so that you can have a try. The app helps to manage both the game time and the individual players' turns, and can help players become aware of the time they actually consume during games, and realise that time is, like pool counters, a precious resource that must be managed properly.
    At the start of each game, you can define the time limit to be tracked and the number of players. The default time limit is 2 hours, and the default number of players is 5.
    To pass the turn to another player, tap the icon of that player, and their remaining time will begin to decrease. You can pass the turn to any other player.
    If a player is ousted from the game, you must tap their icon for about a second and a half and confirm the action in a pop-up window for security, as it cannot be undone. If the ousted player had any time left, it will be equally distributed among the remaining players.
    A player is automatically ousted if they run out of time.
    The timer can be paused during the game with the pause button, and both resumed and started by tapping the main timer. The game can be ended completely with the finish button.

Have you found any great VTES content anywhere recently, that you think deserve a shout out here? Please contact the editor at

 
VTES - Blood Tears of Kephran
 
WORTH A SLOT #1: BLOOD TEARS OF KEPHRAN

Words by Vincent Ripoll.

Welcome to our new column dedicated to underrated cards you may not even know about, or that never make the cut into your deck. Today, I’d like to talk about a mysterious artifact from the past, the Blood Tears of Kephran!

I didn't dig too much into the lore, but it’s probably a reference to the pharaoh Khafre/Kephren, since the card was first published in the Ancient Hearts expansion. Anyway, when I started playing VTES, I found this card as I was looking for clanless, “unique” cards, because uniqueness was a clear indicator of their power level.

So, what does it do? It’s a unique equipment that allows the vampire to gain 2 blood anytime or prevent 2 damage in combat by sacrificing it. It’s plain, simple, and easily overlooked. But is it really worth the slot? Worth the equip action? Don’t your vampires have better things to do? And it’s unique!
 
Blood Tears of Kephran

First of all, the good thing is that you’ll probably never worry about contesting (well, until now, I’m sure everyone is going to include one in their decks after reading this article). I can remember only one game in 20 years where I saw the Blood Tears of Kephran played by someone else. Even if there is already one on the table (including yours!), it’s possible for its controller to instantaneously burn it to allow you to play one (it’s not like that terrible Dreams of the Sphinx).

It costs an action to equip, sure. But you’ll probably spend at least an action in a game hunting anyway. And equipping with the Blood Tears is very similar to hunting, since it’s at +1 stealth action and you can burn the equipment right away to gain 2 blood instead of one. The strength of the card is that you can also keep the equipment for later of course, for instance for that moment the vampire is empty and would have to hunt, making you miss your window of opportunity to oust your prey.

It costs a slot, right. But you’re probably packing defensive combat cards already. You make a risky move and get blocked by that Tzimisce folk? You have a failsafe against agg damage. A Banu Haqim sucks your vampire dry using Hunger of Marduk? It’s not that bad, you can regain 2 blood after combat or prevent that final additional strike intended to torporize or burn your empty vampire. You’re playing combat but couldn’t play Taste of Vitae to get blood back? Why not taste the blood of a pharaoh?

Winning a game is often a question of tempo, having the right card or resources at the right moment. One way to do this is to carefully prepare for your moment of glory, and Blood Tears of Kephran is a very useful card for this. If you want to bleed your prey for 6 with Govern the Unaligned + Conditioning, better do it late in the game when your prey is lower on pool and has less resources to defend themselves, rather than early in the game (which would probably get you dirty looks from your predator and the other players on the table). Use that early action to instead get you an Egyptian drink. It’s an innocuous action, your predator will love it (until you use it to pay that Govern + Conditioning later), and you will have your hands and mind freer for the rest of the game.

Obviously, the card doesn’t fit in all the decks. I tend to play it in decks where I have free actions (Shalmath, Nakhthorheb, or any deck with access to a free unlock such as Instantaneous Transformation, Forced March or a British Museum), but if you’re happy as a clam each time you get The Coven, you should probably consider including it.

So take your time, have a pint of fresh blood handy in your cooler ready, and enjoy!

PS: Of course, someone unknowingly played Blood Years of Kephran in their British Museum deck right after I wrote this article in our Paris' Cup tournament. Check the TWDA for the deck list ;)

Vincent has threated to return with more Worth A Slot articles, but maybe you too feel the urge to write something similar? Or any other kind of VTES article? Please contact the editor at
 
 
Milwaukee VTES demo 2023
 
RECRUITMENT EXERCISE IN MILWAUKEE

The VEKN tries to spotlight not only big tournaments, but also demo games and other heroic activity. Some words from David Robins:

VTES has risen from torpor in the domain of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On February 11, a Demo Day and Casual Play event took place at Game Universe in Brookfield, WI. Assisted by the Baron in Absentia of Madison Josh Whelan, Prince of Milwaukee David Robins presided over the event. Two brand new Fledglings demoed the game using V5 starters decks and enjoyed it. One went so far as to purchase Ministry and Gangrel decks for herself and her wife from Whelan's overstock. Two other Neonate players enjoyed a few casual games, while Josh and David explained the game to onlookers, offering to run them through demos when they seemed interested. Although several patrons were there at the store to play that other card game designed by Richard Garfield, only the two decided to take the opportunity to play a demo that day. Overall, the event went well. The store was pleased, the reception was good, and door was left open for future events.

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: FEBRUARY 2023

• In June, two new 54-card packs arrive from the print shop. “Shadows of Berlin” contains reprints of cards that so far have been exclusive in the Berlin Anthology set from 2017 (André the Manipulator, Anne-Marie Bourgeois, The Line, etc.) The other is called “Echoes of Gehenna” and contains reprints of Gehenna event cards – they are now a part of the “legacy line”, so this pack will only be sold through Black Chantry's own webshop. At the same time in June, another print run of Fall of London reaches stores.

• Ben, Mike and Ginés have prepared the third round of playtesting of the next preconstructed decks (Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce), ready to go out to the test groups as this is written. Most of the art is ready (for example Riccardo Fabiani's excellent piece at the top of this newsletter), so after this round is complete and the cards are tweaked a last time, the printing will begin, in English, French and Spanish.

• Additional sleeves stocks are on the way, including ones with Theo Bell and Faceless Night artwork, but these might take some time to arrive as they are being produced by Ultra Pro in China. Distributors will be updated when shipping dates are set.

• More Legacy Card Singles have been added to Drivethrucards (see above in this newsletter).

Black Chantry Products 2022 October

Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:

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.

 

Blood Sigils Vampire The Masquerade Mark Kelly Art by Mark Kelly for Blood Sigils.

RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS

We mentioned some of these in last month's newsletter, but now there more details about things we look forward to:

• The Vampire: The Masquerade Player's Guide will be available on March 27 in PDF if you have preordered the physical book (which will be in stores in June).

• Blood Sigils will be a sourcebook about Blood Sorcery and Thin-blooded Alchemy, available in stores in early August (that too with a PDF for preorder buyers earlier).

• Renegade Game Studios are producing a new, updated version of the Vampire: The Masquerade Discipline & Blood Magic card deck. 212 cards sometime later this year, surely handy for your gaming table.

• If you missed getting hold of the 2020 version of Chicago by Night, you get a new chance as it gets a new print run from Renegade, available sometime in the third quarter. Like the earlier editions, this is a highly recommended setting book for Vampire: The Masquerade.

• The Hunters and the Hunted is an expansion of Vampire: The Masquerade Rivals expandable card game, also playable as a stand alone game. This time the factions are The Ministry, Caitiff and two different Hunter decks. Preorders are open.

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

 

CALENDAR

Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Brazil x8
Chile x3
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland x2
France x2
Hungary
Italy
Mexico
Online
Spain x8
USA x4

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 

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

Mark Kelly VTES Tzimisce 

Art by Mark Kelly for the upcoming Tzimisce preconstructed deck.

Greetings fellow Methuselahs,


Barcelona 2023

EC 2023 IN BARCELONA IS PLAYED ON 14-15 OCTOBER

We are delighted to announce the first rough schedule for the VTES European Championship 2023, played in Barcelona, Spain. This is what we know so far:

• October 9-12: For four days there will be 2 rounds + final tournaments every afternoon/evening.

• Friday, October 13: 3 rounds + final tournament

• Saturday, October 14: EC Day 1

• Sunday, October 15: EC Day 2

There will be an official EC website up soon with more details, which we, of course, will return to in these newsletters and all other channels too. Hope to see you ALL in Spain!

Grand Prix Liverpool 2023

WELCOME TO GRAND PRIX LIVERPOOL ON MAY 20!

The next installment in the current VTES European Grand Prix circuit will be played in Liverpool, England on May 20. For more information about this, keep an eye on:

• The Grand Prix Facebook page

• The VEKN Event announcement forum

• The VEKN European Grand Prix page

OTHER UPCOMING MAJOR TOURNAMENTS

Among the many upcoming events we want to spotlight the following larger ones:

• Spanish National Championship in Seville, March 25

• Belgian National Championship in Mechelen, May 7

• France National Championship in Vitrolles, June 3

• Swiss National Championship in Geneva, July 1-2

• Norwegian National Championship in Moss, August 5

 
VEKN Code of Ethics
 
VEKN ETHICS COMMITTEE NOTICE

The Ethics Committee met on 29th January 2023 to discuss an incident involving two players at an event in Joensuu, Finland, that took place on Wednesday 28th December 2022. As a result of the discussion and submission of statements from attendees, both players are suspended from organised events for 180 days, until the end of Thursday 27th July 2023.

The Ethics Committee wants to remind organisers and players of their individual responsibilities to treat others with respect, and furthermore recommends organisers and players break / timeout games where needed to allow tempers to cool and civility to return.
 
 
 
 
IMPORTANT VEKN DOCUMENTS NOW ALSO IN SPANISH
 
Now you can access these three VEKN documents also in Spanish. A link to the PDF is on the top of each page:
 
 
 
 
Translations by Ginés Quiñonero.
 
 
Praxis Seizure London
 
PRAXIS SEIZURES

A solid sign of that the VTES community is growing is the steady influx of new volunteer organisers. Below is a bunch that has signed up since last time we reported about it, in November. Thanks guys - you make tournament play possible!

• Chile - Prince of Providencia: Pablo Cabrera
 
• Chile - Prince of Santiago: Casio Celedón

• Chile - Prince of Santiago: Cristian Gutiérrez (Yes, there can be multiple Princes without contest!)
 
• Chile - Prince of Villa Alemana: Iván Gómez
 
• Finland - Prince of Jyväskylä: Pasi Karjalainen

• Italy - Prince of Bologna: Alessio Bianchi

• USA - Prince of Dallas: Chris Franklin

• United Kingdom - Prince of Norwich: James Freimuller
 
• France - National Coordinator: Christophe Baltazar

• Italy - National Coordinator: Miro Albertazzi
 
• Spain - Prince of Córdoba: Mariano Carbonero

• Spain - Prince of Móstoles: Miguel Porras Benito

• Brazil - Prince of Itaocara: Paulo José Aragão Picinini
 
• Brazil - Prince of Poços de Caldas: Isabel Carneiro
 

Black Chantry logo

BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: JANUARY 2023

• Black Chantry celebrates the first year of its webshop with a special bundle for anyone that missed the Unleashed Kickstarter. It includes two decks of each of Danse Macabre, The Unaligned 1, The Unaligned 2 and Anarchs Unbound, as well as 8 each of the Kickstarter promo cards Double Deuce, Ashlesha, Len Kanopka and Vivienne Geroux. That is not all! You also get two New Blood: Ventrue decks and promo cards Gilbert Duane, Okulos, Victoria Ash, Karl Schrekt, and Fiorenza Savona. All this with free worldwide shipping. How can anyone resist?

• Not to brag, but according to this summary on www.drivethrucards.com, 42 of the 50 most sold products in the store are VTES cards or bundles. The most selling one is Direct Intervention with that sassy new art by Ginés Quiñonero. YES, a new batch is on its way, its just a matter of physical proofs being printed and (hopefully) approved in the second try.

• Black Chantry are still investigating the possibility of an EU print-on-demand option. Recently there was some print tests done. However, nothing has worked out yet and it may be that it is not feasible due to price and quality. Never stop hoping!

• The second round of playtesting of the next three preconstructed decks (Ravnos, Salubri, Tzimisce) has been concluded and massive reports has been compiled by the test coordinators. Those are now being digested by the design team prior to a third round of playtesting. Thanks to all testers for your work!

Black Chantry Products 2022 October

Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Drivethrucards.com and other stores:

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.

 

World of Darkness news Jan 2023

RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS

As usual the World of Darkness team over at Paradox Interactive has a lot of things going on:

• Vampire: The Masquerade Players Guide is now available for preorder over at Renegade Game Studios. This book will be a collection of all the seven clans not in the Fifth Edition core book, but also with much new stuff, including new predator types, a new system for coteries, new merits and flaws, new alternative Banes for every clan, additional guidelines for many mechanics, clarifications of some rules and no less than 40 new discipline powers! (Imagine what this means for new VTES cards!)

• Hunter: The Reckoning gets several new things, of which we think "Lines Drawn In Blood" is most exciting. It´s a book with four stories that can be played stand alone or connected into a larger game chronicle. This is also available for preorder now.

• Vampire: The Masquerade: Rivals, also known as "That other Vampire card game" gets a new expansion soon, called "Justice and Mercy", adding Banu Haqim and Salubri to the game.

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

 

CALENDAR

Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Brazil x8
Chile x3
Finland
Great Britain
Hungary x2
Lithuania
Mexico
Online x3
Poland x2
Singapore x2
Spain x7
Sweden
USA x5

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 

Don´t be yourself. Be the one that you want to be.

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