vekn-2014-storyline

SYNOPSIS

Starting in April 2014, and running episodically each month for the six months leading up to the EC, there will be an Anniversary Storyline called "The Returned". Each month, a special Mythic Vampire from the lore of the World of Darkness will be offered to the player base as a ‘thank you’ for continuing to play, support and promote the game.

RULES

As per the last two official Storylines, the format will be single games of V:TES where each player uses a Storyline legal deck (i.e. a crypt 75% of the same clan). The Storyline will also require you to keep a league table of game wins among your playgroup.

Any player who achieves at least one game win during the month will be permitted to use that month’s Mythic Vampire in deck construction for the remaining duration of the Storyline. E.g. a winner in month 1 (April) will be able to use the first Mythic Vampire released in any game over the next 6 months of Storyline games.

And at Mannheim any player attending the EC will be encouraged – regardless of league performance - to use any of the six Mythic Vampires in friendly games played during the course of the event (with the agreement of their opponents).


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Mike Nudd, VEKN Storyline Coordinator

Meerlinda studied the envelope in her hands. She ran her fingers along one edge, savouring the quality of the paper’s weave, contemplating at the same time the contents of the letter inside. Etrius had given her a lot to consider, and she needed time to think.

She did not need to use her supernatural power to sense the anguish and despair of her fellow Councilor. Etrius had devoted centuries to the care and protection of their leader and mentor, the master wizard Tremere. Etrius had finally broken their master’s curse, but instead of being reunited, he had been abandoned.

This surprised Meerlinda somewhat less. Locked in psychic combat with the soul of the Antidliuvan Saulot for aeons, Tremere no doubt needed time to gather his strength and assess the state of the world (and their House’s part of it). News of his return was not yet public, and it seemed reasonable to her that he would exploit that advantage for as long as possible. She was disappointed that her master had not yet thought to contact her directly, but she told herself that it was likely only be a matter of time.

Etrius however appeared now to be beyond all reason. Meerlinda knew that the care of their master had been a thankless task, which is why centuries ago she and the other Councilors had quickly dispersed to claim their territories in other parts of the world. Etrius alone had remained faithful, devoting all of his energies to the task. Now Tremere was free Etrius was no longer needed. From his words Meerlinda could tell that Etrius was spent, and distraught. He was now the one who was broken and in need of a caretaker.

Although she sympathised with her fellow Councilor she was reluctant to heed his call. The Fortschritt was not her home, and she was wary of becoming too embroiled in a foreign political arena. Her smooth alabaster skin and long auburn hair belied it but she was getting too old for such games. In recent nights she had felt weariness in her bones that no amount of meditation or vitae could entirely cleanse.

She was also troubled by the dilemma of her legacy: if she left America who else would counter the machinations of their rivals or the depredations of their enemies in her absence? There were few that she could trust with such a burden and the Pyramid’s strength in the New World was precarious in the aftermath of the Sabbat War. She had invested too much time and energy in her plans and schemes to abandon them now.

Meerlinda leant back in her favourite chair and studied the brass plate on her desk which, etched with magical symbols, had only hours ago delivered the letter for her attention. She concluded that Etrius would have used the arcane mechanism to deliver a priority missive to all of the Council, not just her. Therefore she would leave it to one of the others – Grimgroth or Elaine perhaps – to answer Vienna’s call.

Standing up, she moved over to the fireplace with the letter still in her hand. Although the hearth was not lit she did not need flint or matches to create a flame. With a simple thought the paper came alight at her touch. She discarded the flaming envelope into the hearth and stood still for a moment, watching it become ashes. The ultimate fate of every Kindred who could not withstand the dangers of eternity.

She walked from the fireplace to the window and peered out into the night. Somewhere out there was her master, her friend, and – ages past- once her lover. Reputedly the most powerful wizard to have ever walked the earth, no man or beast had seen his like before or since. She hoped his sojourn was short, as their clan needed him. Etrius needed him. The Clan needed him. She needed him.

She turned and settled back into her chair to wait.

Looking Behind, Looking Ahead

Hello again everyone. I realise that you have not heard much from me, and so please accept my apologies.

Other work and hobby commitments aside, I will freely admit that I have been devoting more time to working on new cards with Ben Peal in my role on the VEKN Design Team.

To an extent it is true also that it has been difficult to gauge the demand for Storyline material. When I was offered the role I was not given any particular mandate by the IC. At the NC meeting in Budapest in 2012 I said I would be glad to provide advice on World of Darkness ideas created by the community and would happily create events for anyone who asked but alas I did not receive any such requests from anyone over the following 12 months.

In my experience creating Storylines for the last two ECs I have come to the conclusion that many people do genuinely enjoy VTES Storyline, but they care far less about the creation or the results than they do about the playing. And faced with the uncertainty of our favourite game’s long-term future it is clearly more important than ever to keep people playing.

So for 2014, the 20th anniversary of VTES, I will be doing things a little differently. Firstly there will be an Anniversary Storyline, playable and available to all in the six months leading up to the next EC in Mannheim. Secondly, each month for the next six months I will be posting a) some suggestions for alternate VTES play formats, and b) some self-contained ‘stock’ Storylines for players to take and use in their own playgroups in their own time and at their own discretion.

Previous EC Storyline Results

Thank you to all players that participated in the previous events that I organised at the EC 2012 (Budapest) and the EC 2013 (Stockholm). Thanks also to those of you that took the time to submit your results to me.

Interestingly, for each event the majority of the games played did not lead to result submissions. I have taken this to mean that people were mostly interested in trying the alternate game format, and were less interested in the impact this had beyond the scope of the games that were played.

For the Budapest Storyline, the most submitted game wins were achieved by the Blood Brothers. In honour of this the Design Team is working on a new Blood Brother crypt card.

For the Stockholm Storyline there was no clear winning clan - in fact of the submitted clans none achieved more than 1 game win each. In consideration of this the Design Team has chosen to take forwards the Brunhilde Advanced crypt card that was offered as part of the event as a 'real' card. (You may also eventually see some of the werewolves again - but all in good time!)

Both of these cards are currently being playtested and will be made available for print and play as soon as they have artwork and are signed off by the Design Team.

2014 Anniversary Storyline – “The Returned”

Starting in April 2014, and running episodically each month for the six months leading up to the EC, there will be an Anniversary Storyline called "The Returned".

Each month, a special Mythic Vampire from the lore of the World of Darkness will be offered to the player base as a ‘thank you’ for continuing to play, support and promote the game.

As per the last two official Storylines, the format will be single games of V:TES where each player uses a Storyline legal deck (i.e. a crypt 75% of the same clan). The Storyline will also require you to keep a league table of game wins among your playgroup.

Any player who achieves at least one game win during the month will be permitted to use that month’s Mythic Vampire in deck construction for the remaining duration of the Storyline. E.g. a winner in month 1 (April) will be able to use the first Mythic Vampire released in any game over the next 6 months of Storyline games.

And at Mannheim any player attending the EC will be encouraged – regardless of league performance - to use any of the six Mythic Vampires in friendly games played during the course of the event (with the agreement of their opponents).

The first Mythic Vampire will be announced soon so watch this space!

Over to You

VTES now belongs to the player community and the Storylines that I create will always pale compared to the stories that you tell yourselves in your games with your friends.

Looking beyond the official tournament format I would encourage you to experiment with your own game formats and special rules to mix things up a bit.

And if you need ideas or help with creating your own Storyline for an event of any scale – local, national or regional - then I am only one e-mail or Private Message away.

I applaud and congratulate the efforts of Desso Alastor and the Brazilians in the creation of their ‘War For Territory’ event. This inspires me and it should inspire you too.

For now, happy bleeding.

Mike Nudd
VEKN Storyline Co-ordinator

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