Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Newsletter August 2024

Art for Ominous Chorus by Anastasiia Horbunova.

Greetings fellow Methuselahs,

THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE CONTINUES

Yes, the celebration continues in various ways:

• Special content in all channels! This includes artist interviews, special articles and glimpses into the history of this great game will appear in VTES, VEKN and BCP sites and channels for the rest of the year. One such glimpse is this incredibly ancient VTES EC final video (also at the BCP Youtube channel), now published after many years of being hidden to mortal eyes. Maybe you can spot some familiar faces!

• Events are being held! We have already seen several physical celebrations, including the gorgeous Italian cake and release parties for the 30th Annivesary deck all over the world. The European Championship coming up in Warsaw, Poland on September will also have some special surprises that you don´t want to miss!

• New cards are being produced! Not only the 30th Anniversary deck! Right now cards from the Fifth Edition Lasombra preconstructed deck are being previewed, so make sure to follow Black Chantry in social media or at least peek into the Lasombra product page now and then. Some fresh spoilers:

 

For Araceli “Celia” Rivera we once again thank Ken Meyer Jr for joining the artist team behind a new set of VTES cards – poignant illustrations in his own style as usual. You find Celia in the Fifth Edition Chicago by Night book.

For Ominous Chorus we thank Anastasiia Horbunova for the creepy art. Last up was Camarilla's Iron Fist, now she is really hitting it again. Note that this card is a clan card, thus playable by any Lasombra regardless of capacity and disciplines, even little Celia can do it. And its both an action modifier and a reaction!

More previews are coming - follow Black Chantry Productions in social media.

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GET YOUR EC 2024 TICKETS!

If you haven´t already, get your tickets for the European Championship in Warsaw, Poland before September 11. As mentioned before, all involved parties will make this event something really special!

Now we also know more about the "Week of Nightmares" pre-tournaments:
Location: Hackroom122, Chmielna 122/113 Warsaw (but might be moved to another location in case of high attendance)
Fee: 25 euro for all 3 days, snacks and promos included.
• Tuesday 24 September 3R+F Standard Constructed format
• Wednesday 25 September 3R+F Standard Constructed format  
• Thursday 26 September 2R+F Standard Constructed format

The main events:
Location: Athaneum Theatre, Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie 35, Warsaw
Fee: 76 euro all 3 days - gives you the VTES EC 2024 t-shirt, VTES EC 2024 Edge Token, lunch, drinks and snacks each day, plus promo cards.
• Friday 27 September Continental Qualifier 3R+F Standard Constructed format
• Saturday 28 September European Championship Day 1 3R+F Standard Constructed format
• Sunday 29 September European Championship Day 2 3R+F Standard Constructed format
• Sunday 29 September "Best of the Rest" 3R+F Standard Constructed format

Tickets are at ec.vtes.club/

More info is at tinyurl.com/vtes2024

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KELLY LYONS WINS GRAND PRIX GULFPORT/BILOXI 2024!

The main event was played with 25 players on August 24 in Gulfport, Mississippi, USA.

Read the full report: Grand Prix Gulfport/Biloxi 2024

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LOTTE SIEBERT IS THE 2024 CHAMPION OF IRELAND!

The champion defends her belt! This tournament was played with 10 players in Galway on August 17.

Read the full report: Ireland National championship 2024

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PIERES O´SHEA WINS THE VICS 2024!

This is not a high level tournament like the ones we normally mention here, but we want to include it as an example of a smaller event with a nicely written report.

Read the full report: The Vics 2024

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MARTIN MEZZABOTTA WINS CLOCKWORK CONVERGENCE!

This is not a high level tournament, but we want to include it here anyway as an example of a limited format event with a nice report by Skye Segal, VEKN Prince of Cape Town, South Africa. It was played on August 10 (preliminaries) and 11 (final).

Read the full report: Clockwork Convergence at Dragonfire 2024

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RULES EXPLAINED: POLLING AND BIDDING

Some words from Rules Director Vincent Ripoll:

VTES uses a system called “sequencing” to determine who has the “impulse” (opportunity) to play cards and use effects at a given time. There are however two mechanisms that do not follow the sequencing rule: polling and bidding.

During the polling step of a referendum (either caused by a political action or a blood hunt), Methuselahs can cast votes and ballots using the sources they have under their control (titled vampires, cards in play, the Edge, or the political action card used to call the referendum or one they want to discard for a vote) in a free-for-all fashion. Using cards or effects still follow the sequencing rules, so if the acting Methuselah wants to play Bribes to gain 1 pool immediately for instance, they can do so before another Methuselah has the opportunity to play a Delaying Tactics. Similarly, if a Methuselah wants to play a Scalpel Tongue to cancel the votes of a vampire, or use the Ventrue Headquarters to gain 3 votes, they must follow the sequencing rules (by simply asking the other Methuselahs that should have the impulse beforehand if they pass), even though in practice it is seamless. Following the sequencing rules allow to resolve race conditions such as two Methuselahs willing to get Mustafa, The Heir's votes.

The polling step ends when Methuselahs are finished casting votes and ballots. This means that Methuselahs always have a final opportunity to play effects using the sequencing rule even if they've previously passed the impulse.

Bidding is used with some cards such as Hostile Takeover. It follows a standard system of an open bid (as in real life), meaning that any Methuselah may bid at any time, without following any order. The acting Methuselah runs the auction but has no privilege in doing so (they can't alter the outcome of the auction, except by bidding themselves, of course). If there is a race condition (two or more Methuselahs bidding simultaneously the same amount) that can't be untied, then that bid is ignored (as there is no way to know who auctioned first) and the action continues (resulting eventually in another race).

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BRAZIL NOW HAS MORE METHUSELAHS THAN SPAIN!

Brazil now is the country with the largest number of active VTES players. With "active player" we mean someone that has played a VEKN registered tournament the last 18 months. Here´s the top 20 nations:

		# of players
		Year 2023	Year 2024
1	Brazil	282	602
2	Spain	514	569
3	United States	117	162
4	France	140	127
5	Italy	98	119
6	Chile	60	90
7	Finland	88	85
8	Poland	99	73
9	Hungary	37	58
10	Sweden	57	58
11	Czech Republic	57	56
12	United Kingdom	43	55
13	Portugal	34	46
14	Australia	4	39
15	Germany	31	38
16	Philippines	0	35
17	Mexico	21	34
18	Belgium	21	24
19	Serbia	6	21
20	Croatia	19	18

 

... and some historical data for worldwide players:

	# of players
2018	~1100
2019	1 363
2020	1 700
2021	No data
2022	1 389
2023	1 831
2024 so far	2 460

 

Do you need help organizing tournaments? Reach out to your VEKN National Coordinator or to !

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BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: AUGUST 2024

• Preview season of the Fifth Edition Lasombra preconstructed deck set for October release is ongoing. If all goes well those of you that visit the Spiel game fair in Essen, Germany will be able to get your copies there.

• Product Director Ben Peal is currently in Brazil visiting the South American Continental Championship. Last thing we heard was he won a casual table with a Nosferatu Molly MacDonald deck :)

• Before travelling, Ben sent a MASSIVE bunch of cards for playtesting. It was no less than 97 new cards for the four 2025 Sabbat preconstructed decks that went for a first round of testing. The first opinions voiced as usual range from "meh" to "way too pushed", but we´ll see, it is the grade statistics and the formal comments that count!

• The (hopefully) last round of playtesting of the Hecata preconstructed deck as well as the five 54-card New Blood packs for Hecata, Lasombra, Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce concluded on August 31. Now the answers from the playtesters will be analysed and the last tweaks will be made.

• More old legacy single cards for print-on-demand and the 2-player VTES variant are on hold for now.

 

Currently these Black Chantry products are available through Gamepod, 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 (Also Spanish, French)
  Libertine Ball Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
  Pact with Nephandi Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
  Parliament of Shadows Preconstructed Deck (Also Spanish, French)
  Anthology I bundle
  VTES Card Creator (Drivethrucards only)
  25th Anniversary
  First Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French)
  First Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French)
  First Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French)
  First Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French)
  First Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French)
  VTES Legacy Card Singles (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
  Promo Pack 1 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
  Promo Pack 2 (Drivethrucards and Gamepod only)
  Promo Pack 3 (For promotion only)
  Promo Pack 4 (For promotion only)
  VTES "Parity Shift" playmat
  VTES card sleeves
  Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition (Stores only)
  Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition Latin (Drivethrucards only)
  Fifth Edition: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  Fifth Edition: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  Fifth Edition: Toreador (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  Fifth Edition: Tremere (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  Fifth Edition: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  Promo Pack 3 (Event promos only)
  Fifth Edition: Banu Haqim (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  Fifth Edition: Brujah (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  Fifth Edition: Gangrel (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  Fifth Edition: The Ministry (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  New Blood: Malkavian (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  New Blood: Nosferatu (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  New Blood: Toreador (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  New Blood: Tremere (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  New Blood: Ventrue (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  The Fall of London (Also Spanish, French, Latin)
  Echoes of Gehenna
  Shadows of Berlin (Also Spanish, French)
  New Blood: Banu Haqim (Also Spanish, French)
  New Blood: Brujah (Also Spanish, French)
  New Blood: Gangrel (Also Spanish, French)
  New Blood: The Ministry (Also Spanish, French)
  Fifth Edition: Ravnos (Also Spanish, French)
  Fifth Edition: Salubri (Also Spanish, French)
  Fifth Edition: Tzimisce (Also Spanish, French)
  30th Anniversary (Also Spanish, French)

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.

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RECENT NEWS IN THE WORLD OF DARKNESS

We are super excited with sinking our claws into Gehenna War, the brand new 162 page sourcebook for Vampire: The Masquerade focused on the conflict with the same name. From the back cover, these are its contents:
• An overview of the Gehenna War and its impact on the Kindred sects
• 7 Methuselahs active in the Gehenna War
• Rules for creating action-focused characters for action chronicles
• New combat options and equipment
• Player- and Storyteller-focused overview of action chronicles
• 14 distinct factions fighting in the Gehenna War
• 4 pre-written stories to drop into any chronicle
• Advice for using Bestial Failures and Messy Criticals in any chronicle
• 3 Loresheets
• 9 new Advantages and Flaws
• 19 new Discipline Powers, Rituals, Ceremonies, and Formulae

This is some really juicy stuff for Storytellers out there, not to mention for card game design in the future. And look at that gorgeous cover illustration by VTES artist Mark Kelly!

Subscribe to the World of Darkness News show for more news! (The episode of August 30 discusses the Gehenna War book thoroughly.)

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CALENDAR

Upcoming tournaments for the coming month (registered so far) are in:
Australia
Brazil x16
Chile
Czech Republic
Germany
Greece
Finland
France
Italy x2
Mexico
Philippines
Poland x7
Portugal
Spain x9
UK
USA x2

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!

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CONTACT VEKN

You can contact the VEKN Inner Circle members using contact forms at VEKN.net. Also follow the official VTES Facebook page Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, the official VEKN X (Twitter) account @VEKN_VTES and the official VTES Discord server.

 

Are you afraid of the good you might do?

Martin Mezzabotta wins Clockwork Convergence!

This is not a high level tournament, but we want to include it here anyway as an example of a limited format event with a nice report by Skye Segal, VEKN Prince of Cape Town, South Africa. It was played on August 10 (preliminaries) and 11 (final).

This year we hosted the annual Dragonfire convention at University of Cape Town, and eight Cape Town kindred joined for this limited Fifth Edition format tournament. Rounds 1 and 2 saw two tables of four each.

The first game saw me (Tzimisce Wall) being ousted by Martin (Salubri Block Deny), a perfect counter, Hendrik, my cross-table ally playing Banu Haqim fell to the growing powers of Nick’s Brujah anarchs, and soon Martin’s Salubri were ousted after that. Nick (1 GW, 3 VP), Martin (1 VP).

The other table included Yancke playing a Tzimisce stealth-bleed, bleeding Justin’s Ventrue, in turn bleeding James’ Banu Rush, who bled Yancke’s predator, Jo, who had a straight up Malk stealth bleed deck! In the end it was Jo taking it (1 GW, 3 VP), and Justin (1 VP) after a miraculous recovery by beaten up and torporized Malks.

The tables were split up in the second round in accord with the mysteries of the Archon, and I fared a little better at my table playing a Toreador Grand Ball with Fortitude deck. I eventually took out Yancke’s stealth bleeding Tzimisce, while quashing my predator’s (Justin playing Ventrue) votes. Nick had set up a pretty strong Nosferatu wall which helped block many of Justin’s votes too, while not getting much pressure from Yancke.  The game timed out a few rounds after Yancke being ousted (Skye 1.5 VP, Justin 0.5 VP, Nick 0.5 VP, no GW).

At the other table we saw Jo and James both playing Banu Haqim, however they were positioned cross table, Martin with Toreador as Jo’s prey, and Hendrik with his Ministry vote, as Jo’s predator. A Reckless Agitation from the Ministry saw both James and Jo ousted in the same round, and Hendrik soon ousted Martin too. Hendrik 1 GW and 3 VPs, and Martin 1 VP.

The results were in for the final, and due to a draw for 2nd and 3rd seed between Jo and Hendrik, our NC, Neil, flipped a coin  and Jo won, giving rise to the final round table: Justin and Martin, both playing Ventrue, sat first, Hendrik with his Ministry vote decides to be downstream from Martin as predator and Justin as prey. Jo sits to Hendrik’s right with her Gangrel Anarchs Thing horde threatening the Ministry player, and finally Nick, with top seed, decides to sit in between the two Ventrue decks… commence the final!

The Ministry faced up to the Gangrel as their predator and Justin’s Ventrue as prey. Unfortunately, there ended up being 10 votes worth of titles on the table, so even with maximum vote push it was marginal whether Recklesses and Kines could get through. In the early game, votes from Martin’s Mithras helped get a few damaging votes against Justin, with voter-caps for some pool flowing in. However, the Gangrel were consistently bleeding for two to eight a round, and their Ventrue predator was weakened at that stage thanks to Mithras experiencing a Gangrel agg-poke. This allowed the Gangrel to go nearly entirely forward! The Ministry were struggling to find a single bait and switch to send the ravenous Gangrel downstream and the other Methuselahs were getting concerned about the impact of the Ministry big scary votes, so Martin joined in shutting down Hendrik, down-voting a Reckless which would have ousted Justin. After a Gangrel bleed that was bounced back and forth between the Ministry and Justin’s Ventrue, the Ministry were the first to be ousted.

Jo had a great early game with a 2-cap Gangrel playing Thing and bringing out an early baron and two other minions (eventually having 5 out). Her agg poke backwards on Mithras bought enough time to destroy Hendrik, but a terrible round occurred where she misplayed a few actions and forgot to play a freak-drive. The following round saw Martin self-rescue Mithras, freak-drive him, and bleed Jo out for 6.

Nick with his Brujah was the top seeded player, and chose to go in between the two Ventrue, hoping to beat up on them without fear of protean claws of the dead, which both Gangrel and Ministry could bring. Unfortunately, Aline Gadeke didn’t show up, and as the backbone of the Brujah deck, her absence ham-stringed play and forced Nick to dig through his crypt in the influence phase. However, there was a glorious Brujah moment when Martin’s Alexa Draper was disarmed and sent to torpor for a holiday, however with no further Immortal Grapples coming up for Nick, and Majesties on both sides, combat cards clumped and didn’t cycle into what was required to survive the vote pressure from Justin.
 
Eventually, close to the 2 hour mark, Nick’s Brujah were ousted by Justin’s Ventrue after failing to tear up the blue-bloods on either side. And with only the two Ventrue decks left at the table, the game timed-out: 1.5 VPs to Justin and Martin (a draw!), and 1 VP to Jo. No GW, but a technical win to Martin based on tournament points!

Congratulations Martin Mezzabotta on your first tournament win!

The tournament winning deck:

Crypt:
2 Mithras (G6)
2 Rose Abawi
1 Valerius
1 Alexa Draper
1 Alice Chen
1 Sybren van Oosten
1 Kevin Jackson
1 Horst von Brühl
1 Naomi Stewart
1 Oshri Dahan

4 Information Highway
3 Villein
3 Mithraic Cultist
2 Blood Doll
2 Vessel
1 Barrens, The
1 Dominate
1 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Giant's Blood
1 Uptown Hunting Ground
1 Ventrue Headquarters
1 Mithraeum, London, The

4 Enchant Kindred
4 Govern the Unaligned
1 Judgment: Camarilla Segregation

8 Freak Drive
4 Bewitching Oration
4 Conditioning
4 Voter Captivation
2 Change of Target

10 Majesty
4 Rolling with the Punches

4 Consanguineous Boon
4 Kine Resources Contested

8 Deflection
4 Second Tradition: Domain
2 Forced Awakening
2 On the Qui Vive

Big thank you to all methuselahs that joined and huge shout-out to Ryan Kruger of Pandemonium Games for Prize Support.