Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Newsletter February 2019

Greetings fellow Methuselahs
How many vampires are there in this world? Some scholarly types suggest 1 per 100 000 mortals, which would mean that about 10 would be skulking around my city, including my humble self. LIES! Last I counted there were 30 active Methuselahs here, and more and more turn up every Wednesday for our weekly social games. And those are the Methuselahs, the ancient ones! Just imagine how many minions they have?! 1 per 100 000 mortals, my ass …

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FOUR NEW PRECONS AND ANTHOLOGY I NOW IN STORES
It is February 2019, and for the first time since February 2010, a set of new starter decks is available for purchase in game stores in Santiago, Sydney, Johannesburg, Milan, Helsinki – throughout the world!

There have been sealed deck release events in many of these places, actually too many to keep track of, because not many of them are put into the VEKN event calendar. But many games have been played, and many players had great fun.

 All this feels like a great reward for many of us that have worked as volunteers for the last nine years, struggling to keep the Eternal Struggle eternal. Thanks for all such efforts, and thanks to you that turn up to play VTES events!

 

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OFFICIAL CARD CHANGES
Rules Director Vincent Ripoll recently posted the following card changes, concerning cards reprinted in the February 2019 pre-constructed decks:

• Perfectionist: Gaining blood is now optional.

• Trap: Is now put into play with counters to track the number of presses it can provide.

• Powerbase: Madrid: Adding the counter is now optional.

• Rack, The: Adding the blood is now optional.

• Embrace, The: Inherits the Sire's sect.

The changes are effective in tournament play on March 18th, 2019.

Do you have rules questions? Ask in the VEKN forum or at Vampire: Elder Kindred Network on Facebook.
 

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NEXT GRAND PRIX TOURNAMENT: BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC MARCH 16TH
This month the Czech VTES community welcomes you to the next VEG tournament. The venue is Black Oil, Kotlářská 51a in Brno and games start at 15:00. Remember that all VEG players this year get the awesome playmat depictured above, courtesy of Ultrapro.

More information at the Facebook event VEG Czech Republic and in the VEKN event calendar.

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REFLECTIONS AND RULEMONGERING
Last month we promoted Bindusara´s Jyhad Diary, an Australian blog that gives you “the oral history of VTES” by offering very readworthy interviews. This month we have to do it again, because these Kindred archeologists recently visited one of the deepest crypts and pulled the stake out of none other than L. Scott Johnson, maybe more known as LSJ. He was the lead designer of VTES 2000-2010. A real must-read: LSJ, reflections and rulemongering
 

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BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: FEBRUARY 2019

• As mentioned above, February 16th was the big day for Black Chantry this month, with five new VTES products both on store shelves all over the world and available on Drivethrucards.com.

• Sadly, there also had to be an announcement on a production error. A serious stain on the protocol, but hopefully forgiveable in the long run. All future printings, including the new print runs of the February releases, will have the correct corners.

• VTES designers Ben Peal and Mike Nudd have just completed a first draft of the next cards for playtesters to test. It is very exciting stuff! Do you and your playgroup want to playtest? Send an application to playtest coordinator Darby Keeney as described in this post.

• A very special surprise product will be announced in March. Watch out for that!



• 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.

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ARTIST IN FOCUS: JAVIER SANTOS
This month we have the great privilege to talk to Javier Santos. He has produced many pieces of art for VTES, but unlike most of our previous interviewed artists, he is not primarily into crypt card portraits. Instead he has made art that’s much about action, violence and horror – which of course is very needed in a game that is much about action, violence and horror ...

Hello Javier. You have made VTES art for a number of sets now, but I´m not sure our players know a lot about you. What is your background?
- Firstly, I want to introduce myself. I was born in Ávila, Spain, in 1983, but I have always lived in Madrid. Since I was a child, I have always loved manga, anime, computers and video games. I studied a Computer Science degree but, after attending an art course of design in Madrid, I began my career as a concept artist. Nowadays I am a freelancer concept artist and illustrator working in many interesting projects.
  I have always loved drawing and I have considered myself a very creative and inspired person, although I hadn't developed any special interest in being an artist until I attended an art course. From that moment I started to learn the fundamentals to level-up my drawing and painting skills. Finally, and with the boom of the Internet, I was able to get into the industry, by contacting some clients and starting my career as a concept artist.

What kind of motives do you generally prefer?
- I really like sci-fi and dark themes. For that reason, I find VTES art very close to my preferences on colour palette and mood choices. Movies like “Blade Runner”, “Ghost in the Shell” and “Akira” are my greatest inspirations.

What artistical techniques do you prefer? Is it all digital?
- Yes, basically it is all digital nowadays. However, I am still using the paper and pen for quick sketches, rough concepts or ideas.

Most of your art seem to have elements of photos or are done in a photo-realistic style. Do you work with models and photos?
- I usually start by drawing some thumbnails to find out some cool shapes and compositions. In this early step, I am not looking at any references or putting any efforts into details. After I have decided the final thumbnail to proceed with, I start blocking all the colours and basic shapes while looking for some references at the same time. Next, I start fixing some values, perspective issues, lighting, etc. Sometimes, I use 3D tools to help me out on this step, since it is a 50% of the illustration. If the perspective or light are badly implemented, the final image will look weird. Finally, I start adding the last details with the use of some textures and photos to make it more realistic and reinforce the overall composition.

You have done VTES, but also other games and other places. What work are you most proud of so far?
- I think VTES is one of my biggest contributions, at least it is the longest so far. I have seen my evolution over the period of time I have worked with VTES, and it is very clear my style has changed a lot. I have no best piece of art at all, I think all of them own a lot of sentiments and meanings to myself.

Thanks for these answers Javier. Make sure to check out his site Javisart.com and follow him in various social media. And don´t miss our previous artist interviews, with Ken Meyer Jr, Carmen Cornet, Noora Hirvonen, Riccardo Fabiani, Heather Kreiter and Mark Kelly - many more will follow!

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CALENDAR
Upcoming events:
March 2: Crónicas del Califa IV: Huele a primavera - Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain
March 2: Aplocalypse VI - Bailleau-le-Pin, France
March 2: Algeciras Pachanging I - Algeciras, Spain
March 10: Last Round V - Reus, Catalunya, Spain
March 10: Visit from the Capuchin - Heath, United States
March 16: Italian National Championship 2019 - Brescia, Italy
March 16: Bart Jansen - Utrecht, Netherlands
March 17: VEG Brno - Brno, Czech Republic
March 23: Scourge of Magdeburg 2019 - Magdeburg, Germany
March 23: Ile St Denis Watchtower March 2018 -  L ile St Denis, France
March 23: Praxis Seizure: Moss - Moss, Østfold, Norway
March 24: Antediluvian Awakening (National Championship México) - Ciudad de México, Mexico
March 24: Den of Friends - Palma de Mallorca, Spain
March 30: Praxis Seizure: Santiago - Santiago, Chile

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

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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

“Dare to feel, take the chance, make the deal. Being an island, shying from trying - seems the easy way, such an easy way. But there's no future without tears.”

Vampire: Elder Kindred Network Newsletter January 2019

Greetings fellow Methuselahs
It is too cold for smalltalk - here´s the newsletter:

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WHAT ABOUT THE ANTHOLOGY 1 ART?
Many are asking, so we better make this clear: Most art in the upcoming Anthology 1 set will be the original art, i.e. the art used for the card in the first printing, not the art produced for the Berlin Anthology printing. This has now been marked on the list at the Anthology 1 product page.

This means the lucky persons who struggled to get hold of the Berlin sets are in possession of something special – Black Chantry will not reuse that art in the forseeable future, with the exception of the ten LARP-related cards produced for World of Darkness Berlin (Styles Margs, The Line, etc.) – these will be reprinted soon.
 

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CLARIFICATION: CARDS ALLOWED

Another question that pops up frequently for VEKN and Black Chantry officials are if the “pdf sets” produced by the VEKN 2013-2016 are legal for tournament play. The answer is: YES, they are legal until further notice. The pdf-files are found at Official Expansion sets page at VEKN.net, so go ahead, print and play!

The section in the tournament rules that covers this is:

4.1. Cards Allowed
All cards in a player's deck must be genuine Vampire: The Eternal Struggle or Jyhad cards, or official V:EKN issued cards from the only authoritative source www.vekn.net as listed here:
- Danse Macabre
- The Unaligned
- Storyline Rewards 2015
- Anarchs Unbound
When using V:EKN issued cards they must be preferably color printed on standard paper and inserted into opaque sleeves before another Vampire: The Eternal Struggle or Jyhad card, this requires opaque sleeves for the whole crypt and/or library. These cards are not considered as proxies. See http://www.vekn.net/official-expansion-sets
 

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VTES CONTENT COMING ON STRONG
The VEKN are delighted that many new sources create great reading and viewing online. This month we want to give special credit to:

Carnet d'un Le Diableriste: Articles in the beautiful French language, created in Canada, mainly in a very informative questions-and-answer-form with great and funny illustrations. Top notch! http://diableriste.com/

Bindusara´s Jyhad Diary: This Australian site delivers “the oral history of VTES” in interesting interviews with players. Excellent content! https://bindusara.home.blog/

Information Highway: Top French players write this, and they do it very well. Recently we have seen four articles reviewing the upcoming Sabbat-themed preconstructed decks, with strategy advice and tips on how to modify them. We look forward to more! https://vtesinformationhighway.wordpress.com/

VTES One: German long-time blogger Extrala continues to update us on all VTES things. VEKN and Black Chantry frequently send beginners with questions to this site, especially to the deck list section and articles about deck archetypes. Thanks for all the work you put into this Extrala! https://vtesone.wordpress.com/

Generación V videos: The Palma players continue to deliver introductory videos about VTES – currently four clips are up. It is in Spanish, but subtitled to English. A great effort, and great result! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE2hQGYrXGxwsSInr2l4cWg

Do you also want to produce some VTES-related content online? You are very welcome, just remember that if you want to use White Wolf property extensively (for example card images), you have to add the Dark Pack logo and follow the Dark Pack rules: https://www.white-wolf.com/dark-pack

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BLACK CHANTRY SUMMARY: JANUARY 2019

• The first US distributor for the European printed cards has been found: KGS Cards. Print-on-demand will continue on Drivethrucards, now also testing “European style” tuckboxes.

• January was spoiler month for the upcoming Sabbat pre-constructed decks. Now everything has been spoiled - check out each product page for all card and art previews.

• The release date for the Sabbat pre-cons AND Anthology 1 is nailed: From February 16th you will find these products in stores who made their orders on time, and on Drivethrucards.com.

• A revised pdf rulesbook – in English and Spanish – is available on Blackchantry.com/rulebook. These are the latest official rules, and the version that will be tested and used as a base for the improved, illustrated and beginner-friendly variant that will appear later this year.

• The site Blackchanty.com has received a minor face lift, but will still be kept rather simple. A more advanced site with all kinds of fantastic content is in the pipeline, but for now getting more VTES cards into the hands of players has priority.

• Currently five 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

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.

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ARTIST IN FOCUS: MARK KELLY
Mark Kelly immediatelly became a fan favourite when he started illustrating VTES in 2014. His realistic but yet horrific style has proven perfect for eye-catching portraits on VTES crypt cards. We caught Mark in a blur of hardware failures, deadlines and termites (!), and he had the kindness to handle our usual arsenal of artist questions.

Are you educated or self-taught?
- In my younger years I was always being creative and it started mostly when I got a copy of the second edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle with The Tragedy of McDeath when I was about 7 years old. I was always painting, drawing, sculpting and making things in general.
   After leaving school I started on the path to becoming an architect but I dropped out after two years and left sunny Scotland for Amsterdam. The next 10 years or so are a bit of blur... I spent mostly partying and playing video games. I eventually quit that lifestyle completely and threw all my energy into creative endeavors. That's when I discovered my love for photography. Initially I was drawn to more abstract photography and landscapes but I soon moved over to portraiture, which is my true passion.
   All aspects of my creative skill set are self-taught. From painting, illustration, photography, graphic design etc. I tend to jump in at the deep end and figure things out under pressure.


What kind of assignments do you prefer?
- Honestly, I'm all over the place really. I'm drawn as much to the creepy and macabre as I am to vibrant neon noir cassette futurism. What I prefer most in an assignment is being allowed the freedom to create, within the boundaries of the project of course. I am drawn more to the conceptual interpretation and less so to the generic RPG illustrative approach.

What techniques do you prefer?
- I prefer working with digital media. Mixing photographic elements, light, digital paint and textures. Anything that's going to allow me to convey the artwork as I see it in my mind's eye.

How do you work with models and photos?
- I work with a lot of models and usually cover a range of ideas during a shoot. Some will be more editorial or conceptual portraits while others will be base material for the more illustrative work. I do a lot of experimentation with lights and post processing techniques. Lots of trial and error. There is no default workflow that I follow for the most part. Some times it'll be pure digital paint others it'll be a mix. Anything goes :)


You have made lots of work for VTES and others – what are you most proud of?
- My biggest creative achievement to date was for Mark Rein Hagen's I AM ZOMBIE RPG which was released a couple of years back. A huge project where I did all the artwork, layout, design and factory production management. A 288 page full colour book with bespoke spreads chock-full of artwork, 108 double-sided character cards with a unique portrait either side and the core rule book. Up until that point I'd never used any form of layout software let alone laid out a book, so it was a mammoth challenge that not only turned out to be a great education but a great product. I was also pretty chuffed to get my work included in the new Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition book. I did quite a few full pagers for that.

What other work do you do these days?
- Along with being the lead artist for Make Believe Games (MBG), I've been doing quite a bit of freelance work as both an art director and artist. I've recently started my own publishing company called Dirty Vortex where we'll be producing a range of RPGs and tabletop accessories such as dice sets and 3d terrain. One of our first projects is a collection of Art Deco inspired polyhedral dice called Deco Dice and great for any game set within the Jazz Age. It recently launched Kickstarter and funded within the first 24 hours so that was a fabulous way to start the year. Sets of 10 x D10s are available which are great for VtM and WoD.


- We also have a range of indie RPGs in development that will be releasing in 2019. First up is Solemn Vale which is a folk horror roleplaying game set within an isolated village in the South West of England. It's being developed by Matthew Dawkins and has a bunch of great writing talent assigned. That'll be followed up by Endgame '85 which set in a world devastated by a recent nuclear war and is currently being written by the fabulous Brendan Carrion and Adam Sink from the Full Metal RPG Podcast. Last, but not least, we'll have The Sigma Syndrome where players take on the role of powerful psykers. We've yet to assign dev and writing on that.
   It's shaping up to be a solid year with many projects in the mix and as a huge VTES fan I hope to get a few more card illustrations done.

We thank Mark for this chat. If folks want to see more of his work, he recommends you to follow him on Instagram as he posts there more often than any other social media. You find him at @grimventures (personal work) and @dirtyvortex (Dirty Vortex work)

Please, also read our previous artist interviews, with Ken Meyer Jr, Carmen Cornet, Noora Hirvonen, Riccardo Fabiani and Heather Kreiter - many more will follow!

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CULTS OF THE BLOOD GODS
Onyx Path Publishing (which is doing Chicago By Night and The Fall of London for Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition) recently revealed yet another exciting V5 product in their pipeline: Cults of the Blood Gods. Not many details are disclosed at this point, but the book is developed by Matthew Dawkins and has been described by Onyx Path CEO (and VTES artist) Richard Thomas as "a book detailing the Hecata including Clan Giovanni, the various religions that have sprung out of vampire culture like the Church of Caine, and much more!" Hecata is the V5 catch all-name for the clans and bloodlines in the necromantic tradition; Giovanni, Harbingers of Skulls, Cappadocians and Samedi. We´ll see in the future what this means for VTES!

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CALENDAR
Upcoming events:
February 2: First flight 2019 - Madrid, Spain
February 2: Rise of the Sabbat - Lisboa, Portugal
February 2: First Blood - New Holland, USA
February 3: Winter Tournament - Montréal, Canada
February 9: Infernal Forge - Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
February 9: Vampire Saturday - Waterloo, United States
February 10: Middle European Championship - Wien, Austria
February 16: Evento Preconstruido - Granada, Spain
February 16: Presentación Empire - Sevilla, Spain
February 16: Sabbat Preconstructed Decks Release Tournament - Stockholm, Sweden
February 17: Kiss of Judas - Palma de Mallorca, Spain
February 23: Summer time - Santiago, Chile
February 24: Diablerie in Milan - New Prince election - Milano, Italy

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

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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

“We can either do politics or we can have politics done to us.”