By now you may have heard the news that the VEKN, the official player organization for VTES, is going to publish a PDF-format card set in 2012. We would like to give you some background information and a general overview of what you can expect.

We recognize that there may be some concerns over the development of a VEKN set. One of our key motivations is to help preserve the value of the VTES intellectual property in hopes that a future company will eventually pick up the game again. This includes keeping players interested and excited about VTES as well as providing a solid base of new card content for future license holders to publish in a physical format. Our hope is that this is a temporary measure which will sustain the game and its player base until VTES leaves torpor once again.

The VEKN Design Team was assembled according to suggestions and feedback from the Inner Circle and National Coordinators. The members are enthusiastic players who are long-standing members of the VTES community and have previously contributed to the game in one form or another. Some have served in an official capacity within the VEKN while others have been past playtesters for VTES sets. There is a good balance in the team between canon knowledge, interests of the casual player and concerns of competitive tournament players.

The biggest change to our process compared with that of the WW/CCP era is that the design process is separated from the rules team (though the rules director is still providing feedback on the design process). Also, the design team now consists of more than just one person. This collective design arrangement has the positive result in that card proposals and mechanics are discussed and fine-tuned in often excruciating detail. The downside, however, is that the process itself takes a bit longer.

The design team strove to achieve several goals for the set. Among them, and not necessarily in any order of priority:

1. Preserving game balance and card balance.
2. Adhering to World of Darkness canon for crypt and library cards
3. Creating cards which enable portions of the game which are lacking or underdeveloped. (We are not making "hosers.")
4. Developing high-caliber cards which can be feasible in tournaments and fun in casual games.

The new set does not yet have a name. It will consist of over 30 cards, all of which will have original artwork. It is no big secret that the traditional Sabbat clans lack Group 5 crypt cards, so these will comprise a large portion of the set. We hope this will provide more options for viable Sabbat G4/5 crypts and additional synergy with G5/6 Bloodlines. The new G4/5 vampires are intended to work well with those previously established in G4, and we hope that G4/5 plays to different strengths and weaknesses than G2/3.

In addition to the new vampires, the Design Team focused on three other main themes. Stay tuned for more information on those in a future update.

Playtesting will hopefully start with the beginning of the new year. To keep things as professional as possible, we will emulate the process used by WW/CCP in the past. Playtesting will not be open, but there is a public application process and anyone who wishes to apply will be considered for participation. We intend for there to be substantial communication between the designers and the playtesters to create the best possible end product. There will also be a special discussion forum for playtesters to discuss issues amongst themselves.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We sincerely hope that you will enjoy the resulting set in 2012 and appreciate the efforts of your volunteer VTES community.


Regards,
The VEKN Design Team

  • There will be a new, fan-made expansion created by the V:EKN
  • There is a development team within the V:EKN. Members may or may not disclose their membership
  • The set will be around 30 cards, mostly vampires
  • The targeted release is 2012, no exact date known yet
  • The cards will be tournament legal for constructed tournaments, just like any other set
  • The cards will have to be printed out in color on standard paper, cut out properly and stuck in sleeves before an original V:TES cards

Ginés Quiñonero is the art director. If you are an artist and want to contribute or if you are a layout wizard please contact him.

Robert Goudie, the V:EKN marketing director will update you with more information in the coming months.

As always, changes contained herein do not go into effect for sanctioned tournaments for 30 days. (So these become active on January 1st, 2012.)

New terms:

  • Ballot:
    • A “ballot” is the name of the former’s priscus vote, cast in the prisci subreferendum. A ballot isn’t a vote, so some cardtexts were updated to match the distinction. For instance, Bribes now reads : “Only usable during a referendum before votes {and ballots} are cast. Gain 1 pool. Any other Methuselah who {casts one or more votes or ballots} in favor of and does not {cast votes nor ballots} against the referendum gains 1 pool when the results of the referendum are tallied.”

Rulebook updates:

  • The Prisci block (6.3.3):
    • The prisci as a group have 3 votes. During a referendum, the prisci block of 3 votes is cast "for" or "against" the referendum according to the prisci subreferendum. Each ready priscus provides 1 ballot for this subreferendum, and votes may not be used in this subreferendum. Each ballot cast is either "for" or "against" the main referendum. Whichever side has the greater number of ballots in the subreferendum gains 3 votes in the main referendum. If the subreferendum is tied, the prisci block abstains from the main vote. As vampires cast their ballots in the subreferendum, the prisci block of 3 votes might shift between "for", "against", and "abstain" (as the majority in the subreferendum changes). A vampire must cast all of his votes and ballots in agreement.
  • Action taken from Card in play (6.1.6):
    • A minion cannot perform {each} action allowed by a card in play more than once each turn, even if he untaps. This addresses a question regarding the Kaymakli Fragment (but applies to several other cards too).
  • Terminology (11):
    • “Ballot”:
      • The influence a Priscus has. A Priscus title grants 1 ballot.
    • “During X, do Y”:
      • The “during X do Y” template is used in several cards. When this template is used, only one Y can be done per X with this card. For instance, you may move blood from your vampire to your pool with Vessel only once per untap phase.
    • “Cancel a card”:
      • A "canceled" card has no effect, but it is still considered played. Unless explicitly written, cost for the card is paid. If the card was a strike card, the minion who played it must choose a strike, which might come from another strike card. If the card was an action card, the minion doesn’t tap (he doesn’t pay for the action card), and can play the same action card again.
    • “Tap X to do Y”:
      • Some cards use this wording, for instance: superior Bauble, Isanwayen. Such effects can’t be used by tapped minions, even those “able to play cards as though untapped”. These effects require an untapped minion to be used. Conversely, “Tap X. Do Y” effects (for instance: Redirection) are usable by tapped minions “able to play cards as though untapped”.

Complete Rules Reference (Outline):

  • Cost of a card:
    • When there are several options to pay the cost of a card, the Methuselah playing the card must announce, as part of the terms of the card, how other cards will be used to pay for the cost. For instance, a Ravnos playing an Embrace while Ravnos Carnival is in play must announce how much blood from the Carnival will be used to pay for the Embrace. Similarly, when using Travis “Traveler72” Miller’s built-in action, the Methuselah must announce which conviction will be used to pay for the cost (if Travis has more than one kind).
  • End of turn:
    • Your turn ends when your discard phase ends. The Outline had this wrong.

Clarifications:

  • Advanced vampires:
    • All advanced vampires now read "Advanced" in their cardtext (some of them were lacking it).
  • Spelling:
    • Some typos (Ahrimanes, Blood Brothers) have been fixed.
  • Strike with Conviction:
    • If the action to bleed with Strike with Conviction is blocked, Strike with Conviction isn’t burned. The action it provides is to burn it and bleed (none of which happens if the action is blocked).
  • Titled vampires:
    • All vampires with “... has X votes” now have the “(titled)” cardtext.
  • Unique locquipment:
    • Equipment cards that represent unique locations in play have been updated to show they are unique equipment when not in play. For instance, Ankara Citadel is a unique equipment when it is in the ash heap.
  • Wording of “successfully [bleeds]”:
    • When appropriate, this has been replaced with “when [..] would successfully [bleed]”. Examples are Andre LeRoux, superior Spying Mission, Dis Pater.
  • Wording of “when X plays”:
    • Rulings show this effect always applies after the “as played” window. Cardtexts (Permanency, Sascha Vykos ADV, Servitor of Irad, Swiss Cut, Troglodytia) have been updated for better understanding.

Errata:

  • Ballots:
    • Several library and crypt cards were updated to match the ballot keyword. All the rulings that applied to such cards have been used to keep consistency.
  • Change aggravated damage to normal:
    • Cards with "change X aggravated damage to normal" have been updated to match "treats X aggravated as normal" - Adaptability, Death Pact, Fire Dance, Merrill Molitor. The damage is still aggravated (for matters such as Soak or Rötschreck).
  • Combat cards are played inside combat:
    • Psyche! and Coordinate Attacks have had their cardtexts changed to match the fact that they are combat cards, and should be played inside combat. These cards are now playable at the end of a round with no next round. They are treated as normal combat cards.
  • Domain of Evernight:
    • [TEM] Only usable when an action is successful. {Usable after resolution.} Untap this acting vampire. A vampire can play only one Domain of Evernight at superior each turn.
  • Pocket Out of Time:
    • [TEM] {Playable after a combat.} After any combat this action, this vampire can burn 1 blood to start a new combat with the opposing minion (if both combatants are still ready).
  • Villein:
    • Master: trifle. Put this card on a vampire you control and move 2 or more blood from that vampire to your pool. Minion Tap cards cost {you} an additional pool. Villein costs an additional pool to play on this vampire.

Tournament Rules update:

    • Section 4.1 Cards allowed:
      • 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.

    When using V:EKN issued cards they must be 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.
  • Section 4.8 Play to win:
    • During the finals, playing to win means playing to finish as tournament winner (as defined in 3.7.5).
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