What is V:TES?

By Brett Schofield

Introduction:

Welcome to Vampire: the Eternal Struggle (or VTES for short)! VTES is a multi-player collectable card game based on the award-winning Vampire: the Masquerade role playing game in which players take on the role of ancient vampires known as a Methuselahs. Considered mere legend by many, Methuselahs rule everything from the shadows, engaging in a eons-long Machiavellian conflict that encompasses political, social, and even physical warfare. The struggle is won or lost based on the actions taken by your minions – younger vampires who unknowingly do your bidding. In this way, the game can allow for deep and immersive storytelling as your minions purchase equipment, hire retainers, and even suggest legislative changes to vampiric society, all in the service of your dark plots.

The game is currently published by Black Chantry Productions.

This guide will provide you with the information that you need to quickly and easily get involved with the game.

  1. What kind of game is VTES, and why would I want to play it?
  2. How do I play VTES?
  3. How do I find people to play with?
  4. Where can I acquire cards?
  5. What are some good beginner decks that I can play?
  6. How do I build my first deck?
  7. What else do I need to know?
  8. Where can I find more information?

VTES was the second card game designed by Richard Garfield (designer of Magic the Gathering, Netrunner, and other games). It was designed to avoid some of the flaws that Garfield found in Magic: VTES does not require you to include resource or mana cards in your deck, and cards are instantly replaced when played, meaning that card draw isn’t as important as knowing when to discard or “cycle away” a card. It also has a gameplay experience more in keeping with a boardgame than a traditional card game – VTES is usually played by 4 or 5 players and games can last up to 2 hours.

Unlike most multi-player games, players in VTES do not engage in a free-for-all. Instead, each player directs their attacks to the player on their left (their “prey”) and defends against the player on their right (their “predator”). You gain victory points by eliminating or “ousting” your prey from the game, in which case the next player to the left becomes your new prey. The player with the most victory points at the end of the game wins (even if they have been ousted!). This arrangement makes the game a very social one – you and the player two seats to the left and right have common enemies. But if you help these allies too much, you may find that you’ve made one of them too strong, and when they suddenly become your new predator, your help has transformed an ally into a deadly threat.

VTES is also a resource management game. Each player begins with 30 points of influence called “pool” that Methuselahs hold dearer than unlife itself. If you run out of pool, you are ousted from the game. But this pool is also the way that you sway vampires to your cause. Weak fledgling vampire are easily seduced, but the older more powerful ones require more convincing, which may require multiple turns to accomplish. Once a vampire is converted to your side, all the pool you spent on them becomes blood possessed by that vampire, which can be spent to play cards that allow them to activate their unique vampiric powers. Each minion must manage their blood and you must manage your pool – spending more provides you with additional minions, but brings you one step closer to being ousted. Under- or over- investing in your minions may well cost you the game.

In short, you are likely to enjoy this game if you enjoy any of following:

  • a modern, supernatural setting.
  • card games like Magic the Gathering.
  • very social multi-player games that involve a lot of deal making.
  • games with a long play time, and with complex rules that encourage great strategic depth.

Conversely, you are not likely to enjoy this game if you are opposed to the following:

  • games that include player elimination.
  • long games with many layers of strategy.
  • games that require a group to play.

VTES is a complicated game, and it can be difficult to puzzle it out from the rule book alone.  Really, the best way to learn how to play VTES is to have an experienced player teach it to you.  An excellent way to find somebody who can teach you in  your area is to check out the list of Princes – these are VEKN volunteers who would be delighted to schedule a demo for you.  Don’t worry if you don’t own any cards yet – your local prince or playgroup will undoubtedly have decks that you can borrow while you learn.

But if that isn’t an option, there are still a few resources available that should allow you to learn the game on your own:

  • A short guide introducing the turn structure, and how to play a basic game [guide forthcoming].
  • A demo document that walks you through a number of turns and provides pictures of cards and minions – once you know the basics, this is a fantastic guide.
  • You should also download and print this excellent reference sheet (which has been formatted as two A4 pages, or a single A3 page) which was put together by Ke.
  • The complete rulebook has recently been updated and improved – once you have the basics of the game down, you will find it to be an excellent resource.

Finally, there are some excellent videos on YouTube that serve as an introduction to the basic mechanics of VTES.  While these videos are great, they aren’t quite enough to teach a new player how to play the game on their own, so it is suggested that you pair them with the resources above.

You can discover if there is a play group already established in your area in number of ways.  The first is by checking out the list of Princes – these are VEKN volunteers who serve as local tournament organizers.  Check to see if one lives near you, and feel free to email them – they should be able to provide you information about whether a local group exists and how to get in contact with them.  Your next resource is the VTES Player Map, which shows the location of all players who have registered on it.  While this is a great resource, many active players haven’t signed up for it, so don’t worry too much if there don’t seem to be any players in your area.  You can also post on the City, State, Country & Region section of the forums.  It’s a great way to connect with nearby players and to see if there is a local VTES game night in your area.  And finally, you should check out the event calendar, and the tournament map – both will show you when and where upcoming tournaments are being held around the world!

If you find that you don’t have a regular play group (or you just need more VTES in your life), you can also play online.  There are two main platforms used for online play.  Jyhad On-Line (JOL) is a web-based service that is similar to a play-by-post system where players do not have to all be online at the same time, but games take weeks to finish.  There is a JOL League that you can sign up to participate in.  If you want to learn how to use JOL, you can read this guide here [guide forthcoming].

The other platform used for playing VTES online is LackeyCCG, a program that you need to download and patch for VTES (instructions can be found here).  It more closely mimics a normal game where all players are online and play simultaneously.  There is an active community on facebook that organizes games.  If you want to learn how to play on LackeyCCG, you can either watch this video produced by the Gentleman Gamer, or you can check out this guide [guide forthcoming].

If you need help deciding which platform is best for you, there is a great article about the advantages and disadvantages of JOL and LackeyCCG on VTES Consumed.

The best places to get cards are DriveThruCards (print-on-demand) and online and local retailers.

It’s also common practice for players with large collections to set aside cards to give or sell cheaply to new players. Don’t be shy in asking if anyone has done this – VTES players are well known for their generosity, and there isn’t much we like more than seeing new players enjoy the game. Sometimes the best option is to buy a former player’s collection – these occasionally pop up on ebay, and they tend to give you the best value for your dollar, assuming that you are willing to spend a lot of money all at once.  People also occasionally sell collections on the VTES Swap & Sale International Facebook group.

If you are looking to purchase card bundles, boxes of boosters or starter decks, you will first want to identify which sets you want to purchase. A guide on all sets, how good they are for beginners, and where to buy them is available here. One note of caution: the Nights of Reckoning set is cheaply and easily available, but it introduces a new self-contained mechanic to the game that is not supported by any other set. I highly recommend staying away from this set until you are quite experienced with the game. Once you know what sets you want to buy, you can check out these merchants:

There are also a number of merchants who sell individual cards – you will find that most cards are quite cheap (several for a dollar), but a few are quite rare and can be more expensive. Below is a short list of recommended retailers who sell single VTES cards and where they are based (those marked with an * have cheap international shipping).

A great place for new players to start is Rose Tatu Productions – they offer starter decks from the Black Hand and Third Edition sets very cheaply. Decide which set of clans you like best (both sets feature Malkavian Antitribu and Tremere Antitribu; Black Hand also includes Nosferatu Antitribu and Toreador Antitribu, while Third Edition adds Brujah Antitribu and Tzimisce), and buy the appropriate Play Group Support Kit. For $60, you get 1 of all four starter decks and 400 support cards that you won’t find in the starters. If you want to spend a little more money, you could also purchase Blood Shadow Court (a single pack of 100 unique vampires). If you really wanted to go all out, you could get a support kit for both Black Hand and Third Edition along with a couple Blood Shadow Court. This would provide you with a really nice base of vampires and a lot of library cards that would go together nicely. It’s an excellent way to start your collection and really dive into the game, and it will run you less than $150.

A last important note is that many play groups allow the use of proxy cards (a printed piece of paper covering a normal card inside a card sleeve) for causal games. This can be a great way to experiment with cards that you don’t own before investing in them. Check with your play group to see what their feelings are on proxied cards.

Several members of the community have put together relatively straightforward decks that are built almost entirely of easy to acquire cards, and were designed with new players in mind. Below is a list of these decks, along with some information about which card sets were used in their construction. Any of these decks would provide an excellent entry point for a new player.

Barbed Wire Project

Preston Poulter put these decks together almost entirely from common cards that can be found in the original Jyhad / VTES sets, meaning that they can all be constructed relatively easily if you have access to cards from those sets. The few cards that aren’t from Jyhad / VTES are commons from other sets. There is one deck for each clan included in the original set (Brujah, Gangrel, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere, and Ventrue). He also cheaply sells these decks individually or as a complete set on ebay.

VTES ONE’s Reasonably Priced Decks

These decks focus on the 9 Sabbat clans (Brujah Antitribu, Gangrel Antitribu, Lasombra, Malkavian Antitribu, Nosferatu Antitribu, Toreador Antitribu, Tremere Antitribu, Tzimisce, and Ventrue Antitribu), and may soon include decks for the Independent clans (Assamite, Followers of Set, Giovanni, and Ravnos). The decks use crypts from the Black Hand, Third Edition, and (sometimes) Sword of Caine sets – all of which are relatively easy to acquire. The library cards are mostly common cards taken from the same sets, meaning that they are relatively easy to assemble. He has written an article about each deck which includes advice on how to play it, why he made certain card choices, and suggestions on what cards you could add to improve / customize it. He sells these decks cheaply, but can only ship inside Germany. If you live there, contact him to see if he has any in stock!

Brett S’ Demo Deck Series

These decks were built specifically for use in demo situations, and Brett carries them around to all his demo events. Currently there are six decks (Brujah, Gangrel, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, and Ventrue) with more in development. They use crypts from groups 1 and 2, and primarily common and uncommon cards found in a variety of sets, meaning that they might be a little difficult to construct from a limited collection. He sells these decks cheaply, but can only ship in the US. If you live there, contact him to see if he has any in stock!