What if we updated these cards?

A couple more suggestions:

Salt of Thoth - [blood cost reduced to 0]
Usable by a locked Tremere. Cause a Ⓓ action targeting a location you control to fail and put this card on that location. You may burn this card to cause a Ⓓ action targeting this location to fail.

Even the cost reduction seems inconsequential to make the card playable but I guess it could at least be used to protect your Montreal, Rack, or Shard with some efficiency...


Suppressing Fire -
Only usable by a ready unlocked minion with a gun other than the acting minion.
The blocking minion gets -2 intercept.

I like the design idea behind this card - maybe the boost to the cept reduction could make it more worthwhile?

On Discord, Lionel/Phoenix posted a chronological compilation of VTES card changes:

gist.github.com/lionel-panhaleux/a4a9cad2e492af7c45c50a1cea7e6cf6

Thank you, much appreciated!

Now let's add a post about nerfing a card for a change.

I've been told that I'm not crazy to think Govern the Unaligned is kind of an OP card in both modes. Yet since Jyhad, it was never updated and considering it already has a V5 print, it is unlikely to be...

Still, I was thinking about how to balance it so that it is not an auto-include for pretty much every competitive DOM deck out there. I thought that the effect was not the problem - it's the cost. So here goes:


Fair Govern the Unaligned
[costs 1 blood]
Ⓓ Bleed with +2 bleed.
+1 stealth action. The acting vampire burns 1 blood to add 3 blood to a younger vampire in your uncontrolled region.

Square Govern the Unaligned
[costs 1 pool]
Ⓓ Bleed with +2 bleed.
+1 stealth action. Add 3 blood to a younger vampire in your uncontrolled region.


If it really came down to it, which one would you prefer?

I found another couple of cards that historically saw very little play and could be, relatively easily, improved:


Speed of Thought - [blood cost reduced to 0]
cel: Ⓓ Bleed. If more than 1 pool is bled with this action, ignore the excess. Minions without Celerity cannot block this action.
CEL: Ⓓ Bleed. If more than 2 pool is bled with this action, ignore the excess. Minions without superior Celerity cannot block this action.

Just a modest update that could still work for some decks. I think Night Moves as a card is still better in most scenarios but allowing the superior effect to bleed for 2 would also make it unique in comparison...


Feline Saboteur
ani+obf: Ⓓ Choose any Methuselah. The chosen Methuselah discards 2 cards at random from their hand and burns the top 2 cards of their library.
ANI+OBF: As above, but he chosen Methuselah discards 4 cards at random from their hand and burns the top 4 cards of their library.

For the investment of an action and the requirement of two disciplines, the proposed numbers above might be justified for the card to have some reasonable impact...

Another way to improve underplayed cards is to make them modal, similar to like the Kholo cards are:


Animal Magnetism [Action Modifier]/[Reaction]
Only usable during a referendum.
ani+obf: This vampire gains 1 vote.
ANI+OBF: This vampire gains 3 votes.


Iron Glare
pot+pre: [Action Modifier]/[Reaction] Only usable during a referendum. This vampire gains 2 votes.
POT+PRE: Only usable during a bleed action. +2 bleed (limited).

Under the Skin [Action Modifier]/[Reaction]
Only usable during a referendum before votes and ballots are cast.
pre+aus: Choose a younger vampire. That vampire abstains.
PRE+AUS: As above, and lock that vampire at the end of the action if the referendum passes.


Emissary [Action Modifier]/[Reaction]
Requires a ready baron. Only usable during a referendum before votes and ballots are cast.
Choose another ready unlocked anarch you control. Lock the chosen anarch. That anarch gains 3 votes. Any Camarilla vampire older than that anarch can lock to cancel that anarch's votes and ballots.

Epiphany/Legacy could be the same text, so you don't have to worry about the order that you bring a vampire to play.
Epiphany
Precision, feline saboteur, zip line and other actions could be buffed with a burn 1 blood to untap instead of free untap.

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