Newbie with questions

Hi everyone, first I'd like to say I'm happy about joining this community and the game. As the topic states I'm new to the game, and as every newbie I have a few questions.
They gave a booster box from and expansion called Nights of Reckoning, which I'm using to build a deck but there are a few mechanics about the Imbued and some cards I've come across that are not clear to me. So here are my questions, hope you guys can help me understand this awesome game better.

1. Conviction Cards: the rule says that I can play one conviction card on each imbued on my untap phase and that that card can be from my hand or ash heap... so here is my doubt:
-when it comes to the ash heap, do i just search for which ever conviction card i want and put it on an imbued or it gotta be the one at the top or something.

Also when an ally comes into play with no conviction card the rule says I can play one from my library so:
-Do I search for one and then shuffle or how does it work?
-Can I place Conviction cards on Allies in my uncontrolled region?

2. When does a card "Enters play" is it when it comes out of my crypt into the uncontrolled region or is it when it passes to my controlled region? I ask it because there is this hunter (Inez "Nurse216" Villagrande) that says "When Inez enters play you may search your library(shuffle afterwards) or hand for a power that requires innocence and put it on her"

3.About Blood Cult Awareness Network, I don't really get how it works. What exactly does it affect? Does it affect moving blood from the pool to the vampire to get him into your controlled region?

4. And my last question, when it comes to voting, how do Hunters work? Is there a way they can vote on a referendum? Can I as a Methuselah burn vote cards from my hand to gain votes against or for a referendum even if I don't control a vampire?

Well those are pretty much all my questions, thanks in advance to anyone who helps me clear them.

Welcome to the game! I hope you continue to enjoy it.

nekojosh wrote:

-when it comes to the ash heap, do i just search for which ever conviction card i want and put it on an imbued or it gotta be the one at the top or something.

Search for whichever one you want - as a good rule of thumb, you get to choose your card any time you search unless it explicitly says otherwise.

-Do I search for one and then shuffle or how does it work?

Right. Anytime you search through your deck, always shuffle afterwards.

-Can I place Conviction cards on Allies in my uncontrolled region?

No, cards can't be played on uncontrolled minions unless they explicitly say otherwise.

When does a card "Enters play" is it when it comes out of my crypt into the uncontrolled region or is it when it passes to my controlled region? I ask it because there is this hunter (Inez "Nurse216" Villagrande) that says "When Inez enters play you may search your library(shuffle afterwards) or hand for a power that requires innocence and put it on her"

Once they become controlled.

3.About Blood Cult Awareness Network, I don't really get how it works. What exactly does it affect? Does it affect moving blood from the pool to the vampire to get him into your controlled region?

It affects cards that put blood on uncontrolled vampires, such as Govern the Unaligned.

DOM +1 stealth action. Move 3 blood from the bank to a younger vampire in your uncontrolled region.

4. And my last question, when it comes to voting, how do Hunters work? Is there a way they can vote on a referendum? Can I as a Methuselah burn vote cards from my hand to gain votes against or for a referendum even if I don't control a vampire?

Imnbueds can't vote normally, except for Maman Boumbah with her effect, but you can still discard a vote card or burn the edge to gain a vote, even if you don't control a vampire.

Great! Thanks a lot for the help, just one last doubt. Regarding the Blood Cult Awareness Network, if the Methuselah moved blood to a vampire thus making him enter play would he have to pay any additional blood since the vampire is entering play or this only applies when there is a card with an effect that causes the vampire to enter play?

nekojosh wrote:

They gave a booster box from and expansion called Nights of Reckoning

"They" have certainly given you an interesting place to start.

To help you along, I would recommend reading the Imbued FAQ.
vtes-hunter-net.tripod.com/FAQ.htm

Then jump into the Imbued Newsletters.
vtes-hunter-net.tripod.com/newsletters.htm

Then sample the decks:
vtes-hunter-net.tripod.com/decks.htm

and tournament winning decks:
vtes-hunter-net.tripod.com/ITWDA.htm

You'll definitely want one (or more) copies of The Unmasking , from the Gehenna set, see if "they" will lend it to you.

nekojosh wrote:

Great! Thanks a lot for the help, just one last doubt. Regarding the Blood Cult Awareness Network, if the Methuselah moved blood to a vampire thus making him enter play would he have to pay any additional blood since the vampire is entering play or this only applies when there is a card with an effect that causes the vampire to enter play?

It is considered good form to quote the card text when you have a question about a card.

Blood Cult Awareness Network
[Event]
Inquisition.
Requires a ready imbued in play. Whenever there are any ready imbued in play, any action to put a vampire or ghoul in play or to add counters to an uncontrolled vampire gets -1 stealth and costs an additional blood or life.

Actions to put a vampire or ghoul in play:
The Embrace
The Third Tradition: Progeny
Creation Rites
Recruiting an ally that is a ghoul, like the Asanbonsam Ghoul .

Actions to add counters to an uncontrolled vampire:
Govern the Unaligned
Enchant Kindred
Mary Anne Blaire's special text

The transfer phase is unaffected.
Moving a vampire from the uncontrolled region to the controlled region is unaffected.

nekojosh wrote:

Hi everyone, first I'd like to say I'm happy about joining this community and the game. As the topic states I'm new to the game, and as every newbie I have a few questions.
They gave a booster box from and expansion called Nights of Reckoning, which I'm using to build a deck but there are a few mechanics about the Imbued and some cards I've come across that are not clear to me. So here are my questions, hope you guys can help me understand this awesome game better.

Hi,

First of all, picking the Imbued is probably not the easiest way to start: they have a lot of special rules that even the more experienced members of your playgroup might not master well, they play very differently from vampires because they have a lot more permanent effects on the table but less transient cards to play from the hand, a lot of the older vampire cards do not work well with the Imbued (which can sometimes play for you, sometimes against),... But well, you have the cards, let's try to make the best of them. And Imbued are definitely competitive (most people would say downright scary ) once you have learnt to play them.

1. Conviction Cards: the rule says that I can play one conviction card on each imbued on my untap phase and that that card can be from my hand or ash heap... so here is my doubt:
-when it comes to the ash heap, do i just search for which ever conviction card i want and put it on an imbued or it gotta be the one at the top or something.

You search for the one you want. The Ash Heap is your discard pile. It is already face up so there is no need to shuffle it after. Contrary to Magic, the Ash Heap is not ordered in VTES: there are not effects that look for the top or bottom of it and you are allowed to reorder it at any time. In practice, when playing with the Imbued, just use 2 Ash Heaps: one for your Convictions, one for the other cards. It will save you time. Also remember that you can use your discard phase action at the end of the turn to discard a conviction, then play it from the Ash Heap at the next untap phase.

Also when an ally comes into play with no conviction card the rule says I can play one from my library so:
-Do I search for one and then shuffle or how does it work?
-Can I place Conviction cards on Allies in my uncontrolled region?

First, that rule only applies to Imbued, not all Allies. There are plenty of allies that are not Imbued: mortals, werewolves, zombies, wraithes, daemons, mages,... Only the Imbued use convictions.

If you get a Conviction from your deck, you go search for the one you want then shuffle after. This only applies when the Imbued moves from the Uncontrolled region to the Ready region. Generally, cards in the Uncontrolled region are out of play and cannot be targeted by anyting unless it specifically targets uncontrolled cards.

2. When does a card "Enters play" is it when it comes out of my crypt into the uncontrolled region or is it when it passes to my controlled region? I ask it because there is this hunter (Inez "Nurse216" Villagrande) that says "When Inez enters play you may search your library(shuffle afterwards) or hand for a power that requires innocence and put it on her"

Same answer as before: "enter play" is when the Imbued moves from the Uncontrolled region (face down) to the Ready region (face up).

3.About Blood Cult Awareness Network, I don't really get how it works. What exactly does it affect? Does it affect moving blood from the pool to the vampire to get him into your controlled region?

It only affects Actions. Action has a precise meaning in VTES: it is what a minion (ally or vampire) does during his controller's Minion phase. That does not include the Methuselah moving counters from his pool to vampires during his influence phase.

It is normal that you don't understand what Blood Cult Awwareness does: it refers to specific vampire cards that are not in Night of Reckoning.

Here is an action that puts a vampire in play:
Embrace, The
Action
[2 Blood]
+1 stealth action. Requires a ready non-Sterile vampire.
Put this card in play; it becomes a non-unique vampire with 1 capacity of the same clan as the acting vampire. This vampire must hunt this turn.

An action that puts a ghoul in play (most allies take an action to put in play, Imbued being crypt cards instead are the exception):
Guardian Ghoul
Ally
Tzimisce
[1 Pool]
Ghoul with 1 life. 1 strength, 0 bleed.
If a card controlled by another Methuselah burns a location you control, you may burn Guardian Ghoul instead.

And an action that puts blood on an uncontrolled vampire (note that this one specifically says it targets uncontrolled cards):
Fourth Tradition: The Accounting
Action
[1 Blood]
+1 stealth action. Requires a ready prince or justicar.
Move 3 blood from the blood bank to a younger vampire in your uncontrolled region.

4. And my last question, when it comes to voting, how do Hunters work? Is there a way they can vote on a referendum? Can I as a Methuselah burn vote cards from my hand to gain votes against or for a referendum even if I don't control a vampire?

Short answer: Imbued don't vote

Long answer: Imbued themselves do not have titles. You may discard one (only one) vote card to get one vote during a referendum, but it would be a pretty bad idea to put vote cards in your Imbued decks: only vampires can take the action to call the referendum on the card so you could only use them as a discard for 1 vote, and only if someone else calls a referendum. In VTES, the more you play cards, the more you draw, so having cards in your hand that you cannot play is pretty much the worst thing that can happen to you. The Imbued have 2 sources of votes: Maman Boumba and the Rose Foundation, but in general voting is one of their big weaknesses.