Archetype Decks

jblacey wrote:

The Goal:
To have decks for players which can be used for demos for new players or a loaner deck for players that don't have a deck on hand for a tournament.

Awesome idea!

BUT I do not think that demo n00b friendly demo decks and loaner decks can work well at the same time.



Besides rather optimal demo decks have already been created by Peetu, Aapo and Teemu. (if you can outdo these you'll be a effin Cardmeister so talented that other players will swoon by your mere presence!)

So once more unto the breach:

Here are some awesome proxy demo decks local guys did! Of course you can use them as decklists...

drive.google.com/file/d/1lakfvGPt1nb4-7Of_nJMwCv80leOao_Z/view?usp=drive_open

EDIT 29.11.2023: Updated version of those same decks can now be found at:
drive.google.com/file/d/1DHq86mw-F2gOTEY--bZF856fVTmtG4D3/view

Idea is to have limited amount of different cards in the deck. Plus all the cards are simple ones with very little text. Many cardtypes are missing as to streamline the demo and keep it as simple as possible as not to overload them with too much info.

Once the newbies have played a game with these they should have a firm grasp of basic rule mechanics and you can hand slightly more complicated decks to them.

I recommend you keep it short and use just 20 pool.

These are tried and tested in several Ropecon with returning old hands as well as total n00bs.

Lönkka wrote:

Here are some awesome proxy demo decks local guys did! Of course you can use them as decklists...

drive.google.com/file/d/1lakfvGPt1nb4-7Of_nJMwCv80leOao_Z/view?usp=drive_open

Idea is to have limited amount of different cards in the deck. Plus all the cards are simple ones with very little text. Many cardtypes are missing as to streamline the demo and keep it as simple as possible as not to overload them with too much info.

These are great! Thank you very much. I love their simplicity.

LivesByProxy wrote:

So what is the next step?

Going to offer up some ideas on deck concepts and then we explore the ideas.

Someone once suggested making the optional discard phase a mandatory discard just to get new players into the habit of cycling cards. What do you think about this?

I think getting players (especially new) to think of turns in phases is a good thing, but I am not a fan of mandatory discard. How often I discard has way more to do with what I am playing with and against. The more toolbox, the less I discard. The more concentrated and focused (especially if ash pile manipulation ) the more automatic it becomes.

Edit: Regarding unusual crypt compositions like Tor/Brujah/Assamite based around Celerity, I'm skeptical. I think new players will see unused disciplines or abilities that aren't relevant and wonder 'Why am I playing this guy?' Unless you're talking about weenie ..?

One of the decks that I am looking at is or anarch deck. It feels distinct, doesn't require superior disciplines, and has large variance in deck design options. I am looking at Make the Misere and Illegalism in particular. In fact, I am leaning towards making a deck around Salvador Garcia, because saving pool on masters seems fantastic to me or blood use if we use Power of One.

If we go then CrimethInc. becomes an option.

That being said I have been kinda itching at building an Anarch deck with either Gatjil Munyarryun or Jeremiah Noble and Hell-for-Leather. Maybe an Anarch Brujah Anti deck with Tension in the Ranks, Fame, and Hell-for-Leather for pool loss? Bleed them with presence if they don't block?

Not sure if we want to use Hackerspace, but I have to admit getting a two counters for one vampire for using Anarch Converts seems too good to pass up. Maybe Conceal + .44 + Target Vitals? Groundfighting could be an option. I will create another thread for this deck, so I don't derail this thread.

Diversion is the best combat card existant if you're trying to use a limited number of different cards, be anarch, and be viable.
Trick is of course that so few things that have start anarch. Of course, having specific crypt cards with / , , / that start as anarch, designed specifically for a precon could be amazing.

But, most anarch decks I've tried to theorize with your goals in mind need to use converts to be viable. The anarch pool isn't as shallow as it was in 2009, but most decks still kinda need converts. If we want to tie into V5, and do it well, adding anarchs ot errattaing existing ones across groupings (or both) seems like it would help.

jblacey wrote:

These are great! Thank you very much. I love their simplicity.

I'm just preaching here
Peetu, Aapo and Teemu did the designing of these.

Demoing with these has been tried and tested at least at several Ropecons and they've worked well.

Idea is not to teach everything but rather stick to the real basics with which you can already have a ton of fun. There is NO NEED to go through all kinds of complicated, and often obscure, garbage during a demo. Get them to make some actions and play some cards ASAP. Golden rule: FFF (Fast, Furious & Fun)!

After the basics have been learned the transition to more complicated rules matters is way easier (with this in mind I've actually been just pondering asking the guys to put more complex demo decks together which could be played right after a game with these simpler ones).


Concentrate on playing the game instead of pondering how the cards might work/when they might be played. This is achieved by:

-Using only cards that feature minimal amount of text so the n00bs quickly know how to play them.

-Using as few different cards as possible so the n00bs will have even fewer new things to learn. ("How does this card functio... Oh, I already played it last turn and so I now know already how it works!")

jblacey wrote:

Not sure if we want to use Hackerspace, but I have to admit getting a two counters for one vampire for using Anarch Converts seems too good to pass up.

Uh, I don't think it works like that. If you use Anarch Convert to make another vampire an Anarch, you don't get two counters on Hackerspace, just one.

Added a few minutes later: ...or actually, does it work like that? Looking at the card texts, you may actually be right. If yes, I've missed this myself and it makes Hackerspace even better