Making Contracts Suck Less

If it doesn't move, loot it
Requires Assamite or Black Hand
Action Modifier/Reaction
Only playable after combat when this minion is ready and an opposing vampire with a contract naming this minion is not ready. Do not replace until the end of the action.
Burn a non-location non-unique equipment on the opposing minion and gain its cost in pool. Instead you may play this card and gain 1 pool. When this action ends, you may move this card back to your hand instead of replacing it from your library.


(Actually, after designing this card or this idea a few times... why don't we just create a "Black Hand Icon" to add to those vampires that are "Black Hand" It could sit on the right in the mirror position to the grouping. We could also add in some simple icons for the Cam & Sabbat & Laibons as well... Just a random thought...)

Juggernaut1981 wrote:

If it doesn't move, loot it
Requires Assamite or Black Hand
Action Modifier/Reaction
Only playable after combat when this minion is ready and an opposing vampire with a contract naming this minion is not ready. Do not replace until the end of the action.
Burn a non-location non-unique equipment on the opposing minion and gain its cost in pool. Instead you may play this card and gain 1 pool. When this action ends, you may move this card back to your hand instead of replacing it from your library.


(Actually, after designing this card or this idea a few times... why don't we just create a "Black Hand Icon" to add to those vampires that are "Black Hand" It could sit on the right in the mirror position to the grouping. We could also add in some simple icons for the Cam & Sabbat & Laibons as well... Just a random thought...)

I dont see why we couldnt include a BH symbol. Obviously, printing black hand on vamps should probably also be done(advanced has a logo and the word advanced)

The other symbols ive thougjt would be nice for awhile, but....... cam: ankh used for CE , sabbat: inverted prickly ankh used for SW, anarch: haha! Weird ankh thing taken for ae, but the fricking anarchy A is unused. And laibon used its open top ankh as an expansion symbol TWICE.

So, id love to just use the icons. But i do worry since all of those are expansion symbols. And BH has enough iconography that we could probably do a hand like the bh expansion symbol but with a crescent on the palm.

Oh, and the card, really like the idea, but still dont like the setup.

I think anarchs/brujah/!brujah/!gangrel/ravnos should have a similar card, but giving you the option to use the equipment for a turn, then "fencing" said stolen item during your discard phase.

Seems neat.

Juggernaut1981 wrote:

If it doesn't move, loot it
Requires Assamite or Black Hand
Action Modifier/Reaction
Only playable after combat when this minion is ready and an opposing vampire with a contract naming this minion is not ready. Do not replace until the end of the action.
Burn a non-location non-unique equipment on the opposing minion and gain its cost in pool. Instead you may play this card and gain 1 pool. When this action ends, you may move this card back to your hand instead of replacing it from your library.

Technical nitpicks: I'm guessing you mean "Alternatively, you may play this card and gain 1 pool." Additionally, you probably want to swap "vampire" and "minion". If the playing minion is Assamite or Black Hand, it will always be a vampire. (I can't think of a way for an ally to get involved with contracts "as a vampire".) The target can be a minion. Contract, Clandestine Contract, Hand Contract and even Dirty Contract go on minions, Haqim's Law goes on a "younger vampire". No particular reason to make it unusable vs the Imbued.


Onto the card:

I'm not wild about anything that detracts from equipment. Some guns see (quite a lot of) play, but a lot of melee weapons don't, most vehicles aren't that exciting etc. Also, looting, pillaging and fencing feels more anarch-y.

I wonder if you could do something like:

@James:
Honestly, if you've just taken down someone important and they had something you could sell what vampire is just going to leave behind a .44 magnum when they could turn it into cash? Yes, I am going on about an RPG trope with this (i.e. if it moves kill it, if it isn't moving then you loot it) but seriously international hired assassins are above theft?? I just figured it would be easy to fence off a .44 magnum or a sniper rifle, but a little hard to dispose of the Bowl of Convergence or Ivory Bow or Banshee Ironwail...


Yeah, alternatively would work just fine in the text. I was hedging bets on random things like a BH or Assamite somehow being able to act like an ally (a la Sonja Blue or Grandest Trick) now or in the future rather than the ally acting as a vampire.

Juggernaut1981 wrote:

@James:
Honestly, if you've just taken down someone important and they had something you could sell what vampire is just going to leave behind a .44 magnum when they could turn it into cash?

I guess it's pretty much the difference between a contract killer hired to take out a target and send a message to his/her associates, and a petty street thug who stabs you in the street and steals your phone. Assamites are often given explicit instructions about their contract, and it's typically a point of pride and honor to comply with them as exactly as possible. (From a lore point of view, I'm also not sure how you quickly fence a Helicopter.)


Curiously, this would also make Centralized Background Check a pool gain mechanism, for a potential double-whammy.

Well, making Centralised Background Check more playable is a side-effect I'd gladly wear.