submission - path of mortuus

Path of mortuus
master. Path.
1 pool. Burn option.
put this card on a harbinger of skulls you control.
Necromancy cards costs this one less blood.
this harbinger may recruit zombi allies and employ zombi retainers as if meeting the requirements. (Consider this harbinger to have basic version of the discipline if any are required)

snegiem wrote:

Path of mortuus
master. Path.
1 pool. Burn option.
put this card on a harbinger of skulls you control.
Necromancy cards costs this one less blood.
this harbinger may recruit zombi allies and employ zombi retainers as if meeting the requirements. (Consider this harbinger to have basic version of the discipline if any are required)

[Argh, misclicked Delete while aiming to hit edit. Retyping.]

The cost reduction is welcome and permanent, but unlike other Paths isn't spread across your other vampires. Interesting, though, and as it's non-unique you could maybe play it on one or two vampires.

The zombie bit, I'm less sold on. It basically nets you Zombie from Giovanni, and Reanimated Corpse from Thanatosis. (It would also net you Shambling Hordes from Necromancy, but there aren't any Harbingers without Necromancy currently, and it would be an interesting omission from any future vampires.) Zombie is a Wolf Companion like thing and pretty poor, but RC is quite decent. However, if you wanted to make a solid Harbinger RC deck, it's difficult because you need one of these first. It's not totally impossible, but it tends to be unreliable and not very powerful - a bit like the deck that starts "Well, first Arika plays Clan Impersonation to Baali..." and ends up with four Clan Impersonations clogging its hand. Possibly if you were doing some sort of Samedi/Harbinger cross-over? Say, someone like Baroque. Still a bit fringey.

Also, given that RC is one of the few Samedi strengths at the moment, I'm not totally sure about detracting from that right now.

But I do think the 'personal path' element is interesting, and would be interested to see a similar card with a slightly different other half.

Similar existing 'Minion' paths include Path of the Scorched Heart (Trujah) and Path of Tears (Salubri). The former looks to be the template here, but if a Master card Path, it should have an inbuilt destruct to keep it level with the other Paths. Therefore, might I suggest it is made more similar to PotSH and be an action with inbuilt untap?

@snegiem: Would "May recruit or employ allies and retainers as a Giovanni if all other costs can be met" be more thematic?

@jamesatzephyr:

there aren't any Harbingers without Necromancy currently, and it would be an interesting omission from any future vampires.

It would be very strange if there were - assuming the canon to be true, only the most powerful elder Cappodocian necromancers were able to escape the ward, and they haven't sired since returning, so a Harbinger with no necromancy would be extremely surprising. Nicomedes and Soloman Batanea (with only basic necromancy) are intriguing, but then again, Soloman is also Laibon.

At first my source of inspiration was the dark ages first edition book and the cappadoccian clanbook: in both cappadoccian were making zombi (dark ages at level 6 of mortis and in clanbook as a combination of discipline that i don t remember well, it was kind of for + mortis i think)...

So when i thought mortis and the way cappadoccian studied the path which became later path of bones and path of death and soul, zombis came naturally to my mind...

However i recognize that gameplay implications are limited or poor at the moment...

snegiem wrote:

So when i thought mortis and the way cappadoccian studied the path which became later path of bones and path of death and soul, zombis came naturally to my mind...

Perhaps go for something slightly different then.

So it sort of works based on other tech like Slaughterhouse. Potential synergy with minion removal tech like Gisela Harden. Gives potential for some sort of Harbinger-y deck using things like Kiss of Ra to take vampires out (so you can burn them). Perhaps have some Harbingers hanging out with weenie Fortitude combat? Things like that. .

Thematically it feels like zombies should probably be restricted to some types - mortals, maybe ghouls or mages etc. - but that would probably make it too niche. Tweak the zombie stats based on however strong/niche you feel it is.

It would be intended as a card to draw into, rather than necessarily the basis of the whole deck - the rest of the deck should be doing things to help you win anyway (killing vampires, swarming bleeds, using Slaughterhouse to power Trochomancy, or whatever works for you), and this could be a potentially solid extra when you drew it.



(*) Fun fact: this action isn't directed. www.vekn.net/general-rulings , under Directed Actions.

Yeah, I guess it shows the need for more 'good but not Giovanni-specific' zombi allies/retainers. There was also the Golem in the first Vampire computer game, which might lend itself better to supplementing the Harbingers' combat performance.

The 'Blood pearl' ritual involved six dots in Mortis, Necromancy, and Thaumaturgy, I think.

Anyway, back to the card idea... the Necromancy cost reduction is very welcome. I guess other thematic ideas to consider might include an inbuilt Shroudsight (but be perhaps too powerful so would have to cost a blood), or +1 hand size while in combat, or untap after successfully recruiting or employing a zombie or mummy. Stealing zombies in play is corner-case, but might make sense, and could screw with a few Giovanni decks.

If anything, throw up some new zombi ally/retainer ideas to work with Path of Mortuus!