Danse Macabre Previews

Instantaneous Transformation is very good on Adana de Sforza.

brettscho wrote:

Good to see these previews finally coming out. As a request, would it be possible for somebody from the design team to say a few words about each card as it gets spoiled. Like maybe about the lore behind the card, or the reasoning that went into the card's design. I know that the whole design process happened quite some time ago, but I would find a discussion of the logic behind the card to be very awesome.

Some notes on the cards previewed thus far:

Dark Selina is first (and most extensively) mentioned in the book Dark Colony, which covers the struggle for power amongst kindred in New England in the late 1800's. She's a Cardinal working behind the scenes from Zurich, using her pawn Roman Pendragon in her attempt to gain control of New England. She also has a brief mention in Los Angeles by Night, where she has sent her agent Christopher to Los Angeles to use it as a staging point for an incursion into Asia.

She has no stats or physical description apart from being the sire of Roman Pendragon, so we used his stats for the basis of her disciplines and generation. There was also a need for a Brujah antitribu Cardinal in Group 5, so she was a nice find. Her special was derived from her political maneuvering from behind the scenes.

Under Siege comes from Ben Swainbank's old notes from his time as Storyline Coordinator. He had plans for a Sabbat vs. Camarilla clash for his next storyline event, but that was not meant to be. However, we were looking for help for the Sabbat as a sect in Danse Macabre. After some modification and after being forged in the savage fires of the playtesters, we have the final version.

Synner-G's only canon reference is in the flavor text of the Sabbat version of Computer Hacking, where he's mentioned as a Gangrel antitribu hacker. There was a need for a 5-cap City Gangrel in Group 5, as well as a desire to have a deeper selection of mid-caps with core City Gangrel disciplines. He has the standard 5 levels of disciplines for a 5-cap, but given that the disciplines are Celerity, Obfuscate, and Protean, we figured he could use a minor special. Going with the hacker idea and wanting to improve the toolbox potential for the Gangrel antitribu, we went with a special about electronic equipment.

Instantaneous Transformation comes from the book Archons & Templars. It's described as being a rapid version of Shape of the Beast or Mist Form (and there's also a Celerity + Obtenebration version for Tenebrous Form). Rather than make yet another "combat ends" card for Protean, we opted for a multi-function card.

BenPeal wrote:

Instantaneous Transformation comes from the book Archons & Templars. It's described as being a rapid version of Shape of the Beast or Mist Form (and there's also a Celerity + Obtenebration version for Tenebrous Form). Rather than make yet another "combat ends" card for Protean, we opted for a multi-function card.

I suppose we could do the Obtenebration version of Instantaneous Transformation someday. There are 30 crypt cards with Cel + Obt.

Tenebrous Transformation

+1 stealth
Only usable at the end of a successful action (after action resolution). This vampire untaps. A vampire can play only one Tenebrous Transformation at superior each turn.

Feel free to playtest it.

BenPeal wrote:

I suppose we could do the Obtenebration version of Instantaneous Transformation someday. There are 30 crypt cards with Cel + Obt.

And 2 of them have . If there's anything Kiasyd need, it's more free stealth.

Yes, some strong vampires will benefint more of this card than others. But do you really want to look at Enkidu, Stanislava, Arika, Lutz and The Unnamed before you can create a new card? They have such a large discipline spread that they will benefit from most of new cards, at least regarding the basic disciplines.

Inventing a celerity combat card that gives you a press and a maneuver at inf.? Too good because Enkidu. Thinking of a new Thaumaturgy card? Oh no, Carna and Cybele will get better. Animalism? Gosh, Nana gets a goodie. You see the point.

Of course, if there was a new card, that made one of the monsters unbeatable it would suck. But this card is a weaker Freak Drive, which is more versatile because of its stealth inf. But how does that make an Enkidudeck better (it is playable just once per turn)? Or why does Stanislava like this more than Form of Mist or Forced March? You'd add one or three, yes. But then again nobody wants to have all rubbish in a new expansion.

Instantaneous Transformation is good and not gamebreaking. That is IMHO the way new cards should be.

fully agree

Joscha wrote:

Count wrote:

Why is there no cost to untap?

Inventing a celerity combat card that gives you a press and a maneuver at inf.? Too good because Enkidu. Thinking of a new Thaumaturgy card? Oh no, Carna and Cybele will get better. Animalism? Gosh, Nana gets a goodie. You see the point.

Actually, yes, designers should look at the star vampires when designing new cards. Instantaneous Transformation is troubling: It's effects are too similar to Freak Drive and Force March, and tt benefits star vampires with these disciplines more than the Gangrel! who need the real boost. Rather than addressing the problem that clan faces, the design team looks to have just thrown untaps at the problem. Is that the solution to weak disciplines? Just replicating other card effects that already exist? More stealth? More untaps?

I would have less of a problem is the card was more limited or specialized in some way. Untap after a non-bleed action, take an action to gain an untap a la Rutor's Hand. Instead this design is just more of the same. With this design philosophy, what's the solution to weak combat disciplines? Adding more damage bonuses? This only further compounds the homogenization of disciplines, and does little to add variety to the game.