Rules Team Rulings - 7 July 1998

Rules Team Rulings, July 7, 1998

As before, some comments are included for clarification, or to give a concrete "real world" reasoning to aid in remembering/explaining a rule. Some comments address the reason/need for the errata.

The comments may be safely ignored or deleted.

New Rule

No vote pushing

Each Methuselah can only play no more than one Political Action card to gain a vote during a political action, including the Political Action card used to call the vote, if any.

# Idea: arguable reading of the original Jyhad rules. Fixes the same problem that the DCI vote-replenishment rule  attempted to fix (so the DCI rule shouldn't be used with this rule).

Other Changes to the Rules (or changes to Errata to the rules)

Golden Rule of Card Ownership

has been modified. Your cards are still your own, but are not burned when you are ousted - only the cards that you control are burned when you are ousted. The rest (stolen by or traded to other players) are returned to you when they are burned or when the game ends.

Directed actions

are actions that directly affect another Methuselah, one of her minions, or a card a Methuselah controls. Cards that involve directed actions have a "(D)" in the card text. Nondirected actions are actions that are not directed against a Methuselah or one of her minions. Hunting, equipping a minion, recruiting an ally, and employing a retainer are examples of nondirected actions.

# Yeah, I know - this is a direct quote from the VTES rulebook. But it does change the way the (D) symbol currently works [back to the correct way] by removing the long-standing errata. Specifically, the "(D)" symbol merely identifies  (redundantly) a directed action. The symbol does *not* address who the action can be directed at - the rest of the text on the card should make that clear. Some errata is introduced for expansion cards that are dependent on the errata - but these cards have caused confusion anyway. The card-specific errata for (D) actions is limited to the expansion cards, and then only when necessary. See: Darius Styx, Goth Band, and PB: Mexico City

Equipment

is not optional, except as noted on card text. (Note: weapons always grant the ability to strike, but the minion is still free to

use other strikes.) 

# Removes some strangeness possible with Writ of Acceptance and possibly some other cards, matches the rule for  retainers and Locquipment (so should be easier to remember/explain) and doesn't unbalance the game.

Aggravated Damage

aggravated damage done to a ready vampire sends the vampire to torpor (since it cannot be healed) but does not cause the vampire to burn any blood. Aggravated damage done to a vampire with unhealed damage (including aggravated damage after the first point) requires that the vampire burn one blood per point of damage to avoid being burned.

# Like the original Jyhad rules, only without the "packet" problems. Some of the aggravated-damage-dealing effects from the original set (and some from later sets) were unbalanced with the VTES-style aggravated damage rules, so this serves to restore some of the balance to those.

CARDS

Darius Styx

"Non-Camarilla. As an action, Darius may allow his controller to look at one card at random from any other Methuselah's hand. If it is an equipment card or a retainer card, it is placed on Darius at no cost."

# Net effect: no change. Textual change needed to uphold the (D) symbol conventions that were in effect when the card was printed, and which are necessary in Darius's case.

Fame

"Unique Master. Put this card on a ready vampire. If the vampire with this card goes to torpor, then his controller burns 3 pool. Each Methuselah burns 1 pool during his or her untap phase if this vampire is in torpor."

# Hoses the controller of the vampire instead of the Prey - which makes more sense from a World of Darkness perspective (the controller has to expend resources to cover up the famous one's disappearance, not the Prey, although all suffer from the mounting questions people start asking after an extended period.)

# This removes the "watch me shoot myself" abuses, and gives combat decks slightly improved speed, which helps in a tournament situation where the games are timed.

Fire Dance

Is directed or not based on the controller of the target, as always.

# Previous RT Ruling makes this statement necessary.

Goth Band

"As a +1 stealth (D) action, the Goth Band may move one counter from a master card controlled by another Methuselah to a master card you control that uses counters."

# Net effect: no change. Textual change needed to uphold the (D) symbol conventions that were in effect when the card was printed.

Heidelburg Castle, Germany

Cannot be used during an action (including during a combat, since that is part of the action now - including combats resulting from blocks). Can be used after an action resolves and before the next action begins, at the beginning of any minion phase, or at any time outside of the minion phase.

Major Boon

"Play this card when another Methuselah is successfully bled. Not usable if you control the acting minion. The bleed amount may be modified after this card is played. You burn pool for the bleed instead of the target Methuselah (must be at least 1 pool) and give this card to the target Methuselah. You may burn this card to have that Methuselah burn pool  instead of you when you are successfully bled."

# The VTES version munged the "may be modified" clause pretty badly

Mind Rape

"Superior: (D) put this card on a younger vampire and tap that vampire. The vampire with this card does not untap as normal during his controller's untap phase. During the acting vampire's controller's next minion phase, she must burn this card to untap the vampire and take control of the vampire until the end of her turn."

# The original version of this card is just way too powerful. This new text is copied from Temptation, with slight obvious modifications. Still probably better than Temptation - it costs an extra blood and doesn't untap the target and doesn't stick around to let you regain control later, but it more than makes up for all of this in speed. Plus it has variety in the inferior version - which is worth a good deal.

Of Noble Blood

Is directed or not based on the controller of the target (and the definition of "directed").

Powerbase: Mexico City

The action to steal the blood from your powerbase cannot be attempted by your own vampires.

Pulled Fangs

The damage is not aggravated.

# to balance the card with Lucky Blow, Disarm, and Twisting the Knife.

Return to Innocence

Action - 4 blood.

Bleed. If you successfully bleed your Prey for one or more, put this card on the acting vampire. Burn this card if this vampire loses any blood or goes to torpor, or if your Prey is ousted. During your next untap, this vampire is removed from play and your Prey burns X pool, where X is the capacity of this vampire.

# to offset the "sudden death" aspect somewhat - not sure if it goes far enough, though. We'll see.

Sleeping Mind

Cards played after Sleeping Mind are still free to break these rules, as always. So while you are provented from untapping (with Rat's Warning), for instance, you are not prevented from playing Wake to block - since Wake allows you to attempt to block "as if untapped", and untapped vampires can still block the action as normal.

Thoughts Betrayed

"Superior: Opposing minion cannot play strike cards for the rest of combat."

Tomb of Ramses III

"Master: Unique Location. 3 pool.

When this card is brought into play, or the controller of this card changes, the controller chooses a vampire in her uncontrolled region. During your influence phase, tap to move 1 blood from the blood bank to the chosen vampire. Burn this card when the chosen vampire leaves the uncontrolled region."

# Basically a clanless Eco Terrorist that costs an additional pool and can  feed only 1 vampire (to balance the clanlessness and the fact that you can play it on your first turn). 

# This may not be the best fix (indeed, I've seen some better ones posted on the NG), but it is the easiest to  explain/remember.

Treatment, The

The action to burn this card is directed (unless the Prince and the Treatment somehow come to be controlled by the same Methuselah), by the definition of a directed action.

Wake with Evening's Freshness

"Do not replace until your next untap phase."

Zip Gun

Cannot use ammo cards.