The 'Zine of Malkav #7a August 2003 Now with 60% more Spluw! ______________________________ Table of Explanitory Words and Ideas for the Discourse of this Newsletter: 1. Introduction 2. Fiction (or is it?) 3. V:TES stuff 4. Et Cetera & So Forth 5. To Be Continued ______________________________ 1. Introduction ______________________________ I've decided to tackle the daunting job of analyzing combat strategies for Malkavians using only their Clan Disciplines. Because of this, I've decided to make three short Newsletters instead of one long one. Each Newsletter will make an in-depth analysis of either Auspex, Obfuscate, or Dementation/Dominate combat cards and how they can be used in conjunction with the other Clan Disciplines. Then the featured deck will showcase the month's Discipline with a deck idea. The Newsletters will be shorter overall, but publication will be at weekly intervals instead of the usual monthly ones until the combat analysis is completed. Enjoy! Timmy Merrill - Editor ______________________________ 2. Fiction (or is it?) ______________________________ Bih-biiip, bih-biiip, bih-biiip... "Someone turn that stupid clock off!" Todd shouted and buried his head under a pile of newspapers. Bih-biiip, bih-biiip, bih-biip... "But the sun's down," Waldo said, "Time to get up!" Bih-biiip, bih-biiip, bih-biiip... "Give me that thing," Todd said, and grabbed the clock out of Waldo's hands. He threw it against the wall and it shattered into individual components. "That's better." He settled back onto the newspaper-covered couch. "Why'd you do that?" Waldo said in a sad, sad voice. "Mmph." Todd said and started snoozing almost right away. Waldo stood up and quietly slipped downstairs and out the shattered front door. He was feeling a little hungry and it was time for a quick bite. ------------ There were many people out on the streets on this night. Waldo gazed wonderingly at them as he walked by. They actively ignored him or scowled at him agressively. He could feed on any number of junkies, they wouldn't be missed and no one would care should one disappear. But something never sat right with the thought of drinking such impure blood. No, Waldo liked fresh, clean blood from his victim, and that was what he was looking for tonight. Waldo continued walking for a while until he came to a nice, crowded area. This seemed like a nice spot. "Hello, there," said Waldo to a rather young man sitting at a table outside the cafè. He had a cappaccino, cell phone, and car keys spread out in front of him. He was sitting alone. "Hi. Do I know you?" "No, I just stopped by to say hello." "Well, you said it." "Yoink!" Waldo snatched up the man's keys and jangled them for a second. He smiled and ran away. "Hey! That guy took my keys!" The man looked around for a second as if expecting someone to chase the theif down for him, but, of course, no one did. He jumped up, knocking his chair over in the process and raced after Waldo. Waldo turned into the walkway between the cafè and a closed discount store. He stopped and stood off to the side of the entrance and waited. The man soon came running in and also stopped. He stood right next to Waldo and looked around, not seeing the vampire. It was clear he was hesitant in going any closer into a dark recess where a stranger may or may not be lurking. The man turned to leave, giving up on the lost keys. Waldo jingled the keys right next to the man's ear. He quickly turned around and scanned the area, but couldn't see anyone. Feeling very uncomfortable at this point, the man completely gave up ever seeing his keys again and started to turn. That was when Waldo reached out and yanked the mortal back into the shadows, dragging him far back into the darkness. ______________________________ 3. V:TES Stuff ______________________________ Malks and Combat With access to abundant Intercept, an effective "Rush Card" (Nose of the Hound) and some anti-S:CE cards (Blessings of Chaos, Fast Reactions, Hidden Lurker, Telepathic Tracking, and Thoughts Betrayed), Malkavians could plausibly be an effective combat Clan. The problem comes down to the fact that Celerity and Potence are much more efficient, are prevelant types of combat decks, and will usually tear Auspex/Obfuscate/Dementation/Dominate combat decks apart. This probably explains why you see more Malkavians bleeding than attacking minions. Part 1: Auspex Clan Malkavian has a nasty reputation for being "cheesy sneak & bleeders" who bleed you consistantly for 6+ Pool every turn at +4 Stealth. And it's true! All true! But, because of this, Malkavians are probably the prime target of Rush actions. So what's a Malkavian to do in combat? Auspex - "The Intercept Discipline" Group 1, 2, and 3 Malkavians all have a good share of Auspex. Glancing through Auspex we see about a dozen cards that give bonses to Intercept in one form or another. This would imply that any Clan with this Discipline can expect to see a lot of combat (after successfully blocking). Add to that Nose of the Hound and Fast Reactions and Auspex almost screams "You're getting into combat!" But what does Auspex iteself do to help *in* combat? There are six Auspex combat cards: Anesthetic Touch, Aura Reading, Improvised Tactics, Primal Instincs, Read Inentions, and Telepathic Tracking. We'll look at these in a little more detail. Anesthetic Touch - You can Dodge, only when at close range. Not too good seeing as if you're at close range you're likely to be a target of Immortal Grapple (and/or various additional strikes). Any other deck with combat and not playing Immortal Grapple will probably be hitting you at long range. Still, handy against Tzimisce and Gangrel... when they don't use Scorpian Sting. Aura Reading - You can look at your opponent's hand or increase your hand size by +2. It's nice to look at your opponent's hand, not really to see what combat he's got planned for you (you can usually guess what they're packing by looking at Disciplines and Clan), but best used to see what non-combat they have (Wake's, Intercept, Bleeds, Political, etc). The superior version to increase your hand size is best when used to get unwanted cards out of your hand and into the ash heap. As a combat card, it probably won't win you any fights, but it has its benefits. Improvised Tactics - The card-drawing ability can be somewhat handy, but, like Aura Reading, it doesn't have any direct combat-winning effects. Sadly, this can only be used by an Anarch and only takes affect during the Press step. Primal Instincs - Another Dodge, but this time it costs a blood but only requires basic Auspex. The superior version allows you to take back your strike as an acting minion and declare a new one after you see what your opponent has done. If you're using Auspex, you're probably not going to be the acting minion. Read Intentions - Another Dodge, but only at the Superior version. With basic auspex, you'll get a Press, only useable to cancel. This card works best in an AUS heavy crypt where you can reliably use it at Superior when needed, or basic those few times you need to cancel a Press. Telpathic Tracking - For 1 blood, a vampire with [aus] can gain a Press. With [AUS], you effectively get an unstoppable Press to continue combat. This is very strong against Strike: Combat Ends, but the blood cost probably makes it inferior to Psyche!, yet it's accessible to vampires who lack Celerity. In short: Auspex seems to be rather redundant: Dodges and Presses. It *could* be a fun combat-helping Discipline. Don't you think extra-sensory perception could give a variety of Maneuvers, Presses, and combat defense? But, noooo! For some reason Auspex is just very weak in this department. Intercept is good and everything, but too much will clog your hand, and, as we all know, Auspex is just chock-full of Intercept. In this respect, Auspex seems to be counter-productive: if you have Intercept, you can get into combat, but once in combat, the Intercept will be unuseable in combat! Next Issue: "Obfuscate - Stealthy Combat" ______________________________ Featured Deck Deck Name: "Malkavian Combat Featuring Auspex" or: "Meat Cleaver Madness!" Date Created: August 4th, 2003 Created By: Timmy Merrill Description: Wall Deck using Pulse of Cainaille to oust Prey. Format: Storyline Tournement Legal. [Crypt: 12 Vampires] Smudge - The Ignored Brasil [aus] Dollface [aus] [obf] Zoë [cel] [obf] [AUS] Aleph [dom] [AUS] Idalia [dem] [AUS] Roland Bishop [aus] [dom] [obf] Zebulon [aus] [dom] [pro] [OBF] Victoria [cel] [obf] [AUS] Dancin' Dana [cel] [obf] [AUS] Dancin' Dana [cel] [obf] [AUS] Ozmo [dom] [obf] [AUS] [Library: 90 cards] [Masters: 14] Asylum Hunting Ground Auspex The Barrens Blood Doll x4 Dreams of the Sphinx Fame Fragment of the Book of Nod Guardian Angel Powerbase: Chicago Powerbase: Washington D.C. The Rack [Actions: 22] Brass Knuckles x2 Ecstatic Agony x2 Leather Jacket x4 Meat Cleaver x4 Muddled Vampire Hunter x2 Nose of the Hound x4 Pulse of the Cainaille x2 Sport Bike x2 [Reactions: 24] Enhanced Senses x4 Eagle's Sight x4 Spirit's Touch x4 Precognition x4 Forced Awakening x8 [Action Modifiers: 6] Cloak the Gathering x6 [Combat: 24] Aura Reading x6 Lucky Blow x6 Taste of Vitae x6 Trap x6 How to Play This Deck: Tap yourself out taking as many actions as you can each turn to get the Forced Awakenings out of your hand. Use your intercept to get into combat with your Predator to frustrate their attempts at any actions harming you. If/when your Predator is cowed, go after your Prey's vampires and weaken them, then start in with bleeds using Pulse of the Cainaille. If you don't get totally creamed in combat, you should do well. :) Comments welcomed. ______________________________ 4. Et Cetera & So Forth ______________________________ While doing this newsletter, featuring Auspex, I noticed something: Intercept really isn't used all that much. Actually, to put it better, Intercept almost seems to be an "all or nothing" approach (or more appropriately, a "wall or nothing" approach). I think this is because if you include any Intercept at all, it had better be enough to stop a +5 Stealth bleed. But if you have +5 Intercept in your hand, it's not going to get you anywhere when you're getting Bum's Rushed at 0 Stealth (you won't even be able to use a Spirt's Touch to gain a Maneuver). So a player is basically given the choice to cram their deck full of intercept, or ignore it completely. Even a lot of Malkavian decks with ample access to Auspex, will oft choose to forego Intercept and simply use the more effective Telepathic Misdirection (or Deflection for our Group 1 friends). Not to say that Tremere, Toreador, etc, don't do the same thing, but with the lack of combat or combat defense that other such Clans have, Malkavians, moreso, will choose to avoid combat, and Intercept, as best they can. But, who knows? Maybe with the upcomming Black Hand and The Gehenna expansions, Auspex will see some great new cards expanding it beyond the redundant +X intercept angle. Revalations has already been a great bonus, and more will surely follow. Perhaps we'll even see offense Auspex combat cards! "Psychic Assault" and other mind-attacks would be great for a "Psychic Army" type of deck. Right now, I'd just be happy to see something other than "Dodge/Press to End Combat". :)! ______________________________ 5. To Be Continued ______________________________ The next Newsletter will deal with Obfuscate combat techniques for Malkavians and is scheduled for next week (August 11th). See you then! Send any comments, questions, articles, salacious offerings, humerous anecdotes, deck ideas, knock-knock jokes, or banana smoothies to: Timmy@e-garfield.com -t!MmY, the mad !nker This newsletter was written by a ficticious person in a ficticious plane of existence. Any resemblences to any real persons or planes of existences is coincidential and utterly mpossible. This newsletter may be archived, transmitted, stored, eaten, or copied in any way you wish as long as it is kept in its entirety. Mind the gerbils, they don't like strangers.