Official V:EKN Caitiff "Sign O' the End Times" Newsletter July 2004
Official V:EKN Caitiff Newsletter - July 2004
Contents
- Life in the City
(Vampire fiction)
- Um, I dunno. What d'ya wanna do?
(Clan Strategy)
- ...and the Kitchen Sink too!
(Discipline overviews)
- Pick Me! PICK ME!
(Card overviews a. crypt b. library)
- Smack Talk
(Reader feedback)
- Dear Azel
(Advice column)
- Ante up, Sucka
(Deck designs)
- Peace Out
(Conclusion)
Life in the City
Navar's Musings by John Rayburn
He gently stroked the pigeon's back unconsciously while letting his gaze
travel aimlessly upon the city he called home. A sense of peace, a coming to
terms with his lot in life among greater forces if you will, settled over
him. Sure he was moderately successful in regular human terms - a
businessman, profitable enough to endulge in a comfortable lifestyle that
left more than one envious eye upon him. And yet... but it doesn't matter.
These things happen they say. And they have said a lot of things to him,
haven't they.
"Navar. We will be late for the party. You know we have pulled some
strings to keep you included. You don't want to seem dismissive now, do you?
Please, for this, keep your fashionably late sensibilities constrained."
"Hmm? ... Oh, mmhmm. I will be there in a moment. I must secure my
aviary."
"Honestly, sometimes I don't understand why you while away your time
with those creatures. It is not like you can enjoy squab as before - "
Navar ambles out of earshot to the coop and tenderly places 'Camille'
back with her flock. Heh, before he could keep up with the rapid pace of
normal conversational banter. But he has since found those who have raised
the 'art' of idle chatter to higher levels, far beyond his patience he
found. A lingering puase before the shut aviary, savoring the silence, Navar
counts until the tension for the necessary reply becomes overwhelming and
returns to his date. He realizes how much more he enjoyed the simpler
company of humans. Now, with his new lifestyle, he finds himself restricted
more to the animals that surround his new world.
"Ms. Easton, ready and at your service," as he walks toward her he
crooks his arm precisely at the moment of passing of her, "Shall we?"
" - and they leave such a terrible mess everywhere, too. Don't they?"
she threads her arm through and walks in tandem.
"Yes, indeed they do," as we all do, but seldom admit it, he thought to
himself.
"Most unpleasant... But let us be on our way then. I hear this will be
an interesting night; unexpected visitors should be making their rounds
tonight."
"Mmm? Any hints? Another delightful guessing game, Delilah?"
A wry smile draws across her face, unseen by Navar who is facing the
door they are approaching.
"Well, I'll give you a start. There will be a contingent of Gangrel
present. Unusual, no? In fact there will be a Ms. Devereaux, who has been
said not to have been around this city in quite a few years. A regular
before, I heard, but then one time she just changed address and has not been
back. Most curious."
Devereaux? Navar, without thinking, turns his head sharply to face
Delilah. A play of various emotions dances upon his eyes before he could
mask them.
"My dear, you were quite right about giving me a start."
Unfortunately he was hit by a scintillating smile and started to melt
into a warm cuddle space in that smile. He really hated these games, but
Delilah has been trying so hard to win him over with kindness, access, and
maybe a touch of love. He found that he could acquiesce for the time being.
"Your eyes are telling, but of what I don't know right now. No matter, I
want to hear all about it another time then. Come, let us go." she said.
Go? Go. Yes, go. He likes how things have settled, but now he was
starting to get anxiety of how things will move from here. From a cozy cage
to where? Only one way to find out - and that was to go, lest he be late...
Um, I dunno. What d'ya wanna do?
JesusMaryandJoseph!!! Our very own Prince!? You mean we don't have to go
out there and Praxis Seize like we used to? And he has capacity enough to
contest for longer than a turn or two!? Oh how this has changed our standing
dramatically. Before, we were a big reason that vote pushing was neutered,
Praxis Seizing and KRCing everything in our path with our waves of actions
and expendability. Now things have been moderated for the better (it was a
bit excessive to be honest, even if we were pushing everyone around). But we
lost some voting power in these modern nights. But now we get our very own
prince!! We aren't blatant puppets, one of our own looks to have earned his
title! Hurray! So now all those political decks that were retired now have a
chance to come back out and try again! And some group 3/4 vampires look to
have some serious staying power, their capacities being better than many of
their predecessors. With some of the cards from previous newsletters
(Paragon with a Ventrue ally, Thin-Blooded Seer - companion to Third
Tradition: Progeny) along with the Traditions and we can start to see a new
Renaissance of the Caitiff vote deck - but a more balanced and varied one at
that. More on this to come.
The other *HUGE* introduction has been Events. We now have to keep a
real eye on deck construction because there's some serious wrenches out
there to throw into our machinations. But then we also have access to nice
wrenches to throw back. Now, I can't be sure how well this new mechanic will
incorporate into the community (on a thematic level I hope it is accepted),
and the effects are so large that I can't determine all the permutations
these new cards will have upon our strategy. Many an excellent assessment on
these cards has been already done out there, by far more skilled and
experienced players, so I suggest some browsing. These are powerful tools so
use them wisely.
... and the Kitchen Sink too!
Oh My GOD!!! We finally got a vampire with Dominate!!! Now we have
access to dominate tactics requiring one less Dominate Master! Huzzah! But
serious, this is a very good thing for us Caitiff. Our group 4 pals are
starting to shape up quite nicely. Many of the strategies you've been
hearing about dominate recently are now open to us just a bit more - so I
assume I don't need to go in detail about how to use dominate with us. This
is a great start and I can't wait until our group 4 is fleshed out. Get out
there and start bleedin' and bouncin'!
Pick Me! PICK ME!
Crypt:
Afifa, The Herald
Clan: Caitiff (group 4)
Capacity: 1
Disciplines: dom
Camarilla: When you put a Gehenna card in play, your prey burns 1 pool. If
you do not put a Gehenna card in play during your discard phase, a ready
vampire you control other than Afifa burns 1 blood, or you burn 1 pool.
Rarity: Gehenna:U
Good heavens, who else could I start out with discussing the
implications of Gehenna? Not only does she have the fabled dominate, she has
an events related benefit/penalty. And what a benefit/penalty at that! Hmm,
and would I feel compelled *not* to play Gehenna events if I had her in my
crypt? No. No, it's like a free bleed during your discard phase; who'd pass
that up? And the penalty? Easy to overcome. With all the recent tech out
there to gain blood, let alone all the old tech (Hunting Grounds and all),
there's little reason that you'd have to burn 1 pool (lest all your other
vampires are empty/torpored and you ran out of Gehenna cards - but by then
I'm sure you have bigger problems). And her special works while she is in
torpor too, so there is no reason to go through the extra effort to protect her.
Sweet! Throw in an extra copy or two and enjoy! The big question is what events to
use with her? Well, since dominate is in such high demand to splash in
seemingly each and every deck it's really hard to pin down which events
to focus on. She can be splashed into so many deck archetypes almost
seemlessly, and since her effect kicks in even while she's in torpor,
there's little to limit to her flexibility. So the question becomes why
*not* play her if you are playing Gehenna events? A star in the making.
Smack Talk
I have taken up the mantle of Pander newsletter as well. I will simulate
a mild rivalry with Caitiff and Pander for aesthetic reason. Hopefully you
will enjoy it, if for at least the schizophrenic self-arguing nature of the whole
thing. : ) Heh, we'll see how wild and autonomous these personalities will become!
Dear Azel
Well, I really enjoyed the art of Afifa, and it seems several others in
the community did too. There was some interest in the background story of
this piece, and being a curious sort I decided to do some detective work.
Well, I found the site for the new V:tES artist, Albrecht. And then I took
the opportunity to ask questions about this piece. Unfortunately I have been
inable to get in contact after a month of trying and I decided enough time
has passed, I could delay this newsletter no longer. Alas, she might have been
on vacation the whole time. Perhaps others in the community might have better
luck. So without further ado Albrecht's website
http://www.albrecht-illo.com
I find the angelic/demonic inspired work particularly interesting and
invite the community to peruse her portfolio. Be kind and graciously welcome a new contributor to
our game's rich creativity.
Ante Up, Sucka
No deck this month.
Peace Out
Hope you have enjoyed this newsletter. I had higher hopes for it, but
unfortunately things did not pan out as planned. C'est la vie. Soon I will be cramming 1/2 year of a
foreign language class into one month, this coming month. So I will be most definitely brain fried,
I make no promises for August. Caine-willing, I will be able to get one out for next month. I am
starting to churn out a quarterly than a monthly it seems, but it is all working out alright. I
hope everyone is enjoying what is normally a pretty hard topic to stretch - us weenies being so useful
and yet so easy to use. If you have anything to share with the community please drop me a note like
so many others have (Thank you those who have, by the way. Keep in touch!). Reach me at
opaopajr@comcast.net