FOLLOWERS OF SET NEWSLETTER

FOLLOWERS OF SET NEWSLETTER

Volume 3, Issue 3
August 2002
Author: Wes

===================================================
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
Setite Tactics -- Dealing with 'Rush' decks
Vampire Analysis -- Sutekh, The Dark God
Card Analysis -- Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper
Sign Off

===================================================
INTRODUCTION

Once again I must apologize for the lateness of this newsletter. The last
time I wrote a newsletter was in December. Franly, I've run out of good
excuses so I'll have to re-use the old ones--I just never seem to have the
time these days. Nevertheless, I hope that this installment will keep you
going until the next time which hopefully won't be for too long.

My thanks go out to Claus Staal and Screaming Vermillian (who I have met but
don't recall his real name) for keeping the faith last month. Their
newsletter was well-written and chock full of information that any initiate
can digest. I hope we can count on more newsletters from these two. Praise
be to Sutekh!

I try to take the time to read each and every newsletter posted on this
newsgroup, regardless of its clan, and I often ask myself what the purpose
of newsletters is supposed to be. Are they meant to be a vehicle for new
ideas? Are they directed towards new players or to fellow veterans? Are they
ego stroking for the writer?

I think they tend to be all of the above and I for one find that most
newsletters, while well-written, are not what they could be. From the
beginning, I have tried to focus my own newsletters towards helping new
players get the hang of the game and occasionally also as a vehicle for
information that is useful to the community in general.

Any reasonably intelligent person can learn how to play this game... but
there are a lot of subtle strategies and tactics that often elude new
players, especially when they play with a limited pool of players.

This is not meant as a criticism of other newsletter writers as I do enjoy
each and every one that I read. I just have to wonder if it is really
necessary to post a single deck with a few comments and then call it a
newsletter (for example). It would be much more useful to the reader to post
how a deck works and why.

To date, I have not posted any decks in my newsletters because I don't feel
that this is what people really want to read (in newsletter form anyway).
While I am sure that there are many new players that will want to try out
someone else's decks, I believe that they would be better equipped with
tactical information than yet another deck built by someone else that
requires 30 rares that they will never be able to accumulate.

There is a lot of information that has not been covered by our newsletters
and while much of it may be obvious to those of us that have played for
years I think it does a service to the V:tES community at large to make
others aware. It can only help this game grow.

===================================================
SETITE TACTICS -- Dealing with 'Rush' decks

Potence can be the bane of any deck that relies on Presence to avoid combat.
Of all the clans, we are the most likely to be caught using Majesty as
pretty much all of our other combat options are... well, not so good.

If we end up with a hostile Potence predator behind us (and predators are
*always* hostile--it's in their nature!) we need a reliable way to avoid
fighting them. There are several options available to us.

The first may sound strange but can be effective depending on how eager your
predator is for carnage. What you can sometimes do is *not* bring out any
vampires. Why? Well, if you have no vampires on the table, who will your
blood-thirsty predator fight? Your grand-predator most likely... but that's
her problem--not ours. We can always influence our vampires to the point
where they all need one more blood to come out and then in one turn we can
bring *all* of them out. At that point your predator will (hopefully) have
spent his rush cards on someone else and not be prepared to rush all or any
of the vampires you just brought out.

The disadvantage to this is fairly obvious. We are putting no pressure on
our prey and we have no way of doing *anything*. But... if all your vampires
would have been dead anyway it won't make a lot of difference. I have used
this method reliably once or twice but I must warn you to be *very* careful
when trying it. A smart predator will see what you are doing and just bleed
with everything they have. Since you have nothing to protect your pool
you're likely to be pretty low when those vampires come out. Having a Minion
Tap or Tribute to the Master in hand is advisable if you can arrange it.

Another tactic is to use Obfuscate as a defense. Usually we'll be using it
for stealth but there is a card that lets us do both... Swallowed by the
Night. This card will save your unlife more often than Majesty in some
situations. The Serpentis version Form of the Serpent does the same thing
but costs 1 blood. Use either or both depending on the amount of each
discipline that you use.

You could also try to keep a Disguised Weapon in your hand along with your
favourite defensive weapon. I recommend a 44 Magnum for a cost efficient and
versatile weapon. This combination takes up valuable card slots though, so
be wary. A Zip Gun is another viable alternative and you only need to have
one in your hand to make it work.

Since a lot of rush decks will be trying to out-maneuver you, you can also
try using a Sniper Rifle or Deer Rifle. Sniper Rifle will help you as long
as you can block them and they don't use presses. Deer Rifle is good because
it gives you an additional maneuver which will come in handy if they are
relying on maneuvers to get close to you (or in some cases away from you).
It should be mentioned however that Sniper Rifle does not work well in
conjunction with Disguised Weapon. You will probably want to equip it as an
action instead.

Of course, we will never know what type of decks will be at any given table
and preparing for weenie Potence will be less than useful if nobody shows up
with that type of deck. Arguably, the best way to prepare for combat decks
is not to prepare for them at all. Pack a few Majesty cards and hope for the
best. Maybe you'll get smacked around by a Potence deck or maybe you'll oust
the table so fast they won't know what hit them.

===================================================
VAMPIRE ANALYSIS - Sutekh, The Dark God

Sutekh, The Dark God
Capacity: 11
NEC OBF PRE SER cel pot
Independent
Ability: Sutekh has 2 votes. You gain a pool each time an action to recruit
a Bane Mummy ally is successful. During your untap, you may move 1 blood
between Sutekh and any other Follower of Set you control. +1 bleed

Sutekh certainly seems like a strong vampire. He's an 11-cap with an
impressive array of disciplines, votes and an enhanced bleed.

However, he just doesn't make the cut a lot of the time.

As a vampire that costs the same as Arika or Leandro, we should be getting
approximately the same return on our investment of 11 pool. Sure we can
Minion Tap him to offset the cost but you can say that about *any* vampire.
We shouldn't have to pay that much in the first place for vampires that
simply don't do very much.

His out-of-clan disciplines also appear to be impressive... at first.
Superior Necromancy has the most potential. While Sutekh won't benefit too
much from being in a deck with allies who use NEC such as the Giovanni or
Harbingers of Skulls, there are a few other Setites that have at least some
knowledge of this discipline. Dedefra is probably the best bet as she is
only a 5-cap and has inferior Necromancy. Sarasine also has inferior
Necromancy and is a 7-cap but he doesn't even have superior Serpentis. If
you're going to use the Setites, *most* of the time you will be using
Serpentis.

Sutekh's Necromancy can be used for Ex Nihilo which will give him some
needed protection from combat as well as an additional +1 stealth on all of
his actions. His 11 capacity means that Ex Nihilo can be used for more
effect than on a smaller capacity vampire. But we already have better
stealth available with Obfuscate, so using this card may not be that great.

Call of the Hungry Dead gives Sutekh another way of not being blocked though
he already has this ability with Elder Impersonation. Shambling Hordes makes
for an interesting addition to a Sutekh ally deck. Now that Majesty has a
cost of 1 blood, he can get cheap Strike: Combat Ends with Spiritual
Intervention which unlike Majesty is still free.

Sutekh's inferior Potence and Celerity are next to useless. This is not a
vampire that you want to throw into combat. Despite having both of these
great combat disciplines, let's face it... he's going to get his ass kicked.
I hate to say that about the god of my clan but hey, that's not something
we're known for. Leave combat to clans who like to get their hands dirty
like the Brujah.

Bane Mummies however are quite capable in combat and Sutekh is able to
summon them at a discounted price. He doesn't have to be the one to recruit
them though. You can even benefit from this special if another Methuselah
recruits them! (Of course, that isn't very likely to occur).

Another of Sutekh's specials allows you to transfer blood from him to
another Follower of Set. Though this could come in handy, it is unlikely to
be the basis of a coherent strategy. It may be useful in preventing a
vampire who would otherwise be forced to hunt but other than that, it is not
that impressive

There is one card that screams to be used by Sutekh and that is my favourite
card of all time, Free States Rant. Of all the vampires in the game, Sutekh
is best suited to call this vote. He is an 11-cap so he gets to distribute a
whopping 6 points of 'damage' to any vampires he wants. That's pretty
painful. Additionally, he has the Obfuscate to call it without being caught
and the Presence to make sure the vote passes. Fill him back up to capacity
with a Voter Captivation and you're golden. And since your prey (or
predator) has empty vampires, why not rush them with Amam the Devourer (or
eat them instead!). Then bring them back to life on your side using Sutekh's
Necromancy. This has the potential for a very evil deck. (Vermillian will
verify that I wrote this *before* Tobias posted the exact deck :)

Protecting Sutekh from harm will be a task in itself. One rushing vampire
with Potence and an Immortal Grapple and you're going to be in a world of
hurt. It's unfortunate that Sutekh was given Potence and Celerity instead of
Fortitude which he really needs. Not only would he benefit from additional
actions from Freak Drive but he needs a way to prevent damage from those who
attack him. Not an easy task with his discipline spread.

The other major problem with Sutekh of course is that he is an R1. This
means that you are not very likely to own more than one copy unless you were
very lucky,
very rich or trade with other players. If you only own one copy then relying
on that vampire coming out of a crypt of 12 vampires is not an efficient way
to build a deck. A crypt needs *at least* three copies of a single vampire
in a crypt to make it worth counting on getting that vampire. Personally I
usually include 4 copies of any vampire to insure that I will get that
vampire in my opening crypt.

I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has built a successful
deck around Sutekh. Somehow I ended up with three copies of him and would
love to put them to some use...

===================================================
CARD ANALYSIS - RUMOR MILL

Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper
Unique location.
Tap this card and choose a vampire. Once during the current action, the
chosen vampire may burn 1 blood to get +1 intercept.

Forget what you *think* this card does... it's purpose is not to give you
intercept. It's purpose is to mess up the rest of the table and provide
table balance in your favour.

What it should say is this:

"Tap the Rumor Mill to cause a vampire controlled by one Methuselah to lose
1 blood and to enter combat with another Methuselah's vampire."

That's right. You should be lending this card's intercept as often as you
can. I cannot stress how precious blood on vampires is to this game. It is
the fuel that makes them go. Who hasn't been in a position where their
vampires are empty and forced to hunt and then someone else blocks the hunt?
Then in turn you probably rescued that vampire, spending *more* precious
vitae. These costs add up and those who are forced to hunt are not able to
bleed, vote, rush and most importantly oust their prey.

The Rumor Mill can easily allow you to put other vampires in that situation.
I will often lend the intercept to my grand-prey, not just to help them
block my prey (though that of course can also be a good thing), but to get
them to a point where I am able to oust both my prey and then my grand-prey
in succession. This card is pure table management and in this capacity is
much more useful than KRCG, London Evening Star or Marcianna Giovanni.

The reduced cost of 1 pool was probably meant to be offset by the cost of
paying blood to use the benefits. But if someone else is paying that cost,
all the better!

Of course, having intercept at all can be a good thing, especially in these
Final Nights. A lot of cards are hitting the table that are not so easy to
deal with as the traditional bleed, vote and combat standards. Sensory
Deprivations, Temptations or what-have-you are all actions that we need to
block. One Sensory Deprivation can absolutely *wreck* a deck, and we do not
want to be the target. Having cheap, reliable intercept via the 'media
locations' can be a life saver.

Blocking actions comes with a price though. Nine times out of ten, combat
occurs. Although Setites tend not to be an aggressive combat clan, we do
have a wide variety of defensive combat available to us. Majesty is still
free for a few more weeks, as is Catatonic Fear. Staredown may become the
card we use more often, if only because it doesn't cost a blood to use. The
untap of Majesty though, combined with intercept ability may be worth the 2
blood you'll be spending (with the Rumor Mill) to prevent a bleed of 3 or a
hostile Parity Shift.

Don't ever forget to offer the use of Rumor Mill to other methuselahs, even
your predator or prey. Friendly relations with one's predator is always
beneficial. A predator that needs you in the game is less likely to want to
oust you. And a predator that needs isn't ousting you (albeit temporarily)
is one less front to fight on. Considering how bad the serpents are at
reacting (most of the time), this is exactly the kind of thing we should
strive for.

Besides... favours are what this clan is all about.

===================================================
SIGN OFF

I hope you have enjoyed this newsletter. You can send gushing praise to this
newsgroup, questions/comments to this newsgroup or privately to
ghost(at)mnsi(dot)net. Flames and death-threats can be sent to my servants
Vermillian and Claus Staal who will be happy to send Anam after you.

All praise Sutekh! (even if his card representation is far from godly :)

Cheers,
WES