Followers of Set Newsletter – Volume 5 Issue 3 Followers of Set Newsletter Vol. 5 Issue 3 Author: Daniel Figueiredo Table of Contents: 1)Introduction 2)Fiction: The Woodward Covenant 3)Strategy: Events 4)Vampire of the Month: Makarios, the Seducer 5)Card(s) of the Month: Mylan Horseed (Goblin) 6)Sign-off Introduction: This month's Newsletter is a bit late unfortunately. A busy month and too much time spent in prayers for the Dark God! :) Hope you all enjoy this issue. A few words about it first. I was working hard on a new piece of fiction for this month when I received word from the clan elders themselves that they wished me to include a story from the past. I was more than happy to oblige! So this time I will be retelling a story I heard years ago. Fiction? Maybe. Read it and learn a little bit about one of our clan's luminaries, this time you even get to discover his identity. Just one other thing before I begin. Last month a few readers wrote to me asking about deck ideas for our clan. I wish to explain why I haven't included any deck list in my newsletters. A deck for me is a very personal experience. I like to build them and play with them quite a lot before moving on to the next idea. Any deck I include here will be just a suggestion. I have never seen a deck list before that when trying to build I either didn't have one or more of the listed cards or that I couldn't find a card or two to substitute for something better or simply different. What I mean is, I prefer to just comment on possible combinations and uses for some cards (no matter how obvious they might seem) than to jot down a list of cards that might be impossible for others to copy or that in the end will just serve as a base for an improved or simply different deck. When taking a deck apart and rebuilding it, it never ends up the exact same way again. This is the aspect that most attracts me to the strategy of this game, the ability to constantly change your deck. Of course, if the readers ask for deck lists, I will include them, and I would like to hear all of your opinions on this matter. Well, enough about my preferences, on to a glimpse of the past. Fiction: The Woodward Covenant It was a cold and stormy winter night some time in the late 15th century. Geoffrey Woodward looked in despair at the broken and smashed furniture of his inn. Half an hour ago two henchmen of the local baron had made it clear that if Geoffrey would not pay the due taxes, which the baron had recently increased again, their lord would see to it that his hirelings were having fun with Geoffrey's wife and daughter before slitting their throats, all this, whilst he would have to hopelessly watch the spectacle, before he and the rest of his family were also going to join them in the afterlife. Geoffrey shuddered. He was an honest innkeeper who worked hard to earn his meagre livelihood. Only a small number of guests took rooms in the inn nowadays, and the locals didn't frequent the taproom anymore because of fear of the baron. He wouldn't be able to pay the taxes, he knew that his life was ruined and that he better should abandon the inn and flee the country. He was lost in his thoughts when a grating sound made him whirl around and face the doorway. A lone figure, clad in a long black robe, hood drawn deep over the face and leaning heavily on a long metal staff with a cobra-head at the top stood there, waiting. Always the civilized innkeeper Geoffrey approached the stranger with a smile. "Good evening sir, you are travelling late in such a storm. You must be tired and soaked to the bones. Please come in and seat at the fireplace." "Oh thank you Mister Woodward. But if you don't mind, I'm more inclined to take a table near the wall." the stranger replied and limped slowly to a still good table in the back of the room, far away from the fireplace. Geoffrey was surprised that the newcomer knew his name, but he was not alarmed. A lot of people knew him in this neck of the woods, so it wasn't impossible that he had learned his name from one of the locals. The figure in black had taken a seat with his back to the wall and pulled back his hood. The most striking feature of his face was the black eye-patch over his left eye. He looked definitely old – much older than Geoffrey himself, and he was already in his late thirties – and a little bit Mediterranean. The stranger's sole eye held Geoffrey's gaze. "Mister Woodward, I can see that you have a problem here…" he indicated the messy room. "However, I would like to stay for a night or even two, do you have a room for me?" With these words he produced a shiny golden coin from one of his pockets. "I guess you won't mind foreign currency?" the stranger smiled and shoved the coin in Geoffrey's direction. "Well, no, never! Please be our guest, you'll get a dry room upstairs." Seeing the gold glitter in the firelight raised his hopes. Perhaps all was not lost. The robed figure rose with some effort and made it clear that he would like to be led to his room, and that he wasn't to be disturbed until the next evening. This night Geoffrey and his family could here the voice of the stranger emanating from his room. It was a soft murmur, a chanting in a language that seemed to be old and long forgotten. Perhaps it was a prayer to some kind of god, also long dead. When the day dawned, the whispering finally stopped. The next night, the stranger simply sat unmoving at the exact same place as the night before. He sat there for hours, unmoving, the hood drawn deep into his face. The taproom was empty except for him, and Geoffrey and his wife were cleaning up the mess from the previous night, when suddenly the door opened and one the baron's men entered displaying an ugly smirk. "I have a message for you from the baron. You have until tomorrow to pay him his due. If you fail then you will get to know his wrath. Which, indeed, would be very unpleasant." Laughing hysterically, he kicked at the nearest chair to the floor. Only then he noticed the stranger. With a stern posture he approached the sitting figure. "If I were you, I'd not consort with those maggots. Better leave now before you get hurt." The stranger slowly raised his head and pulled his hood back. He looked the thug straight into the eyes and held fast his gaze. He addressed the entirely motionless hireling in a deadly calm voice "And if I were you, I would definitely not mess with a man you do not know at all. If you should ever get before my eye again, you will regret it for the rest of your short and painful live. Have I made myself clear?" The man before him paled instantly, turned his tail and ran. He hurtled himself through the still open door and screamed in terror. Woodward couldn't believe the things he just witnessed. One of the baron's tough men just ran like hell from a severely handicapped stranger, and the robed figure hadn't even raised a single finger against him. This was truly odd and at the same time very disturbing news, because it meant that the baron would send more men, and it was entirely possible that the oppressor would personally see to it that no-one present in the inn would live to see the next day. "What in god's name have you done?" Woodward was ringing his hands and on the verge of utter despair. "They will kill us, all of my family, and you will be killed, too!" The stranger looked up at the wailing innkeeper, not moved at all. Slowly, very slowly, Woodward reclaimed his senses and tried to regain some of his dignity. He eyed the stranger differently now and a thought crossed his mind. "Are you a magician or wizard or some other kind of evil-doer?" The stranger cocked his head a bit sideward, but otherwise remained unmoving as if he was waiting for something to happen. The thoughts raced in Woodward's head as he was assessing the situation he was in. If the stranger here was able to put the baron's henchman to flight, he could perhaps help save him and his family. He didn't care if he had to consort with evil sorcerers and the like as long as his wife and descendants were safe; he was willing to give his life for those of his family. So he spoke up boldly before he would change his mind "Sir, look, I don't care what you are, or who you are, or what you want. You have to be a powerful man, commanding such might as you displayed. I'm a desperate man in fear for the ones he loves most. I really don't care anymore for what happens with me. I ask you, no, I beg you to help us. I will pay any price, but please, save the lives of my children and my wife, they don't deserve to die tonight at the hands of this monster, the baron." He finished his little speech with a pleading look into the stranger's sole eye. The man before Woodward began to smile benevolently. "I can sense that love and loyalty mean a lot to you. Good. I will help you, though you might regret that one day. Maybe you will trade one monster with another, but this remains to be seen, now won't it? I will take care of that baron of yours, however you will pay the price once the situation has been straightened up for you. You will then accept all my terms, are we clear on this?" After a second of consideration, Woodward nodded. He could already envision himself becoming the thrall of this strange yet definitely powerful figure. "Good then, so shall it be. Bring your kids upstairs, I want you and your wife to remain in the taproom. It shouldn't take long until the baron and his henchmen will arrive on the scene." Indeed, less than an hour later, the door was kicked in with a loud thud, and the baron himself walked slowly in. He had brought eight of his men with him, and they were all armed to the teeth. The baron himself was a tall and powerfully built figure, his face was a grimace: bloodshot eyes, the mouth half-opened in a snarl baring long, pointed teeth – simply, a monster. Woodward shoved his wife behind him, trying to be protective, but he shivered upon the sight of the thing that was the baron. At a sign of the baron, Woodward and his wife were brutally shoved to the middle of the room. Then the baron turned to the lone figure sitting at the far end of the taproom whose face was as usual hidden by his hood. While the baron drew his blade he addressed the stranger: "Who the hell do you think you are, that you can insult me by using your foul power on one of my servants? I will make you pay for this, and you will have to watch the sunrise a last time, I swear it!" In response the stranger rose, pulled back his hood and faced the approaching monster. He smiled and also displayed fangs. "I doubt that you will be able to harm me at all, you fool." With these words his eye began to shimmer golden, and his iris transformed itself into a shape similar to that of a snake's iris. The baron immediately froze and fell seemingly into a trance. "Your mind is so weak, it is really pathetic. You are a disgrace for your proud and noble clan, you are a meagre excuse for a Brujah! Did you really think you could best a faithful servant of the Dark God Suthek?" The stranger still held the Brujah's gaze "You can do your bloody work now, Aziz of Clan Assamite." With these words another vampire materialised behind him seemingly out of nothing. The baron's men were a bit confused at first, but they were quite brave, naturally – failing to serve the baron well would mean instant death. And so they started the combat in earnest. They tried to encircle the Assamite and attack him from multiple sides, but it was not to succeed. Aziz moved like a lightning bolt, he was armed with a couple of Bang Nakh which appeared to have come out of thin air. The massacre lasted less than a minute, the henchmen didn't stand a chance against the well-trained Assamite, within seconds the floor was splattered with gore and fallen bodies. When the last of his adversaries perished at his hands, Aziz moved to the Brujah who hadn't moved an inch since the battle began. The stranger in black addressed the Assamite: "You can take his body to Alamut, and I will consider the contract fulfilled. I wish you a safe journey back to the lands of our ancestors." He indicated a respectful bow, not letting his gaze slip from the Brujah's. Aziz then rammed from behind a wooden stake into the heart of the motionless vampire, shouldered him, nodded a farewell to his former employer and left without a sound. The robed figure appeared to be quite exhausted from his feat of will. He leaned back against the wall, clutching his staff and looked very weary. Woodward and his wife approached him, both awestruck and trembling, for they hadn't seen the true nature of vampires before. Woodward reasoned that if the stranger was also a monster, he wasn't after him and his family, the being could have killed them anytime. He fell to his knees before the seated stranger and spoke up "You protected us from the baron, how can I ever hope to repay this debt in earnest? Yet at the same time you seem to be alike the monster that has threatened us – I beg you to spare my family. You can do with me whatever you want, but please don't harm them." He raised his head and made a pleading expression while he tried to read the strangers face, to no avail. The robed figure rose painfully slow, and headed toward the still open door. "My dear Mister Woodward, as I mentioned earlier this night, I will demand a lot from you. You have now the ultimate choice: you and your family can either simply cease to exist - or you and I will enter into a commitment. Which would be that you and your closest kin will receive protection and a very generous livelihood from me, and in return you and each oldest descendant of the Woodward family in any given generation after you will serve me until either the family of Woodward is no more, or I myself should end my unlife. This is a one-time offer for a covenant that will take away all your worries for your family for now and ever after, and I will honour this responsibility which is not casually taken. Choose fast, when I have stepped out of your inn, the offer is withdrawn and only one option remains." Woodward was stunned, he looked to his wife, who looked at him with sorrow and nodded in agreement. Woodward didn't need more to make his choice. "I – I agree to your terms and accept the covenant you offer. I pledge my loyalty to you, and from now on, each father of the Woodward family will pass his duty on to the next descendant in the line. I swear. After a pause, the stranger was almost at the door, Woodward remembered that there still was one detail he wanted to know. "But Sir, I don't even know your name, and I also don't know what you are and what you expect me to do for you…" The hooded figure stopped, but did not turn. A smile crossed his face. "I am known as Amenophobis, Keeper of Knowledge. I follow the path of the True God Set - I am a Follower of Set." He continued to move towards the doorstep. The vampire smiled inwardly. Everything had happened the way he had planned it. Not only did he manage to part with Aziz without unduly breaking their contract, but he also accomplished the demise of the Brujah who was in possession of the artefact he longed for. That the Woodwards were now to serve him eternally was a welcome side-effect. He would train Woodward well enough to take care for all his worldly needs. Thinking of it, he liked the idea of having a household. Things would be a lot easier to do from now on. "I will send a servant who will help you clean up this mess. He will also help you to pack your things. It's time for you to move." With these last words Amenophobis simply vanished into thin air. Strategy: Events. More than a couple months have passed since the release of Gehenna and players are starting to get used to the expansion and it's new cards. More importantly, players are starting to figure out constructive ways to use the new Event type cards, trying to integrate them into their decks without simply causing random rules changes. It is normal that soon after the release of an expansion, the new cards (especially if they are new card types or introduce a new mechanic) get slapped into decks to be tested or just because they seem cool. Gehenna introduced group 4 as well as the Event type cards, and because group 4 vampires are still few and not many crypts can be made with them when compared to the older groups, people jumped straight to the Event cards. So this month we will skim through the event cards that can have an impact on typical Follower of Set deck construction strategies. I will not go in too deep, since more than a few Event cards are receiving their own reviews and newsletters (some are great! be sure to read them all!), but I will try to cover their significance for the clan. Let´s start from the first event printed: Anthelios, the Red Star. This event is one of the few that benefit the table rather than hindering it in any way. A wise methuselah will remember to remind the others of this. This is also an event that contrary to most will not reduce your hand size in any way, since it is immediately replaceable. Our clan has many master cards that can be burned with inherent actions, so this card can help us to not only get back those Minion Taps and Dreams of the Sphinxes, but also any burnt Realms of the Black Sun, Paths of Typhon and even the odd Grand Temple of Set. This means you can put less copies of them in your deck or keep the same number and rely more on them in your games, ignoring offending minions trying to burn them. Don't ever forget this can backfire though, since every Methuselah can fish back tools of Osiris to hinder your efforts. Anthelios is a blind eye in the sky giving nonbelievers the same chances as us. The New Inquisition and Becoming of Ennoia. These two events deal damage to each methuselah´s vampires every turn. The first is easier to put in play but can be more easily burnt, while the second is harder to rely on but more permanent. Dealing damage means vampires become low on blood. What happens to vampires low on blood when the Followers of Set are around? Yes! They are freed! They realize the constrictive ways of their former masters and come join us in the service of our god! Temptation and Form of Corruption are greatly helped by these events. The bargaining power of choosing which of your prey's vampires to damage should also not be ignored. Even without any of the aforementioned cards in play. This event can also help you prepare for that Free States Rant to be that much more effective, and if you previously sent your enemies titled vampires to torpor with these events, you can pass your referendums by more votes, guaranteeing that you fill your Followers of Set with Voter Captivation more easily to withstand the effects these events will have on you.. Restricted Vitae. This event has "Followers of Set" written all over it. This keeps that stubborn vampire with Temptation from hunting every turn and trying in vain to be rid of it's effects. With this event in play alongside The New inquisition and/or Becoming of Ennoia, blood will be a scarce commodity around the table. Our clan can steal blood from other vampires with Tongue of the Serpent and Principia Discordia to replenish our thirst. Just watch out for the Tremere and other Thaumaturgy users, they are good at stealing blood and this strategy can be risky around them. Rise of the Nephtali. Now not only the Camarilla and Sabbat can have vampires with four votes. Inner Circles and Regents will have to contend with our Liaisons. This event is easy to play since it only requires one other event and can be replaced as soon as your next minion phase when one of your vampires becomes Liaison. At least in group 2+3, we are the independent clan with the highest average capacity. So it won't be often that the Giovanni or Assamites will have claim to this title. Fall of the Camarilla/Sabbat. These are tricky. First because they take a long time to set up since they require 3 other events in play, that means that they won't hit the table before midgame at least. They can help a lot, especially if you are up against sect based vote decks or decks that rely heavily on sect structure and their title-requiring cards. But in my experience the fun factor of putting them in play is far greater than the actual benefit of going through the trouble of using them. Especially Fall of the Sabbat, half way through the process of setting one up a Black Hand flunky can show up and ruin your day. And when you do put one of these events in play most of the time your hand size is down to 5 at least. So unless you have a really heavy vote metagame or would enjoy seeing the Inner Circle crumble, these events are best left out of your strategy. Our clan can use the resources of these sects against them to some effect (Temptation, Dismemberment of Osiris, Thrones Crumble), and this can prove to be more efficient than losing precious card slots, time and hand size. This is it for now. It should be enough to start you out experimenting and seeing what events suit your play style best. Vampire of the Month: Makarios, the Seducer Makarios, The Seducer [AH:V3, CE:PTo] Cardtype: Vampire Clan: Toreador Group: 2 Capacity: 8 Discipline: dom AUS PRE SER Camarilla: As a (D) action, Makarios can put a seduction counter on a Ventrue or Brujah controlled by your prey. That vampire may burn the seduction counter as an action; Makarios cannot be blocked by a vampire with a seduction counter. +1 bleed. This month we will take a look at a vampire that previously might not have seemed that much attractive to a FoS crypt. As a non-Setite, he has some obvious drawbacks, most notably his clan, and the lack of Obfuscate. He was never the worst Setite-to-be in the ranks of our semi-brethren, being an 8cap with two Setite in-clans at superior and an innate +1 bleed (which is something that is sadly lacking in our clan). He isn't that bad even when compared to some of our brothers of equal capacity (Kephamos) who have the same amount of in-clan discipline levels. The reason he is chosen this month has as much to do with him as it has to do with two new cards that were printed in the Gehenna expansion: Crocodile's Tongue and Approximation of Loyalty. Both cards have been discussed in previous newsletters (both Setite and not) so I won't go into much detail about them, but they both have the potential to cancel block attempts. And both require high capacity vampires to be used effectively. Together with Seduction they practically eliminate the need for any stealth. And both Approximation of Loyalty and Seduction don't require the superior versions of their respective disciplines to be used at full effect. So Makarios can, with these 3 cards and a single point of blood, eliminate up to 3 blockers. Well, any vampire with those 3 disciplines can do that, but Makarios can do more. He can put a seduction counter on Ventrue and Brujah belonging to your prey to ensure that only the right minions can even try blocking him. So all you have to do is put seduction counters on your prey´s older vampires, or those with some special blocking ability or who are chock full of nasty equipment. He must waste an action to do so, and the victim Ventrue or Brujah can waste an action of their own to eliminate the counter. So for maximum efficiency, Makarios should use Temptation on himself to get more actions. Of course, if your prey has neither Ventrue nor Brujah, Makarios becomes just another vampire with those disciplines. In our clan, Kahina, Kay-Thall and Nefertiti all have at least 2 of those 3 disciplines at superior and can easily help Makarios. They are all costly vampires, but since we are using Presence in the first place we can include copies of Enchant Kindred, Social Charm and legal Manipulations to increase our pool. Card of the Month: Mylan Horseed (Goblin) Mylan Horseed (Goblin) [Gehenna:R] Cardtype: Ally Cost: 1 pool Unique changeling with 1 life. 0 strength, 1 bleed. Mylan can untap a ready non-Camarilla vampire with a capacity above 7 as a +1 stealth action. Once each combat, he may dodge as a strike. Mylan cannot block vampires. What a great little fellow! A real ally, and not just in the in-game sense. Almost for free (or for free with Charisma), you can recruit a minion that not only bleeds if necessary, but can also untap any Follower of Set of capacity above 7 as an action with stealth. Another Setite can even use Cloak the Gathering to give him more stealth if need be. Not so obviously but even more importantly, he can untap non-Camarilla vampires from other methuselah´s as well. This can be a very good thing to offer other players. It can save you if your vampire is still tapped after a nasty Rotschrek, Sensory Deprivation or other cards that tap your vampires. And as if that were not enough, he gets an optional dodge once each combat. This means that non-combat decks will have a hard time killing him, and even combat decks will have to waste a card or two trying to burn him. Coupled with Temptation, he can assure your large vampires many actions per turn, and lessen the need of using Temptation on your vampires, leaving more to use on your enemies. Use him to untap a vampire you just stole with Temptation to make the best out of your time with him. Especially good against methuselahs who manage to always leave their tempted vampires with zero blood. Steal, hunt, use Mylan to untap them and then have them do whatever suits you best. He does have a disadvantage, he can't block vampires. But look at the bright side of this, not many allies he blocks will be able to do a thing with him! Mainly only allies with inherent presses or additional strikes will be able to kill him. And our clan has its share of Necromancers to help raising him back from the dead should anyone manage to kill him. Whenever you see him in the hands of another Methuselah, do whatever you can to show him the glory of Set's way! Lure of the Serpent, Entrancement and Set's Call can help a lot both in taking him from others and in getting him back to you in case he is stolen. Use him with Makarios as well so that he can put a seduction counter AND bleed in the same turn. Sign-off : I hope you have enjoyed this month's newsletter! Not so focused on vampires of our clan and Serpentis cards, but I hope it showed that using a bit of help from outside the clan can be fun as well! Remember that our god frowns upon utter fanaticism since it can make us lose track of his true teachings. A special thanks for everyone who has contributed to this and to past newsletters! I am always willing to hear the opinion of everyone regarding the newsletters, so don't be shy!