Followers of Set Newsletter Volume 5 Issue 2 Followers of Set Newsletter Vol. 5 Issue 2 Author: Daniel Figueiredo Table of Contents: 1)Fiction: Of Past and Prophecies, part2 2)Strategy: Anti-Setite Cards 3)Vampire of the Month: Amenophobis 4)Card(s) of the Month: Approximation of Loyalty 5)Gehenna Comments 6)Sign-Off Fiction: Of Past and Prophecies, part 2. Continued from the May Follower of Set newsletter After a few more days of searching, he was sure there were no more of his clan in Cairo. He woke up that night intent on leaving to search elsewhere. Further south maybe, closer to the birthplace of his particular lineage within his clan. Having secured a suitable mount for his journey, the Setite left Cairo. To the Fire Court, he thought. His grandsire, the beautiful child methuselah Neferu, would help him. She would know what happened in Cairo, what made the Dream Court disappear and the meaning to his visions. Although in a hurry, the Setite preferred to take no risks and avoided the common trade routs, roads and small cities along the way. Pausing each night before dawn near a bush or other shade to tie his mount, he slept within the folds of the desert sand. Instead of taking a car or small plane to arrive faster to his destination, he rode a camel, patiently sorting his thoughts along the way. He would only stop once or twice in an Oasis to let his mount refresh itself. Sutekh, Lord of Storms and of all desert creatues rewarded his choice. The first such oasis along the way provided him with many answers. A cainite, the same one from his visions, the one she called Dr. Douglas, was washing himself in a small pool of water. At first he simply ignored the Setite, until he finished his bath, dressed himself and walked right up to where the Setite was standing, as if he were a prince arriving at court where all other nobles were expecting him. "I knew you would come. The desert wind told me." The cainiteīs eyes were half-closed, his voice pained. "We need not introduce ourselves. You must know who I am, and I do not care who you are. I only wish to speak to her again. I know where she is, but I fear that alone I would never arrive there." The cainite said all this in an emotionless tone that belied his expression. "Then take me to her, and I assure you I will do all in my power to grant you entry as well. But you must tell me all you know." Was the Setiteīs answer. They turned northeast, for according to Dr. Douglas, the woman they sought was in Ombos, not in the Fire Court. "She came to me a long time ago and made me an offer I could not refuse. All I needed to do was to give her the child, and she would let me study it. Watch it grow and learn from it. But I was not prepared for what I saw on the night of the childīs birth." While he talked, he wept blood, a small red drop occasionally falling to the ground, staining the desert sand red for a while until the shifting winds covered it up as if it were not worthy. "I ran away with the child. Before long she found me though, and took the child from me. She tried to take me with her but again I ran. I must see her once more to ask her about the child. If what my mind tells me is true, all my life I have wasted in a foolish parody of study. Everything I have accomplished is nothing more than the same madness I saw in others of my blood and denied in myself." This news brought more questions than it answered. And all Dr. Douglas could say about the Dream Court was that it survived the combined attack of Petraīs and Antaraīs forces, but did not survive itīs encounter with the child. Petra destroyed herself out of grief afterwards, having failed to protect Afifa, the childīs mother, and Antara was destroyed during the attack by the hands of the woman they were now looking for. The rest of the journey was uneventful, which was especially surprising given the impending doom of Gehenna upon the world. But as he neared the famed temple of Ombos, the Setite could feel that all his doubts would end soon. They were greeted by a priest at the temple doors. The temple was as grandiose and beautiful as it must have been when it was first built. The aura of power more than palpable, yet subtle. "Welcome brother, you were expected, however not your companion. Who is he and why does he come to Ombos?" The priest at the door did not introduce himself and addressed the Setite only, completely ignoring Dr. Douglas. "He assisted one of our sisters in a great task. She offered to bring him with her, but he initially refused. He now wishes to be given a second chance and be granted audience with her." The Setite truly wanted Dr. Douglas to be reunited with her. More out of pure curiosity than anything else, but if he did help her, he deserved at least to be judged by her, and not by the priest at the door. As if reading his thoughts, the priest opened the doors and welcomed them in. "She will receive you in her private quarters, follow me and iīll take you to her now." The temple was bustling with activity, and the Setite even recognized one or two others there, busy tending to some task or another. As they arrived at her door, the priest excused himself and left. He knocked once, and heard her voice. "Come in please." Still sweet and full of joy as when he heard her speak in his vision. They entered. She was sitting on a large bed, with a journal or diary at her side and writing materials strewn about. Many other books, papers, letters and even a papyrus were around her as well. Dr. Douglas walked right up to the bed and sat beside her. The Setite just watched as the odd scene unfolded. Two predators such as they together in a room full of books as if they were a pair of mortal friends. "So you return to me. Do you wish to reconsider my offer then? If you do you will be given a place here where you will watch and learn all you can of the child. I did promise you that, didnīt I?" She smiled, and her words hid a thousand meanings behind the simple one she was giving him. "I wish to stay. But may I first see the child again?" Dr. Douglas shook entirely as soon as the words were out of his mouth. A hidden door on the wall behind her bed opened as if by command of his request. She smiled again and pointed to the passage now visible. "Would you be so kind as to guide Dr. Douglas, brother?" The Setite nodded and set foot in the passage, the cainite close behind. Before the door closed again, Dr. Douglas looked back at her. "Thank you Kahina." Were his last words to her. The passage was dark for only a second before an opening let in the faintest candlelight from another room. They walked in. A single woman stood beside a carpet full of furs and silk cushions. In the middle of the carpet sat a child. The childīs age was difficult to determine. His wide eyes were like portals, inviting you to join him wherever the other side was, whatever there was on the other side. Thick, shiny locks of red hair were the only thing that adorned him. Dark red, the color of mortal blood. Dr. Douglas was seemingly paralyzed. All he could do was look. So intently that were he still alive, he probably wouldnīt even be breathing. To the Setite, the child seemed to grow, the room becoming smaller and smaller as the childīs presence made everything else seem unimportant. A voice in his head whispered something he couldnīt quite grasp. Itīs meaning imprinted in his soul forever, but no words could be formed to explain what he heard. They left the room then, both changed by their encounter with the child. The Setite looked one last time at Dr. Douglas and smiled. "Even if your whole existence has been wasted, the moments you will pass with the child will alone make up for that." He heard in his voice the same tone that permeated Kahinaīs. "I will not stay. I have seen enough to convince me I was wrong all my life. So your god is reborn. I donīt know what this means to your clan. But for me it means the noddists, were on the right path. I must find a new one for me." Dr. Douglas turned and left. Kahina slipped out from the shadows and joined the Setite, both watching the lost Malkavian leave the temple of Ombos. "Will we just let him leave like this Kahina?" "Why, yes. We have much more important things to take care of from now on. Some of our Lordīs prophecies are still to be fulfilled. Let the Malkavian wander. Now come, you must be purified properly to be accepted permanently in the temple." The End? Strategy: Anti-Setite Cards This month's strategy will be about cards that can seriously hinder the most common types of decks built around the Followers of Set. It also includes strategy on The Coven, strategy that was supposed to be in last month's newsletter but got left out due to space (I thought the newsletter was kind of longish, turns out this one got longish as well, so no more space snips!). It fits well, since The Coven can be one of the worse cards you will encounter while playing with a FoS deck. First, since it was kept waiting: The Coven [SW:R, Anarchs:PAG] Cardtype: Master Unique master. Trifle. Put this card into play. Tap to move 2 blood from the blood bank to a ready vampire you control. At the end of your turn, your predator takes control of The Coven. Why is this card a problem for some FoS decks? Because in a simple four player game, it alone gives the table up to 8blood once it has gone around the table, only 2 of those points for you. Many FoS strategies revolve around blood denial for use with Form of Corruption and the newer Consignment to Duat. The Coven is a free, non-burnable, trifle unique-master card (not a location that can be dealt with more easily). It can easily neutralize that well placed Free States Rant, Thrones Crumble or more than one copy of Principia Discordia. In other words, fear this card! So how do we deal with it? Contesting is NOT an option. The other methuselah would probably yield his or her copy of The Coven as soon as possible to start your copy spinning around the table. There really isnīt much to do about it. The only way to destroy it is to either oust the methuselah currently controlling it, or using a Sudden Reversal on it. You should DEFINATELY use that Sudden on The Coven instead of on a Hunting Ground, for example, the HG will take many more turns to produce the same blood as The Coven can. If you have a vote deck, The Coven alone should give you enough reason to use that Dramatic Upheaval and/or pool damaging votes to oust the current controller. Of course, it would be better if you could oust your prey when he is in control of it, but sometimes if you wait you can be set back many turns. Other cards that produce The Coven-like nastiness are: The Rack (can be stolen at least), Giantīs Blood (only one per game thank Sutekh!), Hungry Coyote (only for Sabbat, but nasty even so!) and any other card that gives vampires a lot of blood easily, like Renewed Vigor, The 5th Tradition, Restoration, Entrenching and Concert Tour. Of these, most are actions that you can at least try to block, but The Coven stands out as the worst of them all for you should it hit the table. Next: The Diamond Thunderbolt [Gehenna:C] Cardtype: Master Master: out-of-turn. Only usable when control of another vampire you control is about to change or when another vampire you control is about to enter combat. Control of that vampire does not change, and that vampire gains 1 blood. A mighty challenge indeed for the clan has arrived with Gehenna! After 11actions (Corruption), when you finally think Arika will be free of the chains of Osiris, BAM! A cabal of deluded mystics (The Diamond Thunderbolt) comes along and convinces her to keep unbalancing existence with her lawful and oppressive ways! To make matters worse, it is a common card, one that thwarts not only our clanīs faith (Serpentis) but the insidious powers of Dominate (Grave Robbing, Mind Rape) and Obeah (Spirit Marionette), as well as the influence of powerful methuselahīs of clans Ventrue (Hostile Takeover) and Malkavian (Malkavian Time Auction) along with any Justicar trying to play at tempting minions (Temptation of Greater Power)! Add to that the fact that it also gives a blood to minions entering combat (which guarantees that it won't jam), and we will probably see this card in more than one battle of the Jyhad. Since this is an Out-of-Turn master, there is very little we can do to avoid it unfortunately. Not even Bleeding the Vine can counter it since it is restricted against Out-of-Turn masters. Pray that your enemies underestimate it's power and never use it! But be mindful of it's existence. Now more than ever a way to look at other methuselahīs hands is a smart addition to a FoS deck. You can check on deflections for that bleed, intercept against your actions and now you can see whether it is propitious or not to finalize your corrupting, among other things. Another way to brace yourself against this card is to include more Temptations in your decks. More Corruptions isn't a good idea, since you will need X more Corruptions AT LEAST to steal a minion of capacity X that has been chained by Osiris via The Diamond Thunderbolt. More Form of Corruption is a problem as well, since you can have only one at a time. Temptation is not totally neutralized by The Diamond Thunderbolt. There is one other card can be a grave problem for Form of Corruption or Corruption based FoS decks: Resilient Mind. It will be somewhat harder to encounter this card since it is a rare from the Black Hand expansion only, and restricted to Fortitude-users, and will only protect the vampire who uses it, as opposed to protecting whoever needs protection at the moment, like The Diamond Thunderbolt (evil card! EVIL!). Even more restricted now since anyone thinking of using it can instead use The Diamond Thunderbolt to emulate some of it's effects. Try your hardest to block the Resilient Mind or to destroy whoever presents such mental fortitude. Vampire of the Month: Amenophobis Amenophobis [Gehenna:U] Cardtype: Vampire Clan: Follower of Set Group: 4 Capacity: 7 Discipline: dom pre OBF SER Camarilla primogen: When an action requiring Serpentis [ser] is successful, you may draw a card from your library. Discard down to your hand size afterward. Amenophobis gets +1 bleed when bleeding the Methuselah who has the Edge. Yet another one of our Brothers who has infiltrated the Camarilla! While Samat is an archon (one of Karl Shrecktīs, ex-Justicar of clan Tremere), Amenophobis is a primogen. He unfortunately doesn't have superior Presence to go along with his vote, but then again he isn't the best candidate for Anarch FoS decks. For now he is kind of lonely in group 4, being 1 of only 2 group 4 FoS, and 1 of only 2 group 4 vampires with Serpentis. So his first special power canīt be used to the fullest effect yet, as group 3+4 crypts based around Serpentis are still very limited. But he is far from being useless! When the game gets down to two methuselahīs, either you have the edge, or Amenophobis has +1bleed, not bad. Superior Obfuscate goes well indeed along with his Presence and Dominate, making him another fine candidate for DOM+OBF+PRE decks. His Camarilla status helps him further in such decks if they are vote decks, like the new group 3+4 Ventrue with Obfuscate decks. Amenophobis also fits well in Form of Corruption + Regaining the Upper Hand + Enticement decks. Give your prey the edge, you gain a Form Counter, then bleed him for at least 2 since he now has the edge, then Entice. Rinse and repeat. 3 actions (plus the stealth needed to pass them), zero blood, and only 2 cards (plus any stealth as needed), Regaining the Upper Hand + Enticement, will take 5 pool away from your prey (2 from his bleed, 3 from the Enticement) and give your Form of Corruption another counter. Of course, depending on your local metagame this can be easier or harder since you must pass those actions. That's where we start talking about Approximation of Loyalty. Card of the Month: Approximation of Loyalty Approximation of Loyalty [Gehenna:C] Cardtype: Action Modifier Cost: 1 blood Discipline: Presence Requires a vampire with capacity above 6. [pre] Only usable when the action is announced. Choose a vampire with capacity below 7 or an ally. That minion cannot block this action. [PRE] Cancel a reaction card played by a vampire with capacity below 7 or an ally as it is played (no cost is paid). No more action modifiers can be played on this action. Seduction for Presence! Stealth-saver! Bounce protection! This card is all these things and more! Undoubtedly the best card added to the arsenal of the Followers of Set in the Gehenna expansion. This card can be used together with Elder Impersonation to take two blockers out of the way. Kind of costly at two blood total, but worth it. Use Approximation of Loyalty on your prey's Atoned vampire, or on that pesky Sport-Bike wielding mid-cap. Then when another minion tries to block, Elder Impersonate and leave two blockers behind! Since our clan has more high-cap than weenie vampires, using this card shouldn't be a problem. And for once our lack of a good in-clan discipline spread does not go totally against us. We can easily make any of our 4, 5 or 6cap vampires into 7caps to use it adding only in-clan disciplines to them. At superior the card is also fabulous! Did someone use Wake to intercept you? Approximation of Loyalty can handle that. Got Deflected? Approximate the deflecting vampire and all should be well! Delaying Tactics, Deflection, Telepathic Counter and Wake/Forced are all common reactions to see in decks and that are usually left to be used at the very last minute or in the case of Wake/Forced, being cancelled will deny the blocker use of any more reactions anyway. The more rare Crimson Fury, Reform Body and Abandoning the Flesh are all reactions that would otherwise severely hamper your diablerie attempts and Approximation of Loyalty will guarantee a more successful dinner! Even the odd Second Tradition can be thwarted this way, if you are against a weenie prince deck. Stealth is still better to use against intercept, so save this card for those reactions that either are used late in the action or that you know will cancel the possibility of other reactions being played as well, such as reactions that untap a minion. Be careful though! This is a Presence card, so expect to see it used a lot by other clans with access to that discipline. Ventrue can use it in addition to Seduction, Toreador/!Toreador get Crocodile's Tongue to make a powerful pair with it, and Brujah/!Brujah can guarantee more rushes than before since your weenie sacrifices will be victims of this card. Gehenna Comments: Gehenna has arrived. Many different opinions concerning the new Event cards are being debated. Events and group 4 have assured that this expansion will be the topic of conversation for some time. What does this mean for the FoS? Well, not much good news unfortunately, at least regarding group 4. Not since Final Nights has our clan received a significant boost in power, at least compared to the Camarilla and Sabbat clans. And our group 3+4 crypt options are still very limited. More than for the other independents, Gehenna doesnīt give us much. Half of our 3+4 crypt canīt become anarch, only 4 other group 3 and zero group 4 vampires out of our clan have Serpentis. Typhonic Beast and all the new combat goodies in Gehenna make for a very good new deck type for us, but Gehenna brings no NEW strategies for the clan either. The new Reformation card gives our anarchs a shot at corruption decks, but we must use group 2+3 for that. Most decks based on Serpentis is still only truly viable in group 2+3 as well. None of the group 4 Followers of Set are vampires that scream "Build a deck around me!". So for now we must infiltrate other clans and help their strategies, at least until the next expansion hehe Events are a good addition to the game in general. For all those who wanted a little shake-up in the game, well, here it is. Most, if not all cards deemed "powerful" or "broken" come from expansions prior to Sabbat War, and for the first time since the return of our beloved game we get cards that may fit these descriptions. Each Event individually does not compare in power to Anarch Revolt, PTO even Dominate bleed. All these old strategies are simple AND powerful. Some of the Events may even look more powerful than them, but they require much more expertise to use efficiently. The biggest issue with Events is that a lot of them, or even a few used in random or chaotic manner can easily take much of the fun away from a given game. As one of the few clans who actively prepared for Gehenna, we must show the others how to deal with these Events in a strategic and calm manner (well, at least in a way we can benefit from them hehe ). While others panic and run around worried that Gehenna will destroy them, future newsletters shall cover the Events and point out how they best interact with our clan. Sign off: While my first newsletter had as theme trying to get the most fun out of your games, this one comes with a more cautionary tone. Each new expansion since Final Nights, while adding a bit of strategy and options for the FoS, has added much more to our rivals in the Jyhad. Study well the new options and strengths available to the other clans, and never underestimate an enemy. Even the most suicidal Baali or complicated Salubri deck may have many susprises for us. I would also like to thank Wes once more for the opportunity to write the FoS newsletters! I am enjoying this a lot, and want every bit of criticism and praise everyone has to offer! Hope you have enjoyed this! (canīt wait for the Kinderd most Wanted!) Daniel.