Followers of Set Newsletter Volume 5 Issue 1
Followers of Set Newsletter
Vol. 5
Issue 1
Author: Daniel Figueiredo
Table of Contents:
1)Fiction: Of Past and Prophecies
2)Strategy: Effect vs. Text
3)Vampire of the Month: Intisar
4)Card(s) of the Month: Edge Vitiation and The Coven
5)Sign-off
Fiction: Of Past and Prophecies
The vampire, a Setite, as he was called by many of those not of his
clan, woke up. Something was wrong, very wrong. Although he was still
apparently safe in his sanctum, he could feel Raīs fingers still
caressing the world outside. Bathing the world in their warm touch.
What could possibly have awakened him? Not a sound in his sanctum, not
a speck of dust was out of place. Surely he was still alone. No
servant was there to attend him, for he had none, no wards there to
tell him of danger, for he slept only with his faith in his God to
protect him. Even the feeling that one of his brothers or sisters had
called to him in dire need was absent.
He forced himself to rise, but could not at first, so heavy was the
blanket of Raīs power all around. With major effort he assumed
kneeling position and prayed. Then came the visions.
"Thank you, Dr. Douglas."
The Setite recognized the voice, but could not quite recall to whom
it belonged. All he could see was a small, dark room. A table broken
to pieces by what seemed like blows from a hammer, or a fist. A man,
no, a cainite, with a look of horror across his face and a pair of
broken glasses hanging from his neck.
"Your resourcefulness and dedication were instrumental to our cause. I
will see that you are properly rewarded. Would you be so kind as to
accompany me?"
A female voice. This strange female voice, so full of joy now.
Thatīs it! It must be her! Never before has she sounded so
happy?
Before he could put his thoughts together, the sound of breaking glass
brought his attention back to the vision, just in time to see the
horror-struck cainite flee out the window of the dark room. He sensed
the woman smiling.
He woke up soaked in blood. His own blood, he could tell by the
taste of it. This vision was sent for a reason. Without any other
clue, he set forth to find her. The problem wasnīt quite where to find
her, as she was head of the Dream Court in Cairo. No, the problem was
safely reaching the Dream Court in these chaotic times. First the Rite
of the Sun King was broken, leaving Cairo once again open to his
lineage for the first time in millennia. But then many strange things
began happening. Rumors of Gehenna suddenly did not sound like rumors
anymore.
After a few days travel east, the Setite reached the famed
Heliopolis. Cairo. Cradle of civilization, home of the first Caitiff
and birthplace of the last, if one were to believe such things.
Immediately he sensed the city was different. Was it just the missing
Rite of the Sun King? Was it because Gehenna was truly upon us? He
thought for a moment and decided that whatever it was, it did not
matter. His vision had shown him this city, so it was here he would
find his answers.
The Dream Court was no more. Upon arrival, he prayed that his
visions had taken control of him again and that this was all perhaps a
distant future he could yet prevent from happening, but when he opened
his eyes, he saw only the rubble and ruins he had first seen. His next
thought took many moments to formulate, such was the intensity of his
struggle against his beast, that monster put inside him by the power
of Osiris when he brought unbalance and misery to the world. Even
having had his heart removed a long time ago did not save him from
this urge to destroy all who came near, since for all he knew they
were all guilty of such sacrilege!
"Oh Heart of Darkness, seat of my desire, throne of my emotions! Take
the rage from my spirit, send it screaming back to Duīat where it
shall be punished!"
"So you probably think what happened here was a pity eh?"
Only now he noticed he had said aloud his prayer. Damn! And who was
this stranger who was obviously mocking him? A small creature, more
lying down than sitting in a corner behind some broken wall. Small
eyes to match his small frame and an even smaller voice.
"What does a Nosferatu do here in this most holy site?" asked the
Setite.
"Only what she would have had me do were she still alive. Your kind
hold no power here anymore. Petra made sure of that! She paid for it
with her life. Now I make it my job to make sure this place stays like
this."
Before the deformed creature could get much closer, as he obviously
intended to, the Setite called upon the shadow of Set to cover him,
and left, soon becoming one more shape lost in the crowds of mortals
that even at this late hour roamed the streets of Cairo.
For days he searched for his brethren, but not one was to be found.
Were there no more Followers of Set in Cairo? For once he wished he
had tried to learn greater powers of perception. But those were hard
to master for one of his blood. He had made some discoveries though.
Petra was another Nosferatu who dwelled in the city. One of those few
Cainites that had entirely and utterly given in to the lie of Osiris
and was now gifted with what they ignorantly called "True Faith". She
had allied herself with, of all possible creatures, Antara, a powerful
Assamite elder, and together attacked and apparently destroyed the
Dream Court. Both were also apparently destroyed now. This was all
very strange. What advantage did they have now that made them succeed
after centuries of hatred between the Setites of the Dream Court and
the Cainites of Cairo? What made Petra suddenly ignore her past
behaviour and ally herself with one of another faith? Why had word of
this not reached him before?
The Setite prayed again, this time asking only for patience.
TO BE CONTINUED
Strategy: Effect vs. Text.
Any V:TES player with some experience will soon notice how some cards,
regardless of their actual text, tend to have very different effects
on the game. This happens mostly with permanent cards or at least with
those that have lingering effects. Due to the nature of our most
important in-clan discipline, Serpentis, and some of our Clan cards,
we have many cards that fit that description. Form of Corruption,
Temptation, Edge Vitiation (more on this one later) and The Realm of
the Black Sun are examples of such cards. As are Extortion, Heart of
Darkness and The Path of Typhon to a lesser extent. The less-used
Phobia and The Grand Temple of Set also fit this description. Let me
elaborate one such example:
Form of Corruption
[ser] Put this card in play. You may not play this card if you already
have a Form of Corruption card in play. Each time your prey gets the
Edge anew, put a form counter on this card. During your master phase,
if the number of counters on this card equals or exceeds the amount of
blood on a vampire controlled by your prey, you may burn this card to
take control of that vampire.
[SER] As above, and your prey burns 1 pool when you burn this card.
When this card hits the table, it may have the effect of slowing down
or sometimes stopping your prey from bleeding AT ALL. They either
become very afraid of losing one of their minions or think that
somehow the card will go away if it sits for a while. The more rabid
prey may even stop what they are doing and try rushing all your
minions. This is bad. If your prey suddenly thinks you are hindering
him or her more than you should (some prey think there should be a
limit to their predatorīs aggressiveness, silly as that may sound), he
may become much more difficult to deal with. Of course, this varies
greatly from playgroup to playgroup.
One advice in these cases is to prepare for both the actual effect of
the card and any other "side" effects as well. In the case of Form of
Corruption if your prey simply stops bleeding, you can try convincing
him that it is not a good thing for him to stop and let THEIR prey
grow unchecked. Or you can remind him that the card will wok sooner or
later, and that he should be getting the most from his minions until
then, unless he wants to help oust you and get another predator, one
with 6pool and a victory point more. Like I said, it all depends on
the playgroup, and your ability to navigate through it. If you find
yourself the predator of a particularly stubborn prey, or simply you
are not one with a lot of social finesse to handle these situations,
you can prepare your deck to have a surprise or two in case these side
effects ever come up. Still on the Form of Corruption example, it gets
a counter each time your prey gets the edge anew. So you can add a
lost Regaining the Upper Hand in your deck to GIVE your prey the edge.
This should help a lot in convincing him that sooner or later your
card will work and that he should be focusing on his strategy and not
trembling in fear of losing a minion.
Tricks like these not only help you, but tend to raise the "fun level"
of the game since they are mostly unexpected. In turn, games with a
lot of "fun level" are always more enjoyable and less stressful,
further raising your preyīs likelihood of trying to make his deck work
instead of hampering yours. Be creative on how you work around these
side effects, and you will keep them guessing. Also, cards that cause
any shift in the game flow, like Form of Corruption, will almost
always return things to normal once their effects end. Even if your
prey lost a vampire to the Form, he tends to be more relieved that
your card is gone than worried you will slap another one down (until
you DO slap another one on the table hehe
).
Of course you may not always know what these side effects are until
they happen. But they tend to always be the same effects for the same
cards. Experiment a little and donīt be too worried about them. When
they happen, pay attention and devise a way around them. That way, by
the time you have constructed your defense, your playgroup will be
used to you not having any. And oh boy, will they be susprised.
Vampire of the Month: Intisar
Intisar
Clan: Follower of Set
Group: 2
Capacity: 8
Disciplines: cel pot OBF PRE SER
Independent: During your untap phase, if Intisar is ready and you
control the Edge, you may give another Methuselah 1 pool from your
pool to tap a minion of your choice controlled by that Methuselah.
First things first, so let me begin by saying she is beautifully
illustrated by Lawrence Snelly. Just one look at her and all these
X-rated, I mean, Holy thoughts come to mind!
At 8 capacity she is well-rounded with all 3 in-clans at superior.
That means she can possibly fit into any deck that is based on our
Clan disciplines, and many based on our Clan as well. She is the
second lowest vampire in the game with OBF PRE SER, only higher in
capacity than Qufur Am-Heru. Her inferior Potence makes her a
candidate for the newest deck type for our Clan, the Typhonic Beast
deck, that revolves around Serpentis and Potence mainly. Although she
may look expensive for a deck based on just two disciplines, one of
which she does not have at superior, let me remind you that currently
ZERO vampires have both Potence and Serpentis at superior. The lowest
one being a 6cap. So she is about average sized for such a crypt.
Her inferior Celerity being the less readily usefull of her
disciplines, it does give her the ability to block actions such as
Speed of Thought and makes it a bit harder for cards like Rooftop
Shadow to be used against her. Celerity is rapidly (pun intended)
becoming one of those disciplines, along with Fortitude, that are
always welcome as an out-of-clan extra.
Now for her special power. Hmmm
not one of those tremendously
powerful specials eh? Not one that you look at and know at once how to
apply, like +1bleed. But the more you think about it, the more
appealing it becomes. Beside itīs synergy with Edge Vitiation, which
we will discuss later on, it has a few things going for it:
1)Not being tremendously powerful can be an advantage, as people tend
to remember her special only when you are using it. Contrary to nasty
things that vampires like Muaziz or Arika can do, her special has
powers of obfuscation of itīs own. So you can be pretty sure Intisar
will be one of the LAST vampires on the table to be picked upon by
rushers or that errant PTO.
2)When using it, you can target any Methuselah, thus giving you a
broad range of targets.
3)When using it, there is about NOTHING any other Methuselah can do to
avoid it. You meet the requirements, it happens. Simple.
4)Very minor synergy with cards like Parity Shift, since it is a way
to control your pool total.
Going against it there is the fact that you need the Edge in the first
place, and that you can only use it during your untap phase. So if you
were counting on that juicy Blood Doll or Minion Tap to lessen the
impact of losing one pool, forget about it. Wait a turn or two or
donīt use her power.
Letīs assume Intisar is ready and the Edge is yours along with a pool
to spare during your untap phase. So what do you do with her power?
You can use her like you would a Misdirection, tapping one of your
preyīs minions to get that bleed or other action through. Basic.
Simple. Limited. You should take a VERY good look around the table
before you decide who to tap when you use her power. And before you do
choose someone, BARGAIN. Always bargain. Being able to "sell" effects
is one the best, if not the most enjoyable aspect of V:TES. And
remember to always make sure none of your bargains sound like threats.
No one likes threats. Some players may react badly to being
threatened. Here are some examples of creative uses for her special
power:
1)Tap that single, untapped, vampire with Auspex another Methuselah
has, or at least the best one he has with superior Auspex, so he canīt
reduce or bounce bleeds. The effect this can have on that Methuselah
should be enough for him to want to do (or not do) something for you
in return. Or you can tap one of your preyīs vampires this way to get
a bleed across.
2)Tap a vampire you or another Methuselah want to rush with Ambush or
Harass. Either the player wanting to rush or the player wanting to
avoid being rushed should care enough to show some gratitude.
3)Tap a vampire with a Derange, Society of Leopold, Sensory
Deprivation or other nasty effect on him.
4)Tap a tapped vampire that a Methuselah about to be ousted has, so
that he can gain a pool and maybe survive another round.
5)Tap a tapped vampire another Methuselah has just to give him a pool
in exchange for a favor.
6)Tap a vampire that has to tap to use his ability, like Marcianna
(KRC)Giovanni.
Be sure to look around the table and search for any possible vampire
you can tap and gain something worth your spent pool. No matter how
corner-case it is, like untapped Malkavians when there is a Madness
Network in play. In Final Nights, some new ways to manipulate the Edge
were given to us Followers of Set. That was one of the best things of
that set: new uses for previous strategies. Getting the Edge was
always good, but now we have more options. And still more we want!
Along with more "bargain" effects. They are really into the gameīs
mood and theme, especially when we are talking about Followers of Set.
In the Vampire RPG we are known for our manipulative, social,
favor-mongering and friendly approach to other Clans. If more of this
were incorporated into V:TES it would mean a richer environment.
Card of the Month: Edge Vitiation.
Edge Vitiation
Cost: 1blood
+1 stealth action.
[ser] (D) Only usable if your prey controls the Edge. Your prey burns
1 pool and burns the Edge.
[SER] Put this card in play. Whenever your predator successfully
bleeds you, you get the Edge instead of your predator. Any minion can
burn this card as a (D) action.
One of the many Serpentis cards from the Final Nights expansion. One
of the best as well. It is the only Serpentis action that comes with
inherent stealth. Phobia has stealth, but only at superior and the
+1stealth IS the superior effect, so it does not count. It has a
unique effect, that gives you many advantages, some of which are not
readily apparent. But first letīs focus on itīs disadvantages:
First, there is a D action that any minion can perform to burn it.
Sad. Then, there is the fact that it only affects your predatorīs
bleeds. So bounced bleeds from other methuselahs do not trigger it.
And thatīs about it.
Now the good stuff:
Your predator will give you the edge no matter how many times he
bleeds you. This alone can discourage that pesky bleed for one "just
to get the edge" that sometimes happens. Your predator will either try
to burn the card first, thus spending actions, (and probably a card or
two if you try to block) or simply give up the single bleed for one if
he canīt follow it up with other bleeds or canīt raise the bleed
amount. After all, if he bleeds you for one pool, on your turn you
will gain one pool during your untap phase, so things wonīt be any
different for you.
Unless you have some tricks up your sleeve, ways to let you USE the
edge for other effects! Ha! Intisar springs to mind! Having a vampire
like her ready will further discourage your predator to bleed you
before burning the Edge Vitiation. And the more actions your predator
takes to burn it, the less actions he is taking directly against you.
Be it bleeds or rushes or votes or any other nastyness.
And here comes a nice detail: Edge Vitiation STACKS! No, unfortunately
this does not mean you get 2 edges if you have 2 Edge Vitiations in
play. What it means is that your predator will have to
succeed in as many D actions as you have Edge Vitiations before he can
get the edge for himself. So this means that putting more than one
copy of this card in a deck is never a waste. And we are still talking
only about the cardīs superior power.
What haste! Jumping to the superior without looking at the inferior?
So here we go. The inferior of Edge Vitiation, unlike almost all
Serpentis cards is a different effect from the superior version.
Serpentis is mostly an "as above" discipline. Inferior Edge Vitiation
can be explained as a bleed for one at +1stealth that cannot be
reduced or deflected as long as he has the edge. It is more than that.
While very weak in terms of pure ousting power when used alone,
inferior Edge Vitiation can be worked into some pretty cool combos
that are both surprising and fun to use (fun and surprise being
recurring themes in this newsletter, mostly unintentionally). For
instance, you can use the inferior power to make sure your prey loses
the Edge so that he has to get it anew for the effect of Form of
Corruption. Or you can use it as a way to drain pool without bleeding
if you have a vote/Enticement deck and are using either Sargon and/or
Regaining the Upper hand to get the edge. This also has the added
benefit of not burning your Protected Resources should you have one.
And of course, you can revert to the superior power to have a greater
chance of getting the edge without bleeding. You can even challenge
yourself and build a wall deck with the Followers of Set
(intercept/blocking being their largest weakness in my opinion). That
way you guarantee a longer life for each of your Edge Vitiations and
can use it to incredible effect with Extortion. If your predator can
never get the Edge, how will he burn it to get rid of all those
Extortions?
Sign-off :
I hope you have enjoyed this newsletter! This is my first issue and I
would like for everyone to give their comments, suggestions and
general feedback. I would also like to thank Andrew "Wes" Weston. He
encouraged me to write this newsletter and I liked writing it so much
he may have created a monster.