VEKN Official Gangrel Newsletter Vol. 1 number 3 March 1999
FROM THE EDITOR
Greetings. I think this edition of the newsletter is going in the right direction,
but it is still missing the storytelling. Help me out. Nonetheless, this month’s
newsletter includes the next installments of vampire of the month and library card
of the month. Also included in this issue is a Gangrel vote deck by Michael Beer
to sink your teeth into. And finally, we will unleash upon the world the sad, sad
story of an endangered ally.
Before we get going, I would like to mention the fun that I had in last week’s
Praxis Seizure: Austin II. We had 8 competitors (not bad for Austin) and the
results were posted to the newsgroup by tournament organizer Jeff Thompson. After
the tournament, we played some additional games with members from the Kansas City,
Missouri area. There I got to witness Shawn Harrison play a brutal Shadow of the
Wolf deck, which I will try to include into next month’s newsletter.
Anyway, the tournament was the most fun I’ve had with this game for a long time.
I encourage others to make the treks to meet old players and make new friends.
I also strongly encourage the support of whatever sealed format is chosen, and I
hope that sealed tournaments become a part of all future game conventions.
Enough rambling. On with the show.
Greg "Song in the Dark" Faulkner
Editor
VAMPIRE OF THE MONTH
Chandler Hungerford
Gangrel
3 capacity
PRO
Chandler gets +1 intercept when attempting to block other Gangrel.
Not much explanation necessary. This guy is the real deal. Superior protean has
so many uses, it boggles the mind. He becomes an expert at stealth with Earth
Control and Form of Mist. He can become a war machine with combat cards. And he
becomes a one-manned blocking squad with Earth Melds.
Personally, I recommend using him as a blocker when you are without Form of Mist.
At 3 capacity, he really can’t afford to pay for too many Claws or Earth Controls
before he runs out of blood. Instead, I suggest getting him a Shadow of the Beast
early on, and then letting him maneuver away from most combats. Give him a gun,
and he is hell on wheels. Use Earth Melds to untap him for a second block when
necessary. Although his special ability doesn’t get used too often, it can make
the difference in the game if Chandler is prepared to intercept and block.
LIBRARY CARD OF THE MONTH
Owl Companion
Retainer
Animalism
1 Life.
Normal: When in combat with this retainer, all Methuselahs may look at opponent's
hand. Superior: As above, but with 2 Life.
This card is probably gathering dust in your collection. Well, if you haven’t had
it in play recently, then it is time to brush the dust off. Normally you would
expect to have a medium-sized vampire (like Raven) employ the retainer so that you
can know how to play the combat cards. Seeing the opponents hand answers all sorts
of questions: should I strike combat ends?, should I use wolf claws?, can my
opponent prevent the damage?... etc. This is a good strategy, especially with an
intercept deck that can control when the combats will occur.
However, there is another strategy for the Owl Companion. I prefer to have one of
my weenie vampires like Vliam or Navar employ the owl retainer. It’s useful
because retainer does not cost any blood, and the young vampire doesn’t need to
immediately hunt afterwards. Next, I use the vampire as my first action to bleed
my prey every turn. Often, the action is completely unblocked. Your prey will be
too worried about tipping his hand at the start of your turn. End result: you tap
your weakest vampire and leave the strongest up to protect your newly acquired edge,
or any of your Army of Rats.
DECK OF THE MONTH
This is a rare treat. In the days since the no vote-push rules, it has been more
difficult to create a vote deck that did not rely on presence. Michael Beer has
developed a vote deck for the Gangrel that will surprise your opponents. I will
let him present it to you in his own words:
Urban Gangrel V2.1
Gangrel / Country Gangrel, political deck
Name Clan and Capacity Disciplines Specials
Sadie Gangrel - Antitribu, 2 pro
Shane Gangrel - Antitribu, 4 ani dom
Caitlin Gangrel - Antitribu, 5 ANI PRO dom Bishop
2x Genevieve Gangrel - Antitribu, 10 ANI PRO FOR dom Priscus, 1 additional vote
during political actions
Chandler Gangrel, 3 PRO +1 intercept vs. Gangrel
Camille Gangrel, 5 ani PRO FOR
Ingrid Gangrel, 9 ANI PRO FOR dom Prince, +2 transfer during
untap
2x Stanislava Gangrel, 11 ANI PRO FOR DOM Inner circle, +2 bleed,
allies cannot block her,
retainers loose their
abilities during combat
Timothy Ventrue ani FOR dom Prince
Igo Caitiff, 1 pro -1 stealth on hunting
Huang Pander,1 pro Gangrel Anti may attack
him as a (d)-action
Maxi draw: 42 (!) (2 lower than the max possible)
Mini draw: 7 (3 higher than the min possible)
Library
Master: 19
· 1x Twisted Forest
· 1x Campground Hunting Ground
· 1x City Gangrel Connections
· 1x Gangrel Conspiracy
· 1x Eco Terrorists
· 1x Zoo Hunting Ground
· 1x Backways
· 1x Info Highway
· 3x Tomb of Rameses III
· 1x Giants Blood
· 1x Powerbase Chicago
· 3x Blood Doll
· 3x Minion Tap
Actions: 2
· 1x Graverobbing
· 1x Return to Innocence
Political Actions: 15
· 1x Dramatic Upheaval
· 1x Gangrel Justicar
· 1x Rumors of Gehenna
· 2x Disputed Territory
· 1x Ancient Influence
· 1x Political Stranglehold
· 2x Ancilla Empowerment
· 2x Domain Challenge
· 4x Kine Resources Contested
Equipment: 4
· 2x Flack Jacket
· 1x Palatial Estate
· 1x Sport Bike
Retainers: 3
· 2x Raven Spy
· 1x Homunculus
Allies: 6
· 2x Renegade Garou (The attackers)
· 2x Black Spiral Buddy (The blockers)
· 2x Shadow Court Satyr (The tappers or bleed for 1 if unblocked)
Modifiers: 17
· 10x Bribes
· 1x Daring the Dawn
· 1x Kiss of Ra
· 3x Freak Drive
· 2x Earth Control
Reactions: 6
· 2x Wake of Evening's Freshness
· 2x Rat's Warning
· 2x Deflection
Combat: 18
· 4x Dodge (for my Garou)
· 4x Form of Mist
· 4x Earth Meld
· 2x Bone Spur
· 2x Flesh of Marble
· 2x Skin of Steel
Total number of cards: 90
Tactic: Use massively bribed politics. The pool gain from your votes (even failed
bribed votes give you at least 1 pool) enable you to use the expensive vamps and
allies. The unique Gangrel locations give you an edge, too.
Surprisingly effective. My first functional vote deck WITHOUT Presence. You rapidly
make the experience that most Methusalahs are easily corrupted: just throw the bone
and they will jump ;) (The bigger the game, the more readily they jump)
Bleed defense: Some Wakes, 2 Deflections, massive pool gain
Vote defense: debate
Combat defense: avoidance, prevention, some aggro
House rules: Official DCI-rules
Deck by: Michael Beer, Dortmund, Germany
SAVE THE WEREWOLF PACK!
We have an endangered species out there. No, I’m not talking about the whales or
the spotted owls. I am talking about our ally, the Werewolf Pack. That
three-headed, fang-bearing, furry monstrosity puts the fear of god into your foes,
right? Wrong. The Pack is nowhere to be found. Folks, I’m here to tell you that
I have not found a use for this card.
Werewolf Pack
4 pool
Unique Ally with 3 life.
3 hand damage, 0 bleed.
Werewolf Pack is not affected by damage from melee weapons.
Compare it with the Renegade Garou: Sure the Garou costs one more pool and does
one less damage, but for that additional pool you get a non-unique ally with an
optional maneuver, an additional strike, a directed attack (at stealth), and the
ability to heal itself during untap phases. There is no comparison between these
two allies, but I don’t want to bore you. I am sure that every one of you have
already done the math. Perhaps this card was created at a time when equipment was
not optional. I don’t know exactly what the creators of this card were thinking,
but the result is a worthless ally.
What I want to do is crusade for saving this precious ally of ours. Balancing this
card would essentially ADD another card to the set. Why wait for the expansion due
later this year, when there is a card that we can add right now? Now, I know that
there has been a decision already made to not add errata to cards that were not
overpowered or incorrect. It’s not really a bad decision. I can already hear
everyone asking me "If you start making changes with this card, then where do you
stop?". Well, there are other cards needing balancing (ahem.... Concealed Weapon?).
I don’t want to suggest balancing a wide variety of weak cards, but there are some
very simple, very intelligent decisions that we can make to include cards to our
set that are as of now worthless. Suggestions for the Werewolf Pack:
Option 1: Change "Werewolf Pack is not affected by damage from melee weapons."
to "Werewolf Pack is not affected by damage from hand or melee weapon strikes."
This is my favorite fix, because it makes so much sense. If a Werewolf Pack cannot
be damaged by a gas-powered chainsaw, then it shouldn’t receive damage from slap on
the wrist.
Option 2: Change the cost from 4 pool to 2 pool.
This seem rather extreme doesn’t it? Well, it really isn’t. The ally is still
unique, so don’t count on that Gangrel deck to keep bringing out the Werewolves.
Compare this option to the Gargoyle Slave. Sure the Pack is one pool cheaper and
does one more damage, but the Gargoyle Slave gets to prevent one damage each combat,
and it can heal itself as a +1 stealth action. Both seem balanced.
Other options exist, but these two choices represent the most efficient and sensible
corrections for the Pack. Perhaps this attempt to improve the game will go
uncorrected, but it is my obligation as editor to call attention to this ecosystem
disaster. I beg the community to consider the possibility of balancing the Werewolf
Pack. Save the Pack!
And that brings this month’s newsletter to a close. Please remember I am accepting
all types of Gangrel decks for next month’s newsletter. I am also eagerly
anticipating any original works of fiction regarding Gangrels to include in next
month’s storytelling section. Hell, if anyone has any original works of non-fiction
regarding Gangrels... well, let’s just say we’d all be interested in those.
Please send all comments and submissions to:
Greg Faulkner