I: Introduction Welcome to the fourth installment of Stone Circle, the official Gargoyles Newsletter. This month we will explore new strategies and cards that apply to the most untested yet most interesting of all the bloodlines, the Gargoyles. II: Fiction To: Etrius From: Virstania CC: Inner Circle of the Tremere Subject: Re: Near invulnerability of constructs being disproportionate to their age During our study on construct 004.a, there have been several assaults on C5B (a.k.a. the Chantry of the Five Boroughs in New York City) since the reclamation of the domain of New York from Sabbat Forces and the subsequent assassination attempt on the Prince. During these assaults, a new more powerful gargoyle has emerged with strength and toughness that exceeds the exceptional qualities that ordinary gargoyles possess. This gargoyle construct is know as Ublo-Satha. It has shown exceptional durability, which will be described in the forwarded report from Aisling Sturbridge. WARNING: Possession of this data by non-members of the Tremere Inner Circle or C5B research team: Luther will constitute a breach of Pyramid Security. Immediate Counter-measures will be employed and suspension of all violator's anima will be immediate and said violator(s) will remain in suspension until a tribunal can be convened to mete out punishment (re: expunging of pattern). The below report was given by Aisling Sturbridge who both witnessed the incident and hence-forth conducted the experiments which provided the following results. To: Virstania From Aisling Sturbridge, overseer C5B research team: Luther Subject: Near invulnerability of constructs being disproportionate to their age Shortly after construct 004.a (a.k.a. Fidus) was committed to suspension chamber: Purgatory at C5B (a.k.a Chantry of the Five Boroughs), there were several major Sabbat counter-offensives launched in New York City. None of these offensives targeted the political structure, but rather, they targeted C5B. Whether they were trying to secure some specific objective or whether he offensive against C5B was an end unto itself, we will probably never know, but we do suspect that the fiend Sascha Vykos was behind it. This suspicion was supported by the mix of brute force troops armed with modern weaponry mixed with a supporting group of Koldun sorcerers. But I digress, this is not the reason for this missive reaching you. It was during these assaults and subsequent repulsions that another of our constructs distinguished itself. Construct 007.a (a.k.a Ublo-Satha, a.k.a. childe of Harlequin, a.k.a. Stone Pillar, a.k.a. The Great Wall), while standing at the apex of its battle formation, withstood an extremely concentrated assault of Sabbat firepower. I truly say that in all of my existence as both a mortal and a magus that I have never seen such a conflagration fall upon a kindred. It was in fact so intense that several supporting magus went into a state of Rotschrek. Had construct 007.a been vaporized on the spot or merely dismembered, it would have not been noteworthy. Not only did construct 007.a survive said conflagration, but also walked away without an apparent scratch. Construct 007.a then pounced on one of the Sabbat vampires and tore his arms off, leaving the vampire looking like a grotesque, performance-art version of the Venus di Milo. Construct 007.a then proceeded to employ the RPG launcher formerly wielded by the aforementioned torso. Using the RPG launcher, construct 007.a then proceeded to send to torpor the remaining Sabbat, both the brutes and the supporting sorcerers. The members of the Sabbat assault force have been staked and are waiting for interrogation. We are waiting on your reply whether we should commence with the interrogation ourselves or wait for the Fatherhouse to send a representative to perform the task. Sincerely, Your Faithful Servant Aisling Sturbridge III: Card of the Month Armor of Terra Discipline(s): Visceratika Thaumaturgy Blood Cost: 1 +1 stealth action thau- Put this card on a slave Gargoyle you control. The Gargoyle with this card treats aggravated damage as normal damage. Burn this card if this Gargoyle goes to torpor: A Gargoyle can have only one Armor of Terra visc- As above, but put this card on this acting Gargoyle VISC- As above, and the Gargoyle with this card may prevent 1 damage each combat This card is the ultimate in damage modification. It converts all aggravated damage to normal. This is great when going up against Gangrel, Assimites, and White Phosphorus Grenade wielding OOT Malkavians. Not only for converting aggravated damage that opposing vampires are attempting to inflict upon you, but also that aggravated damage that you are attempting to inflict upon yourself (i.e. via Burst of Sunlight or Dawn Op/Weather Control) As if that wasn't enough, if used at superior Visceratika, which 50% of all Gargoyles have, then it acts as a flak jacket, and it only costs 1 blood! This is the ultimate in non-transient small arms damage prevention. IV: Vampire of the Month Ublo-Satha Clan: Gargoyles Capacity: 7 Group: 2 Ability: Tremere Slave : Ublo-Satha may prevent 1 damage each combat. Brujah get +1 bleed when bleeding Ublo-Satha's controller. Flight. Disciplines : Inferior Celerity Superior Fortitude Superior Potence Superior Visceratika This vampire is a hoss! All inclans at superior, as well as flight. Her special is that she may prevent 1 damage per combat, when you combine this with the armor of terra that is doubled to an impressive two damage per combat rendering even inferior torn signposts ineffective on their first strike. There is a drawback though. Brujah get +1 bleed when bleeding you. Generally, this bleed will not be at stealth, and therefore may be alleviated merely adding wakes to the deck to provide blockers as you really only need to fear the most intense combat or combat that bypass damage prevention. Do remember that when it comes to combat Ublo-Satha gives as good a she gets. V: Deck of the Month This months deck is Ben Peal's tournament winning O-Line deck that he won the Bratislava tournament. Congratulations to Ben! His deck is the first registered tournament winning Gargoyle deck. Now lets get to Ben's comments on his deck and the Czech Republic and Slovakian Meta-Game. The Deck: Martin Dudik warned me in advance that Bratislava's metagame was extreme combat. I had a Gargoyles deck in development that had won 4 of 4 casual games, including one where I lent it to someone, so I figured it was ready for prime time. It consists of weenie Tremere 12, with Tremere Slaves operating like the offensive line of an American football team, clearing the way for the Tremere. As such, I've called it The O-Line. :) The Tremere are just there for weenie bleeds, with the occasional Conditioning or J.S. Simmons/Tasha Morgan, as well as Deflections. The Gargoyles are Pot/For/Flight monsters, and they also handle the bulk of the defense, with Razor Bats (which have proved surprisingly handy) and Defenders of the Haven. The O-Line CRYPT 2 x Luma, Stone Beauty (5): FOR vis pot aus Flight 2 x Saxum, Master of Slaves (6): FOR VIS pot pre Flight 2 x Ublo-Satha (7): FOR VIS POT cel Flight 1 x Roreca Quaid (2): tha 1 x Mustafa Rahman (2): dom 1 x Jing Wei (3): dom tha 1 x Sarah Cobbler (4): THA dom 1 x Ignatius (4): dom tha aus 1 x Sabine Lafitte (5): dom tha aus pot LIBRARY 1 x Academic Hunting Ground 1 x Chantry 3 x Defender of the Haven 3 x Razor Bat 1 x The Barrens 1 x KRCG News Radio 1 x Depravity 1 x Guardian Angel 4 x Blood Doll 3 x Effective Management 1 x Mr. Winthrop 1 x Tasha Morgan 1 x J.S. Simmons, Esq. 2 x Taste of Vitae 2 x Bum's Rush 8 x Wake with Evening's Freshness 6 x Resilience 6 x Unflinching Persistence 6 x Rolling with the Punches 8 x Immortal Grapple 4 x Torn Signpost 3 x Disarm 8 x Pounce 3 x Patrol 2 x Conditioning 6 x Deflection 4 x Bond with the Mountain VI: Conclusion I hope everyone enjoyed this months Stone circle and if anyone would like to contribute then please email me at x_zealot@cox-internet.com . May the Gargoyles soar into the skies above the conflagration of the Camarilla and shine like the stars that they are. Until next newsletter.... VII: Gargoyle Haiku destruction takes flight horror weapon falling white pigeon crap dive-bomber -- Comments Welcome, Norman S. Brown, Jr. XZealot Archon of the Swamp