Giovanni Newsletter Vol 3.1, n° 1
This Newsletter will come as follows :
1) Edito
2) Fiction : The Third Plague of Marseille (Part I)
3) Highlight on : the Necromancing Thaumaturgists.
4) Deck : Marianna's Clarity V 2.0
Please read, and hopefully, enjoy ; if not, please do die in extreme
suffering and let me know where you parked your soul.
1) Edito
Hi all,
So, after all this time, this is my first newsletter. I hope of course Reyda
will continue to contribute to it. My angle as an editor will be to try to
focus on the aspects of Necromancy as a whole, and therefore considering the
possible alliances the Giovanni can make. But of course, we all know that
whatever will happen will do so because of plots by dear old Uncle Augie,
and despite what his "allies" think they may want.
This letter being almost finished as Anarchs is released, we will discuss
later of what this new extension brings to the Clan. For now, let's explore
what we have as of the still relatively new Camarilla Edition.
2) Fiction :
[Please follow me in the darkest side of my "Praxis" ; as for the local
characters involved in the following fiction, let's just say that I try to
add a "roleplaying" dimension to the overall mood of the city's tournaments
and game life...]
The Third Plague of Marseille (Part I)
If Antoinette could still breathe, she would be catching her breath right
now. And She Who Watches would have preferred to be blind, had she any
choice in the matter.
The streets of Marseilles were dirty, covered with ashes from a forest fire
on the hills overlooking the city, overflowed by the trashcans accumulated
in weeks of strikes, aggravated by the enormous heat, and, worst of all, the
tension in the ranks of vampires, that was so intense it was almost
palpable, for vampires and human sensitives alike.
For years, the war between Camarilla and Sabbat had laid dormant in the
city, under a very strange compact led by the Giovanni Prince. The city was
led a Council, led by Prince Orpheus and admitting 10 other representatives
of the Clans. Yes, 11 of the Clans were represented here !!
5 of the Camarilla Clans each had one of their own in the Council, the
Prince refusing to have any representative of François' lineage on his
territory (Marseilles and Paris having a long history of opposition,
culminating when Louis XIV had the canons of the city fort pointing towards
the city instead of outwards !!). The Gangrel, Followers of Set, Assamites
and even Ravnos also had their parts to play and their rights in the schemes
for power. The local Lasombra leader, Marc Simoni, didn't go by the title of
Archbishop, but was considered as his Clan's Envoy, a strange way of saying
that he was a sabbatic ambassador in a Neutral city, and was a Councilman
like the others. The Tzimisce, however, were the second Clan not to be
tolerated in the city, for reasons personnal to the Prince, and that nobody
contested, first of all not the Fiends themselves.
All this had lasted in more or less the same form for a few centuries now,
and could have lasted a few more. But then, that wasn't what Fate had
written in its accursed book. Rumor had it that the Prince Orpheus was
slowly losing his grip, giving more and more power to his vile Tremere
Seneschal Régis, and his Ventrue Keeper of Elyseum Pierre-Denis II, while
the Lasombra faded from view in the shadow of the Setites. It was inevitable
that something dire would happen, and Villon knew it, which is why he sent
his best and most discreet informant, Antoinette, in the Rebellious City.
And observe she did.
If only she had known, she would have found some excuse not to come, and
maybe she could have survived a few more nights.
Now it was too late : IT had seen her, and all she could do was run, run,
and run again.
If only she had known.
(to be followed.)
3) Highlight on : The Necromancing Thaumaturgists
We now have 4 Giovanni with Thau (2 of them with THAU), and 3 Tremere with
Nec, not to mention Ian Forrestal, plus a Nosferatu (Tammy Walensky) and an
Assamite (Qadir ul-Ghani) who would probably have nothing to do in the decks
we're going to talk about. There must be something to do with these, don't
you think ?
Before going any further, let us ask ourselves a few questions :
I. What can Thaumaturgy bring us ?
- Some Combat options. Unpreventable damage with Thau coupled with Immortal
Grapple, Torn Signpost and Disarm can be quite effective (not to mention a
few Blood to Water for the Press provided by the IG.). And we still have the
Thoughts Betrayed option, as the Giovanni share DOM with the Tremere.
- Rutor's Hand : one of the very few ways in which the Giovanni can gain
extra actions per turn (the other one I can see being Krassimir's Domain of
Evernight or Clotho's Gift, as too few Giovanni can use Freak Drive). Of
course, it is much better used with THAU, as the Giovanni's ways of avoiding
intercept work much better on directed actions than on undirected ones (like
getting someone out of torpor.).
- Perfect Clarity : afraid of being redirected ? Try Perfect Clarity !!!
Only inf Thau needed. Of course, it doesn't work against Auspex, but more
people tend to use Dom for redirects, especially as an out-of-clan. Also,
Telepathic Misdirection taps you, and you can help the guy discard his Wakes
with a few Jar the Soul. Also very useful against S:CE if you play
aggressive Thau + Pot.
There are, of course, other interesting cards, like Magic of the Smith
(which must not be underestimated in a deck where you will happily fetch the
Sargon Fragment, the Venificorum Artum Sanguis, or a nice Talbot for our
friendly wraith Ambrosius.), but I think the 3 main reasons for including
Thau in a Giovanni deck still are the ones cited above. Another "trick card"
worth mentionning here, however, is Infernal Familiar : if you include a few
cards of an improbable disciplines for an-even-more-improbable combo ("What,
Marianna has CLAWS ?!?!), I.F. is just what you may need to do the trick.
II. Which Vampires can interest us (for all details on these vampires, check
them up on the Hungry Dead section at http://necrobones.free.fr) ?
- Marianna Giovanni has superior Thau, inferior Nec and inf Auspex. Not a
very good stealther, but man can she HIT !!
- Enzo Giovanni has sup Nec and Dom, inf Thau and Pot : you won't use him
much in a fight deck, but he will be one of the best users of Perfect
Clarity for stealth purposes. Also, his special can come in very handy !!
- Ambrogino Giovanni : looks a little expensive at first, but man, is he
perfect !! Alll 3 Giovanni disciplines + Thau in sup, inf Aus, 1 vote, +1
Bleed. The man is GREAT !!
- Is Patrizia Giovanni interesting ? She costs 5, only has Thau / Nec, and a
very cornercase special. I still dream of finding a way to use her, but she
will have no place whatsoever in the decks we will speak of now.
- Valois Sang, the Watcher : very good if you use Aus as he has it in sup ;
rather mediocre if you don't, for he has no Pot, inf Thau and Nec.
- Lille Haake : as I say on the Necrosite, she's too expensive. Play here
only if you NEED superior Auspex, and no Potence.
- The dreaded Oliver Thrace : he is, of course, the cornerstone of every
Thau / Pot deck, because of his "no S:CE" special (who needs Thoughts
Betrayed when you have access to IG plus that special ?!?). He only had inf
Nec, though, but never was meant for a stealthy deck anyway, so who cares ?
III. What can we do with inferior Nec ?
Many of the vampires cited above only have Nec at inf. Obviously, Nec is a
discipline best used in Sup. The best example of that being Call of the
Hungry Dead, which in Inferior isn't that interesting. Same with Spectral
Divination, which in Sup makes for one of the best S:CE ever, while in inf
it plain sucks. So what can we do in inferior, while we wait for the
Necromancy skill card or the Sargon Fragment ?
- Baleful Doll : one more way to make your prey's vampires lose pool. And
everybody knows a dry vampire is a useless vampire. There must be something
to work out with the Tremere here !!
- Daemonic Possession is still very useful in inf. Of course most of the
time Graverobbing will suffice, but well.
- Ex Nihilo stays about as efficient in inf. Cannot say I'm a great fan of
this card, though. I would be if there was any way to provide the acting
vampire with blood (and it wouldn't make it broken IMO), but there isn't.
Still, one more source of stealth, not to mention fight protection.
- Jar the Soul still works, and is much more useful if you can untap and
bleed. In sup, one more way to make a vampire lose blood.
- Masquer : a permanent source of intercept. 1 or 2 lives don't make a big
difference, as it takes agravated damage to destroy them. But when you have
Aus, do you really need them ? Well, permanent intercept always has its
uses.
- Possession will have its uses in an offensive deck with no way of
preventing ("I die, you die, I come back from the Dead !!!"). Love the
concept. Also useful if you intend to bleed for a lot
- Puppeteers / Shroud Mastery : can work in inf, but will work much better
without Thau (pure Giovannis or Obf will do the trick), so why bother ?
- Spectral Divination in Inf provides expensive and light stealth ; better
than nothing, though.
- The Shambling Hordes can also be useful with 3 lifes.
- Summon Soul's main interest is that it has two uses, so we would need at
least a few vampires with NEC. Not the best card in these decks.
- Whispers from the Dead can come in handy in some Tremere decks, but is at
zero stealth : you'd better pray that your prey and predator are afraid of
your firepower, or that you'll get a Spectral Divination !!
IV. What can we do with some Auspex ?
Obviously, we're not going to speak about all the uses of Auspex with
Nec/Dom, I leave that to my colleagues of Nagaraja or Kiasyd Newsletter.
But if everybody has at least some Aus (mostly in Inf), there must be some
things to do, right ? Of course some Intercept can be nice if you intend to
be a fearsome fighter. Two of the best cards, Telepathic Misdirection and
Pulse of the Canaille, won't interest us in a deck with too few AUS, and
same goes for Telepathic Counter. So we're really stuck with one very
interesting card : Revelations. While it is always a pity to have to chose
between a bleed and a Revelation, with Rutor's Hand you can do both, and
therefore optimise its use. But then, if you have some Perfect Clarity,
maybe you don't need that many Revelations anyway. Oh, of course, if you
want to rush at +1 base stealth, don't forget your Nose of the Hound !
V. How to gain the necessary disciplines ?
Apart from the Master Skill Cards, a Giovanni-only (or mainly) deck can of
course use some Sanguine Instructions ; but let's not forget 2 very nice
objcets : the Sargon Fragment, which gives you NEC + a nifty special for 1
pool, and the Venificorum Artum Sanguis (VAS for the intimate or the
illiterate), which just gives THAU but for no cost at all : a nice way to
avoid clogging your deck with Masters.
VI. Other combo of note
There is one card usable if you get Ian Forrestal or one of his mates out,
especially if you play Tremere / !Tremere (Just Ian + small caps) with an
inch of Necro : the Spirit Summoning Chamber will help you get the card you
want into your hand, and allow you to play it ; the Sargon and / or Whispers
from the Dead will let you get it back !! Can you dream better combo ?
(Actually I can, with the Waste Management Option and the Spirit Summoning
Chamber both on the table, but I just can't imagine the crypt needed to use
these together.).
VII. Conclusions
From all this, we can deduce the following (and many more) deck ideas :
- A very offensive Combat deck based on Thau / Pot
- The usual Giovanni bleed with some Rutor's Hand and Perfect Clarity (and
maybe a few Revelations)
- A "you lose blood" deck based on Tha blood stealing (and Cryptic Mission),
Baleful Doll, maybe some Jar the Soul, a few allies. Where did I put my
Society of Leopold again ?!?!
4) So this is the time for our deck. Thanks to everyone for their
contributions : some deck proposals will be seen on the Necrosite soon. For
now, just a new version of an old deck, with some more Thau to help. It is
storyline valid, so don't hesitate to copy any part of it that you'd like.
Deck Name: Marianna' Clarity (V 2.0)
Created By: Orpheus
Description: Just a plain responsible bleed deck. Big minions will mean less
bleeding, and being more careful not to lose them, but that is also your
strength : as long as Valois isn't out, you will be thought to play the
lethal Tha / Pot combat combination (if you're a sadist, you can take him
out and put Oliver Thrace instead.), so don't hesitate to encourage such a
belief. Make equip and hunting actions, small bleeds, and wait for the right
moment, then. strike !!
Or you could throw this deck away, and REALLY go for the fight angle, and
then. ;-)
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 24, Max: 34, Avg: 7,50)
----------------------------------------------
3 Marianna aus DOM nec POT THA 8, Giovanni
3 Enzo Giovanni ani DOM NEC pot tha 8, Giovanni
2 Ambrogino Giovanni aus DOM NEC POT THA 9, Giovanni, 1 vote
1 Gillespi Giovanni aus DOM NEC POT 7, Giovanni
1 Isabel Giovanni DOM NEC pot 5, Giovanni
2 Valois Sang AUS DOM nec tha 6, Tremere
Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (15 cards)
1 Anarch Troublemaker
1 Barrens, The
4 Blood Doll
1 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Gambit Accepted
2 Minion Tap
1 Morgue Hunting Ground
1 Secure Haven
1 Slave Auction
2 Sudden Reversal
Action (17 cards)
1 Dominate Kine
6 Govern the Unaligned
2 Magic of the Smith
1 Possession
3 Revelations
2 Rutor's Hand
2 Scouting Mission
Action Modifier (26 cards)
3 Bonding
7 Call of the Hungry Dead
5 Conditioning
2 Foreshadowing Destruction
4 Perfect Clarity
5 Seduction
Reaction (12 cards)
7 Deflection
5 Wake with Evening's Freshness
Combat (10 cards)
10 Spiritual Intervention
Ally (1 cards)
1 Leonardo, Mortician
Equipment (3 cards)
1 Monocle of Clarity
1 Sargon Fragment, The
1 Veneficorum Artum Sanguis
Combo (6 cards)
6 Spectral Divination
Good Storyline to all Giovanni players. Don't forget : the spirits of your
ancestors are watching.
Orpheus