OFFICIAL VEKN GIOVANNI NEWSLETTER Vol.III No.6 June.2001
In this Issue:
INTRODUCTION: First Impressions of Final Nights
WHISPERS FROM THE DEAD: On Newsletters
VAMPIRES OF THE MONTH: Isabel and Regina, the Left AND Right Hands!
CARD OF THE MONTH: Shambling Hoooordes!
DECK OF THE MONTH: Kooky Kutters
CONCLUSION/PREVIEW
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INTRODUCTION: First Impressions of
Final Nights
================================================================
Final(ly) Nights is here! And many would agree that the Necromancers
have come out as the "most improved" and "most competitive" of the bunch.
Certainly those Snakes have crept up as well, and we need to watch our back
from the Assassins and our wallets from the Gypsies, but I expect to have
some much more tournament competitive decks coming out the Giovanni.
As with the Bi^H^HScribe of the Assamites also said, there's SO much new
stuff, it's hard to decide what to concentrate on. I said I'd go over last
months wish list, and concentrate on the vampires, since it would take a
while to digest the new cards. Changed my mind. I'll pick on the vampires
as they become relevant to the Deck of the Month, and ditto with the cards.
There are quite a lot of new possibilities, but I'll give some first
impressions, that I'll flesh out in later months with some more play
experience.
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THE NEW VAMPS:
==============
I won't list them all here, but here's a confusing diagram that sums up
the Giovanni before Final Nights:
3 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 6 7 8 10
n/N n n N n n n n n N n N N N
d/D D d d D d D D
p/P p p p p p P P p P
and after:
2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 9 10 10 11
n/N n n N n n N n n n N n N N N n N N N N N N
d/D d D D d D d D D D d D D d D D D D
p/P p p p P p p p p P p P P P p P P P P P
If you look at it a bit, it makes sense. Some things to note from this:
* DOM/NEC, previously on the one 8-cap and one 10-cap, is now found on 8
Giovanni, including a 5 and two 7's. Call of the Hungry Dead, Seduction,
and The Sleeping Mind in various mixes will make those cool Necromancy
actions (and bleed actions) go through.
* NEC/POT, previously on the 7-cap and the 10-cap, is not found on another
7-cap, an 8-cap, and up. Don't expect Soul Stealing to become a big thing.
Of course, with Daemonic Possession, you get the body AND the Soul, so who
cares?
* 3 new vamps with no Necromancy at all, and 9 Giovanni with inferior. But,
there's always the Sargon Fragment.
* If you squint at the diagram, you see similar empty "holes" in the
"discipline-space" before and after. 2-caps aside, Final Nights has atoned
for Ancient Hearts by adding solid, in-clan disciplined vamps, i.e., few NEW
holes.
* I don't know that the game needed another 2-cap Potence weenie, and I'm
pretty sure it didn't need another 2-cap Dominate weenie, and I expect to
see these two vamps make appearances in FAR more NON-Giovanni decks than
Giovanni decks.
* There are 6 vamps now (Enzo, Ambrogino, Marianna, Patrizia, Uncle Ian, and
Qadir?) that have Tha/Nec. Weird, but fun. Magic of the Smith with new
"Get NEC" and "Get THA" items makes it cuter, and Ex Nihilo/Weather Control
starts to actually get mean.
==============
THE NEW CARDS:
==============
Again, I won't list them *all*, but some of the cards that help the
most:
* Charisma. I never said I was sticking to the Giovanni only cards, but
take the clan with the best set of allies and toss this card in? I
personally can't wait to have a Charismatic Regina use the Path of Bone to
get some FREE Shambling Hordes.
* Path of Bone. Sure, you've got to defend it, but having cheap Masquers
and free Spectral Divinations makes good intercept/Obedience walls out of
those new Old Farts.
* Puppeteer: Obviously, you can make decks around these guys, such as the
recent incorporation into Noal's MindRape/Rave/ForceOfWill deck. I would
also point out that they're non-unique allies that only cost 1 pool, and so
make *excellent* blockers, not unlike I've often used Leonardo.
* Shroud Mastery: Wallpaper, but I'll take them off your hands, cheap. =)
* Shambling Hordes: I'm quite certain it was SUPPOSED to say "+1 strength
and +1 fun for each life counter," but nobody at WW will admit it.
* Daemonic Possession: Very cool, for a number of reasons. It'll be
featured in next months newsletter(s), but first I want to playtest and
examine it relative to Graverobbing. (Q: In practice, is it easier for the
Giovanni to torporize or burn vamps?)
================================================================
WHISPERS FROM THE DEAD: On Newsletters
================================================================
Digression.
What's a newsletter about? Officially, from the NL FAQ:
"A) Just about anything on the topic of your clan or the game.
Some of the things that have been included in past Newsletters include:
Deck designs
Clan strategy
Discipline overviews
Library Card overviews
Crypt Card overviews
Vampire fiction"
But many newsletter editors would tell you it's "whatever I feel like
writing," thought they stick to V:TES related material, usually. (Leggy and
his Diablo II fiction aside, of course. =) This is especially true for
"tried and true" clans like most of the Camarilla. However, some of the
best reading in the newsletters are the more general sections. Often, it's
an idea that's been brewing about the editor's head and needed to get
written up formally to make it gel. Extra-special Kudos to Rob Treasure and
Wes for keeping "old" clan newsletters fresh, and apologies to those
newsletter editors who do the same, but that I failed to mention by name.
However, we're just the *editors* of the newsletters, but that usually
becomes "writer." Often the contributions to the Newsletters are decks, but
certianly more than that can be contributed. I expect people to have lots
of new ideas and thoughts on the Independents now, and they should certainly
feel free to pass along ideas to the appropriate newsletter. More general
thoughts on the game can always be posted to the newsgroup in general, but
some of these editors (again, especially the Camarilla ones) are pretty
short on material, and the occasional small essay on deckbuilding, table
manipulations, or whatever might fill out a newsletter a lot better.
That aside, I imagine I'll have lots to keep me full of ideas for a
while to come, both Giovanni and the occasional "driving question." But I'm
quite open to input, and do my job as the "editor" instead of the "writer."
================================================================
VAMPIRES OF THE MONTH: Isabel and Regina, the Left AND Right Hands!
================================================================
Isabel Giovanni
5-cap, DOM NEC pot
This girl is going to the backbone of just about every Giovanni deck. A
bargain at 5-cap with 5 points of in-clan disciplines, she's the Raven, the
Felicia, the Ranjan of the Giovanni. Of most importance is being a 5-cap
with NEC, small enough to get early, but with enough blood to pay for all
those cards, unlike poor Rudolpho, who hunts a lot.
Regina Giovanni, the Right Hand of Augustus
10-cap, aus DOM for NEC POT, 2 votes, -1 blood/pool for allies or retainers.
With the addition of Felix, Brigette, Masquers, and the Hordes, Regina's
special becomes worth her cost. Especially with goodies like Charisma and
the Path of Bone floating about.
================================================================
CARDS OF THE MONTH: Shambling Hoooordes! (...well, and Charisma)
================================================================
Shambling Hordes
3 Blood. (2 with the Path, or Charisma, or Regina. 1 with any two of the
three!)
Ally: 3 or 4 life/strength/fun, (D) Rush action, wither away, yada yada.
The most UNunique ally in the game. If you've got one horde, you've got
more. Excellent to have with "Night of the Living Dead" moaning sounds as
they take actions.
Charisma
Reduce the cost of all ally/retainer recruit actions by 1 pool or blood.
I know the card doesn't have a "G" on the side edge, but it might as
well. This card was MADE for the Giovanni, who have always been strong on
allies. Now, not only can you Compel Scapelli or Ambrosius back for 0 blood
with the Path, but you can get him out for only 2 pool in the first place!
However, the most amusing "abuse" is of course, making hordes of Hordes
for 1 blood...
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DECK OF THE MONTH: Kooky Kutters
================================================================
Well, 3 weeks, and a set is just *old*. I mean, who hasn't already
played their typical, no-brainer, Shambling Hordes deck? Already labeled as
a "cookie cutter" deck, even.
However, with every Shambling Hordes deck being like every other, it
would seem to be easy to break the deck down into it's component Modules.
(Really, treating it more as a box of assorted cookies than a single cut
cookie =)
Deck Name: Kooky Kutters
Created by: Pat Ricochet
Description: Your typical "cookie cutter" Shambling Hordes deck.
Crypt: (12 cards) [Min: 4, Max: 4, Avg: 1]
2 Andreas Giovanni (DOM NEC pot vic, Giovanni, 7)
2 Carlotta Giovanni (dom NEC obf POT, Giovanni, 7)
1 Pochtli (cel dom NEC OBF POT, Giovanni, 8)
1 Enzo Giovanni (ani DOM NEC pot tha, Giovanni, 8)
1 Gillespi Giovanni (aus DOM NEC POT, Giovanni, 7)
2 Isabel Giovanni (DOM NEC pot, Giovanni, 5)
3 Regina Giovanni (aus DOM for NEC POT, Giovanni, 10, 2
votes)
Library: (90 cards)
"Shambling Mega Module"
15 Shambling Hordes
10 Rave
1 Charisma
1 Tower of London
2 Path of Bone, The
"Blood Gain Module"
5 Blood Doll
1 Leonardo, Mortician
1 Morgue Hunting Ground
"Stealth Module"
10 Spectral Divination
5 Call of the Hungry Dead
2 Giuseppe, Gravedigger
"Bounce Module"
5 Wake with Evening's Freshness
5 Deflection
"Block Module"
5 Forced Awakening
5 Obedience
"Recycling Module"
5 Summon Soul
1 Whispers from the Dead
2 Compel the Spirit
"Ambrosius gets a Meat Hook Module"
2 Ambrosius, The Ferryman (Wraith)
1 Meat Hook
"Maybe actually oust someone this game Module"
5 Govern the Unaligned
"That One in Every Deck Card"
1 Haunt
First time I took it for a spin, I got Charisma on Isabel fairly early,
but took a while to get the Hordes out, being unable to cycle cards well. I
later got out Regina and the Path of Bone out. Being able to play 2 Hordes
for 1 blood each was GREAT fun.
The KEY card in this deck is Rave. It solves both "drawbacks" to the
Hordes at once. It gets them into your ash heap for the next one, and gets
at least one blood back onto the vamp so you can make the Hordes cheap. By
mid-game, I was putting 2 blood back onto the vamps and paying 1 to get a
new Horde. With Blood Dolls on all 3 vamps I had out, I was acutally
*gaining* *pool*, rather than "hemmoraging blood" with this deck. I did
rely somewhat on the *threat* of big bleed to let my Rave actions go,
despite having fairly few bleed cards. Never underestimate the power of
misinformation: One Govern+Stealth+Call of the Grateful Dead bleed kept my
prey waiting for "the bomb."
Andrea rocks here, but I'm saving him for next newsletter. =)
Yes, Ambrosius got the Meat Hook. First game, I had 3 decks at the
table with no Potence, actually; and it's not as odd as it sounds. ~140 out
of ~400 vamps have Potence, about a third. But not a third of all DECKS
have Potence, because decks don't take vamps randomly from the choices.
Unless you deck uses potence or is a potence clan(6/20), most of your guys
won't have Potence.
Overall, I LOVE the Hordes. I do think they're of limited usefulness in
limited numbers. You could trim it down a bit, drop to 10 Hordes and ~6
Rave and pack some more bleed (especially if you were playing the "same"
deck the following week =) or whatever else. But the Hordes/Rave Combo (I
highly recommend Raving when at 2 blood) is better in large numbers. One
game, the Hordes went into "the bonegrinder" of Carrion Crows and Aid from
Bats, but they did Horde enough to run her out of combat cards, and then get
pounding to eventually torp them all and get the oust.
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CONCLUSION/PREVIEW
================================================================
Well, I've "just a few" ideas for future newsletters. Expect SOME form of a
Daemonic Possession deck coming up next month; probably one that Wes and I
are working on together.
I'm VERY pleased with how Final Nights came out, both overall and for the
Giovanni in particular. Kudos to Todd Banister and L. Scott Johnson for the
design. (And, the more I look at and actually play with the cards, I'm
pleased with the art, even Cristopher Shy's stuff that I disliked so much in
SW.)
And, for the many people who can now play with all the new Giovanni vamps
and toys, both "for fun" and "to win," Welcome to the Family!
--
Pat Ricochet
Soul Jar'rn Fool of Atlanta