OFFICIAL VEKN KIASYD NEWSLETTER VOL II ISSUE I APRIL 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. EDITORIAL The Kiasyd haven't had a newsletter presence in over two years. I wanted to raise the awareness of this bloodline and hopefully show off how useful these vampires are. I first became interested in the Kiasyd when a friend of mine played a deck containing Bartholomew. I said, "What was his special?!" And so began my first interest in this clan. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. VAMPIRE OF THE MONTH Julia Prima Kiasyd Cap: 7 aus DOM myt OBT Sabbat: Julia can bleed any Methuselah as a (D) action. Once each action, Julia can burn 1 blood to get +1 bleed. Cold iron vulnerability. Julia is an interesting vampire; she has two in-clans at superior, but the Kiasyd signature disciple, Mytherceria, is at inferior. While this leaves Julia with many options, untapping bounce, superior Entombment, she is limited with respect to Mytherceria cards. In most Kiasyd decks, this limitation will have little affect. Her first special ability is more puzzling. While Night Moves and Kindred Spirits allow you to bleed any methuselah, there is very little use to this ability in play. Sure, it can help you oust any methuselah, maybe making deals to do so, but victory points lie in ousting one's prey. Her other special ability to burn a blood to gain +1 bleed is much more widely used. This ability makes Julia a threat during any bleed. Especially during the end game when every pool counts, Julia is almost guaranteed to be blocked. Boost the bleed innately and add a Foreshadowing of Destruction and Julia can bleed for 5 for the cost of one blood. Add a Capitalist archetype to her and she gets the blood right back. Knowing the Julia is most likely going to be blocked can be an advantage. Using a bruise-bleed style of attack, you can expect one of your best fighters in the clan to be blocked on almost every bleed action. After a few rough fights with her, bleeds for 2 might not seem so bad. The cold iron vulnerability is most likely not going to come into play. With only two weapons in the game that are made of cold iron--the Poker and the Banshee Ironwail--you are not that likely to run into one randomly. However, if you start succeeding with Kiasyd, expect to see the Poker. It is a good melee weapon; it's free and does strength +1 damage. Next month: Kassiym Malikhair -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. CARD OF THE MONTH Chanjelin Ward [Bloodlines:R2] Cardtype: Master Requirements: Kiasyd [BURN OPTION] Master. Put this card on a vampire you control. Actions directed at this vampire cost an additional blood. This vampire can burn this card to cause an action directed at him or her to fail. A vampire may have only one Chanjelin Ward. Burn option. The effects of Chanjelin Ward are pretty obvious as are its uses. The first comment I usually hear about Chanjelin Ward is Secure Haven is better. True, Secure Haven denies all directed action, but it cost one pool; this is not expensive, but late-game this cost could be too much. Secure Haven is also unique. There is a great potential for contesting this good card. Chanjelin Ward cannot be contested. You can have multiple copies of Chanjelin Ward and you can include Secure Haven as well. The Secure Haven is a location, and as such is subject to the many effects that burn or steal locations. Once the Ward goes into play, the only way to burn it, is for you, the controller, to voluntarily burn it to stop a directed action at the vampire. You are in complete control of how the effect works. Secure Haven is also a haven; no vampire can have two havens. While I doubt anyone would want to use a Body Bag or Highway Haven: RV in conjunction with a Chanjelin Ward, it is possible to do so. A misconception that most people have is that Chanjelin Ward can only be played on Kiasyd vampires. This is incorrect; while it requires a Kiasyd to be played, it may be placed on any "vampire that you control." This is good news for decks that contain multiple copies of only one Kiasyd. You can include more than one Chanjelin Ward without fear. If no Kiasyd appears in your crypt, burn the Ward. If one does, you can play all of your Wards, however you see fit. In non-combat Kiasyd decks, I tend to prefer two Chanjelin Wards and one Secure Haven. This allows me a good chance of getting one of my defensive Masters early, but doesn't involve two copies of the unique Secure Haven. A second copy of Secure Haven is often used in decks that want to avoid combat, but the second copy is dead space, a card slot that could be better used; in the case of Kiasyd, replacing the second copy with a Chanjelin Ward is a good start. Next month: An overview of Mytherceria combat. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. DECK OF THE MONTH The deck of the month is a slow-starting toolbox. You need to survive until you have two vampires in play. At that point Political Stranglehold or Ancient Influence and Minion Taps can help recoup some of the pool loss. The deck's largest problem is ousting power. I have been toying with variations to increase end-game power, but usually the deck doesn't survive the opening game. This deck is very fun in casual play. It earns some VPs and can eke out an occasional game win. The deck relies on four disciplines: auspex, dominate, obtenebration and mytherceria. All of the mytherceria cards used have one of the other three disciplines as an outferior. All the vampires in the crypt have at least auspex, dominate, and obtenebration, so no card should go unused. An ideal opening crypt should contain one vampire of each clan. Deck Name: Shadows of Arcadia Created By: Karl George Schaefer Description: This deck is based on "Ponces of the Sabbat" by Marc Gabriele. Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 24, Max: 36, Avg: 7.67) ---------------------------------------------- 1 Ayelea AUS DOM OBT pre THA 10, Tremere Antitribu:2, Cardinal 1 Quentin AUS cel DOM FOR obt 9, Ventrue Antitribu:2, Bishop 1 Marconius DOM MYT OBT pot 9, Kiasyd:2, Archbishop 1 Kij Dansky AUS DOM obt THA 8, Tremere Antitribu:2, Priscus 1 Gustav Mallenhous AUS DOM for obt 8, Ventrue Antitribu:2, Priscus 3 Bartholomew AUS dom MYT NEC obt 8, Kiasyd:2 1 Julia Prima aus DOM myt OBT 7, Kiasyd:2 1 Kassiym Malikhair dom for MYT OBT 6, Kiasyd:2 1 Elena Mendoza Vasquez dom obt AUS THA 6, Tremere Antitribu:3 1 Gerard aus dom for obt 5, Ventrue Antitribu:2 Library: (90 cards) ------------------- Master (17 cards) 1 Archon Investigation 3 Blood Doll 2 Chanjelin Ward 1 Demonstration 2 Dominate 1 Infernal Pact 1 Legendary Vampire 1 Major Boon 2 Minion Tap 1 Secure Haven 1 Sudden Reversal 1 XTC-Laced blood Action (5 cards) 1 Aranthebes, The Immortal 1 Eternal Vigilance 3 Govern the Unaligned Action Modifier (15 cards) 4 Seduction 1 Shroud of Absence 1 Shroud of Night 8 Stone Travel 1 Tenebrous Form Political Action (17 cards) 1 Anarchist Uprising 1 Ancient Influence 2 Banishment 1 Cardinal Benediction 1 Crusade: Mexico City 1 Domain Challenge 2 Honor the Elders 6 Kine Resources Contested 1 Political Stranglehold 1 Reins of Power Reaction (22 cards) 6 Deflection 4 Eyes of the Night 4 Folderol 4 Precognition 4 Telepathic Counter Combat (10 cards) 4 Absorb the Mind 4 Arms of the Abyss 2 Entombment Combo (4 cards) 4 Aura Absorption -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. SIGN OFF This is my first newsletter, so comments and criticism are welcome. I hope that you will find my insights on this bloodline useful. Let me know if you give them a second look or another try. I am also accepting Kiasyd-related fiction pieces for the newsletter; anyone interested should contact me. Thanks for reading. Karl Schaefer kschaefe@alumni.nd.edu