OFFICIAL VEKN LASOMBRA NEWSLETTER -- June 2004 by Eric Manch / sleeveboy Gehenna is here at last. We've got a bunch of new cards and another new vampire to discuss, so let's get right to it. FICTION On the US-Canadian border, 9:37 PM, the next night Henri Lavenant knew an opportunity when he saw it. It was what kept him alive all these centuries. Knowing who to backstab, who to befriend, and how to do both at once: this delicate skill is what separated the undead from the dead. It was what saved him from the Inquisitorial purge of Monaco shortly after his embrace, when he betrayed his own foolish sire to save himself. It was what saved his skin through countless Sabbat civil wars across oceans and continents. And now, he hoped, it would save him from being devoured whole by a monstrous, amorphous flesh-beast. Though he was thankful to be safely ensconced in this small fortress of a border checkpoint, recent developments troubled him in a different way. The Masquerade broken, humans aware of the existence of vampires, hundreds of soldiers at the command of a single vampire – the political landscape was changing fast, and he had to find his footing. Lest he end up like that sire of his, that faultlessly loyal fool whose adherence to honor and tradition left him blind to the changes happening around him. He had just risen from a satisfying slumber. He was in some kind of holding cell; perhaps this was where the mortal customs agents performed their body cavity searches, he thought. A corpse sat at the far end of the room, a young man in a guard's uniform, fairly neat aside from the small trickle of blood still left on his throat. Henri sighed. He must have frenzied after the encounter last night. He couldn't remember how the hell that guard ended up in his cell, nor even how he got himself inside the cell in the first place. All he remembered were the guards that stopped him and Katherine as they approached the border station. Jan Pieterzoon walked into the room. The tall, spiky-haired Nordic vampire had shed his signature Armani threads for a bomber jacket and jeans. He looked more like a sea captain than a Camarilla war leader. "Mr. Lavenant. Hell of a night, wasn't it?" "I've seen worse," laughed Henri. "You should come to Mexico City sometime. I'll show you things that'll really make you shit your pants." Jan was bemused. "Gehenna is nigh, Lavenant. You've seen the signs. All joking aside, you would have been Tzimisce chow if it weren't for our howitzers." "Indeed. Thanks for the help. But when did the Camarilla start believing our fairy tales? And what happened to my travelling companion?" "As to your second question," Jan said as he sat, "she's staked. Her fate depends on the outcome of our conversation. As to your first question," he paused thoughtfully, "I have left the Camarilla. In its place I have founded a new organization in cooperation with mortal authorities devoted to stopping the Antediluvians." Henri silently snickered. This lad was as arrogant as Henri had heard. So this Camarilla fool thinks he can stop the ancients with a band of mortals and their glorified slingshots? The Hand had its own plans for Gehenna, of course, but they involved taking over the nuclear missile silos and weapons depots and killing any mortals that got in the way. Pieterzoon's approach would be funny if it weren't so utterly pathetic. Working with mortals as equals? The very idea was insulting. But wait. For all he knew the Hand was already dead. His compatriots were mostly of the foolhardy, gung-ho sort, the kind that would race full-bore for the ancients' throats without regard to the consequences. Despite their vaunted martial prowess, he always suspected the Antediluvians would squash them like insects within seconds. Perhaps he ought to listen to this proposal, keep his options open. "Join us. We know your organization has plans in store for Gehenna. Share your knowledge, your expertise, and your support, and we will let you and your companion live." "Our knowledge," Henri thought. This poor lick had been kept in the dark so long about the real truth that even the barest scraps of information would be highly prized to him and his organization. If he played it right he could keep himself alive long enough to make contact with the Hand – if they still existed – and plan his next move. Make himself useful as long as possible. Henri was a survivor, and he'd stake, kill, sell out, and lie to anyone he could to keep himself alive. Gehenna was no different, just...a little more urgent. Henri extended his hand to Jan and grinned. "It looks like you offer me no choice. I will cooperate with you. Now would you mind finding some...more comfortable quarters for my companion, then?" -- COURT OF BLOOD: Gehenna for the Clan of Night The long-awaited Gehenna expansion is here, and overall there is much of interest to Lasombra players. Two new, excellent vampires, a handful of promising Obtenebration cards, some Event cards to fool with local metagames, and much more. This expansion has provided much in the way of material for the next few newsletters, so I won't try to cover everything here, but I'll hit some of the major points. First, event cards. At first glance cards like Fall of the Sabbat appear to threaten the viability of Lasombra vote decks because they tend to rely heavily on titles. But with such strong Black Hand vampires available to them (not to mention the accessibility of Blooding), a well-constructed Lasombra vote deck needn't fear this card. Veil of Darkness might cause more problems with its Obtenebration-hosing effect, but otherwise I think the card is too cornercase to worry about. Group 4: So far I've been impressed with the selection. Aside from the Lasombra we've got Bruce de Guy, a nasty !Ventrue voter; Matthew Romans, a mongrel with an intriguing set of disciplines (pot AUS OBF OBT) plus a useful special ability; and Shawnda Dorrit, a 6-cap !Brujah Priscus with [obt]. Suddenly I don't miss Sela quite so much. One of the unexpected developments is the revitalization of Anarch decks. Until Gehenna there wasn't much incentive for Lasombra players to mess with these cards, but the new OBT-featuring 3-ways change things. Too bad both the new Lasombra in this set are titled! This month's Deck of the Month explores some potential avenues for Lasombra anarchs. -- VAMPIRE OF THE MONTH: Dr. Julius Sutphen 5-capacity dom obt POT Group 3: Sabbat bishop: Younger vampires must burn 1 blood to attempt to block Julius. With each new expansion, combat becomes more appealing for the Lasombra. Julius is one of our strongest combat assets. Hell, this guy speaks for himself: POT, 5-cap, a special ability built for bruise n' bleed. As a group 3 vampire, he fits right inside our existing Lasombra decks: he slides right into the Black Hand POT/dom deck featured in March's newsletter, and he works great in the Dominion bleed deck we discussed in January. And he's got a vote, too! He's not great for Anarch decks on account of his title, but that's his only real drawback. Wow, that was easy. If only all our vampires could be this great. CARDS OF THE MONTH: Smoke and Mirrors and Friend of Mine Smoke and Mirrors Action Modifier Chimerstry/Obfuscate/Obtenebration Requires an anarch. [chi] +1 stealth with an optional maneuver if combat occurs. [obf] +2 stealth. Not usable during a bleed or political action. [obt] The blocking vampire gets -1 intercept. Friend of Mine Reaction 1 blood Fortitude/Necromancy/Obtenebration Requires a ready anarch. [for] Reduce a bleed against you by 2. [nec] +1 intercept. [obt] Only usable when a vampire successfully bleeds you. The acting vampire burns 2 blood. Both of these cards are excellent additions to the anarch arsenal, and I'm sure Eric Simon will cover them in depth in his own newsletter. So we'll just focus on the [obt] portion of each card, the part that naturally excites us most as Lasombra players. At [obt], Smoke and Mirrors is essentially free stealth. Not too shabby considering how expensive obt-stealth can be. It's easy to cycle too, since you can play it even when you don't need stealth to get past a blocker. Friend of Mine is even more interesting. At [obt] it allows you to burn two blood off of a minion who successfully bleeds you. Note that there is no limitation on the number of minions that may play Friend of Mine after a successful bleed. So if you have a slew of small anarchs with [obt], you can quickly empty the blood off your predator's minions with multiple Friends of Mine. Perfect for Shadow Twin decks! DECK OF THE MONTH: Deck Name: Shadow Friends Created By: sleeveboy Description: Anarch tech spices up the Shadow Twin deck. Use the Shadow Twins to slow down your predator and swarm bleed your prey. Friend of Mine accelerates this process. Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 11, Max: 21, Avg: 4.08) ---------------------------------------------- 1 Aurora Van Brande dom for OBT pot 6, Lasombra:2 2 Guido Lucciano dom obf OBT 5, Lasombra:2 1 Banjoko obt pot DOM 5, Lasombra:3 1 Gerard aus dom for obt 5, Ventrue Antitribu:2 1 Josef ani obf obt 4, Nosferatu Antitribu:2 1 Ignacio dom obt pot 4, Lasombra:2 1 Ramiro dom obt vic 4, Lasombra:2 1 Tabitha Fisk obt pot pro 4, Lasombra:3 1 Aaron Duggan obt 2, Lasombra:2 1 Mitchell obt pot 2, Pander:2 1 Hester Reed obt pot 3, Lasombra:3 Library: (86 cards) ------------------- Master (24 cards) 1 Anarch Free Press, The 1 Anarch Railroad 5 Blood Doll 2 Dominate 2 Effective Management 1 Elysian Fields 6 Galaric`s Legacy 2 Obtenebration 2 Political Hunting Ground 2 Society of Leopold Action (19 cards) 2 Go Anarch 4 Computer Hacking 2 Govern the Unaligned 1 Graverobbing 10 Shadow Twin Action Modifier (18 cards) 6 Conditioning 4 Shadow Play 2 Shroud of Night 6 Smoke and Mirrors Reaction (13 cards) 6 Friend of Mine 7 Wake with Evening`s Freshness Combat (8 cards) 6 Arms of the Abyss 2 Oubliette Ally (1 cards) 1 Abyssal Hunter Equipment (3 cards) 2 Deer Rifle 1 Flaming Candle -- So ends June's installment of the Lasombra Newsletter. Join me next issue after I have had more time to digest the Gehenna set. Possible items on the agenda: Lasombra-centric Gehenna card strategy, and an intercept-heavy OBT/MYT deck. Comments, as always, should go to sleeveboy AT hotmail DOT com. See you then! -Eric Manch, Friend of the Night