Introduction: I first began my chronicles of the Gypsies in the autumn of 1948. It was then that I was given the tumnimos and became a shimulo of the Ravnos clan. While I am not of Romani decent, I have always felt a close kinship with them and they have long been my kumpania. While the Rom have an oral tradition of passing history and lessons from one generation to another in the form of tales and legends, they permit me to take notes of all that I witness. It is these notes that I entrust to you, knowing that you not reveal the secrets that lie within to those marhime mulo that would destroy our clan. There are few of us left and we must be effective with what we have left. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Exerpt from the Notes of the November Patshiv: While the tone of recent festivities has been an air of desperation due to the recent devastation of the clan, the patshiv took an even more grim note when Konstantin began to speak. "While the Sabbat War is focusing on the Camarilla mulo, we are still suffering casualties. We are a decimated clan. We have no bretheren to spare. Tonight, we mourn the loss of several from our kumpaniyi. "Since the mulo of the Camarilla and the Sabbat are so determined to involve us in it, it is time we join in their cursed Jyhad and remove them from it! "It is time we steal their resources and use it for ourselves!! It is time brainwash them into ignoring the wishes of their elders!! It is time we provide information of their havens to Pentex so they may subvert them!! It is time we deprive them of all of their senses!! "IT IS TIME WE STRIKE BACK!!!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Card of the Month: Sensory Deprivation It is appropriate that the first Ravnos newsletter feature the most feared Chimerstry card in the game. Sensory Deprivation, like all Chimerstry cards, can be expensive in blood cost. In this case, the effect is well worth the cost. Unless the target vampire is part of a dedicated untap/wake intercept deck, this card will take them out of the game as surely as if they had been destroyed by combat. The only way to remove it is by removing the vampire that played it from the game. The trick to using it is to use it effectively. Always target the most dangerous minions controlled by your predator and prey. Take care when using it on your predator, as your grand predator will happily exploit the weakness until he is knocking on your door. As in any other deck, creating a weakness is only half the battle. You must also be able to exploit the weakness quickly in order to win. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Deck of the Month: Ravnos "Lock Down" deck The theme of the deck is simple: Minimize the ability of your prey to block you by effective use of Brainwash, Pentex Subversion and Sensory Deprivation and stealing blood from their uncontrolled vampires and putting it on yours. Minimize the ability of your predator to oust you by putting them into a defensive mode by using Pentex Subversion on their key vampires. Make use of the various methods to increase blood gain. Hunting for one blood is a horrible waste of time when using Chimerstry and you should be taking actions that will result in a gain of two or three blood. Take every opportunity to bleed your prey for as much as possible. Pool gain is difficult to come by for the Ravnos, so getting that six pool from ousting your prey is paramount. Without further ado, here it is: -Vampires (12) Lazar Dobrescu (x2) Salbatore Bokkengro (x2) Joaquina Amaya (x2) Sarisha Veliku (x2) Vaclav Petalengro (x2) Konstantin, Baro of the Caravan (x2) -Library (90) -Master Cards (18) Blood Doll (x5) Pentex Subversion (x4) Brainwash (x6) Fortune Teller Shop Park Hunting Ground Inbase Discotek, Frankfurt -Equipment (2) Palatial Estate Aaron's Feeding Razor -Actions (37) Army of Rats (x2) Masochism (x4) Sensory Deprivation (x8) Tier of Souls (x7) Computer Hacking (x6) The Trick of Danya (x5) Restoration (x5) -Action Modifiers (13) Freak Drive (x7) Fata Morgana (x6) -Reactions (12) Wake with Evening's Freshness (x6) Cat's Guidance (x6) -Combat (8) Illusions of the Kindred (x8) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Next month, I'm going to focus on the combat ability of the Ravnos as we highlight another favorite Chimerstry card of mine, Mass Reality. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- If you want to send me deck ideas or suggestions or any other comments or questions, feel free to e-mail me at dharzhak@yahoo.com Regards, Noal McDonald Prince of Metro Detroit -- "I was probably pretty young, when I realised that I had come from what you might call a family, a clan, a race, maybe even a species, of pure sons of bitches." --Faulkner, "The Mansion"