SALUBRI ANTITRIBU NEWSLETTER Volume 1, Issue 4 December 2002 Author: Atrovent the German Chainsaw =================================================== TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction II. Card of the Moment - Weighted Walking Stick III. Vampire of the Moment - Miriam Benyona IV. Deck of the Moment - Fameous Christmas V. Sign Off =================================================== I. INTRODUCTION Hey, welcome back to the terrordome – christmas edition. This time I'll review one of the new Camarilla edition cards. I wanted to grumble over the lack of Sabbat Salubri in the Camarilla Edition, but got censored by, you guess it, the Camarilla. We will have revenge! And we'll wait for the anarchs to get competitive. ;) Since it's just a few days until christmas, I have something for you. Look, in this nice present is – a stick. Surprise! What to do with it? Read on in chapter II. Christmas day is time to help the poor souls injured or resting in torpor – so we invite Miriam Benyona to our little party in chapter III. It's also the time of the year to show those cattle the right path, and Miriam has just to enter the sect. In chapter IV, we'll show her the path to fame - obviously in the company of your favourite !Sal friends! Merry Christmas, Atrovent, the German Chainsaw. =================================================== II. CARD OF THE MOMENT: Weighted Walking Stick Weighted Walking Stick Combat Only usable before range is determined on the first round. Put this card on this minion and put 5 counters on this card. While in play, this card represents a melee weapon (and counts as equipment while in play). This weapon does strength+1 damage each strike. For each point of damage inflicted by this strike (even if it is prevented), remove a counter from this card. Burn this card when is has no counters. A minion can have only 1 Weighted Walking Stick. Okay, a new melee weapon for our clan with a twist, for it's not a melee weapon right from the beginning but a combat card. That means that Thomas Steed can't fetch it, Vast Wealth won't find it and so on. Pure negativity right here. On top of that, it breaks itself after too much use (note the stick is broken, not the card ;) ). Further on, it's a short-range weapon and therefore, like all melee weapons, not throwable. Opponents like Brujah frisbees or Ahrimahnes won't have too hard a time coping with it. Let's examine the not-so-obvious mechanics of the stick. What happens when a minion with a base strength of 1 and not otherwise adjusting the damage, so that each strike is for 2, and thus removes two counters, attempts to strike for the third time with it? Rest assured, there's no overdraw. You can strike for as much damage as you can generate with the stick as long as it still has at least one counter. So that's at least not negativ. On to the positiv things. First of all, the stick is a weapon which equips itself, so you won't loose an action equipping. It's a nice christmas-surprise weapon (except for some Ventrue or other vampires who have the stick on the art ;) ) and you won't need another card like Concealed Weapon to get it going. Granted, if someone sees an !Sal pack forming and attacking without visible equipment, they will expect a Concealed Chainsaw, Poker or whatever. So what? Use it for bleed-bluffing if you have the guts. Next, it's a weapon which comes without cost, but with at least two damage each strike and three hits possible. Assuming no additional strikes from our side or weapon destruction/stealth/whatever by our opponents it'll last at least for three rounds of combat, possibly more, for the counters are only removed during damage resolution. Usually it'll last longer, we come to that point later on. So there's no real difference to Concealed Brass Knuckles (has that kind of thing ever be seen in the World of Darkness? But I digress) except saving a card. How could I explore this insights? For one, I could light the stick and turn it into the largest match VTES has to offer using Sword of the Righteous, for the Righteous do have a somewhat broad definition of the word “Sword”. Additionally, I could add insult to injury. Was that Gratiano over there, beaten into torpor or worse by the mighty ancestral Weighted Walking Stick of Clan !Salubri? A worthy Final Death for the Great Diablerist. I hope the stick isn't broken yet... Further more, if you use the mentioned Walking Stick of the Righteous (TM) while blocking, add a Rotschreck. Assuming nothing out of the ordinary, you won't burn the three counters, for damage is never inflicted. So is the Stick the solution of the !Sal problems? No, of course not. But it's a nice little item with some flavour and worth trying. Please mail me for your experiences! =================================================== III. VAMPIRE OF THE MOMENT: Miriam Benyona Name: Miriam Benyona [BL] Cardtype: Vampire Clan: Salubri Capacity: 5 Discipline: for obe AUS Independent: Rescuing a vampire from torpor costs Miriam 1 less blood. During your untap phase, you may move 1 blood from Miriam to any ready vampire. Scarce. Miriam Benyona is a Salubri vampire who lost her true way, the inclination to the Sabbat sect and valeren. Is her damnation reversible? Of course, there's always hope! Let's put here in the right pack, surrounded by the true Salubri she'll see her errors. May she help us in payment for seeing the truth? She will certainly. Let's look at her more closely. With a capacity of 5, Miriam is about the same cost as the average !Sal. If you don't use more of her kind, the Scarce restriction won't kick in. She has obeah, for and AUS, two of which are our clan disciplines. Even if you don't plan to use obeah, her disciplines fit okay. Looking at her abilities, there's where Miriam truely shines. She's a walking Hunting Ground, which is always useful in more combat oriented !Sal decks who have no Hunting Ground of their own. Like a goog Ground, it won't even use up an action! To help her being a cleric you may give her The Rack, your fighters may well protect it from jealous neighbors. Use a Blood Doll for the remaining blood. Is healing the only useable ability? No, of course not. Since the !Sal are mostly weenies, her rescuing ability will get used regulary to help your own overzealous fighters out of more dire peril, eg torpor. But this kind of heavy healing may get used on the offense, too. If your holy fighters flame an opposing famed vampire, she will gladly help him back on track. Of course, he'll pay if there's still blood on him, but if he's somehow gravely wounded (how could that happened? Samiel! Where's that Chainsaw?), Miriam won't pay all of it. That's not enough? Okay, try Humanitas or Catacombs, it'll be for free and get her some extra stealth in the bargain. You won't want to diablerize a famed victim anyhow... Who needs Sense Vitality? =================================================== IV. DECK OF THE MOMENT: Fameous Christmas This deck of the moment will feature the last one with a touch of it's own, the Fame - Miriam Benyona angle along with the analysed Weighted Walking Stick. All is in for christmas flavour, but it's more than a fun deck. How do you win? The general idea is sitting back until you have the opportunity to block a famed vampire of your prey, fight with him (using Fast Reaction if need be vs. Mr. Majesty) and holy weapons for torpor-fame. Then Miriam does the rescue-action helping out the poor victim, like mentioned above. It's not tested yet, for who'll see his christmas presents before, well, christmas? Good luck and have fun! Crypt: ---------------------------------------------- 1 Doris McMillon val 2, Salubri Antitribu 1 Kervos aus val 3, Salubri Antitribu 2 Wolf Valentine for VAL 4, Salubri Antitribu 2 Thomas Steed, The Angry val aus ani 4, Salubri Antitribu 3 Miriam Benyona for obeah AUS 5, Salubri 3 Adonai AUS for VAL 7, Salubri Antitribu Library: (90 cards) -------------------- Master (15 cards) 2 Rotschreck 4 Blood Doll 1 Direct Intervention 1 Fortitude 1 Metro Undergrounds 1 The Hungry Coyote 1 Guardian Angel 1 The Barrens 3 Fame Action (15 cards) 6 Blessing of the Name 5 Nose of the Hound 2 Pulse of the Canaille 2 Restoration Action Modifier (2 cards) 2 Freak Drive Reaction (11 cards) 2 Enhanced Senses 3 Forced Awakening 2 Spirit's Touch 3 Wake with Evening's Freshness 1 Delaying Tactics Combat (38 cards) 4 Blissful Agony 6 Fast Reaction 3 Rolling with the Punches 2 Skin of Rock 3 Skin of Steel 2 Catacombs (or Humanitas, your own decision) 6 Sword of the Righteous 2 Taste of Vitae 4 Fake out 6 Vengeance of Samiel Equipment (9 cards) 2 Gas-Powered Chainsaw 2 Pokers 1 The Crimson Sentinel 4 Weighted Walking Stick =================================================== V. SIGN OFF Comments and help are always welcome, Atrovent the German Chainsaw, Oliver.volland@gmx.net