Official V:EKN Clan Salubri Newsletter Vol.3 No.1 Februari 2004 Of interest to Scholars and Slanderers Editor: Patrick van der Reest In this issue: 1. Introduction 2. Miscellanea et Demonica 3. The Dwinding Few 4. The Powers of the Righteous 5. The Hosts of Heaven 6. Conclusion --------------------------------------- 1. INTRODUCTION --------------------------------------- Welcome to a new piece of Salubri scripture. This one will feature a deck that actually doesn't use a Salubri at all, will continue the notes I made last time on the use of Obeah by non-Salubri, and last but not least contains a challenge. Although I didn't manage to publish this newsletter within a month from the last one, I hope to keep it at least appearing fairly regularly. Maybe people can send me their suggestion and I'll get enough material to make the deadline next time! As always my email is samyamu*at*hotmail*dot*com. Drop a line. --------------------------------------- 2. MISCELLANEA ET DEMONICA - Obeah for unbelievers? --------------------------------------- Outside of Clan Salubri no vampires come with knowledge of the Obeah discipline, a fact that makes the Scarce trait that much more painful for the faithful. Still, there are a few ways around this. The classic, of course, is Ian Forestal, a Tremere antitribu that can play cards as if he had all disciplines outside of his native AUS DOM THA at the inferior level. As such he's been used quite often in Salubri decks before, and it's really not a bad deal to include him if you're planning on using Dominate (or Thaumaturgy, I guess) anyway. If it's not very important though, his cost of 8 pool is a high price to pay for a discipline at minor and a minion who's not scarce. The second most common was featured first in John Cooper's 'Call 666 D-E-V-I-L': using Call the Great Beast to create a custom vampire with three superior disciplines of your choice including (of course) Obeah. Although it requires quite a bit of set-up, the innate abilities of the Great Beast (4 strength, 3 bleed, innate rush) plus whatever disciplines you feel like work for you and the deck.... very tempting. If I had the cards for it, I'd try it, and since Bloodlines is being reprinted, I actually might at some point! Possibility #3 is really out there, but someone more daring than I might be willing to try it. Select a nice vampire whom you want to join the ranks of Obeah users, Clan Impersonate him or her to Salubri, then use a fellow Salubri to Sanguine Instruct the recruit into his or her new clan discipline. It avoids the Scarce penalty, too, but it has likely too many moving parts to work. Better select someone with Fortitude, so you can at least use Freak Drive and some combat defence in common with the regular Salubri. For the very daring it could be combined with Camarilla Vitae Slave to effectively acquire superior Obeah, but that would require burning the Clan Impersonation first, of course. Maybe something for a Lucita deck. Fourth is Infernal Familiar, a retainer requiring basic Thaumaturgy. It allows the equiper to use a single discipline at the basic level, but once he or she has raked in as many uses as his or her capacity, s/he burns. Doesn't sound too good for a deck that hopes to use the discipline fairly frequently. Has it's uses though, and maybe I'll plan on using the card one of these days. It's a not as hard to get as it used to be, having been reprinted in the Camarilla Edition (it used to be a Sabbat-only card). It has the great advantage that anyone with basic Thaumaturgy can acquire inferior Obeah as well, this way, and that's quite a bit less restrictive than acquiring clan membership. Last in line but not least is a card introduced in the Sabbat set as well, and reprinted in the latest expansion, The Black Hand. Let me quote: Infernal Pact [Sabbat:R, BH:PTr] Cardtype: Master Clan: Tremere antitribu Cost: 1 pool Unique master. Put this card on a Tremere antitribu you control and choose a Discipline. The vampire with this card can play cards that require that Discipline as though he or she has the superior version of that Discipline. Although this card is unique (meaning you can only 'promote' one of your !Tremere), and it costs a pool, its genius is in the fact that once it's in play, the cost is payed: acquire a superior discipline and never worry over being burned by it's use. This is the card I will use in this Newsletter's feature deck. If anyone can come up with other means of giving vampires access to Obeah, I'd be happy to hear about it. --------------------------------------- 3. THE DWINDLING FEW --------------------------------------- With Gehenna nigh it only seems appropriate to showcase our good friend Great Beast. Give him a hearty welcome! Call the Great Beast [BL:R1] Cardtype: Action Clan: Baali Cost: 1 blood +1 stealth action. Put this card on the acting Baali and put X ritual counters on it, where X is the capacity of this Baali. This Baali may put a ritual counter on this card as a +1 stealth action. When this card has more than 10 ritual counters, burn this Baali and choose three Disciplines; this card becomes a unique clanless independent infernal vampire with 9 capacity, 4 strength and 3 bleed. The Great Beast has the chosen three Disciplines at superior. Move 9 blood to him from the blood bank. The Great Beast can enter combat with any ready minion controlled by another Methuselah as a (D) action and can prevent 1 damage each combat. Given the effort you have to extend to have the Great Beast join your ranks, you'd better make sure only HE can do the job. His build-in abilities are unmatched by any other minion in the game being both a deadly combatant even without cards and a strong bleeder. Whether you choose to go B&B on your opponent or chose to be sneaky about your ways of ousting him, Great Beast can do the job. It all depends on what you load him up with. Since I already have a deck in mind for this month's newsletter, I'll try and feature him next month. For those who want to see some of the good stuff that's already been done with him, I suggest checking TheLasombra's clan pages and the Baali newsletters written by Damnans and JoCo. --------------------------------------- 4. THE POWERS OF THE RIGHTEOUS --------------------------------------- Vitae Block [BL:U2] Cardtype: Combat Discipline: Obeah/Animalism Play before range is determined. Only usable if the opposing minion is a vampire. A vampire can play only one Vitae Block each combat. [ani] Gain 1 optional press this round. [obe] Put this card in play, and move up to 2 blood from the opposing vampire to this card. During your untap phase, return the blood counters to that vampire and burn this card. [OBE] As [obe] above, butup to 3 blood to this card. THe powers of Obeah are not meant a such to be used in combat, but many a Salubri has been misunderstood, and it has been adapted to be used in defence several times. Of course, should ever a less humane vampire than one of the Martyrs learn it's secrets... Vitae Block is not much use early in he game (unless you happen across a small minion), but later, when everyone has suffered some damage, it can easily lead to a torporized opponent, especially with a press available. Mind, that you cannot use this card both for its press and for the temporary blood removal; another press will have to be found. Apart from easier torporisation, it can also be used in combination with Anathema for fairly massive poolgain. A deck that uses this angle would probably contain Nose of the Hound (for reliable, targeted rush) and some aus/for princes and/or justicars. Queen Anne and Wilhelm Waldburg, together with a Ventrue HQ, should be plenty of votelock, but Cock Robin's +1 strength is an attractive option as well; he doesn't have a discipline to bounce bleeds with though - always a notable disadvantage in a big vampire. If you really like superior Auspex, choose Sheldon, or even Madame Guil. An angle that can be added would feature Cardano (or Ulugh Beg, although both will likely be too expensive untill you've burned the odd fellow) and combine Weather Control, Vitae Block and/or Blood to Water to get rid of *lots* of blood, potentially burning a full vampire of pretty much any size as soon as s/he pops up; after all, why not vote/freak drive/rush? Problem here will be the vote lock. Without superior auspex or any presence at all, passing the crucial anathema will be difficult. If anyone manages to get a Vitae Block/Anathema deck working (getting at least a TW at a tournament) using advanced Tegyrius I'll post it and send the lucky winner a The Stranger Among Us. --------------------------------------- 5. THE HOSTS OF HEAVEN - Decks featuring the Salubri --------------------------------------- This month's deck is not so much a Salubri, as well as an Obeah deck. It focuses on the magnificent UNadvanced Goratrix, giving him superior Obeah with Infernal Pact and letting him loose at long range with his draining strikes. Since this is mainly a one man show/blocking deck, there are several smaller minions to help in actually ousting people, since one big guy can't do it all, all the time. Also, don't forget that Goratrix can use Spirit Marionette both for bleeding and 'borrowing' a minion. It never hurts to kidnap someone's blocker/bouncer, then bleed him with the temporary recruit and some chumps. Deck Name: Salutrix Created By: Patrick van der Reest Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 12, Max: 40, Avg: 6.67) ---------------------------------------------- 1 Ember Wright aus dom 3, !Tremere 1 Martin Franckel AUS tha 3, Tremere, -1 bleed when target controls neither Tremere nor !Tremere 1 Saiz aus dom 3, !Tremere 1 Sister Evelyn aus dom 3, !Ventrue 1 Aisling Stirbridge AUS dom THA 5, Tremere 1 Alejandro Aguirre ani aus dom tha 5, !Tremere, can tap before range to deal 1 unpreventable damage to both minions in a combat that does not involve him 1 Ian Forestal AUS DOM THA 8, !Tremere, can play cards as if he had any basic discipline 5 Goratrix ANI AUS DOM THA vic 10, !Tremere, can steal 2 blood as a ranged strike. +1 bleed. (Devin Bisley, 5-cap Tzimisce with ANI AUS vic, is also an attractive option) Library: (90 cards) ------------------- Master (14 cards) 1 Barrens, The 4 Blood Doll 2 Dreams of the Sphinx 1 Guardian Angel 4 Infernal Pact 1 Rack, The 1 University Hunting Ground Action (18 cards) 2 Army of Rats 2 Nose of the Hound 3 Rutor's Hand 6 Spirit Marionette 3 Tier of Souls 2 Unburdening the Bestial Soul Action Modifier (7 cards) 5 Conditioning 2 Repulsion Reaction (25 cards) 4 Eagle Sight 5 Forced Awakening 3 Melange 4 Read the Winds 3 Spirit's Touch 6 Telepathic Misdirection Combat (22 cards) 6 Apportation 5 Drawing out the Beast 4 Telepathic Tracking 4 Vitae Block 3 Walk of Flame Ally (2 cards) 2 Nephandus (mage) Retainer (2 cards) 2 Raven Spy As an experiment it could be interesting to replace the Telepathic Trackings with Perfect Clarity. It won't help against non-presence S:CE, but it'll be good in a heavy bounce environment. As an alternative, Thoughts Betrayed could be used; it's highly likely that Goratrix will be able to afford it. I am considering the addition of Recure of the Homeland, but there's really no room for it; a chump will have to dig good ol' Goratrix up out of torpor if he manages to bite it. Note: the Nephandi are in the deck mainly to take care of the dirty diablerie business. It is unlikely this deck's vampires will survive a blood hunt vote. --------------------------------------- 6. CONCLUSION --------------------------------------- So far for the start of the new year. As promised, next newsletter a Great Beast deck with Obeah, and whatever else comes my way with regard of the Salubri. Have a good time, and remember: ousting is much harder upstream. Regards, Patrick Columbus, OH