In this issue: Introduction: Who are the Samedi? Special All-Speculation Feature: Thanatosis. . .what the heck is it? Vampire of the Month: The Baron Card of the Month: Puppeteer Deck of the Month: Ridden by the Loa Introduction: Who are the Samedi? The living dead. Most other vampires have the luxury of pretending they've been reborn into everlasting life, but not the Samedi. The Samedi are walking corpses, whether skeletal or bloated, mummified or rotting. It gives them a unique outlook on life. The Samedi are an Independent bloodline with ties to the Giovanni, Setites and Harbingers of Skulls: perhaps the only group that can do business with all three. The common thread is, of course, a fascination with death. The Samedi often learn the art of Necromancy in addition to their bloodline's inherent powers of Fortitude, Obfuscation and Thanatosis. Most common in the Caribbean, the Samedi have many fearsome Vodun servants and allies. Outò, ba mwen son ou, e, Outò, ba mwen son ou, e, Tanbouyè, o ba mwen son ou, Solèy lève - - Vodun invocation (before daybreak) A quick word on Vodun and the World of Darkness: It's easy to get caught up in the creepshow and forget that the various permutations of Vodon and its sister religions such as Santaria are real faiths practiced by sincere people. My take on Vodun and the World of Darkness is that inside this fiction, the Samedi bloodline has infiltrated and twisted the religion in much the same way that the Lasombra infiltrated and twisted the Christian church. I hope believers are entertained, rather than offended, by this looking-glass view of their faith. Special All-Speculation Feature: Thanatosis. . .what the heck is it? In Vampire: the Masquerade, the Samedi are the sole possessors of Thanatosis, a discipline that revolves around the physical effects of death: rigor mortis, rot and decay. With it, the Samedi can perform feats such as crumbling to dust and later reforming, or withering their opponents' limbs. Judging from the other preview cards we've seen, I expect a number of THN dual discipline cards. THN/NEC would work well, giving the Samedi more common ground with the Harbingers and Giovanni. THN/AUS, THN/POT and THN/DOM are other likely combos for the same reason. THN seems likely to provide some nasty combat strikes, one or more minion-harming directed actions, and maybe a few unprecedented effects. I expect it to resemble Quietus or Vicissitude, with a smaller card selection. Vampire of the Month: The Baron The Baron 9 Independent dom, FOR, NEC, OBF, THN The Baron has two votes. During your untap phase, if The Baron is ready, you may look at the hand of each Methuselah who controls a ready Giovanni. +1 Bleed. Probably the best known Samedi in the World of Darkness, the Baron was a logical choice for translation into V:tES. He is generally believed to be the founder of his bloodline. This powerful elder has popped up at many critical points in Kindred history, pursuing mysterious schemes that affect the worlds both of the living and the dead. His title refers not to aristocratic blood, but to his rank among the Guede as the guardian of the cemetery and thus the preeminent mediator between the two worlds. One glance at his card reveals why the Baron casts such a long shadow. He has (FOR, OBF), a title and a bleed bonus. This powerful combination was previously seen only on the formidable Arika and Suhailah. Add NEC, for all its stealth and toys, THN for combat and dom for utility and you have a versatile set of disciplines with lots of potential synergies. The Baron has access to Freak Drive and Shroud Mastery, Elder Impersonation and Call of the Hungry Dead, Puppeteer and Cloak the Gathering, Shambling Horde and Restoration, Ex Nihilio and Skin of Night. The last combo should be particularly interesting if Thanatosis offers some strikes along the lines of Fleshcraft or Entombment, strikes that do something besides damage. His special will not come into play often, but will be extraordinarily useful when it does. His power comes at a price. As a 9-cap, the Baron is inconveniently sized. You cannot get him out in one turn, not even by using Zillah's Valley or the Tomb of Ramses. He should therefore be supported by smaller vampires that share one or more disciplines with him. For an early offense, use Basil, Normal and/or Dimple. For bleed defense, use Gloria Giovanni or Ingrid Russo. For combination offense and defense, use Royce, Ohanna, Samson, etc. For quick access to the toys, use Rudolpho Giovanni. No doubt a few small Samedi will also serve. Card of the Month: Puppeteer Largely disregarded in the influx of new Giovanni and Necromancy allies from Final Nights, the Puppeteer is an entirely different beast when backed up by vampires with OBF as well as nec. Each (nec, OBF) vampire can lend a Puppeteer +2 stealth: one from Cloak the Gathering and one from Shroud Mastery or Psychic Veil. This gives you the stealth you need to steal *untapped weenies*, so you can actually act with them. Even in the absence of weenies, the Puppeteer makes a fine disposable ally for blowing up cards with built-in burn options and for playing Obfuscate games. "The Puppeteer bleeds you. Do you block?" "A bleed of zero? Heck, no." "Okay, The Baron plays Mask of 1,000 Faces and Threats; that's a bleed for 3. The Puppeteer bleeds you, do you block?" "I see that other Samedi over there. You think I'm stupid? I block." "Okay, so much for the Puppeteer. This other Samedi plays Hidden Lurker, and look! Disguised Flamethrower . . ." At a cost of 1 pool, the Puppeteer can serve as a fine throwaway blocker too. And even dead or discarded, the Puppeteer is still useful for creating Shambling Hordes. Deck of the Month: Les Serviteures In Vodon, a person possessed by a spirit during a ritual is called a "serviteur", or servant. This deck aims to make servants of all the weenies at the table. . .disposable servants. The deck's best trick is to drop a Fortitude skill card on a tapped 1, 2, or 3-cap vampire, steal it with a Puppeteer, then unblockably bleed for two and burn the weenie at the same time with inferior Force of Will plus inferior Daring the Dawn. The weenie must have a blood for FoW; if it is empty, use Leonardo to feed it. If there are no weenies at the table, the deck has a second trick. After minion tapping the Baron or Egothha down to one blood, unblockably bleed using FoW/DtD. Next turn, get the burned vamp back using Possession, fill it to 3 with blood with Summon Soul, then burn the possessing vamp with a FoW/DtD. The vamps can trade off burning and reviving. Spying Mission at superior may be used to save your grandprey from the Baron's bounced bleeds. Summon Soul and Potchli's special can both be used to restock your deck with your chosen combo. Good luck! Crypt (12 total, average size 6.25) Baron, the (Samedi, 9, dom FOR NEC OBF, 2 votes, +1 bleed) x 3 Egothha (Harbinger of Skulls, 7, FOR NEC obf) x 2 Ingrid Russo (!Ventrue, 4, DOM for) x 3 Potchli (Giovanni, 8, dom NEC OBF) x 2 Rudolpho Giovanni (Giovanni, 3, NEC) x 2 Master (16): Dreams of the Sphinx x 2 Fortitude x 5 Giant's Blood x 1 Information Highway x 3 Jake Washington, Hunter x 2 Minion Tap x 3 Minion (74): Brigitte Gebauer x 1 Felix "Fix" Hessian x 1 Leonardo, Mortician x 2 Force of Will x 6 Possession x 4 Puppeteer x 4 Summon the Soul x 4 Call of the Hungry Dead x 6 Cloak the Gathering x 6 Daring the Dawn x 6 Freak Drive x 3 Shroud Mastery x 4 Spectral Divination x 2 Spying Mission x 4 Deflection x 6 Delaying Tactics x 3 Wake with Evening's Freshness x 6 Spiritual Intervention x 6 ------------------------------------------------------------ "Emmit Svenson" emmitsvenson@hotmail.com