VEKN Tremere Newsletter March 1999, Volume 1, Issue 4 The Tremere, the Clan of Love (tm), would like to apologize for not keeping everyone up-to-date during February, but they were extremely busy spreading joy and happiness across the world. Also, the chronicler had an attack of Real Life. What’s up for this month: no off-the-cuff short fiction per usual...just couldn't bring myself to do it and still get something written, but I do have a review of other vampires with thaumaturgy outside of the Sabbat, and of course, a deck idea. Unfortunately, I haven’t had any time to play in the last month or two, so there still is no ‘intercept deck that wins’ as requested by James Coupe. Oh, and a brief note: this newsletter has been (likely invaluably) assisted by the Elder Library Deck Builder by David Davila. Thank you. Vampire Vaudevillian Review Al-Ashrad, Amr of Alamut QUI THA CEL aus obf 9 Assamite, +1 bleed -- If quietus and thaumaturgy can successfully be mixed, he is the one to do it. A brutal combination if it were to work, Al-Ashrad is one of the few elders who might be worth the time to manipulate -- assuming your focus is on combat. Anvil dom pre tha CEL POT 6 Brujah Primogen -- Anvil is extremely skilled for his age, and as such, can be used by us if influenced properly. He, as a Brujah, is obviously still a thug, but some of his skills blend well with ours. His mastery of celerity and his talent for dominate and thaumaturgy fit in well with any number of combat orientations. Of course, he’d be less likely to work for us if we hadn’t taught him thaumaturgy in the first place, but what can you do? Bindusara, Historian of the Kindred DOM FOR PRE AUS tha 9 Ventrue -- It is hard to keep a secret from Bindusara. This being said, it was determined it would be easier to exchange knowledge with him (thaumaturgy) rather than have him discover it on his own and have no hold over him. He possesses all of the Tremere clan disciplines, and fortitude and presence are a nice bonus. Use him where appropriate. Darius Styx FOR CHI PRO ani tha 9 Ravnos -- An unfortunate choice by an elder of our clan led to the dissemination of thaumaturgical knowledge to this riff-raff. That elder has since paid with his unlife. It would be interesting to attempt to use Darius in some fashion, but his is a loner, and hard to fit into our hierarchical structure in any manner whatsoever. Not to mention that Chimerstery is a loser discipline for the most part. Enzo Giovanni, Pentex Board of Directors DOM NEC pot tha ani 8 Giovanni -- We are unsure where Enzo came by his knowledge of thaumaturgy. It is possible, but seems unlikely that he learned from Patrizia. Perhaps there are more sinister workings going on here. Although his other abilities are acceptable, he does not fall under the category of technically useful. Gwendolyn CEL POT PRE FOR tha 11 Brujah Inner Circle -- Gwendolyn is a force of nature. Little more need be said. If you can include her in your schemes, by all means, do so. She is expensive to keep on a leash, though, and may not be worth it. Still, the accomplishment of having an Inner Circle member under your thumb is always to be lauded. Iliana PRO FOR DOM tha 7 Gangrel -- One of the few immediately useful Gangrel. She meshes well with Cardano and Muaziz, as they can all perform activities near dawn together. Her mastery of dominate is quite useful as well. If she fits in with your plans, go to whatever lengths you need to in order to enlist her services. Kalinda CEL OBF tha 6 Assamite, spend 2 blood for +1 stealth +1 bleed action. -- A vampire with an interesting skill match, but hardly complementary. Controlling her for a pure combat focus would likely not be worthwhile, but it could be done. Kemintiri OBF PRE SER THA aus dom 10 Follower of Set -- She has an intriguing discipline combination, and she has routinely aggravated the Ventrue, which is good, but again she is an elder, and her skills may not be as exacting as the amount invested in her would normally require. Klaus Van der Veken CEL PRE aus obf tha 9 Toreador Prince -- A powerful prince, with a number of complementary disciplines. Useful in the right situation. Avoid overusing him, as he will likely prove troublesome in the long run. Lucian AUS DOM OBF cel tha 10 Malkavian Justicar, steal equipment as a strike -- Malkavians are mercurial at best, and Lucian is no different. He does possess all Tremere clan disciplines, and has some knowledge of celerity to help him out. Again, as with all elders, he is difficult to bring under your sway. Worthwhile if nearly all of his abilities are going to be used, but otherwise, probably not your first choice. Magdelena Schaefer THA 2 Caitiff, tha strike requires an additional blood -- Useful. Easily subverted. She will need additional training, and more blood than most neonates, but she is quite skilled, and nearly the equal of Blythe. Mariel, Lady Thunder DOM OBF aus tha 7 Malkavian, tap to end a combat -- Again, we share much in common with the Malkavians, much to our dismay. Mariel seems to be more useful than she actually is. If her special talents can be brought into play successfully, you may want to consider her -- if you want to avoid combat completely, she may be a choice for you. Otherwise, although she has mastered dominate, the amount of time needed to invest in her may not be worth her production. Parnassus QUI CEL aus tha 7 Assamite, +1 hand damage -- Another useful Assamite, he also has (surprise!) a focus on combat. It might work, but do not try to use him for anything else. Patrizia Giovanni, Collector of Secrets nec tha qui 5 Giovanni -- Again, a case like Bindusara where we decided she might come across the secrets on her own, so it was deemed worthwhile to acquire knowledge back from her in exchange. A third vampire who could make quietus and thaumaturgy work together. Unfortunately, she has nothing else to back it up with. Okay…here’s a little deck I just whipped up. Something I’ve never tried before. A pure (well, nearly) Thaumaturgy combat deck. Looking for Pain in all the Wrong Places Crypt (12): 3x Blythe Candelaria Tremere 3 aus THA 3x Magdalena Schaefer Caitiff 2 THA, thaumaturgy strikes cost 1 extra blood 3x Merrill Molitor Tremere 5 aus dom THA, change one damage from agg to normal 3x Sarah Cobbler Tremere 4 dom THA Average: 3.5, Worst: 19 (3x Merrill & 1 Sarah) Library: Masters (11): 3x Arcane Library 3x Auspex 2x Blood Doll 1x Chantry 2x Haven Uncovered Action (14): 2x Arson 12x Bum’s Rush Combat (37): 11x Apportation 2x Blood to Water 2x Shotgun Ritual 11x Theft of Vitae 11x Walk of Flame Equipment (4): 1x Ankara Citadel, Turkey 3x Leather Jacket Reaction (22): 7x Eagle’s Sight 4x Fast Reaction 4x Precognition 7x Wake With Evening’s Freshness Allies (2): 2x Talaq, the Immortal I’m rather skeptical about the reactions, as I’m sure many of you are, but I thought the concept was entertaining. A bunch of little Tremere out beating everyone up, and on top of that, Waking to beat up people some more. Plus I’ve always wanted to use the whack Ancient Hearts allies in a deck. I really want to base some deck around Akhenaten. That will have to wait, though. That's it for this month...it doesn't feel like enough, but I'm sure this is fairly lengthy...I just can never judge on my own until I look in Dejanews and find it's like 4 sections... Xian But rain falls down and I feel cold A cold that sleeps within my heart It tears the earth and sun apart --New Order, "Shellshock"