True Brujah Newsletter, November 2005 Mark Merlin Petersen, editor mpeterse@oakland.edu I've wanted to give a little back to the Vampire: the Eternal Struggle community for a long time. Becoming a newsletter editor seems to be the least time-consuming of the possibilities. I can only hope that whatever babbling I do herein helps someone else's game. To that end I am concentrating on strategy in these articles. Share and enjoy. There is a certain stigma attached to the Scarce clans because of the 3-pool penalty when bringing an extra member of the clan into play. I understand the mechanic and the way it reflects the rarity of these vampires in the original role-playing game (RPG), Vampire: the Masquerade, but the benefits do not seem to outweigh these penalties. This is especially true for the True Brujah. Is the Scarce trait a flaw that reaps no benefit, much like the Assamite Blood Curse? Compared with other Scarce clans (Abominations are not included in this elucidation): True Brujah have one vampire out of six that can play bleed-bounce cards as-is (Krassimir), by comparison the Nagaraja have six out of six for 100%, and the Salubri have 4 out of six for 66.7%. Not having any access to bounce is detrimental in a competitive environment where bleed is plentiful. True Brujah have no access to reliable intercept. Only inferior out-of-clan (OOC) disciplines give the True Brujah any decent chance of blocking a stealthy opponent. Both of the other Scarce clans have access to Auspex as an in-clan discipline, and even some permanent intercept (Matthias, Salubri 7-cap, has +1 intercept). Not being able to block actions makes playing the True Brujah a proactive experience. Combined with the lack of bounce, it makes pool defense a tough prospect at best. True Brujah have higher average capacity at eight for both groupings than any other clan. The average is six for Group 2 (G2) Salubri and both G2 and Group 4 (G4) Nagaraja. G4 Salubri have an average capacity of 6.67. Having to spend an extra pool or two (than for a member of the other Scarce clans) for a clan that has a difficult time defending pool is a pretty hefty disadvantage in and of itself. These points lead to the conclusion that the True Brujah are relegated to "support" status, and that (more so than other Scarce clans) they are not intended for use as a single unit. Most of them can lend excellent support to other clans in one role or another and this newsletter will focus on these support roles. I'll start with the "weakest" (in terms of clan disciplines) True Brujah from the new Legacies of Blood set. Card Name: Al-Muntaquim, The Avenger Cardtype: Vampire Set: LoB Sect: Independent Clan: True Brujah Group: 4 Capacity: 8 Discipline: TEM POT FOR obf pre Cardtext: During your untap phase you may burn a Caitiff you control to give Al-Muntaquim +1 bleed for the remainder of the game. Al-Muntaquim untaps whenever a Gehenna card is played. He cannot use cards that require Celerity. Scarce. What does Al bring to the table? He has the True Brujah staples of superior Temporis and Potence, disciplines no True Brujah in the Vampire: the Eternal Struggle game lacks. His inferior Presence means he does not pack the vote-punch that other True Brujah possess, and his out-of-clan disciplines and special abilites define his difference from the remainder of the clan. Superior Fortitude has many applications, the most common being damage prevention. Damage prevention has never been the hallmark of the True Brujah, and barring Nu's ability to play Adaptability and Synesios & Nehemiah's opportunities for Typhonic Beast and Skin of the Adder, aggravated wounds have traditionally been a thorn in the side of the True Brujah. Fortitude is often used for multi-acting via freak-drive, but Temporis serves this purpose for the True Brujah. The most effective use for superior Fortitude for Al is probably Masochism, which can reduce the cost of expensive Temporis cards like Lapse and Rewind Time. Other possibilities include using Shared Strength and Inspire Greatness to give an ally or younger vampire (Hermana Menor + Immortal Grapple, maybe?) +1 strength and the ability to play Fortitude cards at the superior level. Al's inferior Obfuscate allows him some great opportunities. With superior Temporis and Fortitude, he can multiact, and Obfuscate allows him to push his actions through via +stealth action modifiers. He can gain maneuvers from Leapfrog and Behind You! (First round only), and a press from Vanish from Mind's Eye or Fade from View. In addition, he can gain a free +1 bleed via True Love's Face, and tap a vampire via Blackmail or Mind Numb with inferior Presence. If he is given a Changeling Skin Mask or an Obfuscate Skill card, he can play Elemental Stoicism at superior to treat aggravated damage as normal damage. He shares his four non-Temporis disciplines, in one way or another, with Marcus Vitel (Advanced), Lucinde Alastor, Jaroslav Pascek, both versions of Count Germaine, and Mukhtar Bey. All of these vampires have superior Presence, and all except Jaroslav have superior Fortitude. All of them except Mukhtar are affected by Zillah's Valley, and all of them except Mukhtar can be brought out quickly at a slightly reduced cost by the Tomb of Ramses III. His ability to burn a Caitiff to gain +1 bleed is pretty amazing, and he can combine with Caitiff and Gehenna cards to both gain extra bleed and untap. Mukhtar Bey can create expendable Caitiff with Third Tradition and Embrace actions (Freak Drive for both in the same turn) and both create a weenie horde and build a bleed monster. His Gehenna-disadvantage doesn't mesh well with Al's special, however, so build decks with this in mind. He also has some interesting applications with the use of damage prevention and Disarm. Used in conjunction with Ibn Khaldun, Scholar, another new True Brujah, Al can use the Path of the Scorched Heart to cancel Presence Strike: Combat Ends cards and/or cancel frenzy cards used upon him. This gives him an advantage in combat against traditional vote-and-bloat decks that use Presence as a combat defense discipline. Card Name: The Path of the Scorched Heart Cardtype: Action Set: LoB Cost: 0 blood Requires: True Brujah. Cardtext: +1 stealth action. Path. Put this card on the acting True Brujah and untap him or her. Frenzy cards cannot be played on this True Brujah. While this True Brujah is acting, minions cannot play reaction cards that require Presence. Minions opposing this True Brujah in combat cannot play cards that require Presence. A vampire can only have one path. Even the Pillar himself will benefit from this card, as many Nu decks use either Assault Rifles or the Eye of Hazimel for combat support. Protection from Frenzy cards make the True Brujah able to use equipment in combat no matter the frenzy capacities of their opponents, beating out cards like Drawing out the Beast and Terror Frenzy. Combined with Kiss of Lachesis to pull equipment out of the ash heap for half-cost the True Brujah can be terrifying opponents, canceling Majesty and Staredown and shooting for four with an Assault Rifle or two ranged aggravated wounds with a flamethrower. The "minions cannot play Presence reaction cards while this minion is acting" clause is cornercase at best. There are only eight reaction cards that require presence, and four of them are actually the outferior versions of Bloodlines-discipline cards using the disciplines Melpominee (Madrigal), Obeah (Pacemaker) and Temporis (Internal Recursion and Rewind Time). There are also two combination-discipline cards, Scalpel Tongue (with Celerity) and Iron Heart (with Potence). The other two are pure Presence, and are seldom seen except in vote-denial decks (Treachery and Dread Gaze). Still, any combat deck can gain great benefit from this card as well as the next. Card Name: Hourglass of the Mind Cardtype: Action Set: LoB Cost: 1 blood Discipline: Temporis/Potence Cardtext: +1 stealth action. [pot] Draw three cards. Discard afterward. [tem] Draw four cards then put four cards from your hand on top of your library in any order and untap this vampire. [TEM] Put this card on this acting vampire. During your untap phase, this vampire may burn 2 blood to add a counter to this card. While this vampire is ready, you get +X hand size, where X is the number of counters on this card. Hourglass of the Mind is a great card for combat decks. It increases hand size, which increase the amount of transient cards available. Combat cards are all transient unless they turn into equipment etc. after being played, so an increased hand size is always good for a combat deck. Using HotM in a deck with Al-Muntaquim and his partner-in-crime, Ibn Khaldun, can increase the chance of drawing into the right combat card at the right time. Al-Muntaquim also has a Gehenna-special, and Hourglass of the mind can help to circumvent the "do not replace" drawback of many Gehenna cards. Combine with Palatial Estate, the Rack, Trophy: Hunting Ground and/or Tabriz Assembly to gain blood every untap and get an extra card in your hand. Deck Name: Al-Muntaquim Bleed-hell Author: Mark Merlin Petersen Description: This deck attempts to use Al-Muntaquim to abuse your prey with heavy bleeds and Caitiff support. If your prey is running bounce, leave the Caitiff up to bleed him w/ several minions per turn. If he is not, burn the Caitiff to give Al-Muntaquim a larger bleed and bleed heavily with him. Al's special works well with many Gehenna cards, as does Afifa, the herald's special. Turns out the deck does okay because it uses 9x tiny vamps, computer hacking, and obfuscate. We'll call it a True Brujah deck because Caitiff isn't considered a clan, right? I think they still trigger Recalled to the Founder, so if you find yourself at a surplus of minions and RttF is in play, burn a Caitiff to give Al the +1 bleed every turn you can until you aren't affected by the card. If you have Afifa and no events in-hand and can't afford her drawback, burn her to give Al +1 bleed. If Eddie is forced to hunt (or if anyone is forced to hunt against a wall-deck), burn them to give Al +1 bleed. If you have a Caitiff in torpor, burn them during untap to give Al a +1 bleed. You get the idea. Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 1 max: 8 average: 3 ------------------------------------------------------------ 3x Al-Muntaquim, The 8 FOR POT TEM obf pre True Bruj:4 2x Afifa, The Herald 1 dom Caitiff:4 1x Denette Stensen 2 obf !Gangrel:4 1x Hanna Redmonds 2 obf tha Caitiff:3 1x Krid 2 obf Nosferatu:3 1x Eddie Gaines 1 dem pot Caitiff:3 1x Lisa Noble 1 ani Caitiff:3 1x Nedal, The Careles 1 cel nec Caitiff:3 1x Sandra White 1 Caitiff:3 Library [84 cards] ------------------------------------------------------------ Action [22] 3x Clotho's Gift 15x Computer Hacking 4x Restoration Action Modifier [26] 4x Cloak the Gathering 8x Domain of Evernight 3x Faceless Night 3x Lost in Crowds 2x Recurring Contemplation 3x Spying Mission 3x Tangle Atropos' Hand Combat [12] 4x Majesty 3x Rolling with the Punches 2x Skin of Night 3x Skin of Steel Equipment [3] 1x Changeling Skin Mask 1x Monocle of Clarity 1x Tapestry of Blood Event [8] 1x Anthelios, The Red Star 1x Blood Trade 1x Blood Weakens 1x Conquest of Humanity 1x Recalled to the Founder 1x Restricted Vitae 1x Rise of the Nephtali 1x Wormwood Master [13] 2x Blood Doll 1x Dreams of the Sphinx 2x Effective Management 1x Information Highway 4x Obfuscate 1x Servitor of Irad 1x Stranger Among Us, The 1x Sudden Reversal Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. [Sat Nov 26 10:27:02 2005] Deck Name : Al & Ibn True Brujah multirush and aggpoke Author : Mark Merlin Petersen Description : Finally two True Brujah in playable groupings share an out-of-clan discipline! Use concealed weapon to get both long- and close-range equipment for your True Brujah or their support vampires. Disarm if @ close range and not agg-poking. Decapitate if possible. Taste of vitae. Repeat until prey is ousted. Move on to next prey. Most of the Temporis cards in the deck have a Potence or Obfuscate outferior for the non-True Brujah. Give Cedric the intercept to get some mileage out of his special. Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 4 max: 8 average: 6.34 ------------------------------------------------------------ 4x Al-Muntaquim, The 8 FOR POT TEM obf pre True Bruj:4 2x Ibn Khaldun, Schol 7 POT PRE TEM for True Bruj:4 2x Skidmark 5 FOR OBF aus pot !Nosferatu:4 2x Wolfgang 4 for obf pot Nosferatu:3 1x Cedric 6 FOR obf pot vis Gargoyle:4 1x Gerard Rafin 6 OBF POT ani for Nosferatu:3 Library [86 cards] ------------------------------------------------------------ Action [13] 3x Ambush 3x Bum's Rush 3x Harass 2x Hourglass of the Mind 2x Path of the Scorched Heart, The Action Modifier [8] 6x Domain of Evernight 2x Freak Drive Combat [41] 3x Decapitate 4x Disarm 6x Disguised Weapon 4x Lapse 2x Pushing the Limit 5x Rolling with the Punches 5x Skin of Steel 5x Taste of Vitae 7x Undead Strength Equipment [8] 1x Banshee Ironwail 1x Black Gloves 1x Crimson Sentinel, The 1x Ivory Bow 1x Palatial Estate 1x Sawed-Off Shotgun 1x Sengir Dagger 1x Sport Bike Event [1] 1x Dragonbound Master [12] 1x Archon Investigation 2x Fame 2x Haven Uncovered 1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany 4x Minion Tap 1x Tabriz Assembly 1x Tension in the Ranks Reaction [2] 2x Wake with Evening's Freshness Retainer [1] 1x Mr. Winthrop Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. [Wed Nov 30 22:39:51 2005]