Vol. 1, No. 3 - Sept 1998. In this issue: COMMENT - The Rules of the Game - 7/7 fever may destroy us all DECK BUILDING - Enemy of My Enemy Revisited - A Vote Deck using the 7/7 rules SHORT FICTION - The Prince's Trust - The use of political power Q & A - Your Comments Are Welcome - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - COMMENT The Rules of the Game "Kindred, there is an unrest amongst, us. Not since the inception of the Masquerade has there been such turmoil between the vampires. " "New rules of our conduct have been proposed by our Inner Circle, rules which some embrace as a return to the old ways, and others sneer at, saying these new rules are perversions of what the Masquerade stands for." "I, of course, have my own opinions, but they are not of consequence. What I see amongst our kind is frightening. I have never doubted the Jyhad is active, but this kind of factionalism shows me how much we are pawns of the elders. We must unite, for if we do not, we will surly become extinct!" The latest rulings from LSJ (the WotC netrep) have caused a major uproar in the V:TES community (they are called 7/7 for the date they were published, and links to it can be found in the V:TES FAQ at http://www.math.wisc.edu/~hamblin/faq.html ). These latest rulings are to both balance the game and reverse some silly rulings made earlier, for both standard and Tournament play. The alt.games.trading-cards.jyhad newsgroup has seen an explosion of activity on this very subject, from players thanking Caine for these changes, and others placing the Curse of Nitocris on anyone who would use these rules. Many players want to pick and choose which rules they use. While I fully endorse house rules and all, if V:TES is EVER going to get out of the Torpor it is in, we all gotta try to play the same game! Here's an example: I've played Jyhad with the same group of guys for a number of years now. I've not had a chance to play with the 7/7 set, but I have NO PROBLEM doing so, and I doubt they will care, once they get a chance to change their decks. But, I am about to go to a new batch of players for my weekly games, and I sent an e-mail about if they use the new 7/7 rules. The answer I got: "Well, we might use some of them, maybe, we have to decide as a group. But, in general, we only play rules that are printed in the Duelist, so we will probably ignore these." OK, probably when I do show up for my first session, FIRST I'll have to deal with "You, outsider, how dare you try to change our playstyle." THEN, I have to deal with "Oh, the Internet is full of hoaxes, these aren't real rules." And of course, there's gonna be a lot of "WHAT! WHAT A STUPID CHANGE! I'M NOT PLAYING THAT WAY!" But I'm a seasoned player, so I can handle this. Now, imagine if I was a new player. Imagine if he just bought some cards, read the rules, waded thought the FAQs, and entered a playgroup that said "Well, we only use these rules... and you don't know anything cause your new." I imagine at that point we have just lost a new player. This also expands as players tend to create their own groups, and do not foster additional play experiences/environments. My point is this: V:TES is an AWESOME game mired in a BUNCH of problems, and we are only ADDING to them by creating "pick and choose" mentalities to the game rules. I am attempting to do my part by re-writing the basic V:TES rules to incorporate all changes to date (not a small task) and posting them on this Newsgroup. I hope that if I do everything right, I MIGHT be able to convince Ryan Delancy to print them in the Duelist, getting the widespread distribution and legitimacy the V:TES rules need. If this occurs, three things may happen: 1) There will be a spike in Duelist sales that month, as every V:TES player who normally passes on the Duelist picks it up (Making it worth WotC's while to run these rules, 2) Everyone will now have the same rule set in their hands, instead of countless pages of errata, rulings and clarifications, 3) MAYBE we can drudge up some new players from the Duelist subscriber base, and stimulate more interest in the brand! In my opinion, THIS IS THE ONLY WAY OUR GAME CAN POSSIBLY GROW! In the mean time, please TRY to embrace the latest rulings, and foster new players into the game! More on my progress with the re-written rules next month. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DECK BUILDING Enemy of My Enemy Deck (7/7 compliant) 12 Crypt, 60 Library - Use with 4 or more players In my first newsletter (found on the V:EKN website at http://madnessnetwork.hexagon.net/index.htm), I proposed a pure Ventrue Vote deck using common cards from the basic V:TES set (with some optional unc/rare cards if the player happens to have them available). The original deck was designed for the older voting rules, which allow discarding multiple PA's to increase votes. The new 7/7 rules have made the vote deck's construction different, but not impossible. Please read the earlier newsletter for basic strategies with this deck. New comments based on the changes are listed below. Vamps - 2x Gideon Fontaine 2x Heather Florent - The Opportunist 2x Jazz Wentworth 2x Melissa Barton 2x Sir Walter Nash 2x Timothy Crowley Masters - 8x Blood Doll or Minion Tap 4x Effective Management 6x Protracted Investments, Short Term Investments or Ascendance = 18 Master Cards 2x Uptown Hunting Ground (Uncommon - Optional, swap out Investment/Ascendance cards for this) This deck has more Masters, which should all you to play one every turn. The strategy is to use Effective Management to pull vamps quickly from the Crypt, and Blood Doll/Minion tap to gain some blood back from the expensive Princes. The Princes are of course needed quickly to help boost your votes, ensuring early successes. Unless you get them both out, it will become harder to pass later in the game, as other titled vampires appear. Political Actions - 3x Ancient Influence 3x Consanguineous Boon 4x Consanguineous Condemnation 3x Conservative Agitation or Kine Resources Contested 2x Peace Treaty 3x Regaining the Upper Hand = 18 PAs 2x Dramatic Upheaval (Vamp - Optional, swap out Peace Treaties for this) 1x Praxis Seizure: whatever or Ventrue Justicar (Rare - Optional, swap out a Disputed Territory PA for this) Since you can no longer just throw down Political Action cards to increase the vote, the amount of them in the deck has been lowered. Your Princes and Action Modifiers (below) will have to push you past any opposition from your opponents. Note the 7/7 rule actually works to your benefit, as your opponents can't just sacrifice a bunch of their Political Action cards to stop yours. Opponents will either have vamps with votes (that takes time/blood) or use some Reaction vote cards (however, most players do not use them, as they consider them useless, but they may change their mind as you start to use this deck!) Since holding a bunch of Political Action cards do not help you, you should try to pass a vote every turn if possible, unless you think you cannot succeed (but be sure to hold the powerful cards until the moment is right, or you are sure you cannot be defeated.) While you can no longer do "cross table bleeds", you can use Consag. Condem. on someone across from you, effectively letting them get blead by their predator for free (a good tactic against a competing vote deck). However, you will lose your Edge if you allow this, so keep that in mind.) Actions - 3x Enchant Kindred, Legal Manipulations, Social Charm (Presence req) 3x Restoration (Fortitude req) = 6 Actions Act. Mods - 2x Bewitching Oration (Presence req) 3x Bribes = 5 Act Mods 2x Cryptic Rider (Unc - optional, swap out Bribes or Bewitching Orat.) 2x Voter Captivation (Presence req) (Unc - optional, swap out Bribes or Bewitching Orat.) Combat - 5x Dodge or Majesty (Presence req) 3x Skin of Rock (Fortitude req) or Unflinching Persistence (Fortitude req) = 8 Combat Reaction - 3x Deflection (Dominance req) 2x Political Backlash or Dread Gaze (Presence req) = 5 Reactions 3x Second Tradition: Domain (Unc - Optional, swap for Deflection) The Political Backlash/Dread Gaze cards are your protection against another voting player! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Short Fiction - The Prince's Trust Timothy Crowley was the Prince of the Dallas, and he was about to place a very unpopular vote up on the table in front of the crowd tonight. After the battle against the Brujah Anarch Mage allies, the loses to the Dallas Kindred were high. Meawhile, the Burjah clan had moved in, and were growing in power and number. Crowley needed to neutralize them somehow. He was planning to present a Condemnation vote, which would force all Brujah to remain inactive for the next month, a form of "house arrest" so the other Kindered could root out who among the Brujahs was the leader of the Anarchs. This, of course, was not going to go down easy with the Brujah. Crowley, as Prince, has a sizable political power, and as an extra boost, he had obtained the support of a Toreador Primogen. But news of this vote has brought the attention of the Brujah's Justicar, Don Cruez. Normally, the combined power of the Prince and Primogen would nullify the Justicar's presence, and the vote would succeed. But Crowley knew Cruez would not travel all this way unless he could overturn this vote. Crowley felt trapped, a doomed man who has to enter the gauntlet to show his power, but was doomed to fail as soon as he began to walk into it. He moved towards the stage. The Justicar grabbed his arm from behind before he got to the stage's wing. "Thomas, you know I will oppose this despicable vote, don't you." Crowley glared at him, attempting to use whatever Presence edge he could. "You know I have no choice. There is someone inside your Clan that is helping the Anarchs, and I intend to find out who. No matter the cost."' "Is that a fact, Thomas? No matter the cost?" The Justicar looked over Crowley's pallid throat, then to his eyes. "I may allow your vote to pass." Crowley feared few Kindred, but the Cruez was much older, and despite his skills in Dominance, he was still an imposing figure. "What do you want." "I'm interested in that Toreador Primogen under your control, Andreas is it? I think he and I can do much together, and a Blood Bond will insure it." He smiled an evil smile. Crowley's thoughts raced, first to instantly refuse such an audacious request, then to the possibilities of agreement. Cruez was known as The Idealist, but would he vote his own Clan into a hellish temporary exile, all for a lowly Primogen flunky? Of course, getting Andreas to agree to such a thing would normally be impossible, but Crowley knew between his Presence and Cruez' Dominance, poor Andreas did not stand a chance. After a few sessions, the Toreador would agree to let Cruez drink from him three times. The Blood Bond would then be active, and Andreas would belong to the Justicar. * * * * * * * * A few minutes later, the Prince announced his Condemnation of the Brujah to the Kindred, and the Brujah among them jeered at Crowley, and hooted for the Justicar when he rose to speak. Cruez stunned the audience when he said he could not deny this reasonable request. He ordered all Brujah to follow this mandate, or they will face his wrath, effective immediately. "The Anarchs must be stopped," he said, smiling at Andreas, "no matter the cost." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Q & A As you may be aware, I've been on a hiatus from writing this rag, but I'm back from the dead and ready to party! (I hope it was worth the wait.) If you could take the time to e-mail me back, I will adjust the newsletter to match the Vox Populi (i.e., vote in typical Ventrue fashion, and your wants may become reality.) Letter Grades 1) The Newsletter overall: 2) The Comment Section: 3) The Deck Building Section: 4) The Short Fiction: Questions 5) Would you like to see it more for Beginners or Expert Players? 6) Do you like the fiction section? 7) Do you agree that an updated "printed rules" will help V:TES? Comments about anything to make the letter better (both positive and negative comments welcome) or other thoughts about our fair game or how the role of Ventrue should be presented: Thanks for reading, Tony Van TonyV@TheGrid.net Ventrue Archivist