To All,
  I've been batting around how to get a faster paced version of vtes
to work, and I think I've hit on something that will not only make for
fun, quick games, but will also get the dust off of some unused cards,
_and_ give players a forum for seeing some really interesting
combat...  On to the draft of my rules variant.  I hope you like it, I
(somewhat egotistically ;-) call it...

Z-TES

Introduction
While Vampire: The Eternal Struggle is one of the single best
multiplayer games in gaming history, it is true that games take a
relatively long time to finish (sometimes 2 hours or more).  What's
more, the game itself doesn't lend to the whole variety of combat
options being terribly viable as a competitive deck theme.  In a
multiplayer environment, a focus on intrigue, politics, deal-making
and the rest is entirely appropriate.  VTES is a better game for the
fact that brutish combat doesn't get you as far as cunning and guile.

...HOWEVER.  There is something viscerally entertaining about the
concept of vampiric combat.  It evokes the image of two ancient undead
foes squaring off, using their powers to the best of their ability in
a fast paced, hard-hitting conflict that is the culmination of eons of
maneuvering.  What's more, it seems that whole aspects of potentially
interesting combat options see little use in VTES, due mostly to the
fact that they don't fulfill the primary objective of ousting one's
prey.  Enter Z-TES.

Z-TES is a game representing combat between warring coteries (groups
of vampires and their allies bound together by a common cause, be it
protection, political ideology, etc)  Z-TES is a game with a somewhat
different set of rules from VTES. It uses most of the cards of VTES,
but with a different setup, and different game objective.  While
multiplayer Z-TES is conceivable, the base rules are for head to head
competition between two players.  Games are much faster than
full-blown VTES, and focus heavily on combat between vampires.  If you
are familiar with the rules of VTES, then this game will seem like a
focus on one aspect of that game, namely combat.  The rules are not
much different from VTES, and many things function quite similarly. 
But when the object of a game is changed, dramatic shifts in strategy
result.  With that in mind, on to the...

Objective: A game of Z-TES is won when your opponent controls no ready
minions, while you have at least one ready minion yourself.  Matches
resulting in all minions in torpor are a draw.

Setup: 
· Determine who goes first by a random method.
· Combat Deck (Library is too tame a term):  rules of construction:
60-90 cards, no per card limit.  Shuffled and cut.
· Crypt: Up to 15 vampires (this is a maximum) in the crypt.
· Deploy Coterie:  You have 25 pool to spend recruiting vampires for
your coterie.  You may spend less if you wish, but cannot save any
pool that aren't spent.  The first player selects one vampire from his
crypt, deploys it by turning the vampire face up in the ready region,
and placing sufficient pool on the card to bring it to full capacity. 
The next player takes her first vampire and deploys it similarly.  Up
to five vampires may be fielded in this manner (more may be added
during the game).  Players take turns deploying vampires until both
have fielded their coterie.  A player may not field a second copy of a
vampire already deployed.  Any unused vampires become the crypt for
that player.  Shuffle the remaining cards, cut, and place them aside.
Draw hand.  Each player draws seven cards from their Combat deck. 
Each time a player plays a  card, they draw a card (unless a specific
card says otherwise).
Start of game:  The player who goes first may take only one action
during her minion phase.  The player who goes next may take only two
actions during her minion phase.  In the next turn, three actions are
allowed.  In the fourth turn, four action are allowed.  On the fifth
and subsequent turns, an unlimited number of actions are allowed.

The Turn - Phase Overview
1. Untap - All of a players minions untap.  Resolve any additional
effects that occur during the Untap Phase.
2. Master - A player has one Master phase action to use, and resolves
any additional effects that occur during the Master Phase.
3. Action - A player may take actions with her minions.
4. Influence - A player may spend her four influence.
5. Discard - A player may discard a card, and draw a new one.
6. End of Turn - Player's turn ends.

A detailed look at each phase

UNTAP PHASE  not much is different here from VTES.  At the beginning
of the turn, all vampires must untap.  Any additional effects that
resolve in this step are dealt with in an order determined by the
player.

MASTER PHASE  A player gets one master phase action (MPA) during this
phase.  MPAs do not carry over if unused.  A player may, due to
specific cards, gain more MPAs than the initial one.  Each MPA may be
used to (1) play a Master card from hand, or (2) generate an effect
from a card in play that requires a MPA to use.  If there is a pool
cost associated with a master card, that cost is paid for with blood
or life from any combination of ready minions.

ACTION PHASE  A player takes actions during this phase with her active
minions. Active minions have some or all of  the following cardless
actions available to them (please pay attention to which types of
minions may take each action, since some are changed from VTES):

        Attack - Any minion may take a 0 stealth (D) action to enter
combat with a minion controlled by your opponent.  If a minion is a
vampire with at least one blood on it, this action is compulsory*,
unless that vampire burns a blood.  Vampires which choose not to
attack in a given action phase must burn their one blood before any
non-compulsory actions are taken.  Vampires with no blood at the
beginning of the action phase ignore this compulsory action.  Instead,
such a vampire must hunt (see next).
        Hunt - Any vampire may take a +1 stealth action to gain two
blood, up to their current capacity.  Vampires that are untapped and
empty must hunt as the next action.  This is compulsory*, and
pre-empts a compulsory attack.
Heal  Any ally may take a +1 stealth action to gain one life, up to
their original life total.
        Rescue from Torpor - Any of your minions may take a +1 stealth
action to rescue a vampire in your torpor.  This action costs 2 blood
or life, to be spent either by the minion rescuing, the rescued
vampire, or split between the two.  How a player chooses to pay is
announced when the action is declared, before any block attempts.  A
player may not rescue another player's vampires.
Leave Torpor - A vampire in torpor may take a +1 stealth action to
leave torpor.  This costs 2 blood.  If this action is blocked, and the
blocking minion is a vampire, the blocking vampire has the opportunity
to commit diablerie.
Diablerize Opposing Vampire  A vampire may take a 0 stealth action to
diablerize an opposing vampire that is in torpor.  If the action is
successful, the target vampire is burned.  Any blood or equipment on
the target vampire is transferred to the diablerizing vampire.  If the
target vampire was older, then the player controlling the diablerizing
vampire may

*All compulsory actions must be taken before any non-compulsory ones. 
A player may order compulsory actions in any manner they wish.


In addition, the following actions may be taken, provided that the
player has an appropriate card available.

Equip  A minion may equip with an equipment card in hand as a +1
stealth action.  If there is a pool cost associated with the card, it
is paid for with blood or life from the player's minions (a player may
divide this cost in any manner they see fit).  Blood costs are paid
for by the acting minion.  Allies may pay for blood costs using their
life.
Recruit ally  A minion may play an ally card in hand, as a +1 stealth
action.  If there is a pool cost associated with the card, it is paid
for with blood or life from the player's minions (a player may divide
this cost in any manner they see fit).  Blood costs are paid for by
the acting minion.  Allies may pay for blood costs using their life.
Employ retainer  A minion may play a retainer card in hand as a +1
stealth action.  If there is a pool cost associated with the card, it
is paid for with blood or life from the player's minions (a player may
divide this cost in any manner they see fit).  Blood costs are paid
for by the acting minion.  Allies may pay for blood costs using their
life.
Any other carded action  There are other card based actions
available.  Any minion may use these, following card text, provided
said minion fulfills any restrictions on who can play the card.

Note: Clan and Discipline requirements are still in effect.  Barring
card specific text to the contrary, allies are excluded from playing
equipment, ally or retainer cards that require a discipline.  Allies
are also excluded from playing any cards that require a clan to play
(even if that ally has a particular clan as a part of their own
recruitment requirements).


Blocking  Blocking works just as it does in VTES.  Any of your ready
untapped minions may block an action, provided they have intercept
that equals or exceeds the amount of stealth on an action.  An acting
minion may add stealth in a response to a block attempt with
sufficient intercept to make the block effective.  You can only add as
much stealth as you need to exceed the current intercept amount (but
if this comes from a single source, it can exceed the intercept by any
amount). Yadda yadda...  You know how this works.  See the VTES
rulebook if you need a refresher.

Influence
A player gets four influence to spend in the influence phase. 
Influence not spent in a give nphase do not carry over into other
turns.  A player may spend influence as per the following;
I. Spend 1 influence to move a blood or life from a minion in play
that you control to one of your uncontrolled vampires.
II. Spend 2 influence to move a blood from your uncontrolled vampire
to one of your minions in play.
III. Spend 2 influence to untap an active minion.
IV. Spend 4 influence to draw a vampire from your crypt and place it
in your uncontrolled region.

Discard - A player may choose to discard a card from hand and replace
it with a card from their combat deck.

End of Turn -  Pretty self-explanatory.

Other Rules

THE EDGE
(You were wondering when I'd get to it, weren't you?)  The Edge
represents a players momentary dominance in the midst of furious
melee.  A player gains control of the Edge after a combat in which
their minion is ready and the opposing minion is not.
If you control the Edge during your untap phase, you may move one
blood onto any minion you control.
You may sacrifice the Edge during a blood Hunt vote to gain one vote.

CONTESTING
Two copies of the same unique card played by opposing players become
contested.  The contested cards are removed from play for the duration
that they are contested.  During a player's untap phase, they must pay
a blood or life from a minion in play for each copy they control of a
card that is contested, or yield the card by putting it in their
discard pile.  Note that a player with active minions and no blood
automatically yields any cards not paid for. The last uncontested copy
of a card comes back into play (untapped) at the beginning its
controller's untap phase.

NO REPEAT ACTIONS
A minion may not attempt the same action twice in a given turn.  Note
that carded actions are of a type of their own, by card name.  In the
case of Attacking, the cardless action is not the same as a carded
action resulting in a combat (eg. Bum's Rush) even though the result
is the same.  The actions provided by cards are unique, by card name.

What is different from VTES?

The following terms are meaningless in Z-TES: Bleed.  Vote.  Cards
referring to these types of actions, etc. should be ignored (for
example, a player may not use a basic Govern the Unaligned in Z-TES,
but the superior version is still usable).  Cards that require a
successful bleed or vote to get rid of (eg. Anarch Revolt) are banned
from play in Z-TES.

Strike: Combat Ends: This strike's effect is changed to the following:
Skip the current strike resolution (no other strikes or environmental
damage resolve) and go immediately to the press step.  No opportunity
for subsequent additional strikes is available this round.  (This game
is for combat, not dancing Presence fairies ;-)

The Blood Hunt: Blood Hunt votes are called as normal by a player, but
only votes provided by a title, the Edge, or permanent cards in play
may be used in the referendum.  (Political action cards may not be
played for their 1 vote value.  Action modifiers and reactions
providing votes may not be played.)

Loss of pool effects:  If a  card in play requires that a player lose
pool (eg. Army of Rats) that player instead burns blood or life off of
a minion or minions she controls (losses may be divided among any
number of minions), to fulfill the pool loss.  Any pool loss that
cannot be paid for (if all minions are empty) is ignored.  Note this
does not provide a means by which bleeds of any sort generate an
effect in Z-TES.  A player suffering a pool loss always gets to select
which minions pay the blood.

Well...Them's the Basics.  But of course, the Devil is always in the
details...

Got questions?  So do I.  These rules are undergoing continuous
improvement according to a rigorous Quality Policy…  Your input
is needed.  One caveat; I will summarily set aside input based on
conjecture for the purposes of altering the rules.  I will happily
engage in debate over rules questions and loopholes, etc. without
play-testing, but changes will have to be demonstrated to be necessary
by actual gaming.  (As with all rules, I'm sure I'll break this one
when the loopholes that are glaringly obvious to everyone but me are
brought to light ;-)  Want me to resolve a dispute over how the rules
work?  Tell me the situation that happened in your game, and what you
did to get past it during the game.  Please note, how you resolve
problems is at least as important as how I would rule on something.

Got feedback?  Thanks!!!   Any sort of input is great.  Email me at
guenhwyvar@mindspring.com, or post to rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad.
Got spare money in your account and love this idea _SO much_ you have
to give some to me?  You're my pal.  Email me and I'll get you a snail
mail address to send that check to. <grin>

Regards,
R. David Zopf
Atom Weaver
V:EKN Prince of Charlotte, NC