Memorable Quotes (Part 30)

After losing a Poker hand where his opponent overplayed his hand (at least for Phil's taste), but still won:

"For you it's Poker, for me it's my life. -- melodramatic Phil Helmuth (professional poker player).

You can see the full story during the WSOP 2008 on YouTube.

Did you know, that ... (Part 23)

.. a (D) action that requires a tapped minion as target fizzles, if the target minion manages to untap before the action resolves, e.g. when the minion untaps in reaction by using cards like Special Report or Black Sunrise.

Example: Great Kircher uses Nose of the Hound to rush a prince. The prince then uses a Second Tradition: Domain to untap. The action fizzles, since the prince is no longer a valid target for the Nose of the Hound action, but combat still occurs since the action was blocked.
The prince is (of course) still untapped after playing Second Tradition: Domain, but is tapped then for successfully blocking, even though the actual action has fizzled due to a missing target.

Similar examples apply to cards like Ambush or Blood of the Sandman.

• References: Post in Usenet Newsgroup 2008
• References: Post in Usenet Newsgroup 2002

Poll Results: "Who is the strongest new IC member?"

Here are the results of the latest poll on what the readers of this blog think is the strongest new Inner Circle (IC) member (from the "Keepers of Tradition" expansion). 95 readers of this blog have voted in this poll.

• Adana de Sforza -- 2 (2%)
  
• Lutz von Hohenzollern -- 42 (44%)
  
• Josef von Bauren -- 0 (0%)
  
• Rafael de Corazon -- 3 (3%)
  
• Mistress Fanchon -- 30 (31%)
  
• Hardestadt -- 15 (15%)
  
• There are more less equally strong.. 1 (1%)
  
• They are all quite weak. -- 2 (2%)

The Malkavian Inner Circle member "Lutz von Hohenzollern" wins by a sizable margin, followed by "Mistress Fanchon" and "Hardestadt". The other three ICs only receive the breadcrumbs, and "Josef von Bauren", the poor lad, not even a single vote. I found it a little surprising that "Hardestadt" only came in third, since of the three he's the only one with "Fortitude" of the first three. On the other hand when you look at his special ability or compare him with "Arika" it's maybe not so surprising anymore.

Card Distribution in "Keepers of Tradition"

After finally receiving the booster boxes of the VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition" I eagerly opened them, but then always had the distinct feeling, that I see the same boosters (in some variation) over and over again. So instead of just ripping the boosters open and sorting the cards immediately, I started writing down what cards appeared in which section (common/vampires/uncommon/rares). And soon I could see some distinct patterns in the distribution.

I must admit the sample size of 2 booster boxes is quite small, but the fact that just I received such a peculiar distribution would be too much of a coincidence.

Common Cards
The common cards are coming in "sets" of 5 cards each, which fits into 20 sets for the 100 common cards. The good thing is each booster display with 36 boosters contains 1-2 of the sets. So you're guaranteed to get 1-2 common cards in each booster display.

• Aid from Bats -- Sleep Unseen -- Dive into Madness -- Aproximation of Loyality -- Sleep of Reason
• Brick Laying -- Leverage -- Backstep -- Haunting -- Perfectionist
• Camera Phone -- Pursuit -- Meat Hook -- Bundi -- Deep Song
• Can't take it with you -- Special Report -- Stunt Cycle -- Chain of Command -- Serenading the Kami
• Conditioning -- Slam -- Rego Motus -- Seduction -- Wrong and Crosswise
• Crododiles Tongue -- Brute Force -- Horseshoe -- Spirit's Touch -- Neonate Breach
• Diversity -- Glancing Blow -- Carrion Crows -- Reins of Power -- Forgery
• Eluding the Arms of Morpheus -- Ashur Tablets -- Walk of Flame -- Cooler -- Minor Irritation
• Empowering the Puppet King -- Armor Of Vitality - Eyes of Argus -- Form of Mist -- Kine Resource Contested
• Enrage -- Indomability -- Harass -- Undying Tenacity -- Mouthpiece
• Eyes of the Beast -- On the Qui Vive -- Forced Vigilance -- Aura of Invincibility -- Honor the Elders
• Fleetness -- Telepathic Misdirection -- Finding the Path -- Sense the Savage Way -- Claws of the Dead
• Flurry of Action -- Bang Nakh -- Earth Shock -- Force of Personality -- Mirror Walk
• High Ground -- Sonar -- Taunt the Caged Beast -- The Oath -- Resist the Earth's Grasp
• Into Thin Air -- Soak -- Agate Talisman -- The Summoning -- Torrent
• Loki's Gift -- Cloak the Gathering -- Desert Eagle -- Zillah's Valley -- Murmur of the False Will
• No Trace -- Year of Fortune -- Eyes of Chaos -- Keep it Simple -- Kindred Spirits
• Public Trust -- Instinctive Reaction -- Theft of Vitae -- Life in the City -- Stutter Step
• Steadfastness -- King's Rising -- Beretta 9mm --Quick Meld -- Read Intentions
• Veil the Legion -- Scattershot -- Concealed Weapon -- Anima Gathering -- Majesty

Uncommon Cards
The uncommon cards come in ~50 sets of two each, but these sets seem to be more irregular than the sets of common cards, e.g. "Change of Target", "Society of Leopold" and "Flesh of Marble" appear twice in the sets below.

• Academic Hunting Ground -- Ventrue Headquarters
• Aching Beauty -- Dawn Operation
• Arms Dealer -- The Becoming
• Asylum Hunting Ground -- Persona Non Grata
• Behind You -- Sniper Rifle
• Blood Hunt -- Papillion
• Blood of the Sandman -- Vulnerability
• Bomb -- Raven Spy
• Burst of Sunlight -- Minor Boon
• Caseless Rounds -- Psyche
• Change of Target -- Society of Leopold
• Charming Lobby -- Toreador Grandball
• Dark Influences -- Eagle Sight
• Dark Mirror of the Mind -- Wash
• Delaying Tactics -- Coterie Tactics
• Dragon Breath Rounds -- Elysium
• Effective Management -- Childling Muse
• Elysium Versailles -- Powerbase: Chicago
• Fame -- Assault Rifle
• Fifth Tradition -- Flesh of Marble
• Flesh of Marble -- Protected Resources
• Frontal Assault -- Graverobbing
• Ghoul Retainer -- Zoo Hunting Ground
• Helicoper -- Taste Of Vitae
• Heroic Might -- Weighted Walking Stick
• Immortal Grapple -- Scourge
• Improvised Flamethrower -- The Labyrinth
• IR Googles -- Archon Investigation
• Kevlar Vest -- 3rd Tradition: Progeny
• Kindred Intelligence -- Perfect Paragon
• KRCG Newradio -- Instability
• Leech -- Ankara Citadel
• Light Intensifying Googles -- Rumors of Gehenna
• Loyal Street Gang -- Voice of Madness
• Major Boon -- Pier 13, Baltimore
• Mask of 1K Faces -- Amaranth
• Metro Underground -- Elder Kindred Network
• Muddled Vampire Hunter -- Change of Target
• Old Friends -- Movement of the Slow Body
• Owl Companion -- Scorn of Adonis
• Repair the Mortal Flesh -- Weather Control
• Scrounging -- Justicar Retribution
• Second Tradition Domain -- Shatter
• Society of Leopold -- Vast Wealth
• Spying Mission -- Backways
• Still the Mortal Flesh -- The Rack
• Torn Signpost -- Charismatic Aura
• Uptown Hunting Ground -- Aura Reading
• Villein -- Slum Hunting Ground
• Warzone Hunting -- Fast Hands
• Will of the Council -- Fourth Tradition: The Accounting
• Wooden Stake -- Bounty

Vampire Cards
The vampires do not appear in sets since the remainder of total cards (100) divided by cards in that slot (3) is not zero, but one. So you get kind of "rolling set", and with that type of distribution you can always predict the next two cards after seeing the first in a set of three. For example, if your first vampire is "Baron Dieudonne", the next two are guaranteed to be "Jeremy Wix Wyzchovsky" and "Iris Bennett", or if the first vampire is "Iris Bennett", the next two are guaranteed to be "Kalila" and "Rutor". The order of vampires are:

• Baron Dieudonne -- Jeremy Wix Wyzchovsky -- Iris Bennett -- Kalila -- Rutor -- Aidan Lyle -- Gerald Windham -- Robert Price -- Santaleous -- Zelios --Karen Suadela -- Philippe de Marseilles -- Montecalme -- Troius -- Talbot -- Lord Ephraim Wainwright -- Gwyedd -- Fergus Alexander -- Allanyan Serata -- César Holfield -- Victor Donaldson -- Slag -- Bloody Mary -- Dmitra Ilyanova -- Count Zaroff -- Gustaphe Brunnelle -- Tarrence Moore -- Claus Wegener -- Gracetius -- Ruxandra -- Tara -- Portia -- Ariadne -- Donald Cargill -- Frank Weisshadel -- MacAlister Marshall -- Fakir al Sidi -- Gunnar -- Lynn Thompson -- Dr. Solomon Grey -- Vasily -- The Ankou -- Beth Malcolm -- Johan Wrede -- Mistress Fanchion -- Tyler McGill -- Bernard, the Scourge -- Don Caravelli -- Bulscu -- Andrew Stuart -- Reiner Stoschka -- Carlak -- Harold Tanner -- Lisé -- Miguel Cordovera -- William Thorbecke -- Andre LeRoux -- Graham Gottesman -- Lillian -- Ezra Hawthorne -- Shiloh Marie, Vengeance -- Arthur Denholm -- Nichodemus -- Josef von Bauren -- Lindsay Yates -- Bethany Ray -- Vidal Jarbeaux -- Walker Grimes -- Gabrielle di Righetti -- Unmada -- Foureyes -- Sheva Carr -- Themistocles -- Bela -- Keller Thiel -- Alex Wilkins -- Sergei Voshkov, The Eye -- Jack Tredegar -- Dr. John Dee -- Freddy Gage -- Masdela -- Gem Ghastly -- Honest Abe -- Mictlantecuhtli -- Rathmere -- Paul Calderone -- Don Cerro -- Lord Fianna -- Viktor, The Night General -- Federico di Padua -- Emily Carson -- Mary Anne Blaire -- Randall -- Alonso Petrodon -- Zane -- Beetleman -- Pedrag Hasek -- Lodin (Olaf Holte) -- Joseph DiGiaccomo -- Benjamin Rose -- Baron Dieudonne -- Jeremy Wix Wyzchovsky -- Iris Bennett -- Baron Dieudonne

Rare Cards
Here the sample I have is too small for an exact analysis. But from what I learned during conversations with other players, there seem to be a similar pattern for the rare cards as for the vampire cards. In this case the slot for the rares is not a single booster but a single booster display. So again the remainder when dividing the total number of rare cards (100) by the slot size (36) is non-zero, so you can see often the same rares when comparing two booster display contents. But again for a complete analysis, the sample size I had is just to small. On the other hand when opening the first booster display during the german Limited championship and my own first booster display, we had two times all the three pool gaining cards ("Arcane Library", "Eco Terrorists" and "Art Museum").

Summary
The distribution in the "Keepers of Tradition" boosters is only pseudo-random at best. You can predict for the non-rare cards what you are going to get in a given booster in each rarity slot when seeing the first card in that slot. The randomness of booster content comes more from the composition of different common, uncommon & vampire "sets" as shown above.

I am not sure if this is a good thing or not. On one hand you can have a very flat distribution of cards in the area of common/uncommon/vampire cards, so you'll always have one or two "Mirror Walks" or "On the Qui Vive" in your booster display. On the other hand you'll never have the chance of getting more than two common cards in a given display. The worst thing is the seemingly non-random distribution of rare cards, where the same pattern/order of rare cards are encountered. So if you're buying two booster boxes, you maybe unlucky and get almost the same set of rare cards twice.

Plans for the EC 2009 revealed

According to the Spanish VtES Forum next year's VtES European Championship is held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain from November 13th to 15th, 2009. The three-day schedule is the usual one, starting with the Last Chance Qualifier on Friday, and the actual EC tournament on Saturday and Sunday.

More details to follow. Please remember, this is inofficial news, so don't book your flight to Mallorca right now.

Memorable Quotes (Part 29)

On the discussion which vampires are actually wallpaper:

"There are no bad vampires, only bad players." -- XZealot in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup.

Results "Anarch & Alastors" Storyline Tournament in Bochum

Here are the results of the "Anarch & Alastors" VtES Storyline tournament in Bochum, Germany after 4 rounds and final. The tournament was played on December 13th & 19th, 2008 with only 5 players participating. Here are the standings after the final round:

1. Martin -- 0 GW 3.5 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Pro/Obf/Ani Bruise & Bleed
2. Ralf -- 0 GW 4 VP -- 0,5 VP -- Anarchs feat. Neighbour John
2. Didi -- 0 GW 3 VP -- 0,5 VP -- Lucinde, Alastor & Black Hand/Anarchs
2. Michael -- 1 GW 4.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Stavros/Melinda Galbraith Sabbat Stealth Vote/Bleed
2. Hardy -- 0 GW 0 VP -- 0 VP -- Jaroslav Pascek & friends - Cel/Pot/Pre Rush w/ Red List/Trophies Module

Congratulations to Martin for his victory in the storyline tournament. You can find the tournament history in the German VtES Forum (requires registration).

The low number of game wins can be attributed to the defensive playstyle of our playgroup as well as the high number of bleed reducing and generic defensive combat cards played. Here's also the list of what the individual players got during the card auction. The prices varied from 0 pool to 4 pool (for the Anarch Railroad). Here's the list of what the players got during the individual auction rounds:

• Didi: Lucinde, Alastor (1), Galaric's Legacy (2), Galaric's Legacy (3), Blood Hunt (4), Go Anarch (5).
  
• Hardy: Trophy: Hunting Ground (1), Jaroslav Pascek (2), Anathema (3), Trophy: Diablerie (4), Alastor (5).
  
• Martin: Molotov Cocktail (1), Yazid Tamari (2), Vessel (3), Anarch Revolt (4), Hawg (5).
  
• Michael: Count Germaine (1), Count Germaine (Adv) (2) and won Tatiana Stepanova, Trophy: Domain (3), Trumped-Up Charges (4), Trophy: Revered (5).
  
• Ralf: Seattle Committee (1), Anarch Free Press (2), Anarch Railroad (3), The Mole (4), Urban Jungle (5).

Left: Didi's Lucinde & her Anarch/Black Hand friends deck.

Right: Ralf's All Anarch feat. Neighbour John deck.




Left: Martin's Gangrel/Nosferatu Bruise & Bleed deck.

Right: Hardy's Brujah/!Brujah deck feat. Jaroslav Pachek. In the end he had 2 Immortal Grapples & a Bundi in his deck.


Left: Michael Melinda Gailbrath/Stavros Vote deck.

Results VtES League 2008 in Bochum

Here are the final standings of the VtES League 2008 in Bochum, Germany. This year's winner is Martin (again). Congratulations to him.

The final standings were:

1. Martin S. -- 102 8,50 RtP/game -- 12 games -- 4 GW, 17,5 VP
   
2. Didi -- 110 7,33 RtP/game -- 15 games -- 4 GW, 19,5 VP
   
3. Markus -- 38 4,22 RtP/game -- 9 games -- 1 GW, 7,5 VP
   
4. Ralf -- 82 3,73 RtP/game -- 22 games -- 2 GW, 16,5 VP
   
5. Hardy -- 60 3,16 RtP/game -- 19 games -- 1 GW, 13,0 VP
   
6. Sascha -- 40 3,08 RtP/game -- 13 games -- 1 GW, 8,0 VP
   
7. Michael -- 30 1,50 RtP/game -- 20 games -- 0 GW, 7,5 VP
   

Participants without sufficent number of games (8):

1. Sebastian K. -- 0 18,00 RtP/game -- 1 games -- 1 GW, 2,5 VP
   
2. Katja -- 0 5,00 RtP/game -- 2 games -- 0 GW, 2,5 VP
   
3. Jörg -- 12 3,00 RtP/game -- 4 games -- 0 GW, 3,0 VP
   
4. Oliver -- 0 2,00 RtP/game -- 6 games -- 0 GW, 3,0 VP
   
5. Thomas -- 12 2,00 RtP/game -- 1 games -- 0 GW, 0,5 VP
   
6. Thosten -- 0 1,00 RtP/game -- 2 games -- 0 GW, 0,5 VP
   
7. Sebastian Z. -- 0 0,00 RtP/game -- 1 games -- 0 GW, 0,0 VP
   

The results can also be found in the german VEKN forum (incl. the individual matchday results & decks). This years ranking shows an improved number of GWs, but still much less than compared the number of GWs that where scored in the Gelsenkirchen VtES League in 2008 (see below).

VtES Signature Cards

When thinking of vampiric disciplines VtES players often associate a particular card with that discipline even though most disciplines offer 30+ different cards. And that's not even counting the multi-discipline cards. The cards I would call signature cards since they reflect the essence of that discipline, whether it is bleed, combat or voting.

• Animalism: Carrion Crows
• Auspex: Eagle Sight
• Celerity: Psyche!
• Dementation: Kindred Spirits
• Dominate: Govern the Unaligned
• Fortitude: Freak Drive
• Obfuscate: Lost in Crowds
• Potence: Immortal Grapple
• Presence: Majesty


• Obtenebration: Shadow Play
• Protean: Earth Meld
• Thaumathurgy: Magic of the Smith
• Vicissitude: Chiropetean Marauder


• Chimersty: Sensory Deprivation
• Necromancy: Shambling Hordes
• Quietus: Taste of Death
• Serpentis: Temptation

Did you know, that ... (Part 22)

.. you can play "Eternals of Sirius" to gain 5 pool if you're at exactly 4 pool?

References: rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad

Results UK National VtES Championship 2008

The UK National VtES Championship 2008 has been played on December 6th, 2008 in Reading, UK with 28 players attending. The standings of the final round were as follows:

1. Matt Green (UK) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 1 GW 3 VP -- Followers of Set w/ Dominate and w/ Mind Rape Bolt On
2. Hugh Angseesing (UK) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 1 VP -- Ventrue Antitribu Bruise-Bleed Toolbox
2. Jon Shonk (UK) -- 1 GW 4 VP -- 1 VP -- Lasombra Old School Bleed & Vote
2. Aaron Gunstone (UK) -- 1 GW 5.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Ventrue Obfuscate Vote
2. Christian Nislev (UK) -- 1 GW 4 VP -- 0 VP -- Cailean & Dominate Friends Bleed & Vote

Congratulations to Matt Green for his win of the UK Nationals 2008. The winner's deck has the been posted in the Usenet newsgroup and a tournament report can be found in the UK VtES forum.

Saulot -- MtG-Style

If VtES was like "Magic the Gathering, Saulot could look like this:

Saulot (advanced)
Group: 4b?
Basic: Daimonion
Superior: Thaumaturgy
Super Superior: Auspex, Fortitude, Valeren
Awesome, soul crusher level: Obeah
Special: 2 Votes, Soul Crusher, Domineering Presence, Extra Good Breeder, Blood Thief, Wandering, Methuselah, Kuei-jin Student, Discipline Master, Extra Body (Tremere).
Saulot may take an action to move a vampire from your uncontrolled region to the ready region. If Saulot ousts a Methuselah, gain an extra victory point.

As reported by "Salubrious Vampire" in the Presence Forum.

Deck of the Month: November 2008: Nosfe-Rat-Tools

The choice the deck of the month in November 2008 is a good old acquaintance, a variant of the Nosferatu Royalty deck archetype. The deck named "Nosfe-Rat-Tools" was played by Iñaki Jimenez during the Spanish Championship, and eventually won the tournament. What I admire in this deck is the radicial downsizing to 60 cards. All cards have the goals of the deck in mind, move additional vampires from the uncontrolled to the ready region, and damaging it's prey by political actions. Also the defense package with a considerable number of "Second Tradition: Domain" and a handful of Animalism combat cards is solid. The only two cards I find questionable in the deck are the "Tempation of Greater Power" and the "Archon Investigation", which could be replaced by a "Direct Intervention" and/or an additional "Kine Resource Contested".

TWD - Spanish National Championship Day 2 30-11-2008
Madrid, Speain
November 30, 2008
40 players
3R+F

Deck Name: Nosfe-Rat-Tools
Created By: Iñaki Jimenez

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 26, Max: 40, Avg: 8,5)
---------------------------------------------
1 Calebros obf pot ANI 5 Nosferatu
1 Murat ser OBF POT 7 Nosferatu
2 Nikolaus Vermeulen ani for obf POT 7 Nosferatu
3 Casino Reeds cel dem ANI OBF POT 9 Nosferatu
1 Ellison Humboldt pro ANI OBF POT PRE 9 Nosferatu
4 Cock Robin aus for ANI OBF POT 10 Nosferatu

Library: (60 cards)
-------------------
Master (10 cards)
1 Giant`s Blood
1 Labyrinth, The
1 Temptation of Greater Power
1 Archon Investigation
6 Grooming the Protege

Action (6 cards)
6 Fourth Tradition: The Accounting, The

Action Modifier (8 cards)
1 Elder Impersonation
3 Forgotten Labyrinth
4 Lost in Crowds

Political Action (14 cards)
1 Ancient Influence
1 Political Stranglehold
1 Reins of Power
1 Ancilla Empowerment
1 Anarchist Uprising
1 Domain Challenge
2 Kine Resources Contested
6 Parity Shift

Reaction (8 cards)
8 Second Tradition: Domain, The

Combat (12 cards)
7 Aid from Bats
5 Carrion Crows

Combo (2 cards)
2 Swallowed by the Night

Poll Results: "What's your favourite KoT Starter"

Here are the results of the latest poll on what the favourite starter decks from the "Keepers of Tradition" expansion are. 132 readers of this blog have voted in this poll.

• Brujah FTW! -- 20 (15%)
  
• I like MalKviANs. -- 10 (7%)
  
• The beautiful Toreador. -- 16 (12%)
  
• The Ventrue rule! -- 66 (50%)
  
• I don't like any of them. -- 11 (8%)
  
• Don't care or haven't seen all. -- 9 (6%)
  

The Ventrue starter deck wins by a huge margin, obviously the strong reprinted cards like 3 "Freak Drive", a "Golconda", a "Powerbase Montreal" are well appreciated. At the bottom end of the list is the Malkavian starter which lacks any much desired card.

Much ado about "Enkil Cog"

There's been much thinking about how to (ab)use "Enkil Cog" from the new VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition". Here are the collected (and sorted) suggestions (mostly by XZealot and Dasein. in the Usenet Usegroup.

• Sect/Trait
  
  • 10-cap Anarch who uses "Enkil Cog" to turn his freshly recruited "Cry Wolf" into an "Abomination".
    
  • 10-cap Anarch who uses the "Powerbase Los Angeles" to untap to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap Sabbat who uses "Enkil Cog" to bleed after being untapped from the appropriate Crusade.
    
  • 10-cap Sabbat vampire (such as "Lazvernius" or "Cailean") gets "Eternal Vigilance", then in my prey's turn untaps and either fails to block or plays "Forced Vigilance / "Minor Irritation / Majesty etc. "Cailean" would be awesome actually as he can block, set range to long, "Majesty", then bleed during my predator's minion phase for lots (he has superior Presence + inferior Dominate), grab the edge and tap "Using the Advantage" to gain 2 pool.
    


• Clan
  
  • 10-cap Baali who uses "Concordance" to untap to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap Assamite who gets an extended use out of "Khabar:Glory" by bleeding with "Enkil Cog" and untapping with "Black Sunrise".
    
  • 10-cap Ahrimane who uses "Muricia's Call" to untap at the end of their turn to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap Tzimice who uses "Fiendish Tongue" and then burns a blood during your discard to untap and take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    


• Generic / Equipment / Master
  
  • 10-cap vampire who uses "Metro Underground" to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap vampire with "Pier 13" who equips a "Leather Jacket"/"Baseball Bat" bearer who untaps to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap vampire uses "Eluding the Arms of Morpheus" (or any other untap reaction) to untap and fail to block to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap "Trophy: Retainer" bearer who keeps cycling "Ghoul Escorts" to tap and bleed your prey out by taking advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    


• Specific Vampires
  
  • 10-cap Toreador "Masika" who uses his special to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 11-cap Guruhi "Eze" who uses his special to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap Nosferatu "Cock Robin" gets "Enkil Cog", bleeds for 3 with "Deep Song", untaps, bleeds again with "Deep Song" (or something else) in my prey's turn. Season to taste with "Tier of Souls" for sh1ts and/or giggles.
    
  • 10-cap Setite "Nakhthorheb" gets "Enkil Cog", bleeds under the "Archon Investigation" radar for 2 on my turn, use his built in untap ability, then on my prey's turn bleeds for 5 with "Legal Manipulations" / "Public Trust" (plus possibly more from an action mod). Prey can't AI since it's his turn. And I can Direct Intervention his Deflection.
    


• Disciplines
  
  • 10-cap vampire with Obtenebration who uses superior "Descent into Darkness" to come back into play untapped.
    
  • 10-cap vampire with Celerity gets "Enkil Cog", bleeds with superior "Flurry of Action". Untaps. Bleeds again in another turn.
    


• Non-competitive
  
  • 10-cap Cheeseball who puts two "Return to Innocence" on himself to guarantee that his prey is ousted during his next untap phase.

Memorable Quotes (Part 28)

On the playing etiquette when you control a vampire with Enkil Cog:

"When you play the Cog, stab a large dagger into the table. Then inform everyone that it is a reminder that you can act whenever you feel like it, so if they would be so kind as to ask you before ending their minion phase, as you might feel like doing something. Then um and ah every, single, time, allowing you to time out all games you play in. -- Blooded Sand in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup

The Good, the Bad and the Broken

More useless statistics: This time I checked the number (d) and point values (p) of vampires with different capacities. I am not counting any special abilities (or disabilities) or Imbued for that matter.

• Capacity 1:
• Least discipline pts: Anarch Convert, Smudge, Sandra White (0d, 0p)
• Most discipline pts: Tup Dog (2d, 4p)
• Most superior: Tup Dog (2d)
• Most disciplines: Antoinette DuChamp, Eddie Gaines, Igo, The Hungry, Julius, Nedal, The Careless, Tup Dog, Uriah Winter (2d)
  
• Capacity 2:
  
  • Least discipline pts: (too many)
  • Most discipline pts: 11 vampires with two inferior disciplines (2d, 2p), and 4 vampires with one superior discipline (1d, 2p).
  • Most superior: Rico Loco, Jayne Jamestown, Jacob the Glitch, Magdalena Schäfer (1)
  • Most disciplines: 11 vampires with two inferior disciplines.
    
• Capacity 3:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Andre LeRoux, Lázár Dobrescu, Watenda (1d, 1p)
  • Most discipline pts: Bela (4d, 5p)
  • Most superior: (too many)
  • Most disciplines: Bela (4d)
    
• Capacity 4:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Count Zaroff, Hadrian Garrick, Jeremy Talbot, Keller Thiel, Ramona, Ramona (Adv), Sean Rycek (2d, 2p), Reginald Moore, Sajid al Misbah (1d, 2p)
  • Most discipline pts: Jane Simms (4d, 5p), Jimmy Dunn (3d, 5p)
  • Most superior: Chas Giovanni Tello, Jimmy Dunn (2d)
  • Most disciplines: Jane Simms, Lin Jun (4d)
    
• Capacity 5:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Langa, Muriel Foucade, Volker, The Puppet Prince (2d, 3p), Cicatriz, Toby (3d, 3p)
  • Most discipline pts: Sonja Blue (5d, 8p)
  • Most superior: Andrew Stuart, Sonja Blue (3d)
  • Most disciplines: Maria Stone (Adv) (6d)
    
• Capacity 6:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Nakova, Advocate of Golconda (2d, 3p)
  • Most discipline pts: Miguel Cordovera (4d, 8p)
  • Most superior: Miguel Cordovera (4d)
  • Most disciplines: Vassily Taltos, Nickolai, The Survivor, Dylan (Adv) (6d)
    
• Capacity 7:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Tatiana Romanov (3d, 4p)
  • Most discipline pts: Valerius Maior, Valerius Maior (Adv) (6d, 10p)
  • Most superior: Valerius Maior, Valerius Maior (Adv), Jessica, Lord Vauxhall, Maskini, Tariq, Tariq (Adv) (4d)
  • Most disciplines: Don Cerro (7d)
    
• Capacity 8:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Marcellus (3d, 5p), Kephamos, Quinton McDonnell (4d, 5p)
  • Most discipline pts: 4 vampires (6d, 9p), 8 vampire (4d, 9p)
  • Most superior: 15 vampires (4d)
  • Most disciplines: Antara, Genina, the Red Poet, Hrothulf, Jack Dawson, Jack Dawson (Adv), Monty Coven, Sobayifa (6d)
    
• Capacity 9:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Alvaro, Black Annis, Dnatien, Katarina, Spiridonas, Suhailah (4d, 6p)
  • Most discipline pts: Petaniqua, Petaniqua (Adv) (6d, 11p)
  • Most superior: Alicia Barrows, Maxwell, Petaniqua, Petaniqua (Adv), Tegyrius, Vizier (Adv) (5d)
    
  • Most disciplines: Durga Syn (7d)
    
• Capacity 10:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Ankou, Masika, Nakhthorheb (3d, 6p)
  • Most discipline pts: Cybele, Huitzilopochtli, Markus Vitel (Adv), Nergal, Nergal (Adv) (all 6d, 12p)
  • Most superior: Cybele, Huitzilopochtli, Markus Vitel (Adv), Nergal, Nergal (Adv) (6d)
  • Most disciplines: Helena (7d)
    
• Capacity 11:
• Least discipline pts: Leandro (5d, 8p)
• Most discipline pts: Mistress Fanchon
  (6d, 12p)
• Most superior: Mistress Fanchon (6d)
• Most disciplines: 17 vampires (6d)

Interesting Factoids:

• Being Baali/Infernal is worth something ...
• The best 7 cap vampire is better than the best 8 cap vampire.
• There are only three vampires with no disciplines and three with seven disciplines (Don Cerro, Helena, Durga Syn),
• Bad vampires are often from older expansions (VTES, Dark Sovereigns, Ancient Hearts), while the good ones are often from newer expansions (3rd Edition, Keepers of Tradition).
  

VtES Clan Newsletters in November 2008

One clan newsletter has been posted in the "rec.trading-cards.jyhad" usenet newsgroup this month. Beside using a newgroup reader, you can also access the newsgroup by Google Groups.

• Samedi Newsletter November 2008 a.k.a. Top Hat Times #3.

Results Polish National VtES Championship 2008

On November 29th, 2008 the Polish National VtES Championship was held in Warsaw, Poland with 38 players attending the final tournament. The final standings were as follows:

1. Adam Talarek (POL) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 3 VP -- Carna Wall
   
2. Jakub Baranski (POL) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 2 VP -- Weenie Auspex & Dominate
3. Tomasz Izydorczyk (POL) -- 3 GW ? VP -- 0 VP -- Synesios Temptation + Bleed + Enticement
4. Michal Pietrzak (POL) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP -- Kindred Spirits Stealth & Bleed
5. Miroslaw Laskowski (POL) -- 2 GW ? VP -- 0 VP -- FoS Temptation Stealth & Bleed

Congratulations to Adam for his win of the Polish Nationals. The finalists decks have been posted in the Polish VtES forum.

Results VtES League 2008 in Gelsenkirchen

Here are the final standings of the VtES League 2008 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. This year's winner is Martin S. (again!).

1. Martin S. -- 10,69 -- 30 VP 6 GW -- 17 Games -- 0,81
   
2. Dietmar -- 9,32 -- 43,5 VP 11 GW -- 34 Games -- 1,62
   
3. Ralf -- 6,63 -- 24 VP 5 GW -- 25 Games -- 1,19
   
4. Thomas -- 6,62 -- 29 VP 4 GW -- 28 Games -- 1,33
   
5. Sebastian Z. -- 5,65 -- 29 VP 4 GW -- 39 Games -- 1,86
   
6. Sebastian K. -- 5,39 -- 19,5 VP 3 GW -- 24 Games -- 1,14
   
7. Michael -- 5,36 -- 21,5 VP 4 GW -- 30 Games -- 1,43
   
8. Frank -- 4,13 -- 5,5 VP 1 GW -- 8 Games -- 0,38
   
9. Tobias -- 3,69 -- 3,5 VP 0 GW -- 4 Games -- 0,19
   
10. Martin V. -- 2,10 -- 1 VP 0 GW -- 2 Games -- 0,10
    
11. Martin E. -- 1,74 -- 3,5 VP 0 GW -- 12 Games -- 0,57

The table shows the rank and name of the player, the following numbers are Total Points, VPs, GWs, Games, Game Attendance Correction. Marked bold are the players that have played the minimum number of games of 12.

The results can also be found in the german VtES forums:

• Final Standing 2008
  
• Individual League Matches

VtES on the Essen Game Fair 2008

The "Spiel 2008" is the world's biggest consumer fair for gaming which was hosted in Essen, Germany from October 23rd to 26th, 2008. White Wolf & VtES participation: Refer to Essen 2007. So sad ...

Memorable Quotes (Part 27)

(..) Psyche! (and Coordinated Attacks) are "magic" -- they are combat cards that are played at the end of combat. Not quite in combat and not quite after." -- LSJ

Reference: Usenet Newsgroup

German VtES Championships (Update 2008)

As the German National VtES Championship 2008 are history now, here's the updated list of present and past title holders in german VtES championships. Note: prior to 2005 the German European Championship Qualifier (ECQ) and the National Championship (NC) were held during the same tournament event.

• German ECQ 2008 -- Kristian Willenbacher (GER)
• German NC Constructed 2008 -- Michael Heyder (GER)
  
• German NC Limited 2008 -- Dietmar Range (GER)
  

• German ECQ 2007 -- Olivier Perez (SUI)
• German NC Constructed 2007 -- Ruben Feldmann (SUI)
  
• German NC Limited 2007 -- Benoit Moyen (FRA)
  

• German ECQ 2006 -- Erol Oenguen (GER)
• German NC Constructed 2006 -- Robert Fängler (GER)
• German NC Limited 2006 -- Thomas Gschwandtner (GER)

• German ECQ 2005 -- Andreas Nusser (GER)
• German NC Constructed 2005 -- Johannes Walch (GER)
• German NC Limited 2005 -- Thomas Gschwandtner (GER)

• German NC/ECQ Constructed 2004 -- Ruben Van Cauwenberghe (BEL)
• German NC Limited 2004 -- Emile Bosman (NED)

• German NC/ECQ Constructed 2003 -- Stéphane Lavrut (FRA)
• German NC Limited 2003 -- Erol Oenguen (GER)

• German NC/ECQ Constructed 2002 -- Luk de Ron (BEL)
• German NC Limited 2002 -- Tobias Pohl (GER)

• German NC/ECQ Constructed 2001 -- Jan Van Den Eede (NED)
• German NC Limited 2001 -- ???

• German NC/ECQ Constructed 2000 -- Fabian Sosna (GER)
• German NC Limited 2000 -- ???

BYO Storyline: "Hashashin's Creed"

On January 18th, 2009 a new official Build-Your-Own Storyline event will take place in Tilburg, Netherlands. The BYO Storyline event is named "Hashashin's Creed" and revolves around "Janni", an Assamite contract killer.

1. Tournament Schedule
   
   • Date: Sunday, 18 January, 2009
     
   • Registration: 10:15 - 10:55
     
   • First round starting time: 11:00


2. Structure
   
   • Number of rounds: 3 + F
   • Time limit per round: 2 hours
   • Type of event: Unsanctioned BYO Storyline Event
   • Entry fee: 3 Euro.


3. Address of Event
   
   • Theseus
     Bredaseweg 167
     Tilburg
     Netherlands

You can find more information on "Hashashin's Creed" on White Wolf's Official Storyline website. This includes the prelude/fiction of the Storyline and the special rules that are used during the tournament.

If you want to participate in the event, please register by leaving a message in the dutch VtES forum.

Vampire Characters Wanted

LSJ , lead designer of Vampire the Eternal Struggle, has posted the following request in the old World of Darkness Forum on the White Wolf website:

I'm the designer for the old World of Darkness card game Vampire: The Eternal Struggle.

I use canon characters from the RPG whereever possible, but sometimes the RPG source is rather thin. Ventrue are easy to come by, for example, but Ventrue antitribu are much rarer, and Nagaraja and Osebo rarer still.

I've used some characters from TT groups before (player characters or ST-made NPCs). And other times I just make up vampires from whole cloth, of course. But adapting "real" characters, including non-canon PC ones, seems more satisfying, both for me and for the game (I think).

So, if you have any characters that fit that description (i.e., that don't fit the mold of a legion of other characters from the source material), and you feel like taking the time to put together a source-material-like profile of your character (age, brief background, image (description, not picture), TT stats and attributes), I'd be happy to try to adapt some of them to the card game. No promises that every vampire submitted will get printed, of course.

Email submissions to me, not to this forum.

vtesrep .at. white-wolf.com

Thanks,
Scott

So, if you have peculiar, intersting vampire character, here's a chance for publication, and even as VtES card.

New Promo Card: "Imperator"

A new VtES promo card named "Imperator" has been released. The card is very likely related to/used in VtES Storyline Event "Rise of the Imperator" which is scheduled for winter 2008/2009.

Imperator [Promo-20081023]
Cardtype: Political Action
Choose a Camarilla vampire with capacity 8 or more. If this referendum is successful, put this card on the chosen vampire to represent the unique Camarilla title of Imperator (worth 3 votes). This vampire may play a Blood Hunt card from your hand or ash heap as a prince. This vampire gets 3 additional votes in blood hunt referendums.

Did you know, that ... (Part 21)

.. that "Benjamin Rose" can use his special ability to call a referendum to give you +1 hand size (for the remainder of the game) multiple times in a game.

So you can get a hand size of +13 if you want to, and the hand size increase remains even if Benjamin Rose leaves play (e.g. he is burned, is removed from game or moves to the uncontrolled region).

Deck Building Utilities (Update November 2008)

New versions of the "Anarch Revolt Deck Builder" (ARDB), "Fragments of Elder Library Deck Builder" (FELDB), "Secret Library" and the "Deck Template" have been published in November 2008. All utilities now include the cards (and images for the first two utilities) from the "Keepers of Tradition" expansion. Here's the update of the basic information:

Anarch Revolt Deck Builder ("ARDB")
Current Version: 2.8.1
Author(s): Graham Smith (current project lead) / Francois Gombault (initial creator)
Homepage: ARDB on Google Code
Description: Layered Filters, multiple export functionality and a tidy interface are the top features of this program, somewhat newer than the FELDB it had a fresh start and gained soon popularity in the VtES community.
Advantages/Disadvantages:

• Card List & Inventory
• complete card list with card texts
• complete collection of pictures of actual cards.
  
• great search & filter use, multiple, layered filters
• card inventory can be kept
• Deck Building
• offers the basic functionality of deck builder
• includes some statistical information about the decks as well as card drawing simulation
• ability to store decks in XML format (*.xml), as text (*.txt), HTML file (*.html) or for use with JOL (*.jol) or for posting to internet forums (*.phbBB).
• gives some advice on deck building based on the "Happy Families" theory
• Other Functionality
• can update card database from White Wolf website
• little utility for creating proxy cards

URLs:

• ARDB v2.8.1 for Windows
• ARDB v2.8.0 for openSUSE 10.3/11.0
• ARDB v2.8.0 (Beta) for Debian
• ARDB v2.7.1 for Fedora
• VtES Card Images
• VtES Card Images (KoT Only)

Cost: free software
OS Platforms: Windows, OpenSuSe, Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, (Mac OS X 10.3+)
Expansion Updates: about 1 to 4 weeks after an expansion has been released.
Expansions: all VtES expansions.
Latest Posting: 25/Nov/2008
Changelog: ARDB Changelog on Google Code

Fragments of Elder Library Deck Builder ("FELDB")
Current Version: 2.5.0 (Beta)
Author(s): Balasz Kuno Kiss
Homepage: FELDB on Google Groups or Bala's FELDB website
Description: After the ELDB ("Elder Library Deck Builder") was no longer maintained, the ELDB's author David Andersion-Davila published the sources and FELDB was the result of the development with serious improvements over the old program.
Advantages/Disadvantages:

• Card List & Inventory
• complete card list with card texts
• almost complete collection of pictures of actual cards.
• basic ability to filter and sort cards, this could be better, especially when compared to the ARDB.
• card inventory can be kept, but needs to be used carefully when updating to the next version or expansion.
• Deck Building
• offers the basic functionality of deck builder
• includes some statistical information about the decks as well as card drawing simulation
• ability to store decks in native format (*.eld), as text (*.txt), HTML file (*.html) or for use with JOL (*.jol).
• Other Features
• deck manager functionality
• several import/export options for decks and inventories
• usually the quickest update after an expansion has been released
• can update card database from White Wolf website (indirectly)

URLs:

• FELDB v2.5.0 (Beta)
• VtES Card Images (KoT only)

Cost: free software
OS Platforms: Windows
Expansion Updates: about 1 to 2 weeks after an expansion has been released.
Expansions: all VtES expansions.
Latest Posting: 24/Nov/2008

Deck Template
Current Version: 4.1.1
Author: Gregory Williams
Homepage: Utilities on Storage Annex
Description: Multilayered Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with automated card info, ability counts and ratio calculations.
URLs:

• Excel Spreadsheet

Cost: free software (MS Office or OpenOffice Calc required)
OS Platforms: Windows / Linux
Expansions: all VtES expansions.
Latest Posting: 24/Nov/2008

Secret Library
Current Version: 0.8.7
Author: Jussi Hattara
Homepage/URL: http://www.secretlibrary.info
Description: A finnish website with similar filter & search functionality as "V:EKN Nu" and "VtES Monger". Nice, fresh web design and the ability to keep one's inventory as well as deck building utility. Definitively the best web-based site. The only "drawback" you need a (free) account to use the deck building and inventory functionality.
Expansions: all VtES expansions.
Latest Posting: 21/Nov/2008
Changelog: Secrect Library Changelog

Sobriquets for a Heart

In the past two years I have heard quite a few nicknames for one of the most powerful cards in VtES, that is the Heart of Nizchetus. Here's a short list of names for this card and those who use it.

• Heart of Nizchetus -- by those collecting cards.
  
• Heart of Cheating -- by those realists.
  
• Heart of Brokenness -- by those other realists.
  
• The Heart -- by those of few words.
  
• Heart of Nietzsche -- by those philosophers (courtesy of Orpheus).
  
• Heart of Nitsch.. Nisht .. -- by those with spelling problems.
  
• Heart of Ni#@!!§§$ -- by those hating it.

Any more suggestions by you, my dear readers and fellow players?

Results German VtES Draft Championship 2008

On November 23rd, 2008 the German National VtES Draft Championship was held in Ludwigshafen, Germany with 15 players attending the final tournament. The final standings were as follows:

1. Dietmar Range (GER) -- 2 GW 5,5 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Gangrel Combat/Intercept w/ Renegade Garou
2. Johannes Walch (GER) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 1 VP -- Ventrue Bleed/Politics
2. Ralf Weppner (GER) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0,5 VP -- Brujah Combat/Politics
2. Sebastian Meurer (GER) -- 1 GW 4,5 VP -- 0,5 VP -- Gangrel/Nosferatu Combat
2. Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnson (SWE) -- 1 GW 4,5 VP -- 0 VP -- Malkavian Stealth Bleed

Congratulations to Didi for his win of the German Draft Nationals, and also the two swedish players for travelling this far and attending the championship. I will post some photos at the end of the week, unless I find earlier a way to bypass the need for a cable for my digital camera.

Results German National VtES Championship 2008

On November 22nd, 2008 the German National VtES Championship was held in Ludwigshafen, Germany with 35 players attending the final tournament. The final standings were as follows:

1. Michael Heyder (GER) -- 2 GW 10 VP -- 1 GW 2,5 VP -- Euro Brujah
2. Erik Torstensen (SWE) -- 2 GW 7,5 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Giovanni Powerbleed feat. Guillaume
2. Andreas Nusser (GER) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP -- Anarch Cel Gun w/ Diversion
2. Joshannes Walch (GER) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 0 VP -- Follower of Set w/ Dominate & Bima
2. Thomas Kwasnitza (GER) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- Lasombra Breed & Boon

Congratulations to Michael Heyder for his win of the German Nationals, and also the two swedish and 7 french players for traveling this far and attending the championship. Fantomette posted an extensive tournament report (in french) and a transcription of the final round (in english) in the Sabbat in France forum.

The famous "Metagame" was governed by two angles, the first was a large number of Independent clans present at the tournament (4 Follower of Set decks, 2 Ravnos decks, at least 3 Giovanni decks and at least two 2 Assamite decks). The other direction was bleed, mostly Dominate, but also with Presence or Quietus. Although two Shambling Hords decks and the Bima deck were played, there was a notable absence of Ally decks. A few combat decks were also present, but very few Intercept/Wall decks, all which led to GW at all 22 tables (including the final table).

I will post some photos at the end of the week, unless I find earlier a way to bypass the need for a cable for my digital camera.

Memorable Quotes (Part 26)

"You're gonna make me pull out my Jackal, Oath of Loyalty, Praxis Seizure: Istanbul, and Treaty of Tyre Enforced, aren't you!
Wait, did I just classify Revolutionary Council as "broken"? ;)
Damn you Matt Morgan!! and Ben Peal, too!! -- KevinM's reaction after an "Assamite Anarch Revolutionary Council"-style deck (aka "Death Star") won another tournament.

Reference: Usenet Newsgroup

"Keepers of Tradition" Mishaps

A few (..cough) mishaps happened during the development & production of the new VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition" (KoT). Looks as if White Wolf had a slight quality assurance problem with this expansion. In contrast the previous three expansions from "Sword of Caine" to "Twilight Rebellion" were almost error free.

• Imprecise announcement
  The original announcement of KoT stated that the expansion will contain 20 new rare, uncommon and common cards each. In the end the count was 16 rare, 19 uncommon and 17 common cards.


• Missing vampires
  Although fully designed the following three vampires didn't make it to final set, since all vampires cards slots were used. You can also see a picture of "Hiram 'Hide' DeVries" card on the White Wolf website for KoT. (Or maybe showing these vampires to the public is goody from LSJ)
  

  Osric Vladislav
  Clan: Malkavian
  Group: 5
  Capacity: 7
  Disciplines: AUS DEM OBF cel
  Camarilla: Osric may burn a location you control to get +1 stealth for the current action.
  
  Gwendolyn Fleming
  Clan: Toreador
  Group: 5
  Capacity: 6
  Disciplines: AUS PRE cel pro
  Camarilla.
  
  Hiram "Hide" DeVries
  Clan: Ventrue
  Group: 5
  Capacity: 3
  Disciplines: cel pre
  Camarilla: While Hiram is ready, any action to burn a location you control costs an additional blood.

• Rulebook Misprint
  Instead of a new rulebook, the rulebook of "Lords of the Night" was shipped with "Keepers of Tradition" (except for the cover of the booklet). So the three rules changes posted on the KoT webpage are missing.


• Card exchanges on printing sheets
  Instead of "Society Hunting Ground" (as a rare) the card "Society of Leopold" was put onto the printing sheet, so effectively "Society of Leopold" now is included twice (as rare and as uncommon) in KoT. The same fate hit an new, yet unkown card, giving "Ghoul Retainer" an unwelcome duplicate card (as rare and as uncommon).


• Exchanged Artwork
  The "new" artwork of "Arcane Library" is actually the old artwork of "Powerbase: Berlin".


• Card Errata
  Unfortunately the "Approximation of Loyalty" version released in "Keepers of Tradition" has a printing error. The requirement for using the card is still a vampire with a capacity of seven or more. LSJ has confirmed this in this Newsgroup Thread.

P.S.: No, I don't count the fact, that "Parity Shift", "Deflection" and "Govern the Unaligned" are not included in "Keepers of Tradition" as mishap. That was done deliberately, though I don't know the reasoning behind this decision.

"Keepers of Tradition" Official Checklist is Online

Today is the official release date of the new VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition". Also the official checklist/webpage for the expansion is online now. Beside ten card previews and the complete list of cards included in the expansion, the list of rule changes and an FAQ are shown on the webpage. The most interesting news are the actual rule changes, so here they are:

• Directed actions. An action is directed if it targets one or more other Methuselahs, even if it also targets yourself. Directed actions can be blocked by the ready minions controlled by any of the target Methuselahs (going clockwise, as usual).
• Inner Circle titles. The title of Inner Circle is unique per clan and can only be held by a member of the clan (like Justicar titles).
• Madness Network no longer has "after finishing all of his or her minion phase actions" phrasing. The Malkavians can act via the Madness Network in regular sequence order. This eliminates the need for an after-actions portion of the minion phase in which, for example, an empy vampire could untap with Rutor's Hand and not have to hunt.

"Keepers of Tradition" Promo Cards

The pre-release pack for the new VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition" contains four new promo cards. Here are the card texts of these cards:

House of Sorrow
Cardtype: Master
Cost: 1 pool
Master: unique location
Tap to untap any card you control that is not a minion. If you do so, neither that card nor this location untap as normal on your next untap phase.

Subdued by the Blood
Cardtype: Master
Master: out-of-turn. Trifle.
Play when a vampire diablerizes a vampires of more that twice his or her capacity (before the blood hunt referendum, if any). Usable on your own turn. Move the victim from the ash heap to his or her owner's ready region, any move all blood from the diablerist to him or her. Remove the diablerist from the game.

Two Wrongs
Cardtype: Master
Master: out-of-turn. Trifle.
Play when a minion controlled by a Methuselah other than your predator is bleeding you. That minion is now bleeding his or her prey. The next card that would change the target of this bleed is canceled as it is played.

Lay Low
Cardtype: Action Modifier
Cost: 1 blood
Requires an anarch.
Only usable when a blood hunt referendum passes and would burn this anarch. Move this anarch to the uncontrolled region (breaking any temporary control effects). Any cards and counters on this vampire remain with him or her (but are out of play as long as the vampire remains uncontrolled).

German VtES Championship 2008 in Ludwigshafen

The German VtES Championship 2008 will take place at the DASHaus in Ludwigshafen, Germany on the weekend of November 22nd/23rd. The location DASHaus should be familiar to most of the German players since we used the location for at least four National events in the past years.

1. Timetable German Championship
   
   • Date: Saturday 22.11.2008 "German Championship"
   • Format: Standard Constructed
   • Schedule:
     10:00 - 10:45 Registration
     11:00 - 13:00 Round 1
     14:00 - 16:00 Round 2
     16:10 - 18:10 Round 3
     18:30 - 20:30 Finals*
   
   * Eventually we will be offering a Duffin Draft tournament during the finals
   


2. Timetable "Keepers of Tradition" Launch Event
   
   • Date: Sunday 23.11.2008 "Keepers of Tradition" Launch Event
   • Format: Booster Draft
   • Boosters: 7x Keepers of Tradition, 2x Gehenna
   
   
   • Entry Fee for the Booster Draft: 18 EUR
   • Schedule:
     9:00 - 9:45 Registration
     10:00 - 11:00 Booster draft + deckbuilding
     11:15 - 13:15 Round 1
     14:15 - 16:15 Round 2
     16:30 - 18:30 Round 3
     18:45 - 20:45 Finals*
   * Eventually we will be offering a Duffin Draft tournament during the finals
   


3. Address
   Kulturzentrum dasHaus
   ehemals Haus der Jugend
   
   Förderverein "das Haus" e.V.
   Bahnhofstrasse 30
   67059 Ludwigshafen, Germany


4. Entry Fee
   There is no entry fee. Every participant gets 2 boosters from a current VtES sets. Players who play for their first time in an official VtES tournament get a VtES starter.


5. Prizes
   
   • Main Price: TBA
   • Finalist: Boosters, Boosters, Boosters,....
   
   

"Rise of the Imperator" Storyline Event

On the White Wolf storyline website you can find information about the next (and last) part of this year's storyline event series called "Rise of the Imperator":

Faced with increasing threats from an anach revolt, the deadly Sabbat, and their own internal strife, the Camarilla's Inner Circle has agreed to appoint a military commander – an Imperator. The new Imperator will have the mandate to enforce the traditions and maintain discipline among the Kindred, and be granted broad powers to fulfill this mission. Who among the clans will have to power to seize this exalted position? Who will have the strength to keep it?

Aftermath of the "Black Miracle & Lies" Storyline

Ben Swainbank, the VtES Storyline Coordinator, has posted information about the aftermath story of the "Black Miracles & Lies" storyline event. "Black Miracles & Lies" is the second part of this years three-part storyline event series, and was played during the NAC 2008 in Montreal, Canada earlier this year.

Here you can find the Black Miracle & Lies Aftermath and more information about White Wolf's storyline events in general as well.

"Keepers of Tradition": Crypt/Library/Reprinted Cards

For the upcoming VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition" I have put up in the Polish VtES forum lists of the new Crypt and Library cards, as well as those reprinted in the boosters. This information comes primarily from IRC channel #vtes, the Usenet Newsgroup as well as various VtES forums around the world:

• Keepers of Tradition Crypt cards
  
• Keepers of Tradition Library cards
  
• Keepers of Tradition Reprints

Also there will be four new starters in the "Keepers of Tradition" expansion:

• Keeper of Tradition: Brujah Starter
• Keeper of Tradition: Malkavian Starter
  
• Keeper of Tradition: Toreador Starter
  
• Keeper of Tradition: Ventrue Starter

The starter deck lists are complete for some time now, but now also the crypt and library lists with the actual card texts are complete as well.

"Keepers of Tradition": Complete Card Checklist

Lasombra has completed the task of documenting the contents of the next VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition":

• Complete Card Checklist (with rarities)
• Content of the Prerelease Kit

He also has listed the individual starter decks:

• Brujah Preconstructed Deck
• Malkavian Preconstructed Deck
• Toreador Preconstructed Deck
• Ventrue Preconstructed Deck

"Keepers of Tradition": Overview New Library Cards

Here's the complete list/overview of new library cards of the new VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition". Thanks to Lasombra for the compilation!

• New Rares -- 16 total
• Arcane Appraiser
• Enkil Cog
• Ephor
• Monastery of Shadows
• New Carthage
• Nocturn Theater
• Ponticulus
• Scourge of the Enochians
• Soul Scan
• Tainted Spring
• Target Retainer
• Touch of Clarity
• Veles' Hunt
• Waiting Game
• Warsaw Station
• White Nights Massacre


• New Uncommons -- 19 Total
• Becoming, The
• Blood of Sandman
• Charismatic Aura
• Childling Muse
• Coterie Tactics
• Dark Influences
• Dark Mirror of the Mind
• Heroic Might
• Kevlar Vest
• Leech
• Light Intensifying Goggles
• Old Friends
• Papillon
• Perfect Paragon
• Persona Non Grata
• Repair the Undead Flesh
• Scourge
• Still the Mortal Flesh
• Villein


• New Commons -- 17 Total
• Agate Talisman
• Ashur Tablets
• Deep Song
• Eyes of Argus
• Eyes of the Beast
• Fleetness
• Force of Personality
• Horseshoes
• Loki's Gift
• Mouthpiece
• Neonate Breach
• No Trace
• Oath, The
• Rego Motus
• Steadfastness
• Torrent
• Wrong and Crosswise

For individual cardtexts check the links in this overview article.