The Cambridge Corrupter
Editor: Andy Brown, Setite Ruler of Cambridge
In this Issue:
A message from the editor.
A timetable of planned Temple meetings
Important news related to the planned awakening of Set
Current info on bloodlines and the pre-release.
A Message From the Editor:
Well, here is the second issue of The Cambridge Corrupter, and we have some big news happening to VTES. In one weeks time, the new bloodlines expansion comes out. This is the first time that any new disciplines or clans have been produced for the game since Sabbat in 1996.
Later in this issue I will give you a brief summary of the new clans that have currently been previewed on the White Wolf site, (http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes). I will also mention a little about the pre-release event planned in Watford for Sunday 2nd December.
I have left out the prose and decklists this issue, to enable space for the bloodlines info. If you have any stories or decks, please mail me them, and I'll put them in.
May the night be yours
Andy
A Timetable of Planned Temple Meetings:
Regular meetings are held on Tuesdays, 7.30pm at the Cornerhouse Pub, Newmarket Road.
Next meeting Tuesday 27th November 2001
We will be at Cornerhouse until February, but there is no planned meeting on Tuesday 4th December, and we will break for Christmas. The last meeting this year should be Tuesday 18th December, and I hope to restart on about the 8th January. I will mail out when I can confirm this.
I have let Dave Hammond know that 3-4 of us should be descending on Watford on the 2nd (so far Ian, myself and James Adkins), anyone else wishing to go, can they let me know asap (it is next Sunday after all.)
The next major tournament will be 23rd December in Watford, assuming enough interest. Please contact Dave Hammond (davecrazy@hotmail.com) to find out more. I probably won't be able to get to this one.
I am planning to run a tournament in our area around January/February time. Again watch this space.
Important News Related to the Planned Awakening of Set:
I am still awaiting my promotional demo pack from white-wolf. I'll let people know as soon as it arrives, so we can plan some events.
Current info on Bloodlines and the Pre-release:
Here goes with the stuff you've been waiting for.
Currently 11 new Bloodlines (Clans for the purpose of gameplay) have been revealed. Some have new disciplines and some have additional advantages/disadvatages. Where these have been mentioned, I have included the information about them. You can get more info from the White Wolf site, this is just a brief resume.
Nagaraja
Disc: Auspex, Dominate, Necromancy
The Nagaraja cards mix well with with the Giovanni, Malkavians, Tremere, Tremere Antitibu, Ventue Antitribu and the Harbingers of Skulls. Since the Nagaraja are all identified as "Scarce", they are not really playable by themselves.
New Term: Scarce. When a methuselah moves a vampire marked "Scarce" from her uncontrolled region to her controlled ready region, she burns 3 pool for every other vampire in play of the same clan.
Daughters of Cacophony
Disc: Fortitude, Melpominee, Presence
The Daughters of Cacophony cards mix well with Toreador and Ventrue, as well as their Antitribu counterparts, especially where voting is concerned. They could be played on their own, but their low capacity (high generation) and small number could count against them.
Harbingers of Skulls
Disc: Auspex, Fortitude, Necromancy
The Harbingers of Skulls mix well with Venture Antitribu and the Nagaraja. They are strong enough to be played as a single clan, although tehy are costly in terms of capacity, and you would need to double up in your crypt.
Ahrimanes
Disc: Animalism, Presence, Spiritus
The Ahrimanes cards mix well with the Gangrel, and to a lesser extent, the Toreadro and Brujah (and antitribus). Although they have small numbers, they could be played as a single clan, but they are stronger in a mixed clan deck. They are also Sterile
New Term: Sterile. If a vampire is marked as Sterile, it cannot take actions to create other vampires (e.g. The Embrace), and it cannot perform Revelations of the Sire, or Abomination actions either.
Gargoyles
Disc: Fortitude, Potence, Visceratika, Flight
Gargoyle cards mix well with the Tremere and Tremere antitribu, as well as the Blood Brothers. Teh Gargoyles are also one of the Bloodlines most suited for single-clan play. While Flight is a Discipline in the RPG, it isn't in the CCG. It is treated similarly, as some minions have flight, and some library cards require it. The Gargoyle Slave Ally does not represent a gargoyle vampire!
New Term: Slave. Some Gargoyles are identified as Tremere or Tremer antitribu slaves. A Slave vampire cannot take a directed action if his controller doesn't control a ready member of the specified "owning" clan. If a member of the owning clan is blocked, the controller can tap the slave Gargoyle to cancel combat and untap the acting vampire and have the slave Gargoyle enter combat with the blocking minion instead.
Salubri
Disc: Auspex, Fortitude, Obeah
The Salubri cards mix well with the Ventrue Antitribu and the Harbingers of Skulls. Each of the Salubri vampires is marked "Scarce" (See above), so they aren't suited for single clan play.
Kiasyd
Disc: Dominate, Mytherceria, Obtenebration
The Kiasyd cards mix well with the Lasombra and, to a lesser extent with the Tremere and Malkavians. Given their capacities, they could be played on their own (doubling up copies in the crypt) but are strongest when mixed with other clans.
New Term: Cold Iron Vulnerability. Damage a minion receives from a weapon designated as "Cold Iron" (it will be printed on the card like gun or vehicle) is aggravatedif a minion has Cold Iron Vulnerability.
True Brujah
Disc: Potence, Presence, Temporis
The True Brujah mis well with the Brujah, Brujah antitribu and the Followers of Set. Each of the True Brujah Vampires is marked as "Scarce", and so aren't suited for single-clan play.
Samedi
Disc: Fortitude, Necromancy, Obfuscate, Thanatosis
The Samedi cards work well with the Giovanni and Harbingers of Skulls, and to a lesser extent the Ventrue. The Samedi can be played in a single-clan deck, but like most bloodlines, don't have the numbers to be as strong alone as when mixed with other clans.
Baali
Disc: Obfuscate, Presence, Daimoinon
The Baali mix well with the Followers of Set. Since the Baali vampires are all marked as "Infernal" they are expensive to play in a single clan crypt (with duplicates), but it could be done.
New Term: Infernal. Some minions are marked as "infernal" (he has sold part of his soul to demons). In order to try to control the minion instead of the demon, you must burn one pool for each minion marked "infernal", or tap that minion.
Blood Brothers
Disc: Fortitude, Potence, Sanguinus
Of all the clans found in Bloodlines, The Blood Brothers are the most suited for single-clan play, and are strongest when played single-clan. They are very good at combat, but not much else. Tehy can be mixed effectively into potence-based combat decks featuring other clans. They are all marked "Sterile" and they are all identified as having a particular circle.
New Term: Circle. Each Blood Brother is identified with a particular circle. This has no other effect in game-play except as card text indicates (as in most minion cards that require Sanguinus). A Blood Brother without a circle designation is his own circle - a circle of one.
New Mechanic: Burn Mechanic. Some library cards have a "burn option" icon above a clan symbol (the clan requirement) on the left hand side of the card. This symbol (only found on cards that require a clan to play) indicates that during any Methuselah's untap phase, the Methuselah may burn (discard) the card from his or her hand if he or she doesn't control a ready member of the clan clan required. Each Methuselah is limited to one such discard each untap phase.
So, this is what we have to currently look forward to. It suggests that at the moment, these clans need others to work with, however, this is not usually a problem. Anyone familiar with the RPG will know a little about the additional disciplines, but what really matters is how they will play, with little knowledge at the pre-release.
The plan at the moment is
Each person gets a random Sabbat War pre-constructed deck, they can then try to trade this.
You then get four boosters of Bloodlines to draft in pods.
You can bring any five cards (including Vampires) with you which may be included in the deck you construct.
The key is knowing which clans to draft with you pre-con deck. The best plan is probably to draft knowing which are you clan disciplines, as the majority of the cards in your deck will be of these disciplines. So for example if you get Ventrue antitribu, then you need to be drafting Auspex, Dominate and Fortitude (This has the largest number of matches to any bloodlines). If Brujah Antitribu, Then Celerity (no matches yet), Potence and Presence. Lasombra are Dominate, Potence and Obtenebration. Tzimice appear to be the weakest matches with their clan disciplines of Animalism, Auspex and Vicissitude.
You can if you wish bring a sealed Final Nights starter (you still need to pay for and receive a Sabbat War deck). This Final Nights Starter must be sealed when you go to the event. However, I think it may be unwise to think of much beyond either Setites (if you want to corrupt/use presence heavily) or Giovanni, who have a lot of matches (Dominate, Necromany, Potence). Assamites and Ravnos do not have many dicipline matches.
I personally think that unless you particularly want Dreams of the Sphinx (Giovanni Pre-con) then it probably isn't worth bringing along one of these, but of course that is entirely your choice.
The only thing is then your 5 cards. What should they be? The weakest problem in the pre-con decks is blood gain, and the bloodlines seem to have largish capacities, and you also have scarcity. So I recommend Blood Dolls/Minion Taps/Effective Management/Dreams of the Sphinx/Zillah's Valley. Your choice, but getting out high caps is going to likely be the name of the game.
Anyone who comes to temple on Tuesday, we can discuss further, and I will get directions to the Flag for people asap if you wish to go down by yourself.
See you soon
Andy