V:EKN Clan Assamite Newsletter, September and October 1999



Assamite Clan Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 4 (September and October 1999)

Written by Todd Banister



Review of Last Month:

Last month I demonstrated in the deck "Within the Presence of Death" how the

Assamites could bleed for more than a pool or two with each action. This

deck ran like a charm! I posted my highest victory point total (of four)

since I started playing with exclusively the Assamites four months ago. The

long road too creating an Assamite prince was just to much for this deck so

I took out all of these cards: Rake, Alamut, 2nd Tradition, 5th Tradition,

Changeling Skin Mask, Khabar: Community, Lost in Crowds, Writ of Acceptance,

2x Cloak the Gathering, 2x Cryptic Rider, 2x Pack Tactics, 2x PS: Istanbul

and 2x Revocation of Tyre. I replaced them with: Cornelius Ottavio, Archon

Investigation, Barrens, Conservative Agitation, Fragment of the Book of Nod,

Kine Resources Contested, 2x Blood Sweat, 2x Elder Impersonation, 2x Marked

Path, 2x Taste of Death, 2x Wake of Evening's Freshness and 3x Swallowed by

the Night. This allowed me to concentrate more on the presence bleeds and

made the combat angle more offensive instead of just trying to escape. The

Alamut angle to the deck worked great as well. I did not loose a single pool

to a Kine Resources Contested or Conservative Agitation during the entire

month.



Main Discussion of October: In the Pursuit of Forbidden Knowledge

I promised in the last newsletter that I would reveal the single card that

could potentially turn the tide for the Assamites. But before I reveal the

mystery card I am going to explain my thought process on how I came to this

decision. As you have read in the previous newsletters, I have been showing

how you can include cards from the lesser-used disciplines that the

Assamites have such as auspex and presence to overcome the handicaps of the

assassins. Each of these disciplines is represented with only two vampires

within the clan. With three vampires within the clan thaumaturgy is the best

fourth discipline (based upon sheer number of disciplines) the assassins

have. They have two vampires (Kalinda and Parnassus) with minor thaumaturgy

and only one (Al-Ashrad) at superior. But what does thaumaturgy bring to the

Assamites?



One thing that thaumaturgy does do for the Assamites is to spoil someone's

day that relies on fortitude. These fantastic cards include Blood Rage,

Blood Fury, Drain Essence, Soul Burn, and Theft of Vitae. Couple some of

these cards with Blood Sweats and you can really screw someone who relies on

fortitude prevention. The second round thaumaturgy strikes are basically

worthless to the Assamites since they have access to first round aggravated

damage via Taste of Death. Chances are combat will not get to the press

stage at the end of the first round.



The thaumaturgy action cards are fun to use as well. Rutor's Hand is an

awesome card for the Assamites. With the use of this card, Parnassus becomes

even more dangerous as he can now bleed and rush in the same round. There is

nothing like stripping away Jost Werner or Muaziz's plus one stealth with

the use of Seeds of Corruption. Cryptic Mission is very effective when you

remove a vamp's last blood and then send him to torpor with Foul Blood when

he has to hunt. But these cards really need to use the thaumaturgy skill at

superior to reap the maximum benefit. So what does this leave to use out of

the thaumaturgy skill set? It leaves the seldom used card called Infernal

Familiar.



Infernal Familiar: Retainer, Thaumaturgy, 2 blood

Retainer with 2 life. The vampire with this retainer can play a card that

requires a Discipline he or she does not have as if he or she had the basic

level of that Discipline; if he or she does so, place an investment counter

on the Infernal Familiar. If the number of investment counters on the

Familiar is greater than his controller's capacity, burn the controlling

vampire.



You do not see this card played very often for a few reasons. First - The

Tremere already have an excellent skill set with disciplines that can bleed,

intercept and fight back in combat. There are very few of the mages that are

lacking any of the basic disciplines within the clan. Second - How often do

you see the mages use any outside skills other than an occasional celerity

or fortitude? Third - How many times do you see anyone other than the

Tremere play thaumaturgy cards at all? Most of the clans have some vampires

with the thaumaturgy discipline but this skill is usually treated as a

wasted one on these kindred. So how is the Infernal Familiar going to help

out the Assamites?



Do not think of the card as just a way to allow Kalinda to play quietus

cards or Parnassus to play obfuscate. Oh no! That is way to narrow in

thinking. Take a minute to open your mind and your card collection. You must

start looking for cards that can overcome some of the inherent disadvantages

of the clan. What if the Assamites could bounce a bleed? With the use of the

Infernal Familiar they can now play Deflections. What if they could now

bleed for more that one? Now they can bleed with the help of Govern the

Unaligned and pump the bleed with a Conditioning. Imagine if the assassins

could now prevent damage in combat by playing fortitude cards? Having

problems not getting to long range for your strikes? Fight back at close

range by punching with potence strikes or make your hands aggravated with

Wolf Claws. Need to untap and perform another action? Freak Drive is now a

valid option. Everyone in your playgroup uses strike combat ends? Include

some Immortal Grapples in your deck (or read this month's deck comments to

find a killer way around those annoying presence anti-combat cards).

Starting to see the light? I really hope so.



The biggest problem I have found with the card is that it opens up way to

many possibilities for the clan! I continue to find myself thinking of new

ways to use this card. Some of the wild ideas included using Horrid

Realities and Illusions if the Kindred with the Assamites. Now that would be

an awesome surprise! Another crazy thought was to use cards like Army of

Rats, Homunculus and Temptation. The list goes on and on. The other drawback

to the Infernal Familiar is that your vampire could potentially burn if the

investment counters reaches his capacity. I have been playing with the

Infernal Familiar for about two months and I have never had anyone burned

due to the drawback. Besides, you could in theory build a deck that stole

someone's vampire for a turn and then use Heidelburg Castle to move the

retainer to the stolen vampire and thus burn him if the investment counters

were more than his capacity. As your playgroup becomes aware how critical

the Infernal Familiars are to the Assamites they will begin to block the

recruiting actions. At this point you will need to take advantage of the

obfuscate skill to ensure that you are successful. The possibilities are

endless. In the coming newsletters I will continue to show different ways to

make use of this incredible card.



October's Fiction Section:

Shortly after the midnight hour, the busy city streets of Atlanta seemed to

finally drift to sleep. The shadows of the night continued to press down

upon the city creating a blanket of darkness that choked out the lights and

sounds below. The same held true twenty-five stories above the ground within

the penthouse suite at the Ritz Carlton. Within the walls of the suite,

darkness ruled supreme except for a solitary lamp sitting on the corner of

an eighteenth century desk. Other than an occasional shifting of papers on

the desk there were no sounds within the room. Nothing. Not even a

heartbeat.



Alone at the desk, the Calif of Alamut was intently studying the field

reports that had been gathered over the past weeks by the Children of Haqim.

Most of the reports he had reviewed several times before but Thetmes had not

survived this long by overlooking details or assuming anything. Currently he

held in his hands the report from Husamettin regarding the meeting with the

Prince of Atlanta. It seemed as though Rake had been hesitant in striking a

deal with the assassins until the knowledge of the explosives within his

headquarters had been exposed. At least Rake was one of those kindred that

could actually be brought around to the Assamites' way of thinking. Having

to dispose of the local Prince would have caused an unwanted scene to say

the least.



Continuing his reading, Thetmes reviewed the section of the report that

explained how Husamettin had bargained for a piece of critical information.

At first Rake did not want to reveal the location of the local Malkavian

named the Prophet due to not knowing the Assamites' plans for one of his

favorite subjects. Rake never budged on this point until Husamettin played

his ace of spades. The Prince of Atlanta could hardly hold back his mixture

of excitement and anger as the details of the Ventrue plot was unveiled to

discredit the city of Atlanta three years prior during the Olympic bombings.

The Ventrue believed that Rake's city was growing too quickly in the area of

big business which they felt was rightfully theirs alone. After the ace had

been played, Rake had quickly given in and disclosed the location of the

Prophet as his mind raced on planning ways to strike back at the Ventrue.

None of what Husamettin told the Prince was a direct lie but somehow he had

left out the part of the story about how the Assamites had been the ones

contracted to plant the bombs in the first place. Thetmes thought to himself

that even if Rake ever found out of their involvement in the incident that

the assassins would be long gone from Atlanta and would have already taken

what they had come for. Staring straight ahead into the long shadows at

nothing in particular, Thetmes took a moment to absorb the contents of the

field report before depositing it in the ever-growing stack of papers

located at the far end of the desk.



A voice broke the Calif's train of thought by stating "You are wondering

what information will come from the meeting with the Prophet, aren't you?"

 As Thetmes continued to stare into the darkness in front of him a figure

slowly started to appear. At first only a vague outline of a sizeable man

began to take shape. After a few long moments the shadows seemed to

reluctantly give way to the presence of another kindred although the face of

the being remained hidden behind a wall of blackness. Thetmes did not stir

from his seat. In fact, the Assamite had been aware of the figure for some

time now but only because the other allowed his presence to be known.

Thetmes was sure of that point.



Unwavering the assassin replied, "Of course. What else would be on my mind?

You claimed that it was critical that I bring a group of my best Rafiq to

Atlanta and set up a meeting with a raving lunatic! You have given me

nothing but sketchy details about the madman's so called 'pets' nor tried to

remove my sense of this being just an elaborate trap."



With a calm voice the faceless shadow responded to the Calif by saying, "I

have told you everything we know about these creatures, for even our range

of information has its limits. But I can assure you that the Amr of Alamut

will find these 'pets' fascinating. Just remember our bargain. I will assist

you in your Tajdid in every way I can as long as you continue to supply me

with the knowledge I seek."



Losing temporary control of his anger the Assamite slammed his clenched fist

down against the top of the desk. The fragile wooden top cracked and gave

way to the crushing blow of the undead hammer. As the desk lamp rocked back

and forth for several seconds, it appeared as though the shadows were

dancing to get out of the way of the anger of the killer. Half standing

Thetmes bellowed back at the mysterious kindred, "No, I have not forgotten

about our bargain. But every night I fight within myself with the knowledge

that if your clan had not signed the Treaty of Tyre close to five hundred

years ago we wouldn't have a reason to have this arrangement!"



The rage of a Du'at was enough to unnerve practically any of the undead but

the visitor had experienced Thetmes' anger many times in the past centuries.

Calmly the kindred stated, "I am not going to get into that argument again.

You know that we were in no position to do anything at that time except go

along with the signing of the treaty. I have always promised you that I

would assist you in your revenge."



Just as quickly as the rage had boiled over the anger within Thetmes

dissipated as he said, "Yes, you are correct. We have been plotting for

centuries our revenge upon these Munafiqun. If I cannot trust my own

brother, who can I truly trust? Listen, Harrod I have been thinking about ."



Thetmes' words were abruptly cut off by a sound of knocking upon the

penthouse's doors. After a brief pause and Thetmes' welcome the doors opened

up to reveal Parnassus and Kalinda. They silently entered the room carrying

a box covered by a black cloth sheet.  As the two assassins walked closer to

the desk, Parnassus looked around the room as though he expected someone

else to be present. Finding only Thetmes within, Parnassus raised the box

and gracefully placed it on the stable side of the desk. With a nod from the

Du'at, Parnassus lifted the cover off of the cage revealing a six-legged

monstrosity. The creature stood about ten inches high and its lower half was

covered in an outer shell not unlike that of a scorpion. The upper portion

of the body was similar to that of a muscular male with the exception of the

twisted demonic face. As Thetmes stared into the eyes of the monster he

realized that he was looking directly into the heart of evil.



Taking his eyes off of the hell spawn Thetmes turned to Kalinda and asked

her to discuss their meeting with the Prophet. Kalinda responded by stating,

"The data supplied by Husamettin was only partially correct. We did indeed

find the Malkavian at the psychiatric ward in Milledgeville but he was not

locked in a padded cell as we first thought. The ironic thing here is the

Prophet is actually the head doctor of the loony farm. The meeting in his

laboratory seemed to go rather well but I must say that it was a bit

disturbing. The Prophet claimed that he had known for sometime that we were

coming to visit him. Gesturing at the creature Kalinda continued with "He

said that he already had prepared this present for us."



Taking all of this in Thetmes asked, "Did the Prophet mention anything

important?" Sharing glances with Parnassus, Kalinda responded with "It's

rather difficult to tell. Most of what he said was nothing more than wild

ramblings about Gehenna and the impending chaos it will bring. But towards

the end of the meeting he mentioned that only out of total chaos would order

be truly created. Then the Prophet gave us several scrolls and told us that

they would contain the knowledge that we were looking for regarding these

monsters. Right before we left he was still rambling on that we now have the

blessings of chaos." Looking completely confused, Kalinda added, "Don't ask

me to explain what he meant because I have no idea."



The silence of the room was shattered as gunshots were fired from the roof

of the Ritz Carlton. Moments later the intercom unit on the desk shouted

four words that sent everyone in the room into motion. The phrase "We've got

trouble here" still hung in the air as the light from the lamp was

extinguished and the darkness finally claimed the last portion of the room.



October's Deck Idea Clinic: Within the Walls of Chaos



The Crypt:

Al-Ashrad, Amr of Alamut (9) CEL QUI obf THA aus

Parnassus (7) CEL QUI tha aus

Parnassus (7) CEL QUI tha aus

Parnassus (7) CEL QUI tha aus

Kalinda (6) CEL tha OBF

Kalinda (6) CEL tha OBF

Victor Revell, Loyalist (5) CEL aus pre dem

Abd al-Rashid (5) CEL QUI obf

Abd al-Rashid (5) CEL QUI obf

Colin Flynn (3) cel aus

Zoe (3) cel obf AUS

Kanya Akhtar (2) cel



CEL - 12 (3 at minor and 9 at superior)

AUS - 7 (6 at minor and 1 at superior)

OBF - 6 (4 at minor and 2 at superior)

QUI - 6 (all at superior)

THA - 6 (5 at minor and 1 at superior)

DEM - 1 (all at minor)



Total Capacity of Crypt: 65

Average Vamp Size: 5.41



The Library:

Masters: (18)

5x Blood Doll

2x Dreams of the Sphinx

1x Alamut

1x Depravity

1x Fame

1x Fragment of the Book of Nod

1x Giant's Blood

1x Market Square

1x The Path of Blood

1x The Rack

1x Underworld Hunting Ground

1x Auspex Skill Card

1x Dominate Skill Card



Combat: (35)

2x Acrobatics

6x Blood Sweat

2x Blur

7x Flash

2x Lightning Reflexes

4x Lucky Blow

2x Pursuit

2x Superior Mettle

2x Taste of Death

6x Taste of Vitae



Actions: (14)

3x Blessing of Chaos

2x Govern the Unaligned

7x Infernal Familiar

1x Ivory Bow

1x Mr. Winthrop



Action Modifiers: (8)

1x Cloak the Gathering

6x Conditioning

1x Lost in Crowds



Reactions: (15)

2x Deflection

2x Eagle's Sight

2x Enhanced Senses

6x Forced Awakening

1x Foul Blood

1x Precognition

1x Spirit's Touch



Deck Comments:

The main focus of this deck is obviously the use of the Infernal Familiars.

You will need to employ with one as soon as you can so that you do not have

to discard the Conditionings and Blessings of Chaos early in the game. I

really like the use of the Conditionings in the deck because after you are

able to play one, you can begin to play head games with your prey. Do you

have more in your hand? Could you possibly bleed for more than three? What

else is in that damn deck?



If you think that the Conditionings screw with your prey wait until you are

able to play a Blessing of Chaos on Parnassus! The card text on the Blessing

at minor reads: "If the vampire with this card attempts to block another

vampire, that vampire cannot play action modifiers requiring Dementation,

Dominate, Presence, or Chimerstry. Vampires opposing this vampire in combat

cannot play cards that require those Disciplines." The key word in the card

text is "attempts". If one of your blessed assassins "attempts" to block a

Venture/Toreador political action with no intercept, then they can no longer

play cards like Awe, Bewitching Oration or Voter Captivation! If you

"attempt" to block a stealth bleeder then they no longer can play cards like

Bonding, Conditioning, Foreshadowing Destruction, Threats and Aire of

Elation! When you finally feel like getting into combat with those pesky

Kafir, they cannot play cards like Catatonic Fear, Majesty, Thoughts

Betrayed, Apparition, Horrid Reality, or even Illusions of the Kindred. Who

ever thought that an Assamite would use a Dementation card?



After running this deck a few times you will begin to see the awesome power

of the Infernal Familiar. If this card cannot overcome the inherent

drawbacks of the clan then I am afraid that nothing will short of another

V:TES expansion with new cards. But that is another story for a later day.



Coming in next month's issue:

In the next newsletter I will demonstrate how the Assamites can fight back

against the growing number of weenie hordes. In the fiction section you will

find out what happened after those shots rang out in Atlanta and you might

discover that there are many evils that lie in wait within the shadows.

Until the next issue, relish in the blessing of chaos and spread the word of

the coming dominance of the Assamites.



Todd Banister

Prince of Atlanta

Scribe of the Assamites



Please send all comments and stories using the Infernal Familiar to:

T_Banister@Premier-Lending.com