VEKN Brujah Newsletter September 2001 Fiction: "Cruez 106, this is Pisa control. You are cleared to proceed at course 160. Stay at 15.000 feet. Over." "Roger, Pisa control. This is Cruez 106, over and out." I can barely understand the words. The sound of the two engines is deafening, and the old plane shakes, creaks and vibrates as if its last minute has come. Still I guess this is the best compromise between flight-worthiness and something Hector Sosa is actually able to pilot. At least the noise of this venerable DC 3 cuts off the rantings of Theo Bell back in the cabin. This guy gets on my nerves big time... We are creeping along the shoreline of the Italian Riviera, heading for Rome (officially) via Grosseto (where nine tenth of the people on board will, ahem, "alight"). Both Hector and I light a cigarette. I feel the creased Vogue cover with Kallista displayed on it in my breast pocket. Guess I'm little obsessed by her lately. I dare not take it out though, although I'd love to take a glimpse of her alabaster body... Hector is known as a real pervert when it comes to women and sex, so better leave my fang to itself and enjoy the silent companionship here in the cockpit. Tobacco smoke obscures the beautiful starscape, and I'm thinking about a stiff drink when the flimsy door behind us is opened. Expecting Theo I absent-mindedly look for the escape hatch -- I have my parachute strapped to my back already -- just to see a fragile figure with spiked hair leaning through the frame. "Angel, you okay?" I scream against the roar. "How's your wings?" That last remark almost cost me my eyesight, but now the three of us are crouched cosily in the small compartment. Hector put the plane on autopilot, which opens the question of whom to try more, but anyway... Angel brought some beers, so we are taking it easy. We just passed Pisa, and a lame joke from myself about the famous tower as a symbol for italian manliness has eased the tension. I mean, Angel is a real bitch, and if she'd ever appear in my dreams I'd renounce all humanity at once, but it's nice to have a girl around, even if she's so out of fashion with her not-quite-hip-anymore heroin chic and the not-yet-hip-again punk rock outfit, she's relatively young and thus not such a real bitch after all. "You think there is a beach where we come down, Dre?" she asks. "I'd love to see the water." Sensing an opportunity to show off I ask her back: "Actually that would be a fitting scenario, although the villa we will jump at is too far removed from the waterfront. Ever heard of the Honolulu massacre of '69?" Hector groans and unengages the autopilot. "Your drive-by shootings are nothing against what Tura and the other girls were doing that night: Surf-by... Man, that was so cool," I smile as Hector takes the plane into a quick nose-dive. His way of saying "Fuck off", I presume. After the beer has settled nicely on my pants I continue unimpressed: "The Sabbat folks were hit by a big stick that night. Some trap devised by the Toreador, then our allies, and we were supplying the fire power. Tura and the others came down on them bastards during a beach barbecue. Riding surf boards on 20 feet waves, wearing nothing but bikinis and M 16s. Those guys were paralyzed with lust and didn't move their asses even as the bullets tore them to pieces. They had their thoughts betrayed for sure, hehe. There's actually a cool song inspired by this called 'Bikini Girls With Machine Guns' by The Cr..." "Are you gone kill us, hombre, or what!!?" The only thing louder than the engines appears inches from my ears. Theo, of course. "Turbulences", Hector replies. "Better find a mirror, your sun-glasses slipped a few degrees out of their dead cool position," I remark as the Don sticks his face into the pub smell of the cockpit. "Gentlemen, would you be so kind to get ready? I think we are almost at our destination." Hector nods while I try to disentangle myself from the co-pilot's seat. All of a sudden the beer in my belly feels like acid. Strategy: Dominating the combat environment There is no denying that both Sabbat War and Final Nights had a strong emphasis on combat for all clans involved. I expect the combat meta game to shift considerably in the months to come, and as the old masters of combat the Brujah should be prepared for the carnage at hand. Potence IG combat is still the most common 'Kill 'Em All' strategy, and of course the old enemies, especially Fortitude, are still around. In this issue I want to make a few points on how to play Brujah in a combat-heavy environment, so that the much discussed and maligned table splitting deal is not the only way out. Controlling range, aka The Dance As repeatedly pointed out Celerity is the most common discipline on Brujah. It gives you the means to control the range of almost any combat (barring Drawing Out The Beast, Shadow Step, Cailean or Sniper Rifle), and you should do so. While real efficiency comes from knowing at what range the combat will be (heavy hits vs. frisbees), in an uncertain environment you still have the option to use versatile strikes like Thrown Gate, Sacrament Of Carnage (augmented by Increased Strength) or guns. IG close range - still a winner? Immortal Grapple stops all fancy strike cards dead, as it only allows hand strikes to be played. It's the card of choice against non-combat, i.e. S:CE decks, but be careful if you face a deck that can dish out huge hand damage strikes or environmental damage, as these combats often result in mutual annihilation. In my experience unlife is safer at long range, so if you fear combat heavy decks at the table think about going long. Actually only Assamites are as formidable at long range as the Brujah, most other strategies have a hard time against blurred guns or frisbees. Only, as always, Fortitude ruins your day. And S:CE or dodge, but there is a way around this: Thoughts Betrayed - who the f**k are you? An often maligned card, as it pretty much "simplifies" the combat situation, it is a very interesting and useful option to stop all fancy combat strategies. Basically its quite similar to IG, with a few important differences. It costs 2 blood, but works at all ranges and for the whole duration of combat. It does only prevent strike cards from being played, so a 'High Noon' situation with both parties carrying guns could still happen. And watch out for sources of environmental damage. Still this cards give Dominate Brujah (the Euro princes plus Anvil, Tura Vaughn, Theo Bell and the Don with an added skill card) the means to prevent many cards being played against them, especially S:CE, at any range they please. Brujah and prevention Pt. 1 -- how to fight against a tank Damage prevention can be a real pain in the ass. The fabled hand strike for 66 damage means nothing if your opponent plays Skin Of Steel. Some Fortitude cards are very powerful, and as a Brujah you have no choice but to try and run your opponent out of them. Against Skin Of Steel press to the next round and try again, again Superior Mettle use additional strikes, etc. Ravnos with Traps and Apparitions can be very nasty, although you should normally stand a reasonable chance against all prevention cards that don't say "prevent all damage from opponents strike(s)", as you can usually strike for loads. Brujah and prevention Pt. 2 - ouch, that hurt... wait: not! While Brujah are the champions of delivering huge amounts of damage in no time at all, they are not the greatest clan to prevent stuff flying their way. The most viable way to kill while surviving is to use Celerity dodges against the opponents strike and hit him hard with additional strikes. The Final Nights card Stutter Step offers an alternative, like the good old Acrobatics that gives a dodge and additional strike on one card. Sideslip superior prevents one damage -- good against aggravated pokes, and with a dodge at inferior a must in any careful Brujah combat deck, although you will not survive against anything more determined. Another great Celerity card is Rapid Thought, as you can force your opponent to declare his strike first. Thus you can decide whether it is better to dodge or hit him hard. Of course there is the brute force approach. It works like this: Hit as hard as you can, hope to survive their strike and get back the blood with Taste Of Vitae. Usually a nice way to come out of an encounter unharmed, but only if you can be reasonably sure not to go into torpor yourself, as you can't use the card in this case. And let's not forget the not-so-honorable 'chicken out' tactic: With Majesty, Staredown (nice because of the dodge at inferior), Catatonic Fear and Preternatural Evasion the Brujah have four S:CE cards at their command. Always remember Sun Tzu and only fight if you know you can win. If not, try to escape and come back another day. The Antichrist: Two cards -- Blood Of Acid and the new King Of The Mountain -- really ruin your day. You are only safe at long range, another argument in favor of controlling the range in any combat heavy environment. If you are stuck at close range, at least be careful with damage enhancers like Torn Signpost, Fists Of Death or *shudder* Death Of My Conscience against Vicissitude or Fortitude opponents until you find out if their deck includes these nasty cards. Conclusion: Theoretically you should be fine in most combats, if you put emphasis on versatility: Celerity for maneuvers, presses and dodges, the occasional S:CE for those fucked up moments, and Thrown Gates, Sacrament Of Carnage and Increased Strength, augmented by permanents in the form of guns, should see you through even the nastiest war zones. Thoughts Betrayed might help to soften the target, if you can afford to bring suitable vampires. With Blurs Brujah ranged combat should end all fights at long range in the first round. Against the Assamites it will be a close call, but if you bring Euro-Brujah you can play TB, and they can't (that is: Ur-Shulgi could, but...). IG rush with smallish minions should still scare the unliving shit out of almost every opponent and probably will continue as the most versatile combat strategy - especially since the diversification of combat styles will lead to a less concentrated defense effort by non-combat decks. Just watch out for aggressive Fortitude and/or Chimestry decks, and bring presses to end combat against Carrion Crows/Trap monstrosities... And we should not forget that there is still the third Brujah discipline: Presence, and thus S:CE. If you can't win today, better survive and fight another day. It's not wrong to chicken out of the occasional encounter with some beastly Tzimisce or Gangrel... Vampire of the month: Tura Vaughn 8, CEL dom POT PRE, Brujah, Primogen Primogen: Tura gets +1 intercept when attempting to block Brujah. One of the old Jyhad Primogen: expensive, with a barely useful special and a decent set of disciplines. She is the cheapest Brujah with all clan disciplines at superior, and with Dominate she shares the often mentioned "fourth" Brujah skill. Still she is only useful if you really need PRE as the Euro-Princes Dónal O'Connor and Constanza Vinti are usually way better, because they have access to the traditions. Then again Tura has probably the trashiest and most intimidating artwork of all Brujah... Card of the month: Thoughts Betrayed Combat, Dominate, 2 blood [dom] Only usable before range is determined on the first round. Opposing minion takes an additional 1 damage in the first round of combat during strike resolution. [DOM] Only usable before range is determined on the first round. Opposing minion cannot play any strike cards for the duration of this combat. Almost everything that has to be said on this card is written above. I want to add two things: First, never ever think about playing it at inferior. Second, this is an expensive toy, so use it wisely and only if you really need it - which can be both offensively (against dodges or S:CE) or defensively (for example against Entombment or Coma, or if you stumble into a Tremere Trap). Deck: Bikini Girls With Machine Guns Basically a Thoughts Betrayed By Guns deck, which, although fragile (especially vulnerable to intercept against equipping), can spread mayhem in the combat arena. As the guns are permanents, the intimidation factor of this deck is huge - Tura Vaughn sitting untapped on her Sport Bike, Submachine Gun ready is a sight to behold, but costs 13 pool (*sigh*). You will never get out more than three minions, and you need at least one with superior Dominate (and artillery). Black Cat is nice to have to reduce the cost, Constanza handy for her inherent DOM. Pool management is crucial, use the Blood Dolls to suck blood as crazy and refill with Taste Of Vitae. Don't kill anybody in sight, use threats to control the table. Your defense is to deflect first and kill afterwards, basically. I have to point out that this is a fun and theme deck: not extremely competitive, but with all the hot Brujah babes and cool toys. Crypt: (12 cards) [Min: 11, Max: 32, Avg: 5,58] 1 Angel (cel, Brujah, 2) 1 Antoinette DuChamp (cel pre, Caitiff, 1) 2 Black Cat (CEL pot pre, Brujah, 5) 1 Brachah (for CEL PRE, Brujah, 5) 3 Constanza Vinti (CEL DOM POT, Brujah, 8, Prince) 2 Tura Vaughn (CEL dom POT PRE, Brujah, 8, Primogen) 1 Uma Hatch (cel pre, Brujah, 3) 1 Victoria Ash (aus cel dom PRE, Toreador, 6, Primogen) Library: (88 cards) Master (17 cards) 1 Al's Army Apparatus 5 Blood Doll 1 Creepshow Casino 4 Dominate 3 Haven Uncovered 1 Heidelberg Castle, Germany 1 Information Highway 1 KRCG News Radio Minion (71 cards) 1 Atonement 5 Blur 7 Bum's Rush 4 Conditioning 5 Deflection 4 Enchant Kindred 5 Flash 2 Graverobbing 1 Pier 13, Port of Baltimore 3 Psyche! 4 Pursuit 2 Second Tradition: Domain, The 4 Social Charm 2 Sport Bike 5 Submachine Gun 6 Taste of Vitae 6 Thoughts Betrayed 5 Wake with Evening's Freshness Final Note: That's it for this month. I plan to release the October issue shortly and hope to catch up on playtesting the decks presented a little. One of the reasons this edition came so late is that I at last brought the Brujah Newsletters (plus some other stuff) online. Please visit colddawn.vr9.com if you want to read the old issues. Comments welcome at skaffen_amtiskaw"at"runbox"dot"com. Thanks for reading Skaffen Chantry Elder Of Munich "Language is memory pushing down from my lips Bloody memory filters everything Blood is one, hate is two, my pussy is three." (Bikini Kill, 'Blood One')