Official V:EKN Caitiff Newsletter January 2004 Official V:EKN Caitiff Newsletter - January 2004 Contents - Life in the City (Vampire fiction) - Um, I dunno. What d'ya wanna do? (Clan strategy) - ...and the Kitchen Sink too! (Discipline overviews) - Pick Me! PICK ME! (Card overviews a.crypt b. library) - Smack Talk (Reader Feedback) - Dear Azel (Advice Column) - Ante Up, Sucka (Deck designs) - Peace Out (Conclusion) Life in the City No fiction this time. I welcome any Caitiff related submissions, showcasing the creativity of our community. I just ask that items be 3-5 paragraphs in length at most - in an effort to save space and to whet our appetite to come back for more. So spaghetti serial writers rejoice, I'm calling on you. Talk to me! Details at the bottom of the letter. Um, I dunno. What d'ya wanna do? Clan strategy is going to be a little hard considering we are essentially clanless. But that said here we market our advantages to others, and discuss any issues our fellow smaller capacity vampires suffer along with us. Topic: Weenie mono-discipline decks: Not all of us are incorporated into these decks, but some of us Caitiff are routinely called to fight alongside. Often these decks can make a very good showing. But an issue for many of these decks is the ease in which they can run out of steam. The advantage of speed is immense, but leaves us to do heavy work in the place of the natural entropy that covers each V:tES game. Often out of the starting block we can bleed or beat down with great ferociousness. But at the beginning we have to fight more pool and more blood than other decks normally do. We might get early VPs (which is a very, very good thing - did I say very yet?), but can leave us open for the middle and late game. It's not every weenie deck that can routinely table sweep. Now some people are just fine getting their VPs and running, but others might want to shoot for more playing time - after all, all games aren't tournament games. V:tES is a moderately long game and waiting for the next game isn't all that exciting. How can we increase staying power? Well, perhaps adding a few mid caps or *gasp* a lone useful big cap might add lasting power. There's already a few decks said to revolve around 1 big capacity vampire with lots of backup small capacity vampires - which, in truth, is just us small guys allowing the big guy to tag along. We're nice like that. Another means to help other low cap decks stick around is *gasp* play slower. Naturally if you are a bleed deck this isn't usually a hot idea. But a few combat and vote versions might see that there is an advantage to let the natural forces of entropy wear away not only your prey but grandprey's pool and minion's blood. Heck, we are usually recruited at bargain basement prices anyway, so it's not like entropy is crippling our strategy much. So go out there, call out the big guy, and sit on your thumbs! ... um, yeah! ...and the Kitchen Sink too! Aptly title this is a section that'll most likely be open. Any cool thoughts are welcome! Pick me! PICK ME! This section is a study in crypt and library cards. Usually the neglected ones. Crypt Name: Lisa Noble [Anarchs:U2] Cardtype: Vampire Clan: Caitiff Group: 3 Capacity: 1 Discipline: ani Camarilla: Lisa gets -1 strength on the first round of combat. Poor Lisa. She hasn't seen all that much play around where I am since being released. But I don't feel she should be so neglected. She's essentially the new Navar McClaren for group 2,3 crypts. As for her penalty I actually think it is not as bad as Navar's. She can chump block, which is a good thing. And her penalty only lasts for the first round of combat. Considering Aid from Bats (1R + maneuver) this is really a small thing. Also Canine Horde and Withering are other free 1R strikes (no maneuver) - so she has a decent arsenal to work with. Combine with a Terror Frenzy (no move to close, no press to cont., no use equip.) in emergencies and you have a nice setup. And to take advantage of her capacity to block? Well she can untap like a fiend with all the reactions available to her. We have Guard Dogs, Rat's Warning, The Mole (if anarch), and Cats' Guidance (after combat). Bloodlines gives 2 means of gaining transient intercept - Falcon's Eye (1 blood = +1 intercept) and Speak with Spirits (+1 int. only against bleed). Along with any location intercept or retainer intercept (Raven Spy?) we have a strong chance for her to block actions. So you can comfortably take an action with her and leave her for some chump blocking action. Not bad for a Caitiff and mostly common cards. :) Library Name: Paragon [Anarchs:R] Cardtype: Master Clan: Ventrue Unique master. Put this card on a ready Ventrue who was moved into your ready region during your last influence phase. This vampire gets 1 additional vote in referendums called by younger vampires. A younger vampire who successfully blocks this vampire burns 1 blood (before combat begins, if any). "Oh dear lord, he's lost his mind," I can hear you say already. Well, yes, that's true. But remember how I was talking about decks filled with us smaller caps allowing the occasional big guy hang out with us? Yeah. This card is our thumbs up saying he's A-OK. So if we invite a Ventrue buddy, oh I don't know... perhaps Arika, each time we run a political action into the referendum we give our buddy +1 vote for that referendum. Because we're generous like that. Think of us Caitiff golf clapping as our friend Ventrue votes. And this blessing from our mutual patron also gives our Ventrue buddy another bonus; each time they try a political action they get a temporary Camarilla Exemplary effect against younger vampires. Good thing the big guy is on our side! Well which of us are best suited to help our Ventrue tag along/s? Maldavis, 4 cap, with [for pre AUS] makes an obvious choice, sharing 2 Ventrue clan disciplines. Uriah Winter, 1 cap, shares [for]. Igo and Antoinette, both 1 cap, both share [pre], an important vote discipline. Hanna Redmonds and Dan Murdock also would apply because they share [obf] which would help sneak those poiltical actions through. So with our Ventrue buddy/ies and Paragon our political machinations strengthen the more we call referendums. We do a lot of gritty work still, but overall nice deal! Smack Talk! This is where I post cool additional advice from readers like you and any really entertaining feedback on topics of last month . I'm going to collect your best one-liners of the month here - so if you strike a topic-related funny chord I might put it up here for immortality. Dear Azel This is where I reply to your questions, a la Dear Abby. I'm NOT going to do rulings questions. I'm NOT going to discuss major design debates. I AM going to provide a place to ask your questions to get flippant and unsubstantiated advice. Heck it might even be game related! So bring your sense of humor and ask away. Ante Up, Sucka Ahh, what everyone wants - a deck to script kiddy. Well, sometimes I might give you one, but other times I'm gonna invite you to play around with core deck ideas. And any notable decks that start representin' us Caitiff to the world at large will get their dues here. So to commemorate the new Caitiff newsletter I invite everyone to play around with a happy-fun weenie core module. Since we slighted childer are tossed about like hot potatoes from deck to deck it's high time we start passing them potatoes back. So bust out your Grenades and Concealed Weapons and start giving back to the community that loves you - so much as to sacrifice you to the blood hunt each and every chance they get! ;) Core module: 60 cards 03 Tributes to the Master (because we give, and we give....) 04 Blood Dolls (and he takes, and he takes...) 15 Concealed Weapons 15 Grenades (the potatoes) 08 Coolers (because the potatoes are hot) 15 Computer Hacks (because WE are the new outsourced IT dept... slave driver.) Add your favorite toppings and season to taste! Peace Out Well that's all folks. My first newsletter done, carrying the torch for the masses. No final witticism this time, but next month is a new time. To contact me and help make this newsletter *your* newsletter talk to me at opaopajr@comcast.net Keep that feedback coming!! :)