rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad

Frequently Asked Questions version 1.8

7 messages from 5 participants · 27 January 2002 – 02 February 2002
original thread on Google Groups

The Lasombra

No new questions added this month. If there is a question you would like to see added, email TheLa...@hotmail.com, and I will research the answer and add it to the FAQ. -------------------------------------------------- Jyhad / V:tES Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Version 1.8 Contents. What is Jyhad / V:tES? (1.1) Background (1.2) When/Why did the name change? (1.3) Can I mix card backs/sets? (1.4) Where can I discuss this game? (1.5) Where can I find other people who play this game? (1.6) Is there an official tournament calendar? Rules questions (2.1) Where are the current rules and errata archives? (2.2) What was changed by the July 7 ("7/7") rulings? (2.3) Where can I find the official tournament (V:EKN) rules? (2.4) How do I get an answer to my rules questions? (2.5) Are the answers I get to rules questions on the newsgroup "official"? (2.6) What are the "golden tenets"? (2.7) Do I really have to play with all these rules and errata? (2.8) Is there an up-to-date version of the rulebook? (2.9) What does [1.6.3.2] mean? (2.10) Bloodlines introduces a lot of new terms and mechanics. Is there a webpage that documents them all? Specific rules questions (3.1) Is there a card limit? (3.2) How does the new aggravated damage rule work? (3.3) How does Trap / Undead Persistence work? (3.4) Ousting issues. (3.5) Can Rötschreck be played when...? (3.6) Can Bonding be played on a non-bleed action? (3.7) Can stolen blood be used to heal damage? (3.8) When can I play Wolf Claws? (3.9) How does Madness Network work? (3.10) If I forget to gain one pool for the edge during my untap, can I still get it? (3.11) Paying blood for rescues from torpor. (3.12) When can I play Deflection / Redirection / My Enemy's Enemy / Telepathic Misdirection? (3.13) What does "Requires" mean? (3.14) When can Fida'i untap? (3.15) What does "Played" mean? (3.16) What does "Hand Strike" mean? (3.17) What is "Environmental Damage" versus "damage from a minion"? (3.18) What does "Same Action" mean? (3.19) What is the "NRA" or "No Repeat Actions" rule? (3.20) How do Malleable Visage and Obedience interact? (3.21) Can I block with another minion if the first block fails (or if the first block is "passed" by Form of Mist)? (3.22) Is negative intercept/stealth possible? Can I block a 0-stealth action if I have -1 intercept? (3.23) Which vampires can cast votes in which referendums? Who can vote when? (3.24) Do I have to burn a blood for Forced Awakening if I play a reaction card and do not attempt to block? (3.25) What cards do I control, ie which cards leave play when I am ousted? (3.26) How does Torn Signpost work really? Organizational questions (4.1) Who is the net-rep? (4.1.1) Who is the Rules Team (RT)? (4.2.1) What is V:EKN? (4.2.2) What is NJL? (4.3) Who writes the clan newsletters? Can I write a newsletter? (4.4) When's the next expansion coming out? (4.5) Can I play on-line? (4.6) I heard WOTC no longer has control of VTES, and White Wolf now does. Is this true? (4.7) Where can I find a card list for any expansion? Credits / Acknowledgements ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. What is Jyhad / V:tES? 1.1. Background. The game currently known as Vampire: the Eternal Struggle (formerly Jyhad) is a collectible card game originally designed by Richard Garfield and first published by Wizards of the Coast. The game is based on the White Wolf "World of Darkness" role-playing system, specifically, Vampire: the Masquerade. Each player represents an ancient vampire (a Methuselah), and the cards and game play represent vampires, their equipment, their allies, and their actions. Each player has a "blood pool", which is used to gain control of vampires from their deck, and also serves as a life total; once a player runs out of pool, they are "ousted" from the game. The table dynamic is a predator-prey relationship. A player's primary goal is to oust the person to their left (their prey) without getting ousted by the player to their right (their predator). If a player successfully ousts their prey, they gain a bonus of six pool, as well as a victory point. The player who is the last one not ousted gets a victory point as well, but it is the player with the most victory points who wins the game. 1.2. When/Why did the name change? Early in 1996, the unlimited edition of Jyhad was released as Vampire: the Eternal Struggle. Every set except for the original Jyhad has featured the new card backs which bear this name. The second edition cards also have a red-and-black border instead of the standard black border of the first edition cards. The reason for the change given at the time was mainly that Wizards wanted the game to be more appealing to more people. By changing the name to Vampire and adding a "Basic Game" to the rulebook they hoped to increase interest in the game. 1.3. Can I play with mixed card backs/set? You may play with any cards from any set in a tournament setting, adhering to the exceptions in the V:EKN tournament rules; see section 2.2. The V:EKN rules contain a banned list as well as an optional rule that may prohibit mixing of card backs. There is no restriction against mixing Sabbat, Non-Camarilla, and Camarilla vampires in your crypt. 1.4. Where can I discuss this game? There are a number of forums for discussion of V:tES: The White Wolf Forums - http://206.65.59.245/forums/forums.html The Yahoo V:TES club - http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/vtes rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad Newsreader link rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad on Google.com There are a number of "Dead Horses" that get beaten every few months on these forums, you can get a quick grasp of them in the Frequently Offered Creative Suggestions file here: http://www.thelasombra.com/vtes_focs.htm Mailing lists: The VTES-L and VTES-STRATEGY-L lists. To subscribe, send e-mail to list...@oracle.wizards.com and put the command SUBSCRIBE VTES-L FirstName LastName in the body of the message (without any non-command lines, like a signature, to confuse the listserver). The VTES-STRATEGY-L list is very low volume, and most of the strategy discussion occurs on the newsgroup or on the VTES-L. But subscribing to the VTES-STRATEGY-L is very similar; simply replace "VTES-L" above with "VTES-STRATEGY-L". You can find an expanded list of regional web-based message boards here: http://www.thelasombra.com/boards.htm. 1.5. Where can I find other people who play this game? You can try asking on the various on-line forums (see section 1.4), and there is an international registry of players on the official V:TES web site: http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/member. 1.6. Is there an official tournament calendar? Yes, L. Scott Johnson puts all of the officially sanctioned V:EKN tournaments on this calendar with Yahoo!. http://calendar.yahoo.com/vtesrep/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Rules Questions 2.1. Where are the current rules and errata archives? The current, up-to-date rules, clarifications, and errata are archived on White Wolf's official V:TES site. The URL is http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/rulings.html. 2.2. What was changed by the July 7 ("7/7") rulings? On July 7, 1998, a new listing of errata was issued, which made many changes to cards that had been considered by many to be unbalanced or broken. Among those cards changed were: Return to Innocence Tomb of Ramses III Thoughts Betrayed Mind Rape The archives listed in section 2.1 do contain these "7/7" rulings, but you may find it convenient to visit http://www.TheLasombra.com/rules.htm, where the July 7, 1998 (and all subsequent) rulings are archived seperately. Most of the errata has been reprinted on the cards, with the correct text, in Sabbat War or Final Nights. 2.3. Where can I find the official tournament (V:EKN) rules? The rules may be found at http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/veknRules.html 2.4. How do I get an answer to my rules questions? If you can't find the answer among the official rules, errata, and clarifications on the V:TES web site (see section 2.1), try searching Google.com's archives of rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad. If you still can't find the answer, try posting a question to one of the on-line discussion forums. The question will likely be answered within a day. 2.5. Are the answers I get to rules questions on the newsgroup "official"? The answers from L. Scott Johnson are official, since he is the net-rep. Anyone else's answers are usually correct, but if you are concerned that the answer be official, wait for LSJ to confirm the answer given from a non-official source. 2.6. What are the "golden tenets"? You may have seen this term floating around on one of the on-line forums. The golden tenets are two rules from the "Sensible Players Tournament Rules" designed by Adrian Sullivan (aka The Corrupter) and added to the existing tournament rule set: No repeat actions. That is, no minion may attempt the same type of action twice in the same turn. No vote pushing. Each Methuselah is allowed to play one political action card for a vote per vote, including the card used to call the vote, if any. These rules were designed to make the play environment balanced, and have in general succeeded. Though they were for years widely used house rules, as of September 1, 1998 these are part of the official tournament rules, and so apply in V:EKN tournaments. 2.7. Do I really have to play with all these rules and errata? No, in your own group, you can play however you want to. However, at tournaments, you may find that the rulings, errata and clarifications are enforced. Note that as of the release of Sabbat War, some errata and rulings have been made official and are now in the rulebook. Consult the online rulebook for any questions you may have regarding the new rules. http://www.white-wolf.com/VTES/rulebook/ These rules *must* be enforced at an official V:EKN tournament. But you can ignore whatever you like in your own play group. Be aware, though, that if you do ignore some of the basic rulings, any questions you ask in any of the discussion forums (see section 1.4) may not receive answers which work in your play group. 2.8. Is there an up-to-date version of the rulebook? Yes. Look for it in the Final Nights Starter Decks. You can view the Final Nights rulebook here: http://www.white-wolf.com/VTES/rulebook/. 2.9. What does [1.6.3.2] mean? You will almost always see this in one of LSJ's postings. It is the specific rule number in the updated rulebook which he is referencing to answer a question. 2.10 Bloodlines introduces a lot of new terms and mechanics. Is there a webpage that documents them all? This webpage collects all of the new terms and rules mechanics that are being introduced with Bloodlines - http://www.TheLasombra.com/newterms.htm. There is also a PDF file of all the terms and rules introduced with Bloodlines, here: http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/downloads/BLRulesSheet.pdf This rules supplement is also documented on White Wolf's site in HTML, here: http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/rulebook/BLrules.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Specific Rules Questions 3.1. Is there a card limit? No. See page 7 of the Sabbat War or Final Nights Rulebook, for this quote: "There is no per-card limit to the number of duplicates of a given card that a player can include in either her library or crypt." Jyhad was designed to be a game without card limits. However, there are a number of people who play with card limits anyway, and the merit of that style of play has been debated over the years. If you are interested in seeing some of the discussions from this debate, it is recommended that you look at Mark Langsdorf's archive of Jyhad strategy posts at: http://www.io.com/~mlangsdo/RPGs/Jyhad/index.html. 3.2. How does the aggravated damage rule work? To burn a ready vampire with X blood, you must inflict X+2 damage, one of which must be aggravated. Here's how that works: A vampire burns 1 blood to "heal" each point of normal damage dealt to it. Note that "healing" damage is different from "preventing" damage. A vampire is "wounded" if it has unhealed damage, is in torpor, or is going to torpor. A vampire which cannot heal damage goes to torpor. A vampire cannot heal aggravated damage done to it. For each point of aggravated damage done to a wounded vampire, that vampire must burn one blood to prevent destruction. A vampire which cannot prevent destruction is burned. 3.3. How does Trap / Undead Persistence work? Trap Combat Only usable before range is determined on the first round of combat. Each round of combat has a press, only usable to continue combat. This continues until 3 rounds of combat pass with no cards played. After you play this card, every round has a press to continue. This press can be cancelled by another press played by you or the opposing minion, but otherwise combat continues to another round. The three rounds of combat with no cards played have to be consecutive. In the third round with no cards played, there is not a press, and Trap's effects discontinue. Undead Persistence Inferior: Prevent this vampire from going into torpor. This vampire gets an optional press. When combat ends, or if 3 rounds of combat pass with no cards played, this vampire is sent into torpor. Unlike Trap, this card only provides one press. For any further rounds of combat to occur, presses must be played as normal. The Undeadly Persistent vampire is still wounded (see section 3.2); it just does not go to torpor. So any aggravated damage dealt to the vampire requires it to burn a blood to prevent destruction. 3.4. Ousting issues. When your prey is ousted, no matter who is responsible for the ousting, you gain 1 victory point. You also gain 6 pool, unless you would be ousted without that 6 pool. This second part only becomes confusing when multiple Methuselahs are ousted with the same action (otherwise you always gain 6 pool and a victory point when your prey is ousted). Each of those Methuselahs who is still alive gains 6 pool. For example, player A calls a Conservative Agitation, ousting his prey, B, and B's prey, C. Player A gets a victory point and 6 pool. Player B simply gains a victory point. Since she was ousted, she does not gain the 6 pool. No one gets the six pool from the ousting of player C. Note: If your prey is ousted on your turn, the next player becomes your new prey immediately, and you may bleed (and take any actions referring to your "prey") against that person immediately. 3.5. Can Rötschreck still be played... Can Rötschreck still be played at long range while the reacting minion declares an aggravated hand strike? No. Cannot be used if the "attempt to use aggravated damage" is not applicable at the current range. The most common example is an aggravated hand strike done at long range. 3.6. Can Bonding be played on a non-bleed action? No. You may not play superior Bonding on a non-bleed action just to get the stealth. In general, you may only play action modifiers which are appropriate to the action. 3.7. Can stolen blood be used to heal damage? Yes and no. In combat, the order is as follows: Strikes are declared. Modifications to strikes (if any) are declared. Strikes resolve, and damage is dealt, but no damage is healed or prevented until the next step. So excess stolen blood drains off now. Damage is resolved, and now damage can be prevented, and unprevented damage can be healed. So if you play Theft of Vitae to get more blood on a vampire than that vampire's capacity, that excess blood is lost before it can be used to heal damage. 3.8. When can I play Wolf Claws? You may play Wolf Claws (or Claws of the Dead, etc.) to make your hand damage aggravated any time before that strike resolves. So you can play it at the beginning of a round, as you declare the strike, or between the declaration of (both) strikes and the resolution of those strikes. In other words, you can wait to see what your opponent plays for her strike before deciding whether to play Wolf Claws. 3.9. How does Madness Network work? Madness Network allows Malkavians to take actions during other players' minion phases. It doesn't change any of the rules regarding those actions, though. The acting minion can play an action card [1.6.3.1] and action modifiers [1.6.3.2]. Reaction cards can be played by ready untapped minions in response to "an action taken by another Methuselah's minion" [1.6.3.5] Your minions cannot play reaction cards on an action taken by one of your minions. [1.6.3.5] So if a Malkavian acts during another Methuselah's minion phase, the Predator and Prey of the Malkavian may still attempt to block. All minions not belonging to the Malkavian's Methuselah may react to the Malkavian's action including the Methuselah whose actual turn it is. Malkavians (and minion vampires in general) cannot play Master cards at all. Only Methuselahs can play master cards, and they can play out-of-turn masters only "during another player's turn" [1.6.2.3] 3.10. If I forget to gain one pool for the edge during my untap, can I still get it? According to section 4 in the rulebook, you *may* gain one pool for the edge during your untap. This means it's not mandatory, and if you forget you cannot later take the pool. Most playgroups don't enforce this rule, and usually allow you to take the pool unless it's someone else's turn entirely. But don't be surprised to see it enforced in tournament play. 3.11. Paying blood for rescues from torpor. Section 6.5.3 specifically states : "To have a vampire rescue a vampire from torpor, announce the action (including how the cost will be paid) and tap the acting vampire." So you must announce which part of the blood costs will be paid from which vampires as part of announcing the action. 3.12. When can I play Deflection / Redirection / My Enemy's Enemy / Telepathic Misdirection? You may play the bleed bounce cards: when the bleed is announced. after a stealth card is played. after a bleed modifier is played. after a card is played that makes the action unblockable. after a declaration that you will not block. after someone else bounces the bleed to you. 3.13. What does "Requires" mean? A lot of minion cards (like Legacy of Power, 5th,2nd Tradition, est.) "Require" of you to have a vampire with a certain "ability", like being a Prince or Justicar, or a vamp of a specific generation (Atonement)... Does that mean that you only have to control a vampire that fulfills those requirements? No. It means that only a vampire that fits those requirements may play the card. Treat "requires" as "only playable by" and you will understand it better. 3.14 When can Fida'i untap? Reading the text it would seem that an Assamite with a capacity above 6 can untap the Fida'i at any time. Does this untap ability apply only to the untap phase or can they be untapped at anytime during your turn? To which the Design Team responded: An Assamite with a capacity above six can only untap a Fida'i during the untap phase. Sorry the wording doesn't show that more clearly. 3.15 What does "Played" mean? Certain effects in the game are only triggered by a card being "played". For example, only one Ancient Influence political action card may be "played" per game, or Akhenaten can "play" Necromancy cards as a vampire. When is a card "played"? The only time a card is considered "played" is when you move it from your hand to either the ash heap or into play on one of your other cards or into play by itself. A Master card is "played" when you announce it, and is either put into the ash heap or into play on a minion or into play as a card in play. Neither taking an action based on that Master card nor gaining benefits from the text of that Master card is "playing" the card, simply "using" the card. A Minion card is "played" when you announce it, and it is either put into the ash heap or into play on a minion or into play as a card. Neither taking an action based on that Minion card nor gaining benefits from the text of that Minion card is "playing" the card, simply "using" the card. A card is considered to have been "played" even if its effects are cancelled by Direct Intervention. Example 1: Akhenaten can "play" an Ex Nihilo necromancy action card. The card is put on him, and has no further effect on Akhenaten as he is only a vampire while "playing" the card, not while the card is in the game or while the card is on him. Example 2: An Ancient Influence is attempted by Raven and a Direct Intervention is played on the card. No other Ancient Influence votes can be called that game because the first one was "played", only the effects and card text were cancelled. Example 3: A bleeding action is not blocked and Gloria Giovanni attempts to increase the bleed with Conditioning. If the Conditioning card is cancelled by Direct Intervention, she can play other action modifiers to increase the bleed, but cannot play another Conditioning because she has already "played" one on this action. (See the definition of action modifiers in section 1.6.3.2 of the online rulebook.) 3.16 What does "Hand Strike" mean? Immortal Grapple restricts both minions in the combat to only using "hand strikes". What is a "hand strike" and what is not? A "hand strike" is any non-ranged, non-weapon strike that deals damage based on the striking minion's strength, or any minion's non-ranged damage-dealing innate strike. Example 1: Blood Fury is not a "hand strike" because it doesn't do damage based on a minion's strength, even though it requires physical contact in the role playing game. Example 2: Burning Wrath is a "hand strike" because it does damage based on the minion's strength. Example 3: The default strike from a Muddled Vampire Hunter is a hand strike because it is a non-ranged damage-dealing innate strike. 3.17 What is "environmental damage" versus "damage from a minion"? Four cards require you to determine where damage comes from to determine their effect. Blood of Acid, Disarm, Memories of Mortality, and Pulled Fangs require you to know if damage was inflicted "by a minion" or if it was caused by another source. Damage is only considered to have come from a minion if the damage is from a strike or if an effect specifically states that the damage is dealt by the minion. Damage from other effects is considered "environmental", and has no particular source. Damage done by retainers or cards like Carrion Crows and Weather Control are not considered to be "damage from a minion", therefore they are usually referred to as "environmental" damage. 3.18 What does "Same Action" mean? Certain cards like Obedience, Change of Target, and Red Herring prohibit you from taking the "same action" again this turn. What does "same action" mean in these cases? For these cards, the "same action" will either be one of the basic cardless actions (ie hunt, bleed, rescue from torpor, commit diablerie, leave torpor) or a specific action by the title of the card used to take the action (ie call a specific vote, equip with a specific piece of equipment, employ a specific retainer, recruit a specific ally, bleed with a particular action card). Note: This is different than the "no repeat actions" tournament rule, see 3.19. 3.19 What is the "NRA" or "No Repeat Actions" rule? The NRA or "No Repeat Actions rule" is a rule instituted by the Vampire: Elder Kindred Network for tournament play with constructed decks (ie non-draft non-sealed tournaments). Many playgroups will also use this as a house rule. It is outlined in the V:EKN tournament rules, section 6.4.1. A given minion may not repeat an action, by action type, in a single turn (whether the first action was blocked or not). An action is only considered to have been taken if it resolves by either being blocked or by being successful. A minion that initiates an action but that action is taken over by another with Mask of a Thousand Faces is not considered to have taken that action and is not prohibited from taking that action later in the turn. An action that is cancelled by Direct Intervention on the card used to begin the action is not considered to have been taken, but the card is considered to have been played. A minion may immediately take the same action or same type of action even though the Direct Intervention was played with the NRA rule. The defined "action types" are the ones defined in the rulebook: bleed, hunt, equip, employ retainer, recruit ally, political action, leave torpor, rescue a vampire from torpor, and diablerize a vampire in torpor. If an action card is used to perform one of these actions, that action is considered to be of that type. If it is not one of those actions (such as Bum's Rush), then it is a type of its own, by card name. If a card in play is used to perform one of these actions, that action is considered to be of that type. If it is not one of these actions (such as "enter combat via Haven Uncovered"), then it is a type of its own, by specific instance of the card in play. Example 1: A vampire who bleeds his controller's prey via Computer Hacking, then untaps via Freak Drive, cannot perform any bleeding action again, of any kind whatsoever, in that same turn. Example 2: A vampire who takes a Govern the Unaligned action at superior to move 3 blood to an uncontrolled vampire, then untaps via Freak Drive, may not use another Govern the Unaligned card to bleed that turn. That vampire may bleed with any other card or without a card, just not with Govern the Unaligned. 3.20 How do Malleable Visage and Obedience interact? As the controller of the acting minion, you have the first option to play effects when an action is blocked. If you play Malleable Visage once the block is determined to be successful, your vampire with vicissitude will enter combat with the blocking minion. Obedience cannot be played in response to Malleable Visage because the vampire using the Malleable Visage is not an acting minion and Obedience can only be used against an acting minion. You cannot play Malleable Visage after the reacting vampire has played Obedience as there will not be any combat for the Malleable Visage card to cancel. 3.21 Can I block with another minion if the first block fails (or if the first block is "passed" by Form of Mist)? Yes. You may continue to attempt to block until all of your minions have either failed (through insufficient intercept) or until they have all been prohibited from blocking (by Call of the Hungry Dead, Seduction, Signet of King Saul, Daring the Dawn, Command, Blanket of Night, Elder Intervention). 3.22 Is negative intercept/stealth possible? Can I block a 0-stealth action if I have -1 intercept? Negative values of intercept, stealth, strength, and bleed are all possible. There are a number of cards that reduce an opponent's values in one of those areas that can bring their total below zero. The most frequent time it matters is with -1 intercept. A number of cards will give an opposing minion -1 intercept (Miranda Sanova, Leon, Lucita, Call of the Hungry Dead, The Missing Voice) and this can bring their total intercept to a negative amount. A minion with a negative intercept amount cannot block an action at zero stealth. The intercept amount must equal the stealth amount for a minion to be able to block. 3.23 Which vampires can cast votes in which referendums? Who can vote when? In general, all vampires may cast their votes in all referendums. Specific card text is required to prohibit a specific vampire or a specific sect of vampires from voting. The only cards which prohibit sects of vampires from voting are as follows: Closed Session Private Audience Cardinal Benediction Investiture In all other votes, every vampire that is not in torpor may cast their votes in favor of or against the terms of the vote. 3.24 Do I have to burn a blood for Forced Awakening if I play a reaction card and do not attempt to block? Yes, you must burn a blood because you did not successfully block the action. If you play a Forced Awakening and do not block for any reason, you are required to burn one blood for failing to block. 3.25 What cards do I control, ie which cards leave play when I am ousted? You control you minions, ie your vampires and allies. All cards on your vampires and allies leave play when you do. Any master cards that you played on another player will leave play unless they have specific card text specifying that control of that card has changed. Any minion cards that you played on another player's minions will stay in play. Minion cards on minions are controlled by the controller of the minion. Cards that have changed controllers, via Succubus Club, Graverobbing, or any other card that specifies the controller of the card changing will stay in play until their controller is ousted. Example 1: If you play a discipline card (or Fame or Haven Uncovered) on another player's vampire, it will leave the game when you do. Example 2: If you play a Lunatic Eruption on another player's vampire, it will stay in the game until a successful action is taken to remove it. Example 3: If you Graverob a vampire that was brought into play by your prey, it will not leave the game when you oust your prey, it will stay in the game until it is burned in combat, diablerized, or you are ousted. 3.26 How does Torn Signpost work really? How does it interact with other cards? Torn Signpost post sets your base strength to either 2 (at inferior potence) or 3 (with superior potence). Any bonuses printed on the vampire will add to this base strength. Therefore a vampire with +1 strength (Richter) who plays Torn Signpost at superior will have a strength of 4 before adding in a strike card, or any other card that adds to strength. No matter how many Torn Signposts you play, your base strength will either be 2 or 3, they do not add onto each other. Fists of Death adds to your strength, so if you play 2 at superior, you will have a strength of 5 plus any other cards you may play. If you play Torn Signpost and Fists of Death at superior, you will have a strength of 5 and can add to that with another Fists of Death, a Fire in the Blood, Undead Strength as your strike, or any other strike that increase the amount of damage you do based on your strength. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Organizational Questions 4.1. Who is the net-rep? The current net-rep is L. Scott Johnson a.k.a. LSJ. He can be contacted at vte...@white-wolf.com. 4.1.1. Who is the Rules Team (RT)? As per LSJ's post on rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad - The Rules Team for VTES is composed of people who will remain anonymous. The RT has members from different play groups from a total of three continents. The protocol is discussion and playtesting among the members of the playgroups and reports of findings via e-mail. The topics for discussion are suggested by the Net.Rep (LSJ). Ideas for playtesting are culled from the newsgroup (by LSJ) and/or suggested by the members of the RT. Members of the RT are also free to add their own topics of discussion (well, not at first since we had a full itenerary already, but once the initial fixes were out of the way). No one has any votes. Changes come by consensus. The topics come from one or more of: the newsgroup/mailinglist, private e-mail to me, or members of the RT. Mostly from the newsgroup. The solutions may be "rarely" seen on the newsgroup prior to the RT post, but the problems are almost always brought up on the newsgroup prior to being discussed by the RT. 4.2.1 What is V:EKN? V:EKN stands for Vampire: Elder Kindred Network, and it is the official Jyhad player's organization. You can find out much more about this organization by visiting their website at http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/vekn.html. 4.2.2 What is NJL? NJL stands for National Jyhad League, and is another player's organization that originated in Michigan (it used to be the MJL). You can find out more information about this organization by visiting their website at http://wakeup.to/vampire 4.3. Who writes the clan newsletters? Can I write a newsletter? The clan newsletters are published to the newsgroup monthly. They are written by players who want to share strategy tips, talk about events, or just plug their favorite clan. To find out more or to volunteer to write your own newsletter, contact Peter Bakija - PD...@aol.com. A Selective Archive of the newsletters can be found here: http://www.TheLasombra.com/newsletters.htm. 4.4. When's the next expansion coming out? An untitled "Camarilla" set is scheduled for Summer 2002. No other official information about the set has been released. "Bloodlines" was released on December 3rd, 2001. See Steve Wieck's announcements about it here: http://www.thelasombra.com/bloodlines.txt. "Sabbat War" - a re-release of the original Sabbat expansion with new cards added was released in October 2000. Due to the overwhelming demand, a second printing was released in January 2001. Due to the success of Sabbat War, another expansion entitled 'Final Nights' was released on June 11, 2001. Final Nights focuses on the 4 Independent Clans: Ravnos, Giovanni, Assamite, and Followers of Set. Check out the newsgroup and the Yahoo! club for the ongoing discussion. 4.5. Can I play on-line? George Fink's Jyhad On-Line is a play-by-email Jyhad system with a web-based interface. Visit his web site http://www.deckserver.net/jol/ for more info. 4.6 I heard WOTC no longer has control of VTES, and White Wolf now does. Is this true? Yes, and this has in fact revitalized V:TES. White Wolf currently acknowledges V:EKN as the V:TES version of DCI and is actively supporting the game with new cards and organization infrastructure. You can read the full press release at http://www.TheLasombra.com/pressrelease.txt 4.7 Where can I find a card list for any expansion? White Wolf's website includes official interpretation of all of the cards up through Final Nights. Card lists for all expansions can be found on the VTES home page here: http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/. Other non-official sources to find card information : Monger (http://whitestar.ddg.com/vtes/monger/) - Online Searchable database of all the cards in the game. Elder Library Deck Builder (http://people.atl.mediaone.net/intj/eldb/) - Downloadable deck archiving program which also has a searchable database of all the cards in the game. Lasombra's Cardlists (http://www.TheLasombra.com/cardlists.htm) ---------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Credits / Acknowledgements If you have any submissions or suggestions, please email the maintainer at TheLa...@hotmail.com. "Jyhad", "V:tES", "White Wolf", etc. are copyrighted terms/names and are used with permission from Vampire: Elder Kindred Network. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Creator: James Hamblin Interim Maintainer: Ethan Burrow Current Maintainer: Jeffrey Thompson Last Updated January 5th, 2002. -- Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

John

> 2.6. What are the "golden tenets"? > You may have seen this term floating around on one of the on-line > forums. The golden tenets are two rules from the "Sensible Players > Tournament Rules" designed by Adrian Sullivan (aka The Corrupter) and > added to the existing tournament rule set: > No repeat actions. That is, no minion may attempt the same type of > action twice in the same turn. > No vote pushing. Each Methuselah is allowed to play one political > action card for a vote per vote, including the card used to call the > vote, if any. > These rules were designed to make the play environment balanced, and > have in general succeeded. Though they were for years widely used house > rules, as of September 1, 1998 these are part of the official tournament > rules, and so apply in V:EKN tournaments. Has there been a change? I do not see the Vote pushing rule appearing in the current VEKN tournament rules at White Wolf. Clairification appreciated.... -John

LSJ

John wrote: > Has there been a change? I do not see the Vote pushing rule appearing > in the current VEKN tournament rules at White Wolf. > > Clairification appreciated.... The rule is part of the base VTES rules (now, again, whatever). -- LSJ (vte...@white-wolf.com) V:TES Net.Rep for White Wolf, Inc. Links to revised rulebook, rulings, errata, and tournament rules: http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/

James Scott

The Lasombra <thela...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > 3.23 Which vampires can cast votes in which referendums? Who can vote > when? > In general, all vampires may cast their votes in all referendums. > Specific card text is required to prohibit a specific vampire or a > specific sect of vampires from voting. The only cards which prohibit > sects of vampires from voting are as follows: > Closed Session > Private Audience > Cardinal Benediction > Investiture > In all other votes, every vampire that is not in torpor may cast their > votes in favor of or against the terms of the vote. Alright. I looked at [6.3.2], [6.3.3], and [10]. What I saw does not square with what I thought I knew. To wit: - According to this, my titled Cam vampires may vote in Crusades, and those degenerate Sabbat may vote in Praxes or for Justicars. - The Sabbat can vote in (but not call) the referendums listed in [10.1] - Independents can vote in any of the above. I seem to recall the rules sheet for Sabbat excluding cross-sect voting for titles. Did I miss something? Also: Either Sabbat or Sabbat War introduced an inherent rush ability between princes and archbishops who are contesting a city (Sir Walter Nash and Lachlan, frex.) I don't see this reflected in the rules anywhere. Does this still exist? Thanks! James Scott VEKN Prince of Fort Collins, CO jscott(at)frii.com

The Lasombra

> "James Scott" <jsc...@NOSPAM.frii.com> wrote: > > The Lasombra <thela...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > 3.23 Which vampires can cast votes in which referendums? > > Who can vote when? > > In general, all vampires may cast their votes in all referendums. > > Specific card text is required to prohibit a specific vampire or a > > specific sect of vampires from voting. The only cards which prohibit > > sects of vampires from voting are as follows: > > Closed Session > > Private Audience > > Cardinal Benediction > > Investiture > > In all other votes, every vampire that is not in torpor may > > cast their votes in favor of or against the terms of the vote. > Alright. I looked at [6.3.2], [6.3.3], and [10]. What I saw does not > square with what I thought I knew. To wit: > - According to this, my titled Cam vampires may vote in Crusades, and > those degenerate Sabbat may vote in Praxes or for Justicars. This is correct. > - The Sabbat can vote in (but not call) the referendums listed in [10.1] This is correct. > - Independents can vote in any of the above. This is correct. > I seem to recall the rules sheet for Sabbat excluding cross-sect > voting for titles. Did I miss something? Yes. The Sabbat rulesheet did not in any way prohibit voting by either sect in any situation. > Also: Either Sabbat or Sabbat War introduced an inherent rush ability > between princes and archbishops who are contesting a city (Sir Walter > Nash and Lachlan, frex.) I don't see this reflected in the rules > anywhere. Does this still exist? No. Sabbat introduced it, it was worthless and unused. Sabbat War replaced it with the current contesting rules on cities. See section 4.2 Contested Titles in the online rulebook. http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/rulebook/rulebook.html#sec4_2 Carpe noctem. Lasombra http://www.TheLasombra.com/vtes_faq.htm [ quoted text not captured ]

Halcyan 2

>No. > >Sabbat introduced it, it was worthless and unused. Sabbat War >replaced it with the current contesting rules on cities. > >See section 4.2 Contested Titles in the online rulebook. First off, it wasn't really that worthless. (It was kinda cool IMHO). Second, I thought that the rule was changed *before* Sabbat War... Halcyan 2

The Lasombra

"Halcyan 2" <halc...@aol.com> wrote in message news:20020202035823...@mb-cg.aol.com... [re: entering combat with other titled vampires of the same city] > >Sabbat introduced it, it was worthless and unused. Sabbat War > >replaced it with the current contesting rules on cities. > >See section 4.2 Contested Titles in the online rulebook. > First off, it wasn't really that worthless. (It was kinda cool IMHO). It was exactly that worthless. Cool has nothing to do with it. Four pairs of vampires had the option of entering combat with their opposite number. Another rule created for 8 cards. Wonderful. Eminently worthwhile. Cool. > Second, I thought that the rule was changed *before* Sabbat War... No, it was changed in the Sabbat War rulebook, so that Blood Siege would be more intuitive. If you cannot have two titled vampires of the same city, regardless of sect, that is more in line with the spirit of the RPG, and with the other rules on contesting titles. Now, the rule covers 38 cards, and is more likely to be worth the time of including in the rulebook. For reference: Anson - Prince of Seattle Calebros, The Martyr - Prince of New York +++ Cardano - Prince of Boston Constanza Vinti - Prince of Rome Donal O'Connor - Prince of Dublin Emerson Bridges - Prince of Washington, D.C. Francois Villon - Prince of Paris Gilbert Duane - Prince of Miami *** Greger Anderssen - Prince of Stockholm Ingrid Rossler - Prince of Geneva Javier Montoya - Prince of Barcelona Katarina - Prince of Glasgow Klaus van der Veken - Prince of Amsterdam Marcellus - Prince of Monaco Murat - Prince of Istanbul Nikolaus Vermuelen - Prince of Brussels Queen Anne - Prince of London Rake - Prince of Atlanta *** Selma the Repugnant - Prince of Cleveland Sir Walter Nash - Prince of Chicago *** Spiridonas - Prince of Athens Suhailah - Prince of Cairo Tatiana Romanova - Prince of Houston *** Timothy Crowley - Prince of Dallas Volker, The Puppet Prince - Prince of Frankfurt Wilhelm Waldburg - Prince of Berlin Alvaro, The Scion of Angelica - Archbishop of Pittsburgh Antonio Delgado - Archbishop of Atlanta *** Cailean - Archbishop of Detroit Ethan Locke - Archbishop of Toronto Francisco Domingo de Polonia - Archbishop of New York +++ Imogen - Archbishop of Miami *** Lachlan, Noddist - Archbishop of Chicago *** Lazverinus, Thrall of Lambach - Archbishop of Houston *** Marconius - Archbishop of Strasbourg Salinger - Archbishop of Philadelphia Stravinsky - Archbishop of Mexico City *** Original cities from the WOTC design teams that had titled vampires that could attack each other. +++ The one added pair from White Wolf's design team. Carpe noctem. Lasombra http://www.TheLasombra.com [ quoted text not captured ]