Some newbies questions

I'm new to VTES, although I'm a veteran of MTG, and I had some questions if anyone could please answer. Thanks! 1) Is there any marking on the cards to show their rarity level? 2) With the card The Sleeping Mind, why does it say choose a tapped vampire? Tapped minions cannot block actions anyway. 3) How do players "remember" what happens? For example, in a 6 player game, if player 2 uses an out-of-turn master card, how do you keep tabs that he cannot play a master card when his turn comes around? Do you keep it lying around? The same thing I've noticed with several cards, where there may be a lag between the card use and its action. For example, the reaction card Spirit's Touch which gives you an optional maneuver in the subsequent combat. It's a reaction card, so you discard it after using it, and replace your hand with a card. What if the combat goes on for several rounds? How do you remember you have that optional maneuver to use? Yet another example, Excommunication, which strips an archbishop of his title. It's an action card but do you put it on top of the vampire like an equipment card to show he is stripped? Lastly, with a card like Infernal Pact, how do you indicate what discipline he has chosen so everyone can remember? I realize that the answer may be that people just have to remember but wouldn't that get cumbersome in a game with many players that lasts 2 hours? 4) For Robert Carter, a retainer that says its employer must burn 1 blood each untap phase, who is the employer? Me (the player Methuselah) or the vampire that he is the retainer of?

akaz...@gmail.com wrote: > I'm new to VTES, although I'm a veteran of MTG, and I had some > questions if anyone could please answer. Thanks! > > 1) Is there any marking on the cards to show their rarity level? > No. The predominance of the player base that is active on this Newsgroup and web-based forums seem to not like them. Personally, I think they would be good for new players and would not detract from the look of the cards at all. > 2) With the card The Sleeping Mind, why does it say choose a tapped > vampire? Tapped minions cannot block actions anyway. > You are right. However, there are several cards that allow a vampire to play reactions and to *block* as if untapped - Wake with Evenings Freshness, Forced Awakening, and On the Qui Vive are the most common of those. Also, several cards will actually untap a vampire - Guard Dogs, Rat's Warning, 2nd Tradition Domain and others. And once the vamp is untapped, then it can attempt to block. The Sleeping Mind is better typically at Superior (although the first batch of cards I mention, the "wakes", will still work because they don't actually untap the vamps, just allow them to behave sort of like they were untapped). > 3) How do players "remember" what happens? > For example, in a 6 player game, if player 2 uses an out-of-turn > master card, how do you keep tabs that he cannot play a master card > when his turn comes around? Do you keep it lying around? Yeah, I leave it on the table, or put it on my library face up and perpendicular to the library. Same thing with Wakes that I can't replace until my next untap etc etc. > The same thing I've noticed with several cards, where there may be a > lag between the card use and its action. For example, the reaction > card Spirit's Touch which gives you an optional maneuver in the > subsequent combat. It's a reaction card, so you discard it after using > it, and replace your hand with a card. What if the combat goes on for > several rounds? How do you remember you have that optional maneuver to > use? Usually, during combat, any cards that still have lingering effects I leave out in front of me. As I use the effect (maneuvers, preventing damage, future presses, etc), I then move it to the ash heap. This is legal and traditional. *Technically* the cards are actually already in your ash heap, but IIRC, to date there are no cards that allow you to recall cards back to your hand *during combat*. > Yet another example, Excommunication, which strips an archbishop of > his title. It's an action card but do you put it on top of the vampire > like an equipment card to show he is stripped? Some folks do, some folks don't. In tournament play, most of the time you can leave it as a reminder because of the friendly nature of the games. However, if a player asks you to put it into your ash heap, you must do so, since it is the rule. To aid you, the rules do state that you can take notes of game state - so you could write down that your archbishop is no longer titled. 1.4. Taking Notes Players are allowed to take written notes of their opponents' decks and activities, so long as doing so doesn't interfere with game play (especially the speed of play). I guess technically you can't take notes of your own game state... Hmmm, sounds wonky - LSJ? And if it was you who played the Excommunication, and you wanted to get it back into your library or hand for some reason, you would want it to be in the right place. Where the cards are in VTES isn't as critical as in MTG because there isn't as much ash heap manipulation as there is graveyard manipulation in Magic. > Lastly, with a card like Infernal Pact, how do you indicate what > discipline he has chosen so everyone can remember? Again, you can take notes on this fact. AFAIK, there isn't a traditional manner for keeping tabs on this. > > I realize that the answer may be that people just have to remember but > wouldn't that get cumbersome in a game with many players that lasts 2 > hours? > You do get used to it. > 4) For Robert Carter, a retainer that says its employer must burn 1 > blood each untap phase, who is the employer? Me (the player > Methuselah) or the vampire that he is the retainer of? > Minions "recruit" allies, and "employ" retainers. Thus, Carter's "employer" is the minion that he is on. Blood refers to the counters on vampires, pool refers to the counters that represent your (the Methuselah's) remaining status in the game, and life refers to the counters on allies. Note that an ally could recruit Robert Carter, but a) since the ally doesn't have blood, Carter would burn the next untap phase and b) since an ally isn't a vamp, it wouldn't get the +2 bleed. And if the controller of Carter changes, the new minion he is on becomes his new employer. I am typically wrong on rules questions, so maybe someone will be along in a minute to correct me on most counts. But the traditional stuff I'm pretty comfortable with, having played this for 12+ years now... best - chris -- Super Fun Cards http://myworld.ebay.com/superfuncards/ auct...@superfuncards.com

librarian wrote: > and life refers to the > counters on allies. ...and retainers. [ quoted text not captured ]

On Apr 23, 12:55 am, akazmi...@gmail.com wrote: > I'm new to VTES, although I'm a veteran of MTG, and I had some > questions if anyone could please answer. Thanks! > > 1) Is there any marking on the cards to show their rarity level? No. > > 2) With the card The Sleeping Mind, why does it say choose a tapped > vampire? Tapped minions cannot block actions anyway. But they can untap with reaction cards like Black Sunrise, or 'play reaction cards and attempt to block as if untapped' with cards like Wake With Evenings Freshness. TSM is used to thwart these plays. > > 3) How do players "remember" what happens? > For example, in a 6 player game, if player 2 uses an out-of-turn > master card, how do you keep tabs that he cannot play a master card > when his turn comes around? Do you keep it lying around? I have seen players discard their OOT Masters to the top of their library, face up, to help them remember that they played it. When their Master Phase comes around, they move it to the Ash Heap (though understanding that the card has "been in the ash heap" the whole time). The act of having to move the OOT Master to replace cards from the library also fordes a player to keep the card on the front of their mind. Just be sure you explain to everybody what you are doing and why. > The same thing I've noticed with several cards, where there may be a > lag between the card use and its action. For example, the reaction > card Spirit's Touch which gives you an optional maneuver in the > subsequent combat. It's a reaction card, so you discard it after using > it, and replace your hand with a card. What if the combat goes on for > several rounds? How do you remember you have that optional maneuver to > use? Players will often create a "Combat discard pile" for cards with lingering effects. It's assumed all of the cards are in the Ash Heap, though they are laid out so that they can be seen to help everyone keep track of what is going on. At the end of combat, they are scooped and properly added to the Ash Heap. > Yet another example, Excommunication, which strips an archbishop of > his title. It's an action card but do you put it on top of the vampire > like an equipment card to show he is stripped? Use a counter that is different from your blood counters as a reminder. For the length of a game, you (and everybody else) should be able to trigger on "loss of title" when they see the bottle cap on your vampire (or nickel, or seashell, or whatever). Lacking any such counter, you could use the card, though everyone would have to know that it is "actually" in the player-who-played-it's Ash Heap. This might not fly at a tournament, but casually it's probably OK. > Lastly, with a card like Infernal Pact, how do you indicate what > discipline he has chosen so everyone can remember? Here you have to remember, or write POT on the corner of a napkin and place it on the card. > > I realize that the answer may be that people just have to remember but > wouldn't that get cumbersome in a game with many players that lasts 2 > hours? > It can, but it is a game that encourages social interaction, so asking questions of the state of another players ready region is ok. > 4) For Robert Carter, a retainer that says its employer must burn 1 > blood each untap phase, who is the employer? Me (the player > Methuselah) or the vampire that he is the retainer of? Vampires employ retainers, so the vampire who has RC burns a blood. In cases where YOU have to pay an upkeep cost, it will be referred to as Pool. (Meths have Pool, vamps have Blood). And congratulations for discovering VtES. Welcome to the community.

On Apr 23, 1:53 am, librarian <aucti...@superfuncards.com> wrote: Libarian wrote a little faster than I did! But the fact that we agree on all points is a good thing.

[ quoted text not captured ] Thank you all for the prompt replies! I'm really enjoying the game. One more question though: Sawed-Off Shotgun. It says usable only once per combat but it says 3R each strike. Is the word "each" in case I get extra strikes? It would only be usable in one round of combat, right?

On 23 apr, 06:55, akazmi...@gmail.com wrote: > I'm new to VTES, although I'm a veteran of MTG, and I had some > questions if anyone could please answer. Thanks! > > 1) Is there any marking on the cards to show their rarity level? Nope. > 2) With the card The Sleeping Mind, why does it say choose a tapped > vampire? Tapped minions cannot block actions anyway. This is correct. However there are multiple cards that allow you to block while tapped, or untap and then attempt to block. > 3) How do players "remember" what happens? > For example, in a 6 player game, if player 2 uses an out-of-turn > master card, how do you keep tabs that he cannot play a master card > when his turn comes around? Do you keep it lying around? Technically speaking, you use your brain. Keeping notes is allowed, and so are other reminders that do not interfere with gamemechanics. > The same thing I've noticed with several cards, where there may be a > lag between the card use and its action. For example, the reaction > card Spirit's Touch which gives you an optional maneuver in the > subsequent combat. It's a reaction card, so you discard it after using > it, and replace your hand with a card. What if the combat goes on for > several rounds? How do you remember you have that optional maneuver > to use? As above. There's no limitations on what you may use to remind yourself, as long as it doesn't interfere with the game. Usually it's just remembered, but if you wish for other ways to remember your maneuver, you're allowed to use any form of reminder you wish. > Yet another example, Excommunication, which strips an archbishop of > his title. It's an action card but do you put it on top of the vampire > like an equipment card to show he is stripped? > Lastly, with a card like Infernal Pact, how do you indicate what > discipline he has chosen so everyone can remember? You state it clearly, and it is supposed to be remembered. As per above, you may use any form of reminder you deem appropriate, as long as there's no interference with the game. > I realize that the answer may be that people just have to remember but > wouldn't that get cumbersome in a game with many players that lasts 2 > hours? It works pretty well. There's not so many cards that require remembering, usually. > 4) For Robert Carter, a retainer that says its employer must burn 1 > blood each untap phase, who is the employer? Me (the player > Methuselah) or the vampire that he is the retainer of? The employer of a retainer is the minion that said retainer is on. So in this case: The vampire. Cheers, Bram

[ quoted text not captured ] Right. The 3R each strike is standard text, and it does exactly that, but how many times it can strike is limited by cardtext to once/ combat. So that's one use each combat, and subsequently that also means there's only one round you can use it, until the next combat. Cheers, Bram

librarian wrote: > akaz...@gmail.com wrote: > 1.4. Taking Notes > > Players are allowed to take written notes of their opponents' decks and > activities, so long as doing so doesn't interfere with game play > (especially the speed of play). > > I guess technically you can't take notes of your own game state... Hmmm, > sounds wonky - LSJ? Yep, sounds wonky. The rule tells you that you can do something and you read it as telling you that you can't do something else. Wonky.

On Apr 23, 4:55 pm, akazmi...@gmail.com wrote: > Lastly, with a card like Infernal Pact, how do you indicate what > discipline he has chosen so everyone can remember? Some players put a card with the discipline in question from their ash heap to one side or on the vampire to remind themselves for cards like Infernal Pact, Call the Great Beast etc... It's usually easier than writing things down and is good for stopping arguments later :-)