Storyline - Ragnarök, the Final Battle
Synopsis
The All High, a legendary Gangrel elder, is missing. An army of monsters has descended from the mountains of Norway and Sweden intent on wreaking havoc upon the World, upsetting the ages-old conflict between sleeping Methuselahs.
Rules
Ragnarök, The Final Battle is a constructed V:TES Storyline event designed for the 2013 VTES European Championship.
Except as noted in these instructions, each Storyline game will follow the VEKN Constructed Tournament rules for card play and deck construction. Each Storyline game will be timed to a maximum duration of 2 hours.
At least 75% (e.g. 9 out of 12) of the vampires in the player's crypt must belong to the same clan. In addition to the standard list of VEKN banned cards, Recalled to the Founder (Event) is banned from play.
Any single V:TES game played with 4-5 players using Storyline legal decks between 00:00 Monday 30th September and 00:00 Thursday 31st October anywhere in the world that uses the described game modifications may contribute towards the Ragnarök Storyline and have its results submitted.
The pack provided in support of the Ragnarök Storyline includes several sheets of additional cards:
Adversary cards — monsters to fight during the game Reward cards — prizes to be won during the game An All-High vampire card Optional Brunhilde Advanced and Valkyrie vampire cards which may be used in any player's crypt An optional set of additional werewolf themed cards which may be used in any player's library Before the game begins shuffle the Adversary cards and deal out 7 of each to form a deck, which is placed in the centre of the table. Do the same with the Reward cards. The 2 remaining cards from each set should be placed to one side without revealing them. Also place the All High vampire card in the centre of the table.
After each player has taken two turns the top card of each of the Adversary and Reward decks are revealed. Counters should be placed on the Adversary to represent its starting life. The text on the Adversary will take immediate effect.
Adversaries are immune to all card effects which target allies, and are also immune to all card effects which target minions controlled by other Methuselahs.
In each player's minion phase, any minion controlled by that player may take an undirected action to enter combat with the revealed Adversary. If its life is reduced to zero by combat damage it is burned and removed from the game.
The controller of acting minion that burned the Adversary takes the revealed Reward card and may place it on any minion he or she controls.
The next top card from each deck is then revealed. This sequence is repeated 7 times until there are no Adversary or Reward cards left on the table.
When the last Adversary is burned all players left in the game make an open bid for control of the All High using their pool, starting with the active player. The minimum bid is 1 pool. Players are not forced to bid if they do not wish to. The player that wins this bid moves the All High to his or her ready region with 0 blood, and play continues as normal. All of the pool bid by the winner is returned to the blood bank. The losers of the bid do not lose any pool.
An FAQ is included in the pack which should answer many common questions.
All players are recommended to download and print their own copies of the Storyline pack from the link below. Printed copies will be circulated at the EC but they will be limited in number - players are advised to bring their own copies if possible.
Mike Nudd, VEKN Storyline Coordinator
DOWNLOADS Prologue Rules Crypt Cards Library Cards Adversary and Reward Cards
V:EKN Website Coordinator
So far it looks like an interesting storyline. However, I see a glaring problem with the adversaries: none of them has a manuever to go to close and none of them has a ranged attack.
I just have to assume this has awesome parts to it, because i cant view any of the pdf files on my phone. As a fan of Brunhilde and the valhalla gangrel archetypes, i will investigate at some point.
Looks fun though.
> AaronC wrote:
> So far it looks like an interesting storyline. However, I see a glaring problem with the adversaries: none of them has a manuever to go to close and none of them has a ranged attack.
>
Combine that with the fact that the enter combat action is innate and repeatable, and that the replacement Adversary turns up immediately, and a single Methuselah with a clutch of Freak Drives, guns, and Taste of Vitae (to pay for the Freaks) could take out pretty much all the Adversaries in one turn.
Additionally, if an Adversary is reduced to zero life outside combat, it appears from the FAQs that it does not burn. But then it has no method for gaining life, so a few Horseshoes could stall the whole game. (Horseshoe targets ready minions, unlike Cryptic Mission which would target an ally.) Skoll is an obvious exception. Note that "reduced to zero life in combat" is text that, by pre-existing rulings on Anathema, requires an actual reduction (from not-zero to zero) - simply being in combat on zero does not trigger such text.
I'm glad that a new storyline event was put out, but I really wish the VEKN had provided a little more notice. The window for playing games is little more than a week long and it starts tomorrow. Given my geographical location and other obligations, I won't be able to put together a game in that timeframe. It's unlikely that you'll receive any contributions from Ontario.
> DeathInABottle wrote:
> I'm glad that a new storyline event was put out, but I really wish the VEKN had provided a little more notice. The window for playing games is little more than a week long and it starts tomorrow.
>
+1 and most people will want to test a last time their deck before the EC this week.
Isn't it possible to make it last a month?
Prince of Paris, France
Ratings Coordinator, Rules Director
> jamesatzephyr wrote:
> a single Methuselah with a clutch of Freak Drives, guns, and Taste of Vitae (to pay for the Freaks) could take out pretty much all the Adversaries in one turn.
>
How does Taste help against Adversaries who are Allies (and Taste works only with Vampires)?
Or did you mean that you do occasional rush elsewhere to fill up the Freaker?
I also like the storyline but will have to chime in regarding the lateness of the arrival of the material for it. Most likely I will not be able to put together a deck designed for this storyline.
BTW Any chance of getting the results of the PREVIOUS (Buda castle) storyline (or have I just missed them)?
Finnish Politics!
> jamesatzephyr wrote:
>
> Combine that with the fact that the enter combat action is innate and repeatable, and that the replacement Adversary turns up immediately, and a single Methuselah with a clutch of Freak Drives, guns, and Taste of Vitae (to pay for the Freaks) could take out pretty much all the Adversaries in one turn.
>
As Lonkka noted, no Taste of Vitae would be possible.
The barrier to the multiple rushes is that each rush is a 0 stealth undirected action. You have to deal with predator and prey blocking each rush.
Nosferatu/Thrown Gate and Fatima/Assault Rifle seem well made to kill adversaries since they have access to Obfuscate stealth to get past their opponents.
Of course, that still doesn't explain how you would oust your prey.
> Ankha wrote:
> Isn't it possible to make it last a month?
>
Or maybe 3 months? It seems a bit sad to make 39 new cards for just a weeks playtime.
"My strategy? Luck is my strategy, of course."
+1 for making it last longer than just the EC.
Also, I have a question on Loki:
"Loki must strike: dodge, if able" but does not come with an innate option to do so. Is this on purpose or is he supposed to come with the dodge?
Suaku
Inceptor Asian Continental Championship
興っ
www.youtube.com/SuakuOz
> the1andonlime wrote:
> +1 for making it last longer than just the EC.
>
> Also, I have a question on Loki:
> "Loki must strike: dodge, if able" but does not come with an innate option to do so. Is this on purpose or is he supposed to come with the dodge?
>
I suppose it's innate (here "must" = "can + must")
Prince of Paris, France
Ratings Coordinator, Rules Director
Just a sidenote: My playgroup will definitely play that supercool Storylineevent but won't be able to do it until the last week in October or later. Are you still interested in the results?
Baron of Frankfurt
Apologies all for the lack of notice - that's entirely my fault. I actually started planning this in the summer but then Real Life (tm) intervened...
Given the comments in this thread so far I'd be glad to expand the legal window for games for the entire month of October (1st-31st).
The results for Budapest weren't posted but I will be announcing them at the EC (and posting them subsequently).
Read my new blog: gameaholicblog.wordpress.com
I think that the idea for the EC/whatever big tournament Storylines is that they happen more or less during the event.
Naturally you can play to your heart's content after the time period, but only the games played in the given short timeframe will have effect on the storyline.
Good and proper this way IMHO.
Finnish Politics!
Except that there wasn't one for all the other Continental Championships this past year, and all the other players want in on the action too.
Suaku
Inceptor Asian Continental Championship
興っ
www.youtube.com/SuakuOz
> the1andonlime wrote:
> Except that there wasn't one for all the other Continental Championships this past year, and all the other players want in on the action too.
>
It has already been announced several times that if you want a storyline for your Championships/whatever big event just as for it.
With this year's EC everybody can actually get in the action too since the storyline doesn't require players being at the EC's premises.
So quit your whining and use the time you now use for it to build a deck for it/playing the event
Finnish Politics!
> mikelosaurus wrote:
>
> Given the comments in this thread so far I'd be glad to expand the legal window for games for the entire month of October (1st-31st).
>
this is a good news, since I also need more time to organize a couple of games with those rules
by the way I stare the werewolfes page on the pdf for a few minutes before reconize the names from Rage CCG, nice background flavor
Stefano "Walt" Calzighetti
Prince of Pordenone (Italy)
> Lönkka wrote:
> With this year's EC everybody can actually get in the action too since the storyline doesn't require players being at the EC's premises.
>
> So quit your whining and use the time you now use for it to build a deck for it/playing the event
>
If we are just going to do one storyline this year, why not make it one that everyone can participate instead of limiting it over some perceived link to something else.
Anyway, a big thank you to Mike for designing the storyline event and extending the deadline.
Suaku
Inceptor Asian Continental Championship
興っ
www.youtube.com/SuakuOz
> the1andonlime wrote:
> If we are just going to do one storyline this year,
>
Isn't that entirely up to the tournament organizer and storyline coordinator?
Like said, Mike has stated previously that if you want a storyline for your event, all you need to do is ask.
> the1andonlime wrote:
> why not make it one that everyone can participate instead of limiting it over some perceived link to something else.
>
But dahlin', everyone can since you don't need to be at the EC to participate.
Finnish Politics!
> Lönkka wrote:
>
> > the1andonlime wrote:
> > If we are just going to do one storyline this year,
> >
> Isn't that entirely up to the tournament organizer and storyline coordinator?
> Like said, Mike has stated previously that if you want a storyline for your event, all you need to do is ask.
>
Hmm. Segregation by location vs global event. Methinks the latter better helps the community. At any rate, nothing else happened, so we might as well be having only one this year.
Also, it is not quite so simple as "ask and it shall be given". In my end of the woods, getting people to fly in for one weekend of V:tES is possibly doable once a year. Getting them to fly in for one week plus the weekend once a year, not so much. Additionally, 3 countries with a total of 4 regions means that doing a separate storyline event is a little pointless.
Given the current state of the game, making players feel like they are a part of a global whole instead of giving the impression that we are each on our own seems like a better move.
Extending the deadline shows that VEKN cares about the players, especially since there were requests to that effect.
Not saying that this event is not good, but shouldn't there be a storyline event aimed at the global level before looking at one for individual events?
> Lönkka wrote:
>
> > the1andonlime wrote:
> > why not make it one that everyone can participate instead of limiting it over some perceived link to something else.
> >
> But dahlin', everyone can since you don't need to be at the EC to participate.
>
Not the point. The short deadline still acts as a limit. As an extreme example, this event could be announced at the onset of the EC weekend and then given a deadline of 2 days, but still open to worldwide participation, which means you don't have to be at the EC to participate, but effectively have to be anyway (I applaud playgroups that can come together to do an event on such short notice, but mine definitely cannot).
Even the initial deadline of one week limits global participation severely, making it for all intents and purpose for the EC players only.
Suaku
Inceptor Asian Continental Championship
興っ
www.youtube.com/SuakuOz
It is a storyline for a certain event.
It is not meant to be playable for an extended period of time.
It has already been extended to anybody as long as they play it during the event.
Clearly here we have a case where success (of making a special event) can be a failure (people getting frustrated because of the limitations that apply to it).
Finnish Politics!
> Lönkka wrote:
> It is a storyline for a certain event.
> It is not meant to be playable for an extended period of time.
> It has already been extended to anybody as long as they play it during the event.
>
> Clearly here we have a case where success (of making a special event) can be a failure (people getting frustrated because of the limitations that apply to it).
>
Two things:
- first and foremost, there is no mention on the homepage announcement that this is an EC exclusive event, therefore, it is not wrong for players worldwide to expect it to be globally inclusive. That it coincides with the EC and revolves around the general geographical region where the EC is being held is just a nice touch.
- second, and more importantly, Mike obviously put effort into this event, and if the intent is just to have it for the EC players when there hasn't been a global storyline this year, given the state of the game, and that VEKN "is the Official V:TES Players' Organization dedicated to the continued health of V:TES", I really have to question if this much effort shouldn't be put into the benefit of the entire community instead of a subset of it.
IMO, one storyline event this whole year with reasonable chance of global participation is good; no storyline event this whole year is not as good but not terrible; one storyline event this whole year seemingly favouring a subset of the community is bad.
Suaku
Inceptor Asian Continental Championship
興っ
www.youtube.com/SuakuOz
Actually, until about 5 minutes ago, I thought this was only an EC event and was kind of wondering why the threads were so long for it. If Pete Oh hadn't posted something about it on the DC list, I wouldn't have read it closely enough to realize it was available globally.
I don't know how well these things can be marketed in wider channels, but it should be a lot clearer in the first paragraph whom events are intended for.
Traveller Card Game
Way to go, good effort to make combat win VEKN
Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
brandonsantacruz.blogspot.com/
How does the NRA rule apply to the Adversary rush action? Is the action "0 stealth, undirected enter combat with the current Adversary" or "0 stealth, undirected enter combat with X"? If my minion burns the current adversary, can he Freak Drive and enter combat with the new Adversary? Can ALL of my minions attack the current adversary, or only one 1 or my minions per turn?
> ICL wrote:
> but it should be a lot clearer in the first paragraph whom events are intended for.
>
Its the fourth paragraph. Initially I was dismayed that it was only a week but thankfully that has changed. And so DALLAS will contribute to VTES for the first time this decade by having a game on the 27th. Thanks VEKN for giving Dallas this opportunity.
Prince of Dallas
Toreador Grand Ball: Dallas
August 13, 2022
I'm assuming that the mention of extending to October 31st is in effect.
How flexible are the rules?
Until we went to play, I thought there were multiple adversaries in play at a time. After playing, only one being in play seems suboptimal to me. We never got to the auction for the All High as the effort to kill Loki with the decks at the table was too much in combination with how nuking the adversaries really didn't do much, so there wasn't enough incentive to gangbang the adversaries. I thought there was going to be two in play at a time, which means that there should be an easy kill all of the time for decks that are into that sort of thing.
The magic weapons are too weak. Now, whether making them melee weapons helps or hurts or doesn't matter at all isn't entirely clear, but I'd look to try to upvalue them.
The question about multirushing adversaries is important. We ruled that you couldn't as the action is "enter combat with a revealed adversary" or whatever, not enter combat with adversary XYZ. As FBI Special Affairs has the magic word ally on it, does that mean it gets ignored for adversaries?
For Jormungandr and Sutr, the way they read, if you have one free location/equipment, you can just choose that one and never be affected. I would change their abilities to something like burn all locations/equipment or pay 2 pool for each one you want to retain.
Traveller Card Game
> In each player's minion phase, any minion controlled by that player may take an undirected action to enter combat with the revealed Adversary. If its life is reduced to zero by combat damage it is burned and removed from the game.
>
My understanding of the NRA is that this is a repeatable action since the power to do it comes from the "rulebook" and not from a card in hand or in play and it is not a bleed action or vote action.
I do not think that the word "an" as in "an action" means "(exactly) one". Normally "one" means "exactly one" and "a/an" means "one or more".
I think that all your minions can do it: I do not think that the "any" of "any minion" means "one and only one". I think it means "up to all".
Of course, this is just my feeble logic probing the murky depths that is the English language.
I like ICL's idea of having multiple adversaries out at a time. This means I get to attack the one I can be effective against, rather than waiting for the 1 deck on the table who can do <insert quirky combat trick to get around the adversary's power>.
I'm partial to something like:
On turn 3 (and the next X turns), open an adversary slot.
Whenever there's an open adversary slot, reveal an adversary and its reward.
You can attack any adversary, and if you burn it with combat damage, you get its reward. Replace that adversary immediately.
You can tune X, but I'm partial to something like 3 or 4. ICL wanted X=2. Currently, it's X=1.
The bigger X is, the more of the Adversaries' "bad stuff" you'll have to face at once. But you get more choices for combat that you can actually be effective in.
Food for thought.
And I'd like to echo the sentiment that the rewards are generally weak. The only ones that I think are worthwhile is the free untap (Gjallahorn), +1 intercept/stealth (Sleipnir), +1 intercept & environmental damage (Huginn), hunting ground + environmental damage (Geri).
The big problem with the rewards is that you can't count on which ones you'll get, or that you'll get them early enough to matter. So, you have to build your deck to be able to function without them. Which means, they probably don't matter much.
Most of the rewards don't much help further your goal of ousting your prey. And you already wasted at least 1 action killing the Adversary for it. You could be plenty successful with a normal deck and totally ignore the Adversaries.
On the other hand, the storyline-only werewolves are great. I really liked having a wide selection of them (made cheaper with Caern + Charisma + other tricks). The werewolf-only cards are great. I think this is a nice way to add non-vampires to the game, instead of stupid Imbued stupidness.
> Miasmat wrote:
> Most of the rewards don't much help further your goal of ousting your prey. And you already wasted at least 1 action killing the Adversary for it. You could be plenty successful with a normal deck and totally ignore the Adversaries.
>
I'll be honest, I envision the 2 hours spent playing this game isn't about ousting your prey but who defeats the Adversaries and how said Vampires are rewarded. Then we get to determine what Clan wins the influence of the All High. Then if you have time, go oust your prey for a VP to "win" the game.
I'm sure when its been announced that Ira Rivers, the Toreador Prince of Dallas, who eliminated 4 of the 7 Adversaries, and was richly rewarded with the following Rewards, and led the Toreador Clan to win the bidding for the All High, would be far more memorable than who swept a table with "a normal deck and totally ignore[d] the Adversaries."
Prince of Dallas
Toreador Grand Ball: Dallas
August 13, 2022
> mikelosaurus wrote:
>
> Given the comments in this thread so far I'd be glad to expand the legal window for games for the entire month of October (1st-31st).
>
If you have expanded the legal window, could you please update the official storyline rules?
I am thinking about organizing a storyline game on October 27, but I would like to have confirmation beforehand that the results will be counted.
> AaronC wrote:
>
> > mikelosaurus wrote:
> >
> > Given the comments in this thread so far I'd be glad to expand the legal window for games for the entire month of October (1st-31st).
> >
> If you have expanded the legal window, could you please update the official storyline rules?
>
Done.
V:EKN Website Coordinator
A rules question:
> Adversaries are immune to all card effects which target allies, and are alos immune to all card effects which target minions controlled by other Methuselahs.
>
What about card efefcts that target minions (omitting the "controlled by other Methuselahs" wording (e.g., I am thinking about using a card that has some effect to do something to "a ready minion")?
Could one of my minions use a card like that against an Adversary?
"It was a perfect plan - until it had contact with reality"
---
Hardy Range
Playgroup Tradition Compliance Manager
You could damage (or even kill) an Adversary e.g. by "Shadow Twin".
However, a Reward can only be gained in combat.
If an Adversary were killed without combat, the actual Reward would be removed.
National Coordinator Germany nc [dot] germany [at] magenta [dot] de
> gman wrote:
> Could someone point me toward the form I need to fill out in order to get our results counted?
>
There you go:
www.vekn.net/images/stories/storyline/ec2013-questionnaire.pdf
V:EKN Website Coordinator