Submission: Ritual of Awakening

Name: Ritual of Awakening Cardtype: Reaction Cost: none Capacity: none Discipline: none Clan: none Only usable by a Black Hand vampire. Unlock a card you control that is not a minion. It does not unlock as normal during your next unlock phase. Only one Ritual of Awakening can be played on a card between your untap phases. Flavor text: Something has gone wrong. Very wrong. And we have to fix it. Art notes: A group of Black Hand vampires repairing a demolished watchtower in great hurry. World of Darkness reference: n/a How does this card address a compelling game need?: Increase interaction with non-minion permanents. Created by: Rudolf Garski * Of course this card is in theme with »Savoir Faire« (www.vekn.net/forum/expansion-sets-card-ideas/75914-submission-savoir-faire#82294). ;) National Coordinator Germany nc [dot] germany [at] magenta [dot] de

So.. this card is a reaction. What is it reacting to?

> jblacey wrote: > So.. this card is a reaction. What is it reacting to? > Any action, just like a wake card. Prince of Paris, France Ratings Coordinator, Rules Director

> Ankha wrote: > > > jblacey wrote: > > So.. this card is a reaction. What is it reacting to? > > > Any action, just like a wake card. > Yes, this is the idea: A »wake« for non-minion permanents, but (of course) it has to be played be a minion (in this case a Black Hand vampire). National Coordinator Germany nc [dot] germany [at] magenta [dot] de

I have been thinking about this card. The more I think about the more powerful it seems. Locking a card can be useful but unlocking your own cards (which you can build a deck around) is really powerful.The obvious uses are Dreams of the Sphinx, Blood/Pool generation cards and Media Locations (none of which need this card). And I don't think the drawback is a big enough weakness for the effect like in the case of Dreams of the Sphinx which is gone after three uses and gets really powerful with two applications in the same turn. Then there is a larger question which maybe I shouldn't ask but it has been bothering me. This potentially increases the power level of all (present and future) masters with lock abilities. Do we really want a minion card that has an amplification effect (with no blood/post cost and freely cycles) on master cards?

If this card could/would lead to a new subtype or even type of deck, I were in favour of bringing it to (un)life. YOLO National Coordinator Germany nc [dot] germany [at] magenta [dot] de

I think it is far more likely that it would find it's way into the most degenerate decks and make them more powerful. If we are lucky, the card is only used to unlock Helicopter as a cute trick but the effect is too powerful for too little of cost.

> jblacey wrote: > I think it is far more likely that it would find it's way into the most degenerate decks and make them more powerful. If we are lucky, the card is only used to unlock Helicopter as a cute trick but the effect is too powerful for too little of cost. > Maybe I am missing something, but of what use would be an unlocked Helicopter to a reacting player? Of course, the chance to unlock e. g. Channel 10 would be nice, but the same effect (I mean +2 intercept) could be achieved with one superior Enhanced Senses. And since there is the On the Qui Vive drawback, I would also risk to lack defensive options the next turn ... Since V:tES is a game where most of the times card flow is important, I would most definitely be in for big trouble, if I were stuck on reaction cards I cannot use. So if there is no obvious way to abuse Ritual of Awakening I would love to see it in playtesting, at least. National Coordinator Germany nc [dot] germany [at] magenta [dot] de

> Maybe I am missing something, but of what use would be an unlocked Helicopter to a reacting player? > Player 1 has a Malkavian in play with a Madness Network. Play a Ritual of Awakening during Player 2's turn. At the end of Player 2's turn, Player 1 bleeds Player 2, then unlocks with Helicopter. Play a Ritual of Awakening during Player 3's turn. At the end of Player 3's turn, Player 1 bleeds Player 2, then unlocks with Helicopter. Play a Ritual of Awakening during Player 4's turn. At the end of Player 4's turn, Player 1 bleeds Player 2, then unlocks with Helicopter. Play a Ritual of Awakening during Player 5's turn. At the end of Player 5's turn, Player 1 bleeds Player 2 (or maybe Player 3 at this point). The card should probably have a blood cost, or tap the reacting vampire either one would stop this combo. Or better yet, Maskia + Enkil Cog + Ritual of Awakening.

"Only one Ritual of Awakening can be played on a card between your untap phases." The first time I read this text I thought you were saying only one Ritual of Awakening could be played during a turn. It might be cleaner if it was written like this... "Until your next unlock phase, a vampire you control cannot play another Ritual of Awakening." Otherwise it is ambiguous whose unlock phase you are talking about and if you mean no vampire from any player may play Ritual of Awakening until your next unlock phase.

It could just as well follow the wording of something that already exists: > A minion may play only one On the Qui Vive between his or her untap phases. > I'd say rather this, as it's already something that people are playing with. With these cards it might be good to try to include comprehensive cards lists that anyone thinks might be too effective with when stating there's a problem with whatever. The problem with many cards isn't definitely that bad as you might think. Pool locations for example mostly (with the exception of the Laibon one I believe?) can only be tapped for gain during the influence phase. Same goes for Metro Underground - only during discard phase. The Masika trick could already be done with Clan Impersonation and Madness Network. Madness Network + Helicopter seems just a different version of Reversal of Fortunes to be honest, but probably for less effect. Both scenarios require two clans, plenty of setup and general wonkiness. It's powerful, but nothing that could've already be done. The point with media locations is valid - often you're just better off playing extra intercept, but this might be a bit easier to cycle. Which would be a good thing for Black Hand, something that isn't that powerful on its own. Super speed Dreams of the Sphinx might be a bit weird, but I dunno. Get those contests going. If anything, this card seems like a fun little trick that some jankier players will be dying to make fun decks for, but little more. Enkil Cog might prove problematic. But once again, you'll have to tech in that Black Hand. It could cost a blood though, that's fair. But just for balancing after play testing. Initially it really doesn't seem to me any better than most other things that can already be done. "Oh, to the Hades with the manners! He's a complete bastard, and calling him that insults bastards everywhere!" -Nalia De-Arnise garourimgazette.wordpress.com/ www.vekn.net/forum-guidelines

I agree, after thinking about it. A minion may play only one Ritual of Awakening between their unlock phases. Probably want to get rid of "his or her" and it shortens the text. > Pool locations for example mostly (with the exception of the Laibon one I believe?) can only be tapped for gain during the influence phase. > Laibon has Powerbase: Tshwane which can be locked to reduce the pool cost of a card by 1. The easiest way to prevent abuse is to give it a blood cost, but it may not be necessary.

> jblacey wrote: > > A minion may play only one Ritual of Awakening between their unlock phases. > No, sorry, you got it wrong. The wording is tricky: > > Only usable by a Black Hand vampire. > Unlock a card you control that is not a minion. > It does not unlock as normal during your next unlock phase. > Only one Ritual of Awakening can be played on a card between your untap phases. > I try it in other words: One (or more) Black Hand vampire can play as many Rituals of Awakening as his wants, as long as different targets are chosen. Ritual of Awakening is indeed intended to be an On the Qui Vive for non-minion cards in game (= non-minion permanents; but this is not a V:tES keyword), but of course they cannot play reactions cards themselves since they are not minions. Maybe Ritual of Awakening could be phrased like this: »Only usable by a Black Hand vampire. Unlock a non-minion permanent you control. It does not unlock as normal during your next unlock phase. Only one Ritual of Awakening can be played on the same non-minion permanent between your untap phases.« The most horrible scenario can imagine right now involves House of Sorrow (www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?lib=1970), since you could in fact untap the same non-minion permanent three times by using one Ritual of Awakening on the permanent and one Ritual of Awakening on House of Sorrow. This is some kind of setup, and if a player managed to get it done, he maybe would just deserve it. National Coordinator Germany nc [dot] germany [at] magenta [dot] de

Oh, that was the fuss about the unlock phase thing... That should be worded pretty easily. > Ritual of Awakening > > Requires a ready Black Hand vampire. > Unlock a locked card you control that is not a minion. That card does not unlock as normal on your next unlock phase. A card can be unlocked with Ritual of Awakening only once between your unlock phases. > No fuss. It's clear enough, if we consider that Remover, On the Qui Vive and House of Sorrow are still a thing. Used said cards as reference. Add a blood cost if play testing demands it. Someone might start to argue that the text only refers to the exact one copy of Ritual of Awakening, but then punch them in the face. "Oh, to the Hades with the manners! He's a complete bastard, and calling him that insults bastards everywhere!" -Nalia De-Arnise garourimgazette.wordpress.com/ www.vekn.net/forum-guidelines