Nosferatu Newsletter, February 2010
BeAst
Contents:
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Fiction
3.0 New Crypt
3.1 Vampires of Note
4.0 New Library
5.0 Everything is better with Dominate!
5.1 Dominant Crypt Choices
6.0 Decks
6.1 Deck 1: Ugly Dominance
6.2 Deck 2: Updated Royalty
---
1.0 Introduction:
This brief missive lifts the sewer lid on the current state of play
for the Nosferatu in vtes, following the recent releases of Keepers of
Tradition and Heirs to the Blood.
Please accept my apologies if the formatting is off, this was created
offline, then uploaded via google groups.
---
2.0 Fiction:
Calebros shifted his bulk uncomfortably in his heavily stained office
chair. The chair, like its occupant was hideously leathery, sagging,
and looked like it had spent the last few decades in a sewer, which
indeed, both had. He tried to focus on what the excited youngster was
waving in his face. It looked like muddy printouts, and photographs,
but the speed of their movement made it impossible to discern any
detail. Calebros cursed his own nature, and (briefly) considered
employing someone to filter out meetings like these.
"What..." he rumbled "have you got there?"
The Neonate, who went by the unfortunate moniker of Slag, ceased their
excited jiggling and stream of chatter, and with a deep inhalation and
an effort of will managed to blurt
"Crusaders! Across the Atlantic! Moving across Eastern Europe, it’s
all there, I got it off the network!"
Frowning, Calebros pondered. He had no doubt as to the value of the
new technology Slag seemed obsessed with as one of Uncle Smelly’s
disciples, and fast data connections run underground were almost a
gift to the Nosferatu, diviners of secrets. Slag was far too young to
remember the crusades, however, as was he. After a moment chewing on
what once may have been a lip, as Slag looked on, barely able to
contain her excitement, Calebros said
"Leave it with me."
Beaming, Slag dropped the sheaf onto Calebros' desk. Her expression
froze in place as the papers clipped a brass angle poise lamp and sent
it wobbling. Turning on her heel, she almost sprinted out of the dank
office that served at Calebros' home and office.
Calebros sighed and steadied the lamp. Eyes closed, and rubbing his
temples he could almost feel the weight of his Princely crown. As he
opened them again, the first thing that swam into focus was Slag's
pictures. Something jarred. Trusting instincts that had served him for
centuries, he spread the printouts across his desk. For a few minutes
he sat in silence, rearranging the pattern in front of him, as if
trying to discern some hidden meaning. With each iteration he sat
progressively straighter, until he reached a gnarled hand to a long
neglected Bakelite telephone, lifted it and spoke clearly and slowly.
Although the recipient of the call had no need to draw breath, the
contents of the call caused an audible gasp.
"Listen carefully. I need three things:
Firstly, I am going on a trip. Europe. Poland. Make all the necessary
formal arrangements.
Second, there may be a requirement for outside contractors. Please
enquire as to local assets.
Lastly, I am going to dictate something for you to take to the
Justicar. He will take it to his peers. Make sure you write down what
I am about to say exactly."
---
3.0 New Crypt:
The Nosferatu as a clan have seen an influx of some new crypt options
and access to some nice library additions in the last few big sets
(Keepers and Heirs). Below are some of what I consider highlights, and
some ideas of how to use them.
Keepers of Tradition saw no new Nos starter, but the boosters
contained a number of vamps, ranging from Nichodemus (potence weenie)
all the way to Alonso Petrodon and Josef Van Buren, the g4/5 Justicar
and Inner Circle members. Overall Nos got some decent choices,
including a vein of Dominate.
The Heirs expansion saw a mixed precon with Samedi, but no new vamps
in it.
3.1 Vampires of note:
Josef Van Buren (http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?crypt=1230)
Poor Josef is slightly underwhelming. His +1 stealth in lieu of any
more bleed is strange. He's an Inner Circle member, and has superior
Obfuscate, so it seems like he's the runt of the new IC litter. Off
clan disciplines are DEM and cel. Although he's not the only Nos in
the new batch with access to dementation, I think you'd struggle to
make a deck around it. Cel at inferior gives some extra rush combat
options, but at 11 pool, its a very pricy non-dedicated combat minion
to be throwing around. Josef's special, whilst amusing isn't good, per-
se and is in the same vein as Gerald Rafin.
Alsonso Petrodon (http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?crypt=1170)
Alsonso is much more worth a look than his boss. He has the same
innate bleed, a semi-practical special, and access to DOM. As 10 cap
Justicar, you could base a deck around his title, and DOM/OBF and get
access to something approximating a political / malk '94 deck (not
that I'd ever advocate that!).
Baron Dieudonne (http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?crypt=1176)
The new Prince of Brussels, taking over from Niklaus Vermulen. A very
good vampire with a reasonable discipline spread, title, and a built
in inferior Freak Drive. I expect to see him get some use in new
Royalty decks.
Jeremy Wix Wyzchovsky (http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?
crypt=1226) A solid 5 cap with a built in camera phone, and all in-
clan disciplines at inferior.
---
4.0 New Library:
Despite the lack of a KoT precon and the dilute Heirs one, there are
still a number of good new cards available for the Nosferatu to use,
and some good reprints.
Warsaw Station. (http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?lib=1967) A
solid investment of pool in higher cap decks, where actions and
minions are important since you'll be using fewer of both.
Old Friends. (http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?lib=1948) A boon
for Royalty decks, giving extra vote push to compliment animal
magnetism, or if you've got the votes locked down, extra bleed.
Deep Song. (http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?lib=1928) An
excellent card for the Nos, giving extra bleed to a discipline set
that's lacked it, or another rush option to a clan with potence and
animalism to hand.
Heirs has seen some extra +1 stealth cards as inferior versions of
bloodline cards, as well as a +1 strength strike and a dodge, but
nothing spectacular.
---
5.0 Everything is better with Dominate!
Tired of being the bounce sink at your friendly and competitive games?
Sick of your prey table sweeping because he can outpace you? Then the
g4/5 Nos have something for you!
Yes, there seems to be a reasonable vein of Dominate in the new cards,
allowing some extra deck options that previously Nos have struggled
with. Traditional Nos decks seem to fall into the (reasonably
successful) Royalty deck, or (more dicey) rush combat. Adding dominate
allows the Nos to consider threat bleed, and stealth bleed. Further,
governing / scouting down gives them some much needed pool
recuperation.
http://www.thelasombra.com/decks/twd.htm#2k9socnewark – This is a fair
example of a threat/bleed deck built using the new Nos, some rushes,
combat and some powerful bleed.
http://www.thelasombra.com/decks/twd.htm#2k9englishecq – A similar
example (albeit not using Nos, but still relying on pot, dom, ani)
5.1 Dominant Crypt Choices:
Sergei Voshkov, The Eye - http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?crypt=1267
– Sergei is useful, even given his inferior dominate. His native +1
intercept means that if he elects to block in front of a stealthy
predator, he can deflect when his block attempt fails, making it
harder for your prey to deal with. If he successfully blocks, then he
has the option of getting rid of offensive actions, and remaining
untapped via cat’s guidance.
Alonso Petrodon - http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?crypt=1170
- I mentioned him earlier, he’s a good solid vamp for his price, and
has a good set of disciplines and a title to base any number of
different deck archetypes off.
Gustaphe Brunnelle - http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?crypt=1215
– Gustaphe has 1 vote, and good disciplines for a threat bleed deck.
It would be possibly worth basing the deck around him as the star. His
built in rush only adds to his appeal.
Echo - http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?crypt=751 – The poor
relation of the choices here (and predating KoT). Her lack of access
to animalism no vote, inferior Dom, and limited-usefulness special
probably won’t see her used much
Harold Tanner - http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?crypt=1219 –
Another good vampire for his price. He has a reasonable discipline
spread, particularly for a rush / threat bleed deck and a special that
means greater intelligence about what your pred / prey are up to.
---
6.0 Decks
Below are two decks showing what you can do with the new crypt and
library cards available. I’ve selected a deck with off-clan Dominate
and a more traditional Royalty type.
6.1 Deck 1: Ugly Dominance:
This is a potential deck based around some of the above with some
support from non-Nossies patterned after Mike Wilson's 2009 English
ECQ deck - http://www.thelasombra.com/decks/twd.htm#2k9englishecq.
Deck Name: Ugly Dominance
Created By: John Best after Mike Wilson
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 19 Max: 32 Mean: 6.41)
------------------------------------------------------------
4x Gustaphe Brunelle (8) ANI DOM POT obf Primogen Nosferatu:4
1 x Conrad Adoula (8) DOM OBT POT cel ani Lasombra:4
2x Harold Tanner (6) POT ani dom obf Nosferatu:4
1x Joseph Cambridge (6) POT ani dom obf Bishop !
Nosferatu:4
1x Otieno (6) OBT POT ani
dom Lasombra:4
1x Virginie, Prodigy (6) DOM POT obt
Bishop Lasombra:4
1x Beetleman (4) ANI obf Nosferatu:4
1x Stick (3)
ANI !
Nosferatu:4
Min 19 Max 32 Mean 6.41
Library (90 cards)
------------------------------------------------------------
Action (12)
2x Army of Rats
7x Govern the Unaligned
3x Scouting Mission
Action Modifier (10)
5x Bonding
5x Conditioning
Combat (23)
7x Aid from Bats
8x Carrion Crows
4x Taste of Vitae
4x Thrown Gate
Combo (3)
3x Swallowed by the Night
Equipment (1)
1x Ivory Bow
Master (16)
4x Blood Doll
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x KRCG News Radio
1x WMRH Talk Radio
1x Wash
1x Slum Hunting Ground
1x Dominate
2x Direct Intervention
2x Fame
Reaction (22)
5x Cats' Guidance
7x Deflection
4x On the Qui Vive
2x Sense the Savage Way
2x Wake with Evening's Freshness
Retainer (5)
1x Mr. Winthrop
4x Raven Spy
------------------------------------------------------------
6.2 Deck 2: Updated Royalty
This is what I'm running at the moment, it's had some success, making
it to 2 finals and getting a load of VPs, but never taking first
place. Its my take on a standard-ish Nos Royalty deck but it uses Cock
Robin's special to untap after a Deep Song bleed, and Warsaw to untap
after a poli. It has hints of breed/boon and Casino and Niklaus
specials allow me to turbo out minions / recoup income from hunting
grounds:
Deck Name: A song of Deep Cock.....Robin
Created By: John Best
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 24, Max: 39, Mean:7.58 )
---------------------------------------------
3x Calebros (5) obf pot ANI Prince Nosferatu:2
4x Nikolaus Vermeulen (7) ani for obf POT Prince Nosferatu:2
2x Casino Reeds cel dem (9) ANI OBF POT Prince
Nosferatu:3
3x Cock Robin (10) aus for ANI OBF POT Justicar Nosferatu:3
------------------------------------------------------------
Possibly the Library could do with more diversity, and previous
versions have included Murat, Jara Drory, Ellison Humboldt, and even
Sundown. Its quite a weighty crypt too, but the breed boon /
parities / Vamp's special pull backs seem to be able to cope.
------------------------------------------------------------
Library [77]
Action [10]
4x Third Tradition: Progeny
5x Deep Song
1x ShreckNET
-------------------------------------------------------------
The ShreckNET is a recent addition. The deep songs are gold, both as
responsible bleed, and to give Cock Robin more actions per turn.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Political Action [15]
4x Parity Shift
4x Kine Resources Contested
4x Consanguineous Boon
1x Praxis Seizure: Houston
1x Praxis Seizure: Stockholm
1x Reinforcements
-------------------------------------------------------------
I take some stick for putting Reinforcements in, but I really rate it.
It allows me to build the deck again midgame.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Event [1]
1x Narrow Minds
-------------------------------------------------------------
With no option to bounce (ok with this crypt size, Lost in Translation
is an option, but in previous versions I found the blood drain a bit
heavy) Narrow Minds is a no brainer. I've had cross table abuse for
playing it, but honestly I'd rather they were losing blood, than I was
losing pool.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Action Modifiers [18]
2x Animal Magnetism
3x Forgotten Labyrinth
2x Spying Mission
2x Elder Impersonation
2x Cloak the Gathering
2x Into thin air
2x Faceless Night
3x Old Friends
-------------------------------------------------------------
No real surprises here.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Combo [3]
3x Swallowed by the night
Reaction [8]
6x Second Tradition: Domain
3x Mental Maze
--------------------------------------------------------------
Its not a combat heavy deck, so whilst there is some intercept, I'd
like to avoid combat if at all possible. The Mental Mazes have been
surprisingly good for that reason.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Combat [6]
6x Aid from bats
--------------------------------------------------------------
The combat is admittedly weak, but I've tried several variations up to
and including pot/ani nastiness, but it just seemed to detract from
the flow of the deck.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Masters [15]
3x Blood Doll
1x Elysium: Palace of Versailles
1x Slum Hunting Ground
1x The Labyrinth
1x Warsaw Station
1x Archon Investigation
1x Papillon
3x Obfuscate
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Direct Intervention
---------------------------------------------------------------
I'm loving Warsaw, again giving extra untap options to a chunky crypt.
Dreams I always get use from, and the Obfuscate masters work for the
3rd trads, or failing that, bolster Calebros or Niklaus.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for reading; I hope you’ve found it useful, informative and
interesting. If you haven’t, I hope you get dragged down a manhole.
John Best
Prince of Manchester (other)