Daughters of Cacophony Playbill September 2010
The Lasombra
I. Reintroduction
II. Fiction - Harmony
II. Vampire - Scout Youngwood
III. Library Cards - Harmony
IV. Deck - Choir 2010
Reintroduction
Call me Forrest. I had the pleasure of taking the Daughters' into
fourth place at the North American Championships in 2003 and took up
the mantle of writing the Daughters' Playbill back in 2004 and edited
the Playbill in 2005-2006. Known for my Daughters' decks, I was
honored when Matt Morgan informed me he used a Daughters' deck
inspired by mine to win at Origins in 2009. But Angela can probably
tell my story better.
Fiction
Without hesitation, despite never seeing her before and the long line
of attractive women, security let Angela Preston into the club.
Security was not even aware they had let her pass, but they did have a
sense of being in the presence of greatness that left a pleasant song
in their head.
Angela had come out of hiding after many long years. She had grown
weary of the game. Hunters seemed to pop-up over night and the game
was no longer fun. "Damn Imbued," her thoughts sang in her mind. But
she had kept a watchful ear over her clan. Songs of their
accomplishments rang throughout the Masquerade.
Angela began to hear of a new choir led by an aspiring singer, Scout
Youngwood. "Funny," her thoughts sang, "that Scout would choose
Youngwood to denote hers and the Daughters' status in the Masquerade."
Angela had come out tonight to check out this new choir.
She positioned herself in a quiet corner where she could listen to the
sounds of the club and the patrons. The DJ was playing music loud,
the music was off key and the sound system was improperly balanced and
played the music just a bit fast. No one except Angela could detect
the flaws. While Angela was distracted by the sounds of the club and
as she corrected the music in her mind, she also detected the distinct
sounds of other Kindred. The sewer dwellers had come out from where
rats dwelled; artisans who painted with blood had put down their
brushes; vain politicians had adjourned sessions but still spewed hot
air. If Angela could detect them, they would already know of her
presence. She forced herself to focus on social charm and saw some
eyes upon her and most of what she heard from those eyes was a sense
of awe for her even though she was a thin blood, she was still
respected.
Scout's band took the stage. Angela detected something new in the
music. Something new in the Harmony. It was stronger than the usual
Daughters' choir. It was harmonious. Everyone in the audience was
entranced by the singer and the song. Not one soul, living or undead,
could tune out the music from their minds. Angela keyed the aria and
softly joined. No one would notice as they too were mouthing the
lyrics, but the addition of Angela's soft undertone made the hymn ring
truer and louder in everyone's mind. No one noticed, except Scout,
immediately detected the shared voice. Scout smiled. She was
honored.
After the show, many fans hoped for a private audience. Many elders
sought access backstage, attempting dominate and presence to get past,
but were intercepted by the members of the entourage. A member of the
entourage approached Angela. She wasn't focused and when he was close
enough to her to strike, she feared she sensed him too late. But
rather than striking her, he handed her a VIP pass and escorted her
backstage.
All that remained was a persistent echo.
Vampire
Harlan Graves [HttB:U]
Cardtype: Vampire
Clan: Daughter of Cacophony
Group: 6
Capacity: 4
Discipline: mel pre FOR
Independent: If Harlan is diablerized, no blood hunt can be called. He
gets -1 intercept against non-bleed actions.
Artist: Andrew Trabbold
One of the biggest criticisms of Harlan (and the Ahrimane Dovey) that
I've heard is the presence of a male in all female clans. It is
insulting (just as the picture of the actual Choir card). Daughters
of Cacophony are an all-female clan. WoD players created exceptions
in their fan LARPs and online, referring to male Daughters as Sons of
Discord. But there was no official addition of men in the bloodline,
until White Wolf made reference to the Sons of Discord abominations in
the Players guide second edition and to make it clear that men are not
part of the Daughters, White Wolf created a storyline that all the
known Sons of Discord were eliminated by the Daughters of Cacophony,
once again purifying the bloodline. (There may be one male remaining,
but it's a Secret.)
So where does Harlan Graves fit into the bloodline or the storyline?
In White Wolf publication, Nights of Prophecy (WW 2265), it details
Harlan Graves as a young Son of Discord, exterminated by the
Daughters, but it was he who sired Celeste, Voice of the Secret. So
Harlan does have a place in the Daughters' storyline.
The elimination of the Sons of Discord by the Daughters explains
Harlan's unique disadvantage of being diablerized without a blood
hunt. No one knows why the Daughters eliminated the Sons of Discord,
but that is an internal matter and not one for discussion.
Harlan's other disadvantage is rather mild for a Daughter of
Cacophony. Because Daughters constantly have a song in their head
bordering on madness, they are not aware of their surroundings and
lack intercept skills. The fact that Harlan has no intercept
disadvantage against bleed actions is significant. It allows him to
attempt to block a bleed action without burning blood or at an
automatic disadvantage and in VTES, bleeding is the most common way of
winning the game. However, Harlan is at a disadvantage against all
other action types, including rush and political actions. Most of
these actions already have built in +1 stealth, putting defenders at
essentially a -1 intercept disadvantage anyway and would require
defenders to come up with an intercept to attempt to block. In
Harlan's case, he'd have to come up with +2 intercept. If a deck is
running intercept to block stealth actions like equipping, political,
or creating allies, it may be able to give Harlan enough intercept
against these actions, but other vampires maybe better suited to block
against those actions. If defending against a bleed action, Harlan
does as well as most other vampires.
Harlan has the three in-clan disciplines, melpominee, presence, and
Fortitude, making him useful in any Daughters' deck. The superior
fortitude makes him useful as a speed bump against bleed actions as he
will be able to prevent damage with fortitude. The superior fortitude
also allows him to Freak Drive after performing actions. However, his
low capacity would limit his use of blood cost cards. His inferior
melpominee makes him a weaker Daughter for some Daughters' cards,
including Siren's Lure, Choir, Art's Traumatic Essence, and Missing
Voice. Still he is able to perform a basic choir and untap with Freak
Drive to perform a Harmony, call a vote, or take a bleed action, or to
be available to tap for a Siren's Lure when another is attempting a
deadly action. The inferior presence does give him some good combat
cards even at inferior, voting abilities, and bleed actions and
modifiers.
He is in group six, allowing him to be paired with Scout Youngwood,
Evil Jensen, and Hillenvale. Janet Langer is in group five and also
could be added to the bunch. His low capacity allows him to be
brought out quickly, essentially in one influence phase, for an
additional vampire or if a bleed blocker is needed.
Library Cards - Harmony
Harmony [HttB:R]
Cardtype: Action
Clan: Daughter of Cacophony
+1 stealth action.
(D) Your prey burns 3 pool for each Choir card you control. Burn all
Choir cards you control.
Artist: E.M. Gist
This card makes Choir decks viable. Granted, previously Choir decks
have been able to pull off a victory point here or there, especially
with the printing of Hanging Fermata to keep them around for a second
attempt the next turn. But now Choir decks are a real threat.
What often attracts players to a Choir is that Choir is essentially an
alternate win condition in VTES. It is directed action pool loss
rather than bleed or political action. So, Choir pool loss can't be
bounced or out-voted. The defense against Choir is to block or the
cancel the action. Daughters have many ways of distracting blockers,
so blocking can be difficult. Superior Choir and Harmony are directed
actions against your prey, so your predator can not typically attempt
to block in an effort to save your prey.
Harmony does 3x pool loss, rather than the superior Choir's 2x pool
loss. Harmony is a different action, so Daughters can perform both a
basic Choir, untap, and perform a Harmony in the same turn. It is an
amazingly efficient way to cause pool loss to your prey. As
mentioned, with the right cards in hand one Daughter can do 3 pool
loss on her own. Two Daughters have the potential to do 6 pool loss,
etc., essentially the equivalent of each bleeding for 3 pool. Granted,
some bleeds can get much larger than 3 bleed, but they also lack
inherent stealth and are subject to Deflection or reduction. Choir and
Harmony have built in +1 stealth and are not subject to deflection or
reduction. The fact that Daughters are thin-blooded, i.e. low
capacity, means one can get potentially several Daughters into play
and build a nice Choir.
Harmony is limited to a Daughter of Cacophony. This really isn't a
disadvantage. In deck testing, it was important to remember that the
off-Daughter clan with melpominee had to do the basic Choirs, while
the Daughters did the Harmony. It is often tempting to leave a
Daughter untapped while another does the Harmony, so the untapped
Daughter can action modify with Siren's Lure. It also means that
Harmony cannot be chosen for Persistent Echo as it is not a melpominee
card, but a Daughters of Cacophony card.
Another new Melpominee card, Virtuosa ([HttB:C]; Cardtype: Action
Modifier; Cost: 3 blood; Discipline: Melpominee / Presence; [pre] +1
stealth.; [mel] +1 stealth and +2 bleed, or +2 bleed. You cannot play
another action modifier to increase this bleed amount. ;[MEL] Only
usable when the action is announced. This action is unblockable.;
Artist: Juan Calle.) works rather nicely at superior to ensure no one
blocks the Harmony. Virtuosa is a little expensive, especially for
low capacity Daughters, but what player wouldn't sacrifice 3 blood off
a vampire to get essentially an assured victory point.
Honestly, I am not sure how Harmony got passed play testers. Glad it
did though.
Deck -- A Girl Called Harmony
Knowing there would suddenly be a lot of renewed interest in the
Daughters of Cacophony because of Harmony, I found the original Choir
decks prepared by myself, RavATwoFaces, and Lasombra. For more
information about these decks and their construction and comments, see
the March 2006 Daughters Playbill, which can be found on Lasombra's
site < http://www.thelasombra.com/ >.
Deck Name: Lost Choir Storyline deck
Created By: Forrest Nielsen
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 11, Max: 25, Avg: 4.33)
----------------------------------------------
1 Ember Wright aus dom 3, Tremere antitribu:3
1 Brooke dom tha 3, Tremere Antitribu:2
1 Ian Forestal AUS DOM THA 8, Tremere Antitribu:2
1 Muse ani for mel 3, Daughters of Cacophony:2
2 Celeste mel pre 3, Daughters of Cacophony:2
2 Angela Preston for MEL PRE 5, Daughters of Cacophony:2
2 Gael Pilet chi FOR MEL pre 6, Daughters of Cacophony:2
2 Delilah Monroe for MEL pre 4, Daughters of Cacophony:2
Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (16 cards)
2 Blood Doll
2 Dreams of the Sphinx
2 Effective Management
2 Infernal Pact
1 Spontaneous Power
1 Paris Opera House
2 Specialization
2 Tribute to the Master
1 University Hunting Ground
1 From a Sinking Ship
Action (33 cards)
28 Choir
3 Legal Manipulations
2 Entancement
Action Modifier (18 cards)
5 Freak Drive
4 Missing Voice, The
5 Siren`s Lure
1 Aire of Elation
1 Kiss of Ra
2 Daring the Dawn
Reaction (8 cards)
3 Defelection
5 Wake with Evening`s Freshness
Combat (15 cards)
2 Majesty
4 Resilience
2 Soak
7 Staredown
Lost Choir Storyline Deck was made pre-Legacy of Blood and did not
have the benefit of Hanging Fermata or Persistent Echo, which could
increase the effectiveness of a Choir deck.
Deck Name : passeggiatrici & papponi
Author : RavATwoFaces
About the deck name: 'passeggiatrici' is a 'kind' italian name for
'harlots' and 'papponi' is the italian name for the people who
protects 'harlots'... sorry but I don't know the english translation.
Crypt [14 vampires] Capacity min: 2 max: 6 average: 4.29
------------------------------------------------------------
2x Gaël Pilet 6 FOR MEL chi pre Daughter :2
2x Yseult 6 FOR MEL PRE Daughter :3
2x Angela Preston 5 MEL PRE for Daughter :2
2x Delilah Monroe 4 MEL for pre Daughter :2
2x Céleste, The Voice 3 mel pre Daughter :2
1x Zhara 4 ani for pre Ishtarri:3
1x Lolita 3 for pre !Toreador:2
1x Muse 3 ani for mel Daughter :2
1x Frederick the Weak 2 pre !Brujah:2
Library [90 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------
Action [23]
23x Choir
Action Modifier [23]
2x Change of Target
4x Freak Drive
9x Missing Voice, The
2x Phantom Speaker
6x Siren's Lure
Ally [8]
8x Procurer
Combat [17]
4x Backstep
2x Death of the Drum
3x Dodge
4x Hidden Strength
4x Majesty
Event [2]
1x FBI Special Affairs Division
1x Unmasking, The
Master [17]
7x Blood Doll
2x Direct Intervention
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
3x Hanging Fermata
1x KRCG News Radio
1x Paris Opera House
1x Spontaneous Power
Deck Name: The Great Girl Band
Created By: The Lasombra
(note: constructed pre-Legacy of Blood, thus no Hanging Fermata,
Perfectionist, Persistent Echo, or Yseult.)
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 12, Max: 23, Avg: 4.42)
2 Muse ani for mel 3, Daughters of Cacophony
2 Celeste mel pre 3, Daughters of Cacophony
2 Delilah Monroe for MEL pre 4, Daughters of Cacophony
3 Angela Preston for MEL PRE 5, Daughters of Cacophony
3 Gael Pilet chi FOR MEL pre 6, Daughters of Cacophony
Library: (90 cards)
Master (13 cards)
2 Bastille Opera House
1 Elder Library
2 Paris Opera House
8 Tribute to the Master
Action (42 cards)
36 Choir
6 Concert Tour
Action Modifier (23 cards)
3 Change of Target
7 Freak Drive
1 Kiss of Ra, The
11 Missing Voice, The
1 Siren's Lure
Combat (12 cards)
9 Majesty
3 Toreador's Bane
One commonality is the amount of Choirs these included, between 20-30
Choirs. With Harmony, this number can come down, freeing some card
slots. Remember all one really needs is one Choir and one Harmony to
do 3 pool loss. In revamping the list, I kept the Choir numbers high,
about 20 Choirs and about 8 Harmonies. After play testing the deck, I
found I didn't have to have each minion perform a Choir for Harmony to
be effective. All I really needed was to have one minion do a Choir
and Harmony or have another minion do the Harmony. So I lowered the
number of Choirs and increased the number of Harmonies.
Deck - A Girl Called Harmony
Deck Name: A Girl Called Harmony
Created By: Forrest
Description: This deck has little chance, if any, of catching
opponents by using intercept, so I cut the intercept cards. I also
found this deck works almost equally well as a Shattering Crescendo
deck if you replace all of the Choirs and Harmonies with Shattering
Crescendos, though you may want more vamps with superior MEL.
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 12, Max: 24, Avg: 4.5)
---------------------------------------------
2 Angela Preston for MEL PRE 5 Daughters of Cacophony
2 Celeste mel pre 3 Daughters of Cacophony
2 Delilah Monroe for MEL pre 4 Daughters of Cacophony
2 Gael Pilet chi FOR MEL pre6 Daughters of Cacophony
2 Muse ani for mel 3 Daughters of Cacophony
2 Yseult FOR MEL PRE 6 Daughters of Cacophony
Library: (84 cards)
-------------------
Master (14 cards)
1 Archon Investigation
3 Blood Doll
1 Command Performance
1 Direct Intervention
2 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Effective Management
1 Lilith's Blessing
1 Paris Opera House
1 Specialization
1 Sudden Reversal
1 Wider View
Action (35 cards)
19 Choir
5 Entrancement
11 Harmony
Action Modifier (18 cards)
7 Freak Drive
3 Missing Voice, The
6 Siren`s Lure
2 Virtuosa
Combat (15 cards)
2 Majesty
8 Rolling with the Punches
2 Soak
3 Staredown
Ally (1 cards)
1 Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
Equipment (1 cards)
1 Heart of Nizchetus
Comments: The Lilith's Blessing could probably be cut from the Harmony
deck because the Daughters didn't lose as much blood as I thought they
would. However, Lilith's Blessing could be effective in the
Shattering Crescendo deck version as Shattering Crescendo will cost
the Daughters blood. I was asked about the Wider View- every vampire
in this deck has a duplicate, Wider View is great for cycling the
crypt and getting rid of the duplicates in the uncontrolled region.
Because the Daughters are relatively low capacity vampires and the
Methuselah needs vampires to sing the Choir, Effective Management is
an easy way to get another vampire into the uncontrolled region.
The original thoughts on a Choir deck construction reprinted from the
March 2006 playbill:
When approaching how to design a Choir deck the first thing to
consider is that one will need to reliably draw at least 2-3 choir
cards in a turn. To assure that choir cards are drawn fairly reliably
the deck needs to be composed of 25-30 percent choir cards. Thus, in
a 90-card deck there should be 23-30 choirs. What this also means is
that one's 7-card hand will load up on choir cards, so a way to
dispose or "set aside" choir cards may be useful.
Another consideration when making a Choir deck is figuring out how to
get enough vampires that have melpominee or can play melpominee cards
to achieve a 2-3 choirs in a turn. Small to lower end mid-capacity
vampires are desirable for this task. If the vampires are too large,
they might not come out soon enough or there might not be enough to do
a successful choir. In addition, if the choir angle falls apart,
having a small army of weenie low capacity vampires can be useful for
a bleed assault.
Like with any deck, consideration should also be given to pool gain
and combat defense. The deck has to build up to a minimum of 3-4
vampires. While building, the vampires will need defense as well as a
player's pool. Because few opponents "waste" reactions or intercept
to block inferior choirs, instead saving them for the superior Choir,
Perfectionist is a great archetype master to use in a Choir deck for
blood gain (which can be pulled off with Blood Dolls). While vampires
usually can gain blood with Perfectionist when playing inferior Choir,
a player must decide if that is the best use of a master slot in a
deck.
If a player is going to attempt a Choir deck, the deck should remain
focused. Daughters are good at a lot of different approaches -
presence bleed, voting, combat defense. It is easy to lose focus and
add some cards "just in case", but with almost any deck the more
focused, the more likely success. A couple cards for "just in case"
is acceptable, but it is not recommended to try to make the deck part
bleed and part choir or part vote and part choir. It dilutes the
chances of a successful choir deck, or bleed or vote deck.
As with any Daughter deck, be aware that they are weak on intercept.
Either ignore this weakness or find alternative means to intercept.
svensven
Something I saw Jay Kristoff do (not saying he created it, but he's my
frame of reference) is load his deck full of Slaughterhouses to use
the burn option to keep his deck far thinner than a standard deck
would be. I assume this was done to ensure that his hand was full of
allies when he wanted to ally dump.
It seems to me any deck based around a single card or card type would
benefit from this model. So exceedingly tight with what you want
(Choir, Harmony in this case), a little support, then thin the rest
with burn option cards.
Also, is it worth thinking about cheap OBF vamps like Lubomira or
Florentina and Psychic Veil at superior?
TorranceCircle
> Deck Name : passeggiatrici & papponi
> Author : RavATwoFaces
>
> About the deck name: 'passeggiatrici' is a 'kind' italian name for
> 'harlots' and 'papponi' is the italian name for the people who
> protects 'harlots'... sorry but I don't know the english translation.
I think the english translation for papponi (at least in the Standard
American English dialect) is pimp.