Re: Harbingers of Skulls Newsletter, Summer 2007
- From: "Orpheus" <orpheus.13@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 03:59:27 +0200
Obviously a bleed increasing action modifier is a welcome addition to
the Harbingers of Skulls arsenal, especially one that can give +2
bleed with no blood cost. Every HoS can use the card; only Mina
Grotius is limited to the 'inferior' [nec] level.
The popular term coined since Bloodlines is : "outferior".
TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
Avoid cards that cost blood. That's the simple version of the tip.
The more nuanced version would be to use cards that cost blood only
when you can be fairly sure they will have the desired effect, that
the effect is significantly better than is available from cards with
no cost, and that your vampires can afford to pay the blood.
For example, a hand strike at +2 strength with no cost (superior
Undead Strength) is generally better than a hand strike at +3 strength
for a cost of 1 blood (superior Pushing the Limit), for several
reasons. The improvement, 1 extra damage, does not exceed the cost.
The cost makes your vampire more vulnerable, so that a vampire with
only one or two blood might choose not to play Pushing the Limit (and
a vampire with no blood cannot play it!), while Undead Strength has no
such problems. Also, the opposing minion could dodge, strike to end
combat, or prevent all damage from your strike. Then Pushing the
Limit costs you a blood but has no effect at all on your opponent. A
card like Uncontrollable Rage is an even worse investment - an action
modifier played as an action is announced for a cost of 2 blood (at
superior), it makes a vampire's hand strikes do +2 aggravated damage
until the end of the action. That's a great effect, but your opponent
sees it coming. They're very likely to avoid combat, end combat,
dodge, or maneuuver to long range; then you're out two blood for
nothing.
Of course, with proper card support it's possible for Pushing the
Limit or even Uncontrollable Rage to be useful cards. Drawing out the
Beast keeps the combat at close range, letting you play Immortal
Grapple to prevent dodges and strikes to end combat, and Taste of
Vitae will usually recoup the blood expense. But even with those
cards in hand there's plenty that can go wrong. Frenzies and Grapples
can be canceled (Drawing out the Beast is a Frenzy); damage can be
prevented.
That's the worst thing about cards with a blood cost - paying the
blood and not getting any result. Action cards are safest, since you
only pay the cost if the action succeeds (that is, the action is not
blocked or canceled) and, with the exception of bleeds and political
actions, once an action succeeds it almost always has the desired
effect. Bleeds are susceptible to being reduced or having their
target changed (being "bounced"), and referendums can be voted down or
canceled, but even so a blood cost on a bleed or political action is
generally not the kind of negative attribute that it would be on a
combat card.
Yes, it's quite different : I usually prefer to play a Conditionning rather
than a Threat !!
You just need to weigh the cost against the effect, and
consider your vampire's ability to afford the cost. Compare Govern
the Unaligned and Scouting Mission.
Govern the Unaligned
Cardtype: Action
Cost: 1 blood
Discipline: Dominate
[dom] (D) Bleed with +2 bleed.
[DOM] +1 stealth action. Move 3 blood from the blood bank to a younger
vampire in your uncontrolled region.
Scouting Mission
Cardtype: Action
Discipline: Dominate
[dom] (D) Bleed with +1 bleed.
[DOM] +1 stealth action. Move 2 blood from the blood bank to a younger
vampire in your uncontrolled region.
Because it's only paid when the action is successful, the cost of
Govern is fully balanced by the effect (at either level). That
doesn't mean the cost is negligible. A deck built around low- and mid-
capacity vampires may prefer Scouting, as Govern could exhaust the
vampires too quickly... unless you're only going to use a few such
actions, in which case Govern is probably a better choice because
you'll get more power from fewer cards.
But Govern gets you a vampire out not only at a lesser cost, but also
faster. Which is why I'll prefer to find a way to mitigate its cost.
Archetypes like Capitalist or Perfectionnist usually do that very nicely.
There is one special danger to blood-costing action cards. Since you
only pay the cost when the action succeeds, if you're not careful your
vampire could have enough blood when you declare the action but end up
unable to pay the cost by the time the action would resolve. In such
a situation, the action 'fizzles', i.e. it ends unsuccessfully. If
your vampire could pay part (but not all) of the cost, they must pay
as much as they can but the action still fizzles.
Yes, especially when using Necromancy this cannot be underlined enough :
you'll never get that Shambling if you have only 4 blood and need to play
both a Call of the Hungry Dead and a Spectral Divination to get it (barring
all path-like / Charisma card in play, which is why such cards are so
important in a zombies deck).
OVERVIEW: HARBINGERS AND ANARCHS
Being an Anarch gives a vampire access to certain cards not usable by
non-Anarchs. Most obvious are the 'threefers', the cards which have a
use at the basic level of each of three disciplines.
Diversion. This can be one of the strongest of the threefers, due to
the synergy between the three uses of this combat card. For the HoS,
[for] "prevent up to 2 damage" is decent, but without access to the
[cel] or [tha] it hardly justifies going Anarch. Mina Grotius would
also have access to [cel] "gain one additional strike", so there are
some possibilities there. Phagian has [tha] for a ranged strike to
steal one blood, with an optional manuever, but it's not a strong
enough combo to be using an 8-cap vampire.
Friend of Mine. This reaction card is the only threefer featuring two
HoS disciplines, [nec] and [for]. Unfortunately, it costs a blood and
its effects are better gotten via Spectral Divination and Telepathic
Counter. No HoS can use the [obt] effect, which is unimpressive
anyway.
Gear Up. All HoS could use this card at [nec], none can access either
of the other two functions. That's ok, as moving a card from your ash
heap to your hand and then untapping, all at +1 stealth, is the best
of this action card's three functions. It's certainly worth the one
blood cost, if there's a card in your ash heap you'd like to use on
your turn.
One of the cards definitely worth going Anarch for.
Improvised Tactics. All HoS except Mina Grotius have [aus], and
Zygodat also has [pot], but it's hard to see a use for this card
except in combination with Trap, and not so much even then.
Loose Cannon. This is an interesting card, but only Gisela Harden had
[dem] and only Phagian has [tha], so it's not offering our clan much.
The Mole. Both Unre and Phagian could play this card at [dom], but
are unlikely to be Anarchs and could just use the much better card
Deflection instead. Only Babalawo Alafin has [ani] and only Mina
Grotius has [cel], and neither of those effects are hard for us to
come by anyway.
Principia Discordia. Every HoS but Mina could use the [aus] action to
burn a piece of equipment at +1 stealth. The less-useful [qui] and
[ser] effects would only be available to Anisa Marianna Lopez and
Unre, respectively.
Reformation. Only Unre would get much out of this card, and Unre the
Anarch is unlikely.
Skullduggery. This action card would only be for Egotha, and only at
[obf] to bleed at +1 stealth with an optional maneuver if blocked.
Maybe there's some possibility for an Anarch Trochomancy deck with
Egotha and Raful al-Zarqa?
Smash and Grab. This card offers a nice variety of mildly hostile
actions, if you happen to be packing [ani], [dem] and [pot]. We are
not.
Smoke and Mirrors. Egotha, again, is the only one who could benefit
from this card, again only at [obf], this time for +2 stealth on a non-
bleed, non-political action.
Undue Influence. Only Unre could use it, only at [qui]. It is of no
interest to us.
What about non-discipline minion cards? Groundfighting might be
useful anti-Grapple tech if your only combat defense is Spiritual
Intervention. Fee Stakes could be useful for grabbing Baron titles,
backed up by Emissary and Rant for vote push. Some of the political
actions are ok, too. But there's one card that stands out as begging
for the Harbingers of Skulls to use it.
Border Skirmish
+1 stealth action. Requires a ready anarch.
Each other Methuselah discards one card at random from his or her
hand, and this anarch untaps at the end of the turn.
Any other Methuselah who is trying to carefully grooming their hand
will be hampered by this action. It also accelerates a
Slaughterhouse / Brinksmanship ousting strategy by attacking
everybody's library.
Yes, or bleed in Trochomancy (recurring under Gear Up or Maabara) !!
Anyway, nice letter. I'll be sure to include it whenever I update the
Necrosite !
--
"All Hail the Lords of the Night !"
Orpheus
.
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