The Seventh Tradition: Panic

A few days ago, Vampire: The Masquerade Sixth Edition was announced (player pack here, storyteller pack here)  and, judging by the internet, someone had accidentally started a global frenzy check. Social media transformed into one giant Elysium where everyone was passionately explaining why V6 would either save Vampire forever or personally set fire to their favourite clan. I downloaded the alpha playtest the moment it became available.

My feelings can best be described as 50% excitement and 50% existential dread.

I remember V5 receiving a similarly divided reception. The Hunger Dice, the Beckoning, the fall of the Tremere Pyramid, the Second Inquisition: many of those ideas felt controversial at first. Over time, though, they became some of my favourite parts of the game. Our tabletop group still alternates between V20 and V5 depending on the kind of story we want to tell, so I promised myself I wouldn't judge V6 too quickly.

Then I started reading.

Tabletop changes

Mechanically, V6 isn't trying to be "V5 with a few tweaks." It's a much more fundamental redesign.

The biggest headline is that Vitae and Health are effectively merged into one resource, meaning almost everything your vampire does now draws from the same pool. On paper, I actually like the idea. It reinforces the constant struggle between power and survival. Every Discipline activation becomes another little negotiation with your Beast: "Do I really need to survive this fight, or would I rather cast one more ritual?" That feels very VTM. In reality spending life to use a supernatural ability feels bad. I do not think this will be great, but we shall see.

There are some nice quality-of-life improvements though. Character creation now revolves around lifepaths, relationships and your sire's influence, which immediately caught my attention. The idea that your sire's personality shapes your starting resources and even your disciplines feels incredibly thematic. A Ventrue elder should raise a very different fledgling than a Toreador diva or an absent-minded Tremere Regent. That's exactly the sort of flavour I enjoy seeing in a roleplaying game.

Unfortunately, not every mechanical change landed quite as well with me.

The new dice system replaces V5's Hunger Dice entirely. Instead of replacing dice with Hunger, the Storyteller now subtracts dice from your pool based on difficulty, and successes only occur on 8, 9 and 10.

This worries me.

One of the reasons I loved Hunger Dice was that they constantly reminded you that the Beast was present. Success always came with a price lurking in the background. The new system feels much more mathematical than thematic. It also appears to reward larger dice pools even more heavily than before. Watching the demonstration game, the vampires often felt surprisingly ineffective. Of course, this is only an alpha, but my first impression wasn't particularly encouraging.

The discipline earthquake

Now let's talk about the part that immediately made my VTES brain start calculating future decklists. The Discipline changes. Some clans escaped untouched. My beloved Ventrue continue being sensible adults with Dominate, Fortitude and Presence, while Banu Haqim, Brujah, Nosferatu and Toreador also remain comfortably familiar.

Everyone else? Well... Someone clearly walked into the Discipline cabinet with a blender. The biggest casualty is Protean. Gone. Just... gone.

Gangrel now receive Animalism, Celerity and Fortitude, while the Ministry lose Protean as well in favour of the new Corruption Discipline. Protean powers are now merged into Animalism. As someone who has recently spent a great deal of time building Gangrel decks around Protean tricks like Earth Meld and Form of Mist, this feels like a particularly strange decision. Those powers are almost synonymous with the clan. Removing Protean from Gangrel feels a little like removing fangs from vampires because they're "too iconic." On the other hand, Nossies will be happy with their new tools I guess. 

Meanwhile Lasombra now choose between Corruption and Oblivion, Tzimisce can apparently choose between Tellurgy and Vicissitude, and Tremere gain access to either Blood Sorcery or Necromancy.

Which brings me to my favourite undead necromancers.

Spare a thought for the Hecata...

Or the Giovanni. Or both. When V5 introduced the Hecata, I had mixed feelings. I always loved the Giovanni, and initially I wasn't thrilled about them merging into one giant necromantic family reunion. Eventually, though, they won me over. So much so that I stopped chasing old Giovanni cards and instead invested heavily in Hecata because I assumed that was where the future of Vampire was heading. Now V6 quietly brings the Giovanni back. Part of me is delighted. The other part is staring at my Hecata deck wondering whether we've all just been through a very expensive identity crisis.

The Giovanni now use Auspex, Potence and Necromancy instead of the classic Dominate combination. On the tabletop I can certainly appreciate Auspex. In VTES... let's just say if someone offered me Dominate back, I wouldn't spend very long negotiating. There is one encouraging detail, however. Lasombra retaining Oblivion means Black Chantry could theoretically continue expanding Oblivion-based archetypes even if Hecata receive fewer new releases (if any). As someone who has recently become suspiciously fond of summoning zombies, I choose to interpret this as good news until someone tells me otherwise.

What about the Sabbat?

One thing noticeably absent from the current alpha is meaningful discussion of the Sabbat. No real mention of the sect. No discussion of the Paths. Readers of this blog already know where my loyalties lie. I absolutely love Path of Power and Path of Death. One lets me manipulate the table through politics, while the other lets me recruit zombies and generally behave like an enthusiastic undertaker. Between those two archetypes, they cover an alarming percentage of everything I enjoy doing in VTES.

Hopefully they're simply outside the scope of the current playtest rather than quietly disappearing into the night.

And then there's Black Chantry...

One group of people I don't envy at all is the Black Chantry design team.

Every major tabletop edition brings changes to lore, clans, Disciplines and identities. Meanwhile, they somehow have to keep VTES coherent while respecting both decades of existing cards and whatever new direction the roleplaying game decides to take. That cannot be an easy balancing act.

Looking back over the years, they've had to adapt to the rise of the Hecata, changing sects, changing Disciplines, and now potentially another significant shake-up. Whatever your opinion on V6, that's an enormous design challenge.

Final thoughts

At the moment, my feelings toward V6 are probably best described as cautious optimism wrapped in healthy scepticism. I genuinely like some of the narrative ideas. I genuinely dislike several of the mechanical ones. Thankfully, this is still an alpha playtest. That's precisely what playtests are for: to identify what works, what doesn't, and hopefully improve the final product.

So for now, I'll do what every good Tremere researcher should do. I'll read. I'll test. I'll provide feedback.

And then, like every Ventrue pretending to remain perfectly composed while the world changes around them, I'll quietly hope someone at White Wolf decides that perhaps upsetting every clan at once wasn't the wisest political strategy. I'm really curious where everyone else stands. Which V6 ideas have you enjoyed so far, and which ones leave you reaching for an older rulebook?

The game never ends, only pauses. I'll see you at the next move.

Custodian Hargrave

Where fate meets darkness

Although Malifaux Fourth Edition has been out for some time now, I only managed to play a couple of games. Life has an annoying habit of getting in the way of hobbies and without regular games, even familiar rules begin to drift back through the Breach. When James and I finally picked a date for a game a few weeks ago, I immediately started looking forward to it.

It also gave me the motivation I needed to finish another piece of terrain for my western table. A lonely market stall had been sitting unpainted for far too long, patiently waiting for inspiration to strike. Thanks to the school summer holidays, I found myself with an enthusiastic painting assistant. My daughter joined me for the project, and I was genuinely impressed by how steady her brushwork was. Together we finished the market stall in just two days, perfectly in time for Monday's game. Every gaming table tells a story, and now this one had a little bit of ours built into it.

James and I already knew we wouldn't have time for a full game before the club closed, so we agreed to treat it as a practice skirmish. That suited me perfectly. My rules knowledge needed dusting off almost as much as my measuring tape. For my crew I chose Kastore and the Returned keyword. Ancient vampires? A flying sword? What's not to love? James answered by bringing Seamus and the Redchapel crew, a master I'd barely encountered before. I had no idea what to expect, which in Malifaux usually means you're about to learn something the painful way.

By the time James arrived, the table was ready. Wooden houses lined the dusty streets, the saloon waited for its next inevitable bar fight, the gallows stood as an encouraging reminder to behave, abandoned carts littered the roads, and my freshly painted market stall proudly took its place among the scenery. Seeing painted terrain actually being used always feels strangely satisfying (the density is still not sufficient though, progress needs time).

The first duel went James' way, making him the attacker while I defended. Our strategy was Informants, with Runic Binding, Harness the Ley Lines, and Detonate Charges available as schemes. The Flank deployment immediately promised a very different game from the straight-line brawls I was used to.

Having only played Kastore once before, I knew mistakes were inevitable. And mistakes there were.

The first was forgetting to resolve Hunger tokens at the end of activations. Kastore was probably looking at me with centuries of disappointment while I quietly skipped one of his defining mechanics. The second was spreading my crew far too aggressively during the opening turn. I was so eager to occupy the board that several models wandered outside the range of abilities that rewarded staying together. It turns out that "divide and conquer" works much better when you're the one doing the conquering.

For my scheme, I chose Runic Binding. The objective is very thematic: place three Scheme Markers to form a magical triangle, then trap enemy models inside it. In my enthusiasm, I overlooked one tiny detail: the markers must all remain within fourteen inches of each other. My triangle was less "ancient ritual" and more "ambitious civil engineering project." To make matters worse, my final marker was placed by the last model I activated that turn. Since the scheme only scores at the end of an enemy model's activation, I'd missed my opportunity entirely. A perfectly avoidable mistake, but an excellent lesson. Despite that, the first turn wasn't without success. Both of us concentrated on the strategy, and I managed to score the opening victory point by controlling two Informant markers. I also received my first practical demonstration of just how much ground Seamus can cover. Watching him disappear from one part of the table only to casually reappear somewhere completely different is unsettling enough in the lore. Experiencing it across the tabletop is even worse.

Turn two became an exercise in damage control. I repositioned my Scheme Markers to create a legal triangle, finally bringing Runic Binding online. At the same time, Kastore and Seamus decided that diplomacy had failed and settled matters personally. Elsewhere, poor Gwyn found herself on the receiving end of Seamus and Madame Sybelle at the same time. Surviving that encounter felt like a victory in itself. While I slowly lost control of the strategy markers and was forced to retreat, I finally completed Runic Binding and scored two victory points from it. James answered by claiming another point from the strategy, leaving the game nicely balanced.

By then it was clear we wouldn't reach the end of Turn Three before the club closed, so we packed away the models and spent some time discussing the game instead. Practice had been the goal all along, and on that front the evening was a complete success. I'm still spending more time reading character cards than making brilliant tactical decisions, but every game makes the rules feel a little more familiar.

Most importantly, it reminded me why I enjoy Malifaux so much. Every crew feels wildly different, every master brings unexpected tricks to the table, and every game leaves me with a list of ideas to try next time. The Breach has finally reopened. And somewhere in the darkness, Kastore is still thirsty.

The game never ends, only pauses. I'll see you at the next move.

Custodian Hargrave

Rating the new 2026 promo cards

Two weeks ago, Black Chantry unveiled the 2026 promo cards, and I have to admit, I got very excited. Promo cards are usually handed out at tournaments and community events, and one thing I've quickly learned about the VTES community is just how generous veteran players are. At my first few events, several players quietly handed me promo cards they no longer needed. As a new player, that meant far more than they probably realised.

This year's promos immediately caught my attention, since they're all full-art cards. Normally I'm perfectly happy playing with regular versions, but some of these illustrations deserve every millimetre of cardboard they can get. They're simply gorgeous. So I thought it would be fun to go through all eleven promo cards and rate them.

Now, before anyone sharpens their Stakes, this isn't a power ranking. I'm nowhere near experienced enough to tell you which cards are tournament all-stars and which belong in the binder. Orpheus regularly reviews cards based on how strong they are and I genuinely enjoy those articles but my approach is much simpler:

How excited am I to own and play these cards?

Since I apparently can't resist turning everything into an office process, my inner Ventrue came up with the rating system:

Rejected During Grooming (1)

Needs More Stakeholder Buy-in (2)

Approved for Development (3)

Fast-tracked to Production (4)

CEO Personally Invested (5)

With the quarterly performance review complete, let's begin.

Aaradhya: CEO Personally Invested (5)

A while ago I confessed my growing affection for the Sabbat preconstructed decks. Technically only two of the Paths, but let's not let facts interfere with enthusiasm. Aaradhya is the superstar of Path of Power political decks and unfortunately one copy isn't usually enough. Competitive lists often run four or even five copies, which can become a rather expensive investment. That's why I'm delighted Black Chantry included her as a promo. It lowers the barrier for players like me who want to build a serious Path of Power deck without first selling a kidney. Politics? Check. Fantastic artwork? Check. More copies for my collection? Absolutely!

Aelswith: Approved for Development (3)

A Sabbat Malkavian Cardinal with solid disciplines and a useful ability. Her Path doesn't really call to me, but I can definitely imagine trying her in other archetypes one day. She's firmly in the "interesting enough to keep around" category.

Algirdas: Needs More Stakeholder Buy-in (2)

The Path of Caine continues to be the Sabbat archetype that hasn't managed to tempt me. Algirdas has perfectly respectable disciplines and a decent ability, but nothing here makes me want to rush home and build a deck. If someone offered me an interesting trade... I'd probably listen.

Ashur-uballit: Fast-tracked to Production (4)

Now we're talking! A huge Hecata Cardinal, excellent disciplines and tied to the Path of Death, which I'm increasingly interested in. I haven't built around him yet, largely because I'm waiting for the New Blood decks, but once those arrive he's moving straight to the top of my project backlog.

Barachiel: Approved for Development (3)

Barachiel is undeniably good. The problem isn't Barachiel. The problem is that my recent experiences with Salubri have convinced me that power bleed is much more entertaining than charging around the table waving swords at everyone. Combat is fun. Bleeding six pool is... also fun.

Bone Shambler: Fast-tracked to Production (4)

As a certified zombie enthusiast, I want to love this card. A zombie that can bleed sounds wonderful. Right now, though, I feel other Hecata allies steal the spotlight a little. That could easily change with more experience, but regardless, I still want several copies because... well... zombie. Sometimes "because zombie" is all the justification you need.

Eulogio: CEO Personally Invested (5)

This card is magnificent. A Tremere with every in-clan Discipline at superior plus superior Oblivion? Yes, please. His ability is fascinating, his Path affiliation is perfect and the artwork is among my favourites in the entire set. I don't even know what the finished deck looks like yet. I just know I want to build it.

Grazyna: Rejected During Grooming (1)

Tzimisce. Path of Caine. Unfortunately that's already two strikes against her before I even start reading the text box. Nothing against the card itself, it simply doesn't fit what I enjoy playing. I'd happily trade her to someone who'll appreciate her far more than I would.

Hel-Bla: Fast-tracked to Production (4)

Another Hecata? Another interesting necromancy ability? Another fantastic piece of artwork? Black Chantry clearly understands my weaknesses. I can absolutely see myself building around Hel-Bla in the future.

Maddji: Rejected During Grooming (1)

I'm sure there are Tzimisce players reading this wondering what on earth is wrong with me. To them I say... nothing is wrong. I simply continue to have the same reaction every time I see another Tzimisce card: "That's lovely. Would anyone like to trade?" The artwork is excellent though!

Venceslava:  Fast-tracked to Production (4)

Path of Power? Excellent disciplines? Great artwork? A useful ability? This card is checking all the right boxes. The political ambitions continue!

Overall, I think Black Chantry has done an excellent job with this promo set. It contains a great mix of established tournament staples, exciting build-around cards and some absolutely stunning artwork. More importantly, it's another reason to attend tournaments, meet the community, and hopefully come home with a few shiny new additions to the collection. Now if you'll excuse me, I have several performance reviews to complete and a procurement request for additional Aaradhyas that somehow keeps getting approved by upper management.

The game never ends, only pauses. I'll see you at the next move.

Custodian Hargrave