Ever since I bought the Path of Power Sabbat decks, they've been staring at me from the shelf like a pair of very judgmental bishops. "Upgrade us," they whisper. "We were not meant to remain precons." As always, I went to VDB in search of wisdom. I found a few winning decks, admired them from a respectful distance, and immediately noticed a problem: Aaradhya. She is everywhere. Four copies. Sometimes five. Tournament winners treat her like oxygen. I, on the other hand, own… two. Two dignified, slightly lonely copies. And while I do enjoy cardboard, I couldn't justify buying additional decks just to secure one more Callous Tyrant. I am secretly hoping the upcoming Sabbat New Blood decks smuggle in another Aaradhya so I can expand my cardinal empire without needing to sell a kidney (or soul). She is absurdly good. A Sabbat cardinal gives you three votes, which is already delicious. But Aaradhya's ability to untap after a successful political action? That's just rude. It doesn't even matter whether you had the votes at the end, if the action resolves successfully, she stands up again like, "Oh, we're not done sweetheart."
While browsing VDB (as one does at unreasonable hours), I noticed another recurring name: Dark Selina from Group 5. My neonate brain tingled. +1 stealth on political actions and a cardinal? That's not a vampire, that's a legislative weapon. And why do I love that hair? What is wrong with me? Anyways, this discovery led me to try print-on-demand for the first time. I marched into Gamepod's website like a determined Lasombra and ordered copies of the 2019 Anthology decks. Now I own two Dark Selinas and two Aaradhyas. My cardinal collection is slowly forming into something that looks less like "hopeful experiment" and more like "structured ambition."
The Anthology decks also came with a delightful pile of other cards. Some of them I recognize.
Ashur Tablets: apparently important. I now own six, which makes me feel powerful even though I'm not entirely sure what ritual I'm supposed to perform with them.
Heart of Nizchetus: excellent for cycling and filtering, like emotional support for your draw phase.
Carlton Van Wyk: shows up in many decks, so I assume he’s either extremely useful or extremely good at surviving.
The rest? Especially the crypt cards? They currently sit in my binder looking mysterious and slightly smug. I'm sure one day I'll build something around them. For now, they serve an equally important function: being admired and occasionally shown to friends like, "Look, shiny vampires! No, I don't know what they do yet."
So What's Next for Path of Power?
Here's what my current crypt draft looks like:
2x Aaradhya, The Callous Tyrant
2x Dark Selina
2x Věnceslava, The Implacable
2x Üresség
1x Damian
1x Rexton “Savage” Abernathy
1x Khin Aye
1x Concordia
It's shaping up nicely. Enough cardinals to make the table uncomfortable, enough presence to matter.
Library-wise, I'm leaning heavily into politics. Cold War, Banishment and the ever-reliable Kine Resources Contested feel mandatory. With Dominate in the crypt, Govern is practically automatic. Action modifiers are still a blur, I'll need test games to figure out the right balance, but there is one certainty in this world: Unthinkable Humiliation is going in the deck. A card with that name simply demands inclusion. It feels less like a card choice and more like a life philosophy.
The weak spot, as always, is the master module. I still lack some of the staple cards everyone else seems to casually own in triplicate. But that's fine. Every Tremere apprentice starts with borrowed tomes and big ambitions. Every Ventrue neonate starts without a domain.
I am patient.
And somewhere in those shadows, the Path of Power is waiting to become something properly terrifying.
The game never ends, only pauses. I'll see you at the next move.
Custodian Hargrave
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