This week I finally had the opportunity to play a short game of VTES. It was only the three of us: my wife brought her favourite deck, the sneaky Malkavians, Aaron arrived with the Salubri and I decided it was time for my freshly assembled Path of Power deck to leave the safety of its card sleeves and face reality. The seating arrangement was less than ideal. My prey was the Malkavian deck, which has the irritating habit of winning games, while my predator was the Salubri, which has the equally irritating habit of carrying swords. We agreed that the first player to oust their prey would win the skirmish.
The game began cautiously. I influenced out Aaradhya and immediately called a War of Ages. I absolutely love that card. It feels like placing a curse on your prey and then casually watching the clock tick. Every turn they lose another pool, as if fate itself has marked them for collection. The best part? Once the political action succeeded, Aaradhya untapped. I genuinely think that ability is one of the coolest things in the deck. It feels like finishing a speech in parliament, checking your watch, and calmly announcing, "Right, what shall we do next?" I was fully expecting an incoming bleed and sat there with a Deflection in hand, ready to redirect someone's problems into my prey's domain like a proper politician. Strangely enough, the bleed never came.
Meanwhile, Aaron brought out Djeneba, equipped a weapon and immediately started looking like someone whose diplomatic solutions begin and end with sharp objects. My wife, on the other hand, was quietly assembling a nightmare. Dr. Stephen Norton appeared, followed by Colette and before long the Malkavian machine was running at full speed. Stealth bleeds slipped through unnoticed while the Salubri struggled to catch them. Aaron was also having a rather unfortunate relationship with his Deflections. Every time he needed one, it was apparently vacationing somewhere else in the library. The growing Malkavian momentum forced me to become more aggressive. Around turn four I successfully pushed through a Kine Resources Contested, allocating three damage to my prey, followed by an enhanced bleed using Enchant Kindred. At this point I felt reasonably safe. I had a wake card. I had a Deflection. I had confidence. But as history repeatedly demonstrates, confidence is often the final warning sign before disaster.
The following turn I attempted another Kine Resources Contested. This time, however, my predator was ready. Aaradhya suddenly found herself in combat with Abaddon. Now, in my head, this encounter was going to be a minor inconvenience. Aaradhya would play Majesty, gracefully leave combat, and continue her political career. Instead, Abaddon politely informed her that Majesty had been cancelled by Anticipation. What followed was three rounds of what can only be described as an educational experience involving a very angry Salubri and a very sharp sword. By the end of combat, Aaradhya was sitting on two blood. A painful lesson was learned that evening: sometimes politics fail because your opponent brings a weapon to the debate.
My library wasn't particularly cooperative either. The master cards seemed determined to remain hidden. The only one I managed to play was Black Forest Base, which survived approximately as long as a snowman in a volcano before being burned the following turn. My Villeins never appeared. My carefully planned economy remained purely theoretical.
After about ninety minutes, death finally arrived for the Salubri. Not dramatically. Not heroically. It arrived in the form of lurking shadows, stealth modifiers, Colette returning after a Spying Mission and enough bleed enhancement to make accountants nervous. The final pool disappeared, and my wife once again emerged victorious. At this point I am beginning to suspect her Malkavian deck isn't a deck at all. It is some kind of eldritch artifact that feeds on victory points and refuses to lose.
Despite my defeat, I had an absolute blast. I finally got to play the Path of Power deck properly. I passed political actions, watched War of Ages slowly grind away at my prey, learned valuable lessons about combat and received a memorable beating from a sword-wielding Salubri. For some players, getting punched repeatedly in combat might be a negative experience. For Sabbat vampires, that's just another Thursday.
The game never ends, only pauses. I'll see you at the next move.
Custodian Hargrave
No comments:
Post a Comment