Vampire of the Month

of the Month

VEKN Official Clan Tremere Newsletter July 2001

Volume 2, Issue 6 July 18, 2001

Please direct all correspondence and commentary to Xian.

So, Final Nights is out, tournament legal, and the Tremere have a few new toys. Although only one new Tremere was introduced, there are also two new Tremere Antitribu that have a pretty standard discipline set; they slot into a number of Tremere decks quite well. That addition, along with the addition of one of the most innovatie (and expensive) cards in a long time, are, well...highly interesting. Sadly, I haven't had much time to play in the last minth, but I hope to rectify that in the coming weeks.

Vampire of the Month

Aisling Sturbridge
Tremere
5
AUS dom THA
Camarilla: Younger Tremere cannot block Aisling.

Sharing a discipline set with Hannigan that has long been lacking in low-capacity vampires, Aisling really is what the Tremere needed. Although I rarely advocate building Tremere decks with an emphasis on Auspex/intercept, Aisling is definitely built for it. Also, one could conceivably use her Auspex for other effects: Pulse of the Canaille, Aura Reading, Revelations, Telepathic Tracking, etc. She has inferior dominate, but most of the time, that will do just fine. One of the few cards that superior dominate is really used for is Thoughts Betrayed, but Aisling doesn't need it. Thaumaturgy, on the other hand provides vastly increased effects at superior, and is almost critical to have in most Tremere decks. This makes Aisling much more useful than Sabine, Kurt Strauss, even Elisabetta Romano (not that this is difficult), Thomas Thorne, and Lydia Van Cuelen. Finally, Aisling's special ability isn't overly exciting (I rarely see two Tremere decks on the same table), but it's a nice touch. Aisling is well worth the investment, and with Hannigan, may finally make a low-to-mid-capacity Auspex and Thaumaturgy deck viable.

Card of the Month

Perfect Clarity
Action Modifier
Thaumaturgy
2 blood
Only usable when this acting vampire's action is announced. Reaction cards that require Dominate or Presence do not affect this vampire for the duration of this action. (S) As above, and for the remainder of this action, minions opposing this vampire in combat cannot play cards that require Dominate or Presence.

I just found the World of Darkness source material for this effect, and all in all, I'm pleased with the translation. I'd be interested to know who dredged it up, if it was LSJ, or someone else. Anyway, the power comes from a path called The Focused Mind, which is based on the Kabbalah. Perfect Clarity imparts a state of zen-like insight, "thought and action become one", during which

Well, I'm going to wait until after GenCon to post the next newsletter, perhaps I'll see something interesting there, and I'll probably have at least one new (or possibly updated) deck to show.

Xian
Chronicler of Clan Tremere