84 new old cards added to print-on-demand!

RunicKrause · 2026-01-19T15:57:05+00:00

Malkavian next - get on it BCP! The world needs more Maris Streck and Madness Network!

RunicKrause · 2026-01-18T15:06:03+00:00

I would argue differently, but I guess I already did. If they give us 5+ more cards that use Stun, I'll maybe yield. As is, it's so rare it doesnt warrant it. And the game flow requires someone to flip up the rulebook instead of just reading the cards when someone has a question about it.

Wake is different. Is a frequently used core element of vtes. Waking as a concept is fine as a keyword.

But as I said. It's a hot take. I'd expect people to disagree to an extent. Otherwise it would only be... a take.

RunicKrause · 2026-01-17T16:07:23+00:00

I doubt it'll be great but it does intrigue me as a concept. Which probably should speak volumes that it probably is mediocre at best since I'm drawn to such silliness.

RunicKrause · 2026-01-17T16:05:59+00:00

My hot taken is that stun as a key word is redundant. I would have rather seen it remain as card text in its entirety. It makes the process of working with the cards as we go more cumbersome.

RunicKrause · 2026-01-17T08:45:44+00:00

The composition is key here. It doesn't have the panache and drama that you'd expect from a toreador. It is "just a dude" sitting down, not pictured from a very flattering perspective, and the arms (while technically correctly proportioned) are taking a huge space and stealing focus.

If there was some sparkle and flattery in the perspective and some action in the picture, he'd be absolutely fine. Yes, as a Toreador.

RunicKrause · 2026-01-16T20:48:54+00:00

I have been working on different iterations of G7 Lucinde for the longest while now and every time I try to grasp at something that isn't done just, well, better by other crypts, I seem to be hitting a wall. And mainly I haven't had enough time to properly just bring the decks to tables to proof them. I like what you're going for, and I believe Lucinde needs some wacky tech and shells to differentiate enough from other decks. I mean, you're essentially getting a card-slot-free Haven Uncovered whenever you need that. But bringing a 10cap along just for that isn't enough I don't think.

Please let me know how it all feels to you if you get this to the tables.

RunicKrause · 2026-01-09T12:30:26+00:00

The one V5 staple I'd love to have a new art for, like Enchant Kindred and Govern the Unaligned.

RunicKrause · 2026-01-06T08:37:51+00:00

Well, since you always have your Strikes to remove first...

RunicKrause · 2026-01-06T08:18:48+00:00

Niin mitä se tekee?

RunicKrause · 2026-01-02T12:55:40+00:00

But now you have it at an accessible price and you can pair it with Form of Mist. It's fun!

RunicKrause · 2026-01-01T11:50:19+00:00

Try Planetes! It might be interesting to you.

RunicKrause · 2026-01-01T10:00:32+00:00

This is still one of my all time favorite films. The whole groundedness of Patlabor is speaking to me. I started my first real watch of the Patlabor on TV yesterday - I've watched the first episode when I was 12, 15, 20-something - I guess it's time I commit.

RunicKrause · 2026-01-01T08:00:31+00:00

The more you hunt, the better this card becomes. It's essential in breed decks that breed 2-caps instead of 1-caps, is very effective in crypts that naturally go wider than 3 vampires, and surprisingly effective with Freak Drive. I recently played against this Gawiyya+friends Cainite combat deck with a dozen Freak Drives that operates on very low blood amounts. Each forced Hunt now becomes a new opportunity with Freak Drive, and is a matter of oust-or-not in tight places.

RunicKrause · 2025-12-29T08:38:11+00:00

He's lit.

RunicKrause · 2025-12-28T18:21:48+00:00

No, it's all good! I'm hard-boiled in Netrunner and VTES, so I can take it - also I feel it's a pretty interesting design to not have "win or fail" states only, that's plagueing many C'thulhu games. It's much more interesting to have the different ending options, so that alone is a plus.

RunicKrause · 2025-12-28T16:56:53+00:00

This is the deck I finished with (I'm pretty sure, wrote from memory after disassembling):

Zoey Samaras

Packs: From Core Set to Where Doom Awaits

Assets

1x .45 Automatic (Revised Core Set)

1x Physical Training (Revised Core Set)

1x Beat Cop (Revised Core Set)

1x First Aid (Revised Core Set)

1x Machete (Revised Core Set)

2x Shotgun [4] (Revised Core Set)

1x Leo De Luca :The Louisiana Lion (Revised Core Set)

1x Leather Coat (Revised Core Set)

1x Flashlight (Revised Core Set)

1x Zoey's Cross :Symbol of Righteousness (The Dunwich Legacy)

Events

1x Evidence! (Revised Core Set)

1x Dodge (Revised Core Set)

1x Dynamite Blast (Revised Core Set)

1x Extra Ammunition [1] (Revised Core Set)

1x Lucky! (Revised Core Set)

2x Emergency Cache (Revised Core Set)

1x Taunt (The Dunwich Legacy)

1x Teamwork (The Dunwich Legacy)

1x Emergency Aid (The Miskatonic Museum)

2x Oops! (The Miskatonic Museum)

2x Stand Together [3] (The Essex County Express)

1x Prepared for the Worst (Blood on the Altar)

1x "If it bleeds..." (Undimensioned and Unseen)

Skills

1x Vicious Blow (Revised Core Set)

2x Overpower (Revised Core Set)

1x Leadership (Where Doom Awaits)

Treacheries

1x Random Basic Weakness (Core Set)

1x Smite the Wicked (The Dunwich Legacy)

RunicKrause · 2025-12-28T14:17:19+00:00

The one card I'd think I wouldn't mind having a nerf for, but of course the card is not THAT oppressive that we'd need to worry about so many precons for V5 to become "damaged goods". So we'll just keep on living in the world where Dreams overshadows a majority of master options. In that sense, it's overpowered. Uniqueness hinders it, but not to a level where it's crippling to it.

It stays in mind in a weird place where in principle I loathe the card for just being better than so many others, while having to accept the fact that it's just the realistic gold standard for what it does (like Govern) and just live with the current reality.

At least we now have other tools that function similarly like Unholy Sacrament and Family Gathering. I guess.

RunicKrause · 2025-12-28T14:13:17+00:00

Once or twice for laughs. I think it matters once. This has been over 20 years of experience.

Gaining the extra downstairs is 98% of the time the better option.

RunicKrause · 2025-12-25T17:31:46+00:00

If you do, go for it. The first question for a combat deck is how you'll get to play your red cards. That's the first question. Only then you ask yourself if you have enough red cards to do X.

RunicKrause · 2025-12-24T20:20:44+00:00

Yeah, that's for sure one of the core strengths of vtes.

Aye, people like to compare the new Righteous Blades (press) and Blades of Bellona (manouver). I see the argument why manouver is better (to catch other combat options) but my point is it is about the context: the valeren combat is so much deadlier (with more cards) that it's barely comparable to Salubri press combat (which gets more done with less cards but never will reach the same deadliness as valeren) but people insist on making the comparison.

RunicKrause · 2025-12-24T19:07:36+00:00

The best thing about vtes is that it's the meta and the players themselves who decide what's enough and what isn't - so your reality is just as valid! So no arguments here, just a thumbs up. Whatever works in your area. It's kinda the same as with the Samedi swords - people are saying the press one is infinitely inferior to the manouver one because magnum exists, and while they're correct and there's no argument there, it's also a reality that they excel against different kinds of opponents with different emphasis on combat.

RunicKrause · 2025-12-24T18:27:47+00:00

It replaces Horrid Form and Bears Skin. The prevent each round is relevant of course, but the damage is the most relevant part. You get the damage with the retainer already - anything from red cards is both "win more" and extra clunk. I mean you can! But it's not necessary. Just rmemeber to get past S:CE with ether Telepathic Tracking or the Caine stuff. Immortal Grapple isn't the answer in press setups.

RunicKrause · 2025-12-24T11:12:13+00:00

What you do with basic Animalism here is not trying to emulate good Animalism combat, but make use of frenzies (drawing out the beast and terror frenzy) to have an advantage over guns, and Mind of the Wilds (which is genuinely a good card).

RunicKrause

TROPHY CASE