V:EKN Clan Assamite Newsletter, September and October 1999

Assamite Clan Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 4 (September and October 1999)

Written by Todd Banister

Review of Last Month:

Last month I demonstrated in the deck "Within the Presence of Death" how the
Assamites could bleed for more than a pool or two with each action. This
deck ran like a charm! I posted my highest victory point total (of four)
since I started playing with exclusively the Assamites four months ago. The
long road too creating an Assamite prince was just to much for this deck so
I took out all of these cards: Rake, Alamut, 2nd Tradition, 5th Tradition,
Changeling Skin Mask, Khabar: Community, Lost in Crowds, Writ of Acceptance,
2x Cloak the Gathering, 2x Cryptic Rider, 2x Pack Tactics, 2x PS: Istanbul
and 2x Revocation of Tyre. I replaced them with: Cornelius Ottavio, Archon
Investigation, Barrens, Conservative Agitation, Fragment of the Book of Nod,
Kine Resources Contested, 2x Blood Sweat, 2x Elder Impersonation, 2x Marked
Path, 2x Taste of Death, 2x Wake of Evening's Freshness and 3x Swallowed by
the Night. This allowed me to concentrate more on the presence bleeds and
made the combat angle more offensive instead of just trying to escape. The
Alamut angle to the deck worked great as well. I did not loose a single pool
to a Kine Resources Contested or Conservative Agitation during the entire
month.

Main Discussion of October: In the Pursuit of Forbidden Knowledge

I promised in the last newsletter that I would reveal the single card that
could potentially turn the tide for the Assamites. But before I reveal the
mystery card I am going to explain my thought process on how I came to this
decision. As you have read in the previous newsletters, I have been showing
how you can include cards from the lesser-used disciplines that the
Assamites have such as auspex and presence to overcome the handicaps of the
assassins. Each of these disciplines is represented with only two vampires
within the clan. With three vampires within the clan thaumaturgy is the best
fourth discipline (based upon sheer number of disciplines) the assassins
have. They have two vampires (Kalinda and Parnassus) with minor thaumaturgy
and only one (Al-Ashrad) at superior. But what does thaumaturgy bring to the
Assamites?

One thing that thaumaturgy does do for the Assamites is to spoil someone's
day that relies on fortitude. These fantastic cards include Blood Rage,
Blood Fury, Drain Essence, Soul Burn, and Theft of Vitae. Couple some of
these cards with Blood Sweats and you can really screw someone who relies on
fortitude prevention. The second round thaumaturgy strikes are basically
worthless to the Assamites since they have access to first round aggravated
damage via Taste of Death. Chances are combat will not get to the press
stage at the end of the first round.

The thaumaturgy action cards are fun to use as well. Rutor's Hand is an
awesome card for the Assamites. With the use of this card, Parnassus becomes
even more dangerous as he can now bleed and rush in the same round. There is
nothing like stripping away Jost Werner or Muaziz's plus one stealth with
the use of Seeds of Corruption. Cryptic Mission is very effective when you
remove a vamp's last blood and then send him to torpor with Foul Blood when
he has to hunt. But these cards really need to use the thaumaturgy skill at
superior to reap the maximum benefit. So what does this leave to use out of
the thaumaturgy skill set? It leaves the seldom used card called Infernal
Familiar.

Infernal Familiar: Retainer, Thaumaturgy, 2 blood

Retainer with 2 life. The vampire with this retainer can play a card that
requires a Discipline he or she does not have as if he or she had the basic
level of that Discipline; if he or she does so, place an investment counter
on the Infernal Familiar. If the number of investment counters on the
Familiar is greater than his controller's capacity, burn the controlling
vampire.

You do not see this card played very often for a few reasons. First - The
Tremere already have an excellent skill set with disciplines that can bleed,
intercept and fight back in combat. There are very few of the mages that are
lacking any of the basic disciplines within the clan. Second - How often do
you see the mages use any outside skills other than an occasional celerity
or fortitude? Third - How many times do you see anyone other than the
Tremere play thaumaturgy cards at all? Most of the clans have some vampires
with the thaumaturgy discipline but this skill is usually treated as a
wasted one on these kindred. So how is the Infernal Familiar going to help
out the Assamites?

Do not think of the card as just a way to allow Kalinda to play quietus
cards or Parnassus to play obfuscate. Oh no! That is way to narrow in
thinking. Take a minute to open your mind and your card collection. You must
start looking for cards that can overcome some of the inherent disadvantages
of the clan. What if the Assamites could bounce a bleed? With the use of the
Infernal Familiar they can now play Deflections. What if they could now
bleed for more that one? Now they can bleed with the help of Govern the
Unaligned and pump the bleed with a Conditioning. Imagine if the assassins
could now prevent damage in combat by playing fortitude cards? Having
problems not getting to long range for your strikes? Fight back at close
range by punching with potence strikes or make your hands aggravated with
Wolf Claws. Need to untap and perform another action? Freak Drive is now a
valid option. Everyone in your playgroup uses strike combat ends? Include
some Immortal Grapples in your deck (or read this month's deck comments to
find a killer way around those annoying presence anti-combat cards).
Starting to see the light? I really hope so.

The biggest problem I have found with the card is that it opens up way to
many possibilities for the clan! I continue to find myself thinking of new
ways to use this card. Some of the wild ideas included using Horrid
Realities and Illusions if the Kindred with the Assamites. Now that would be
an awesome surprise! Another crazy thought was to use cards like Army of
Rats, Homunculus and Temptation. The list goes on and on. The other drawback
to the Infernal Familiar is that your vampire could potentially burn if the
investment counters reaches his capacity. I have been playing with the
Infernal Familiar for about two months and I have never had anyone burned
due to the drawback. Besides, you could in theory build a deck that stole
someone's vampire for a turn and then use Heidelburg Castle to move the
retainer to the stolen vampire and thus burn him if the investment counters
were more than his capacity. As your playgroup becomes aware how critical
the Infernal Familiars are to the Assamites they will begin to block the
recruiting actions. At this point you will need to take advantage of the
obfuscate skill to ensure that you are successful. The possibilities are
endless. In the coming newsletters I will continue to show different ways to
make use of this incredible card.

October's Fiction Section:

Shortly after the midnight hour, the busy city streets of Atlanta seemed to
finally drift to sleep. The shadows of the night continued to press down
upon the city creating a blanket of darkness that choked out the lights and
sounds below. The same held true twenty-five stories above the ground within
the penthouse suite at the Ritz Carlton. Within the walls of the suite,
darkness ruled supreme except for a solitary lamp sitting on the corner of
an eighteenth century desk. Other than an occasional shifting of papers on
the desk there were no sounds within the room. Nothing. Not even a
heartbeat.

Alone at the desk, the Calif of Alamut was intently studying the field
reports that had been gathered over the past weeks by the Children of Haqim.
Most of the reports he had reviewed several times before but Thetmes had not
survived this long by overlooking details or assuming anything. Currently he
held in his hands the report from Husamettin regarding the meeting with the
Prince of Atlanta. It seemed as though Rake had been hesitant in striking a
deal with the assassins until the knowledge of the explosives within his
headquarters had been exposed. At least Rake was one of those kindred that
could actually be brought around to the Assamites' way of thinking. Having
to dispose of the local Prince would have caused an unwanted scene to say
the least.

Continuing his reading, Thetmes reviewed the section of the report that
explained how Husamettin had bargained for a piece of critical information.
At first Rake did not want to reveal the location of the local Malkavian
named the Prophet due to not knowing the Assamites' plans for one of his
favorite subjects. Rake never budged on this point until Husamettin played
his ace of spades. The Prince of Atlanta could hardly hold back his mixture
of excitement and anger as the details of the Ventrue plot was unveiled to
discredit the city of Atlanta three years prior during the Olympic bombings.
The Ventrue believed that Rake's city was growing too quickly in the area of
big business which they felt was rightfully theirs alone. After the ace had
been played, Rake had quickly given in and disclosed the location of the
Prophet as his mind raced on planning ways to strike back at the Ventrue.
None of what Husamettin told the Prince was a direct lie but somehow he had
left out the part of the story about how the Assamites had been the ones
contracted to plant the bombs in the first place. Thetmes thought to himself
that even if Rake ever found out of their involvement in the incident that
the assassins would be long gone from Atlanta and would have already taken
what they had come for. Staring straight ahead into the long shadows at
nothing in particular, Thetmes took a moment to absorb the contents of the
field report before depositing it in the ever-growing stack of papers
located at the far end of the desk.

A voice broke the Calif's train of thought by stating "You are wondering
what information will come from the meeting with the Prophet, aren't you?"
As Thetmes continued to stare into the darkness in front of him a figure
slowly started to appear. At first only a vague outline of a sizeable man
began to take shape. After a few long moments the shadows seemed to
reluctantly give way to the presence of another kindred although the face of
the being remained hidden behind a wall of blackness. Thetmes did not stir
from his seat. In fact, the Assamite had been aware of the figure for some
time now but only because the other allowed his presence to be known.
Thetmes was sure of that point.

Unwavering the assassin replied, "Of course. What else would be on my mind?
You claimed that it was critical that I bring a group of my best Rafiq to
Atlanta and set up a meeting with a raving lunatic! You have given me
nothing but sketchy details about the madman's so called 'pets' nor tried to
remove my sense of this being just an elaborate trap."

With a calm voice the faceless shadow responded to the Calif by saying, "I
have told you everything we know about these creatures, for even our range
of information has its limits. But I can assure you that the Amr of Alamut
will find these 'pets' fascinating. Just remember our bargain. I will assist
you in your Tajdid in every way I can as long as you continue to supply me
with the knowledge I seek."

Losing temporary control of his anger the Assamite slammed his clenched fist
down against the top of the desk. The fragile wooden top cracked and gave
way to the crushing blow of the undead hammer. As the desk lamp rocked back
and forth for several seconds, it appeared as though the shadows were
dancing to get out of the way of the anger of the killer. Half standing
Thetmes bellowed back at the mysterious kindred, "No, I have not forgotten
about our bargain. But every night I fight within myself with the knowledge
that if your clan had not signed the Treaty of Tyre close to five hundred
years ago we wouldn't have a reason to have this arrangement!"

The rage of a Du'at was enough to unnerve practically any of the undead but
the visitor had experienced Thetmes' anger many times in the past centuries.
Calmly the kindred stated, "I am not going to get into that argument again.
You know that we were in no position to do anything at that time except go
along with the signing of the treaty. I have always promised you that I
would assist you in your revenge."

Just as quickly as the rage had boiled over the anger within Thetmes
dissipated as he said, "Yes, you are correct. We have been plotting for
centuries our revenge upon these Munafiqun. If I cannot trust my own
brother, who can I truly trust? Listen, Harrod I have been thinking about ."

Thetmes' words were abruptly cut off by a sound of knocking upon the
penthouse's doors. After a brief pause and Thetmes' welcome the doors opened
up to reveal Parnassus and Kalinda. They silently entered the room carrying
a box covered by a black cloth sheet. As the two assassins walked closer to
the desk, Parnassus looked around the room as though he expected someone
else to be present. Finding only Thetmes within, Parnassus raised the box
and gracefully placed it on the stable side of the desk. With a nod from the
Du'at, Parnassus lifted the cover off of the cage revealing a six-legged
monstrosity. The creature stood about ten inches high and its lower half was
covered in an outer shell not unlike that of a scorpion. The upper portion
of the body was similar to that of a muscular male with the exception of the
twisted demonic face. As Thetmes stared into the eyes of the monster he
realized that he was looking directly into the heart of evil.

Taking his eyes off of the hell spawn Thetmes turned to Kalinda and asked
her to discuss their meeting with the Prophet. Kalinda responded by stating,
"The data supplied by Husamettin was only partially correct. We did indeed
find the Malkavian at the psychiatric ward in Milledgeville but he was not
locked in a padded cell as we first thought. The ironic thing here is the
Prophet is actually the head doctor of the loony farm. The meeting in his
laboratory seemed to go rather well but I must say that it was a bit
disturbing. The Prophet claimed that he had known for sometime that we were
coming to visit him. Gesturing at the creature Kalinda continued with "He
said that he already had prepared this present for us."

Taking all of this in Thetmes asked, "Did the Prophet mention anything
important?" Sharing glances with Parnassus, Kalinda responded with "It's
rather difficult to tell. Most of what he said was nothing more than wild
ramblings about Gehenna and the impending chaos it will bring. But towards
the end of the meeting he mentioned that only out of total chaos would order
be truly created. Then the Prophet gave us several scrolls and told us that
they would contain the knowledge that we were looking for regarding these
monsters. Right before we left he was still rambling on that we now have the
blessings of chaos." Looking completely confused, Kalinda added, "Don't ask
me to explain what he meant because I have no idea."

The silence of the room was shattered as gunshots were fired from the roof
of the Ritz Carlton. Moments later the intercom unit on the desk shouted
four words that sent everyone in the room into motion. The phrase "We've got
trouble here" still hung in the air as the light from the lamp was
extinguished and the darkness finally claimed the last portion of the room.

October's Deck Idea Clinic: Within the Walls of Chaos

The Crypt:
Al-Ashrad, Amr of Alamut (9) CEL QUI obf THA aus
Parnassus (7) CEL QUI tha aus
Parnassus (7) CEL QUI tha aus
Parnassus (7) CEL QUI tha aus
Kalinda (6) CEL tha OBF
Kalinda (6) CEL tha OBF
Victor Revell, Loyalist (5) CEL aus pre dem
Abd al-Rashid (5) CEL QUI obf
Abd al-Rashid (5) CEL QUI obf
Colin Flynn (3) cel aus
Zoe (3) cel obf AUS
Kanya Akhtar (2) cel

CEL - 12 (3 at minor and 9 at superior)

AUS - 7 (6 at minor and 1 at superior)
OBF - 6 (4 at minor and 2 at superior)
QUI - 6 (all at superior)
THA - 6 (5 at minor and 1 at superior)
DEM - 1 (all at minor)

Total Capacity of Crypt: 65

Average Vamp Size: 5.41

The Library:
Masters: (18)
5x Blood Doll
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Alamut
1x Depravity
1x Fame
1x Fragment of the Book of Nod
1x Giant's Blood
1x Market Square
1x The Path of Blood
1x The Rack
1x Underworld Hunting Ground
1x Auspex Skill Card
1x Dominate Skill Card

Combat: (35)
2x Acrobatics
6x Blood Sweat
2x Blur
7x Flash
2x Lightning Reflexes
4x Lucky Blow
2x Pursuit
2x Superior Mettle
2x Taste of Death
6x Taste of Vitae

Actions: (14)
3x Blessing of Chaos
2x Govern the Unaligned
7x Infernal Familiar
1x Ivory Bow
1x Mr. Winthrop

Action Modifiers: (8)

1x Cloak the Gathering
6x Conditioning
1x Lost in Crowds

Reactions: (15)
2x Deflection
2x Eagle's Sight
2x Enhanced Senses
6x Forced Awakening
1x Foul Blood
1x Precognition
1x Spirit's Touch

Deck Comments:
The main focus of this deck is obviously the use of the Infernal Familiars.
You will need to employ with one as soon as you can so that you do not have
to discard the Conditionings and Blessings of Chaos early in the game. I
really like the use of the Conditionings in the deck because after you are
able to play one, you can begin to play head games with your prey. Do you
have more in your hand? Could you possibly bleed for more than three? What
else is in that damn deck?

If you think that the Conditionings screw with your prey wait until you are
able to play a Blessing of Chaos on Parnassus! The card text on the Blessing
at minor reads: "If the vampire with this card attempts to block another
vampire, that vampire cannot play action modifiers requiring Dementation,
Dominate, Presence, or Chimerstry. Vampires opposing this vampire in combat
cannot play cards that require those Disciplines." The key word in the card
text is "attempts". If one of your blessed assassins "attempts" to block a
Venture/Toreador political action with no intercept, then they can no longer
play cards like Awe, Bewitching Oration or Voter Captivation! If you
"attempt" to block a stealth bleeder then they no longer can play cards like
Bonding, Conditioning, Foreshadowing Destruction, Threats and Aire of
Elation! When you finally feel like getting into combat with those pesky
Kafir, they cannot play cards like Catatonic Fear, Majesty, Thoughts
Betrayed, Apparition, Horrid Reality, or even Illusions of the Kindred. Who
ever thought that an Assamite would use a Dementation card?

After running this deck a few times you will begin to see the awesome power
of the Infernal Familiar. If this card cannot overcome the inherent
drawbacks of the clan then I am afraid that nothing will short of another
V:TES expansion with new cards. But that is another story for a later day.

Coming in next month's issue:

In the next newsletter I will demonstrate how the Assamites can fight back
against the growing number of weenie hordes. In the fiction section you will
find out what happened after those shots rang out in Atlanta and you might
discover that there are many evils that lie in wait within the shadows.
Until the next issue, relish in the blessing of chaos and spread the word of
the coming dominance of the Assamites.

Todd Banister
Prince of Atlanta
Scribe of the Assamites

Please send all comments and stories using the Infernal Familiar to:
T_Banister@Premier-Lending.com