VTES Clan Newletter Guidelines & FAQ

Posted: November 14, 2025 in Uncategorized
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Long, long time ago, I can still remember .. how the guidelines for writing VTES Clan Newsletters looked like. Additionally there was a Clan Newsletter FAQ. This is was posted back in the day (1998 and later) ..

So you want to write a VTES Clan newsletter? Here is what is involved:

    1. Pick a clan. Many clans are already claimed, although most folks (including me) have been slacking off of late. Anyway, pick one you like, and e-mail me to see if it available.
    2. Write Newsletters. The content can be anything you want. Some suggestions:
      • Vampire fiction
      • Deck designs
      • Clan strategy
      • Discipline overviews
      • Card overviews

      You are free to write anything you want about your clan of choice, as long as it is interesting and entertaining. As official representatives of VTES, however, you should keep your Newsletters intelligent, on topic, and in support of the official rules (i.e. no Newsletter tirades regarding how you hate errata or how you think the game is best played with a one card limit). Variant rules and ideas are fine, but please keep in mind that you are a representative of the VTES community as a whole.

    3. Post your Newsletters. As the Clan Newsletters are primarily a function of usenet, please always post your Newsletter on rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad (the official VTES newsgroup). How often you post them is up to you. The original plan was to post a new one every month, but after two years, things get slack. If you would like to archive them on your web site, please do so, and the Lasombra’s web site has a link to a fairly comprehensive archive that seems to pick these things up.

Newsletter FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about the V:EKN Clan Newsletters

Q) What Clan can I write for?
A) Currently, these clans are available:

All clans are currently claimed by someone, but many claimed newsletters seem to be dormant. If you are interested in writing a newsletter that you haven’t seen published for a while, you can contact Peter D Bakija (pdb6 (at) lightlink (dot) com), but in reality, you’ll probably have more success contacting the person who wrote the last appropriate newsletter, which you can probably find on The Lasombra’s newsletter archive. Just drop the last author an e-mail and see if they either want submissions or are willing to pass off the newsletter. If they haven’t published for a long time, but seem unwilling to give up the post (or you can’t contact them), drop Peter Bakija a line, and he’ll try to work things out.
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Post Scriptum: Corrections & Additions

Posted: May 1, 2020 in Overview
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After writing the last post, I built summary tables for each clan (which can be accessed via the page header). Unfortunately I also found some discrepancies between the amount of clan newsletters stored on Lasombra’s Clan Newsletter Archive (842), and the amount I had converted (824) for this blog so far. Luckily, I found the missing newsletters (and one duplicate), and now the number of published clan newsletters on Lasombra’s website (which can still be accessed via the Wayback Machine) is the same as on this blog. Phewww, catastrophe averted!

In addition, on this occasion, I remembered that in the newsgroup (rec.trading-cards.jyhad) one particular parody newsletter was posted. That newsletter was the State the Obvious Newsletter, one of my favourite VTES newsletters of all times. While searching for the parody, I also found two additional newsletters, which were also not archived on Lasombra’s website, the Dominate Newsletter Vol. 1 Issue 1 and Dominate Newsletter Vol. 1 Issue 2. Coincidentally, the first of the two was actually the basis for the “State the Obvious” newsletter. So, yay, three more newsletters for the blog.

I think this now concludes my work on this blog, because all newsletters from Lasombra has been added and edited here, and the last VTES newsletter was posted about 10 years ago.

Stay Alert! Trust No One!

Keep Your Wooden Stake Handy!

Finalization & Overview of VTES Clan Newsletter

Posted: April 12, 2020 in Overview
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The last of the VTES Clan Newsletter have been uploaded and formatted .. it took me quite a while to upload and format them properly (I started the blog in 2015). In the end, I was struggling with formatting the last Gangrel antitribu newsletters, and the departure of Secret Library in 2019 didn’t help either.

The last step will be to provide some overview pages which will give you easier access to newsletter of particular clans and years. The listings below will give you access to these, but I think some neat tables would be more helpful to, let’s say, find the clan newsletter for the Nosferatu antitribu of November 2004.

By Clan (842)

By Year (842)

Daughters of Cacophony Playbill September 2010

Posted: September 15, 2010 in 2010, Daughters of Cacophony
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  1. Reintroduction
  2. Fiction — Harmony
  3. Vampire — Scout Youngwood
  4. Library Cards — Harmony
  5. Deck — Choir 2010

Reintroduction

Call me Forrest. I had the pleasure of taking the Daughters’ into fourth place at the North American Championships in 2003 and took up the mantle of writing the Daughters’ Playbill back in 2004 and edited the Playbill in 2005-2006. Known for my Daughters’ decks, I was honored when Matt Morgan informed me he used a Daughters’ deck inspired by mine to win at Origins in 2009. But Angela can probably tell my story better.

Fiction

Without hesitation, despite never seeing her before and the long line of attractive women, security let Angela Preston into the club. Security was not even aware they had let her pass, but they did have a sense of being in the presence of greatness that left a pleasant song in their head.

Angela had come out of hiding after many long years. She had grown weary of the game. Hunters seemed to pop-up over night and the game was no longer fun. “Damn Imbued,” her thoughts sang in her mind. But she had kept a watchful ear over her clan. Songs of their accomplishments rang throughout the Masquerade.

Angela began to hear of a new choir led by an aspiring singer, Scout Youngwood. “Funny,” her thoughts sang, “that Scout would choose Youngwood to denote hers and the Daughters’ status in the Masquerade.” Angela had come out tonight to check out this new choir.
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Official VEKN Tremere Antitribu Newsletter Vol. 4 Issue 4, Spring 2010

Posted: April 28, 2010 in 2010, Tremere antitribu
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By Eric Chiang
Halcyan2@aol.com

[Legal stuff to the tune of: I wrote all this, so please give credit where it’s due, etc.]

Contents
4.1 — Editor’s Note
4.2 — I’m a Slave 4 U: The Slave Mechanic Revisited
4.3 — Tricks with Fustuk: Just the Special Please!
4.4 — Tricks with Fustuk: Unexpected Untapping
4.5 — Battle Lines Storyline
4.6 — Featured Vampire: Fustuk
4.7 — Featured Card: Potio Martyrium
4.8 — Featured Deck: Tupdog by Hugh Angseesing

[4.1 — Editor’s Note]

Welcome back! This time around the focus is on Gargoyles — our lovable pets (and slaves). Let’s see what we can do by adding the Gargoyle angle to our Tremere Antitribu decks.

Since our last issue I have had a few additional stray thoughts on Heirs. Although Temporis, Maleficia, and Striga are not specifically Tremere Antitribu focused, our clan is in an excellent position to take advantage of them.

Many players have been excited over the new Temporis cards (especially Summon History). Other than the True Brujah, the Tremere Antitribu is still the best clan to access Temporis, with Infernal Pact, Infernal Familiar, Ian Forestal, and possibly Nickolai. The !Tremere can also play Magic of the Smith to quickly equip with the new Amulet of Temporal Perception, which lets any vampire use basic Temporis cards.

Remember that Maleficia and Striga are not actually disciplines, so Ian Forestal, Infernal Pact, and Infernal Familiar can’t fulfill that requirement. However, you can use Valerius Maior and Barbaro Lucchese, who are both Infernal (and can also use the new Daimoinon cards). Plus, you can always use Magic of the Smith to grab the Textbook Damnation, after which you can then lay on the Maleficia and Striga.

Regarding Gargoyle Grouping, right now the trend seems to be about one Gargoyle of each type per Grouping. Groups 4, 5, and 6 each have one Tremere Slave. Groups 4 and 5 each have one Tremere Antitribu Slave. And Groups 4 and 6 each have one non-slave. The problem is that the three Gargoyle types are largely incompatible with each other. Having only one Gargoyle in each Group is too harsh and restrictive since any given Grouping only gives you effectively two Gargoyle options. In Group 2, Tremere/Gargoyle decks were viable because there were four distinct choices for Tremere Slaves. Four is probably too much to maintain over the long term for every grouping, but three seems like a more reasonable number. Maybe you could alternate with 2 Tremere Slaves in the Even Groupings and 1 Tremere Slave in the Odd Groupings while having the reverse for the Tremere Antitribu Slaves — 1 in the Even Groupings and 2 in the Odd Groupings. That might work out better in improving deck-building options while still preserving play balance.

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Official VEKN Tremere Antitribu Newsletter Vol. 4 Issue 3, February 2010

Posted: March 1, 2010 in 2010, Tremere antitribu
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OOT Special Report
By Eric Chiang
Halcyan2@aol.com

[Legal stuff to the tune of: I wrote all this, so please give credit where it’s due, etc.]

Contents
3.1 — Editor’s Note
3.2 — Heirs to the Blood Evaluation
3.3 — Heirs to the Blood Summary
3.4 — Updated Clan Census
3.5 — Featured Vampire: Chaundice
3.6 — Featured Card: Flames of the Netherworld
3.7 — Featured Deck: Uta Kovacs Eden’s Legacy by Pasi Karjalainen
3.8 — Evolution of a Deck: Wall of ASH by Robyn Tatu

[3.1 — Editor’s Note]

Breaking news from Channel 10 (formerly of New York)! Heirs to the Blood has arrived and it is taking the VTES world by storm! Invaluable reprints and amazing new cards make Heirs the most revolutionary set in recent memory. In many areas, rumored sellouts have led to a frenzy of purchasing.

While planning for the Spring 2010 Newsletter, there were too many new strategies to explore and loose ends to tie up. So I took Peter Bakija’s advice and decided to split it up into two, more manageably sized newsletters. Don’t fret — this OOT is more like a Wash than a Sudden Reversal. It won’t take the place of my next newsletter (which is tentatively planned for a March release).

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Official VEKN Brujah Newsletter February 2010

Posted: February 25, 2010 in 2010, Brujah
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“..The best way out is always through.”
Robert Frost, .. A Servant to Servants

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • The Vamps you shouldn’t ignore
  • Interesting “Combos”
  • General Advice

Introduction

Before jumping into the discussion of my beloved Brujahs I would like to introduce myself. My name is Martin Major, I live in Papkeszi (Hungary) and started playing v:tes in early 2004. During my early v:tes career I hated all kind of combat decks including the clan Brujah. With KoT being released things changed a lot. I believe that the new Brujahs in group 4 and 5 are a great addition to the game and maybe they became one of the strongest clans. Therefore I will focus on these groups in this newsletter. Furthermore I will concentrate on one strategy only: bruise and vote, other strategies shall be discussed in upcoming newsletters. I think it is not unnecessary to mention that everything in this article is entirely subjective and that I don’t take any responsibility if you find yourself being ousted after 30 seconds because you read this load of old bollocks…

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Nosferatu Newsletter, February 2010

Posted: February 15, 2010 in 2010, Nosferatu
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LogoClanNosferatuContents:

  1. 1.0 Introduction
  2. 2.0 Fiction
  3. 3.0 New Crypt
    1. 3.1 Vampires of Note
  4. 4.0 New Library
  5. 5.0 Everything is better with Dominate!
    1. 5.1 Dominant Crypt Choices
  6. 6.0 Decks
    1. 6.1 Deck 1: Ugly Dominance
    2. 6.2 Deck 2: Updated Royalty

1.0 Introduction

This brief missive lifts the sewer lid on the current state of play for the Nosferatu in vtes, following the recent releases of Keepers of Tradition and Heirs to the Blood.

Please accept my apologies if the formatting is off, this was created offline, then uploaded via google groups.

2.0 Fiction

Calebros shifted his bulk uncomfortably in his heavily stained office chair. The chair, like its occupant was hideously leathery, sagging, and looked like it had spent the last few decades in a sewer, which indeed, both had. He tried to focus on what the excited youngster was waving in his face. It looked like muddy printouts, and photographs, but the speed of their movement made it impossible to discern any detail. Calebros cursed his own nature, and (briefly) considered employing someone to filter out meetings like these.

“What…” he rumbled “have you got there?”

The Neonate, who went by the unfortunate moniker of Slag, ceased their excited jiggling and stream of chatter, and with a deep inhalation and an effort of will managed to blurt

“Crusaders! Across the Atlantic! Moving across Eastern Europe, it’s all there, I got it off the network!”

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VEKN Official Baali Clan Newsletter February 2010

Posted: February 12, 2010 in 2010, Baali
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Textbook Damnation
This Edition includes:

  • Introduction
  • Analysis: Heirs to the Blood
  • Fiction: Final Strike
  • Strategy of the Month: Infernal Hordes

Introduction

So here we are just after the release of Heirs to the Blood which featured amongst others, new Baali and infernal cards.

So below I will make a short analysis of the cards as I see them.

Analyisi: Heirs To The Blood

Crypt Cards

Annazir [HttB:V]
Baali
Group 5
Capacity 9
DAI OBF POT PRE
Independent: Anazir has 2 votes. He may burn a location or steal an equipment as a (D) action. +1 bleed. Infernal.

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VEKN Official Baali Clan Newsletter January 2010

Posted: January 30, 2010 in 2010, Baali
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Textbook Damnation

This Edition includes:

  • Introduction
  • Fiction: A plan coming together
  • Vampire of the Month: Cybele (again)
  • Strategy of the Month: Girls will find inner peace

Introduction

I enjoyed the Baali ever since the excellent Darg Ages Clanbook for them. Although they are no player characters by nature they still have their charm as super-villains 🙂

Naturally I tried to be successful with Baali decks. From simple presence stealth bleed over Sargon gets the edge for an Enticement and Call the Great Beast strategies, even Nergal wall decks to the newest Gem which features Cybele.

So just before the rise of Heirs to the Blood and with it new Baali, Daimoinon, Maleficia and Striga cards I want to shed light upon this wonderful Bloodline created by ze man himsel Saulot.

A Plan Coming Together

Seldom had they met in such a rush, but even the deranged Lutz von Hohenzollern seemed speechless at the events that had unfolded during the past months. As he now sat around the table with Adana de Sforza, Mistress Fanchon and Rafael de Corazon they were discussing frantically about the reasons or whatever lay behind the motivations of this Gangrel Antitribu and the other events that had happened surrounding here.

“This cannot be coincidence”, Fanchon snarled, “First the reappearance of the Red Star, then some of the Ashur Tablets and now the liquidation of our own Ashur assets”. “Indeed it binds in perfectly timed with assaults on our resources from the anarch whom we had thought being a non-problem at the moment”, replied Rafael.

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