Rules Team Rulings with Fifth Edition rulebook addendum and errata (RTR 30/11/2020)

VTES - The Becoming - Art by Kyri Koniotis

Fellow Methuselahs,

To accompany the release of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition, the following rule change will be effective December 30, 2020.

Rule Change: Default sect
Clans do not have a default sect anymore. This means that if a vampire changes clan, they keep their sect. For instance, a Derange played by Malkavian antitribu on a target vampire who is Camarilla Ventrue changes the target into a Camarilla Malkavian antitribu (not a Sabbat Malkavian antitribu as before).

This is a REVERSAL of the following rulings (based on the old rule):
LSJ 20030225, LSJ 19990924, LSJ 20010924.

The following cards have changed:
Becoming, The: Inherits the sire’s sect.
Brother in Arms: Inherits the sire’s sect.
Creation Rites: The vampire is now explicitly Sabbat.
Dual Form: Inherits the sire’s sect.
Nosferatu Bestial: Inherits the sire’s sect.
Third Tradition: Progeny: The vampire is now explicitly Camarilla.
Trophy: Progeny: Inherits the sire’s sect.

Fifth Edition Rulebook addendum

Drawing Cards (p. 7)
Whenever you are asked to draw from your crypt, move the top card from your crypt to your uncontrolled region.

Requirements for Playing Cards (p. 7)
Unless explicitly stated, costs you pay must be paid with resources you control: your pool, blood on vampires you control, cards in your ash heap, etc. For instance, you cannot play Enticement if you do not control the Edge, since you must burn it as part of its cost.

An exception is the “Rescue a Vampire from Torpor” action (p. 23) whose cost can be paid by the acting vampire or the rescued vampire, or the cost may be split between them.

Performing an action (p. 16)
The term “perform” applies to the entire course of the action, from the moment it is announced to the moment it is resolved. An action that is “performed” can end up by being successful or not. “Performing an action” does not imply that the action is successful.

Political Action Cards (p. 27)
Those cards simply say “1 vote”, rather than “worth 1 vote” (which was the wording used in older sets).

VTES Quick Rererence

Quick Reference (p. 53)
The Discipline Blood Sorcery is also called Thaumaturgy in older sets. They are exactly the same.

The clan Banu Haqim is called Assamite in older sets. They are exactly the same.

Similarly, the clan Ministry (whose members are called Ministers) is called Followers of Set in older sets.

For instance, if a card requires a ready Banu Haqim, any ready Assamite will fulfill this requirement (and vice versa).


Fifth Edition Rulebook errata

Rulebook, p. 15
The 30 pool displayed as your pool do not necessarily reflect the state of the game at that moment (since you have spent some of them to bring vampires into play), unless you have found a way to regain enough pool to reach your initial 30 pool. Also, please note that there is no limit to the amount of pool a Methuselah can have.


Fifth Edition Helpsheets errata

Leave torpor

The cost of the action is missing: “Action cost: 2 blood”.

Diablerise a vampire in torpor
The word stealth is missing in the following sentence: “Undirected +1 stealth action if you control both vampires.”

VTES Fifth Edition

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition is available for all stores and distributors. For more information please visit the Products section at  www.blackchantry.com. Contact us by mail or social media.

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Form of Mist – Art preview and minor text change

New card art by Ginés Quiñonero, will appear in the 25th Anniversary set.

A word from Vincent Ripoll, rules director at Black Chantry Productions: With the reprint of Form of Mist, we decided to remove a complex interaction with this card and the rule that prevents a player from adding stealth when it is not needed. Most of the time, Form of Mist would work as you expect: play it as a combat ends, and continue the action with an additional +1 stealth. However, in certain weird cases, you couldn’t play Form of Mist to continue the action. For instance, if the opposing minion with a Raven Spy has blocked an action at 1 stealth and the Raven Spy is burned in combat by the time you play the Form of Mist, then the blocking minion would have 0 intercept, forbidding you from playing Form of Mist that adds stealth. Another situation would be that Stanislava is blocked by a minion with Raven Spy while performing an action at stealth: since the retainers lose their abilities in combat against her, it means that the opposing minion has 0 intercept during the combat, forbidding you from playing Form of Mist. To avoid these unintuitive situations where continuing an action with a stealth bonus does not work, we decided to add the clause “even if stealth is not yet needed” to Form of Mist. It means that you now can play Form of Mist as you expect it to work.

New card text:
pro: Strike: dodge.
PRO: Strike: combat ends. If this vampire is acting and the action was blocked, they can burn 1 blood after combat ends to continue the action at +1 stealth as if unblocked, even if stealth is not yet needed. A vampire can play only one Form of Mist at superior each action.

READ MORE: Contents and card changes in 25th Anniversary revealed