Storyline Events Discussion

Now that the Anarchs and Alastors storyline event is over and we have
a brief break before the upcoming Rise of the Imperator, it might be
helpful to digest the latest events and do a little post-game
analysis:



#1. Anarchs and Alastors


1A. Based on the final standings, it looks like there were only 35
events run for the last storyline. IIRC, Millennium Cultist had about
70-80 events, the first Infernal Plague had 82, Return of Nergal had
50 or 60+, and even the much older Eye of Hazimel storyline had over
100 entries. So why was there so little interest in the Anarchs and
Alastors event?

Some possible contributory factors might have been the Limited
Format, a slight rescheduling of the dates for the event, or maybe
people heavily preferred the clan-focused format?


1B. What did people think about the actual rules/format for Anarchs
and Alastors?

I thought it was fun, but I definitely prefer the traditional 75%
clan, constructed events. 5 rounds was agonizingly long, even with
Limited! I liked the Auction Format, but I did feel that it was
significantly easier to go the Anarchs route vs the Alastors one.


1C. The Anarchs were victorious (16 wins) with the Sabbat close behind
(12). What sort of resolution would you like?

I personally think the reward card should be for the winning
faction (Anarchs). While I do like the concept of the "key minion," I
think this should be better represented in the story epilogue rather
than as additional (crypt) reward cards:

- One of the complaints about the Return of Nergal storyline was
that the events heavily favored Nergal because he was guaranteed a
seat at the finals (and hence it was unsurprising that he won by such
a significant margin). Similarly, in Anarchs and Alastors, the key
minion is inherently biased towards the fixed vampires available in
the auction. Thus it is no big surprise that two of the most common
"key minions" (Yazid and Lucinde) were among those who had been pre-
selected for the event.

- Another complaint made during the event was that the Camarilla
was inherently at a significant disadvantage because until mid-
November (when Keepers of Tradition was officially released) there
were no viable Camarilla sets to use in this Limited format. Thus,
Lucinde/Jaroslav/Tatiana didn't have significant support, so the
results were naturally biased in favor of Germaine and Yazid.

- The "key minion" concept was nascent and there were no firm
rules governing the selection. (i.e. the winner could choose a "key
minion" that wasn't even in anyone's deck!).

- Thematically, the significant majority of Yazid's appearances
were on behalf of the Anarchs faction (4 out of 6). I think some of
the Assamite fans would be mad if Advanced Yazid was an Independent
Anarch though!



#2. Rise of the Imperator

So what would people like to see for Rise of the Imperator? Here are
some of my thoughts:


2A. Logically it would only make sense for a handful of clans to
actually secure the Imperator position. The six Camarilla clans
(Brujah, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere, and Ventrue)
obviously. And there are enough Assamites and Gangrel that one of them
could plausibly hold the position as well. Longshots would include
Followers of Set, Lasombra (antitribu of course), Gargoyles, Samedi,
and maybe Ravnos, but in all those cases it would be extremely hard to
achieve that thematic result (i.e. lots of Lasombra wins featuring
Giangaleazzo).

It also seems hard to fit in what sort of "victory" would result
if the Imbued or the Laibon win. If a Sabbat clan wins, maybe they are
able to sabotage the entire process? Seems a bit far-fetched to think
that they could pull another "Marcus Vitel"-style infiltration at such
a high level though. What do you think the non-Camarilla clans should
get if they win?


2B. I do like the "key minion" concept but if it continues it might
make sense to require your "key minion" to actually be in your crypt
(and to be of your clan, if there is the 75% rule).


2C. Assuming that there's still a 75% clan requirement, Recalled to
the Founder should remain on the banned list. I also think Condemn the
Sins of the Father should be added as well since everyone is required
to follow the clan restrictions and Condemn would otherwise be an auto-
include in any Assamite/Quietus decks and give them an unfair
advantage. Perhaps Consanguinous Condemnation (but at least you have
to pass a referendum to get it done and it's not like it's been a
significant card in past storylines). And the Trophy mechanic is still
too janky to bother worrying about Trophy: Clan Respect. Any other
thoughts about what should (or should not be) banned?



Obviously the ultimate decisions lie in the hands of the storyline
team (Ben Swainbank), LSJ, and/or White Wolf. But I figure it doesn't
hurt to open some discussion on the issues, to give them some
potentially useful ideas!

Just my few cents...

I really liked the concept of Auction in this storyline and I enjoyed
this event as a whole. The main trouble I got with it was the length.
We cut it down to I believe 3 rounds, and it was still long enough.
Running five rounds would be really uncomfortable.

I like the drafts, and we were drafting 3rd edition (great for
drafting) and KoT (new, also pretty good edition) - however this means
that the anarch/alastor angle was a bit unused most of the time. And I
think that when draft is the format, it will always be the same,
ignoring the fluff of the tournament. Because "My 11cap vampire on my
fourth turn goes Alastor, finds bangnagh, on the 5th round tries to
rush someone, gets foiled by one maneuver and on the next round I am
dead, because all my predators minions were bleeding me for one..." is
more common in draft.

The other format I like is clan based decks - and I think storyline
events are great opportunities to try it!