alternate vtes rules

Dear all,

Maybe it's time to create a new section in this forum in order to talk about alternate format and gameplay.

I see two main paths :
- Reduce the game duration to 1 Hour max.
- Improve the game experience for less than four players game.

Best Regards,
Rémi.

An official two-player format using pre-built decks that will interact well is the best way to do this in my opinion. It will reduce the amount of time and players needed and will also simplify the rules. The only change needed is an unblinded approach to deck building. If deemed necessary, could also have alternate ways to play certain cards that will not work in two-player (bleed bounce, seat switchers).

If you want a simple rule for two-player play to address cards useless in two-player play, such as Life Boon, just add:

"At any time, if a card in your hand is useless in two-player play, you may discard the card and draw to replace."

Of course, one could always just prune their decks down before playing a two-player game. Having bounce suddenly become something like bleed reduction or whatever seems less desirable than just having the cards be non-factors.

If speed is a concern, where a fast deck will just overrun, transfers is the area that's least disruptive to mess with. Could go 4 -> 6 -> 6 -> 8 or play around with the numbers until they feel about right.

While I already find voting poor interaction, if the idea is that voting gets too unbalanced, could just make every title worth one less vote. Or, if you want to get really "exciting", every title is worth only one vote, which suddenly makes bishops and primogen not so bad and ICMs less ICMish*. Doesn't really solve anything I'd imagine in many a case, so this is probably pointless.

* Actually, a transient effect that set all titled vampires' votes to 1 might be an interesting card, though the decks that just ignore politics aren't any more likely to play it, so maybe not.

If combat is feared, well, just choose to play decks in two player that have combat survivability. Coming up with something like "No diablerie, each Methuselah can return one vampire to the ready region from torpor at the end of that Methuselah's turn." seems like it will do weird things. Though, one effect might be to play more combat that burns minions outright.

TwoRazorReign wrote: An official two-player format using pre-built decks that will interact well is the best way to do this in my opinion.

I doubt that would work for WW: they need people to buy cards even if they are only going to play 2 or 3 player games. We first need to clarify what the point of the format is.

1) Introduction. Shorter games and less clutter to let players learn the rules before having to worry about table dynamics. A dumbed down game is fine for them.
2) Organization. Not everyone has a playgroup available, and there are people who end up playing the small table version only. They need access to the full game.

Boris The Blade wrote:

TwoRazorReign wrote: An official two-player format using pre-built decks that will interact well is the best way to do this in my opinion.

I doubt that would work for WW: they need people to buy cards even if they are only going to play 2 or 3 player games. We first need to clarify what the point of the format is.

1) Introduction. Shorter games and less clutter to let players learn the rules before having to worry about table dynamics. A dumbed down game is fine for them.
2) Organization. Not everyone has a playgroup available, and there are people who end up playing the small table version only. They need access to the full game.

As a consumer and long-time player who is currently without a playgroup or cards, I would buy sets of two pre-built VTES decks. If it came with a rulebook, cheat sheet, and further explanations of how certain combos work to help someone learn the game, that's fantastic. While something like this would be great for introduction, I definitely wouldn't approach it as a "dumbed down" version that is "fine for them." I would approach it as both a potential gateway to the regular multiplayer format and as a stand alone format. Again, as a player and consumer, two-player VTES really is great on its own, but the blind CCG model with random packs and rares is something I would definitely not invest in. But, being able to purchase a package of two pre-built decks and hit the ground running is something that would work for me.

TwoRazorReign wrote: As a consumer and long-time player who is currently without a playgroup or cards, I would buy sets of two pre-built VTES decks

See the barbed wire project decks