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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle 5th edition

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, the card-game based on Vampire: The Masquerade, will soon be releasing a fifth edition as a box set.

In Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, players take on the role of an ancient vampire Methuselah. For thousands of years, these Methuselahs have lurked in the shadows of human societies, manipulating mortals and younger vampires. Their hunger for power knows no bounds, and they use whatever means to weaken their enemies, from subtle manipulations to frontal assault. Players must increase their influence, destroying the other Methuselahs, whilst protecting themselves from the others.

This new edition is focussed on new and returning players, by re-introducing five of the Camarilla Clans with the new material developed for the 5th Edition of Vampire: The Masquerade (AKA V5 – reviewed here).  Essentially, five new players could start playing from a single box set fairly quickly.

The box will contain five preconstructed decks (Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere and Ventrue clans – sadly no Ravnos yet), counters and a new full-colour rulebook.   These five “First Blood” introductory decks will help players to understand the rules, as these decks have pared back the more complicated cards (such as cancelling other effects and acting out of turn), whilst remaining fun and engaging.

Although this is a relatively complicated game, with lots of moving parts, it is also primarily a socially interactive game for up to five players.  Whilst the rules have been updated, the main focus has been on making them tidier and easier to follow, with advice from Gaming Rules to help with some of the more complex elements.

However, whilst this is a new version, it will remain fully compatible with prior releases.

In a wider social aspect, they have focussed on inclusivity and introducing vampires from further afield than Europe or North America in the core set, representing more of the humanity from which vampires would come.  Although the cards will not necessarily delve into a vampire’s personal life, aspects of their wider lives will come through in the artwork.

New expansions in previous editions of the CCG have been released through random booster packs, but Vampire: The Eternal Struggle will be refocused on fixed sets, enabling players to identify how they want to expand their cotories.

Peter Ray Allison
Peter Ray Allisonhttp://www.peterallison.net
Science Fiction: the final frontier. These are the articles of the freelance journalist Peter Ray Allison. His continuing mission: to explore strange new realms of fiction, to seek out new genres and new visions of the future, to boldly geek where no one has geeked before.

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