FOLLOWERS OF SET NEWSLETTER
Volume 3, Issue 2
December 2001
Author: Wes
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Fiction
Setite Tactics
Vampire Analysis - Nehsi
Card Analysis - Extortion
Sign Off
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INTRODUCTION
It has been two months since my last confession... err... newsletter. I have
decided it is best that I switch to a bi-monthly schedule for these
newsletters for several reasons. First of all, it is a little harder now for
me to find the time to write than it has been in the past. I hope you can
all forgive the infrequency of my postings on this newsgroup but real life
often tends to get in the way. I assure you that this is only a temporary
lapse...
The second reason for going bi-monthly is that I feel there are so many
newsletters being written right now that it is almost overwhelming. I read
them all, every month. They are all very well-written and usually applicable
to the game in general, rather than just the clan of focus. After all, I
don't want to learn how to just play Setites... I want to learn how to
defeat everyone else! With Bloodlines, there are over thirty distinct
clans... that's a lot of reading! Therefore, I thought it appropriate (for
myself anyway) that I limit to writing one *great* newsletter every other
month rather than inundating you with more and more reading material.
Nevertheless, I hope that you find the Follower of Set newsletters fun to
read and beneficial to your game. We all know that the Dark God is destined
to win the great Jyhad and we must not let the impostor clans get one up on
our Lord and Master in Darkness.
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FICTION
The Winter Saturnalia festival was upon them and the local Followers of Set
of Detroit/Windsor had much to prepare.
The local Temple was strewn with mistletoe, holly and vitae-tainted egg nog.
The Santas outside the Temple rang their bells and took in donations for the
Temple 'food bank'. Food (with special bonus addictive additives) were
redistributed to the unfortunates of the area. Those lucky recipients would
eventually need to come back to the Temple for second-helpings. The Dark
Lord does not discriminate in his worshippers... all are welcome.
Under the guise of a regular Christmas service, the Setites had replaced
many of the more traditional Christian trappings with subtle references to
the Dark God Set. The so-called 'Secular Humanism' of the modern era was a
fantastic vehicle for the under-the-radar preachings of the value of Sin.
Eventually, all such Sinners would worship at the temple of Set--how could
they not?
In late-hour shopping malls across Michigan and South-western Ontario, the
Setites did all they could to encourage the capitalistic orgies of
consumption that passed for a celebration of the birth of the false god. All
references to the child were removed, and in some cases replaced with idols
with a somewhat... ophidian appearance.
"Mommy, why does baby Jesus have snake eyes?"
Christmas office parties were infiltrated and the pathetic proletarian peons
therein influenced through Setite Charisma (and not a small amount of lust)
to indulge in vice and corruption. Workers drunk on Set-nog punched their
arrogant bosses or told them where to go... thus finding themselves fired
before New Years Day. Little did they know how they subtly but inevitably
served the will of Set.
Little children were given Typhon and Osiris action-figures, free with their
hamburger-chain value meal purchases. Typhon is of course glorified by this
idolatry--iconoclasts we are not! The 'toy' Osiris, like the hideous villain
he was, falls apart upon repeated playing... and unlike the original, there
is no conniving bitch of a wife Isis to put all the pieces back together
again.
Let it not be said that Setites are idle during the holidays... There is
much work to do!
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SETITE TACTICS
The Followers of Set are arguably the most forward-going of all the clans.
No upstreamers here! Generally speaking, however, we have little in the way
of anti-predator defense, even with all the goodies that came with the Final
Nights expansion.
Obfuscate is completely useless when reacting to one's predator. Presence
offers a bit of vote defense and the ability to untap with Majesty but
little else of any use. Serpentis, though it gives us utilitarian cards such
as Extotion and Ecstasy, is fairly limited in defensive scope.
We have limited access to intercept with our inherent disciplines. Canopic
Jar offers us a permanent intercept against *one* minion, along with a
combat defense at the cost of burning the card itself. This requires an
action to equip (or Pier 13, I suppose) and often tends to slow us down more
than it helps.
In general, most predators have little to fear from a Setite prey. At worst,
they will lose a bit of blood to an Ecstasy here and there. Extortion and
Set's Call are fantastic but fairly corner-case in their scope.
On the other hand, Setites are among the most feared predators. What prey
will not quake once they see the serpents hit the table, fearing that their
own minions will be used against them? Heavy Presence bleeds under the cover
of Obfuscate stealth cards is enough to frighten any bleed-vulnerable prey.
Presence backed Free States Rant (for all intents and purposes a Setite
card) have been the bane of decks of late. We are not without our offense,
it is safe to say.
So should we dwell on defense at all? Perhaps not... By focusing on going
forward relentlessly, as Setites do best, we can be defend ourselves by
adding 6 to our pool every few turns. We will occasionally pay for it with a
lost vampire or a large pool loss, but if we keep our eyes on the prize, ie
winning, this will do little to stop us.
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VAMPIRE ANALYSIS - NEHSI
Nehsi
Capacity: 10
OBF PRE PRO SER aus for
Nehsi has 2 votes. Nehsi gets an optional maneuver each combat.
Aside from having cool tattoos, is Nehsi a good vampire? Yes!
Nehsi has all clan disciplines at superior, always useful. His 'for' at
inferior may not see much play, but could synergize well with Saqqaf or Aabt
Kindred. Freak Drive comes to mind--with OBF it is likely that his actions
will be successful, so all we need is inferior Fortitude to perform another
action. Also, a few Skin of Steel can be added to hose the Potence people.
His 'aus' is shared with five other vampires (Sir Marriot, Aisha, Sarrasine,
Khay'tall and Nefertiti). It might be hard to work this into a deck concept,
though cards such as Revelations might conceivably complement a OBF-PRE
bleed deck by flushing out Deflections.
Nehsi also has Protean at superior, disciplines shared with two other
vampires, Mirembe and Amisa. Protean gives the Setites access to some scary
combat options, something that we are sorely lacking in. It also provides,
via Form of Mist, an alternative way to get our
Temptations/Forms/Enticements into play. Block me, I keep going at +1
stealth. Both Nehsi and Amisa also share votes, which gives us a bit of an
edge for Free States Rant votes (with 5 and 4 'damage' respectively!) as
well as a significant vote block for defense.
Nehsi's size, at 10, can be a bit of a problem... The three turns on average
that it takes to get Nehsi out may be disastrous depending on what kind of
predator we have behind us. This is something that anyone who plays with
large vampires has to contend with however.
Nehsi's optional maneuver is a welcome defense. Most of the time, this will
mean that Nehsi does not get hurt in combat. A dedicated rush deck will
probably have enough maneuvers to out-race Nehsi (though don't forget to
pack some Swallowed by the Night and Quick Melds!) but against most types of
deck, this built-in maneuver will save us a lot of grief. In a recent
Detroit game, Nehsi had a Blood Hunt card placed on him. I wasn't at all
concerned. Each vampire that rushed him ended up waving at him and Nehsi
survived relatively unscathed.
The maneuver could also be used in an offensive capacity, with Wolf Claws
and Skin of the Adder but this seems a bit unwieldly other than as an
occasional surprise to an unwary opponent.
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CARD ANALYSIS - EXTORTION
Extortion
Reaction - Serpentis
1 Blood
Only usable when this vampire successfully blocks (play after combat, if
any). Usable by a tapped vampire.
NAVIGATION
Jyhad Resource Page -> Newsletter Archive -> Followers of Set Newsletter - Volume 3 Issue 2