A new bloodline is revealed and drawn into the great Jyhad as Methuselah compete to control the Mazzeri and unlock their secrets. In this V:tes Limited Storyline League players will play a series of draft games. Before each game players will draft a new pack to build their decks and receive new cards relating to the elusive Mazzeri.
The Mazzeri were founded by Aruj-ed-Din, an admiral among the Barbary Corsairs in the 16th century. Aruj is believed to have been embraced by a Settite elder in Tripoli. He slew his sire and embraced his mortal brother to fight by his side. For a century the brothers sailed the Mediterranean encountering vampires of the region as captives and crew. Via vaulderie and diablerie the brothers learned many secrets of the blood.
When the era of the Corsairs draw to an end, the brothers fled to the security and isolation of the islands and their mountain villages. There they have remained in relative obscurity, integrating into local culture and folklore. The themes (and the name) of the Mazzeri are largely drawn from the themes and mythology of Corsica.
The league will be played as a series of 5 draft games, played using the Recursion Limited rules. The first game will be played with 3 packs. Before each game (after the first) players will draft an additional pack. In addition, before each game each player will get a new card that may be included in her deck. Each game will have a "center" card that is shared by the players. The storyline-specific cards are designed for the event, but are intended to be legal (and balanced) for subsequent play.
Cards can be drafted from any set, and each player can choose which sets he or she wishes to draft. The Mazzeri will have disciplines that match the core independent clans. So there will be incentive for players to draft sets that support those clans.
Special Crypt and Library cards will be created for the event. Before each round, each player will be given 1 copy of the "Deck Card" for that round. Players get to keep that card and have the option of including the cards in their decks.
Each game will also have a new "Center Card". This card will begin the game uncontrolled. If it's a crypt card, then it begins the game with full blood. Each time a player gains the Edge, he or she, also utaps the Center Card and takes control if it. If the Center Card is burned, it is removed from the game.
The winner of each game gets to keep the Center Card for that round and may include it in future decks.
Winners and Rewards
The winner of each game gets to keep the Center Card. At the end of the 5 game series the tally of GW and VP should be taken to determine the overall League Winner in each city. The League Organizer should provide additional prize support for the winner and other participants based on their standing.
There are no "clan" winners, overall rewards, or central reporting requirements for the league.
Round 1:
3 packs, 3 card min crypt, 15 card min library, 3 reshuffles
Deck Card
Crypt
Maquis
Mazzeri
4 cap
chi qui ser
Independent. Maquis are not unique and do not contest. Maquis may not block older vampires.
Center Card
Library
Reaction
Mazzeri
Envy and The Eye
Only usable during a bleed action. The acting minion has -1 stealth and +1 bleed.
Round 2:
4 packs (3 from round 1 + 1 new one), 4 card min crypt, 20 card min library, 2 reshuffles
Deck Card
Library
Action Modifier
Mazzeri
Vow of the Vendettist
Only usable by a ready untapped vampire other than the acting minion. Only usable after a combat between the acting minion you control and a blocking minion.
This vampire enters combat with the blocking minion. The first round of this new combat has a press to continue.
Center Card
Crypt
Mazzeri
Sanglier
5 cap
CHI, SER, nec
Independent. +1 strength. -1 stealth.
Round 3:
Deck Card
Crypt
Mazzeri
Strega Susini
6 cap
CHI, NEC, qui, ani, ser
Independent. -1 strength. Strega Susini cannot be contested. If a second Strega Susini comes into play, the first Strega Susini is moved to the uncontrolled region instead of contesting.
Center Card
Library
Squadra d'Arroza
Master
Mazzeri
3 pool
Tap to give a Mazzeri +1 stealth. Tap to burn a blood counter on an uncontrolled minion.
Round 4:
Deck Card
Crypt
Mazzeri
Khari-ed-Din
7 cap
chi, NEC, qui, SER, POT
Independent.
Center Card
Library
Feast of Asphodel
Master
Mazzeri
Tap to give move a blood from the blood bank to a Mazzeri with no blood.
Round 5:
Deck Card
Library
Dream Hunt
Action
Mazzeri
+1 stealth action
X Blood
Put this card in play with X+1 dream counters and choose a ready minion. While this card is in play, any minion not controlled by that vampire's controller may enter combat with the chosen minion as a (D) action. During your untap phase burn 1 counter from this card and the chosen minion burns 1 blood or life. Burn this card when the last counter is removed.
Center Card
Crypt
Mazzeri
Aruj-ed-Din
8 cap
CHI, NEC, QUI, SER, pre
Independent. Infernal. Aruj-ed-Din pays only half of the blood cost for any cards he plays (round down).
The images and urls (and descriptions for that matter) are intended for guidance and inspirational, and referance purposes. I don't expect anything to reproduced exactly.
This event and their associated cards are drawn from the themes and mythology of the Mediterannean island of Corsica. So, the visual style should match. More than the tourist-friendly seaside towns, these vampires are from mountain-side villages of the more islolated interior. Rugged, rural, and swarthy.
http://www.fleurdecorse.com/Corse%20Pics/Corse%20Plants/DSCF1528_maquis.jpg
http://pauillac.inria.fr/~fpottier/Back-to-Corsica/Images/070.jpg
Since these are storyline cards, I'm assuming there won't be set symbol. If one is desired something like a stylized silhouette of the Corsican folding knife might work.
http://www.antiquefirearms.com/images/edge/vendetta2.jpg
Mazerri are their own bloodline and will need a crypt background. I would suggest something brownish, but its kinda overdone in V:tes clans. Maybe greenish?
Crypt Cards
Maquis: Maquis are the foot soldiers of the Mazzeri. The are several of them, so the crypt card doesn't represent a single individual. Features could be indistinct or multiple persons shown. Maquis was the nickname of the rural French resistance during WWII. The got their name from a scrubby ground plant native to Cosica. The irregulars would attack and then "fade into the Maquis". These guys have a similar vibe to those resistance fighters. Maybe he's holding an old bolt-action rifle.
http://www.madrid.org/museo_picasso/imagenes/biografias/maquis528.jpg
http://www.manueltalens.com/imagenes/maquis.jpg
Sanglier: A Sanglier is a wild boar that's quite numerous on the island. That's what this guys is named after and he should look it. Rough and wild.
http://www.terracorsa.info/gifs/sanglier.jpg
Strega Susini: An ancient, emaciated, old crone, or hag. She's dressed in a black shawl and giving us the evil eye.
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/5/452/452-h/images/page203s.jpg
http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com/assets/images/db_images/db_82-610.jpg
http://www.pilotguides.com/images/content/destination_guide/europe/corsica/corsica_oldlady.JPG
Aruj-ed-Din and Khari-ed-Din: These brother are the Barbarossa brothers of the Barbary Pirates. They've given up piracy, moved inland, and assimilated (somewhat) over the last 300 years. The turbans are long gone. The bushy red beards, barrel chests, and regal demeanor remain. Aruj is the clan founder and "big" brother. Some say Aruj learned his dark arts after a deal with the devil.
http://www.thepirateking.com/images/bios_aruj_barbarossa2.jpg
http://www.hellenica.de/Griechenland/NeuGes/Bio/MarkosBotsaris.jpg
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/e/ef/240px-Barbarossa_Hayreddin_Pasha.jpg
Library Cards
Envy and the Eye: This card represents the Evil Eye and its power over the reckless and greedy, or the power to make other reckless and greedy. Maybe a well-dressed man has had his head turned by a beautiful car (or a beautiful woman). He doesn't notice peasant (old woman?) staring at him intently.
Vow of Vendettist: This card reflects the Vendetta and the relentless pursuit of a sworn foe. Maybe a man wanders a narrow stone path through a village. He is being followed by another man, who holds a large, folding knife concealed behind is back.
http://employees.oxy.edu/jerry/corrigan/corvil10.jpg
http://www.antiquefirearms.com/images/edge/vendetta2.jpg
Squadra d'Arroza: The Squadra d'Arroza is phantom funeral procession. It means death to all who see it. A procession of white-robed penitents up a coffin as they pass in front of a small stone church.
http://www.cs.unca.edu/~boyd/touring/tour02/day22/n193church.jpg
Feast of Asphodel: The Asphodel is a large white flower that nurtures and strengthens the dead. A vampire emerges from a small stone tomb on a mountain-side path. He (she?) stops to smell the flowers.
http://www.terracorsa.info/flora/maquis9.jpg
http://www.terracorsa.info/aspho.html
Dream Hunt: The Dream Hunt is the Mazzeri practice of going out at night, slaying an animal, looking at slain animal and seeing the face of someone who is about to die. A vampire holds and newly slain wild boar in his hands and looks up at the vision of someone suffering a violent death.