How would I change VTES? Part 4A: Rulebook Changes #1

Rules changes have been marked with italics.

1.5. Overview of Crypt Cards

Each crypt card (the amber-backed cards) has a set of elements that describe the vampire: his name, blood capacity, clan, Disciplines (powers), group and any special abilities or political title he has. These elements are described below. Some advanced expansions include other types of crypt cards. Details for these types can be found on the web site. See More Information. There are Crypt Cards which are not vampires; additional information on these Crypt Cards can be found in the Complete Rules Reference on the VEKN Website.

1. Name: The name of the vampire appears at the top of the card. Each crypt card is unique, so only one copy of each can be in play at a time. A second Methuselah could contest control of the vampire (see Contested Cards, sec. 4.1), which means that the Methuselahs are struggling for control of him. If another Methuselah attempts to control another copy of the same vampire it would become Contested (see Contested Cards, Section 4.1).
2. Blood capacity: The number in the red circle in the lower right corner of the card is the vampire's capacity. This number reflects many things at once: the vampire's relative age (larger numbers represent older vampires), the amount of influence (in pool) a Methuselah must invest in him in order to bring him under her control and the maximum ability  resources he the vampire has to heal wounds or play cards (some cards cost blood to play).

A vampire with a larger capacity than another is said to be older, and one with a smaller capacity is younger. A vampire cannot have more blood than his capacity; if an effect puts more blood on him than his capacity allows, the excess is always moved to the blood bank immediately.

An uncontrolled vampire (see Play Area, sec. 2.3) will have blood counters stacked on it representing the amount of influence pool that has been invested in him. When that stack pool counters equals his blood capacity at the end of the influence phase, you reveal move the vampire and place him in the  to the ready region (see Play Area, sec. 2.3) with that pool on top of the vampire as blood. He retains the blood counters used to influence him on his card to serve as his blood (see Influence Phase, sec. 7).

3. Clan: Each vampire belongs to a clan, identified by the symbol at the top of the attribute bar (the marble stripe on the left side of the card). See the reference pages in the center of the rules booklet for a list of the clan symbols. You can find a comprehensive list of these in the Glossary and also on the VEKN Website. Some library cards require a member of a particular vampire clan to play, while other library cards may affect only vampires of a particular clan. The clans are grouped into sects (see Vampire Sects, sec. 10).
4. Sect: All vampires belong to a Sect. This is like an association or philosophy for vampires.  Each clan has a Sect to which most of its member belong; but there are vampires who belong to other Sects within a clan.
5. Disciplines: These are supernatural powers that vampires and some mortals possess. The Disciplines possessed by the vampire are represented by the group of symbols at the bottom of the attribute bar on the left hand side of the crypt card.  For vampires, they may have inferior disciplines (shown by a square) or superior disciplines (shown by a diamond). Other crypt cards may have non-vampiric disciplines which have their own symbols; these tend to not have inferior or superior levels.
   The vampire's Disciplines determine which library cards he the minion can play. If a library card requires a Discipline (noted by a Discipline symbol on the attribute bar of the library card), then only vampires minions who have that Discipline can play it.

Each of a vampire's Discipline symbols is in the shape of either a square or a diamond. A square-shaped Discipline symbol means that the vampire has one level of that Discipline, the basic level; he can use only the basic (plain text) effect listed on a card that requires that Discipline. A Discipline symbol within a diamond signifies that the vampire has an additional level of that Discpline, the superior level, and therefore may opt to use either the basic (plain text) or the superior (bold) effect listed on the card (but not both). A minion with an inferior discipline (shown by a square) may only use the inferior level of a card which is written in plain print font.  A minion with a superior discipline (shown by a diamond) may use a card at either one of the two levels of a card; the superior level is written in the bold print font.

Some library cards have multiple Discipline symbols on the attribute bar. Some of the effects listed on these cards require one of the Disciplines listed, while other effects require another listed Discipline, and some effects require the vampire to possess several Disciplines. Each effect shows the icon(s) of the Discipline(s) required.

6. Group: Each vampire belongs to a specific group, identified by a number above the upper left corner of the text box. A player's crypt must be built using vampires from a single group or from two consecutive groups. This does not restrict a Methuselah from stealing vampires from other groups through play, however. Cards from some older sets do not have this designation. For those cards, the ones with an expansion set symbol (an icon in the upper right corner of the card) are treated as Group 2 vampires; the others are Group 1 vampires.
7. Advancement: An advancement card is a type of vampire card for your crypt. An advancement card looks just like a regular crypt card except that it has an Advancement icon under the clan icon.

The advancement card is a vampire card in all respects, so it can be influenced in the normal manner. In addition, if you already control the advancement or the associated regular "base" vampire and the other version of the vampire is in your uncontrolled region, then you can spend 4 transfers and 1 pool to move the vampire card from your uncontrolled region to the controlled vampire card (place the advancement card on top of the base card). The two cards effectively merge to form a single vampire.

The particulars of this merge are as follows. The counters and cards on the vampire remain. The advancement and the base card are treated as a single vampire card, even if sent to the uncontrolled region somehow, until the vampire is burned. Any effects in play that targeted the vampire now target the merged version.

When merged, the text on the base card still applies, but the rest of the card is ignored (capacity, Disciplines, etc.). The advancement card applies in full. If the advancement card conflicts with the base card (a different sect, for example), the advancement card has precedence. Some merged cards have an additional effect that only applies if the card is merged with its base card. Such an effect is identified in the card text by a "merged" icon.

The advanced vampire (merged or not) will contest other copies of the same vampire (advanced or not) in play, as usual.