Forum der deutschen VTES-Community
Following the Sabbat decks, we’ll move away from pre-constructed decks to a pair of themed releases: Brazil By Night and Shadows of New York. With Brazil By Night, the release is a personal one, as we lost five members of the Brazilian VTES community to COVID-19. We’ve decided to honor those players with crypt cards and we’re going to explore the nation more in-depth with additional library cards and crypt cards. With Shadows of New York, we’ll cover the characters and events of the Shadows of New York and Coteries of New York visual novels for Vampire: The Masquerade. Across both of these sets, you can expect to see additional crypt and library cards for the Camarilla, Anarch, and Sabbat sects. We anticipate a late Q3 2025 release for them.
• You are hopefully aware of the general plan forward presented in the roadmap article in December, but product director Ben Peal recently delivered a quick update to the editor: The Sabbat decks will launch BEFORE the New Blood packs for Ravnos, Salubri and Tzimisce, sometime June/July this year. Then those New Blood packs, and then, late 2025, two packs themed around Brazil and New York. Going into 2026, things are more sketchy - New Blood packs for the four Sabbat paths, and most likely another city-based set. Cool, right?!
• The design team is not lazy! The first round of playtesting of the two upcoming sets "Brazil by Night" and "Shadows of New York" has just begun. The editor had a quick look at no less than 61 cards, and WOW it looks interesting. Camarilla, Sabbat and Anarchs all have stuff there, for example Primogen only-cards, new funny combat tricks and several "discard a card to do something cool"-effects. Some illustrations are already commissioned. Release of both is scheduled for the first half of 2026.
• The first round of playtest of the New York- and Brazil-themed sets has concluded, and the design team is evaluating the results to prepare the next round.
• The second round of playtesting of the two Brazil- and New York-themed sets is being sent to the playtesting groups really soon. These are currently set for an April/May release.
• Round 2 of the playtest of the Brazil and New York sets was recently sent out to playtesters. This round will end January 4. In the meantime, commissioned art is being delivered – exciting times at the art department! Three of these were already previewed in Ben Peal's presentation at EC 2025 – two pieces by Anastasiia Horbunova (left) and one by Krzysztof Bieniawski (right):
• Playtest round 2 of the two Brazil and New York-themed sets has ended and reports are compiled for the design team to chew through. First comments indicated most things are looking clear and good, so let´s see if a third round of testing is even needed. Current plan is April or May release for these.
• Round 2 of the playtest of the Brazil and New York sets is done, the design team is preparing round 3. Much artwork is done and will be previewed in the coming months – you find one example at the top of this newsletter. Current plan is April or May release for these.
• The upcoming Brazil and New York themed sets are a little bit delayed, now scheduled for May or June release. Round 2 of playtesting is being digested by the design team and almost all artwork is done.
We are delighted to start this newsletter with preview art for the upcoming Brazil-themed set. It is by Spanish artist Daniel Argudo - pretty sweet, right?
• Design of the Brazil and New York sets is moving on. Most artwork is done and a third round of playtesting will begin soon. Release is hopefully June.
• The artwork for the Brazil and New York sets is complete, and the third round of playtesting is ending soon. Sadly, printing time has gotten longer, so we are looking at a late summer/early fall store date.
New promo card: Porto de Santos
Hi! We are happy to announce a new promotional card for Vampire: The Eternal Struggle: Porto de Santos is a port in Brazil, so it will first be awarded in Brazil, to players at the National Championship in Campina Grande on May 24.
The card, with moody art by Brazilian artist Felipe Headley, will be available in other parts of the world a bit later, and the non-promo version will appear in the upcoming Brazil-themed expansion pack later this year. The card is not legal for tournament play until that set is released.
• The design team is giving the cards for the Brazil and New York sets a final polish before it's time for print. They have gone through three rounds of proper playtesting – thanks to all testers! Soon there will be product names and fronts will be ready, and more art and actual cards can be revealed. Store date is late summer/early fall.
Welcome to a jam-packed newsletter, just like you like them. We are delighted to kick it off with this amazing wraith artwork by Anastasiia Horbunova, a preview from the upcoming Brazil-themed set for our beloved Vampire: The Eternal Struggle. So beautiful you go silent!
• The two Brazil and New York-themed 54-card sets have been finalized and will be sent to the printer shortly. Sadly, printing is slower than ever, so are most likely looking at an October release. The "spoiler season" will start as soon as the time table is more clear. These sets will have the Path-marker cards shown in the May newsletter on the flipside of the front card, but these will also be made available on print-on-demand.