Here is a worked example of building a deck using the Happy Families method,
in response to requests from a number of people.
For those who don't know what i'm talking about, Happy Families is a
deck-constructing formula that aims to build a flexible playable deck
around a given selection of vampires. Usually these will all be vampires
of one clan. Basically you choose the vamps you want to play with, and the
library size you want to use, and then you determine the cards in the
library as follows:
20% or so should be master cards
The remaining 80% or so should be minion cards, divided up with respect
to discipline in the following way:
Count the number of vampires in your crypt:
call this number p.
Count the number of vampires with the most common discipline in your deck:
call this number q.
Count the number of vampires with the second most common discipline in your deck:
call this number r.
Count the number of vampires with the third most common discipline in your deck:
call this number s.
Count the number of vampires with the fourth most common discipline in your deck:
call this number t.
Now if 80% of your chosen library size is a, then you want
[(p/[p+q+r+s+t]) x a] cards that require no discipline to play
[(q/[p+q+r+s+t]) x a] cards that require the most common discipline to play
[(r/[p+q+r+s+t]) x a] cards that require the second most common discipline to play
[(s/[p+q+r+s+t]) x a] cards that require the third most common discipline to play
[(t/[p+q+r+s+t]) x a] cards that require the fourth most common discipline to play
You can obviously have more or fewer disciplines than 4, in which case you
adjust the formula accordingly, and i do so, below.
i wanted to build a "kagemusha" Nosferatu bash/vote deck from Jyhad cards only,
to "shadow" my favourite tournament deck. This deck therefore was made from the
contents of just under two boxes of Jyhad boosters given to me by David Tatu
[we used the rest to build a Brujah bash/bleed deck for Michael].
CRYPT:
2 Sheldon 9 POT ANI OBF AUS for Justicar
2 Selma 8 POT ani OBF for Prince
2 Chester 7 POT ANI obf for Primogen
2 Sammy 4 pot ani obf
Agrippina 4 pot OBF
Duck 3 pot obf
Koko 2 pot
Dimple 2 obf
There are 12 vampires in this crypt and all 12 can use disciplineless
or Nossie-only cards. 11 can use pot cards, and a different 11 can use
obf cards. 8 can use ani cards. 6 can use for cards. 2 can use aus cards.
12+11+11+8+6+2 = 50.
Now for the library. 20% or so of your library should be master cards
- fewer if you turn over a lot of minion cards in any one turn, more if
you have Anson, the Parthenon, Death of my Conscience or some other way
of unjamming your hand.
For a 90-card library, 20% = 18 masters.
That leaves 72 minion cards.
Happy families tells us that (12/50) x 72 should be cards that
require no discipline to play, ie 18 cards.
(11/50) x 72 should be pot cards, and the same number should be obf cards,
ie 15 pot cards and 15 obf cards.
(8/50) x 72 should be ani cards, ie 12.
(6/50) x 72 should be for cards, ie 9.
(2/50) x 72 should be aus cards, ie 3.
That's how i decided on the proportions, and here is the deck i actually built:
18 Masters:
5 Minion Tap [average blood capacity of this crypt is 5 and 7 twelfths,
bit big, and bloat is going to be your best defence against a quick bleed deck]
Fame
3 Blood doll
KRCG News Radio
Giant's Blood
Haven Uncovered
Slum HG
Golconda
Temptation of Greater Power [use as a master-phase bleed against your prey,
and if you are lucky it will set you up for a Parity shift, too!].
The Rack
2 Spawning Pool [An underrated card, in my view, especially if you have
ANI and rat's warning.]
[Actually the surprise value of Temptation/GP and spawning pool is a
lot of the reason for their inclusion - tends to put people off their
game if a really unusual card turns up].
18 No Discipline cards:
2 Parity Shift
Archon
4 WWEF
Kindred Restructure
2 Nosferatu Justicar
Fifth Tradition
2 Bum's Rush
2 Taste of Vitae
Second Tradition
Bloodhunt
Saturday Night Special [was Patagia, but the advantage is SOOO marginal.
As far as i can see the only good excuse for using Patagia is if you want
to use the RPG launcher or Flamethrower, and even then the IR goggles are
probably better].
i'm playing fast and loose with the formula here, obviously, because a
lot of these cards require that you have a Prince or Justicar. So i'm
trusting the deck to deliver that, to some extent.
15 Potence
7 Mighty Grapple
3 Thrown Gate
2 Rampage
3 Undead Strength
15 Obfuscate
5 Cloak the Gathering
2 Mask 1K Faces
3 Faceless Night
2 Spying mission
3 Lost in Crowds
12 Animalism
5 Rat's Warning
Army of Rats
2 Raven Spy
4 Cat's Guidance
9 Fortitude
3 Skin of Rock
5 Skin of Steel
Freak Drive
3 Auspex
2 Telepathic Misdirection
Pulse of the Canaille
That's 8 actions, 6 votes, 2 Retainers, 1 Equip
[17 card-based reasons to tap a vampire, if you like]:
16 Action modifiers:
16 Reactions:
23 combat cards.
Experience shows this is roughly the right proportion of different
card types for a nice flowy kind of deck that is always up to stuff.