Published by White Wolf (2000/10)
Release date: August 19, 2002Â
Total cards: 547 (115 new cards - 90 new Camarilla and 10 Sabbat vampires)
Boosters: 11 cards (pool of 385 - 5C, 3V, 2U, 1R)
Decks: 6 non-random preconstructed decks, Brujah, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere and Ventrue (89 cards)
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle charted in the top ten card games in Comics & Games Retailer in April 2001. This set is the 4th to be released by White Wolf for VTES. The Gangrel are not a part of this set, but they will be prominently featured in the subsequent expansion, The Anarchs.
New Look - The cards have a new layout (although the cards backs remain unchanged). Each card, both crypt and library, has an attribute bar along the left side where the attributes of the card (clan, discipline, cost, etc.) go. The red capacity circle remains in the lower-right corner, however. For crypt cards, this update should help with cross-table discipline identification (the icons are bigger and are less likely to be obscured by blood counters). The card-type-specific backgrounds have changed as well, both for crypt cards and for library cards. The icons for blood cost and pool cost have also been updated. If a card costs blood, the amount is shown in a red drop. If a card costs pool, the amount is shown in a white diamond with a vampiric skull. In both cases the icon appears in the lower left corner of the card.
Grouping - The Camarilla Edition introduces 100 new vampires. Ninety of these vampires are Camarilla, 15 in each of the clans: Brujah, Malkavian, Nosferatu, Toreador, Tremere, and Ventrue. This new influx of vampires, no matter how well balanced individually, could give too much power to Camarilla deck builders by increasing the selection of available vampires (making crypt selection more like building customized vampires). To ensure on-going play balance (for this set as well as future sets in which new vampires will appear), The Camarilla Edition introduces a new attribute, a number, on each vampire for grouping (shown just above the upper-left corner of the text area). Crypts must be built using only vampires from a single group or using only vampires from two consecutive groups. The group of a crypt card from previous sets with no group number is determined as follows. Cards from the 1994 and 1995 base sets (vampires with no expansion symbol in the upper right corner of the card) are Group 1, while cards from the expansions (Dark Sovereigns, Ancient Hearts, Sabbat, Sabbat War, Final Nights, and Bloodlines) are Group 2. So all of the decks built with those cards remain legal. All groups (all cards) are tournament legal - there is no phasing out of old cards, just segregation of groups.
New Rules
No Repeat Actions - The new base rules incorporate a variation of the No Repeat Actions special floor rule from the V:EKN tournament rules. Instead of restricting repeats by type, a minion cannot: bleed twice in a turn; take a political action twice in a turn; use the same action card twice in a turn; take the action allowed by a card in play twice in a turn. By the new rules, for example, a minion can hunt or equip (assuming the minion can untap). The last item (card in play) includes any special ability the minion may have.
Allies Using Disciplines - The new rules explicitly state how to handle allies that can play cards that require disciplines (which are, of course, only playable by vampires that possess those disciplines by default). None of the allies in The Camarilla Edition have this ability, though, so this rule won't affect players who are just starting out with the The Camarilla Edition. Here's the text of the rule from the rulebook:
Some allies have the ability to play certain cards "as a vampire." In these cases, the ally is treated as a vampire for all effects generated by the play of the card. The ally's life represents his blood (to pay costs, for example). Any blood he gains or loses as a vampire equates to a gain or loss of life for the ally. For purposes of that card, the ally has a capacity of 1 by default (for use if the card requires an older vampire or a vampire of a given capacity). The ally is treated as a vampire only when playing the card and, for cards such as actions and strikes that are not resolved immediately, for the resolution of the effect. In particular, the ally is not treated as a vampire for effects of the card once it's in play or for lingering effects generated by the card. If the ally gains life in excess of his capacity, it doesn't drain off, and if the effect inflicts aggravated damage on the ally, he burns life as normal. However, if the effect would send the ally to torpor, then he is burned instead.
Miscellaneous
Default bleed and strength for both vampires and allies is 1 (allies used to default to 0).
The term Action Card refers to all cards that are played to take an action, including equipment, ally, and retainer cards (returning to the original Jyhad usage).
Retainers no longer automatically heal at the end of combat.
A blood hunt is called automatically after every successful diablerie. It is not optional, and it is not the fifth step of diablerie.
Updated Rarities - Some cards reprinted in The Camarilla Edition have a different rarity than they previously had.
Alacrity C to UAura Reading U to CBrainwash C to UBurst of Sunlight R to UClosed Session C to UDeer Rifle C to UElder Library C to UFast Reaction C to UFragment of the Book of Nod R to R2Freak Drive R to UHidden Lurker C to UJudgment: Camarilla Segregation U to R2Kindred Intelligence R to UNight Moves U to CPrecognizant Mobility C to USixth Tradition U to RStorm Sewers U to R2Tremere Convocation U to R2Walk of Flame U to C