Blood Lust rules check

[Smurf]

From the new 6th Ed Blood Lust can be rerolled or proed?

As soon as you declare an action, that player is activated, then roll for the vamp's response. This can be rerolled?

Ah well, this will speed up the Vampire game as they burn through rerolls to avoid chewing on thralls.

Someone somewhere has dreamt up that a Vampire roll of a 1 cannot be rerolled. Was this ever the case, is it still the case?

Bloody players, should read the ***king rules themselves... all of them cover to cover. Personally, it is a waste of a reroll and the vamps should be better organised, yeah use the reroll to avoid the bite, then promptly fail the next action!

[sann0638]

You can, but good vamp players seldom do

[Grumbledook]

you have always been able to use a reroll or pro on a failed blood lust action

the old off for a bite 4+ miss that drive rule you couldn't because that was an off pitch roll

[Digger Goreman]

Yeah, why else would you need 5+ rerolls on a team with Ag4 players? And it's still, often, not enough....

[Smeborg]

Be a Thrall. Take the Bite!

[dwbailey]

You can reroll it, but if you are positioned right, than there is already food waiting where you need to go. Thats what thralls are for.

[Pagan]

That's what Pro is for. Sure you can bite a thrall if positioned right, but then you remove tackle zones. Won't win many games if you repeatedly do that.

[Grumbledook]

hnnnnnnnnnng pro on vamps makes me cry

[dwbailey]

I humbly disagree Pagan. I think there are two ways to play Vamps, one is the traditional way with lots of Pro and maybe even thick skull (which I am against even more ) on the thralls. The other way is to say let the vamps eat and plan accordingly. I just made the championship of our FABBL league here in Southern California playing vamps without pro on a single vampire. They are too lacking in critical skills to waste one on pro. If failing the blood lust is that critical to your game, you are going to use a Team RR anyway instead of risking the 50-50 on pro. Yes you have to be more careful with your positioning and plan your entire turn before moving, but it can be done succesfully. I ended up with 4 Blodging vamps and a passer who had rolled doubles. I only played 4 at a time with the passer on offense, but 4 ST4 AG4 Blodgers drove my opponents nuts. Yes, smart opponents started targeting the thralls and I ultimately replaced 9 of them throughout the season due to death or injury, but I played with 10 on my team and the fact that you can feed on prone and stunned thralls meant that some of them just got rebitten when necessary. I can honestly say that I never lost a game due to excessive feeding and I only had to go into the crowd for food 3 times all season and 2 of those were because of double 1 dodges when a thrall was waiting.

I am not saying that the Pro style of vampire team cannot work, I am just saying that it is not the only way to win with Vamps.

[Grumbledook]

The traditional way is without pro, taking pro is the untraditional way ;]

I won a LRB4 league with vamps when bloodlust was worse and had no pro on the team

often debated though, and plenty of posts on it in the tactics section if someone wants to dredge it up again!

[dwbailey]

Good. Then I am a Traditionalist.

Before playing the team I looked up alot of the threads and it seemed people favored the pro concept, so I figured that was the more popular. I just wasn't a fan so tried something else and it worked.

[Smurf]

Well Pro has other uses too.

Dodge roll
Interception
Passing
Catching
Blocking
Going For It
Picking up the Ball
Fouling
Leap skill
Jump Up block
Dauntless (as and when required)
Shadowing

So it can come in useful at any time. It would be funny to see a team where all 6 vampires with Pro.

[Grumbledook]

Nice long list of stuff that it doesn't work on half the time ;]

[Smeborg]

Be a Pro - take the Bite!

I don't think the issue is clear cut, and suggest that both points of view (to Pro or not to Pro) are equally valid. On the one hand Vamps have almost unlimited access to other skills (GAS on a normal roll), which argues for taking some of them. On the other hand, Vamps are players with an outstanding stat line, but retarded in their development and all-rounders in the way they play the game (which argues for Pro). Provided your development strategy is coherent and consistent, I think you can go either way.

I don't think Bloodlust alone is an argument for Pro, but the great utility of a superb player armed with Pro and a Re-Roll certainly helps to make a case. Pro also helps with the Vamps only active starting skill (Hypno-Gaze). I am a fan of Pro in general, although obviously the skill has suffered a steady and significant demise since 3rd Edition. But it's nice to see coaches taking an opportunity to give it to players.

It would be nice to see a match between well-coached Vampire teams that have chosen the opposite development paths!