With the House of Virtue boxset going on general release this Friday, I though I’d go and take a look at what’s inside and see what they can do on the streets of Venice.

The House of Virtue set is a complete gang coming in at 68 points. This means you can add some accesories for a small game, or add some different Guild members to bulk it up to 100 Ducats.

So let’s take a look at each character and see waht they do:

Madame

The Madame is the leader of the House of Virtue, each brothel will be lead by a single Madame who controls that brothels activities. She’s a handy character in her own right. A Pistol and a Stilletto with 5 Dex and 4 Attack. Of course she’s not well armoured, none of this gang are, with only 3 Protection.

However she has Concealment +1, Parry (2) and Slippery (3) to keep herself from harm. She also has a whopping 6 Command Points. This pretty much tells you what her main function is, use those Command Abilities!

Command Ability – Don’t Let Them Take You: Gives all friendly characters within 6″ Parry (2) until the end of the round. Great when you up against a better armed gang, use this early in the round and help offest this gangs weak protection scores.

Command Ability – Strike When They’re Vulnerable: This gives all friendly characters with the House of Virtue keyword, so all this gang, Penetration -2 on their weapons. Changing the humble Stilleto of the Harlots into an armour piercing Stilleto.  I don’t know what they are doing with the enemy in the streets to make them… Vulnerable… But it’s clearly effective.

She also has a passive ability, giving all House of Virtue characters, Companion: House of Virtue. So anyone with House of Virtue can use her Mind value.

Dancer

The Dancer is the gangs Hero choice. In the brothel her job is to entice and excite visitors before spending time with their choice of Harlot. They entertain and mesmerise. Yet their Dance means something very different while out on the dangerous streets of Venice.

The activities of the House of Virtue are technically illegal in Venice, and the City Guard don’t take kindly to seeing the law broken (they may be customers on their nights off… But that’s a different story.) The Dancer can warn Harlots of Guards nearby, and in such troubled times as Venice now finds itself in, to warn of any danger coming. From Nobles hell bent on destruction, to Vatican Priests to strange monsters.

Stats wise, the Dancer is an.. Ok Character, for 14 Ducats certainly decent enough. However it’s her abilities that really amke her stand out, and though situational, when they work, those 14 Ducats are a bargain.

She has Slippery(2) to help get away from trouble. However her Poisoned Weapons Passive is potentially devastating to gangs built around hard hitting characters. Bad rolls could mean severe daamge, from a needle no less. Even something as strong as a Brachura could lose over a Quarter of it’s health from one attack with just a Needle. Stack with the Madames Command Ability to give it -1 Penetration and see the big scary things fall quickly. Ignore her lack of Hunter, you want the Dancer to be dealing with the bigger, high attack enemies.

Command Ability – Communitive Dance: This can be extremely powerful used at the right time, the ability to give two friendly characters with the House of Virtue keyword a completely free Move Action is brilliant for keeping allies out of trouble, or moving them towards key objectives quickly. With 3 Command Points, this can be done 3 times a game, that makes a very mobile gang.

Escort

The Escort is the gangs muscle. With 4 Protection, she’s better at taking the hits. Her job is to protect the valuable and fragile Harlots and Dancers on the streets. Using her sword to scare off, or attack would be assailants.

Her role is pretty simple. As a Bodyguard for Henchmen and Heroes, use her to protect the Harlots and Dancers. Her Sword does decent damage, and can of cours be given good Penetration via the Madame and her Command Abilities.

Harlot

The Harlots are why the House of Virtue exists, both male and female, though the men have to dress up as women. Providing their services to men and women, discovering their secrets for the House to trade….

The Harlot is your standard Henchman choice for the House of Virtue. At 10 Ducats you aren’t expecting them to do anything special. However they can conceal themselves well and with Parry they are more survivable than you may expect.  

Summary

Nothing is Mindless in this gang, so everything can get objectives, and with the mobility given by the Dancer and the boosts given by the Madame, this gang can certainly prove a very powerful gang on the streets used right. Nothing is a lone wolf. You will need to keep the gang together to some extent and synergise their actions.

If you wish to expand this gang with other characters from the Guild, or even the Gifted, it lacks both Magic (It is Guild after all) and Ranged weaponary. Maybe worth taking a look at another Female character within the Guild to solve the first problem…. Baba Yaga, also released this Friday. That will give you access to Blood Rites or Wild Magic. More on her next week.

For Ranged, Guild ahve a multitude of options, Arbalest, Recruiter, Baroni or even a Rialto Assassin can give some ranged power. Gifted could lend a hand with Fadhilla giving them more survivability too. So much can be made to work well with the House of Virtue, and that is also one of their benefits.

So if you haven’t Pre-Ordered your House of Virtue set, or any of the other new Carnevale releases this week, take a look at our webstore.

Until next time, take care on the streets of Venice. And of course, with current events in the world, take care of yourselves!