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.

And finally a name ..... this is the Too Many Wakes deck, christened as such
by Lady Legbiter last night, when it won its second [