Ierocis

Yes, which takes me to 6 forms. Does this fall under general, mispack, or site issue (maybe none of the above and one of the other 3?) :/

Uh which customer service form does one fill out?

Would this be GM playtesting then?

DMing is a whole new barrel of fishmonkey! General DM pointers from my experience: 1) Ask the players what kind of game they're looking to play. Some people want hack/slash dungeon raiding while at the opposite end of the scale are those that want to figure out mysteries through clues and talking/dealing with NPCs. Knowing what your players are expecting can help you tailor a more enjoyable experience for all. 2) You are always in charge. Do not be bullied by a player wanting things their way. You're telling a story for all involved. Make it clear at the start that you have the final say. 3) Pacing and keeping the players focused. I've found this the hardest challenge. If your action level is too slow you'll find players wandering off discussing former games, ordering pizza, talking to cats. If the action is too intense the gamers will get tired out pretty fast. You have to manage a careful balance. Try to keep conversation on target. If people start to chat about some new video game, you're losing them. 4) Figure out how long people intend to play and divide adventures accordingly. Try to end sessions on a cliff hanger so they come back for more. 5) Don't go mad with power. Your job is to give them story and adventure, not to try and kill them. You can bend the rules slightly to keep the players alive if they're just having a series of bad flips/rolls. Just don't make it super obvious. NPCs can come to the rescue, a building collapse that should have killed them turns out to only pin them alive for several hours. 6) Be aware people sometimes will drop in and drop out due to real life. Missing sessions you planned to have them with the rest of the party. How you deal with this is up to you. You can come up with an in game excuse to why that player is not there or you can postpone a session. A lot of gaming groups die because of too many cancelled games. Work around the abscent if you can. What I almost forgot and is crazy important: Be familiar with the game mechanics. You'll be busy telling the story and keeping play running. If you have to halt story to find a rule, people will wander off. I suggest sticky notes on certain pages or getting the GM screen/kit for quick reference. If you're using a pre-made adventure, read it more than once. Know what happens where and when so you can change things on the fly when players go off in odd directions. Keep notes and encourage players to do likewise. It keeps them occupied when they're not busy and it helps the group remember important events and names.

A well deserved win. Congrats Admiral and also to the runners up. Cheers!

I'd really appreciate said tutorial. This is fantastic and I would love to replicate a pale facsimile.

Varies. There is a bit of an issue of late with the ports in the US which hinders plastic from many mini companies from arriving. Not to mention the lovely weather we've been having. For professional opinion I'll wave my hands around mystic-like and hope someone of authority answers. As an aside: Since you're new, I highly recommend "A Wyrd Place" on Facebook. Super friendly bunch. Gets questions answered promptly. Monthly competitions.

Welcome to the hobby! The wait for mail is painful at times. I live out in the middle of nowhere; I feel your pain. Anyway, to answer your questions: Yes, standard table is 3'x3'. Correct again, inches because the metric system is evil. I look forward to seeing your project progress!

I haven't been around in awhile but I'm glad to see the competition is steep. The way you guys work off each other, crafting even greater feats than the last is inspiring.

A photo or two of your layout would be great, Ampers&nd. I have a hard time visualizing layouts myself and like to gain inspiration from others.

This was an absolute pleasure to read.

Hi guys, I'm in again I guess. Missed the theme too much to stay away. Sacrifice for Progress Cheers

Though encompassed by curio and antiquity beyond value, Doctors Joseph Helby and Harris Spencer remained transfixed by something else entirely. Harris held a crude stone statuette of a man close to an array of brass-encased lenses for intense scrutiny. Imbedded in the forehead of the figure was a small blueish pebble of no consequential feature save its origin and the remarkable stroke of luck that had allowed it to remain there for countless millenia. “It is indeed as you suspected! You say it was discovered in a burial tomb in the Indus Valley?” Harris handed the strange little doll back to Joseph, who cradled it as a new born babe then placed it in a straw lined box on his desk. “The implications of this find need to be shared with the rest of academia, Joe. We can't just sit on it.” Joseph's soft features turned stern with this new weight suddenly placed upon his shoulders. “It would mean the breach opening several years ago was not our first exposure to Malifaux. I am well aware, but until we can be certain this is not some contraband out of Nippon, I see no reason to make fools of ourselves so early in our careers.” Harris placed his hand reassuringly on Joseph's shoulder and smiled, “I know you have a lot on your plate, with your wife taken ill. I'll help you see this through. What sort of friend would I be if I left you to wander the academic wilderness of Geneva alone, Joe?” “Ah, guten tag, Dr. Helby. Here to see Mrs. Helby, then?” The thick Germanic accent of the asylum supervisor Herr Klossner was gruff but comforting. A weary smile forced itself to Joseph's lips as he raised a small wooden bowl he had brought with him. “If you don't mind, I brought my wife some stew I had left over. I reasoned something familiar might help her.” “But of course.” The short walk through the sterile, but now familiar halls, haunted by cries of the mad and deranged broke Joseph's heart every time he made this daily visit. Knowing he had no other recourse for his only surviving family member was his safe harbour. In a small cell near the end of the hall sat a hunched frail figure hidden under wild, unkempt curls. Joseph placed the stew beside the woman he knew as his wife. She continued to stare off through the stone floors of her cell, ignoring her company and gift. So it had been for a fortnight. He sat opposite his wife and dozed off till Klossner woke him at sunrise. “Take care of her; she's all I have left in this world, Herr Klossner.” Joseph crept into the office in his usual dishevelled state and was immediately greeted by Harris' New England charm. “How is she?” “Honestly! Not even in the door yet and I'm bombarded.” Joe hung his coat on the back of a chair and wandered over to where his colleague was comparing thick tomes and scratch-filled notebooks with the mysterious stone man. “How's the old man first?” “Sharp as a razor, soft as breath.” Joe shook his head at his friend. “You're an odd one, Harris.” “Who better to investigate the oddities of this world and the next?” The exchange provoked a chuckle from the engrossed Dr. Spencer before he returned to his original question. “So, how is she?” “About the same.” The note of despair saturated Joseph's very demeanour. Harris paused in his work and looked at the mess of a man standing before him. “I'm sorry to hear that. I really am. Perhaps I can lift your spirits some?” “You can always endeavour to try.” Pointing at the blueish pebble, Harris was taken with excitement. “Well in that case, I shall! I've procured an expert from the Guild to come and examine your find. He should be here next week.” The “expert” had an air of condescension built about him like a mighty fortress. “You have possibly the lowest quality Soulstone available. It's clearly an unregulated stone. Not one of ours.” He looked up from his appraisal to eye Dr. Joseph Helby suspiciously. “You say you... found it?” Joseph nodded, devoid of emotion. He was exhausted by the appraiser's tedious nature. Add the voluminous hours of research and another week bereft and filled with worry, he was near his breaking point. The aberrant little stone had occupied his mind more and more, even during his visits with his wife. Dreams came to him of ancient lost civilizations of man powered by roadways laid with the blue stones. Every morning when Klossner woke him, he'd be haunted by the dream civilization's denizens and their vacant eyes. “Dr. Helby? I am not a patient man.” Accusing eyes of the Guild appraiser reminded him of those denizens again. Joe pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes. “Yes, sorry. It was at a dig I was with in the Indus Valley region. All kinds of artifacts were uncovered during the making of the railroad.” By the look of disbelief on the appraiser's face, he was not going to take the doctor at his word. “If the University of Geneva wishes to claim this one as part of their research, I will certify it and have the added expense tallied for the Provost.” The unpleasant man placed his large-brimmed hat on his head and made for the door. “For the record, it is depleted and probably not worth your attention.” The door closed and a silence fell upon the study. Harris clamped his hands on Joseph's shoulders and shook him slightly. Joe had almost forgotten he was even there. “What the hell does he know, eh Joe? We'll show them.” Merchants and commoners pushed past him on the blue cobblestone road. In the distance people were crying and moaning in anguish. It didn't bother him; he was used to their cries. Joseph pressed on to the city on the hill. The city's god-king was expecting him. He quickened his pace towards the crimson plinth and the man clad in gold. The cries increased as the jingling of chains followed behind him. All would be remedied once a sacrifice was made. Then the god-king could work his wonders. Copper scent filled his nose as he climbed the last flight of stairs to be welcomed by the man of gold. He raised a bronze knife in offering to him and smiled. The situation was so familiar, yet so alien to him as the cries became more coherent to his mind. They were calling his name, pleading with him. “ A sacrifice is needed.” Joe took the knife and turned about to see a slave bound in chains begging for his life. Without thought, he plunged the dagger into the man. Joseph awoke with a start as Klossner smiled down on him. “It's morning, Herr Doctor.” “You look refreshed, this morning.” Joseph was not in the mood for Harris' chipper attitude. He sat down opposite the stone man who seemed to grin knowingly at him from the table. “Any new developments?” Harris looked wounded that his friend was so curt with him but granted him leeway, knowing of his situation. “A few things, possibly.” “Yes? And?” Letting out a sigh, Harris shoved a thick diary across the desk. “I managed to find this. It's not completely above board. It was smuggled out of Malifaux by some friends of the University.” That peaked Joseph's interest as he looked a little more alive. His malnourished fingers quested through a few pages. “What sort of friends? We could get into a lot of trouble if the Guild found out you were smuggling things through the Breach, Harris.” “Never mind them. Progress should never be hindered by the ignorant.” Harris' conspiratorial grin was infectious. “I'll have to leave you to it though, Joe. I need to leave early. I have business to attend to for a few days. I trust this will keep you occupied?” Joseph nodded quietly and folded himself into his studies. The red bound book entitled “Unorthodox Uses for Soulstones & Alternate Treaties on the Necromantic Arts” lay open to him as Harris' voice faded from his ears. The next few days were spent either in fevered dream or in delirious study. Unhindered, Joseph read about of transference of health and mind with the use of even the lowest quality of Soulstones at the cost of a vigorous fresh life. Or was that the dream? Perhaps...it could be a chance for his wife's recovery. “Sure is a lot of mail piled up. Did you even go out since I left?” Harris put the pile of correspondence on the desk and was taken aback at his friend's waned features. “I shouldn't have left you here on your own.” The slovenly doctor shook off the concern of his friend with a wave of his hand. “Been too busy. We have something here.” An eyebrow raised with increasing anxiety for Joseph's health. “Not even to check in on your wife?” “I'm too close. I'll check in on her tomorrow,” Joe snapped. Joseph hurried, almost tripping over himself several times in his enthusiasm. Why had he not seen it sooner? The man gelded in gold handed him the dagger. “It's not too late.” The cries around him were insistently calling his name, trying to win his favour. Again he took the knife into his hands as if it were the entirety of his hope and dreams. He spun about and plunged his bronze blade into the bound slave. As the doomed man's life faded from his eyes, the blue walkway blazed an unhealthy green. Something was wrong. The sleep falling off him as a sheet, Joseph roused himself to find Harris face-down at his feet, a knife protruding from his back. The man was obviously dead. Panic rose upon the realization he was no longer dreaming. The stone man grinned knowingly at him but now a green stone blazed upon its brow. Muttering to himself, he stashed the statuette in his coat and hurried out the door. A sacrifice must be made. Klossner held up a hand to try and stall the incessant Dr. Helby but he was pushed past. At last hope. The cell was empty. A hand rested on Joseph's shoulder. “I'm sorry, Herr Doctor. I telegraphed the University to inform you. She died several days ago. As per your wishes, I had her body cremated.” Theme: Ivory Tower Character: The Last Survivor Line: Sharp as a razor, soft as breath.. Item: An undelivered letter. Location: Earthside Bonus: Stab in the Back (as per an existing agreement) 2 words under limit Thanks for reading!

*McMourning As Vinush said, a touch too sane for his character. Yeah it comes across as quite dark but then I subscribe to the school of thought: "leaving out details lets the mind construct worse." So to each their own. There are those that prefer being spoon fed the lurid and horrid details of a horror fic.

It is one of those lesser known gems that really outshine other online hobby magazines.