Malkazine #9 (VEKN Malkavian Newsletter October 2003)

The 'Zine of Malkav #9
October, 2003

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Content of Tables:
1. Introduction
2. Fiction (or is it?)
3. V:TES stuff
4. Et Cetera & So Forth
5. To Be Continued

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1. Introduction
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Welcome to this extra-spooky, October issue of the Malkavian
Newsletter!

...

Okay, so it isn't extra-spooky.  In fact, it's not very spooky at all,
now that I think about it.  But, if you're really, really, squeamish
you might get a slight spookiness from the Fiction!

No matter how spooky this issue is, make sure to check out the New
Malk Poll at in Section 4!

-t!MmY, editor and mad inker.
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2. Fiction (or is it?)
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"Waldo," the man in the passenger's seat said, "if you do not cease
your terrible singing, I will rip out your eyes and replace them with
your thumbs."

"...round and round, round and round..." Waldo sang, his head keeping
beat like a metronome.

"And you will not get a lollypop."

"...allllll daaaaay..." Waldo went silent.  "No lollypop?"

"None, what-so-ever."

Waldo sat quietly with his lips pursed tightly.

"How do you know our names?" Todd asked.

The man replied, "Didn't you know?  You three have become the talk of
all Kindred in the last few days. But, I have to confess, we don't
know your name."


"I will give it to you when you give yours," Todd stated.

"You may call me Robert, for now."

"Who's your friend?" Todd asked, indicating the driver wearing the
sunglasses.

"I have no friends," Robert stated.

"What's the driver's name, then?"

"Demitrius."

"Do you always do the talking for him?"

"Yes," Robert said.  After a short pause, Robert said, "There is one
more associate I should introduce, but he's a tad shy.  Perhaps you'll
get to meet him later."

"I'm dying to," Brian said, loudly voicing his sarcasm.

Robert quickly turned his head to Demetrius.  "We're being followed."

Demetrius took one hand off the steering wheel and pulled a large gun
out of his jacket.  While still watching the road and steering with
his other hand, he pointed the gun out the driver-side window.  His
arm angled backward and up, held steadily, then pulled the trigger
once.  The gunshot echoed loadly in the night time air.

Brian, Todd, and Waldo all turned around and looked out the rear
window.  A dark, bird-like shape fell onto the street behind them,
fluttering its wings uselessly.

"You only winged him," Robert said.

Demetrius ignored him.

In the distance, serpents made of shadow slid up to the raptor.  In
one split second they struck, enveloping and entwining the bird with
their own black bodies.  The shadow-creatures twisted and contorted
the bird's shape grusomely, pulling it into large chunks of raw meat. 
Having finished their job, the midnight serpents evanesced back into
the darkness.

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3. V:TES Stuff
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This month, we have a deck submission from Kari Mäkinen!  Kari kicked
much booty in a ICQ #vtes game I was in.  The deck played was very
much in the vein of how I like to play my Malk decks: sick & twisted.

Featured Deck
Created by: Kari Mäkinen

Crypt:
1x Zoe
1x Victoria
1x Dr Douglas Netchurch
1x Quentin King III
1x Greger Andersen
1x Cornelius Ottavio
2x Anatole, Prophet of Gehenna
4x Maris Streck

Library:

Master: 13
1x Fragment of the Book of Nod
3x Blood Doll
1x Direct Intervention
1x Sudden Reversal
2x Rostchreck
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Creepshow Casino
1x The Rack
1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
1x Asylum Hunting Ground

Action: 10
1x Army of Rats
1x Blessing of Chaos
3x 5th Tradition: Hospitality
3x 4th Tradition: Accounting
2x Pulse of the Canaille

Action Modifier: 7
7x Swallowed by the Night

Ally: 2
2x Muddled Vampire Hunter

Combat: 16
8x Disguised Weapon
6x Behind You!
2x Dragon's Breath Rounds

Equipment: 8
2x Assault Rifle
3x .44 Magnum
1x Ivory Bow
1x Sawed-off Shotgun
1x Flamethrower

Politics: 11
1x Praxis Seizure: Seattle
1x Praxis Seizure: Miami
1x Praxis Seizure: Atlanta
1x Kindred Restucture
6x Parity Shift
1x Anarchist Uprising

Reaction: 23
1x Malkavian Rider Clause
5x Wake with Evening's Freshness
3x Eagle's Sight
8x 2nd Tradition: Domain
6x Telepathic Misdirection

How to Play This Deck:
Bring Maris out early and block important actions, and don't be afraid
to give intercept to other players when needed. Anatole is best to
bring out next since his fortitude and +1 intercept make him the ideal
blocker, just make him prince asap. Muddled is usually better as
blocker than rusher in this deck since Maris can give him intercept
also. Start slowly and then when people start to be low on pool you
can use parity shifts or the kindred restructure to take victory
points, also if you get a pulse to someone or get Ottavio out you can
start to bleed some also, and the army of rats also helps in creating
forward pressure.
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4. Et Cetera & So Forth
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New Krazy Malk Poll!

I didn't actually plan on doing a Malk Poll this month... however, I
got a request to bring my Polls back AND I thought of a question I'd
really like to hear answered from V:TES fans the world over.  And here
it is!

kRaZY MaLk pOLL qUEsTiON:
Currently, Strikes that End Combat ("S:CE") resolve BEFORE damage is
dealt/resolved.  If "S:CE" were changed to resolve AFTER damage is
dealth/resolved, this would...
a) ...make combat too powerful.
b) ...make S:CE balanced with all other non-First Strikes.
c) ...not make any difference.
e) ...weaken S:CE, but S:CE would *still* be &#%$ over-powered!

Post your answers, discuss, even email your answers to me!

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5. To Be Continued
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I hope you enjoyed this month's Newsletter.  I look forward to hearing
feedback!

Send any comments, questions, articles, salacious offerings, humerous
anecdotes, deck ideas, Toreador jokes, and ume boshi sandwhiches to:
Timmy@e-garfield.com

-t!MmY, the mad !nker

This newsletter was written by a ficticious person in a ficticious
plane of existence.  Any resemblences to any real persons or planes of
existences is coincidential and utterly mpossible.  This newsletter
may be archived, transmitted, stored, eaten, or copied in any way you
wish as long as it is kept in its entirety.  Beware the evanescing
shadow serpent!