Apologies for not having written one in recent months, but I really haven't had the time :( Still, here goes with another one. * Madness Network One of the topics that has recently come up on the newsgroup is that of exploiting Madness Network to the hilt. Many and varied are the possibilities for such, given that it is one card that can facilitate the use of many other cards. Of course, Madness Network has its own in built difficulties. It can be burned based on an action it provides itself, and doesn't require an Arson, so either multiple copies will be needed or sufficient intercept/blockers to protect it. Of course, such considerations will be down to the deck that uses it, but assuming you can do that, what else can you do with a Madness Network? Well, first off, there is the perennial Rotschreck idea. Since Rotschreck is an out of turn master, you can play it whilst operating under the influence of Madness Network. You can rush a vampire and, assuming you stay at close range (since Rotschreck will not affect damage which would be ineffectual at the current range), torporise a vampire with it. Of course, you don't have to use the Rotschreck if you'll send them to torpor anyway, and such is probably advisable since you are limited to one per turn. How you proceed from there is a matter of much debate. Some prefer Sacrificial Lamb to burn the vampire, others prefer intercept to stop the rescues and others prefer Grave- Robbing to steal the vampires. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses - the use of titles for 2nd Tradition, the introduction of more disciplines and such. They also have weaknesses which may be seen from play, rather than from cost. If I start stealing every vampire my prey has, others may see me as too great a threat and gang up on me, whereas they might have left me alone had it been merely killing the vampires. Maybe I can deal with it, maybe I can't. Still, it's something to consider when creating and playing such a deck. But what other options are there for the Methuselah who chooses to exploit the Out-of-Turn nature of Madness Network? Until the 7/7, you could have tried a slightly sick combo involving Major Boon. Bleed your prey, fire off the Major Boon and take the bleed he gets. Then shaft him when you get bled yourself. Interesting, and useful, but *way* too effective. Other Boons may provide interesting actions for people to take, too. In a Rotschreck deck, perhaps throw in a few Minor Boons. If you can torporise a stealth bleed predator, throw in a few of them if you reckon you can do it *without* Rotschreck. Bang. Stop him going to torpor and have a lot of fun screwing his bleed over. Also usable against bruise and bleed, but there you might need the Rotschreck to survive the onslaught of his attacks, making the use of it more difficult. The Malkavians don't really have their hands on something like Drawing out the Beast, or Terror Frenzy, amongst their own disciplines, to shatter someone's use of weapons, if it happens. Whilst weapons are a much underplayed deck style, it is notable that, if you fear them when being blocked, a copy of Frenzy could be used under a Madness Network. It would be a particularly brave Methuselah who sought to put such a card in his deck, for fear of being laughed at by those who scorned it, but if your group has a particular problem with equipment, this may help you out. Probably especially useful against Ivory Bows and Sengir Daggers, but since it effects use of equipment (and not simply strikes) it could help you against such things as Leather Jackets and Flak Jackets, too. If you don't have the Rotschrecks to deal "unpreventable" aggravated damage (in that they never get to prevent it and go straight to torpor) this might provide a possible work-around of some common combat defences. One other suggestion is that of using votes to mess up the table. One suggestion has been that of Reversal of Fortunes. This has its own problems associated with it in that you now need to get and hold a Madness Network (through whatever means you choose) and be able to get a vote lock (of sorts), but if you can pull it off, you can isolate a player on a table, and kill them. At the end of your prey's minion phase, call this and now have your go. During your go, have a go at him *hard* (possibly through more votes) and call another one, to give him his go back. Then call another in his turn to get yours back, and repeat. You can probably tap out all but the caller of the vote if you feel that you don't have to worry about intercept, since it will never get round to your predator's go to kill you. You have problems establishing the vote lock, however, which is not an easy thing for a Malkavian deck to do. Associating yourself with the dreaded V*ntr** may provide some common ground, from Dominate, whilst securing you a few more votes from them, their Presence and Ventrue HQ, say. A Malkavian Justicar vote will not go amiss, since it provides you with votes from your Malkavians, regardless of their standing with regards to a title. An alternative vote would be Dramatic Upheaval. This would, in theory, allow you a turn between each other Methuselah's turn. This is, perhaps, more risky, since you let more Methuselahs into the game than before, and so there is more chance of people cycling to get intercept, or anti-vote cards, from their deck. :( Kindred Restructure would function in a similar manner, though that again may invoke even more wrath if you start using it to re-order the table some more. However, both cards have a briefly mentioned side effect. Ignore your minion phase, what else do you get? Well, a Master phase and an Untap phase, for a start. How many times have you sat down with a card and that "Oh, that's nice... if only I could use it more often, since it can only be done once a turn." Well, get more turns, this way, and have fun. One idea already expounded is that of Smiling Jack, the Anarch. Normally, Jack has the problem of his lack of targetability, in that you could, quite conceivably and quite easily, help someone cross-table from you oust their prey due to the pool loss from Smiling Jack, probably something you hadn't intended. Use of Madness Network allows you to target the blood loss at those you want. In this instance, Reversal of Fortunes may prove to be the better card, since it allows you to keep throwing it onto your prey, and never have to shift round the table. If you could get out a Smiling Jack and a Malkavian in your first turn, and a Madness Network in your second, assuming you could pass the votes (itself, difficult) you could start denying people turns and oust your prey before other people have yet had a chance to amass their defences. Army of Rats is similar, but has some benefits. Whilst it would normally be very slow, and still is, it doesn't have the associated pool cost that Smiling Jack does, being free. It's slow, and wouldn't make a *good* way to oust someone, but it would make a very nice way to just add up on whatever other actions you are doing. And since it's now so frequent (essentially, every other turn) it can start having a bigger impact on play - causing, potentially, twenty or thirty pool loss (if you start including several to stop its being burned affecting you), rather than, say, 8-12 which Robert Goudie would estimate as the average length in turns of the game. Probably not something to build a deck around (Army of Rats, that is) but something that could potentially be very useful in such a deck. Hunting Grounds, of course, start to get a lot more use, though don't forget that you will still be fighting against your prey, if not your predator, so that extra blood will be necessary. The long term effectiveness of such things as Protracted Investment and Secret Horde could turn out to be especially useful. Since much of your deck will have to be dedicated to getting the combo off, less of your deck may focus on such things as Pool Gain. Whereas in a normal deck, if you pull a Protracted Investment after 10 turns, there is no point in playing it since it will be difficult to re-coup the cost of it, in a deck designed to get you as many turns as you want it could prove to be invaluable. You can get lots of pool and, though it still takes as many turns as before, it takes a lot less time in real time, the essential element of the deck. Essentially, if you can think of a card that would seriously benefit form more untap or master phases than you can give it, you could exploit it in this manner. Adding the Parthenon to your arsenal could prove to a