Hey guys, a bit of a thorny issue here that will take a bit of explaining.

I run a play-by-post game of DH on a forum. It's set in our own custom sector, and so far we've been using the sourcebook role-plays with place (and character) names - along with some plot details - altered. For the most part, I'll try to use the names you're used to in order to make it less confusing.

My group played Edge of Darkness , where they descended into the underhive, killed the "Techno-*****" and a good time was had by all. I then decided to play a (modified) Rejoice For You Are True , where instead of the Serrated Query, the Alabaster Court and the Joyous Choir was bankrolled by the Logicians.

Two of my players decided to drop out (one permanently, one temporarily). They were playing a Hive Scum and a Tech-Priest, who were sent to the Hustle to look for Farcosia whilst the bulk of the team accepted the invitation to the Alabaster Court. I decided to have the two characters abducted by the Logicians (after all, a Tech-Priest trying to score drugs is a bit obvious!) The Scum character (whose player was permanently gone) was the one who was "spurred" by Elsergi Krin in his depiction of The Fall of Cyperen . The Acolytes in the Court know that one of their number has just been brutally murdered in front of them!

My plan all along was for the Acolytes to leave the Court, suffer the assault on House Strophes, and then make their way to Theodosia's laboratory, where they would recover the Tech-Priest's brutally-assaulted body. The Tech-Priest would get a few more bionics, and then return in time for the next mission. (By which time the player would've come back and taken up his character.)

But... the Tech-Priest's player has come back, and wants to be of some use. I'm uncertain on how to reintegrate his character, as he's quite far from the rest of the cell and is in the midst of being tortured by a Logician tech-priest. I'm not sure that I want him to be able to escape the Logician facility, but I would like him to get up to something worthwhile.

Any tips? I'm a bit at a loss, as I want my player's experience to be a worthwhile one.

Thanks in advance!

Hi there Mnesimache

An idea I had is to roleplay his time in custody. That is if you have time for a one on one session with this player. Some ideas I had are:

-That you can drop some clues by describing his environment. As a tech priest he may well notice that the devices and machines his captors are using are heretical,

-roleplay the interrogation session. The PC gets the chance to manipulate information out of his questioner if he is smart, and you use WP and T saves to up the tension,

-the prisoner in the adjoining cell communicates by tapping on the wall. A simple logic or intelligence test to understand. Is it really another prisoner with useful infrmation, or is it one of his captors setting him up►

-while being moved from his cell to the interrogation chamber he passes anoter prisoner who is being restrained. The other prisoner is shouting gibberish but as the PC passes he looks the PC in the eys and in a moment of clarity utters a single word or phrase before being beaten. This word could be something like "Beware Progress" or something like that.

-or you could just give no clues at all and treat it as a character develoment session. Don''t be afraid to dish out the insanity points, he has been tortured by the professionally competant Logicians after all.

Of course this relies on you having the desire or time to do a one on one session with this player. If not, then your options are to simply explain to the player that his options are to be patient, or to bring in another PC for the time being.

I hope it works out for you.

Interogator Z.