hey,
in scribus, master pages are only -- mostly -- a background thing.
items placed on the master page cannot be edited in the "real" page.
you can put there a few guides and then use them in the real page to correctly place frames.
when you select the text tool, shift-click in the middle of a set of guides -- instead of click and drag -- , will create a frame that fits the guides around it.
if you need pre-filled (pre-formatted) frames, you can also put them in the scrapbook and pull them into the real page (or double click on scrapbook item, to get it placed at the place it was when it has been put in the scrapbook)
(and you can put an item (or a group of items) in the scrapbook by right clicking on it and choosing the appropriate command)
does it feel a bit better now?
ciao
a.l.e