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As a long time player and sometimes GM, I have often read/heard about the city of Lazlo. Alas, it is barely detailed (the Canada WB having the most in-depth write up). I think the muse has been tapping me on the shoulder and I'm inspired to do a write up for the Rifter detailing this fabled city!
My apprehensions are many.
So many players/GMs have strong feelings about Lazlo that I fear I'll not do it justice. It's also my first submission to the Rifter and that itself is a little daunting. Lastly, I have concerns about prejudice from Palladium. I fear that some long time staff already have this vision of Lazlo painted in their minds (even though they have never gotten it on paper) and will reject my interpretation out of hat. Of course, its entirely possible this is all my own fear talking.

What do ya think? As a first timer, should I even try to tackle this topic or have I bitten off more then I can chew? Another thought, are there firm plans at PB for a Lazlo Sourcebook, making my submission unneccesary?

Dont' hold your breath. Im only on the "brainstorm" phase and there is a lot I want to get in there. Its gonna take some time to do it justice

Carmen is supposed to be working on it. He's busy with other stuff right now (like shopping his novel), but he's got a basic plan laid out.

Jason Richards wrote:Carmen is supposed to be working on it. He's busy with other stuff right now (like shopping his novel), but he's got a basic plan laid out.

As do I have a basic plan laid out, but I have nothing but time on my hands (taking time off work to prepare for up coming surgery).

If I may inquire: Is Carmen intending a Sourcebook length work, or a Rifter article?

asajosh wrote:

Jason Richards wrote:Carmen is supposed to be working on it. He's busy with other stuff right now (like shopping his novel), but he's got a basic plan laid out.

As do I have a basic plan laid out, but I have nothing but time on my hands (taking time off work to prepare for up coming surgery).

If I may inquire: Is Carmen intending a Sourcebook length work, or a Rifter article?

Three books.

As to the Rifter article, I say go ahead, but with the knowledge that it might be dismissed out of hand because the project has already been assigned. You might email/PM Wayne and ask him about it. I'd just hate to see you dump a bunch of time and effort into it and not have it really looked at.

Jason Richards wrote:Three books.

As to the Rifter article, I say go ahead, but with the knowledge that it might be dismissed out of hand because the project has already been assigned. You might email/PM Wayne and ask him about it. I'd just hate to see you dump a bunch of time and effort into it and not have it really looked at.

THREE BOOKS on Lazlo?!
Thanks for the honest input, Jason. I'll just wait a year or two and see what comes outta Michigan. In the mean time tho, I'll keep jotting down notes

NulSyn wrote:3 books hmmmmm lets hope thye go the way of the merc books and not the way of Australia.............

I hear that. Let us also hope its not a "Coalition Siege on Lazlo" situation either! It was hard enough for Tolkeen to get it.

NulSyn wrote:3 books hmmmmm lets hope thye go the way of the merc books and not the way of Australia.............

Having Carmen, who is local and effectively a staff writer (and definitely the most reliable freelancer), doing the books is very different than some random freelancer from across the sea writing for you. Carmen writes down the hall from Kevin's office... it will be okay.

asajosh wrote:

NulSyn wrote:3 books hmmmmm lets hope thye go the way of the merc books and not the way of Australia.............

I hear that. Let us also hope its not a "Coalition Siege on Lazlo" situation either! It was hard enough for Tolkeen to get it.

It won't be.

Lazlo is too small to make into 3 books. It may not be a "siege of Lazlo" but I suspect it will be another story arc involving Lazlo that'll take 3 books to tell.

Personally I'm glad Palladium did the "Siege on Tolkeen" story arc. It shook up the usual worldbook, sourcebook drudgery (not that I don't like those kinds of books) and gave us an avenue to be involved in a changing environment. I like books that advance the storyline once in a while.

I think if the Lazlo books coverd the entire Free State in detail it could easily be three books.

The thing is, I don't think he would want to go that much in depth with a book detailing a city. Look at the 5 city books he has done up to now: Lone Star, Free Quebec, MadHaven, Arzno, and MercTown. They have just enough detail to get your own imagination rolling. He doesn't want to fill everything in. He wants to give us just enough to allow us to fill in the finer details.

Personally, for me, I would be unhappy if he spread a city book into multiple books. One, I don't like everything spelled out for me. Second, it would smell like he's overdoing it by squeezing as much money out of me. Third, to tell you the truth, I don't even like the worldbooks splitting into multiple world books. I would like a setup where the worldbook is pretty complete and the sourcebooks would detail certain areas more.

A good example of the setup I like is the NGR Worldbook. It details Europe and Germany in particuliar. Then there is the MindWorks Sourcebook which details an interesting part of that world.

An example of a setup I dislike is the Russia Worldbook. I felt cheated that you had to get 2 books to get a complete picture of a RIFTS Russia. In other words, I don't like a book detailing just one aspect of that particuliar world. The author separated the supernatural from the technological aspects of that world. Another example is of the Australia worldbook.

Having said that, I don't mind if an area is too large and therefore the worldbook is broken into multiple books to gain a more comprehensive picture of the whole continent. A good example is the South America Worldbook. The author decided it was better if he broke the book up so that he could concentrate each book on a part of the continent.

Hmmm...seems I have gone off on a tangent. I'll stop here.

Don't think of it as diving the city into thirds and describing different parts in each. Think of it like MercTown and Merc Ops, which could have easily been titled MercTown 1 and 2. One book to cover the city itself, then another to cover notable people, organizations, and relevant setting material.

Think of it like MercTown and Merc Ops, which could have easily been titled MercTown 1 and 2. One book to cover the city itself, then another to cover notable people, organizations, and relevant setting material.

MercTown pretty much covers the town, surrounding areas, and notable NPCs. Merc Ops when I skimmed through it looked more like a most wanted list with one or two OCCs thrown in for good measure. The least essentail of the 3 Mercenary books.

If in fact Lazlo books will be divided such that it is only half a picture (one book detailing the city and the other, notable NPCs) than I'm already not happy. What would the 3rd book be then (it is 3 books, right?)? An adventure book?

oni no won wrote:

Think of it like MercTown and Merc Ops, which could have easily been titled MercTown 1 and 2. One book to cover the city itself, then another to cover notable people, organizations, and relevant setting material.

MercTown pretty much covers the town, surrounding areas, and notable NPCs. Merc Ops when I skimmed through it looked more like a most wanted list with one or two OCCs thrown in for good measure. The least essentail of the 3 Mercenary books.

If in fact Lazlo books will be divided such that it is only half a picture (one book detailing the city and the other, notable NPCs) than I'm already not happy. What would the 3rd book be then (it is 3 books, right?)? An adventure book?

Yeah, I prefer everything in One Book. Sure, make it 300 pages, but I'd rather have One book than Three any day.

Lord of Bones wrote:I think the two book approach to Dinosaur Swamp was warranted since it covers so much territory. I wouldn't mind Lazlo being three books if every forthcoming city book was given the same treatment. Maybe Carmen could put aside a few of those ideas for a separate city, but either way, I'd still like to see it.

If Lazlo is three books, Chi-Town should be at least two, since we have the adventure sourcebooks covering much of the burbs.

The Second book to Dinosaur Swamp was more of an adventure book so it wasn't essential to getting a complete picture of that part of the America. I don't mind this approach.

Since Free Quebec and Lone Star were just one book, I doubt Chi-Town will be any more than one. Also, Chi-Town, except for the city itself, has been extensively covered with sourcebooks (such as ARCHI 3), worldbooks and adventure books.

Phadeout wrote:Yeah, I prefer everything in One Book. Sure, make it 300 pages, but I'd rather have One book than Three any day.

Not a good strategy from a publishing stance, though.

Oh, sweet Lazlo. How I've waited to hear anything about it being detailed in a book, & I find it it's getting three? I await them with baited breath.

We're all excited.

I'm hoping someone submits a Lazlo article soon! I would love to have that in my collection!

I look forward all things Lazlo!!

Lazlo is a place I've had several of my characters over the years come from.

aidanleer wrote:I hear that. would like to see more on NGRs leadership and Politics along with some better fleshed out city details and key base locations for them and the Gargoyle & Brodkil Empires.

Triax 2 my friend. I'm working on it right now.

3 books seems kinda redudent to me...

Phadeout wrote:Yeah, I prefer everything in One Book. Sure, make it 300 pages, but I'd rather have One book than Three any day.

Same here. They better be pretty well done in terms of writing and not just split into 3 so that PB can make more money off of them. I can see Lazlo warrenting two books but not 3. If the book is split into 3 I expect each one to come out all at once or at least a month or two apart. I don't want to have to wait more than a year for the books.

So, would it be appropriate to start a 'wish list' of things we think ought to be in the Lazlo books in this thread, or perhaps start a new thread?

I know I'm looking forward to the new material mentioned over the past couple of days!

The Galactus Kid wrote:

aidanleer wrote:I hear that. would like to see more on NGRs leadership and Politics along with some better fleshed out city details and key base locations for them and the Gargoyle & Brodkil Empires.

Triax 2 my friend. I'm working on it right now.

<kid in the back seat voice>

Are you done yet?

</kid in the back seat voice>

He'll be done soon enough!

took the words right out of my mouth.

I figured you had to be close. You've been pretty quiet lately. I figured you were busy getting it ready to turn in!

Go for it!

Don't worry GalactusKid there are a lot of us out here waiting for your book!