After some discussion with some folks on the boards here, I ran an "Arzno" search and found a couple of threads with questions that I missed, and therefore never answered. As the writing is coming to a close on the World Book, I thought it might be a good time to answer these outstanding queries and any others that people might have.
For starters, let me say this: I have no idea what the final product will look like. Kevin hasn't seen the manuscript yet, so it's possible it never even gets published. So, my answering questions here is just to the best of my ability. Don't come after me if something I say here turns out not to be true.
The quick overview is this: Arzno is a city (a city-state, really), north of the Grand Canyon that is a major producer of TW goods in the New West, and a haven for mercenaries and soldiers of fortune. It plays a small but pivotal role in the battle against supernatural threats in that part of the world, especially against a kingdom of vampires in southern Arizona.
It made its appearances in Rifters 2, 8, 9, and 10 in one form or another, and was "officialized" in Aftermath, and has seen mention in several other publications including the Bionics Sourcebook, Canada, Dinosaur Swamp, etc. The World Book will be its first major publication.
Well, here are some questions I dug up:
gaby wrote:ther Foreign Relations must be on ther Nearest neighbors like The Clarkdale confederacy and Tryth-Sal (see New West page32 and 34)
After them Comes Bandito arms ther HQ is at Area51 in Nevada,thers the People who live in new Mexico and ther the Colorado Baronies too!
I also Hope Kevin Siembieda may add a Time Lost NEMA,Platoon or Company!
Well, I can run these down quickly. The original Rifter articles just had short mention of relations with other territories and cities, and the World Book expands on some of those. There isn't really a lot of extra material on the Lyn Srial, but you'll find some more on Clarkdale, though most of that info centers on trade and on the areas around the Confederacy. No big expansion of the cities themselves.
Not a lot of Black Market stuff, but some. No new info on Area 51.
A little bit of info on the Baronies, but almost none.
You will find some info on communities throughout Arizona (both those mentioned in New West as well as some new ones), and even somewhat in New Mexico and Southern Utah.
No lost NEMA platoons, I'm afraid, although you might see me writing a lot about NEMA in the coming months... but more on that later.
Next:
Tyciol wrote:I believe the information on Arzno was already in the Rifter. If they did make it official, they'd have to redo the Weapon Mage OCC. Either the weapons follow the spell guidelines or they're HU Mystic Weapons? Too shady.
Ummmm. yeah. No Weapon Mage O.C.C. That N.P.C. has been completely re-written as well. That was maybe the worst thing I've written, EVER. (Not just had published, but actually written in any sense.) It was even worse than my TW O.C.C.'s in Rifter #2. Keep in mind that it was written when I was... let me see... published when I was 19, which means it was first written and submitted when I was about 16. Yeah. It sucked. It will not make an appearance in the book.
Let's see, what else?
I've had some people ask me when to expect it. That I don't know, but Kevin should have it in his hands the first week of October, or the middle of October if the maps take me longer than anticipated. I wouldn't expect it before the middle of 05, but I'm not a publisher so what do I know?
It's supposed to be 160 pages, and my manuscript should be long enough to see that goal. It's been tough at times writing for the area since so much of it has already been covered in Lone Star, New West, and Spirit West. But, I think the end product will be a crowd pleaser, at least to those who like the New West setting. I don't make any changes to what already exists in the world, just add to it.
There will be some new O.C.C.'s, as well as TW gear.
I'd be happy to answer questions or field comments about the book. Sorry to those whose questions I missed earlier.
