Onyx Path: Tally-Ho! The Hunt Starts! [Monday Meeting Notes]

[Matt]

Of course, the big news is how fast the Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition Kickstarter funded!

We’ve passed the first Stretch Goal, for the Storyteller Screen as a physical project, and the second, the start of the HtV2e Companion book! And are darn close to the third!

Besides dropping the Hunter 2e text for backers throughout the KS, James and KS crew are also releasing the fiction sections from the book. Developer Monica Valentinelli has brought on renowned writer Cassandra Khaw to create spot-on and compelling fiction vignettes that run the gamut of the eerie experiences of our hunters!

Thanks to all of you who have backer this project, and who continue to converse about it both on the KS page in the Comments and Update Comments sections, as well as on other social media.

Please, keep it up!

We appreciate so much when our awesome community speaks up about what they like about what we are doing, and even when there are criticisms sprinkled in – so long as they are respectful of our talented and awesome creators. We’ve never claimed to be perfect, and can use to know where we can do better!

And for a Kickstarter, getting out there and talking about it is the second-most important and supportive thing any backer can do after they’ve backed the project (which is the number one supportive thing, of course).

Every time you mention the Hunter: The Vigil 2e KS, a hunter gets a new candle!

Vampire: The Requiem 1e art by Cathy Wilkins

If you scroll down to our Media section below, you’ll note that we’ve given you links to, I think, the largest number of Actual Play Streams, Podcasts, YouTube Vids, and our usual jam-packed with goodness Twitch schedule for this week that we’ve ever posted here. (In fact, there are two schedules, the text and the visual, for easy reading no matter your preferred info-graphic style).

So what do you think of that?

Do you enjoy the links we’ve been posting every week; do you click on them? Basically, has our including them helped you further enjoy the many game worlds (One Path) that we offer?

There’s a school of thought that says that new and younger gamers are far more likely to view Twitch streams and YouTube vids for their method of getting into games, rather than older fans who first picked up their books in game stores.

Do you think that’s accurate? I know that when I watch them, and quality can vary, but when I do, I enjoy them. But they aren’t my personal best way of finding out about new games or getting a feel for them. I do know that watching others play is a good intermediate step between just reading game books and actually playing myself – which remains my best way of really digging into a game, personally.

Pugmire art by Cathy Wilkins

We at Onyx Path, as you might imagine, remain dedicated to trying to present our worlds in all the venues that folks use to enjoy this hobby of ours. In fact, you can probably dig up an MMN blog post from when I first started doing these and I’ll be saying that exact thing. So, we keep pushing to get our books into stores in ways that work for us, as well as trying to provide access to more and better streaming events.

We have folks who are extremely engaged with both, and even more, methods of presenting our game lines and worlds. Great looking books, great setting, great game rules, engaging actual play – all of it is important to our collective crew. So we have most of our community’s interests covered, we think.

Really, it all comes down to a fantastic time “at the table” and these are all ways to get there.

Hunters Hunted 2 art by Cathy Wilkins

At the Monday Lunch Meeting today, we did an extra bit of follow-up on company-wide improvements first reviewed during our Onyx Path Summit in January. Some of those are things like further pay increases for our creators, and others are productivity processes that we want to implement.

Not a lot of creative fun stuff, but things that we do that we want to improve as we move forward.

Vampire: The Requiem 2e art by Cathy Wilkins

One of things we are looking at is to further explain just what we are doing with our Community Content sites: The StoryPath Nexus – currently for Scion and Trinity Continuum projects, The Slarecian Vault for Scarred Land projects, and Canis Minor for Realms of Pugmire stuff.

We have created the sites, provided templates, made up art-packs, and set up the rules for what can and can’t go up on the sites. But, and this is a biggie, the projects up there are not our projects. They are not official, they are not “canon”.

Except as much as they are useful for your gaming group, or are useful and fun to read through. More options, more ideas = great!

Our hope is that Community Content creators try and keep to the tone and intention we use in the official projects we ourselves are creating, while being able to explore subjects and parts of the worlds we aren’t able or interested in delving into.

If that doesn’t happen, well, we’re looking to have a pretty standardized set of responses that we’ll go through. We want Community Content creators to feel like they have the freedom to create, not that we are looking over their shoulders. We also have a responsibility to each of the game lines, and Onyx Path as a whole, as well as our community. So, it’s not cut and dried. Expect that there’ll be some bumpier parts to the ride as we get things figured out.

But we will. We always do.

Vampire: The Requiem 1e art by Cathy Wilkins

One other thing that came up. Up above I named the three Community Content sites we have currently. That’s all of them. We have no connection and derive no direct payments or benefits from the Storytellers Vault for the White Wolf IPs. Even for projects based on game lines we created. So, if you do have issues with the SV, ya gotta reach out to Paradox/WW.

Yep, there sure are a lot of ways to get your gaming goodness these days. And yep, it can be confusing, we know. If you don’t know what we’re doing vs somebody else, I suggest reaching out on our social media. Our Facebook page, our Twitter, our official Discord channels. We have folks there that can help you. We even have handy graphics created by Ian Watson or Meredith Gerber that break down what we are publishing by whether we own it, are working with folks, or license it.

It is indeed a brave new world in terms of TTRPG gaming. And in our case it’s a brave:

Many Worlds, One Path!

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BLURBS!

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Kickstarter!

Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition for Chronicles of Darkness is on the hunt! We funded and shot right through the Storyteller Screen Stretch Goal and through Tending the Flame: Cells chapter PDF Stretch Goal for the Hunter Players’ Companion all in 5 days!

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Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features the recording of the LIVE! PATHCAST! that will run on Wednesday the 12th at 5pm Eastern US time! You can listen in on Wednesday, and even call in and chat with the Titanic Trio ON THE PATHCAST! Check out the LIVE PATHCAST direct on Podbean, and then as always the Friday version will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

What a damn schedule we have on Twitch this week! You can look forward to Vampire: The Masquerade, Chronicles of Darkness, Pugmire, Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition, even more Vampire: The Masquerade, Changeling: The Lost, Changeling: The Dreaming, Mage: The Awakening, Scarred Lands, and yet another Vampire: The Masquerade game! We even have a return to Eddy’s Development Workshop!

A special shout-out to the Hunter: The Vigil game that ran last week, which may rank as our most watched stream so far! You can subscribe to our channel over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath to catch up with any episodes you missed!

Come take a look at our YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/theonyxpath, where you can find the following videos uploaded last week alone:

Pugmire: Paws & Claws: https://youtu.be/vuLz5nnm20A

Mummy: The Curse Q&A: https://youtu.be/14b8FtpOhsE

Blood City: Chicago by Night: https://youtu.be/ih6gCS_QlGM

Changeling: The Lost – Littlebrook Reunion: https://youtu.be/Bb2W3YXVOa0

Changeling: The Dreaming – Gifted & Talented: https://youtu.be/PI1DOGqxKZs

A special shout-out to the Primogen‘s long-running Changeling: The Lost game over on our channel. He’s an excellent Storyteller and we really recommend you check out his work!

Ekorren gives us a fantastic deep dive into the Trinity Continuum here in this excellent video: https://youtu.be/Vk0UJbWijtg

Some new Occultists Anonymous for all you Mage: The Awakening lovers out there:

Episode 78: Ghosts, Spirits, & Coffee
While Songbird is under the care of Tasos, Wyrd and Atratus see to their own personal connections back at the Leaf Theater and the Puck Building. https://youtu.be/bWM3ioUrVlM

Episode 79: MGN2: Electric Boogaloo
Wyrd and Atratus take Titus and Jimmy to meet some werewolves, as way of introduction and apology. Then new plans are laid for their journey into the Astral Realm of the Temenos.https://youtu.be/q2A7MrIo2fY

Check out the Botch Pit‘s Beginner’s Guide to Changeling: The Lost’s courts right here: https://youtu.be/A_huXzRyghY

Red Moon Roleplaying continue their actual play of V5 Cults of the Blood Gods, on their YouTube channel, Spotify, their website redmoonroleplaying.com and everywhere else good podcasts might be found! https://youtu.be/oeavJcCQ9vw

In case you missed it, the Story Told Podcast have commenced a new Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition actual play right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/the-78-laments-1

Do check out Matthew Dawkins’ naughty interview for the 25 Years of Vampire: The Masquerade podcast right here. https://utilitymuffinlabs.com/25-years-of-vampire-the-masquerade/2020/1/30/cults-of-the-blood-gods-interview-episode-153

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

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Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

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On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

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Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!:
https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero AND Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

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On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we will be releasing the Advance PDF for Spilled Blood for Vampire: The Requiem 2e on DTRPG!

This book includes antagonists for both Vampire: The Requiem and other Chronicles of Darkness games. Including:
• Ten new bloodlines to serve as both antagonists and player character options.
• Two new antagonistic covenants.
• Several lost clans with reasons to both hate and work with Kindred.
• Myriad antagonists who prey on vampires, either as diseases or those who need Vitae.

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Conventions!

More conventions will be listed for 2020 in the weeks to come-

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And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

• Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)
• N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)
• Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)
• TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• RUST (Working Title) (Scarred Lands)
• Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)
• The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)
• Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Redlines

• Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)
• Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Duke Rollo fiction (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Second Draft

• M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
• Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Development

• Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Manuscript Approval

• Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)
• Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Post-Approval Development

• Scion LARP Rules (Scion)
• One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)
• Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Editing

• Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)
• Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Legendlore core book (Legendlore)
• Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)
• Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)
• Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)
• Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)
• Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)
• Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)
• Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

• City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)
• W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)
• Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
• Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)
• Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
• M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
• WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)
• Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Indexing

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ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

• Trinity Continuum: Aberrant
• Hunter: The Vigil 2e (KS) – Running on KS.
• Ex3 Lunars – Art is in.
• Cults of the Blood God (KS)
• Mummy 2 (KS)
• City of the Towered Tombs – Recontracted.
• Let the Streets Run Red – Contracted, using three new artists.
• CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Contracted.
• Deviant
• Legendlore (KS) – Pulling assets, getting new art for KS.
• Technocracy Reloaded (KS) – More KS art contracted.
• Scion Companion – Contacting artists with Meredith.
• TC: Aeon Terra Firma – Contracted.
• WoD: Ghost Stories (KS) – Cover contracted.
• Tales of Aquatic Terror

In Layout

• Pirates of Pugmire – With Aileen.
• Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad – Ongoing.
• Scion Mythical Denizens – In proofing but need some full page art to come in.
• Contagion Chronicle – With Josh.
• Vigil Watch – Getting first release ready for this month.
• TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers
• Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed

Proofing

• Dark Eras 2 – Errata being annotated and then back to Aileen.
• Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart
• They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Inputting errata.
• Chicago Folio – Approved by WW, out to backers this week for errata.
• Wraith20 Anthology – Errata from backers ending.
• Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds – Going to dev.

At Press

• V5: Chicago – Shipping to stores, scheduled to go on sale this month.
• Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – Shipping to backers, PoD files uploaded.
• Geist 2e Screen – Shipping to backers.
• DR:E – At fulfillment shippers, PoD files uploaded.
• DRE Screen – At fulfillment shippers.
• DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties
• Memento Mori – PoD files uploaded.
• Trinity Continuum: Aeon RMCs – PoD files uploaded.
• VtR Spilled Blood – Advance PDF on sale this Wednesday on DTRPG.

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Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Today we celebrate the creative life of one of our favorite artists, Cathy Wilkins, who passed away last week. She was one of the nicest people Mike and I have had the pleasure to art direct, and as nice as she was, her talent was even greater. I knew that when I scrambled to get art for our early CofD (nWoD) projects that having Cathy working on the project guaranteed beautiful illustrations – and that she would make the extra effort to follow up on details that tied to the text she was given. We will all miss her, and as a small memorial, all the art inside this weeks MMN blog is work she did for us in the past.