Onyx Path: The One With No KS Blurbs! [Monday Meeting Notes]

[Matt]

Wow, seriously odd to have all this open space up here. No bad puns to follow up on in the title, no update on pledges. Nothin’ (but a pic from a convention from a galaxy far, far away).

Well, let’s enjoy that for a bit, because as you all know, the Kickstarter train starts up again in a couple of weeks: with W20 Apocalyptic Record. We expect all the art needed for its KS will be in by the end of the month, but with Mirthful Mike off this week on an incredibly well-deserved break, we won’t actually be able to use that art until he gets back.

And then there’s approvals with Paradox and then approvals with Kickstarter…and THEN we’ll announce the date that it starts. I was really miffed at Squeaks In The Deep‘s delayed campaign, so we’re playing it safe this time. It delays things a bit, but maybe the extra time can be used to get the word out.

Also, I’m wondering – show of hands (replies in the Comments) – HOW MANY OF YOU WOULD SIGN UP ON A PRE-KICKSTARTER PAGE? You might have done it already for other folks’ KSs; just sign up early so you get the notice immediately when it goes live. Interested?

Follow up from last week: Thanks everybody who offered support and understanding here and all over our social media concerning the printing and shipping delays we’re looking at for at least three of our traditionally printed KS reward books. I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that there are so many reports all over the internet that detail publishers’ own struggles with even more difficult situations in printing and shipping.

Very much appreciated, and I’ll keep you informed as the situation develops. Thanks, again!

V5 Forbidden Religions art by Drew Tucker

The One With the Meeting That Went Longer Than Expected:

It really did, especially with the Mirthful One on vacay. Rather than anything earth-shattering, it was a lot of small items and making sure they fit together well and everybody had a chance to consider them. So let me share some with of them you.

(Which, if it hasn’t been clear, is exactly what I do every week in this space. I share with ya’ll snippets and bits of the meeting, but not in a “you were there” mode. Less documentary, and more along the lines of a greatest hits selection. Curated, as it were. A large part of that is the reality of publishing under various licenses with NDAs, and the rest is the reality of publishing anything. Some items would screw up our plans big time if I shared them before we were ready.)

We start with the “big picture” items; things that aren’t about an individual project. This week, as I noted, it has been actually pretty quiet, but I did let the team know that the presentations for the Scion TV Show have been getting excellent commentary from the TV professionals that have had a peek at them.

Which is great to hear!

The first wave of new Editors have delivered their books and been given new assignments, and Dixie is working hard with the second wave (the new-new-wave) as they get used to our methods.

Since the Editing log-jam is being chopped away, we also need to be sure that our Art Direction and Layout phases are capable of moving books forward without undue delay, and that’s been started already as the Mirthful One has brought more ADs and layout folks on board.

My own contribution with They Came From Beyond the Grave! is almost ready for proofing with the devs, although Mike is actually going to give it a further review so we can fine-tune it before then. Wouldn’t do for old Ron Thompson to have a spotty looking return to layout!

Having a chance to be hands-on with Grave!‘s layout has been fantastic for me personally on a creative level, but it also allowed me to spot some aspects of how our layout has evolved that we can make run smoother, which should speed up things for all of our layout designers.

Hundred Devils Night Parade art by Melissa Uran

From Operations comes our updates on sales and conventions, including this opportunity to get physical books with discounted shipping:

Noble Knight Games is having a free/discounted shipping sale:
https://www.nobleknight.com/Role-Playing-Games/Publisher/Onyx-Path-Publishing
From their newsletter:

What are we offering? For a (very) limited time, we’re giving out FREE shipping on orders over $79 within the contiguous United States, and 33% off shipping for International orders over $149 for our friends overseas.

How does it work? As long as you complete your qualified order before this promotion ends, you’ll automatically reap the benefit of free or discounted shipping. Since 99% of our orders ship out within 24 hours, we’ll get your carefully packed order to you in a flash!

In addition, and speaking of physical books, it is the final week of the summer sale at IPR:
https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Deals-and-Specials/

But fear not, PDF fans! The Cthulhu Mythos Sale at DTRPG starts on Tuesday. We’ll only have a couple of titles included (God-Machine Chronicle mostly, but what the hey – a sale is a sale).

Which brings us to some notes on conventions, which is a complicated issue right now – often beyond the bounds of what “The Convention” wants to do as local, state, and federal laws and judges get involved with Covid precautions or the lack thereof.

We’re still attending virtual-only, but we do watch to see how in-person conventions are doing. Particularly two weeks later.

It looks like both of our scheduled games have sold out at Gen Con Online, which is fantastic! Please let us know how it goes, folks who are playing! There are also a couple of panels we’d love to see you at virtually:

Friday, September 17th, 11am EDT: Storypath Q&A! Join the Onyx Path crew for a Q&A about their in-house system and the games powered by it, including Trinity Continuum, Scion Second Edition, They Came From!, and Dystopia Rising: Evolution. https://www.gencon.com/events/198118?

Saturday, September 18th, 11am EDT: What’s Up with Onyx Path? Join some of the Onyx Path developers and employees while they talk about what they’ve been working on recently! https://www.gencon.com/events/198116

Finally, folks, if you are going to run games online at GenCon Online and/or GameHoleCon Online, both of which are coming up fast, please do let us know so we can spread the word.

Hundred Devils Night Parade art by Gong Studios

And finally from the meeting: please take a look at the Storypath Showcases that our media team has been presenting on Twitch and then on YouTube! They are touching on different gamelines that all use the Storypath System in clear and fun, easy to understand, gaming segments that really highlight how fantastic Storypath is for both players and Storyguides!

Links below in the Media section as Matthew makes his triumphant return from his vacation!

That’s it for today folks, another half-hour episode of sitcom wackiness brought to you by your friends at Onyx Path Industries! Thanks for watching and we’ll see you next week across the dial and on:

Many Worlds, One Path!

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Blurbs!

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Kickstarter!

Our next Kickstarter is slated to be The Apocalyptic Record for Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition!

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Onyx Path Media!

This week: Licensing! The Dynamic Duo of Dixie and Eddy take a hard look at the hard world of licensing! See them discuss the triumphs and pitfalls of working on licensed properties, including the White Wolf IPs, as well as some thoughts on who has done it really well and others who haven’t quite. Meanwhile, Matthew hides out in a caravan in the rain.

As always, this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

For anyone new to our media section, you can find us running and playing games over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath every day of the week! Plus, if you’d like your games hosted there, just get in touch with Matthew Dawkins using the contact link on matthewdawkins.com. 

Please check out our attached media schedule for the impressive number of videos on our Twitch channel this week! In particular, keep those eyes open for our Storypath Showcase, where we give an excellent profile of our various Storypath games and how to play them!

Come take a look at our YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/theonyxpath, where you can find a whole load of videos of actual plays, dissections of our games, and more. This week, we focused on our OnyxPathCon videos!:

Deviant: The Renegades – A Cautionary Tale – Episode 24: To The Victors: https://youtu.be/ONIx36jJTYI

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant – Storypath Showcase – Session Zero: https://youtu.be/V3AdMOhgMt0

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant – Storypath Showcase – Episode 1: https://youtu.be/NDI_32oBjlw

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant – Storypath Showcase – Episode 2: https://youtu.be/iNQrXMu67q8

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant – Storypath Showcase – Episode 3: https://youtu.be/AYu3_Hc4UbA

Chronicles of Darkness – Dark Eras 2 – The Wyrd West – Episode 7: https://youtu.be/mmrtcGrPLiQ

Squeaks in the Deep – Curse of the Tomb of Wags – Episode 3: https://youtu.be/1OiiaPOmJ4Q

Trinity Continuum Core – Storypath Showcase – Session Zero: https://youtu.be/C9-8uKgctew

Subscribe to our channel and click the bell icon if you want to be notified whenever new news videos and uploads come online!

The highlight of the week on our YouTube channel is the start of our new Trinity Continuum Core chronicle being run by “Terrific” Travis Legge. It the first part of our new Storypath Showcase chapter. Check out the first episode right here: https://youtu.be/C9-8uKgctew

On Werewolf: The Podcast, Josh has been running A World of Rage! Please give them a listen right here: https://keepontheheathlands.podbean.com/e/a-world-of-rage-episode-1/

Simulacra TV have started a new arc of their fantastic Aberrant actual play, named Atomic Youth! Please check them out and give them some support. This is a new chapter, so it’s the perfect time to get involved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Aa-eG_pxI

Aberrant: Atomic Youth episodes premiere Wednesdays at 5pm EDT on https://www.twitch.tv/SimulacraTV

ExalTwitch: Academy Season Two follows three young Dragon-Bloods in the aftermath of their school’s destruction. The House of Bells’ fall was blamed on Anathema corrupting the student body, but Oresta, Pyres, and Gale Whispered must clear their names and seek out those actually responsible before the Realm collapses.
Watch ExalTwitch: Academy live every Sunday at 18:00 ET on https://www.twitch.tv/rpgclinic.

And here are the first few episodes for you! 

S02E01: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx-YTKL3lPQ&pp=sAQA

S02E02: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggLrSDdddZE&pp=sAQA

S02E03: https://youtu.be/Uwb2ZGjv8XI

S02E04: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R30uK0manCk

And the two minute recap video for Season One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5O1-WpO7Fw&authuser=0

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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! The 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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Virtual Tabletop!

NEW on Astral TableTop is the Secret of Vinsen’s Tomb for Realms of Pugmire!

Play Now on Astral TableTop!

The Secret of Vinsen’s Tomb module comes with all the maps and encounters, ready to play, along with pre-generated characters and character sheets wired up for automated rolling. It also offers the GameMaster some guidance on playing the scenario on Astral for those GMs new to the platform or entirely new to virtual tabletops (VTT).

Create a free account first, then the Quickstarts will be available on the Home page. If you are getting this via DTRPG, after checkout, look for the link to unlock your adventure on Astral.

Also on Astral TableTop, we have two free projects: Scion 2E: A Light Extinguished and Scarred Lands: Gauntlet of Spiragos and this Dagger of Spiragos module for sale: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/336406/Dagger-of-Spiragos-5e–Astral-VTT

Astral TableTop is the easiest way to play any tabletop RPG online, free. Astral already supports popular systems like D&D and Pathfinder, and Astral can support virtually any tabletop roleplaying game. Get started quickly with built-in support for most popular game systems. Whether you’re brand new to TTRPGs or a veteran tabletop gamer, Astral‘s ease-of-use and built in automation is designed to streamline gameplay.

https://www.astraltabletop.com/

How to guides and FAQ: https://help.astraltabletop.com/

Here is the main filter for all of our current VTT content on DTRPG:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4261/Onyx-Path-Publishing?filters=0_0_0_45317_0

A few highlights of our platform agnostic content:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/309127/Scarred-Lands-Creature-Collection-VTT-Token-Pack
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/317690/Trinity-Continuum-Hunt-for-the-Red-Widow-VTT
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/340327/Trinity-Continuum-Aeon-VTT-Tokens
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/311578/Scarred-Lands-VTT-Separation-Anxiety
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/311580/Scion-2e-VTT-Origin-Signature-Tokens
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/311579/Scion-2e-VTT-Hero-Signature-Tokens

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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 provide our traditionally printed books out into your local game stores. Game stores can order via their usual distributors, and can also contact Studio2 directly. And individuals can check out our projects via the links below!

You can pick up the traditionally printed Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau main books, screens, and the official dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

Now, we’ve added Chronicles of Darkness books such as Changeling: The Lost Second Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

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!

In celebration of Changeling the Dreaming’s 24th anniversary, select Onyx Path Publishing books, screens and dice are 40% off through August 29 8pm PDT! https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Deals-and-Specials

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

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On Sale This Week!

This month’s Tasty Bit is Pets for Trinity Continuum: Aeon, the PDF arrives on DTRPG this Wednesday!

Humanity may be spread across the stars, but that hasn’t changed our love of pets. The close association between humans and animals is nothing new and keeping animals for companionship, labor, health, and entertainment is still popular. In Companions Companion, we give you everything you need to add pets to your game of Trinity Continuum: Æon, including:

• Information on natural and gengineered pets, as well as robots and biotech manufactured pets
• Creating pets as characters
• Stats for 19 different pets
• New Edges and Anomay powers

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Conventions!

Because dates for physical conventions are subject to change due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, we don’t yet have a list of upcoming physical conventions. Instead, keep an eye out here for more virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with!

Gen Con Online!

Friday, September 17th, 11am EDT: Storypath Q&A! Join the Onyx Path crew for a Q&A about their in-house system and the games powered by it, including Trinity Continuum, Scion Second Edition, They Came From!, and Dystopia Rising: Evolution. https://www.gencon.com/events/198118

Friday, September 17th, 1pm EDT: Trinity Continuum: Anima Playtest! Eddy will run a three-hour playtest of the Anima rules! https://www.gencon.com/events/197482

Saturday, September 18th, 11am EDT: What’s Up with Onyx Path? Join some of the Onyx Path developers and employees while they talk about what they’ve been working on recently! https://www.gencon.com/events/198116

Saturday, September 18th, 4pm EDT: They Came From Beyond the Grave! Matthew will run a three-hour introductory scenario to a game of 1970s Hammer Horror-esque chills and thrills, and not a little ham and comedy with it. https://www.gencon.com/events/199400

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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)
• Scion: Dragon Jumpstart (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Scion: Dragon Companion (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Terat Novella (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• Tasty Bit: New Team (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• Squeaks in the Deep Companion (Realms of Pugmire)
• Squeaks in the Deep Jumpstart (Realms of Pugmire)

Redlines

• Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Tome of the Pentacle (Mage: the Awakening 2e)
• The Hedge (Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition)
• Scion: God (Scion 2e)
• With Great Power (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• Trinity Continuum: Aether core book (Trinity Continuum: Aether)
• Weird Wonders and Revolutionary Magick (M20 Victorian)
• Bizarre Tales and Unusual Characters (M20 Victorian)

Second Draft

• No Gods, No Masters (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Panopticon Novella (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Development

• Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)
• Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)

Manuscript Approval

• TC: Adventure! Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Post-Approval Development

• Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)
• They Came From the Cyclops’s Cave! core book (They Came From…!)

Editing

• Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• The Book of Lasting Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)
• Dead Man’s Rust (Scarred Lands)
• M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
• Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)
• CtL2e Novella Collection: Hollow Courts (Changeling: The Lost 2e)
• Heroes in a World of Horror! (They Came From…!)
• Dystopia Rising: Evolution Fiction Anthology (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)
• Legacies of Earth (Legendlore)
• Scion Fiction Anthology (Scion 2nd Edition)
• They Came From Beyond the Grave! Jumpstart (They Came From…!)
• TC: Aeon Novella: Meridian (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Proteus Nova Compendium (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• TC: Aeon Novella: Dawn (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• Trinity Continuum: Anima
• Tales of Depravity! (They Came From…!)
• They Came From [Classified]! (They Came From…!)
• They Came From [Classified]! Jumpstart (They Came From…!)
• Realms of Magic and Mystery (was Terra Incognita) (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)
• Vigil Watch: The Kelder Mountains (Scarred Lands)
• The Paranormal Investigator’s Handbook (WoD 20th)
• Once and Future (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Apocalyptic Record (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
• M20 Lore of the Traditions (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
• Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Tasty Bit: The Autocracy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

• Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)
• N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• Squeaks In The Deep (Realms of Pugmire)
• Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• They Came From Beneath the Sea! Jumpstart (They Came From…!)
• Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Trinity Continuum: Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)
• They Came From Camp Murder Lake! (They Came From…!)
• Prometheus Unbound (was Psi Orders) (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• Ghost Hunters Jumpstart w/RMCs (WoD 20th)
• The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)
• Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)
• Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Indexing

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Art Direction from Mike Chaney!

In Art Direction

• Scion: Dragon
• Masks of the Mythos – Maria has some artists that might fit this.
• TC: Adventure! (KS)
• M20 Victorian (KS)
• Dead Man’s Rust
• Exalted Essence (KS)
• TC Mission Statements
• TC Aberrant N!WE – Maria ADing Digital Chefs.
• M20 Technocracy Dossier/Companion – Artists working.
• Squeaks In The Deep (KS)
• TC Prometheus Unbound – Finals looking sweet.
• They Came From Camp Murder Lake! – Art is in.
• Realms of Magic and Mystery
• Saints and Monsters – Getting this rolling.
• TC: Anima (KS) – Awaiting remaining art fixes.
• TC: Assassin – Getting interior art rolling.
• Legendlore: Legacies of the Earth
• Novas Worldwide – Getting art notes out to artists.
• W20 Apocalyptic Record (KS) – Getting KS started.
• They Came From Beyond the Grave! Jumpstart

In Layout

• V5 Forbidden Religions
• They Came From Beneath the Sea! Jumpstart – Travis handling layout.
• They Came From Beyond the Grave! – First proof almost ready for devs.
• M20 Technocracy Jumpstart
• Hundred Devils Night Parade – Mine again – and progressing!
• Aberrant VTT
• Scion: Demigod
• Squeaks in the Deep Screen
• WoD Ghost Hunters Screen – Text is in for this.
• Legendlore Screen – Text is in for this.
• Squeaks in the Deep

Proofing

• Hunter: The Vigil 2e – Sending to Paradox for approval.
• Spiragos Collected Adventures
• M20 Rich Bastards Guide
• Dearly Bleak – Deviant: The Renegades Novella – Out to backers.
• Legendlore – Inputting fixes on proof.
• WoD Ghost Hunters – Updating backer list.

At Press

• M20 Technocracy Reloaded – Deluxe getting ready for press. See last week’s blog.
• Mummy 2 – Getting ready for press. See last week’s blog. PoD files processing.
• Mummy 2e Screen – Files sent to printer.
• Deviant – Getting ready for press. See last week’s blog. PoD proofs in hand and we’ll look to put the PDF and PoD versions for sale next week.
• Deviant Screen – Files sent to printer.
• Technocracy Reloaded Screen – Files sent to printer.
• Heirs to the Shogunate – Prepping PoD files for printer.
• Players Guide to the Contagion Chronicle – PoD files uploaded.
• Tasty Bit: Pets for Trinity Continuum: Aeon – PDF on sale Weds on DTRPG!

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Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Although we keep hitting a lot of anniversaries of books released for/at Gen Con over the years – not surprising, as it is this time of the year – today is actually the 9 year anniversary of the V20 Companion from 2012! It was our first KS’d book and our first V20 book at all done under the Onyx Path label! Quite a bit has changed since then, but that was the start!