Augustine Musings [Monday Meeting Notes]

Well, hello!

I’m back from both GenCon and then a week off on family vacation, and big thanks to the amazing Dixie for filling in with this blog last week!

I’m full of energy and rarin’ to go. Doing that thing where you bounce on your toes a bit – which is kind of hard to do typing away as I have been all day!

If my emails were physical mail, the letters would fill my office, so I’m taking a bit of time to get through all of them. Plus, this week’s Monday Meeting was a fair bit of catch-up for all of our crew (besides Eddy, who is still on his vacay visiting wrestling events), with a few reports from us on GenCon, and the meetings that came out of it.

Which I’ll share with you now:

First, the message we relayed at our various panels was that we’re continuing to change/evolve as we need to as a company. So if you think our Kickstarters are only about Deluxe books and we run them like we did in 2013, please check again, because we’re far more likely to run a KS in order to do a print run of books to get into retail stores.

Which is another continuing evolution as we continue to add projects that will mean books that get into distribution and stores via our sales partners at Studio2 and IPR– all while maintaining our availability on DriveThruRPG and our other venues.

Distant Worlds illustration by Sam Denmark

The big change at GenCon was our choice to not appear there with an Onyx Path booth in the Exhibitor Hall, so that was something brought up a fair bit at the convention.

So far, from talking things through today, we’re still thinking it was a good decision. Both Mighty Matt McElroy and I had much more time to talk with creators like Travis Legge, our friends in the business (either existing or prospective), translators, and I even made a walk-through of artist alley and got to chat with some of our favorites.

Meanwhile, as we anticipated, our panels were a great place to field questions from our regular attendees. Thanks to all of you who attended and put us through our paces with your questions! We’ll be getting a report on how our demo games went later from The Wrecking Crew, but I, at least, only heard good things about those.

If you were there, or had friends there, and heard anything otherwise about our presence at Gen Con, please let me know – either here in the comments or directly to richt@theonyxpath.com. We really do appreciate knowing how others saw things.

Book of Oblivion illustration by Drew Tucker

Another big set of questions were about White Wolf/Paradox and how Vampire, V5, WoD, 20th Anniversaries, CofD, and Exalted are going to be created, published, handled.

Part of the confusion was within that “not happening like it used to” theme we talked about. WW/Paradox is signing lots of licensees for all sorts of projects; mostly for V5, but also for other WoD projects. Seeing boardgames come out from four or five different companies, several card games from different companies including the rebirth of Vampire: the Eternal Struggle, and also several computer games is a lot happening that we should be thrilled about as fans.

What seems the most confusing for folks, though, is when they see different companies producing V5 TTRPGs, maybe because they’re concerned about V5 game books being created by multiple companies and that’s just not how it has been done, or they’re are concerned about rules and setting coherence, or overall quality. Or maybe because it’s not clear how the rest of the WoD game lines will be handled.

We at Onyx Path can only reply as we did at the con – with our understanding of the situation. Which is that it is not easy to reconfigure a business as WW/Paradox has been reconfigured and that currently their team is juggling a lot of existing licensed projects as the folks responsible for overseeing the V5 brand. That means, in answer to the concerns of coherence and quality, that WW/Paradox reviews and approves all the projects and follows through their creation with further approvals to maintain everything V5 the way they want it.

Which is another good reason they are working with the fine folks at Modiphius to get more V5 TTRPG material published, as Modiphius can take the biggest portion of the nuts and bolts of publishing and working with other licensees like Onyx Path off of WW/Paradox‘s busy hands and let them focus on brand management.

As for us, well, the wonderful accolades for V5 Chicago By Night‘s Backer PDF, the strong interest in the follow-up material for CbyN that came out of the Kickstarter Stretch goals, and the recent happy excitement over the V5 Cults of the Blood Gods press release, are all music to our ears and are great data-points when we discuss further projects.

(And hey, I know that sometimes it seems like we say stuff over and over on all our social media, including this MMN blog, about our upcoming projects, but we heard from so many surprised folks after that Cults press release who had no idea it was coming that you just gotta let us keep getting the word out in as many ways – and as often we have to in order to reach our far-flung fantastic fans!)

Beyond V5, and figuring that the time will come that other game lines get attention, it’s always going to start with what WW/Paradox wants to do, so they’re the folks you want to politely let know your thoughts and feelings about those WW game lines. We can, and do, submit pitches as a licensee, but they’re the owners and decide which things get the green light to move ahead.

Aeon Aexpansion illustration by Gong Studios

Back to overall Onyx Path changes, we noted at Gen Con that there was no new brochure debuted at Gen Con, as we want to do a full year one – Jan through Dec. So expect 2020 one to debut a month early at PAX Unplugged this year and then throughout 2020’s cons starting with MidWinter in Jan.

That also means that we didn’t spring any new projects at the con, as we usually build them into the brochure. Part of that is the brochure timing thing, and part of it is that we’re looking at announcements that roll out through the year rather than happening at a single event- unless tying it to the event makes the most sense.

You can expect some of those about new projects unannounced that are already in the works, as well as those we worked out in meetings at Gen Con, throughout the rest of this year and through 2020, as we keep on making:

Many Worlds, One Path!


BLURBS!


Kickstarter!

Keep an eye out in this space as well as on our social media for the Deviant: The Renegades Kickstarter that will be launching after August wraps up!


Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features an interview the team conducted with Travis Legge, the man behind our Twitch endeavors and creative genius for the Scarred Lands!

The Onyx Path News was live today and can be found on our YouTube channel right here, along with Matthew’s Wraith: The Oblivion actual play, uploads from Twitch, and a request for you to submit Deviant questions:  https://www.youtube.com/user/TheOnyxPath

And mentioning Twitch, Travis has continued with our streams of actual plays, interviews, and more, and would love to have you join us live! Please tune in and subscribe to get notifications of upcoming content: https://www.twitch.tv/theonyxpath/ There’s Pugmire: Paws and Claws, Scion: Athens, Ohio, Pirates of Bloodwater, and more!

In other news, the Story Told Podcast just interviewed part of the team behind the Changeling: The Dreaming Player’s Guide! Please check out their show here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/episode-33-c20-players-guide-round-table-interview

Do you love Exalted? Please please please check out Beamduck‘s show right here, as it’s excellent: https://www.twitch.tv/beanduck

Occultists Anonymous are hammering out new episodes of their Mage: The Awakening chronicle, and we’d love for you to check them out. Here are the details:

Episode 34: Broken Things – Mammon works with the Mysterium to determine what is going on with his memories of Beck. Elsewhere, Atratus searches for the reason behind her trouble with spells. Wyrd searches the city for her own answers. https://youtu.be/1mS2Cz8ymtQ

Episode 35: Watching Eyes – Mammon and Hiza flee a Grigori as they search for the reason for Mr. Graves’ intrusion on Mammon’s memories. Atratus travels into her own soul with Songbird and Wyrd on the advice of the Apeiron they named Hephaestus. https://youtu.be/b3RLfdK9vZM

Do you listen to Twin Cities by Night? If not, why not? This show puts out a whole host of different actual play content, and if you want a gritty Chronicles of Darkness game, they’re one of the best places to go: https://twincitiebynight.podbean.com/

Our good friends over at Caffeinated Conquests are continuing to run The Sacrifice from Chicago by Night using V20 rules! There are very few playthroughs of that story that involve a Gargoyle and a True Brujah, but theirs certainly does: https://www.youtube.com/user/CafConIsOn/videos

Devil’s Luck Gaming is always a fantastic place to go for your Scarred Lands hookup, too. One of the best actual play channels going today: https://www.twitch.tv/DevilsLuckGaming

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

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


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.)


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 fiction books:


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 are available to order!

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


On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we’re putting the PDF and physical book PoD versions of Book of Oblivion for Wraith20th on sale!

The Book of Oblivion Includes:

  • New Shadow Archetypes, Thorns, and an array of horrifying new antagonists.
  • Chapters devoted to Spectres, their terrible cults, and the rare process of Spectre redemption.
  • Deep explorations of the Tempest; the Labyrinth; the Dark Kingdoms of Flint, Gold, Ivory, Obsidian, and Swar; the Mirrorlands; and several other bizarre and fascinating Necropoli.

Conventions!

Save Against Fear: October 12th – 14th
GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd
PAX Unplugged: December 6th – 8th


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)

  • M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)
  • Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
  • Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)
  • W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)
  • W20 Art Book (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)
  • Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)
  • Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)
  • Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)
  • Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)
  • Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)
  • Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Redlines

  • Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)
  • Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)
  • Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)
  • Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Second Draft

  • Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)
  • Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Development

  • M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Legendlore core book (Legendlore)
  • City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)
  • TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
  • Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)
  • Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Manuscript Approval

  • WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)
  • Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)
  • Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)
  • Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Post-Approval Development

  • Trinity Continuum: Aberrant (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
  • V5 Chicago Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
  • Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)
  • Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Editing

  • Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)
  • Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)
  • TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
  • Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)
  • Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
  • City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Post-Editing Development

  • Memento Mori (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e Companion)
  • DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)
  • DR:E Jumpstart (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)
  • Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Indexing


ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

  • Contagion Chronicle
  • VtR Spilled Blood – All the art that is in is approved. Felipe is working on stuff.
  • Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds – Waiting for Gregor and Darko to wrap up.
  • Trinity Continuum Aberrant
  • Hunter: The Vigil 2e
  • Ex3 Lunars
  • They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Contracted. Sketches already coming in.
  • TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers – Contracted. LeBlanc doing the splats.
  • Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed
  • Ex3 Monthly Stuff
  • DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties
  • DR:E Jumpstart – Sam Denmark is doing this.
  • Deviant for KS – Contracted.

In Layout

  • CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel
  • Dark Eras 2 – Files with Aileen

Proofing

  • Aeon Aexpansion
  • C20 Cup of Dreams
  • V5: Chicago – Backer PDF out, errata lock down Friday.
  • Geist 2e – XX’s and then Indexing.
  • Signs of Sorcery – Inputting errata.
  • M20 Book of the Fallen

At Press

  • Dragon Blooded – Deluxe at Studio2, shipping after Gen Con.
  • Dragon-Blooded Cloth Map – At Studio2, shipping after Gen Con.
  • Dragon-Blooded Screen – Shipped to Studio2, shipping after Gen Con.
  • Trinity Core Screen – At Studio2.
  • TC Aeon Screen – At Studio2.
  • Book of Oblivion – PDF/PoD versions ON SALE WEDNEDAY.
  • Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs coming.
  • Trinity Core – Printing.
  • Trinity Aeon – Printing.
  • DR: E – Backer PDF out to backers.
  • Shunned By the Moon – PoD files uploaded.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

On this date in 1990, Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton found to date, is discovered by Sue Hendrickson in South Dakota. Y’know, I sure love dinosaurs. As a kid, I corrected Miss Larmen, my Kindergarten teacher, when she misidentified and mispronounced their names. Lest you think I was just a little know-it-all, she encouraged me to do so, thus unknowingly setting me on a life-long path as a smart-ass.


Posted

in

,

by

Tags:

Comments

21 responses to “Augustine Musings [Monday Meeting Notes]”

  1. Atavist Avatar
    Atavist

    I love the art! And Shunned by the Moon hit Gold Medal! Really looking forward to Deviant but also getting some more Chronicles stuff hopefully!

  2. C.T. Phipps Avatar
    C.T. Phipps

    You guys are producing the best content for V5 and other lines. I hope the Deviant Kickstarter is a huge success?

    Hey, will there be art commissioned for Let the Streets Run Red or The Chicago Folio?

    1. Matthew Dawkins Avatar

      There will be art in those books too, yes! All our books contain art.

  3. Carl Avatar
    Carl

    The art from Aeon Aexpansion looks gorgeous, simply amazingly gorgeous. I am so looking forward to seeing both that book and Distant Worlds. Soooo looking forward to it.

    On Deviant do you guys have like a single page synopsis on what that game line actually is about. I tried looking on the forums but the thread was a bit complex.

    1. Eric Zawadzki Avatar
      Eric Zawadzki

      Dave’s original summary from the blog is here: https://theonyxpath.com/deviant-deviant-the-renegades/

      You can expect more details soon, but that makes a good place to start if you haven’t read anything else about the game, yet.

  4. RobertD Avatar
    RobertD

    So excited for the DtR KS! I can hardly wait for the end of August! :). And The Aeon Expansion being in layout is a lovely sight! Especially looking forward to Nihonjin Superiors and Psiads info in there once the backer copies come out.

    1. RobertD Avatar
      RobertD

      sorry, meant to type proofing, not layout

  5. Samuraimujuru Avatar
    Samuraimujuru

    Is there a better idea of when DB will be shipping other than the mercurial “after GenCon”?

    1. James Avatar
      James

      I expect it to start shipping out this week. There’s a lot of orders, so it’s taking some time to get it all picked and packed, but I *think* books will start to be on trucks by end of week for some backers

  6. Rafael Villanova Avatar
    Rafael Villanova

    Have you guys plans to the Onyx Dice Rolling App be compatible with v5?

  7. Phil H Avatar
    Phil H

    I know you guys don’t give estimates so I won’t ask for one. But the Aeon Aexpansion has apparently been in approvals (aepprovals?) for around three months now.

    That’s unusual, so is it a specific thing holding it up in the text/art? Or a deliberate delay to wait for the public release of the Trinity Core/AEON before releasing? Something else?

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      As I understand it, we needed the main books to be completely wrapped up in order to be sure that nothing would change that affected the Aexpansion. And yes, we also had some art redos along the way. 😉

  8. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    I totally agree with your comment above about things happening beyond V5. I’m totally fine with WW/Paradox waiting to put out Werewolf 5 and Mage 5 to start. Everything with V5 needs taking care of before the other lines be put out, so the others can get the care and attention they deserve. That way, they can hit the ground running, vs the stumble out the gate that was the V5 launch.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Thanks, we certainly would like a smoother series of launches, too!

  9. David Coleman Avatar
    David Coleman

    Are there any plans to create the remaining Guildbooks for WtO? I’ve just bought a premium print of KB Boggans, completing my set of kithbooks after a 20 year wait. I really want to complete the set for Wraith, it’s the last game without them. I don’t want a Lore of the Clans style update, just the Guildbooks, even if they are all in one volume or two. Thank you.

    1. Matt-M-McElroy Avatar

      There are not any current plans to do individual splat books for any game line, including Wraith.

      We’d most likely do compiled books like Lore of the Clans if we add more books along those lines to the schedule.

      1. David Coleman Avatar
        David Coleman

        Thanks. I figured that. I really hope you get what you need to create a single volume or two that covers all the remaining guild books. It would be a shame to only have those missing from the entire run of splat books from.the original run. And I think you are the only guys who can do it and this may be the last chance to completely finish off the original intentions.

  10. Sam Avatar
    Sam

    Have you guys ever thought in developing a mecha (mobile suit, etc) game? 🙂

    1. Ian A. A. Watson Avatar
      Ian A. A. Watson

      You’re in luck: we already have one.

      Trinity Continuum: Aeon has VARGs: “Vacuum Assault and Reconnaissance Gear.” They come in both hardtech (Battletech-ish) and biotech (anime-ish) varieties.

      Basics are in the Aeon rulebook, further details in the Aeon Aexpansion.

  11. Daniel Avatar
    Daniel

    I don’t know if you can share this yet, but how heavily is Mummy being redesigned? While the original seems like it was an interesting departure from typical RPG growth, it doesn’t mesh well with the other entries to the setting.