Scion 2e: With a Name Like “Troll Preserves”, It’s Gotta Be Good! [Monday Meeting Notes]

scion_origins

Troll Preserves as a yummy(?) jelly was one of the funny bits to come out of these past 5 days as the Scion 2nd Edition Kickstarter roars forth. (The actual topic was a mention of an animal preserve but filled with Trolls (Not the kind from Stand Still, Stay Silent, though)).

When I posted last week about how Onyx Path does our Kickstarter campaigns, I kind of talked in general terms. So now that Scion 2e‘s KS is rolling, here are some thoughts specific to how we’re handling it.

First, the goal of the Scion 2e KS is to create two separate books: the Scion: Origin and Scion: Hero core rulebooks, and then to use the KS numbers to enable us to traditionally print enough for the backers who pledged for them and overprint an amount to send to retail stores. So not to create Deluxe or Prestige Editions, but to launch Scion 2e as a game line in a way that approximates how it was originally launched, but, hopefully, improved by the methods we’ve figured out these five years Onyx Path has been publishing.

Thinking of the KS as a launch might also help folks get an idea of why they are seeing, and will continue to see, Stretch Goals that aren’t about making a book.

 

Michael Gaydos illustration from V20 Dark Ages Tome of Secrets
Michael Gaydos illustration from V20 Dark Ages Tome of Secrets

 

We’ve already started the first in a series of goals to build up a Scion 2e Fiction Anthology, which past backers might recognize as something we have done for quite a while. Kickstarter Stretch Goals for fiction stories for an anthology are a sweet way of enabling us to create fiction for those who enjoy it or who can enjoy since they can’t get a game of Scion 2e together but want to dive into the world in their free time anyway.

We just announced a Stretch Goal that if passed means we will work with other game designers to create Live Action Roleplaying (LARP) rules for Scion 2e. Judging by responses at MidWinter and GenCon this past year, there really does seem to be interest in playing Scion 2e live-action, but we just couldn’t justify allocating any of Scion‘s limited budget to exploring the idea. The small amount of money we get from this Stretch Goal offsets any additional work we have to do to make that happen, with approvals and all that, and any bits we need to pay the design team.

Projects like these, and the ones we’ll be including later in the KS, are all about extending the reach of Scion 2e so that folks who might find the setting interesting help keep the game alive by spreading the word and buying these auxiliary projects, even if they don’t game.

Which is not to say that we don’t have a place for game book info in the Stretch Goals; we do with the Scion 2e Companion, a compilation of topics, pantheons, and other ideas, that enhance your Scion game, but aren’t need in core rulebook. By putting these extras in a Companion, rather than squeezing them into the core books themselves, we are using KS to build a book release schedule without imperiling the release of those core books.

Remember,  goal #1 is getting those two core books into stores. Added material has a nasty way of slowing the finalization of a book project, so we’re sidestepping that.

 

Vince Locke illustration for V20 Dark Ages Tome of Secrets
Vince Locke illustration for V20 Dark Ages Tome of Secrets

 

Totally a different topic, but I wanted to mention it even though its in The Blurbs below- I was really thrilled to get the PoD proofs of Mage: the Awakening 2nd Edition, and they look great, and we’re putting the book on sale on Wednesday. I just love it when a new Chronicles of Darkness game line gets its 2nd Edition, we’ve learned so much since their first editions and the lines deserve to gain the benefit of that knowledge.

OK, back to the Kickstarter mines!

 

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER!

scion_2e-logo

The KS campaign for Scion 2nd Edition went live at 12 noon Eastern US time, Thursday the 22nd and funded in 37 minutes! Currently, the project has 1745 backers and $147, 073 in pledges. We are thrilled with the response and are already using Stretch Goals to create a Scion 2e Companion, filled with additional pantheons, expanded or alternative rules, and other goodies, as well as a Scion 2e Fiction Anthology, and even more.

 

 

ON SALE!

 

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: https://theonyxpath.com/press-release-onyx-path-limited-editions-now-available-through-indie-press-revolution/

 

 

iprlogo

 

 

Awakening 2 Cover

On Wednesday, 9/28, the long awaited opportunity to own Mage: the Awakening 2nd Edition as a physical book is at last at hand!

Come to DTRPG.com and discover the secrets-filled tome of wonder….

 

 

mage awakening condition numina cards

Now available from DriveThruRPG in PDF: Mage: The Awakening Condition and Numina Cards.

Part of the new Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition rules, Conditions add an additional layer of consequence and reward to certain actions in the Chronicles of Darkness.

Various things within the course of a game can cause Conditions. These include exceptional successes, supernatural abilities, and really any situation where the Storyteller thinks they can be used to heighten the drama of a game.

Also available in this deck are brand new Numina cards featuring these rules from the Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition rulebook for ease of reference at the table.

 

 

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On sale NOW from DTRPG: the Promethean Dark Eras chapter A Handful of Dust in PDF and PoD versions! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/178800/Dark-Eras-A-Handful-of-Dust-Promethean-the-Created

The Great Depression and the black blizzards of the 1930s turned the American Midwest into a wasteland. For the better part of a decade, thousands of people experienced deprivation and alienation right alongside the Created. They also clung to the faint promise of hope, that the rains would come and restore the land.

This is a single chapter from the larger work, Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras.

 

 

Cavs of Mars

A Festival of Blades, the swashbuckling new Jumpstart advance PDF for Rose Bailey’s Cavaliers of Mars available on DTRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/191678/A-Festival-of-Blades-A-Cavaliers-of-Mars-Jumpstart

Live, fight, and love on Mars, a world of red death and strange mystery, a world of savagery and romance.

Includes: 

  • A complete adventure set in one of dying Mars’ greatest remaining cities.
  • The innovative DEIMOS rules, for high-flying, swashbuckling adventure.
  • Four pre-generated player characters, ready to get into the heart of the action.

 

 

Miracles Cover

Behold the Miracles of the Solar Exalted! Originally a backer reward for the EX3 Kickstarter, but now so much more, with additional Charms written by the developers just for this book! For sale now at DTRPG in PDF and PoD versions! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/184596/Miracles-of-the-Solar-Exalted

This book contains over 80 new Solar Charms embodying a range of concepts and stories dreamed up by players of Exalted and meticulously crafted and balanced for inclusion at any and all tables.

Fire an arrow and let it become a waiting judgment upon the wicked. Unleash a sword stroke that can overwhelm the blade of Heaven itself. Train your loyal beast companion into an unstoppable colossus. Effortlessly seed the battlefield with inspiring words alongside arrows and blades. Empower your spirit familiar with the light of your anima. Tame a hurricane with your music. These miracles and more may be found within.

 

 

 

Promethean Premium

What was once unliving now arises! The Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition Advance PDF is now available at DTRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/189395/Promethean-the-Created-2nd-Edition

You are a pilgrim now, one of the Created. You rose to life from dead flesh or inert matter, under the ministrations of one of your own, or a mad scientist, or perhaps just the power of the Divine Fire. You wander the world, sometimes alone, sometimes in the blessed company of your own kind, driven by memories of events and facts you never knew, all in the service of one Great Work…

…to be human.

This book contains:

  • The complete guide to playing a Promethean in the Chronicles of Darkness
  • Reimagined Lineages and Refinements, and a redesigned system for Transmutations
  • A more detailed approached to the Pilgrimage that presents players with more control over their characters’ path
  • New challenges on the road to humanity, including deranged, greedy alchemists

NOTE: This is the Advance PDF version. A final PDF version and PoD versions will be available at a later date. If you have purchased this Advance PDF, you will be automatically updated to the final PDF and receive a link to enable you to purchase the PoD at a discount designed so that your total price matches our usual PDF and Print combo offer.

 

 

 

CONVENTIONS!

Onyx Path will be at Mid Winter Con 2017 in January in the lovely city of Milwaukee. Come brave the cold wastes to game and cavort with us!

 

 

 


And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (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 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • CtL fiction anthology (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)
  • BtP Building a Legend (Beast: the Primordial)
  • Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)
  • Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)
  • M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • BtP Player’s Guide
  • V20 Dark Ages Jumpstart (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • M20 Cookbook (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • VtM Beckett’s Jyhad Diary (Stretch Goal Content)
  • GtS Geist 2e core
  • VtR Half-Damned (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

 

Redlines

  • EX3 Jumpstart (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Scion: Origins (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

 

Second Draft

  • Arms of the Chosen (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Cavaliers of Mars
  • Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition
  • VtR A Thousand Years of Night (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

 

Development

  • W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)
  • Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)
  • SL The Wise and the Wicked (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)
  • BtP Mortal Remains (Beast: the Primordial)
  • SL Ring of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)
  • Ring of Spiragos (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)
  • SL Dagger of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)
  • Dagger of Spiragos (5e– Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)
  • Pugmire Core Book

 

Editing:

  • Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition

 

Post-Editing Development:

  • V20 Dark Ages Anthology (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

 

 

Indexing:

  • Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition core book (Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition)

 

 

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

  • Dark Eras Companion
  • Beckett’s Jyhad Diary
  • Mummy Novel
  • V20 DA Tome of Secrets
  • V20 Lore of the Bloodlines
  • SL Wise and Wicked Update
  • Prince’s Gambit 
  • Beast Conquering Heroes
  • C20 
  • M20 Book of Secrets
  • W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook
  • V20 Dark Ages Companion

 

In Layout

  • Secrets of the Covenants
  • Necropolis Rio
  • Scarred Lands Players Guide 5E
  • CofD Hurt Locker

Proofing

  • W20 Shattered Dreams
  • Kinfolk 
  • V20 Endless Ages

 

At Press

  • Dark Eras  Wrapping up printing, need to let backers we need final addresses.
  • Ex 3 Scree Finished at the Printer.
  • Ex 3 core book – From RichT: manufacturing continues, have sweet looking example of the Ultra Deluxe Edition metal plate and cover together.
  • EX3 Charm Card PDFs ending errata.
  • Dark Eras Screen – Finished at the Printer.
  • Mage the Awakening 2nd – PDF/PoD on sale Wednesday!
  • Beast RMCs awaiting further errata.
  • CofD Tilt Cards – Ordering card proofs

 

 

 


TODAY’S REASON TO DRINK: Bad trolling. I mean seriously guys, bring your A-game or go home!


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36 responses to “Scion 2e: With a Name Like “Troll Preserves”, It’s Gotta Be Good! [Monday Meeting Notes]”

  1. Nicolas milioni Avatar
    Nicolas milioni

    I asked that in the kickstarter but I’ll here too just to be sure ?. Can one of the Scion writers please tell me about Nextlahualli ?
    Also, amazing kickstarter guys,seriously good work

    1. Neall Avatar
      Neall

      “Nextlahualli” literally means “debt repayment”. It’s important to note that sacrifice gave the Aztec Gods power, it also created obligation to use that power for the people. Nextlahualli is about maximizing energy generated by sacrifice for the benefit of the those sacrificing.

      1. Nicolas Milioni Gravina Avatar
        Nicolas Milioni Gravina

        Thank you Neall

  2. Alchemy101 Avatar
    Alchemy101

    Releasing the hardcopy of Mage on my birthday? Aww, you shouldn’t have.

    Seriously, love the Chronicles content, and Mage was always my favorite. You guys are awesome.

  3. Unsilent Majority Avatar
    Unsilent Majority

    If Mike gets the chance, if he could possibly put up a “travel mug” of the Skeleton Creeper design on the Red Bubble store sometime soon, I would buy him a beer.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Yep, I’ll pass it on. The key with any of our merchandise items is that they are very much something Mike does as a break from the books.

      1. Unsilent Majority Avatar
        Unsilent Majority

        Thanks, Rich!

  4. Jonathan Avatar

    If your “Reason to Drink” is a reference to what I think it is, you have my sympathies. Just keep making great games like you have been. They’re worth the wait.

    Thanks for reminding me about the fact this KS is about getting Scion into stores again. I was a bit confused why there was no Deluxe/Prestige edition (I figured it was because there are two volumes instead of just one).

    I also want to say thanks for making both a Jumpstart and a Translation Guide. My troupe has been looking at Scion for a bit and the Jumpstart will probably be enough to get everyone on board while I’m always one for carrying previous content forward as much as possible.

    Definitely the best thing about this new edition is the fact there seems to be some setting details. First edition seemed to boil down to “the gods exist. Have fun!” which left me feeling like I had a lot of research/work to do (what have the gods been doing for the last few millennia since the original epics were written and how am I going to update all of my player’s pantheons?). To be fair, I only got as far as Hero so some of that work might have been handled in Demigod or God but it’s nice to see it “up front” in Origins.

    Since this is the launching point for a new/revitalized game, I’m sure you all have ideas for where you want to take it. If I may be so bold, I’d like to toss out a few ideas of what I as a player and storyteller would like:

    – A book devoted to allies and antagonists for each tier of play.
    – A series of books looking at the cities/strongholds of different pantheons and the Titans, with maybe a “Chicago-style” book where everyone has a stake in it.
    – A big book of Relics
    – Same for Purviews, Boons, and Knacks (again, one per pantheon would be great).

    One of the reasons given by Wizards of the Coast for their current handling of D&D (meaning a lot less “splats” for the current edition than the last two) is they don’t want to produce a lot of books that only part of the player base will use only part of so what I think would be great to see and what actually happens isn’t going to match and I’m okay with that. OPP has comparatively put out much less material for the 2nd Edition CofD games than WW did for 1st edition but what does “hit the streets” is top-notch.

    Maybe I should take the rest of this to the forums….

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Thanks for your thoughts on possible Scion 2e projects. We’re really looking forward to expanding what we can do with Scion, and all input from you guys us appreciated.

  5. Uxas Avatar
    Uxas

    A question about the Mage Phisical edition. I’ve bought for now just the PDF (not enough money for the phisical, but I wanted to support your great work).

    I know I’ll receive a discount cuppon in case I’d want later buy the phisical copy (I’ll want). I have the settings adjusted for that.

    My question is:
    How much time I’ll have for buying the phisical copy with the discount?

    Thanks.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Several months at least.

  6. Anaximander Avatar
    Anaximander

    Do books go to Sweden for approval before or after “Proofing”?

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Usually. We prefer that the last stage before we release a project be our final approval stage from them, so they are looking at what you guys see.

  7. Menace Avatar
    Menace

    Does it mean the erratad pdf is also going to be available ?

    1. Menace Avatar
      Menace

      Talking about mage to be clear

      1. richt Avatar
        richt

        Gotcha, and yes.

        1. Dave Brookshaw Avatar
          Dave Brookshaw

          The pdf just updated in my drivethru library; look for an email from us if you have notifications turned on, or check your library if not.

  8. Elvis Jansson Avatar
    Elvis Jansson

    “On Wednesday, 9/28, the long awaited opportunity to own Mage: the Awakening 2nd Edition as a physical book is at last at hand!”

    http://i.imgur.com/7drHiqr.gif

  9. KH Avatar
    KH

    Thank you guys at Onyx Path for all your hard work! I’m really excited to see all these projects come to fruition. And congratulations on Scion 2e’s Kickstarter success! I’m looking forward to seeing what you guys create and getting my backer shirt from redbubble once it’s out!

    I was curious if you’ll end up adding any other existent or 1e pantheons as stretch goals? Polynesian and perhaps Sumerian(sp?) Pantheons are some I’d suggest, and I’d love to see the Yazata again. Maybe even the Allied and Yankee pantheons making a renewed return.

    Wishing you guys the best of luck, and grateful for all the work you’ve been putting in. Have a great week!

    1. marin Avatar
      marin

      Neall’s currently got the Polynesian and Mesopotamian/Sumerian pantheons slated for Demigod.

      1. Neall Avatar
        Neall

        Yeah. My thoughts on stretch goal pantheons is that they should be pantheons we wouldn’t otherwise get to in the course of a corebook. Demigod will have the Slavic, Polynesian, and Mesopotamian pantheons at a minimum. (I’m still weighing whether the Incans or the Mayans should get the nod).

        1. Jonathan Avatar

          Excited for the Slavic and Sumerian Pantheons.

          Quick question, though: how does playing with a pantheon that doesn’t appear until a higher tier of play work? My group never got a chance to play 1st Edition and I only read through Hero so I don’t know all the ins-and-outs involved with advancing from one book to the next.

          Will I be able to create a Slavic Scion at Hero level or wait and get adopted at a higher level?

          1. GhanjRho Avatar
            GhanjRho

            *Not a Dev* To my knowledge, the only thing stopping you from making a Hero-tier Scion of Baba Yaga is that you’ll have to wait until Demigod comes out.

        2. Austin Loomis Avatar

          (I’m still weighing whether the Incans or the Mayans should get the nod)

          My understanding is that the Mayan gods are mostly alternate names for the Teotl, so I vote for the Incan gods.

  10. perverseness Avatar
    perverseness

    Is the same dev for Deviant working on something else at the moment? I am fiending for news on this project.
    I also encourage a soundtrack for processing the Renegade – PUNK! Good old fashioned fashioned get to the damned point, politics loving, OI shouting, PUNK with maybe some Billy Idol thrown in. OOOOH and FFDP for “IF I Fall” for that moment when your outside the Corpation/Cults doorstep and you have made peace with burning down to your last cell as long as you take them with you.
    This Samurai personal apocalypse moment makes me want this book so bad. That moment when the rage becomes your avenue to peace and the look on your face is enough to tell the bastards who betrayed you that they are in the room with their doom
    Want it

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

      “Is the same dev for Deviant working on something else at the moment? I am fiending for news on this project.”

      Dave Brookshaw is also working on the Mage line, yes.

    2. Dave Brookshaw Avatar
      Dave Brookshaw

      Yeah, I’m Mage: The Awakening dev as well.

      1. perverseness Avatar
        perverseness

        If you need Redbull or Monster I am sure a fund could be put together. Just not Redline or Liquid Cocaine, you got to draw the line somewhere and that stuff is EVIL

  11. Full Time GM Avatar
    Full Time GM

    I love seeing more stuff for V20 Dark Ages. I’m currently preparing to run an updated version of the Transylvania Chronicles and am quite excited to have V20’s resources to update it with.
    More exciting is the physical Mage book! I had a fairly successful Mage game the last few months working from the PDF and I am looking forward to the improvements a real book will bring to the next one.

  12. Tim Flannigan Avatar
    Tim Flannigan

    Question for the Scion Devs: are merits and flaws or something similar going to be in the rules?
    I’ve always thought they make characters just a little more unique.

  13. Anders Avatar
    Anders

    I’m curious, will we be getting a sneak peak of the Orichalcum mock up? My friends give me a lot of flak for ordering one, but man, ain’t no game like an Exalted game.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      I have been working with the printer to get us a cover that really looks like it could only have been from EX3, and I think we have it now. But if I take a pic now, in what is basically an unassembled state, we’ll have to deal with all kinds of abuse on Kickstarter and elsewhere from folks waiting to pounce on everything we show. Not your fault, I know, but I’m waiting until I get the Ultra Deluxe all bound together as a sample before sending pictures. As a word picture it has a golden metal sheet of raised First Age pictograms that is about 7.5″ x 10″ set into a brown leatherette textured like rough animal hide cover, and will have gold stamped lettering on the side. Yes, your friends will be jealous.

      1. Anders Avatar
        Anders

        Ok, that’s entirely fair. I’ll just have to dream up something suitably magnificent.

        Out of curiosity, how heavy is the difference between the Deluxe and Ultra Deluxe cover? I didn’t order any of the other ultra deluxe editions before this, so I don’t have anything to compare to.

        Thanks Rich!

  14. Balancer Avatar

    Hello to all.

    1) Pledged automatically to Scion great game and great ideas

    2)I am a cloth map backer of Exalted is this any way to add the screen as well?

    3) Is there any news about the Secrets of the Covenant Books for CoD Vampire the Requiem? We are running a Larp for 3 years now and 70 people are waiting eagerly for new material.

    Thanks in advance for any answers

    Keep up the good work!

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      1) Yay! Glad to have you onboard! 2) We can’t add anything to EX3 pledges, the system is just not set up for it. 3) In Layout (it should say that in the notes here). Sorry, we don’t get more granular than that on details, when we used to add more detail on what was happening we had folks online slur the professionalism of our designers when in their opinion the designers weren’t working the “right” way. Our designers are very talented and don’t deserve a bit of that, so now it is just the phases that are shown.

      1. Balancer Avatar

        Thanks for your reply!

        2)is there any way to purchase the screen separately ?

        3)i know its on layout for some months now i just wondered if you can give a hint or an estimation of when it can be available. (i can give you 2-3 souls for just the text but /joking)

        Thanks again for the answer and keep up doing a stellar work