Amazingly, the Waffle House menu list of options for their home fries of scattered, smothered, covered, chunked, diced, peppered, capped, and topped, sound a lot like a description of this illustration by Ron Spencer for the W20 Shattered Dreams book.
I have no idea why that came to mind except I just saw a video of Anthony Bourdain, who I find always fun to watch, extolling the virtues of Waffle House, a chain of eateries ubiquitous to the southern US. Hey, it gave me a blog title this week, which is not always the easiest thing to come up with.
Of course, I wouldn’t have been thinking about W20 Shattered Dreams if the Kickstarter for the Deluxe Edition was not in it’s last 5 days. We’ve added a link to the final chapter (on the War of Tears) as that text has now been OK’d by developer Snappy Stew Wilson to reveal to folks.
I got a message from a prospective backer worried that the book just detailed ways to waste his beloved Changing Breeds, and No! it is not that at all. This book is usable by W20 players of both the Garou and the Changing Breeds and includes options for both sides in these terrible conflicts through the ages. Since we have included the links for all the text currently going into the book, you can give it a once-over yourself before pledging. But do it fast, as there’s not a lot of time left to pledge for this Deluxe edition and whatever Stretch Goals may come out of the KS.
Speaking of Kickstarters, he segued innocently, I have good news to report from last week’s meeting with the fellas at the new White Wolf Publishing (Paradox Interactive).
But first, I should talk about how awesome our old friend and original Hunter: the Vigil developer Chuck Wendig’s Star Wars: Aftermath novel is. And it really is delightfully evocative of the universe and characters we last saw at the end of the Return of the Jedi. Or maybe talk about how today at lunch Eddy and I discussed H.P. Lovecraft, Arthur Conan Doyle, and racism. And Pugmire Calling and Breed symbols.
Nah.
Only a little bit of teasing today. Let’s get to it:
Very pleased to say that we’ve been OK’d to go ahead with the Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition Kickstarter that we’ve planned for December into January. This is, of course, the fifth of the Big Five gamelines, and we’re thrilled to be creating an edition that celebrates our shared love of CtD! We’ve got some great ideas for this one and I’m going to run a few possible options past our printers this week.
As for the rest of my meeting with Tobias and Martin, I can only say that it was fantastic and I’m looking forward to the time when plans have all been solidified and we can share them with you all.
Not directly related to their plans as far as I know of them, Impish Ian Watson tells me that it is the 11 year anniversary of the Bloodlines video game. It has been amazing to meet so many members of our community through the years who got into Vampire and the World of Darkness through playing Bloodlines. Time sure flies when you’re an immortal creature of the night.
For now though, things proceed apace, and as we work away, here are some links for your enjoyment to various podcasts and reviews and interviews from the last couple of weeks featuring Onyx Path projects and their creators:
First, from our friends at Darker Days, they review Mage 20th: http://podcast.darker-days.org/e/darker-days-presents-darkling-38/
Next, from podcaster Rick Carroll, an interview with John Morke and Holden Shearer, EX3 developers extraordinaire: http://rickacarroll.com/podcast/episode-0013-exaltified-john-morke-and-holden-shearer/
And last but not least, the Legend Dave Martin and his Wrecking Crew podcast (Ep6) talking about W20 Shattered Dreams and other good stuff: http://www.thewreckingcrew.org/feed/podcast/
Next week, I expect we’ll be talking some variation of our annual Thanksgiving blog, so be ready for hearty helpings of heart-felt happy homages and homilies.
BLURBS!
KICKSTARTER!
The War enters its final days! We’ve passed the first Deluxe W20 Shattered Dreams Kickstarter Stretch Goal which is for the creation of a W20 Auspice Gift Deck (we’re starting with Auspices, but hope to do others as well) and are headed to pass the exclusive t-shirt goal. With 5 days left to go! Now is the time to stand up with your fellow Garou and Fera for this supplement detailing the multiple eras of the Wars of Rage as well as how to use the War in a modern Chronicle.
For this W20 Kickstarter we’ve added Achievements to our usual mix of Rewards and Stretch Goals, with the idea that you can participate to unlock some rewards that aren’t part of the fund raising per se. We’ve already hit some of the Achievements! So, come pledge and send us pics of you howling at the moon or holding your pet rat(kin)!
ON SALE!
Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition PDF & Standard and Premium PoD physical book editions are NOW AVAILABLE on DTRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/149562/Mage-the-Ascension-20th-Anniversary-Edition
Vampire 20th Anniversary Edition: The Dark Ages is NOW available in PDF and PoD versions at DriveThruRPG.com! This massive full color tome is part of the V20 line but does not require V20 to play and enjoy.
The Pugmire Pamphlet we had available at Gen Con is now ready for PDF download. Read about the world of Pugmire from the enthusiastic and optimistic pen of Princess Yosha Pug, as well as notes from the gruff and worldly hunter Pan Daschund: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/153518/Pugmire-Gen-Con-Brochure
There are also six Pugmire posters available as free PDFs or $.99 physical posters, suitable for framing:
- Spike Mutt: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150845/Spike-Mutt-Pugmire-Poster-6
- Pan Dachshund: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150844/Pan-Dachshund-Pugmire-Poster-5
- Jack Rat-Terrier: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150944/Jack-RatTerrier-Pugmire-Poster-4
- Sgt. Leo Bulldog: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150843/Sgt-Leo-Bulldog-Pugmire-Poster-3
- Princess Yosha Pug: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/149750/Princess-Yosha-Pug-Pugmire-Poster-2
- Sister Picassa Collie: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/148516/Sister-Picassa-Collie-Pugmire-Poster-1
Start spreading the Code of Man!
CONVENTIONS!
We’re one of the Contributing Sponsors at Midwinter Con this year this January in Milwaukee! RichT, Fast Eddy Webb, and Newlywed Neall Raemonn Price will be there at our booth as well as running demo games of Scion and Pugmire. We’ll be talking more about panels, but I think you can count on a Pugmire one and a Scion/StoryPath System one, at least. In the meantime, check out the show here: http://www.midwintergamingconvention.com/
And now, the new project status updates!
First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)
- M20 Book of Secrets (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- CtL anthology (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)
- Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition
- Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)
- Night Horrors: Conquering Heroes (Beast: the Primordial)
- Scion: Alpha (Scion 2nd Edition)
Redlines
- Mummy Fiction Anthology (Mummy: the Curse)
- Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition
- Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)
- WtA Kinfolk (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- V20 Ready Made Characters (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Cavaliers of Mars
Second Draft
- Arms of the Chosen (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Beast Ready Made Characters (Beast: the Primordial)
- WtF The Pack (Werewolf: the Forsaken 2nd Edition)
- Beast Fiction Anthology (Beast: the Primordial)
- Beckett’s Jyhad Diary (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
Development
- StoryPath System Rules (Base rules set for Scion and the Trinity Continuum)
- Scarred Lands Player’s Guide: Ghelspad (Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)
- W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- nWoD Hurt Locker (World of Darkness 2nd Edition)
- VtM Lore of the Bloodlines (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Dark Eras Companion (nWod Dark Eras)
Editing
- V20 Black Hand: Guide to the Tal’Mahe’Ra (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- W20 Shattered Dreams (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition, featuring the Firestorm Chronicle (Promethean: the Created)
- W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Dark Eras Expansions (nWod Dark Eras)
- Secrets of the Covenants (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)
- M20 Anthology (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
Post-Editing Development:
- Pugmire Early Access
- Cursed Necropolis: Rio (Mummy: the Curse)
- V20 Ghouls (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:
In Art Direction
- V20 Ghouls – Awaiting text.
- W20 Shattered Dreams – KS underway.
- Mage: the Awakening Second – Awaiting the remainder of the art to come in.
- Promethean: the Created Second – More artwork rolling in.
- Scarred Lands PG – contracting.
- Dark Eras – Sending out the notes for the first couple of new sections.
- Pugmire Early Access – contracted.
In Layout
- Dreams of Avarice – Will be going into proofing midweek at the latest.
- Demon STG – Working on Second Proof.
- Guide to the Black Hand – Working on it.
- NWoD 2 – At Paradox for approval.
- NWoD 2 Cards – Once NWoD 2 is done.
Proofing
- Ex 3 Anthology – Dropping in updated text file.
- V20 Lore of the Clans – Making all the errata changes.
- Beast: The Primordial – Matt’s working on the errata and marking up the PDF.
- Ex 3 core book – From RichT: Backer PDF errata being compiled for the Devs and Maria to review. Art corrections are in progress. Unique Charm Compilation Reward backers continue to send in their ideas for the Charms that the team will be creating for them.
At Press
- M20 – Deluxes printing (Screen is finished and awaiting book).
- M20 How Do You Do That ?!? – PoD uploaded and processing.
Special- projects on hold in the art and production area until an external factor is resolved
- Dark Eras – Expanded text from the KS has to get through the dev stages above.
- Wraith 20 – Can’t go further until art notes come in, still being developed by Rich Dansky.
- Pentex Employee Indoctrination Manual – Some added and amended text needs to come in.
TODAY’S REASON TO DRINK: To our friends and colleagues and the people of France and the many other locations worldwide recovering after last week.
Comments
72 responses to “Shattered, smothered, covered, chunked, diced, peppered, capped, and topped. [Monday Meeting Notes]”
Looks like the Demon STG is the next thing I’m getting.
About the Ex3 custom charms, do you send confirmation e-mails when you receive submissions? I assume you got my submission, but assuming that people have received one of my e-mails has caused Problems and Confusion for me in the past, so…
I’ll be reaching out to all the folks who haven’t gotten me their ideas once we hit the deadline time.
Scion! SCION MOVED! OMG! *Faints*
– steps over Y –
– whistles a jaunty tune –
Hahaha! Nice one. 🙂
Since you guys get to do the CtD20 Kickstarter does this mean that you will keep the rights to publish cWoD/nWoD/Exalted material? as in V4 etc. is still happening?
Between that and the ton of Rich’s statements, I’d say this is a very positive sign.
So far, as things become things I can talk about, I have.
Woot for Scion! Woot for CtD20! How long before M20 Deluxe ships(Next week, a couple of weeks, a month?)
When it’s ready is really the best answer.
Dammit, now I’m craving Waffle House.
Not sure if that’s a good thing. But I know what you mean. 🙂
Awesome news about M20. Can. Not. Wait. Looking forward to grabbing that PoD copy of How Do You DO That as well!
You can find the M20 review from Darker Days here:
http://podcast.darker-days.org/e/darker-days-presents-darkling-38/
Killing Joke are cool, but we can’t take credit for them 😉
Dammit, Phil! (Changed to correct link)
Very excited for both Demon STG and nWoD 2e. Hopefully in time for the holidays? any chance?
Maybe Advance PDF versions, maybe.
I can’t wait to see the mockup of the deluxe cover for Ctd20. As for the gilding on the pages we might need something more exotic than gold or silver. Maybe some sort of rainbow metallic effect?
Maybe an interesting gilding option could be a Kickstarter goal?
Bear in mind that all “funky” gilding can take multiple months to apply as per Werewolf 20’s copper gilding. It’s a hand done process with, I think, hand mixed gilding.
Artisanal hand gilding
That’s pretty much what W20 had, yes.
Changeling20, finally.
Now, Changeling20 needs to be a truly revised improved game.
Changelings need to be brought up to the power levels Vampires, Werewolves and Mages enjoy.
So they can fight in the arena! Or did you mean something else? 🙂
@RichT Ha ha ._.
@everyoneElse I’m really pleased Matt McFarland is the Developer. It guarantees Changeling20 will be awesome.
Perhaps it’s different in your group, but, in my experience, vampire<<werewolf<<mage.
Making changelings a bit more magically impressive is a priority, yes. 🙂
I think you mean “magically delicious”.
That, too.
Hmmmm. I am looking forward to the text slices or Changeling. I hope you’re able to preview some of this during the KS and in later updates the way Wraith has.
Changeling is so weird for me because I want so much of it preserved, but so much of it updated and improved as well. There’s more dichotomy there than for the previous game lines. I cannot wait to see your spin on it, especially if the magic gets pumped a bit.
I hope there’ll be previews too 😀
Honestly Changelings aren’t nearly as weak as people think. I was on the “Gah why are Changelings so puny” bandwagon for a really long time until I recently played under an ST who had run the game for a long time. Once you realize how the arts interact with the realms and how brutally powerful calling on the Wyrd is you realize that they actually pack quite a wallop. They have natural enemies, and a technocrat or a really old vampire will absolutely take a changeling down, but a really old vampire or a technocrat will absolutely take a PC power vampire down as well, so not really a comparison there.
I don’t want them to be more powerful, I want there power to be more obvious. A solid set of examples of how the realms and arts intermingle in much the way that Mage expanded on the sphere rules would go a long way towards helping the game. Also cleaning up some of the arts from the splatbooks so they actually work with all the realms would help a lot. (I’m looking at you Infusion)
I am similarly excited about Matt being in charge. His history with the game line is tied with sort of off line stuff like Dark Ages Fae, so I’m holding my breath a little bit on getting the flavor of the original CtD line, but his system dev chops are definitely there and that’s really where Changeling needs the most love.
C20! My life is complete.
My work here is finished!
Not quite sure, but I don’t think that’s the “Darker Days” Youtube video link… but now we know that Rich is listening to Apotheosis remixes while writing his Monday Meeting notes. 🙂
It is now. 🙂
Hurray CtD 20th! I am so excited to throw TONS of money at this!!! 😀
Excellent!
Truly, Ask and Ye shall Receive. V20 Ghouls moved 🙂 .
Dreams of Avarice continues its slow march towards release!
Looks like NWoD 2nd Edition and Dark Eras are moving along. Also, it’s nice to see Scion up there.
Can you shed some light on why it’s called “Alpha” instead of “Hero”?
My guess: it isn’t. Rather, it’s called Alpha instead of Origins. Hero will follow Alpha, then Demigod and God; and where they go from there, who knows?
It’s an “alpha slice” of the project, designed to be used in playtesting. We’re planning on Neall using the Alpha for his demos at MidWinter in January.
Hopefully the A-okay for changeling is a sign we can get a Deviant Kickstarter. I’d live to see more on that book.
Bloodlines got me into gaming. And after playing it(and beating it) 121 times, I’d say it’s time for Bloodlines 2. Hear that, Paradox?
Excellent news about CtD 20. I wouldn’t want it in anyone else’s hands but Onyx Path’s.
Here’s hoping there’s still some more OP goodness(releases) before the end of the year.
So, any chance of a Demon 20? Or, dare I hope, Demon: The Fallen, 15th Anniversary Edition? Since 2022 would be a very sad-long time to wait?
It will sooner or later even Demon The Fallen 20th? 🙂
*breathes a long, steady sigh of relief*
I am very glad to hear I am not saving all this money for nothing. I will be flinging it at you for the shiniest thing I can get the minute the C20 KS goes live.
Thanks for the mention of the podcast, Rich! It was a fun interview. I am trying to nail a time down with Neall for Scion as well. He’s a slippery bastard, though.
I can hardly wait for C20. Back in the day I had everything werewolf and everything vampire, and one or two mage books.
I know almost nothing of the fey, I can hardly wait
If you’ve never played Changeling before it might be a bit jarring. A lot of WoDers I’ve meet thing Changeling is entirely too “happy”. The trick with Changeling is to remember it’s less about visceral bloody, gore filled horror like vampire and werewolf, and it’s not like the deep corruptive societal horror of Mage. It’s closest cousin is Wraith. It’s about the slow creeping nihilistic pain that comes from watching something beautiful die. To get to that you have to start out with something bright and shiny.
Don’t let the throwaway Pooka fool you. Darkness is waiting, winter is coming, the Dautain know where you live.
Ugh. It’s too early and this interface doesn’t let me edit comments. I apologize for all those typos.
Changeling: the Dreaming is the horror that is the compromise people make to survive in modern society.
It is the Artist who hasn’t touched her brushes in years because she is too tired from her office job to paint. The writer, who after years of rejections, gives up. The musician who becomes a school teacher to feed his wife and newborn child.
These are examples of hell to a Changeling. I think it was never popular because most people prefer to role play the monsters they will never meet in Vampire and Werewolf, then the horrors that everyone will eventually have to face.
You can absolutely play those monsters in Changeling. Rhapsody is possibly the most horrific thing I’ve seen in any World of Darkness game old or new. I’d honestly face a Tzmisce before a member of House Leanhaun any day of the week. The problem is the darkness in Changeling is an invocation of horror we actually experience in every day life. We’ve all been told by an art teacher we shouldn’t waste our time, by an English teacher we will never be able to write, by a business teacher that says we should be happy if we make it to middle management. We all know someone who has been told they are just too erratic and been drugged into normalcy.
I think the reason people think Changeling is a bright shiny game is because the horror in the other 4 games is fun like horror movie fun. The horror in Changeling is so much darker and familiar and honestly borderline triggering. So people don’t even look in the shadows of the game and what you’re left with are fish Pooka. I am really hoping Changeling 20 captures that nihilistic wasteland while not loosing the bright shining castle on a hill that you are fighting with every fiber of your being to save. I want to run a game where every player sees that and I can really stick the knife into the moment when their characters really realize that castle is going to crumble and die.
I read your post again and realized that I was really just agreeing with you. You get to play monsters in Changeling, but they’re monsters you’ve had to deal with in real life and so unless you’re into Thomas Ligotti style horror they are much harder to have “fun” with.
CtD 20 finally I can die. The first thing they should do is making it darker, not as much as Lost, but as much as how it should be. I think this is about art work. You cannot be put Sluagh in a white page and golden frame. We need to feel!. Hire the man who did the drawing of M20’s Tradation pictures.
I love you guys so much.
Yes, all of this. I want a game that captures the nihilistic flavor of the fiction at the beginning of the Shadow Court book, and then actually develops a whole faction based on that horrific concept instead of ignoring the little piece of brilliance that started that text. I want a game where even the most seelie fae are desperately running from the cold dark awful place in their heart where they fear the Shadow Court may be right.
11 years from the release of bloodline?
Damn, I’d better reinstall it and play it again…
Come on, art people! (Waiting feverishly for Mage 2e).
The Darker Days podcast link is broken. The link goes to ‘http://podcast.darker-days.org/e/darker-days-presents-darkling-38/http://podcast.darker-days.org/e/darker-days-presents-darkling-38/’, which is the same URL twice, so it leads to a dead page.
Try it now.
I have a question on EX3. I realize there’s other stuff going on, but is there any more information on the “Exploring the Age of Sorrows: Essays on the World of Exalted” pdf?
It sounded like a pretty significant project and the text said that further information on contributors would be forthcoming, but I haven’t heard anything about it since the Kickstarter.
It is significant, and we see it as a project that is outside a lot of our normal processes and market, so our editors are taking extra care in preparing for the writing stage. This includes who does the essays and in what format, etc. Thanks!
Soon I’ll have How did you do that and then begins the long yet patient wait for book of secrets and the deluxe backer copy of M20
Hi there Rich!
Bit late to the party on this one, but I’ve been away from this site until a couple of days ago.
Anyway, I have two questions that are not really all that related to this blog but kinda are:
1) Has the lead developer for Hunter the Vigil 2nd Edition been named yet?
If so I seemed to have missed it. Alternatively is it still under wraps in the Onyx Path vault?
2) Is David Hill OK?
He’s one of my favorite developers and he’s always been very active in the community here on the site. So I was worried when I got back and he seems to have been away a bit. V20DA getting shipped to me made me think about this a bit.
Obviously he has a real life and his probably neck deep in Changeling 2nd Edition hence the radio silence. Plus finishing up Hurt Locker and Tal’Ma’howdoyouspellit. Plus likely writing for like another ten books that are coming out.
I was just hoping everything was going OK with him.
1) We announced that Monica Valentinelli is our HtV 2nd Edition developer, yes!
2) David has been really sick with bronchitis/pneumonia for just weeks and weeks. Having had it regularly during my WW days in Atlanta, it’s exhausting and can take a long time to clear up. David is doing what he can right now.
Awww…hope Dave gets well soon and is not having too terrible a time (as one can have while sick).
Anyway, thanks as always for the reply Rich.
QueTion about the 20th annyversary. In case all goes good with white wolf and you wlso get a green light. Are there any plans to bring out a demon v20?
20th for Demon is like 2022, I think. A liiiiittle farther out than we can plan right now.
Somehow that just made me realize how close we are to another set of 80’s post-apocalypses.
You broke my heart :´(
How about we make a pact? 🙂
Hmmm. Does this mean there’s going to be a Scion: Omega?
The title of this post reminds me of Weiss’s speech from Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-: “The time has come to cleanse this Planet. The pure will be spared for the cause, while the tainted will be hunted down and exterminated. They shall be slashed, strangled, and slaughtered. Beaten, stabbed, and crushed. Garroted and impaled. Shot and executed without mercy. The time has come to cleanse this world.”