Biggest news here is that we are all finishing up the preparation for the Deluxe V20 Dark Ages Kickstarter. Rollickin’ Rose is pulling the edited text into a single downloadable document, Mirthful Mike is finishing the last touches on the proposed V20 DA Screen design, and I’m tweaking the goals a bit still (we have several new types of Rewards, with more possible depending on how Stretch Goals go). If you haven’t heard, it goes live on Kickstarter tomorrow, Tuesday the 7th, at 12 noon Eastern US time!
I think I mentioned this before, but for those of you who missed it, or who have newly joined us, there is an important reason for why the book was named V20 Dark Ages. At the time I submitted the schedule that included the book to CCP, we didn’t know if we’d have a chance to do a full-fledged 20th Anniversary Edition like V20 or W20 or M20. But, we kept hearing from a lot of our Vampire fans that they loved The Dark Ages and needed a new version. Plus, we were looking at more books for the V20 line, rather than another whole line; we just didn’t, and still don’t, have enough bandwidth to ramp up the classic WoD titles all at once. All these factors came together to produce the idea that we would do a Dark Ages book, but it would be like the classic Vampire: The Dark Ages: a supplement to the main line that might grow into its own. (Note that the book is standalone, you don’t need V20 to play it).
Now this in no way should suggest any bias against the Dark Ages: Vampire book, or the associated DA lines, because both the setting of V20 Dark Ages and the rules have been reworked by David Hill and his amazing team of writers who know both DA:V and V:DA, and their intention was to pull the best aspects from all the editions as well as to tie the book firmly into the V20 line. Take a read through once you can get the link to the text on the V20 Dark Ages Kickstarter site tomorrow, and see how well they’ve incorporated things – and added a lot of exciting new perspectives to the cultures and characters of the times.
Which is another reason why we can’t call this a 20th Anniversary Book like V20, as this book was designed with different principles in mind. A book like V20 was designed to distill the classic experience and to lock down a lot of those gaming moments. I often said that I wanted people to feel the same way as they did when they opened their first WW book when they open a 20th Anniversary book. V20 Dark Ages, though, is an exciting new edition. Lucita and Vykos are still there somewhere in the world, but there are a whole new set of multi-cultural characters with new dark stories to follow.
And because we want everybody revved up for the KS start tomorrow, I should also mention these cool elements of the book: the thirteen vampire clans and nineteen bloodlines, including all three castes of the dying Salubri: the Warriors, the Watchers, and the Healers, drawn from every edition of Vampire, and from all over the known world. A new approach to Tzimisce Koldunic Sorcery. And also, “apocrypha of the clans” featuring fiction, lore, Roads, and alternative castes within the clans of Caine.
And for our purposes right now, here are some Dark Updates:
DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (Projects in bold have changed listings)
First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)
- Beast: the Primordial core book (Beast: The Primordial)
- W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Mage: the Awakening 2nd Edition, featuring the Fallen World Chronicle (Mage: the Awakening)
- Fallen World Chronicle Fiction Anthology (Mage: the Awakening)
- M20 How do you DO that? (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- M20 Book of Secrets (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Cursed Necropolis: Rio (Mummy: the Curse)
- Secrets of the Covenants (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)
- Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition
- V20 Black Hand: Guide to the Tal’Mahe’Ra (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- W20 Novel by Mike Lee (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- W20 Shattered Dreams (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
Redlines
- Mummy Fiction Anthology (Mummy: the Curse)
- Exalted 3rd Fiction Anthology (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition, featuring the Firestorm Chronicle (Promethean: the Created)
Second Draft
- Idigam Chronicle Fiction Anthology (Werewolf: the Forsaken)
- V20 Lore of the Clans (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
Development
- Exalted 3rd Edition core book- From Holden: “We’re getting edits back and implementing them this week, while working on Arms of the Chosen”. (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Firestorm Chronicle Fiction Anthology (Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition)
- V20 Red List (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- V20 Ghouls (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Werewolf: the Forsaken 2nd Edition, featuring the Idigam Chronicle (Werewolf: the Forsaken)
- World of Darkness Dark Eras- Vampire chapter (WoD Dark Eras)
- Sothis Ascends (Mummy: the Curse)
Editing
- Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition core book (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
Development (post-editing)
- World of Darkness Dark Eras core book (WoD Dark Eras)
ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE
- White Howlers – I’m assuming I’ll be doing the errata this week.
- Book of the Deceived – Had an artist panic and bail. Luckily, had an artist ready to pounce.
- Book of the Wyrm 20 – Fixing up some minor stuff with that. Hopefully should be all fixed up and out to backers before end of the week.
- DAV20 – Bunch of art approved. Got the mockup of the LtD cover done up for KS. Layout resuming as I had to put it on hold for KS stuff. Still need about 15 or so pieces for the book to come in…but that was expected. Also started on the screen.
- Anarchs Unbound – Couple of corrections for the cover and it should be golden. I’m going to be looking over the proofs this week and hopefully there isn’t anything major that needs to be fixed.
- T-Shirts – T shirt time got Dark Agesed. If I have time this week, gonna get the Bradstreets done. Once the Bradstreet ones are done, that puts us at over 150 shirts available: http://www.redbubble.com/people/theonyxpath
- Art O’ The Changin’ Breeds – I’ve got the art placed, I just need to find some text to put in there. While most of the sections that will be easy…the Introduction is going to be the thing that is gonna take the most time. Thus far it’s at a respectable 56 pages.
- Umbra – Fulls coming in. Still missing halfs. MIA artist hasn’t responded to emails and may have to replace him.
- Ready Made Characters: Geist – Art in the works.
- VTR II – Covers discussed.
- Dark Eras and Second Editions – As the artists are wrapping up DA, Umbra, and various other projects I’d like to get them onto these before the holidays. Most artists won’t take on that many pieces during the Thanksgiving and Xmas holidays and all three of those titles are big books that will require quite a bit of art.
- EX3- Not Mike, but art director Maria Cabardo is assigning art and am looking at a second and third batch of art notes from the Devs.
REASON TO DRINK: Was at PA Ren Fest with Colonel Dan so beer needed consuming. I had stout with a shot of mead in it. Honey-riffic and hey nonny nonny!
Comments
20 responses to “The Ages: They Are Dark (Monday Meeting Notes)”
Man it just keeps getting better and better! =)
I agree!
First off, really excited for the Dark Ages KS. Here’s to blowing the lid off it!
This might not be the best place for it, but could you elaborate on what exactly the process is with art notes for Exalted?
Are batches portions of the book (First batch = first 100 pages), types of illustrations (First batch=full page), or something else?
They are pretty much done chapter by chapter, with the first batch being every chapter but one through martial arts. I need to parse the other two batches and see which chapters they are for.
*looks at the list of progress, sees something that catches his attention* So..what is W20 Changing Ways?
I think that’s written up in the brochure and the schedule here on the site, but as a quick description- what it’s like to be a Garou.
okay. i know youd probably be annoyed somewhat if i ask this because i know the general response is probably “when its ready” or “sometime this winter”. ive been resisting asking this but i really do find it hard now not to ask. so ill just ask and take whatever response you can give:
IF for some odd reason no other delays happen and everything suddenly fell into place exactly the way youd like them to. and by some miracle it could be shipped out to backers who found no (or very few) problems with it… what would you say is the ETA of EX3 core’s release. =3 as accurate as you can give without promising an exact deadline if possible. even “less than 10 months from now” is a good enough answer for me right now.
=) i can almost taste it. its nearly here.
I know it’s tough. Hang in there. I feel your pain.
What’s up with Anarch’s Unbound in the Art Section?
I’m literally looking at the book on Drivethru as I type this. So surely its finished?
Very excited to see Promethean in Redlines. Matt is a machine at getting stuff done.
Dark Ages here we come. Will we be able to suggest stretch goals in the comments and such like with the previous Kickstarters?
What’s up with Anarch’s Unbound in the Art Section?
The Deluxe edition from the Kickstarter is still being completed. As covered above, the cover is being tweaked.
Oh of course…brain fail.
I am curious about the status of Ghouls. I am not exactly clear what ‘development’ means for the progress of the book…but it has been there a while.
Development is when the text is in the hands of the book or line developer, like Rollickin’ Rose Bailey is for Vampire the Requiem. They are reading and tweaking the text, or if it is a significantly large change that is needed to the text, they’ll get the writer to rework it. Some developers also tweak the text after editing, but we try and avoid that as that can add errors to the edited text. So if the Dev is really busy, or bogged down, the development time can go quite long. Ghouls, like Red List is being developed by Matt McElroy, and his full time job helping publishers for DTRPG is like two full time jobs. So his time on the projects comes in fits and starts.
He’s doing a saints work then.
Hi! Thanks for all your efforts I like to know how it’s everything going as a fan, I really enjoy those news.
By the way, may I ask for the status of the M20’s Art?
I’m intrigued about the layouts, fonts, colours and for the illustrations and logos of course! Anything discussed by now?
Thank you!
We are still working with two of the artists to finish their assignments, but the rest of the art is in and has been for a while. No issues yet from the editor either, so so far, so good!
I realize I might be jumping the gun a bit, but I only have so much money (and shelf space :T) so I want to cover my bases as best I can. Is the intent for Dark Eras deluxe to be similar to the Dark Age: V20 deluxe edition in that it will follow its own design style instead of the uniform design that the Corebooks all go with?
Because the leather tome concept is seriously pretty, but if DE outdoes it WHAT THEN?!
/first world problems
Dark Eras will be a Prestige Edition like the Mummy and Demon books, so it’ll be designed to play up Dark Eras as a concept, rather than a Deluxe. I think it’ll look really sweet, but that’s a topic for another KS! Thanks-
I think I must have missed something: what is “Beast: The Primordial”?
Our new supernatural line for 2015. Check out our posted release plans here on the Onyx Path site. We have not released much info besides that, but for speculation there’s a forum thread in the nWoD general threads section below the specific line sections.