The Un- [Monday Meeting Notes]

Here, in the alternative reality created by Eddy last week, I’m sitting at the charred remains of my desk, typing on the semi-melted keyboard, amidst the blackened and ashy ruins of my house.

Which is way too bleak of a way to start the second half of 2022, considering what else is going on out there, so instead I’m going to slip-steam over to a different reality that I like better. Nyaah-nah! This one features no fires wrecking my home/office, but instead of Monday, you’re getting this blog on Tuesday.

In this reality, Eddy is no longer on fire. (And Matthew is no longer trapped on the tundra, for those of you following the Onyx Pathcast).

M20 Sorcerer art by Skan Srisuwan

One of the highlights of the Trinity Continuum game line is the idea that all of the settings are interconnected but not on a timeline. No setting absolutely must lead into or be led into from another that we publish. Even if one looks like the absolute future of an earlier one, it really could not be. We’re looking at a continuum of adjacent settings: not beads sequentially on a string, but dozens of beads that all float along next to each other.

Any given game you play could be in a setting where some of the other settings connected, but not necessarily all of them.

The upcoming Trinity Continuum: Aether is the first time we’ve created a TC setting that is previous to TC: Adventure!, so we made sure to tackle the issue, already implied in the other games, of how and why the events in one setting may or may not be considered the history of a later one.

The first answer, the general TC answer, is the one I went into above: it’s part of a continuum of realities. The second answer, the specific to this setting answer…well, you’ll find out by reading the text.

But even before you get a chance to do that, you’ll be able to read our teaser campaign that will lead to the TC: Aether crowdfunding campaign. Last week, we gave folks their first exhilarating taste with this: https://theonyxpath.com/i-from-the-depths-of-space-to-the-heart-of-london/

From the beginning:

I was there when the first attackers landed on our planet. I watched the plumes of green light flashing through the night’s sky and with my friend Ogilvy, an astronomer, we even followed one to Horsell Common, where it had landed. I say “landed.” Truly, it had embedded itself in the earth, billowing hot steam and foul smoke as we and others approached to survey that dreadful cylinder unscrew, allowing its foul contents to spill forth…

But the story I am here to tell you is not mine. There are others around the world, whose tales I’ve acquired, verified, and where necessary, added literary flair to fill in the blanks. These individuals with their special gifts — these “Aethernauts” — were the first line of defense as our world came under attack.

If you can’t see where this is going, I have only one word for you: ULLAAA!

Beyond that, as this part of the teaser is highlighting only one part of the overall setting, you can pretty much figure on Aether-green bolts of energy flashing between antagonists, clanking gears and lenses whirling about, and battles of extremes in all paths of life. Expect to find any and all Victorian characters intermixed with historical personalities; sometimes in extremely surprising ways!

Back to our world and I know a bunch of you loyal readers are wondering just what crowdfunding platform we’ll be using for TC: Aether. As of this writing, I don’t have an answer for you, but we expect one soon! So, Kickstarter? IndieGoGo? Something else? More when we have it!

Novas Worldwide art by Pat McEvoy

Some Other Items That Survived the Fire:

Here’s our quarterly reminder about which game lines are ours and which we license from other companies:

So, while we are celebrating all of the Chronicles of Darkness this whole month of July, as part of our 10th Anniversary Celebration, we only have access to the projects that Onyx Path put out under our license with Paradox.

(And as we’ve noted before, this is also why we can’t just make a new game for a line because we or you want us to – only the company that owns the rights to that gameline can OK us to create new books for it).

Similarly, we can only include projects in a sale that we have the rights to include.

Which brings us to this handy reminder that as part of this month’s CofD celebration, we have put Vampire: The Requiem 2e PDFs on sale at 10% of the usual price on DTRPG! This sale lasts until Sunday the 10th, when Werewolf: The Forsaken and Mage: The Awakening PDFs go on sale for a week instead!

Plus, please do look up the CofD sales of physical books this month on IPR with 50% – 75% discounts! Links below in our Sales Partners section!

W20 Apocalyptic Record art by Drew Tucker

This weekend is Virtual Horror Con, and we’d love to see you there! We have one panel on July 8th:

Horror Along the Onyx Path
11:00 AM EST

Various writers and developers for Onyx Path talk about the company or creative-owned horror/darker versions of some of our games, including Trinity: Assassins, Squeaks in the Deep, Masks of the Mythos, Scarred Lands, and Dystopia Rising: Evolution.

And another July 10th:

They Came From the Convention Floor!
11:00 AM EST

Featuring Matthew Dawkins (He/Him), Dixie Cochran (She/Her), Eddy Webb (He/Him)

Writers and developers for the They Came From! line of TTRPGs (Beneath the Sea!, Beyond the Grave!, Camp Murder Lake!, [CLASSIFIED]!, and Cyclops’s Cave!) talk about mixing humor and horror at the game table, and how we use the games to emulate B-movies of all stripes.

You can find more panels and details here: https://www.virtualhorrorcon.com/panels

And what conversation about They Came From… could be complete without mentioning that our friends at Mystery Science Theater 3000 have created several ads for us as part of Onyx Path sponsoring their current, 13th, season. They’re running these ads in breaks during the episodes, which you can watch via their Gizmoplex streaming service, and on our YouTube channel. In fact, the link to one of my favorites in down below in the Onyx Path Media section!

I’d better get going now – after all, I do still have quite the mess to clean up from Eddy’s accidental arson. While I’m sweeping the ashes away, I’ll be singing a little song I like to sing…it goes something like this:

TEN YEARS, MANY WORLDS, ONE PATH!


BLURBS!


KICKSTARTER/CROWDFUNDING!

Our next crowdfunding campaign is Trinity Continuum: Aether! For some of our previous backers, the indominable James sent out a small peek into what Aether is about. And now you can see it as well!

Call it what it was: hubris, arrogance, a collective delusion of grandeur… We thought we were the only beings in this universe and that with our grand intellect and glorious empires we were the best humanity would ever be.

And then came Aether.

And along with Aether came mental expansion, form mutation, matter warping, time manipulation, and the discovery of new worlds, new peoples, new and terrifying possibilities.

And with Aether came the doom of humankind. Aether brought the Martians to our world, and the unravelling of the reality we knew.

Aether is a full rule and setting expansion for the Trinity Continuum line of games, set in the year 1895, at a time when humanity has conquered its own world, and now seeks to conquer the limitations imposed on us by the laws of all the sciences known to our kind. Inside, you will find:

  • A complete Victorian-era setting and Paths for characters to embark upon within it.
  • Aether powers allowing you to manipulate fate, space, time, and even your own bodies in wondrous and horrifying ways.
  • Societies both lawful and rogue, looking to leave their imprint on the world, from those in league with Mina Harker to those affiliated with Dr. Jekyll and Moriarty.
  • Storyguide advice, secrets, hooks, and plots, to enable you to start your game of Aether off with a bang.

Onyx Path Media!

This week:

Matthew teaches Eddy about Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition, and helps Eddy make a character!

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


Onyx Path Media now has its own blog on Tuesdays! We’ll continue posting our highlight of the week here, but Tuesday will be the day to visit if you want to catch up on actual plays, interviews, deep dives, and other assorted Onyx Path media!

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!

MEDIA HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK:

We’ve started uploading the ad spots MST3K created for They Came from Beneath the Sea! Check out their third ad (complete with Centopus costume) right here: https://youtu.be/BtS6hOAD4ys

The Onyx Path News goes live every single week to discuss recent and upcoming releases, dive into some of our most anticipated books, and answer questions from the audience. You can find it on our YouTube channel (click the bell to be informed when we go live!) but if you missed the last episode, here it is: https://youtu.be/WrhGLw0JY-w


Virtual Tabletop!

The Scion: Origin Compendium is now available on Roll20!

https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/compendiumexpansion/12522/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin

It’s native to Roll20, so not for use elsewhere, but perfect for starting your Roll20 Scion game – plus, the official Origin & Hero sheets are already available!

And the first of our official sheets designed for Roll20 are now available!

The first of our official sheets designed for Foundry VTTis now available!

Direct Link: https://foundryvtt.com

As they say: “Foundry Virtual Tabletop is a self-hosted roleplaying platform with support for hundreds of game systems with modern features and a developer-friendly API. Foundry VTT is a one-time purchase where your players connect for free using a web browser.”

More VTT offerings and projects will be arriving this year!

A Quantum Leap (a Trinity Continuum: Jumpstart),The Adventures of Teen Tomorrow (a Trinity Continuum: Aberrant Jumpstart),andQuantum Entanglement (a Trinity Continuum: Aeon Jumpstart) are all on Astral TableTop.

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

Check out Astral TableTop for 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

On DrivethruRPG, here is the main filter for all of our current VTT content:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4261/Onyx-Path-Publishing?filters=0_0_0_45317_0

A few highlights of our platform agnostic DTRPG 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


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!

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books, dice, and screens? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

Select CofD books & screens 50-75% off at IPR:
https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Deals-and-Specials/

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles in PDF and PoD versions at DriveThruRPG.com!

The Chronicles of Darkness 90% off Onyx Path 10th Anniversary Celebration Sale runs all through June!

Vampire: The Requiem 2e PDFs are 90% Off: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4261/Onyx-Path-Publishing/subcategory/8329_20642/Vampire-The-Requiem-2nd-Edition

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).

Check out the Trinity Continuum: Aeon novellas Dawn and Meridian in the Kindle store!


On Sale This Week!

The mighty Dead Man’s Rust, campaign book for Scarred Lands for the 5th Edition of the world’s most popular roleplaying game, will go live Wednesday in PDF and PoD versions on DTRPG!


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!

We’ve submitted panels for the online version of Gen Con for early August, and if you’re interested in running or playing our games there, they’ve recently released this link:

https://www.gencon.com/gen-con-online/hosting-events-eo-gmhttps://www.gencon.com/event_registrations/new

We’ll have our panels list available next week!

Tabletop Scotland is due to take place on 27th and 28th August 2022 and will play host to at least four Onyx Pathers running our games and sitting on panels live and there in the room with you! If you’re UK or Europe based, it’s an excellent con to visit and within traveling distance from Edinburgh, which takes flights from a lot of places! Consider paying Tabletop Scotland a visit. https://tabletopscotland.co.uk/

The Virtual Horror Con panel schedule is live:
https://www.virtualhorrorcon.com/panels

Join us there next weekend – July 8-10 for Three Days of Terror!

We have an OPP Horror panel on Friday and a They Came From… panel on Sunday. We’re still pulling together some games to be run during the con, more on that when we have them scheduled!


And now, the new project status updates!

Our full list of projects will be available monthly on our blog! We’ll have this month’s roundup later in the week, but for now check out June’s full list report here: https://theonyxpath.com/release-roundup-june-2022/

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ME

Here are the projects that moved to the next stage of production:

First Draft

Trinity Continuum Core: Brave New Worlds

  • Eddy: The kickoff of a new Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook supplement, covering strange and unusual environments for Talents like time travel, planetary exploration, microverses, and more!

Scion: Tasty Bit – Scion High

  • Eddy: Our newest Tasty Bit, this time presenting a high school environment for teenage Scions!

Manuscript Approval

Trinity Continuum: Tasty Bit – Phoebe Trust

  • Eddy: This is a new Allegiance for an alternate take on the modern-day Trinity Continuum, introducing psions to the modern day. I’m really liking how this fun crossover between Trinity Core and Trinity: Æon is turning out!

Mage: The Ascension: Melody Through the Mirrorshades (was Technocracy Novellas)

  • Matthew: WARNING WARNING We have encountered Paradox! Brace yourselves, fellow Technocrats!

Post-Editing Development

Mage the Ascension – M20 Forgotten and Forbidden Orders

  • Matthew: This book is a truly interesting one encompassing a ridiculously high multitude of strange and rare mage groupings! I know Mage fans (and WoD fans in general) will love it.

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

  • Exalted Essence – More sketches and color comps in.
  • M20 Lore of the Traditions – Remaining artwork for book contracted.
  • W20 Apocalyptic Record – Remaining artwork approved.
  • W20 Howls of the Apocalypse – First couple of artists contracted… just need to get a couple more on board.
  • Legendlore: Legacies of Earth – Artwork contracted. Already signed off on some sketches.
  • MTC Book of Lasting Death – Artwork contracted.

In Layout

  • DMR VTT – Travis working on that.

Proofing

  • Scion Saints and Monsters – Working on the cover and it’ll be ready to release shortly.
  • TC Novas Worldwide – Final full should be in this week and then it’ll be ready for KS backers

Indexing

At Press

  • Scion Demigod – Trad press files at printer. PDF and PoD versions on sale this Weds on DTRPG.
  • Scion Demigod Screen – Press files at printer.
  • Squeaks in the Deep Screen – Files ready for Press.
  • Squeaks in the Deep – Trad press files at printer.
  • Squeaks in the Deep Bookmarks – At KS shipper.
  • Hunter: The Vigil 2e Trad press files at printer.
  • HTV 2 Screen – Files ready for Press.
  • TC: Aberrant: Terat Novella – PoD proof on the way.
  • Trinity Continuum: Assassins – Awaiting errata input.
  • Scarred Lands: Dead Man’s Rust – Press files sent to printer.
  • Down In The Hole – CRC Adventure – PoD proofs ordered.
  • Scarred Lands: Dead Man’s Rust – PDF and PoD versions go on sale on DTRPG this Weds!!!

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Yesterday, July 4th, was a national holiday here in the US (in this reality). It was also the 31st anniversary of the release of Vampire: The Masquerade First Edition at the Origins Convention that year. The green marble heard around the world – or some sort of metaphor that makes more sense, and the beginning of many people’s love affair with VtM as well as the journey that would lead to this last decade of Onyx Path!


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29 responses to “The Un- [Monday Meeting Notes]”

  1. Mateus Luz Avatar
    Mateus Luz

    You guys are amazing. The little brother TC Core is growing to be the most interesting of the entire Continuum, not only for the way it is amazing with all the books you are creating around, but because it expands to all other settings.
    Thank you all for those amazing ideas.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      On behalf of all the folks working on TC projects, you’re very welcome!

  2. Corey Reynolds Avatar
    Corey Reynolds

    Brave New Worlds sounds really cool! Can’t wait for more core Trinity!

  3. THE Donnie Avatar
    THE Donnie

    Scion High, you say? Percy Jackson emulation, I say!

    Also, any idea when Aether will be kickstarted? Like do you suppose it will be this month or the beginning of August?

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      That’s certainly one thing a gaming group could do with it, or a very different Breakfast Club, etc…
      Was that a “when” question? Here comes the standard answer: Keep an eye on these Monday Meeting Notes as things develop! 😀

  4. Aêtava Avatar
    Aêtava

    Ooo Saints and Monsters seems to be coming very soon, very excited for the upcoming rules for Sorcerers in Scion!

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      In the spirit of other Players Guides, there’s tons of fun and useful material in there – including Sorcerers!

  5. casey johnson Avatar

    Any word on if Paradox has/will greenlight an Exalted Abyssals book?

    1. Corey Reynolds Avatar
      Corey Reynolds

      Yes, they said during the Onyx Path Virtual Convention Exalted panel that it had already been greenlighted (greenlit?).

    2. Ian A. A. Watson Avatar
      Ian A. A. Watson

      Indeed, it was announced during Onyx Path Con during the Exalted panel, and then covered in Rich’s June 13 post-con Monday Meeting Notes. We’ve got a channel set up for discussion in our Discord.

    3. richt Avatar
      richt

      Ian has helpfully included links in his response to where we announced just that thing!

      1. casey johnson Avatar
        casey johnson

        Well that is good news indeed!

  6. Hiram Avatar
    Hiram

    Kinda bummed that this ‘(un)monday notes’ didn’t feature any long text on stuff regarding the Chronicles of Darkness as you’ve been doing with the other game lines when it’s ‘their month’. Could’ve asked Rose to say a few words on Requiem 2e or any of the myriad other devs writers that worked on it.

    1. Matthew Dawkins Avatar
      Matthew Dawkins

      It’s still very early in July. Give it time!

      1. Maxime Lemaire Avatar
        Maxime Lemaire

        Thanks Matthew!

    2. Atavist Avatar
      Atavist

      Since there’s been no thumbs up to Chronicles stuff any news is the same that was said during the Gencon Q+A’s for the past several years. “Kith and Kin is going great, we’re still working on Tome of the Pentacle, if you want to know anything else you have to ask Paradox.”

      1. richt Avatar
        richt

        That is indeed the big picture, what’s next, response we have to give. I think Hiram was interested in the little recollections pieces about earlier projects though, at least that’s how it reads to me. But I could be wrong-

    3. richt Avatar
      richt

      Well, on the one hand, I’m happy to hear that you like the long text stuff on the various game lines. Sometimes I wonder if I’m just being self-indulgent by including those, so thanks! On the other, I write just under 50 of these MMN blogs a year, and not every one is going to contain the very thing one particular reader is going to be interested in. So, if I get a reader asking me to write about something in particular, I do try and carve out time and effort to include that stuff as soon as I can. I love having topics suggested as I know at least one person out there is interested, and that’s worth it for me. The more enthusiastic and positive they are, the more I’m inspired to tell them the story they are interested in. But if it sounds like a reader is telling me what I should write…that’s pretty off-putting. Thanks!

      1. Eddy Webb Avatar
        Eddy Webb

        I demand you write more about how awesome the in-house developers are.

        1. richt Avatar
          richt

          No matter how much I appreciate you all, no way! You stole fizzy lifting drinks! You bumped into the ceiling which now has to be washed and sterilized, so you get nothing! You lose!

      2. ThomasM Avatar
        ThomasM

        In that case, I also love the in-depth articles and would love to read more about the decision to craft the incredibly strong blue-book line from the NWOD, and how that informed the CoD.

  7. Weston Anderson Avatar
    Weston Anderson

    Really excited about the CofD sale this month and the progress on Saints and Monsters for Scion 2E!

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Awesome! Glad to hear it!

  8. Phil H Avatar
    Phil H

    Great to see another TC: Core supplement on the docket. Very much looking forward to how it progresses.

  9. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    So for the Nova Compendium are they doing headshots mostly for artwork like the personality sidebars from the main book, full body or a mix?

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      A mix of art sizes – thanks!

  10. Dave Avatar
    Dave

    I noticed Aberrant: From The Shadows on the linked end-of-June production status. I don’t recall seeing this one before, any hints as to what it covers?

    Also consider me a +1 for enjoying the long text blogs on various game lines, they’re a good read. Thanks.

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

      Eddy talked about it in the status updates back on June 6th’s Monday Meeting Notes.

      Our upcoming TC:Aberrant sourcebook about espionage and Talents is in hand for redlining!

      1. Dave Avatar
        Dave

        Thanks, Ian