The Walking (and Running) Dead [Monday Meeting Notes]

I’m going to get a lot of use out of the blog title this week, so stay with me.

First, it pretty accurately describes the Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e Kickstarter that is entering its last week today. Like most of our KSs, it had a great week and has slowed down to a walk right now, but we expect that it will also pick up the pace as we head towards the last days and run wildly towards the finish like the majority of our KSs have done.

So far, it’s been doing great and has achieved nine Stretch Goals – most of which are building the Memento Mori companion book, but there’s a lot more in store!

Geist has always had an extremely dedicated community that has come out and made this a very fun KS, and they’d love to add more folks to their Krewe. So, if you want to know just why we always had Geist questions thrown at us at every panel going back to when Eddy and I first started the “What’s Up with WW?” panels, this is your chance to find out! It’s the kind of game line and setting that gets into your head – in a memorable and thought-expanding way.

 

 

 

Scion: Hero illustration by Darko Stejanovic

 

 

Speaking of getting into your head in a good way, how many of you are listening to the Onyx Pathcast podcasts?

(I am the king of segues!)

Well, there’s now another way to enjoy Dixie, Matthew, and Eddy as they delve deep into our game lines and interview noted creators, and generally have an infectiously good time. We have put the first couple of the Pathcasts up on our YouTube channel. Here’s the link to the first one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3-jNUV5-hM 

Impish Ian Watson took the audio, and added art and graphics so that you’d have something to feast your eyes on as you listen to the Terrifying Yet Terrific Trio explore the secrets of Onyx Path, its creators, and its games. This last Friday they interviewed Eric Minton, one part of our excellent Exalted 3rd development team, and got him to talk about the thrills of developing new Ex3 projects. They even got some Lunars and Exigents tidbits out of him!

Marvelous marketing info aside, they really did a great job interviewing Eric, and you can tell they were all having a super time of it. I don’t know about you, but those sorts of audible and infectious good spirits makes me want to listen all the more when I check out a podcast.

This Friday, they’ll be talking about the connection, for good and for bad, between video games and tabletop RPGs. As creators that have worked in both spaces and as gamers themselves across a wide swathe of video games, it should be a blast and pretty insightful. And as always, you can download and listen on PodBean, or any of your favorites podcast venues: https://www.podbean.com/site/Search/index?v=onyx+pathcast

 

 

Changeling: The Lost 2e illustration by Pat Loboyko

 

 

Returning to our blog title this week, I’m gonna touch on one of our new game lines coming out that has walking dead, running dead, all sorts of dead. Plus human survivors who are turning them into really dead dead.

Of course, I’m talking about Dystopia Rising: Evolution, which is a Storypath System powered RPG set in a post-apocalyptic future where zombies are just one sign of the terrifying way the world has changed.

We’ll be demoing DR:E at Gen Con in less than two weeks, and since we are sharing our booth with our licensors from Eschaton Media, please come by. Because if Eddy Webb or any of our crew can’t explain Dystopia Rising, our booth-mates can!

If you’ve never heard of Dystopia Rising, beyond my very brief synopsis above, it is best known for being a hugely successful and compelling post-apocalyptic LARP setting that has spread not unlike an undead virus throughout the US and the world. In fact, I first became aware of DR because of encountering scary armor and weapon wearing Mad Max refugees wandering around several Vampire LARP venues.

They just looked intense, and really communicated that they were working out a huge and personal story as they gathered together with cobbled together costumes. They, and the setting, do a great job of convincing newcomers of the depths and potential of this wasted world of theirs.

We then met the Dystopia Rising creators at further conventions, and when Mighty Matt McElroy brought me into a Starbucks with them “just to get to know each other”, I knew he sensed that this was a group of folks we could work with in presenting their world to our Onyx Path community. As Eddy Webb, who is developing the project, says:

“The Eschaton folks have been great partners. I’ve worked on a lot of licensed products, and it’s very rare to find a partner that is so open to new ideas and collaboration. Some of the give-and-take we’ve had has been fantastic, and I think it’ll make the final product better as a result.”

If you are counting, this is our first new license after the WW one, as I consider our Creator-Owned projects to be only kinda-licenses, and we took a while to find the right project to do this with. The folks on the other side of the dotted line are a huge part of that, but also, we had a few more reasons for why this is a good idea:

 

  • Honestly? Zombies. As Mirthful Mike sez: “At last I get to do up some real zombies!”

 

  • Because the post-apocalyptic, zombie/mutant genre is really a new space for us to play in, we also thought it was a great third place to use the Storypath System. We’ll demonstrating even more of the system’s range in adapting it for this existing game world, and from everything I’ve seen and heard so far, it is passing that test with flying colors!

 

  • The setting. Post-apocalyptic, but with a setting-based reason why the world is so messed up, and with a setting-based reason as to why survivors have both survived and have a hard time pinning down just how long it has been since things all went to hell. This gives both creators and players a massive chance to explore the world that is left, and to interject the themes and historical “facts” they want to include without contradicting the world we are building and which is already being played.

 

Like I mentioned, we’ll be demoing Dystopia Rising: Evolution in our booth and elsewhere, and soon after we all get our collective heads together after Gen Con, we’ll be running the DR:E Kickstarter campaign. We hope to have a lot of interesting rewards based on the many years of the setting that have run, and a few fun treats in store that focus on our new game line!

 

 

Scion: Hero illustration by Luciano Komorizono

 

 

So here we go, into a new game, a new setting, a new license, and a new world to join our already successful and amazing universe of games. Like we surely must say, Onyx Path is really made up of:

Many Worlds, One Path!

 

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

ONE WEEK LEFT for the Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition Kickstarter and we’ve achieved nine Stretch Goals so far, even though this period traditionally is a very slow time during our Kickstarters. Thanks to all of our backers out there spreading the word! We are in good shape to be able to make a great looking hardcover edition, and get that into stores, even while we’re giving backers first look at the complete text and other fun benefits: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/geist-the-sin-eaters-2nd-edition

Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition includes all the rules you need to play as one of the Bound: Five Burdens reflecting the cause that pulled you back from the grave, five krewe Archetypes for building your own mystery religion, and the Haunts, Keys, and Ceremonies that provide the Bound with their macabre powers.

It also includes the Chronicle of the Dead, featuring the Sin-Eaters’ struggle against the all-consuming Underworld and a variety of terrifying threats. In addition, for the first time in the Chronicles of Darkness line, ghosts are presented as playable characters.

Chapters include:

  • The Quick and the Dead: the five Burdens (the reason a Sin-Eater comes back from the dead and what draws a particular geist to them) and krewe Archetypes (the common cause that draws a krewe of Sin-Eaters together).
  • The Road Back: On death and coming back, and why Bound make the Bargain, including possible consequences.
  • One Foot in the Grave: Character creation, with sections on both geist and krewe creation, Anchors, Merits, Synergy, Plasm, Abilities, Haunts, Keys, Ceremonies, and Mementos.
  • Old Laws: the core Chronicles of Darkness rules, with special rules for playing Sin-Eaters, as well as information on subsystems for krewes, ghosts, and the Underworld, including Avernian Gates.
  • Antagonists: villains for your Geist chronicle, including Reapers, Eaters of the Dead, necromancers, enemy Bound, and Kerberoi.
  • The Quiet Places: Setting information and story hooks for playing your Geist chronicle in specific times and places in history., from 16th-century Brazil to modern-day Edinburgh, Scotland to Mobile, Alabama in 1910, as well as information on Dominions.
  • Ghost Stories: Storyteller advice and information for running a Geist chronicle, including designing Remembrances, how to set theme and mood, story seeds, and various ways to play out the end of a game.
  • Appendix: The Absent: This Appendix details the Absent, playable ghosts, including Memories, new Merits, and a collection of possible ghost characters to expand on and use in your chronicle.
  • Appendix: Conditions and Tilts: Geist-specific Conditions and Tilts, including ephemeral Influence Conditions and Manifestation Conditions for ghosts, as well as Haunt Conditions and Tilts.

 

 

ELECTRONIC GAMING:

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now 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 both rolling and rocking!

Here are the links for the Apple and Android versions:

http://theappstore.site/app/1296692067/onyx-dice

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onyxpathpublishing.onyxdice&hl=en

Three different screenshots, above.

 

 

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 you bought it from. Reviews really, really help us with getting folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

  • Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II (Kindle, Nook)
  • Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox (Kindle, Nook)
  • Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile (Kindle, Nook)
  • Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree (Kindle, Nook)
  • Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds (Kindle, Nook)
  • Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Vampire: The Masquerade: The Beast Within Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Werewolf: The Apocalypse: W20 Cookbook (Kindle, Nook)
  • Exalted: Tales from the Age of Sorrows (Kindle, Nook)
  • Chronicles of Darkness: Tales of the Dark Eras (Kindle, Nook)
  • Promethean: The Created: The Firestorm Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Demon: The Descent: Demon: Interface (Kindle, Nook)
  • Scarred Lands: Death in the Walled Warren (KindleNook)
  • V20 Dark Ages: Cainite Conspiracies (Kindle, Nook)
  • Chronicles of Darkness: Strangeness in the Proportion (KindleNook)
  • Vampire: The Requiem: Silent Knife (Kindle, Nook)
  • Mummy: The Curse: Dawn of Heresies (KindleNook)

 

 

 

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire 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

 

 

iprlogo

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

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/

And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

 

 

 

DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

The Christmas In July Sale continues at DTRPG.com! There are just so many bargains on all of our game lines that you need to check it out in order to believe it.

 

This Wednesday, we will release the next set of creatures for the Hundred Devils Night Parade: Aurochs and Walkure, and a new antagonist for Adversaries of the Righteous: Adeimantus!

 

 

 

CONVENTIONS!

This is the last full week before Gen Con 2018, which is during the first week of August, in Indianapolis, and things are nuts getting ready for it. In addition to our booth presence, be sure to check out the games and panels in the Gen Con Event Schedule.

From Fast Eddy Webb, we have these:

Eddy will be speaking at Broadleaf Writers Conference (September 22-23) in Decatur, GA. He’ll be there to talk about writing for interactive fiction, and hanging out with other writers who have far more illustrious careers. http://broadleafwriters.com/3rd-annual-broadleaf-writers-conference/3rd-annual-broadleaf-writers-conference-speakers/
Eddy will also be a featured guest at Save Against Fear (October 12-14) in Harrisburg, PA. He’ll be running some Pugmire games, be available for autographs, and will sometimes accept free drinks. http://www.thebodhanagroup.org/about-the-convention

If you are going and want to meet up, let us know!

 

 


And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM FAST 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 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
  • Tales of Excellent Cats (Monarchies of Mau)
  • Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)
  • Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)
  • Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

 

Redlines

  • Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)
  • Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)
  • Wr20 Book of Oblivion (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Changeling: The Lost 2nd Jumpstart (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)
  • Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Adventures for Curious Cats (Monarchies of Mau)
  • CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)
  • Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

 

Second Draft

  • WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)
  • Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)
  • Aeon Aexpansion (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
  • C20 Players’ Guide (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • In Media Res (Trinity Continuum: Core)

 

Development

  • Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)
  • Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)
  • Fetch Quest (Pugmire)
  • CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)
  • Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)
  • Dog and Cat Ready Made Characters (Monarchies of Mau)
  • Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon (Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition)

 

Manuscript Approval:

 

Editing:

  • They Came From Beneath the Sea! Rulebook (TCFBtS!)

 

Post-Editing Development:

  • Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)
  • Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)
  • Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)
  • M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Night Horrors: The Tormented (Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition)
  • Guide to the Night (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

 

Indexing:

 

 

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

  • Ex3 Monthly Stuff
  • Trinity Continuum 
  • Geist 2e – Waiting for KS to end before getting rest of art.
  • The Realm
  • M20 Gods and Monsters – Working on it.
  • Ex3 Dragon Blooded
  • VtR – Guide to the Night 
  • Dystopia Rising: Evolution – KS art contracted.

 

Marketing Stuff

  • Gen Con Signage

 

In Layout

  • Fetch Quest – Met with Eddy…. got a good idea of what new art we’ll need. Gonna do the shirt up this week and we can get that SG out of the way.
  • Scion Hero – Layout about done.
  • Scarred Lands Trilogy Novels – Converting to PDF and PoD.
  • Promethean Night Horrors: The Tormented – Files with KT.

 

Proofing

 

At Press

  • Scion Dice – At fulfillment shipper.
  • Monarchies of Mau Backer PDF links to backers this week.
  • Monarchies of Mau Screen Printing.
  • Cavaliers of Mars Screen Printing.
  • Wraith 20 Screen Printing.
  • Wraith 20th PoD coupons for backers this week, PDF/PoD on sale to public after GenCon.
  • Scion Origin Backer PDF out, gathering errata.
  • Cavaliers of Mars Printing.
  • Changeling: The Lost 2e Backer PDF going out this week.

 


TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: Last full week of work before Gen Con, the black hole of productivity for our industry. So, feels good to know things will get done this week before we’re sucked in!


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49 responses to “The Walking (and Running) Dead [Monday Meeting Notes]”

  1. twstewart23 Avatar
    twstewart23

    Changeling the Lost 2nd edition seems to be absent from the Project Status Updates. Are things still going okay? Seemed like it was pretty close to coming out.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      On there now- thanks!

  2. Orzov Avatar
    Orzov

    Hi!
    And what about Changeling: The Lost 2nd Core book?

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      On there now- thanks!

  3. milo v3 Avatar
    milo v3

    Changeling 2e appears to be missing from the notes.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      On there now- thanks!

  4. Corey Avatar

    I know it’s GenCon, but after that wraps up, do you think that the Dragon-Blooded book will be close to the pdf stage? There are days that I forget that we don’t have it yet, and it’s like waking up from one of those dreams where the zombies haven’t destroyed the world yet, and for a moment you forget that life is actually completely hopeless…

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Well, I dunno about the zombie dreams, but I appreciate that you worked the blog theme into your question! Mirthful Mike plans on getting to the DB layout very soon.

  5. Daniel Stelzer Avatar
    Daniel Stelzer

    Excellent! Any word on Changeling 2e Core, though? It seems to be missing from the list.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      On there now- thanks!

  6. JetstreamGW Avatar
    JetstreamGW

    Huh. Y’know, it occurs to me that I don’t see Changeling: The Lost up there. I see the Companion, and the Jumpstart, but not the core.

    Something happen there?

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      On there now- thanks!

  7. Molly Landgraff Avatar
    Molly Landgraff

    I am glad to report that the changeling the lost entry is on there now!

  8. Nicolas Milioni Gravina Abdu Avatar
    Nicolas Milioni Gravina Abdu

    Yknow,it is a testament about how well loved changeling is that so many people noticed its absence

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

      And didn’t notice everyone else was already asking about it. 😉

      1. JetstreamGW Avatar
        JetstreamGW

        Funny thing. When I posted my question there were zero comments. After I hit submit, there were several.

    2. richt Avatar
      richt

      Totally. I just always wonder what folks think happened when a project isn’t on the list that week. I mean, I’m sure most people realize we dropped it out accidentally in the scurry to compile the list each week, but what if, for some blog readers there’s actually a fear that we canned it? Wouldn’t that be an awful way to announce cancelling a project at such a late stage? Just “ghost” it and walk away. Nothing to see here…

  9. Tyler Avatar
    Tyler

    Connection between tabletop RPGs and video games!? Are you buttering up the audience for announcing a Onyx Path video game? If not, you should.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Should butter them up, or should have a video game made? Or both? If it was as simple as walking into even a single A studio and just saying here, make something cool, we’d have video games coming all over the place. So if you know anybody at a video game company who can actually green-light that sort of project, pass them on to us!

      1. Yodo Avatar
        Yodo

        I mean, if you count Earplay this is already kinda happening…

        1. richt Avatar
          richt

          Well, I certainly do, as it is a form of gaming mixed with story. But it’s a new way and not visual, and I’m thinking that a more classic video game is what our posters are talking about.

  10. Dracorvid Avatar
    Dracorvid

    Can’t wait to get the PDF of Changeling and start reading! Exited to get the physical copy as well.
    Also exited to see that Aberrant is in the 1st Draft stage already! Especially knowing that Steven Kenson is the developer.

  11. Unnatural-01 Avatar
    Unnatural-01

    Layout’s almost done for Hero? Sweet! Looks like we’re in the home stretch!

  12. Philip Avatar
    Philip

    To answer the question about the oath cast. I listen to it every week when it’s relevant to my interests.
    Like. I don’t play exalted, or Pugmire, and I likely will never write for you guys.
    So if the topicsnto veer to the side of chronicles of darkness I don’t spend the time to listen. But I do look for them every week to read the overview.

    And yay changeling coming to backers.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Absolutely. We present varied topics week by week specifically so folks can pick and choose what they want to listen do, because we know that people will. One of Onyx Path’s biggest challenges is the sheer range of our game worlds that we handle and how to provide fans of those worlds with something relevant to their interests as often as possible. With adding the full Pathcasts to YouTube, we’re also hoping to create short excerpts that stay on one topic that are pulled out of the larger original Pathcast. Keep your eyes on our Onyx Path YouTube channel for those.

  13. Geoff DeWitt Avatar
    Geoff DeWitt

    Hey Rich,

    So excited to see Changeling is getting out there!

    However, I did have a question. Given the success of shows like Critical Role and the YouTube community supporting D&D, do you expect to start something like that for Onyx Path products?

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Something like… a critically acclaimed, highly polished, professionally acted, actual play broadcast on an internationally popular site? We’d love it! 🙂

      In general, and for now, we are looking at smaller productions ourselves and continue to encourage other creators to share their actual play and other experiences with our community. You’ll find many of those and our new video version of our Onyx Pathcast up on our YouTube channel.

      1. Geoff DeWitt Avatar
        Geoff DeWitt

        Everybody starts somewhere, sir. 🙂 Thanks for answering!

  14. perverseness Avatar
    perverseness

    The thing I want to know about is DEVIANT. I was hoping to see the kickstarter this year, but if DR is going to be the next one then the window is closing. Figure, there won’t be one in August with all the Gencon (Have fun storming de castle!) craziness and post con flu going around. So more likely Sept. or October and then we are full blown into the holidays. Deviant: The Christmas Carol, I can dig it, just let me know so I don’t blow my budget at renfaire and christmas wassail

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      As I’ve mentioned before, we really want to go forward to Kickstarters with the text as far along as possible- and at least done with development if not editing. Plus, for a new game line, we really want it to be read and OK’d by as many of our crew as possible. Not to mention the WW approvals. With all that still ahead for Deviant, a late 2018 KS is unlikely, but not impossible.

  15. Tim Flannigan Avatar
    Tim Flannigan

    Glad Hero is getting closer. Scion is gonna be amazing!

  16. Jessica Orsini Avatar

    The Lost 2e Kickstarter advance pdf is in my hands…

    …which of course means I’ve whipped up a genre directory for it. 🙂

    http://www.jessilaurn.com/genredirectories

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Very cool- thanks!

  17. Josh Stotz Avatar
    Josh Stotz

    Jessica, this is SERIOUSLY helpful! Thanks!

    1. Jessica Orsini Avatar

      You’re more than welcome. This has been a pet project of mine for the past dozen years. 🙂

  18. George I Lemke Avatar
    George I Lemke

    Awesome Rich!

    Love the Pathcast, you should give those guys extra biscuits!

    A “live” game play stream, or whatever, would be super-keen!

    Any word yet, I know GenCon is very soon, on how the changes at White Wolf effect Onyx Path’s production schedule and development going forward?

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Thanks! Which changes at WW are you wondering about?

      1. George I Lemke Avatar
        George I Lemke

        The most obvious would be V5 and other revisions to the World of Darkness lines.

        During the AMA Jason Carl indicated that the licensing may be re-evaluated or awarded to other venders.

        So, how does V5 affect V20, for instance?

        Will any of these shake ups be felt in the Chronicles of Darkness lines?

        What does any of this mean for Onyx Path going forward? Looking for new licenses, creating new game lines, panic inthe streets?

        Some of us have grown a bit attached to Onyx Path and are concerned.

        1. richt Avatar
          richt

          The nature of our WoD license is not such that we “own the lines”, but that we can create projects for the WoD lines if WW approves, so nothing has changed for us recently at all. If they approve a project we pitch, then we can move ahead and get it started. Again, no shake-ups so nothing that changes with CofD or Ex3, although it’s up to WW whether they want to do anything with those game lines in the future.

          Going to have to ask you to put your further questions on hold for just a scootch over a week until we start announcing things at Gen Con, but this very blog you are commenting on goes into detail about one of our new licensed projects, Dystopia Rising: Evolution. So there’s that part answered at least a little bit.

          1. George I Lemke Avatar
            George I Lemke

            Thanks Rich!

            Totally understand, I was being needy and demanding. 🙂

            I do enjoy the new independent stuff you guys are working on and I really like where you have taken CoD so far and I just hope it continues.

            Thanks again Rich!

          2. richt Avatar
            richt

            No problem. I thought your questions were great – no worries and thanks!

  19. TheGraySoul Avatar
    TheGraySoul

    So, I just went back and checked and Signs of Sorcery has been in the development phase for coming up on two and a half years. Is there any chance of it moving forward soon or is Mage: The Awakening kind of a dead line at the moment?

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Yes, we expect to see it move dramatically forward post-Gen Con.

  20. Leonard Avatar
    Leonard

    I must confess, for the most part I dislike the new Scion setting. I love the mechanics, but the setting really rubs me the wrong way. The picture of the New York Scion with the yarmulke, however, really, really struck me, in the best way possible. My group and I are all Jewish and whether and how a Jewish lifestyle could ever be reconciled with the existence of a Scion has been a subject that has been bothering us since we first started playing the first edition. I think that, when getting into a roleplaying game about what is essentially superheroes, everyone has that childish impulse to imagine themselves (maybe during character creation) as if they, in real life, could become heroes like that. In the case of Scion, almost uniquely, there was always that bitterness around the thought that we couldn’t do that, not even in our imaginations, because it’s just impossible there’d ever be someone whose life is bound like this to a pagan deity yet who could realistically continue to lead a Jewish life and truly believe in it. I know it might sound cheesy, but just knowing that something like this implicitly exists in the Scion canon is oddly heartwaarming. I hope we’ll learn more about this guy at some point because I’m dying to know how he does that.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Very glad to hear that the illustration works for you so positively. I’m not even going to wade into the discussions you indicate you’ve already had. As a general thing, there has to be a place where there’s enough thought-space to allow a suspension of disbelief to happen for any of these “our world, but…” settings to work. You might not need to solve the full picture of how a Jewish Scion could work if you can just get to that space at all. Flip-side being that it just might never work for your players.

      And that’s fair. Not all concepts are going to work for everybody. There are plenty of gamers who can’t play Vampire because they just can’t accept that the Masquerade would work.

      The World as a setting really contains what you want and or need it to contain. If your table prefers the hidden world sort of setting, then you can dial it back to that. If you want something even more overt, where the existence of all the pantheons has significantly changed our current world, you can do that too. The World is the middle choice, and even that has massive room to maneuver in. Scion really is bigger than one and only one setting that everybody needs to cling to.

  21. Peter Avatar
    Peter

    I got my changeling 2nd ed today! Thanks Rich!

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      You’re very welcome- hope you enjoy it!

  22. A. Friend Avatar
    A. Friend

    Is Digital Web 3.0 still coming or has the project been buried? There has been no updates about it’s progress. I remember someone mentioning it being the next product after Technocracy Reloaded – was that correct, and if so, more importantly: is it still correct? DW2 would really benefit from new edition.

    1. richt Avatar
      richt

      Digital Web 3 is still on our list of possible M20 projects after the ones on our schedule right now. We want to be further along on the two big projects (Technocracy and Victorian) and feel like they are happening at a good pace, before jumping into more, though.