We’ve been talking a lot about the incredible response that we got from the nWoD Dark Eras Kickstarter. The more we discuss it the better historical era gaming sounds, and judging by the never-ending buckets of emails and posts we get, most of you agree. Things were really bad back then in history, and it really seems like there was a commensurately larger amount of angst floating around to make everything grimmer and nastier- the way we like it! Mmmmm- Historical Angst™. Due to legal contract type issues we can’t announce what we’re going to do this quarter- but that ends on Tuesday, so expect a press release as to our plans on Wednesday.
We also discussed the upcoming Deluxe V20 Lore of the Clans Kickstarter, which is designed with most of our most requested Rewards, and should have some excellent Stretch Goals to earn. But we are also adding a new element to the mix with the Achievement section. This is another way to gain bonus rewards for your fellow backers and yourself while having fun in a sort of virtual scavenger hunt as you send us links to pics you’ve shot containing various specific images.
For example the Followers of Set Achievement is to send us links of selfies that contain you holding one or more snakes (getting counted for the Achievement doesn’t require you playing a Settite, but with you needing to hold a snake I bet it helps!) What I really like about having these Achievements is that they are another way folks can get involved with the Kickstarter, but they don’t rely on monetary goals like the Stretch Goals pretty much do. So having fun with these directly improves the experience of the KS, and the Rewards and Stretch Goals keep doing what they do well, too. And for your enjoyment, here’s a spread from V20 Lore of the Clans:
Eddy was out getting dismissed from jury duty, so no notes from that meeting that didn’t occur. We are just wrapping up getting the first art assigned for Pugmire, so I’m pretty excited to see how artists will handle this new world we’re creating.
Before I go, I wanted to expand a bit on the “Sardonyx” System that we have been developing as essentially a house system for Onyx Path. It’ll be the base system for the Scion line, and the Trinity Continuum lines, so we’ve spent tons of time on it. My stated desire was to have a ten-sided dice pool system that could work if your character was a regular man on the street, or a god. Seeing the two games we’re first using it for, you can see why. We also wanted this system to allow for and reward players who were involved in the story as a collaborative effort, but not penalize or deter players who just want to roll some dice and get results.
Rollickin’ Rose Bailey and Naughty Neall Raemonn Price have been shepherding the system for the last couple of months, and while the Updates below say it is in the Development phase before Editing, that’s only half the story. During this phase, the system is now coherent enough that we can send it out of the team for review by several industry professionals that are renowned for their systems designs. While of course we’re hoping they simply love it, we are more interested in their concerns after reading through the design document. Based on their feedback, we’ll either fall back and see what we need to fix, or get it ready for some Open Dev blogging here on this site.
It is very exciting to have this long gestating system finally at this very important “gut-check” stage by people we respect, and since getting “Sardonyx” finished means work can rev up on Scion and the Trinity Continuum, this is a huge step in Onyx Path‘s plans for WORLD DOMINATION!
Uh, that’s MAKING GREAT GAMES. No idea where that domination stuff came from.
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And now, the BLURBS!
Look for Sothis Ascends for Mummy: the Curse to go on sale as an Advance PDF this Wednesday! See the gorgeous cover art at the top of this page.
Werewolf: the Forsaken 2nd Edition‘s Advance PDF is still available atDTRPG although the time to submit errata for official review is over. In fact, the final layout PDF went for proofing and out for an index to be created. Figure a bit of time to make those tweaks, and time for the index to be pulled together, and in around a month the physical copy PoD versions will be ready for sale. They’ll look not unlike these mock-ups below:
The Deluxe V20 Lore of the Clans Kickstarter is being put together right now and we hope to have it ready to go live Thursday at 12 noon eastern US time. See the notes above for more details on some added fun aspects.
Rollickin’ Rose Bailey has self-published a really cool collection of Russian-folklore themed stories called The Sugar House: The Adventures of Sasha Witchblood.
“These were the days when the three Romes had fallen. When the mother of the world had bled, when the Ice Horde had conquered Archangel, when the trees had marched on Muscovy, and when only white-walled Kiev stood against the forest. These were the days when Sasha Witchblood roamed the land, and tread its mud and jewels alike beneath her feet.”
–‘The Girl and the Gallows’Everyone calls Baba Yaga “Grandmother.” For Sasha, it’s the truth. Journey through a Europe being slowly strangled by the forest in four stories where Robert E. Howard meets the Brothers Grimm. Check it out here: http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/146341
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And now, new project status 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)
- W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition) (Going for open development soon.)
- M20 Book of Secrets (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Secrets of the Covenants (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition) – In Open Development
- Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- M20 Anthology (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Demon Translation Guide (Demon: the Fallen and Demon: the Descent)
- nWoD Hurt Locker (World of Darkness 2nd Edition)
- Pugmire (Be a Good Dog.)
- CtL anthology (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)
- WoD nWoD 2e core (World of Darkness 2nd Edition)
- The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)
Redlines
- Mummy Fiction Anthology (Mummy: the Curse)
- Mage: the Awakening 2nd Edition, featuring the Fallen World Chronicle (Mage: the Awakening) – In Open Development
- Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition
- W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Cursed Necropolis: Rio (Mummy: the Curse)
- Demon Storytellers’ Guide (Demon: the Descent)
- Beckett’s Jyhad Diary (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)
Second Draft
- V20 Black Hand: Guide to the Tal’Mahe’Ra (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- W20 Shattered Dreams (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- W20 Novel by Mike Lee (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Arms of the Chosen (Exalted 3rd Edition)
Development
- V20 Red List (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- V20 Ghouls (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition, featuring the Firestorm Chronicle (Promethean: the Created) Being playtested.
- Beast: the Primordial core book (Beast: The Primordial)
- “Sardonyx” System Rules (Base rules set for Scion and the Trinity Continuum)
Editing
- M20 How do you DO that? (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- MtC Dreams of Avarice
Development (post-editing)
ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE
In Art Direction
- M20 How Do You Do That – Artists are working.
- Wraith 20 – Continuing to get new Guild titles in from Cobb.
- Dreams of Avarice – Still figuring out the art buy.
In Layout
- V20 Lore of the Clans – Layout continues.
- M20 Screen – Will put the back together once I get corrections into the main book.
- Art of CB – Still working on it.
In Proofing
- M20 – Working on those as soon as I finish with VDA 20 corrections.
- WtF 2 – Off for indexing.
- VDA20 – Doing errata corrections.
- VDA 20 Screen – I can finish this once the errata is done for Dark Ages.
- Sothis Ascends – Sending off to CCP for approval.
- April Fools – Sending off to CCP for approval.
- BotW 20 – Saw the color plate and the foil. Waiting to see all that stuff combined up with the photo inlays.
Special
- Dark Eras – Holding pattern.
- Exalted 3rd Edition – Developer text changes are with Maria for layout.
- Gen Con Stuff – Working on stuff.
Other Stuff
- Shirts – CTD House shirts.
REASON TO DRINK: Historical Angst ™.
1 day to go… I hope that CCP approves the April Fools stuff in time! Though, if they don’t, that’d be a poor prank on their part. 😉
So let me get this straight, the project that’s already 3 months behind schedule (loosely) gets furher posponed by a project that isn’t set for release till thus summer? I shouldn’t ask for my money back why?
Because the books are proceeding and will be great when they arrive. M20 continues to be tweaked while Mike gets the changes put into V20DA; he and I and Phil just chatted today about re-arranging art in a chapter. And the V20DA correx will take a couple of days at most- this is how production of books works.
not that I’m complaining, but maybe you guys should consider a better way of estimating delivery dates? It is better to estimate longer than you think it’ll take and deliver early than the opposite.
I speculate that developing a book may be similar to developing software in regards to time estimation
“Would take about three months, but which would really take twelve. When you think of writing code without thinking about all the steps you have to take, it always seems like it will take n time, when in reality it will probably take more like 4n time.” — http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/10/26.html < seriously read that article, and I have never gone over 4n, even if no one likes to hear 4n, most of my stuff comes in at about 3n.
Basically I don’t want you guys to rush, or be beholden to some largely meaningless deadline, but I think maybe you could improve the delivery guestimation process.
We continue to do so. My “guesses” are based on long conversations with the teams estimating what they can do and stretching out the time. From Changing Breeds through Demon, Anarchs Unbound, and now Book of the Wyrm and V20 Dark Ages, we’re getting tighter all the time.
Already are, see other reply.
While Onyx Path is better then many, they still hit delays. And, of course, given what Rich mentioned, I gather that it might also be a difference in scope of the corrections being worked on. V:DA might be just some punctuation changes, while M20 involves, apparently, actually moving things around.
Sure, it would be nice if we got Mage 20 today or tomorrow. But, you know what? I waited patiently for W20, and I doubt that M20 is going to be THAT late. However, I generally assume any Kickstarter is going to be 6 months late on fulfillment of physical rewards, and 3 months late on PDFs rewards. If you expect a kickstarter to deliver on time, you are being overly optimistic.
I just assumed that given how “behind” the project from it’s “projected” release date, that some sort of priority would be given.
Silly me, since “backers” are not treated as “investors” and really onyx path is under no contractual obligation to deliver anything on time ever I should expect this.
However the mention of a updating pdf through drivethrurpg.com has made wonder why we can’t just have it now and it just updates each week as changes are made?
Exalted backers lol at your “3 months”
Yes, unfortunately we have EX3 as our farthest outlier. But even that is coming to a physical existence in layout.
It’s a general fact of production in most industries that there are dependencies that hold up work and that you work on tasks in parallel to maximize efficiency. If they simply dropped everything else they were doing to “prioritize” M20, M20 would not be out any, or at least much, sooner but all of their other projects would be delayed by more significant amounts.
M20 being delayed, say, a day or two at most, so that V20DA isn’t delayed by a week or more only makes sense. And needlessly delaying V20DA for minimal gain to the M20 backers is a kind of shitty thing to do to the V20DA backers.
Very true. The fact is that the single day that it took Mike to do the V20 DA correx has pretty much no impact on the delivery of M20. This trading of time has always been how production occurs and always will be and things like this just don’t have any real impact on the end delivery as there are other things further on that fall the other way and save a day or two. It’s not the layout of the book or the input of corrections that holds these projects up for months.
Furthermore. By now, hasn’t the books spoken for themselves? Yes, they take a long time to make. And yes they are delayed often. But it is exactly because there is no “hard limit” on time that they afford not to cut corners and truly expand on topics that needed to be explored or clarified.
Take the new Umbra book. Man, I’ve been an ST for werewolf for the better part of the last 12 years or so. And I have never so well understood the Umbra as I do now thanks to that book. Am I inspired by new ideas, new stories and new ways to present and explore the velvet shadows. And I am thankful for the quality of that book, and all the others books that came out of OP. The wait is worth it on every page.
To paraphrase, I believe, Shigeru Miyamoto: a game can only be late once, but it’s bad forever.
I’d much rather they continue the way they are and make good products, even if they end up late, than them force them out but a certain date, because that just leads to a lesser quality products.
Agreed. Also, I think, Blizzard’s philosophy, at least in the past.
As I just posted last week:
This is how we are functioning. If it took Satyr Phil many more months to get the text to editing than expected because he needs to devote that time to make a better book, then that is what happened. I can not magically go back in time now and deliver the book on the estimated date, so we move forward.
Right on all accounts.
Hello!
Great news all around, especially for Sardonyx. After all this wait (and I really don’t mean this in a bad way, I understand the situation) I am psyched to see we might get to sink our teeth into it realistically soon-ish. Keep up the good work, guys. 🙂
On a totally unrelated topic, my Exalted Storyteller was looking for music and I told her about the Music Suite you guys were working on, but, I couldn’t find any news of it. Have they been completed yet or…?
The EX3 Music Suite is still being worked on. Our composer has major, major real world clients that often require his attention for a few weeks to a few months at a time, but he has gotten really close to a couple of selections already.
Thank you!
More important clients maybe, but not “real world” clients vesus Onyx being an emphemeral internet/fake world client. Online transactions are just as real so unless your not actually paying for their services, and the music suite is just a favour it is as important.
The world is not perfect, and creators need to look at their bottom lines as well. None of us should expect that the clients or the full-time gig that pay the bulk of the bills for a creator we’re working with will or should get put on the back burner for us. The scale is just so different.
God Changeling 2e is already in Redlines!
And Sothis this week!!
All great news!
Oh forgot to mention the Sardonyx System, it is really good to hear that is in such advanced development stage! Excited to see that it will allow Scion to progress. And Trinity too, tough I’m not familiar with it. The new edition seens to be a perfect opportunity to get acquainted with the setting.
About the Kickstarters, after Lore of the Clans have you guys decided what will be the next one? And when backer surveys for Wr20 and Dark Eras are going out?
Felipe, Felipe, Felipe… Backer Surveys will out when we need them to. No estimates or guesses.
I’d llike to do the Beast KS next, but we’ll see. We have to plan these so we don’t have a KS over Gen con prep and recovery.
You’ll be hearing a lot more about Scion and the Trinity Continuum as we get them ramped back up.
Thanks Richt!
“…four stories where Robert E. Howard meets the Brothers Grimm”
Well damn. *I’M* sold! 😀
Mmm, Sothis Ascends couldn’t have come at a better time. I am so glad it’s ready!
I’d really like some news on the Anathema character generator for Exalted 3. I don’t think I’ve seen any mention of it at all since the end of the Kickstarter, and I’d really like to know if it will release in sync with 3rd edition, or if not, where that is in it’s development process.
The EX3 devs followed through on our KS Stretch Goal of communicating with the Anathema team, but I do not know to what extent the Anathema team has used that info. Thanks!
Is Anathema going to be able to use full charm text? That is something I would be willing to pay a license on par with Herolab to be able to use, it makes life so much easier in rules heavy games like Pathfinder and Exalted.
Great to hear that Sothis is inbound. Nice to see Mummy pick up some steam.
So Rich, I take it we are not supposed to take this comment you made earlier:
“And the V20DA correx will take a couple of days at most”
As an indication that the finalized version of V20DA might be out this week?
I only ask as you hint in the main article text talks about not being able to talk about schedule stuff. Likewise, you talk about historical eras. Since Sothis and V20DA are the only non-Dark Era’s history themed books that are close to release, one might jump to certain conclusions (Holmes would frown upon me I know).
However, I was under the impression that even after final Errata stuff as been put into V20DA it would still need indexing, which usually takes at least 2-4 weeks. So I guess I’ve sunk my own theory.
Unless of course you drop anything indicating otherwise…
The V20 DA layout PDF went off to get an Index this morning, so no final until we get that in, which will take at least a couple of weeks. So you’re right.
Ah thought so.
After I posted my comment it occurred to me that Wednesday is of course April 1st. So its likely your schedule announcement is more likely to be involved with the April Fools project. Which I’m guessing might have a mock historical aspect to it now.
Good to know that V20DA has finished its final layout with all the errata entered. I appreciate the mini-update telling us its gone to indexing.
April is going to be a busy release period for you guys –
April Fool Project,
Final Werewolf 2nd Ed pdf,
Final V20DA pdf,
Sothis Ascends (possible both the advanced and final pdf within the month)
It also seems likely that it will be the month the KS backers for Mage and Exalted might get a backer pdf advanced copy too.
Good start to spring.
It is a busy time, yessiree.
Sweet. I thought Sothis would still be a couple weeks away. That cover’s beautiful and I hope it gets a poster offering soon. I had no idea Rose had original fiction in the works. I’ll give that a look when I do my order on Wednesday. Not sure what to expect for April Fool’s, but that’s a good thing. Thanks again for keeping Mummy rolling.
Glad we’re hitting the right notes for you!
I do appreciate that the process for MtA 20th shouldn’t be rushed, but any chance of some more previews in the meantime?
Right now, we’re more about getting the thing to you as a whole PDF than any previewing. So rather than take that time, we’re directing that effort to M20 itself.
Hi,
Don’t know if this was ever mentioned or discussed, but will the new Sardonyx system be (kind of) open source or reusable, either for fan made products or even other publishers ? Or will it stay dedicated to future Onyx Path publications ?
Just wondering.
I don’t have a plan for an OGL sort of thing, but we are considering more of a “Savage Worlds” direction of controlled allowance. The Trinity Continuum is uniquely open for such an idea, but even Scion could benefit. But first, we need the system nailed down and out to folks to make sure it does what we want it to.
Were can we send chocolate, alcohol, presents and encouraging gifts to Maria to speed along the EX3 layout work? Must be a headache to organise!
Sooooo close. 🙂
The thought is appreciated, but it’s going to take as long as she needs- layout kind of has a general time it just takes that really can’t be rushed but if you are in the zone, which really does happen as you lay out page after page, you hit your best speed every time.
“It is very exciting to have this long gestating system finally at this very important “gut-check” stage by people we respect, and since getting “Sardonyx” finished means work can rev up on Scion and the Trinity Continuum, this is a huge step in Onyx Path‘s plans for WORLD DOMINATION!”
It’s not just a victory for us, it’s a victory for civilization.
It’s the cure for the common game system.
Dunno about that, just want it to work. 🙂
I hope there are parallel universes in Trinity this time. And I hope they make Chitra Bhanu a playable character class this time with high level powers allowing for parallel universe travel like Olivia Dunham from FRINGE
I think you’ll like the Trinity Continuum.
Sweet!
I’ll be looking for copies of the Kickstarter Deluxe Editions of Dark Ages Vampire 20 and Mage 20 when they’re released. So there’s that in case any will be putting their copies up for sale 😉
This way of breaking down the Art Direction into stages is a lot easier for me to understand than the old way of posting. Especially since I’m not an art director!
I’m glad, thanks!
Did Eddy they my trick to get out of jury duty? Tell them you’re a Malkavian and now you need to photo copy your junk. This thing doesn’t go over well in LARPs either for some reason.
Naw, he never had to. The prisoner pled out, and they dismissed Eddy and the rest. Less dramatic, by far.
“Due to legal contract type issues we can’t announce what we’re going to do this quarter- but that ends on Tuesday, so expect a press release as to our plans on Wednesday.” Let me get this straight: because of legal issues, your spring quarter report comes out on April Fool’s Day???
Very much looking forward to seeing Sardonyx. It’s been a long, long while since I’ve seen a non-specialized baseline RPG system that I really liked. I’m kinda expecting Sardonyx to fill that role.
Also, yay Exalted. There’s no reason for saying that. Just, you know. Yay. For Exalted. Because I know I’m totally going to love it and I can’t wait to love it.
soooo i wanna prank my friends who are all fans of ex3. can i ask if you could whip up a quick “ex3 released” page. dont need to be fancy. just make it an image that says “april fools” over a white background with the url related to ex3 release. =) thx and sorry this is last minute.
in another note. i get the feeling the “april fools” book doesnt exist.
Oh no. There would be nothing in worse taste than that sort of EX3 prank. For folks who have been waiting so long, that would just be cruel.
true. also apparently 1 of them was browsing this page as i posted that last comment q.q. they already know they typed “nice try lol” in our game chat.
I’m just thrilled to see both Lost 2e and Awakening 2e at redline! 🙂