Yes, I’ve chosen to title the penultimate MMN blog of this year, and the last following an actual Monday Meeting, with an arcane phrase over a century old!
In my case, I’m saying “See ya!” to 2023, but back, way back, here’s what we have for the origin of the phrase: 23 skidoo (sometimes 23 skiddoo) is an American slang phrase generally referring to leaving quickly. Popularized during the early 20th century, the exact origin of the phrase is uncertain.
Always glad to share a lil bit o’knowledge.
What I’m really saying here is a) it was an OK year, not bad at all really and certainly not a lot of “drama” for us, at least, which leads to b) next year is just filled with great things we’ve been successfully building to through all of ’23. And I’d like to be right in the midst of all that RIGHT NOW!
You already know that the second game in the Earthbane Cycle called At The Gates is coming, and the Alchemicals for Exalted 3rd. A raft of hefty supplements for Trinity Continuum: Aberrant. Also the Storypath Ultra Rules Manual, which will be our first “generic” rules book and which has some fun stuff connected to it in addition to being our “house system” moving forward. And several exciting projects that you’ll be hearing about next year.
So, we here at Onyx Path are going to get through the rest of this year by wrapping up a few things, but really running pell-mell into the holidays – which as we all know go by too fast and then it’s New Years!
Which means no Monday Meeting next week, and in a twist of reality itself, we’re having our first Monday Meeting of 2024 on Jan 2…a Tuesday!
<gasp>
And that means that next week’s MMN blog will be very abbreviated, although we will have some stuff in it we hope folks will like. And then that means that the first MMN blog will go up on Tuesday the 2nd. Not January the 1st.
Tuesday. Not Monday.
OK With That All Out Of The Way…
We wrapped up the Exalted: Abyssals crowdfunding campaign at almost 550% of the goal amount and with over 1840 backers! It was a delightful way to end the year, and we will definitely be reviewing IndieGoGo as a crowdfunding venue next year.
Once again, thanks to everyone who backed and everyone who roared in in the last 36 hours to enable us to slam through those last Stretch Goals! It was exciting!
This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast promises to be particularly rowdy as The Gang indulge in what they are calling a White Elephant Holiday Extravaganza! Don’t ask me what that is, they don’t even seem to know themselves!
And a tip o’ the hat to all of our Twitch and other venue podcasters and actual play gamers whose campaigns, one-offs, and interview shows, have helped us demonstrate and dive into all of games these last years and particularly 2023! I’ll give you a quick hint about 2024: we’re not only going to enjoy these folks on Twitch s’more, but if you haven’t been watching/listening to them – despite Matthew’s Media section below – a bunch of you will really want to pay attention to what’s happening in those venues starting in January.
Nuff said!
Sales continue at IPR and Studio2, in case you are still looking for last-minute gifts, or how to spend some holiday gifts that you get.
Finally, since I showed two kind of creepy monsters from Threats and Curs, the monster book for Realms of Pugmire, I figured I’d share a couple that are less scary. Sorta.
Again, these are photos I sent Eddy and Mirthful Mike just so they’d see the progress I’m making going through the text for descriptions, not cleaned up and scanned in for layout versions. There’s a lot of variety in this book, and there’s a good chance that it’d be useful for any fantasy gaming d20 system adventuring folks might be doing….
I’ll leave you now as I did our Monday Meeting crew today with my favorite: Talk to you all next year!
It never gets old! Still a larf on any of our:
Many Worlds, One Path!
Blurbs!
Crowdfunding!
See ya in 2024!
Onyx Path Media!
This week: The Pathcast gang do a White Elephant holiday extravaganza! What does that mean? We don’t know either, but it involves talking about Onyx Path products, but real and imaginary.
As always, this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue!
Please check out our attached media schedule for the 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:
Time to be self-indulgent for a while and point out one of the excellent actual plays over on the Onyx Path YouTube Channel! Viva Lost Vegas has been running for quite some time now and we have playlists for the whole thing, so if Changeling: The Lost is your thing, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiNRTdSDh6-VJcpeXmbj6ThjifLKgYD56
The Onyx Path News discusses recent and upcoming releases! 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://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAZbETt1sy0
Virtual Tabletop!
New on the Roll20 Marketplace, it’s the Scarred Lands Creature Collection and Camp Murder Lake Tokens for Roll20 VTT play!
NEW!
They Came From Beneath the Sea! on Roll20 VTT!
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/bundle/22308/they-came-from-beneath-the-sea
Here are some more shots from the They Came From Beneath the Sea! Compendium!
And there’s also the Scion Jumpstart, all ready for Roll20 VTT fun!
More news and links when we have them!
The Scion: Origin and Scion Hero Compendiums are now available on Roll20!
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/publisher/1716/onyx-path-publishing
Scion is just the start! They Came From Beneath the Sea! and other
Onyx Path RPGs are in development for Roll20 virtual tabletop!
The first of our official Scion sheets designed for Foundry VTT are
now available!
Direct Link: https://foundryvtt.co
Looking for more virtual tabletop resources? We have a selection of
Tokens, Encounters, and more available now at DriveThruRPG!
Get ’em here: https://bit.ly/3SnrNJ7
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!
End of the Year Sale at Studio 2 is live now:
https://studio2publishing.com/collections/onx-onyx-path-publishing
Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books, dice, and screens? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/
End of the Year Sale at IPR is live now:
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!
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 Melody Through the Mirrorshade Lens and Facets of Truth, as well as Trinity Continuum: Terat and The Hollow Courts on Kindle in the Kindle store!
On Sale This Week!
Rip away the treachery and lies of the creatures that dwell in the darkness! Take back the night! Killing Time, the Hunter: The Vigil 2e Jumpstart releases in PDF and PoD versions on DTRPG this Weds!
Also releasing as a special holiday treat: Scion: Once and Future Advance PDF! From the songs of the troubadours, to Le Morte d’Arthur, to Excalibur and Holy Grail, the legends of King Arthur, Merlin, and Camelot resound through the ages! Explore those legends and other Welsh myths, and more, in this latest addition to The World of Scion 2e! This Weds on DTRPG!
Conventions!
As we are slowly returning to attending conventions in person after avoiding them during the COVID-19 outbreak, keep an eye out here for more physical and virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with!
Game Night With Onyx Path Publishing at StartPlaying will be the last Friday of the month! Come play some of our games, especially Exalted Essence! (But any of our game lines are welcome all day long!)
Please spread the word about GMing games as much as
possible. Details on how list a game are at the bottom of the page in
the FAQ:
https://startplaying.games/event/game-night-onyx-path
Project Status Updates!
Our full list of projects will be available monthly on our blog! Check out November’s full list report here:
DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY
Here are the projects that moved to the next stage of production:
Redlines
Exalted – Sidereals Novella
- Danielle: I’m excited to get to spend my holiday redlining this fun romp about a newly Exalted Sidereal and the mystery their previous life left them.
Final Draft
Scion – Titans Rising: Gifts of the Titans
- Matthew: Lots of delightful and horrific powers await in our upcoming Titans book, and I’m reliably informed these ones are shaping up beautifully.
Editing
Branch Riders – Branch Riders
- Eddy: The eight branches have come together in unity and harmony, allowing the manuscript to pass on to editing!
ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!
In Art Direction
- Ex3 Sidereals – Art is being contracted.
- Ex Essence Pillars of Creation – Rolling.
- The World Below – Art notes – a whole lot of them – are in from Matthew and then to contracting.
- Pugmire 2e – Once Sidereals art is in, HIVE is moving onto this.
- CtL2e The Hedge – still on track for final art by the 22nd. So it’ll move into the layout queue first of 2024.
In Layout
- Ex Essence Charm Cards
- TC Anima Terra Surge Screen
- Ex3 Many Faced Strangers – I should be able to knock it out pretty quickly… it’s the priority.
- Ex 3 Exigents Screen
- Classified and Cyclops Screens – Working.
Proofing
- Ex3 Across the 8 Directions – I’ve been going in and fixing all the sidebar bolding issues… so by the time the maps are done, we’ll be good to go to final proofing (and then over to Paradox).
Indexing
- They Came From the Cyclops’s Cave
- They Came From CLASSIFIED!
- Ex 3 Exigents
At Press
- TC Adventure – Backer copies going out!
- TC Adventure Screen and Booklet – Shipping with book to backers.
- W20 Apocalyptic Record – Printing.
- W20 Apocalyptic Record Screen & Booklet – At Studio 2.
- Exalted Essence – Doing trad print and deluxe covers.
- Ex Essence Screen – At Studio 2.
- Ex3 Exigents – Indexing.
- TC Anima – Interior press files ready to go.
- M20 Lore of the Traditions – Working on cover.
- W20 Icons of Rage – Prepping PoD files.
- They Came From CLASSIFIED! – Indexing.
- They Came From the Cyclops Cave! – Indexing.
- Tasty Bit – Scion: Masks of the Mythos: Tomb – Ready for next week.
- Scion Once and Future – Advance PDF available Weds on DTRPG!
- HtV 2 Jumpstart – PDF and PoD versions available Weds on DTRPG!
Today’s Reason to Celebrate!
Last week: one birthday. This week: lots of Dec 18 birthdays to celebrate! To start, 2001: Billie Eilish, American singer, but also, 1980: Christina Aguilera, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress, and speaking of actresses: 1978 – Katie Holmes, American actress. But wait, there’s more! 1970 – DMX, American rapper and actor (d. 2021), 1968 – Casper Van Dien, American actor, 1968 – Rachel Griffiths, Australian actress, and 1964 – Stone Cold Steve Austin, American wrestler. A little further back, we have a few people you may have heard of: 1963 – Brad Pitt, American actor and producer, 1954 – Ray Liotta, American actor (d. 2022), 1950 – Leonard Maltin, American historian, author, and critic, 1946 – some guy named Steven Spielberg, American director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded DreamWorks, same day different Steve: 1946 – Steve Biko, South African activist, founded the Black Consciousness Movement (d. 1977), also, this unknown guy: 1943 – Keith Richards, English musician, and this seminal influence on all fantasy genre writing: 1939 – Michael Moorcock, English author and songwriter. Finally, but most importantly, today is the birthday of my little sister: Happy BDay Carole-baby!
OMG, I was just thinking that Once and Future would be a really cool Christmas release. Wowz!
I’ve been eager to see Many Faced Strangers since it was announced in January 2019. I can’t wait to finally get my eyes on it. Delighted to read that it is the priority.