I didn’t expect this to happen. I mean, there I was, having a perfectly good Monday Meeting. However, as soon as I hung up on Discord, I found myself trapped in Rich Thomas’ office as he rushed out the door. “Take care of the blog, Eddy!” he said as he closed the door behind him with a funereal thud.
Considering I live in Georgia and he lives in Pennsylvania, the fact that I’m somehow trapped in his office is particularly disturbing. But, since I’m here, I suppose I could at least figure out how to write this blog. It’s been a while, and I’m a bit rusty. Let’s start with this cool picture I found here on the desk.
Hrm. Under that picture was a note that the Exalted: Exigents crowdfunding campaign on IndieGogo went well! We raised over $163,000, which for (a) a brand-new book not in any previous edition and (b) a newish-to-us crowdfunding platform is really impressive! A huge thank you to all 1,726 Exalted fans who supported the campaign!
Speaking of crowdfunding, Rich mentioned last week the next crowdfunded book will be Trinity Continuum: Aether! And as a huge Sherlock Holmes and Victorian fiction fan, I can’t wait to see how this turns out. I hear a rumor that we’ll have some enticing fiction for the game coming in the new future on this very blog, so watch this space. Well, not this space, but…
Oh! Space! That reminds me of this folder here marked “Space,” so this must be… yes, this is the second Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Onyx Path ad Rich mentioned last week! Take a look!
(How did Rich get a YouTube video into a manilla folder?)
There’s also a page here marked “more info,” but it’s blank. That’s weird, I wonder why…. Oh! I bet Rich used invisible ink. I think there’s a candle and some matches around here. Ah yes, I’ll just hold this up to the flame, and we can read what’s written here.
Oh god. Oh god it’s on fire. I tried to stomp it out, and now the carpet’s on fire. So much fire. Please enjoy this picture while I resolve this.
Phew! That was close. I’m sure Rich won’t notice the burn marks. Or the smell. Or the missing chunk of carpet.
Quick, what else? Right, there are sales! We’re still having our Crossroads Continent, Studio2, and IPR sales — check out the Sales Partner section below — but by the end of the week we’ll be in July and that means it’s Chronicles of Darkness month! We’ll start off with a Vampire: The Requiem sale, so if you’ve been waiting to pick up those missing Requiem books for your collection, the first week of July is a great time to take a bite out of those gaps!
Bite! Get it? Because vampire and… you know, I think the smoke is making me light-headed. Maybe I should sit down for a minute and end this part with something inspiring and cool, but all I keep thinking about is how hard it is to breathe.
Actually, that reminds me of one thing I like about Onyx Path. I mean, not the “no breathing” part, but kind of that. Rich talked last week how Onyx Path is a very small company still putting out great products every week over ten years, and one of the things I love about this company is that it remains flexible in the face of adversity. Its small size is often an asset, allowing us to zig instead of zag whenever, say, our printer has run out of paper, or we get a cool idea that doesn’t quite fit the mold, or when a freelancer has to take a day off due to smoke inhalation.
And sure, some days it’s stressful, like when you’re mysteriously trapped in an office several states away, but most of the time I really appreciate getting to work with such passionate, creative people. Onyx Path is, at the end of the day, comprised of amazing folks: excited, talented, and incredible creatives who can zig or zag in the face of adversity.
Maybe I need to zig more. What is “zig” anyway? Or “zag” for that matter? I don’t think I’ve actually ever zigged or zagged, come to think of it.
Oh, the fire’s come back. It’s very pretty. Before I lie down next to it and stare into the flames, I should say…
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:
A deep dive into Contagion Chronicle and Dark Eras! Matthew Dawkins does a rare solo episode, talking about his development work on two key books for the Chronicles of Darkness.
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 are busy uploading so much of our content from Onyx Path Con to our YouTube channel! you can check out our announcements regarding Trinity Continuum: Aegis, Exalted: Abyssals, and even The World Below over on https://www.youtube.com/c/TheonyxpathRPG
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/Q639i8irOkI
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), and Quantum 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!
Studio2 is running this 50% off sale:
S2 – 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/
IPR is also running this 50% off sale:
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 Crossroads Continent 90% off Onyx Path 10th Anniversary Celebration Sale runs all through June!
Peoples of the Crossroads Continent PDF is 90% Off:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/344601/Peoples-of-the-Crossroads-Continent
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!
Our latest Tasty Bit, Scion: Making History Modern, will go live Wednesday in PDF on DTRPG!
Storyguides and other Scion players have the whole range of our world’s myths, legends, and folktales to draw on for inspiration. Gods and Heroes, bound by Fate to live up to the personas created by their actions, find themselves reenacting old tales in new ways. As they do, they give new life to their myths and make even the most ancient of them meaningful in the modern World. Ideally, this is also what players do when they look at those myths: find the elements they feel are significant and try to answer the question, “What would it look like if it happened now?”
Making History Modern is Storyteller advice designed for use with Scion: Origin Second Edition and Scion: Hero Second Edition.
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:
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 on 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 May’s full list report here: https://theonyxpath.com/release-roundup-may-2022/
DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ME (as I stare into the flames)!
Here are the projects that moved to the next stage of production:
First Draft
They Came from Camp Murder Lake! – VTT Adventure
- Matthew: Embark on a slasher thriller where a group of high schoolers visit the wrong amusement park after dark. Co-starring James Brown.
Trinity Continuum: Assassins – VTT Adventure
- Eddy: A new virtual tabletop adventure for the upcoming Trinity Continuum: Assassins game, introducing new players in the world of Shadow….
Trinity Continuum: Aether Six-Part Serial
- Eddy: Matthew teased this on the Onyx Path News — an upcoming six-part serial on our blog introducing people to the world of Trinity Continuum: Aether!
Redlines
TC Aberrant – Best at What I Do
- Eddy: Our book on Elites and other solo novas for Trinity Continuum: Aberrant. A couple of drafts are still filtering in, but the rest are getting worked on so we can turn things around quickly.
Final Draft
Trinity Continuum – (Aug 22 Tasty Bit) Psions in the Modern Day
- Eddy: An upcoming Tasty Bit introducing a new Allegiance that focuses on secret psions hiding in the cracks of the modern world of the Trinity Continuum. I was really happy with the first draft, so it’s just a matter of tightening things up to make it the best product it can be!
Development
Mage: The Awakening – Tome of the Pentacle
- Dixie: It’s been a while coming, we know, but the past two years have affected all the teams in different ways. However, I’m pleased to see this moving into active development, and I expect it to shuffle quickly forward from there!
Manuscript Approval
TC Aberrant – Hated and Feared
- Eddy: Another Aberrant book ends up in the approval bucket! I haven’t had a chance to crack this open yet, but the team are very excited about their work covering the Terat and other “aberrant” factions.
Hunter: The Vigil – Tending the Flame
- Dixie: Looking forward to this additional player-facing support for Hunter: The Vigil 2e, and I can’t wait to read over what the team did!
TC Anima – Anima Jumpstart – Cascade
- Eddy: The second of two Trinity Continuum: Anima jumpstarts is now in approvals! This one focuses on a missing friend, and some missing memories.
Editing
TC Anima – Anima: Shattered Seals Jumpstart
- Eddy: The first of two Trinity Continuum: Anima jumpstarts is in editing! This one focuses on a mystery in Terra Surge. You can even play the two jumpstarts together as one huge adventure, if you like!
Post-Editing Development
W20 – Icons of Rage
- Matthew: I’ve wanted a big book of werewolves for a long time, as this one is inching toward the finishing line!
Scion – Wild Hunt
- Matthew: Back with the prolific Lauren Roy to survey the edits and move this fantastic upcoming Scion release ever onward!
ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!
In Art Direction
- TCFBTG Monsters from the Crypt
- TCF Cyclops Cave and Classified Jumpstarts
- M20 Faces of Magick
- M20 Forbidden and Forgotten Orders
- M20 Victorian Weird Wonders and Revolutionary Magic
- M20 Victorian Bizarre Tales and Unusual Characters
- W20 Howls of the Apocalypse
- W20 Icons of Rage
- SCION Realms of Magic and Mystery
- SCION Dragon Jumpstart
- TC Aether – Prepping KS assets
- Legendlore: Legacies of Earth
- TC Adventure Jumpstart
- MTC Book of Lasting Death
- SL Vigil Watch Kelder Mtns
In Layout
- SCION Masks of Mythos – With Ron.
Proofing
- Scion Player’s Guide: Saints and Monsters
- Scion Dragon
- M20 Victorian Mage
Indexing
At Press
Today’s Reason to Celebrate!
Today is the day I have escaped the inferno that is the Thomas house. Was the Thomas house? Oh god, I’m in so much trouble.
All of the TC Aether stuff is super exciting! I can’t wait to see more!
OMG, Eddy! You burned down my house! Which is also Onyx Path central! Now we’re going to have to move! (Which is totally happening, but not because of Eddy).
Oh no – I was hoping Eddy could call Ron Thompson for help, but realized he probably doesn’t have a key to your house…
Good luck on a successful move. Are you heading north to avoid global warming as much as possible?
The art chosen for this blog is sublime. The artists you work with are top-notch!
I agree — the art is fantastic! And I’m sure it didn’t burn up in the fire.
Pretty sure.
You know, I’m just going to go check something real quick.
SEE I’M HELPING
Yay CoD week! *waves tiny CoD flag*
Month, even.
At Press is blank! EGADS!
Just because we sent a LOT of stuff to press last week, so nothing new went this week. But trust me — there’s a lot coming out of the printers soon!
So much I had to take a couple of days off last week to recover from all the prep and proofing…
And a wise choice to make, it was. Alas, I opted to work all the hours last week and am now using sick leave. Not the better option.
Kudos to Eddy for working in the word “funereal.”
It is one of my favorite underused words.
Not only would it make an Abyssal Exalt’s title even cooler, “Funereal” could also be a Transformers faction.
Funereals… Eulogize!
For CofD Month, will 1E books also go on sale? I’m looking over my library and I think I might actually already own everything for 2E. XD
Other than Demon, which as I recall straddles the 1e/2e line, the other 1e books aren’t by Onyx Path. So that’s a no, as far as I’m aware.
Mummy?
Basically, if Onyx Path created the book – regardless of which edition – we can offer it in the sale, but anything created before us isn’t ours to give that celebratory discount on.