In the life-cycle of a lot of creative projects, there are moments of great achievement where great energy is exerted to great effect, and times where things seem to grind slowly even if a lot of effort is expended. From the outside, these moments are often hard to tell apart, as what looks like great stuff happening is really unproductive flailing, and an apparent logjam is actually all the pieces coming together just before they burst forward awesomely. And sometimes a logjam is just what it seems- a blockage that isn’t moving forward at all.
I share these thoughts because to me, standing in the middle of the Onyx Path and trying to push forward, it seems like all sorts of things are finally starting to move- we’re getting offers and opportunities every day for ways we can expand the company, and we have movement on projects that were previously stumbling like they were knee-deep in molasses. Some of this is the gelling of the various creative teams who only had an initial project or two to start to understand how to work together, some of it is my very cautious and careful development of Onyx Path, and some is just circumstances as folks lives change in ways that let them devote more or different efforts to our projects. The acquisition of The Scarred Lands was one such expansion that we’d been working towards for about a year that happened just a couple of weeks ago, the regular Deluxe Werewolf 20th Anniversary Edition is getting shrink-wrapped and we’re looking to finally get it from the printer to the shippers, we’re reviewing book pitches for 2015 now instead of in December like last year, Mummy: The Curse‘s products are coming out, and while I know this is just a minor thing: David Hill was at last able to convert the recipe measurements in the W20 Cookbook to include both metric and US amounts. He’s a hero; I’m really looking forward to what we can do with this very different book from the dangerous mind of Stew Wilson. And these things are just the beginning.
Expect further changes here as we start to revamp the Onyx Path website, and that includes us updating the schedule on the site. Rose, Mirthful Mike, Ian, and myself are having a meeting Weds to overhaul our expectations for the releases. You’ll notice that we have incorporated the WWBlogs onto the Onyx site as well- because that’s where I’m writing this.
Eddy was back from his recuperation from ear surgery, and so we had a fair bit of catch-up to do on art and projects going through CCP approvals. Past that, we had a little time to talk about the desire some fans have for all the books that WW “promised” to make but didn’t. I had a great chat on the blog last week asking for ideas for 2015 that got me understanding part of that interest, but from the inside it’s hard to understand why anyone would think that “Tales From The Trails: Canada” for Werewolf: The Wyld West would be a wanted product. Because, you see, I know that we never did anything with it but notice that we had a “TFTT: Mexico” and figure we should add a northern version to the schedule sheet. Other than that nothing was ever done with that book. But as someone who used to venture into used bookstores searching for that one Moorcock book that filled in his collection, I can relate to that part of the impulse.
I also shared with Eddy the fact that we’re getting the Demon: The Descent Kickstarter together- while CCP doesn’t have a direct connection to Onyx’s KSs, I do like to let them know when something that makes a big boom in our community is about to hit. One aspect of that KS that I’ll share with you that is kind of a drag is that international shipping is just awfully expensive. I’ve mentioned this before, but it seems that in the last year of doing these KS projects that there have been two significant price adjustments to shipping internationally. I know this because the shipping for Mummy: The Curse was pretty much +50% higher than we had specced out at the time. That was a sucker punch we did not need. But now we know, and so Demon’s KS has to reflect those changes when we do the Reward pledge amounts.
OK- Now for the projects:
– Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle (VtR) We added some word count in order to make this book truly stand alone in the sense of providing a complete VtR experience. Mirthful Mike is talking about punching us because he might need to rearrange the art.
– Mummy the Curse – Deluxe and Screen: Books and Screens are all shipped out- if you backed and did not get yours yet, please contact me via that little button next to my picture on the KS site. The MtC Ready Made Characters Pack PDF has been sent out to backers- we’re gathering comments on the PDF- like all Onyx Path backer rewards from Stretch Goals, this will later be available in PDF and PoD formats on DTRPG. Cursed Necropolis DC is being finished up by the writers.
– Exalted 3rd Edition: While John hunkers down to rewrite the Charms chapter he is also changing some of the ways he’s been doing these to enable more to get finished, the rest of the team is working on a couple of EX3 chapters that continue to be finalized for Editing: Dawn Caste Charms are still being wrapped up: Archery is done with Brawl/Martial Arts/Thrown getting attention. Big effort on Chapter One: The Exalted. Both EX3 novels as well as Zub’s EX3 Comic are in progress, and we’re reading through revisions by Zub on his script, and the EX3 Music Suites are being scoped out.
– V20 Hunters Hunted 2: Deluxe is still being assembled. Yes, I know that still the same news for weeks. PoD and PDF versions on sale at DTRPG. HH2 Fiction Anthology text is in editing.
– V20 Anarchs Unbound is in layout and we are still putting the pieces together for its KS, but that’s been delayed until after the Demon KS (see above).
– Deluxe Werewolf 20th Anniversary Edition: Regular Deluxe W20 is getting ready for shipping. The Heavy Metal Deluxe W20 prototype is on its way to me and I have pics for backers that I’ll be posting in an Update. Mike Lee is submitting chapters of the W20 “Houses of the Moon” novel to Bill for dev review. The Storyteller Screen files are done and ready for W20. Bill has the W20 Anthology stories in layout. Jess Hartley has submitted the White Howlers Tribe Book to Stew Wilson for development notes, and the W20 Cookbook is done in editing and back with Stew for review.
– Deluxe Mage the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition has Phil is wrapping up the last sections of the book. Check out our continuing M20 art blog by Mirthful Mike Chaney: https://theonyxpath.com/mirthful-mikes-art-blog-mage-20th-anniversary-preview-3/
– W20 Changing Breeds Sent out the Kickstarter backer PDF in the month we estimated delivery, as well as links for the wallpapers and classic WtA PDFs, which was all I did the last 24 hours, and the Changing Breeds Fiction Anthology is being contracted by developer Jess Hartley.
– W20 Rage Across the World: In layout. I’m going to do something different with this book that will be announced to the Deluxe W20 KS backers first.
– Guildhalls of the Deathless (MtC) the PDF is live on DTRPG. There is a thread on the Mummy forum on the WW Forums for any mistakes or tweaks you want to suggest before we correct the PDF and create the PoD file. This has worked really great- CA Suleiman has gone through them, the changes are in, and the PoD files are waiting for approval.
– Conventionbook: Void Engineers (cMtA) is available as a PDF on DTRPG, and like Guildhalls above, it has an errata thread on the forums- let us know if you find anything.
– W20 Book of the Wyrm is being art directed and is layout.
– V20 Rites of the Blood: is in editing, being art directed.
– Under the Darkening Sky (classic Dark Ages): In editing. Being art directed.
– Trinity Continuum: We now have a whopping big Aeon outline and a Trinity Continuum Core Book outline and writers are writing. Systems discussions with the Scion devs have been loud and impassioned.
– Scion: Systems discussions with the Trinity devs have been hot and heavy.
– Demon: The Descent: In 2nd proof . Demon Quickstart PDF is free on DTRPG and the PoD version is Now LIVE. As mentioned above, we are going to get the Demon: the Descent Kickstarter campaign live before the end of October. Well, soon. Video voice-overs are done so the video can progress, and I’ve created all the Rewards, just need to pull the description page together.
– Hunter: The Something About Monsters: Writers are writing. Because he was already done with his section, Matt McElroy asked David Hill to help with the development and help bring this book home.
– nWoD: Dark Eras: Writers are writing.
– V20 Dark Ages: Scribes are scribing. Check out the discussion on the WW Forums and these very blogs.
– DtD Players Guide: Flowers Of Hell?: Being written at a cafe where the exchange of looks and glances is deafening.
Reason to Drink: Halloween! You’d think that would have been my theme this week- but too much is going on!
When I bought the Mummy book through the KS, it was more from a “completist’s” point of view, but now that I am reading the book, I am really getting into it (Great job, guys!) and am disappointed about not getting the ST screen as well, as I might run a game at some point.
Will the Mummy ST screen become available on DriveThru as well, or was this a KS only thing?
Glad to hear it! The PDF version will be if it isn’t already, but right now DTRPG doesn’t have the ability to do PoD Screens (although I do hear that they are talking about it).
Hearing that makes me twice as bummed I didn’t get the Mummy screen when I backed the KS. Still, it sounds like there’s hope.
I kicked in for the deluxe book & screen and am very, very happy with the production quality of both. The screen is definitely a very nice companion to Mummy.
I really hope to see more ST Screens as add-ons on future game releases (Demon).
Again, great work on the Mummy KS, I am very happy with my book & screen and the quality shows.
That would be so sweet if could, then you all we would have to complain about is not having dice!
Not sure if you’r pitch suggestion window is closed. But as far as cwod and old promised books that never got released I think Brujah Chronicles is the one I’d love to see made the most.
Otherwise I’m also a big supporter for a new Tal’Mahe’Ra book for V:tm. It’s a sect that never got the love it deserved back in 2nd ed/revised, but that has the potential to give the setting a whole lot more depth treated right.
Always good to hear which books you’d be into seeing. And as Eddy has said befor, the Tal’Mahe’Ra book is already on his pitch list.
Good news. 🙂
And now you can include OnyxPath-only projects in your Weekly Update without it being weird that you’re posting it on another company’s site. 😀
Sorry to hear about the international shipping charges. Damn. Would it be cheaper to send over skids to another distributor there to ship them out instead?
Is the cover treatment to V20HH2 giving them trouble, or are they just back-logged with jobs and will get around to it when your number comes up?
W20HME prototype pics?! YES PLEASE! 😀 I look forward to seeing them.
W20 Cookbook… are you trying to convert from Homid “pinch” to Crinos “pinch”? I’d think the measurement conversions would be pretty simple… but maybe there’s a story behind it that we’ll have to hear. (perhaps one has to fight the Measurement Bear to gain the wisdom to do it? 🙂 )
Doing something “different” for W20RAtW? Hmmm… sounds terribly mysterious. I could make all sorts of assumptions, but I suppose I’ll just wait before stirring that hornet’s nest. 🙂
Also, will this post (and other weekly meetings) continue to be put into the “Monday Meeting” category, or will it just be a standard post on the site?
Strictly speaking, WWBlogs isn’t another company’s site. It’s Eddy’s. But still, it’s nice to have this all in one place.
“Also, will this post (and other weekly meetings) continue to be put into the “Monday Meeting” category, or will it just be a standard post on the site?”
As you can see by clicking on “Monday Meeting” in the right-hand sidebar, this post and all previous are categorized there. I see no reason to change that.
When I click on the opper-right “News: Monday Meeting” link, this post does not show there. I can only find it on the home page. Does it for you?
Also, my info “Name/Email/Link” doesn’t save to this site, even though it worked on the WWBlogs… I suppose I may have at some point told it not to save my info here, but I don’t think I would.
Still looking forward to Demon. It’s a shame it probably won’t launch on the 31st at this point.
At this point, part of me wants to see the Ex3 novels and comics before the corebook, just to troll. Deluxe trolling would be releasing Arms of the Chosen first, but that seems unlikely.
No, we won’t get word back from KS before the weekend even if we get it out to them for approval before then.
We’ll have to decide whether we want to get anything out before EX3 itself, if that situation happens, based on whether the material would be good to have out there before the game. Like, the Music Suite might actually get done before the book, and I’d think that would be a nice and encouraging thing for folks to get even before the book itself.
Not to sound impertinent but what was up with Cursed Necropolis DC. Considering its relative size to say Guildhalls it seems to have taken a huge amount of time to be written?
Is it because DC had only one or two writers while Guildhalls had five?
Also Ritch, you forgot to include Book of the Deceived again 😛 Which I am really hoping is coming to the end of the writing phase if its still going to come out in December…
Glad to hear (no pun intended) that Eddy is recovering well.
Yes- the DC duo are uniquely suited for working on the book, but it does take time with just the two of them. I didn’t get a Deceived update from Colin yet, so I don’t have anything for it this week.
I think a lot of Kickstarters are having problems with shipping. The new Monte Cook kickstarter, The Strange is trying $10 vouchers for all shipping and the customer determines method at the time of shipping.
Anyway looking forward to Demon starting up soon.
Yes, we’re all in the same boat and trying different methods of dealing with the extreme costs. There’s Monte’s attempt, and in Fred Hick’s KS shipping analysis he suggests that he’s might have to only ship within the US- but any solution is going to anger and alienate some backers, so what do you do? In the end, I’m afraid that we (game companies) are going to be seen as the bad guys when it’s a bad deal for us too.
Hi Rich,
I repeat my idea that you create a “send some KS books together” option for international backers.
You see I’m waiting for HH2, W20, CB20 and I will certainly back Demon and most of your next KS as well and I could wait for some time if I’d save 40$ per book (which seems to be the current shiopping cost to Germany).
Regards,
Ferdinand
With Demon KS looking like it will come out in November, is the M20 KS still on track for next month as well? Personally I wouldn’t mind it being pushed out a month or two, so that the project end doesn’t fall during the holiday shopping season, even if it misses the 2013 kickoff.
Kickstarter doesn’t let you run several Kickstarters concurrently, so Mage20 would necessarily have to wait at least until Demon’s done.
On the subject of unreleased books, the two I’d be most interested in seeing would be Book of Glamour and Keys to the Kingdom for Changeling: The Dreaming. I know back after classic World of Darkness ended, Chris Howard was trying to get a digital release of the two books going. He wanted to finish Book of Glamour and release Keys to the Kingdom as a free unfinished draft. He asked me to art direct and lay out Book of Glamour. Unfortunately, he never got any traction on releasing them. From talking to him, Krister Michl, and Dan Gin, it sounded like Book of Glamour was a mostly complete first draft. If I recall correctly, Chris Howard said Keys to the Kingdom wasn’t as far along but had first drafts of some chapters.
With as close as we are to Changeling’s 20th Anniversary, it probably doesn’t make sense to finish Book of Glamour as a proper book. That being said, I know completionists (like myself) would love to see what was written even if it’s incomplete, unedited early drafts.
And, if it would help things at all, I’d happily volunteer to do the layout on either or both books 😉
Here here!! I’m paying off my credit card as fast as possible so I can blow its limit up, and then turn around and spend the whole thing on Changeling 20th Anniversary edition!!!
It would also be funny to see the Book of Glamour, I don’t expect it, but anything that allowed you to get into the guts of the magic system and tweak it, or look through new eyes at the world of Glamour, would of be super cool.
Glad to have you back on your feet and jumping back into the malestrom of work Eddy! Keep up the great job Rich, I’m still rooting for the company to start trading in souls and tears… I have been keeping a back log of both just in case! 🙂
Hello Richt, I was just wondering if there was anything new on the side of new online features?
I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but I believe some game lines would profit tremendously from character creation programs. Some have powers, merits and whatnot for both players archetypes and enemy archetypes all over the books. It can be very complex to create characters and mobs. Especially it would be great to be able to randomly generate fomori, specter or a full band of scions. May be some low monthly fee online service that could give access to the all stats and monsters from all the books? Personally, I’d register if it existed as it would be a tremendous help to run my games.
And yes, I would still buy the books.
I’m glad to hear about W20 finally getting shrink-wrapped… Any idea on the timeframe for shipping?
As for pitching 2015 book ideas… 1) How about a cWoD book on the Metaplot itself (with every gameline getting their own chapter)?
2) Death Sorcery – The Big Book of Necromancy (V20)?
3) A Damnation City-style book for V20.
I have some more ideas, but I misplaced my list.
Curious question, why is Demon going to KS before M20 (I might have missed the reason…). I will happily buy the new Demon if it is as fun as the original, but Mage is my true love of the WoD.
Happy Halloween
Because Demon’s ready sooner than Mage is.
Regarding Demon, when can we expect the release of the pdf? The above posts weren’t clear as to weather the delays were affecting just the Kickstart or if they were also pushing back the pdf release.
Thanks
Ahhh! Do not tease me like that! Demon is ready sooner. Makes my credit card finger start to itch…
Can you put links to the latest comments on the side like the WWBlogs have?
Have you considered 3D POD through sites like Shapeways for things like dice and pins?
Very excited for the new trinity line, Ex 3 and Scion! Is there any way or do you have a general kickstarter mailing list? I keep frantically checking for the Demon kickstarter and I’ve missed a few others sadly. So would be great if ya could make a mailing list to let us know.
Mr Thomas,
I have sent you a message via Kickstarter concerning the lack of Mummy the Curse about a week ago. Any news?