Rich is off doing… something. I dunno. Something with his family, I think? He used this strange word “vacation” that I had to look up. The whole idea just doesn’t make any sense to me. But, he convinced me to handle the Monday Meeting blog for the next couple of weeks while he doesn’t do work (slacker), so I’m dusting off the old routine and posting updates under the guise of jocularity. Or maybe it’s the other way around.
For those that haven’t heard, I’m now working freelance full-time these days, and a fair portion of my time is devoted to Onyx Path contracts. Between juggling Masquerade books, I’m also helping out here and there on the back-end again. One of the things I’m helping out with is booth duty at Gen Con this year, which means I’ll fly in early to help unpack and set up the booth, sell things to people for several days, and stay to tear down and repack the booth in addition to my usual “attend panels, talks to fans, and drink heavily” schedule I’ve done the past few years. (Maybe not the “drink heavily” part this year, though.) In fact, that’s a picture of me last year at Gen Con (taken by the incomparable Meredith Gerber of Silhouette Studios).
In a lot of ways, it’s an odd blend of coming home and blazing a new path forward, like a lot of things with Onyx Path. I worked the old White Wolf booth back when I was with the Camarilla Fan Club and we shared space, so I’m familiar with the heavy boxes, the lack of air conditioning before the floor opens, and the variety of ways you try to find time to eat. I even had my job interview for CCP/White Wolf with Rich at Gen Con 2007. On the other hand, this is the first time in seven years that I’ll be there without representing CCP. Even though there are a lot of familiar faces, Onyx Path is a whole new thing, and it’s exciting and terrifying to see what happens on this first year when Onyx Path has its own booth.
But I think shows like Gen Con are important. So much of our industry has moved to the Internet. In a wide variety of ways, I think that’s an improvement: it’s allowed things like open development and last-minute errata and a perpetual bookshelf that never goes out of print. But it also means that sometimes the social touch is lost. I’m always nervous about Gen Con because I’m an introvert and being social for days on end wears me out, but I also feel so much more enthusiastic and excited for our industry after I’m done. Every single year it happens. I think it’s important for all of us to come together once in a while and share what we think is awesome together, as people. And I hope that you’ll think some of the new things coming out of OPP (whether I worked on them or not) are awesome, too.
But enough about me! Let us get on to updates! I hope I do this right….
ART STUFF (courtesy of Mike Chaney, who is awesome)
- White Howlers – Leblanc is doing the fulls and halfs. Jeff is cranking along on the splats. Actually saw Jeffe’s sketches Friday night…so far so good.
- Book of the Deceived – Sam is working on them.
- DtD Seattle – Cover is in. Fulls are starting to come in…I got the first three on Friday night…should have rest by midweek.
- DtD Demon Seed collection – Borja is working on the stuff.
- DtD Interface – Awaiting final text. Should be a quick turnaround on this as it is fiction.
- Book of the Wyrm 20 – Getting backer photos in.
- DAV20 – Fulls rolling in along with progress shots for splats. Fulls thus far have looked nice.
- Demon PG – Uploaded and awaiting approval. Got some Condition cards made for the additional stuff
- Heirs to Hell – Ditto.
- Rites of the Blood – Should have errata for that this week and then getting it ready for PoD. [Eddy Note: I sent Mike the errata earlier today, but it’s a lot. Shout-out to the forumites who posted on the thread!]
- Anarchs Unbound – LtD cover stuff.
DEVELOPMENT STUFF (courtesy of Rose Bailey, who is also awesome)
Contracting
- DtD Storyteller’s Guide
First Draft
- WtA Book of the Wyrm Stretch Goals
- WtF Idigam Anthology
- MtAw Fallen World Chronicle
- MtAw Fallen World Anthology
- Ex3 core (from Holden): “The corebook now has roughly double the originally-planned number of hearthstones. Other major matters this week included post-edits finalizing of martial arts and chapter fictions, and a whole ton of art notes.”
- MtAs How do you DO that?
- MtAs Book of Secrets
- MtC Rio
Redlines
- VtM Lore of the Clans
- MtC Sothis Ascends
Second Draft
- V20 Ghouls
- WtF Idigam Chronicle
Development
- WoD Dark Eras Vampire
Editing
- MtC Book of the Deceived
- DtD Anthology/Interface
- DtD Demon Seed Collection
- WtA Umbra
- WoD Dark Eras
Development (post-editing)
- Dark Ages
Special
- Tri Core (system work)
- Tri Aeon (system work)
- WtA White Howlers (waiting on comic)
- MtAs M20 Core (with Bill)
Today’s Reason To Drink: On July 28th, 1540, Thomas Cromwell was executed on charges of treason. On the same day, Henry VIII married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard. So, let’s drink to the efficiency of having a funeral and a wedding with only one caterer.
Interesting new layout for the updates! Happily it makes things clearer.
It’s not so much a “new layout” as it’s cut-and-pasted from our internal emails. Rich takes the info and formats them for his own Monday Meeting updates.
What Ian said. I don’t know what’s the best way to parse the information like Rich does, so I just pasted what people more in the know (like Mike and Rose) tell me.
This way is much better. Please keep them this way (and if the internal emails are in this format – less work for you, no need to reformat 🙂 )
Also, on this day, 100 years ago, an Archduke of Austria gets shot by a Serb outside a Sandwich Shop, and in the middle of the blame game a bunch of countries declare war on or ally with each other and proceed to shoot at each other from within a bunch of trenches for around 4 years give or take.
Any idea when we’ll be see anything solid for Trinity? Rules, artwork, a fuzzy photo of tidbits?
I don’t have an ETA on that.
There was some mention that there may be (a single piece of…) Aeon/Trin art at GenCon in earlier Monday Meeting notes, as for the rest…. still all being worked on / nothing to announce yet from the looks of it.
Would love to see a bit more movement too, so yeah, I check in daily for news of the new Aeon/Trin system doc that’s being worked on. It’d be nice to get a blog update or, well, anything really, heh. 😀
It’ll come….
I know. I’m anxious for the Aberrant as well. I’m running a game of that now. I’m glad I bought the blue core rules books when I did. They are expensive now.
Well, Aberrant is still a ways off I’d imagine.
The Trinity Continuum and Aeon books are up first – and as luck would have it those are the the ones I’m actually waiting on.
But for the other books….well….entirely off the top of my head: Abbie is possibly a good year or so away even IF Trinity Continuum Core & the Aeon books get released this year. On the ‘current projects page those books have recently been moved from November 2014 to the more nebulous ‘on the horizon’ – so that’s a big if.
My entirely made up ‘guestimates’ put Aberrant at approximately fall 2015 and A! somewhere around late summer of 2016, subject to logistics / writers / art etc. This is idle speculation so take this all with a massive pinch of salt.
Should all be worth the wait though in any event 🙂
AGH! I didn’t see that they got moved to “on the horizon!” Crap! I was hoping for the kickstarters to pop up around November for the Core and Aeon books and actually see them in the early summer. I know Ian & Co. are working as hard as they can so there will be no bashing from me. I can only hope this will mean a better product.
I’m pretty sure it will mean a better product 🙂
I have to say the new layout (or old if you count it being from internal mails?^^) looks way better than the so far shown layout 🙂
it is more clear at what stage things are to me at least.
On a footnote: Second time now that the demon translation guide is not mentioned? (once a post from rose and now here)
I didn’t get any information on that.
Rose is writing it, it just kinda keeps getting bumped down the priority list by other projects. It’s in the works, though, we promise.
As alwys I miss any news abput the Onyx path WoD Dice Rolling App as announced as stretch goal of W20.
Are there any news?
I didn’t see anything in the information I got.
RE: ‘Eddy Note: I sent Mike the errata earlier today, but it’s a lot. Shout-out to the forumites who posted on the thread!’
Um, I know that I put pages and pages of corrections on that thread, and while I refuse to apologise for it, I do know full well how much work I made for someone. Thing is (and I amended my initial post to say as much), I only would do such for a project that I really, really like and appreciate. Point is: I make work for all of you ‘coz I love your work so much! It’s a serious compliment… Seriously!
No need to apologize. In fact, it was very appreciated. 🙂
Oh wow! I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to get my very first credit on an Onyx Path book! Well, other than as a Kickstarter supporter…
Now if only someone would get back to me on my writing submission! Uh, that would mean that I’d need to actually SEND my submission. Aw heck, it’s SOOOO much easier to just critique from the sidelines. XP
On this day 27 years ago I was born.
Here’s to hoping some of the Demon books hit PoD this week so I can give myself a birthday present.
Happy birthday!
Hey look, a birthday present for you:
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/131284/Heirs-to-Hell
I see that, it was wonderful timing. My wife said it was for me to. Its a good start to the week.
I’m loving pretty much all things Onyx Path, these days. Finally got to sit down and admire my copy of Deluxe Changing Breeds this afternoon. Its also interesting to me how developers and authors add their own flavor to the material, even when they aren’t trying to do so.
The more and more OPP posts about Gen Con, the more tempted alI am to go in to debt to go back. I miss it… it is my Mecca. I missed last year and I don’t want to miss it again. *sigh*
I hope you have a hell of a time at Gen Con (and life in general) in this new phase of your life, as familiar and as alien as it may be. 😀
Thank you! 🙂
Yay, White Howler book is progressing well ^^
My Changing Breeds 20th arrived last week, punctually and luckily into the local post, so the new shipper seems to be working well.
What about V20 Red List?…