Bear with me, I’m gonna digress a bit before answering the title of the blog.
My oldest son and I were digging our pet dog’s grave this weekend, and…
OK, maybe not the best opening.
Also, trigger warning about pets dying and cancer before you read any further.
*
*
*
So, our 10 year old puppy Pedro was diagnosed with lung cancer about three weeks ago and it just must have come on like a freight-train because even though he was panting harder and harder, he never really had any overt pain, just tiredness, and it was obvious that he had to work to breathe. He seemed mostly annoyed at it, and looked as healthy and as handsome as ever. But he collapsed Sunday, although he rallied as we gathered to take him “for a ride” to the vet to see what they could do, if anything. He insisted on jumping up into the van next to our kids and collapsed again, but this time he convulsed and died. Which for him was probably how he wanted it, surrounded by his pack-mates the kids, and happy thoughts of a ride going through his doggy brain.
(I write lightly about this, but he was a very good dog and our family misses him terribly).
So, back to doing what we needed to do for him by digging his grave, and my son and I were talking about the responsibilities of pet ownership and taking care of them as they age, and eventually die. This is something I take very seriously, and hope I have passed on to my kids. I did mention to my son that I have talked to people who find those “end-time” responsibilities too painful to deal with, and who won’t own pets because of the pain it brings. Which I both understand and do not judge. I do think, I said to him, that they might be putting all the emphasis on the end and missing all the wonderful and great times leading up to that point.
To me, the end, as painful as it can feel, is inevitably going to come to someone we care about, and to ourselves as well. It is a known thing. What isn’t, are all those moments along the way to that point.
Which is why my company is called Onyx Path and not something like Onyx Throne. (Which is actually a pretty cool name too, come to think of it!)
I didn’t know how things would turn out, leaving WW/CCP where I’d been employed for almost 20 years, to start my own publishing company. Hell, I still don’t. But I knew I’d have to start taking steps into that unknown place, into that inky darkness. A bit of insight, a bit of experience, and some good folks to work with, and I might just be able to see a glinting black path at my feet that I’d travel along to parts unknown.
It’s the journey, not the destination.
The Path, not the throne.
And while travelling that path, making amazing projects and experiences and art for people. With people that I like working with. Trying new things and taking creative risks.
Trying our first Kickstarter was like that, too. Nobody knew how it would turn out, or whether what we were trying was going to be good or not. But I knew that if it worked we’d be able to create a project we wouldn’t have been able to without KS. And that was indeed the case. Now we’re looking at starting our 18th KS with the Deluxe Changeling 20th Anniversary Edition KS on this Thursday.
Another bunch of steps along the path.
How we roleplay together has changed, and there are other ways to gather together and play than meeting physically. Certainly I’ve had and am having a ball playing on Roll20 and their like. For years I’ve wanted Onyx Path to start putting projects forward that have online gaming as part of their thinking. Just last week, a group of official nWoD character sheets designed by a particularly dedicated designer at Roll20 were added to their site. They look very good, and I gave them a lot of leeway to make them in a way that would facilitate their interface more than cleave to our paper versions. Check them out, you might be able to use them to play with your old group even though you are all too busy to meet physically or are scattered too fair apart to meet.
A few more steps that way down the path.
This coming weekend, we’re hoping to join in on some announcements coming from the new White Wolf Publishing about some of the initiatives and changes they are working on for the original WW settings. Things that I have wanted to do for awhile, that can be done now that they are in charge, and things I never thought of. Assuming that all these things can be finalized and announced, it should be quite a bunch of excitement. After the dust settles, we’re planning an Onyx Path Reddit AMA later in December to answer what questions we can and give some context to all the hoopla! It’s going to be a year where lots of new things happen.
Maybe more steps, maybe even a jump down the path.
More news of new initiatives from Onyx will be coming in the New Year, but one I can mention now is that for the first time we will have multiple KSs running at once in January with the Changeling 20th KS ending, the Pugmire KS starting, and our buddies at Nocturnal Media running a Scarred Lands KS while the other two are stopping and starting. We may do some cross-KS rewards and such, and you will definitely see a different focus for each of them. C20 is for a Deluxe like the previous X20 KSs, but the other two are set up differently. And even C20 has some surprises in its Stretch Goals that move us to different rewards than we were able to offer before.
Moving right along.
The Path.
BLURBS!
Expect something special on Dec 25th, as we lead up through the 12 Days of Onyx Christmas with a contest starting on Dec 14th that I’ll tell you about next week!
KICKSTARTER!
Going live at 12 noon EST US on Dec 10th…the Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Kickstarter!
ON SALE!
M20 How Do You DO That? is coming to DTRPG in PDF and PoD versions hopefully next week!
Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition PDF & Standard and Premium PoD physical book editions are NOW AVAILABLE on DTRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/149562/Mage-the-Ascension-20th-Anniversary-Edition
The Pugmire Pamphlet we had available at Gen Con is now ready for PDF download. Read about the world of Pugmire from the enthusiastic and optimistic pen of Princess Yosha Pug, as well as notes from the gruff and worldly hunter Pan Daschund: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/153518/Pugmire-Gen-Con-Brochure
There are also six Pugmire posters available as free PDFs or $.99 physical posters, suitable for framing:
- Spike Mutt: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150845/Spike-Mutt-Pugmire-Poster-6
- Pan Dachshund: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150844/Pan-Dachshund-Pugmire-Poster-5
- Jack Rat-Terrier: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150944/Jack-RatTerrier-Pugmire-Poster-4
- Sgt. Leo Bulldog: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150843/Sgt-Leo-Bulldog-Pugmire-Poster-3
- Princess Yosha Pug: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/149750/Princess-Yosha-Pug-Pugmire-Poster-2
- Sister Picassa Collie: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/148516/Sister-Picassa-Collie-Pugmire-Poster-1
Start spreading the Code of Man!
CONVENTIONS!
We’re one of the Contributing Sponsors at Midwinter Con this year this January in Milwaukee! RichT, Fast Eddy Webb, and Newlywed Neall Raemonn Price will be there at our booth as well as running demo games of Scion and Pugmire. We’ll be talking more about panels, but I think you can count on a Pugmire one and a Scion/StoryPath System one, at least. In the meantime, check out the show here: http://www.midwintergamingconvention.com/
And now, the new project status updates!
First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)
- M20 Book of Secrets (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- CtL anthology (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)
- Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition
- Night Horrors: Conquering Heroes (Beast: the Primordial)
- Scion: Alpha (Scion 2nd Edition Playtest Alpha Slice)
- Dagger of Spiragos (Scarred Lands)
- EX3 Quickstart (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Shattered Dreams in-book stretch goals (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Ring of Spiragos (Scarred Lands)
Redlines
- Mummy Fiction Anthology (Mummy: the Curse)
- Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition
- Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)
- V20 Ready Made Characters (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Cavaliers of Mars
- Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)
Second Draft
- Arms of the Chosen (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- WtF The Pack (Werewolf: the Forsaken 2nd Edition)
- Beckett’s Jyhad Diary (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- WtA Kinfolk (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
Development
- StoryPath System Rules (Base rules set for Scion and the Trinity Continuum)
- W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- nWoD Hurt Locker (World of Darkness 2nd Edition)
- VtM Lore of the Bloodlines (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- W20 Shattered Dreams (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Beast Ready Made Characters (Beast: the Primordial)
Editing
- W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Dark Eras Expansions (nWod Dark Eras)
- Secrets of the Covenants (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)
- Scarred Lands Player’s Guide: Ghelspad (Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)
- Beast Fiction Anthology (Beast: the Primordial)
- Dark Eras Companion (nWod Dark Eras)
Post-Editing Development:
- Cursed Necropolis: Rio (Mummy: the Curse)
- V20 Ghouls (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- V20 Black Hand: Guide to the Tal’Mahe’Ra (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)
- M20 Anthology (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:
In Art Direction
- V20 Ghouls – Awaiting text.
- W20 Shattered Dreams – Awaiting artnotes for Ch. 5.
- Mage: the Awakening Second – Art is in. Awaiting approvals from Paradox.
- Promethean: the Created Second – Waiting on the last five splats to come in and approvals from Paradox.
- Scarred Lands PG – sketches rolling in and a some finals as well.
-
Dark Eras – Working on that. Expanded chapters have been AD’d and I managed to keep the same artists working on their respective chapters.
- Pugmire Early Access – sketches rolling in.
In Layout
- Dreams of Avarice – in proofing.
- Guide to the Black Hand – Working on it.
- NWoD 2 Cards – Once NWoD 2 is done.
- Clan Novel Assamite (PoD and epub update) – Reviewing PoD proof. On sale this week?
- Clan Novel Ventrue (PoD and epub update) – Proofing.
- Ex 3 Anthology – Dropping in formated file.
- Beast Screen – Doing up the text side this week and getting it wrapped up as much as possible.
Proofing
- Beast: The Primordial – Going to indexing and Paradox for approval.
- nWoD2 – At Paradox for Approval
- Demon STG – Going to Paradox for Approval
- Ex 3 core book – From RichT: Devs working on notating changes to a clean PDF to send to me and Maria for review. Art corrections finishing up.
At Press
- M20 – Deluxes printing (Screen is finished and awaiting book).
- M20 How Do You Do That ?!? – Waiting for new and corrected PoD proof.
- V20 Lore of the Clans – PoD uploaded and awaiting proofs.
Special- projects on hold in the art and production area until an external factor is resolved
- Wraith 20 – Can’t go further until art notes come in, still being developed by Rich Dansky.
- Pentex Employee Indoctrination Manual – Some added and amended text needs to come in.
TODAY’S REASON TO DRINK: To a very good boy: Pedro, Destroyer of Groundhogs, Exquisite Thief of Bread and Chocolate, Protector of the House!
I’m so sorry for your lost. The bonds we form with our furkin can be the some of the strongest there is. Much love to you and yours.
KS in January when most are poorer after the holidays and when many of the bigger bills comes?
Even having a KS now in decembe made it impossible for me and many to join in on it.
Good luck anyways, waiting for the drivethru POD version instead.
The trick is to ask for money for Christmas! 🙂
Ask for friends to sign you up for the KS as your holiday gift. It helps keep clutter or of the house anyway.
1) My condolences for the lose your friend and companion. 10 years is a proud age for most dogs and I couldn’t possibly agree more that the memories of his time with you and your family are precious. The pictures I had and still have of mine surely helped when it was his time.
2) Mage in for Approval. The dream lives!
To be clear… the art is in for approval. Still has to go through layout/proofing cycle and then back to Paradox for final approval of the entire book.
What Mike said. I have to do the dance of “finding all the page XXs” yet.
But it’s one delightfully slow step closer, and that’s all that matters! Looking forward to it (tots obs)!
I’m sorry for your loss. I’ve loved and lost almost a dozen dogs at this point. It’s never easy, but you are right, all the happy times with them far outweigh the grief we feel when they die.
And I’m glad Kickstarters last more than 11 days. I’m going to be in a land with poor internet until the 21st.
People who treat their animal companions like other people are the BEST people, I think.
Also, the notion of a path rather than a destination describes how *I* try to live my life, and the word ‘try’ is the most important part of that sentence. Do I sometimes stumble? Sure. Sometimes I even pause when I reach somewhere I like (or wallow somewhere I don’t so much like), but no matter where I end up, I know there’s more ahead of me… I offer this as encouragement to keep doing what you’re doing so well, and as reminder that no matter how bad ‘the now’ feels, there shall be more good ahead, hey?
But you KNOW that, else we wouldn’t be here now. Here and now are okay, but ahead and later, there’s more we’ll do. That is gonna be grand!
Sorry about loosing your fur!kid. It was not a good day when I almost lost my girl. My heart goes out to you and your family.
Does that header image mean DiTerlizzi is working on C20? I certainly hope so.
Dreams of Avarice; how far along is this, exactly? The Layout/Proofing bit is a little vague.
It is still in the first layout proof. Still have another layout proof to go and then it will go off to Paradox for their approval.
Wouldn’t that be great?
Maybe we can have it as a Stretch Goal if not? ($10,000 more, we kidnap Tony, strap him to an art table and don’t let him leave until he finishes at least one piece for the book.)
… ooor, maybe something not so illegal.
Come on, the Pack! Eager to see some of what this is about.
I was hoping to see more new stuff coming to WtF 2nd.
I am hoping the Pack will be a huge book not just a 50 page filler about something already covered.
My biggest wish would be a book about the antagonists in WtF. the Idigam is covered enough in the new core. I would like a little more new material on Pure, Bale hounds and maybe something new? WtF 2nd. has a lot to pull on, but it would be cool to see the material be both refreshed but also given a bit more new stuff we did not see in WtF 1st.
I can’t see it being 50 pages, I’d guess more like 128.
Still it’s been so long since we got any supplements for Werewolf, and I don’t want to be like Vampire, waiting 2+ years for the first book after Core to come out.
2 years? Thats rough!
I clearly do not play enough Vampire nowadays.
Hope that WtF gets a little more care and compassion.
The Pack and Hurt Locker is the two things I really would love to get for my ongoing chronicle.
I was hoping for a christmas release this year so I could buy them.
First, I do apologize for the delay on new Vampire books. I do a lot of different things for Onyx Path, which have eaten some of my time. For example, once CCP gave us the go-ahead to make a second edition of nWoD a real, official project, I had to get the core book together to provide a foundation for all future nWoD2 projects.
We also ran into unavoidable delays in the middle of the SotC project.
However, I’ve tried to keep a flow of new material coming. A few bloodlines, a campaign frame, a fiction Christmas Special, the Strix -> VtR2 changeover, and a significant chapter in Dark Eras (already available in the KS preview).
Again, I’m sorry for the delays. SotC is with the editor as we speak.
Agreed!
As a HUGE dog lover myself, I dread the day I’ll have to say goodbye to my boy. My condolences, Rich.
Looking forward to C20, as well as the big announcements of the weekend!
Again, I’m sorry for your loss.
Looking forward to hearing more on Trinity and Scion.
Brad had to be approved again? I was hoping we’d get deviant this summer now I’m hoping paradox gets something done by Christmas 2016. This is such a drag.
It is probably the most human thing we do, to take in an animal that we know will not last our lifetime, and we will know pain at their end. But as you have said, it is the journey and not the end that is important. While we will only know them for a short time, they will know us all their lives.
Rich, losing a family member is like nothing else. My condolences for your loss.
Rich, my heart goes out to you and your family. It never gets easier, and it hurts more every time. There’s almost nothing like the unconditional love of a dog, and there’s very little that hurts worse than when they’re gone. The only thing that makes it any better is the memories of all the good times he gave you and your family. Hold on to those, clutch them tight.
I’m so sorry for your family’s loss.
I have often wondered: why ONYX Path?
I’m wondering the same thing about Onyx.
(I’m sorry to hear that your Sunday carried such a difficult time within it, Rich. The outlook you were able to share with your son is a truly valuable one, in any case – I’m certain he’ll remember that comfort and guidance far into the future.)
I’m really pleased to hear that Mike has been able to retain the Dark Eras artists used for the first drafts to finish up their initially assigned (now expanded) chapters. From what has been shown so far the pieces all ready produced have stayed wonderfully true to the direction of the lines they’re rooted in.
If only it were possible to get Mavlian for some of the illustrations for the Promethean content in the Dark Eras Companion… that would be outstanding.
First off so sorry about your loss!
Also wanted to say that I am so excited to hear that the Pugmire kickstarter is coming! You can count on my wife and I pledging to that one for sure!
My condolences, is always hard to lose such a loyal companion, friend and member of the family. At least he seems to had had a great life full of love an caring.
To Pedro! Cheers!
Sorry for the loss, just remember that while they were only in your life for a little while you were in theirs for its entirety.
What’s up with V20 ghouls? Seems like its been in post dev for a while.
Awesome and insightful update Rich. I really appreciate your taking up the mantle of World of Darkness at a time when there basically wasn’t a White Wolf in existence anymore. I am super stoked for the announcements. Also getting feverishly excited to fund both Changeling and Project Dogma.
I’m sorry about your dog Rich.
The WW announcements can’t come soon enough for me; I’m still quite worried about “One World of Darkness.”
When I read this in my inbox last night, I missed the mentions of both the Pugmire KS and the Paradox announcement. Now I’m looking forward to them both.
Little concerned about Changeling the Lost 2E, it seems to have dropped off the radar from all open development.
It’s listed above under Redlines.
Hi Richt, and sorry about your dog.
It’s always a sad moment for the family.
Quick question about C20 and the kiths and all: it seems to me that there was a “World of Darkness France” published here, in France, and covering the big 5.
The reason I’m mentionning it here, is that it included two new kiths, the korred and the morganed.
So I was wondering if those would (or even could) be included to the C20 Edition?
Being an official book (though done by the french rights’ owner at the time), I’m guessing it would not be that hard to reuse the background, legally speaking (licence still being WW, etc..).
And, if need be, owning the book, I could scan those parts and even translate them.
Let me know if that’s something you would like to look into.
… and there had been a German Sourcebook “Trolle, Träume, tiefe Wälder” as well. Will this stuff find a way into C20?
http://www.drosi.de/md/md10034a.jpg
Woot ! Just saw it was added as a stretchgoal !
Again, if you need any help about this, do not hesitate to let me know, I’d be more than happy to.
I’m sorry to hear about your loss. Losing a pet can be devastating emotionally. I lost one of my two cats to feline leukemia recently and it was heart breaking. I’m sorry to hear about what happened and I offer you and your family my condolences.
Hi all,
Sorry to ask so late, but any news on the VDA 20 Tome of secret?
Core book is available (althought i didn’t received mine already 🙁 ), but no news for the tome of secrets strecht goal.