Our Double Feature Kickstarter featuring They Came From the Cyclops’s Cave! and They Came From [CLASSIFIED]! is headed to its final week, but we’re not there yet so there’s still time for you to join us as we explore two very different genres of stories!

They Came From the Cyclops’s Cave! gives you the chance to play in a wide range of fantasy media – from the early Hercules movies and Ray Harryhausen’s seminal stop-motion mythic films all the way to the Sword & Sorcery movies of the 80s!

In fact, my personal favorite is actually entitled The Sword and the Sorcerer, so there you go.

And, there’s Krull, there’s Legend – featuring the always-delightful Tim Curry as the big bad, there’s the Conan and Red Sonja movies, there’s TV’s Wizards and Warriors, and a few years later there’s Hercules and Xena: this game gives you the stuff to play anything in the genre.

As befits a game that brings magic to the Storypath System, there are no limits as to what sort of inspirations you can draw from!

Some folks on our Discord have even been speccing out Star Wars and other “not-strictly-fantasy” media using Cave!.

Plus, we’re using Stretch Goals to build an additional game that specifically delves into those wild and crazy, big-haired, explosive 80s Action Flicks – so talking about that Conan-guy, this book will feature archetypes from his other famous films! So the more people we get backing, the more explosive 80s action we’ll be packing into that Stretch Goal reward!

Which brings us to the other book in the Double Feature – and again: you can back for both books, or only one – which is They Come From [CLASSIFIED]! It’s all about those secret agents that steal your heart while foiling the evil machinations or evil masterminds.

Today, I want to share with you the Archetypes (the player character types) as described by developer Matthew Dawkins:

Let’s talk about the Archetypes in They Came from [CLASSIFIED]! If you want to catch up with the manuscript for this game, Archetypes and Character Creation are already available if you back the Kickstarter: http://kck.st/35OgRBR Onward!

The first Archetype is the Adventurer! Perhaps the most fun Archetype in [CLASSIFIED]!, the Adventurer is inspired by the “talented amateurs” who have no licence to go around solving crimes, but tag along and often use their athletic skills and pluck to vanquish villains.

Adventurers within spy media include such classic characters as Emma Peel and Jason King. Typically (but not always) monied, living lavish lifestyles, and with the best in sports cars and fashion, the Adventurer knows how to make every mission a good time.

Next up we have the Detective! This hard-boiled gumshoe doesn’t work for the secret service or any government intelligence agency; they’re probably a private eye or a blue collar police detective, struggling to pay the rent while keeping the bad guys off the streets.

The Detective often gets in over their head, but is a master at spotting a criminal among the jet set, deducing clues, and cutting straight to the bone of a villainous plot. Kojak, Columbo, and Jeff Randall all make for excellent Detectives in [CLASSIFIED]!

Following the Detective, let’s have a look at the Operative. Everyone’s favourite, this is the spy, the government agent, the character with the loaded gun and the licence to kill. They may be cold, they may be charming, but they’re always deadly in service of their country.

Operatives are inspired by many of the biggest media spies. John Steed, Napoleon Solo, through to Dalton’s and Craig’s James Bond make up a few, along with Cathy Gale, Vanessa Kensington, and Roxy Morton (Lancelot) all make excellent, trained Operatives equipped for danger.

Then come the charmers, the carousers, the faces, all known as Provocateurs. If the Operative is the hired gun, the Provocateur is the hired voice, walk, and smile. The Provocateur is the best kind of spy to get behind enemy lines or underneath enemy covers.

The Provocateur comes in many forms, from Roger Moore-era Bond, to Austin Powers, Red Sparrow, and Vesper Lynd. The best character choice for the player comfortable with social gamesmanship, ideally suited to a place at the roulette wheel.

Last but by no means least, we have the Quartermaster. Too many games put their gadgeteers and technologists in the safety of a lab, but our Qs like to be on the front line operating heavy weapons, experimental drones, fixing a new gimmick onto the Aston Martin, or using household items to create new gadgets.

If you have a mind for inventive weapons and unusual methods of disguise, the Quartermaster is a lot of fun. They’re also the only person who can disable the villain’s doomsday weapon! Obvious inspirations include Q and Merlin, but MacGyver is another excellent Quartermaster.

Each Archetype has a huge amount of scope for exploration, with a ridiculous number of Tropes spread between them, fantastic write-ups, and advice on play. Please back our Kickstarter if you haven’t and let us know your favourite espionage Archetype!

There you have it, some examples of the sorts of “good guys” that could be played in They Came From [CLASSIFIED]!, with plenty of room to tweak them to the kind of characters you personally would like to play. (You can also bring in Archetypes from other They Came From games, if that suits your table!)

A Few Shorts Shown With Our Double-Feature!

Well, Friday is April 1, which means our Cavaliers of Mars (Cavaliers of March?) special 10th Anniversary Celebration Sale is almost over!

So jump over to DTRPG for Cavaliers PDFs at 90% off, and to Studio2 and IPR for 50% off the physical book and screen!

Next month, April, is our Exalted 3e celebration month, with sales starting on Friday! To lead off the month, appropriately, we start the first half of April with Solars-oriented PDFs on sale at 10% their normal prices!

Other Exalted types will be featured with discounts in the second half of the month.

Lunch and Crunch this Tuesday the 29th at noon Eastern US time will feature an interesting talk by professional developer/writers Eddy Webb and Danielle Lauzon as they discuss what happens when you start out a fan and then wind up working on the game you’re already in love with.

Check out what promises to be a lively and honest look at trying to keep what you love yet step up with all the talent ya got – on the Onyx Path Twitch channel!

As always, you can check out our other Twitch shows below in the Media section! We even have handy Twitch calendars for the week in that part of the blog – one that’s only words and one that uses graphics. Whichever works best for you!

I’ve also been reminded today that it has been a year since we announced working with Jenkins & Tate so that they could pitch a Scion TV Series! Time sure does fly!

I’ve actually been reading through the script for the second episode after the pilot – which was what was written this last year – and it’s really, really, excellent! J&K have been building their company up, and reaching out to potential partners, so things have been seriously happening, but not yet anything we can hint at!

Finally, although I’m not sure when the interview will go live, I’m talking with Werewolf: the Podcast on Friday all about the Werewolf: The Apocalypse glyphs. How and why I started adding them to WtA books, how to formulate them, and what a Gurhal the Silver Record was to create all the glyphs for!

Wow! It’s certainly gratifying that folks are still interested in this particular aspect of a game that’s been on books since WtA 1e and Rite of Passage in 1992!

So, twenty years before Onyx Path‘s:

Ten Years, Many Worlds, One Path!

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BLURBS!

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Kickstarter!

Our very different and very daring They Came from the Cyclops’s Cave! and They Came From [CLASSIFIED]! Double Feature Event funded! We’ve passed and achieved three stretch Goals, and now is the time we will build another new project from Stretch Goals – 80s Action Adventures! – as well as other fun rewards!

Check it out here!https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/they-came-from-the-cyclopss-cave-and-classified

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Onyx Path Media!

This week: Exalted Essence Actual Play! In which Eddy, Dixie, and Chazz Kellner make characters for Exalted Essence, and Storyteller Monica Speca runs them through their first combat!

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:

To coincide with our They Came From Double Feature Kickstarter, please enjoy Matthew Dawkins’s character creation session for They Came from [CLASSIFIED]! here: https://youtu.be/SzQzHr1XsUI

AND enjoy Travis Legge’s character creation session for They Came from the Cyclops’s Cave! here: https://youtu.be/xREFPuOlXe0

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 last week’s episode, here it is: https://youtu.be/9hmd-W2xVXc

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Virtual Tabletop!

The first of our official sheets designed for Roll20 are now available!

The first of our official sheets designed for Foundry VTTis now available!

As they say:
Direct Link: https://foundryvtt.com
“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),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

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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!

Cavaliers of Mars Hardcover & Screen 50% Off at Studio 2:
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/

Cavaliers of Mars Hardcover & Screen 50% Off at 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!

Our focus on Cavaliers of Mars in March for the Onyx Path 10th Anniversary Celebration means we’re offering Cavs PDFs for 10% of their usual price for the rest of the month: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4261/Onyx-Path-Publishing/subcategory/8329_31332/Cavaliers-of-Mars

Please also contribute to the Doctors Without Borders Charity Bundles for Ukraine on DTRPG:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/featured.php?promotion_id=DwoB2022

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 novella Dawn in the Kindle store!

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On Sale This Week!

So Now You’re A Hero is this month’s Tasty Bit PDF for Scion! It transforms this Wednesday and will go on sale on DTRPG!

Plus, the Hunter: The Vigil 2e Wallpapers will be available as e-files on DTRPG on Wednesday, too!

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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!

Right now, we’re planning our first plans for the 3rd Onyx Path Virtual Con in June. See the news above!

The OPP Con page is now live on
Start Playing Games:

https://startplaying.games/event/onyx-path

Check it out now for the GM sign-ups section if you want to run games during the con. More info on events and panels and all yet to come!

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And now, the new project status updates!

Our full list of projects will be available monthly on our blog! Check out February’s full list report here: https://theonyxpath.com/release-roundup-february-2022

Development Status from Eddy Webb!

(Here are the projects that moved to the next stage of production):

Redlines

Exalted – Sidereals

• Dixie: I’ll let Elliott Freeman, one of the book’s developers, speak for me on this one: “We’re powering through Sidereals redlines and I’m so jazzed about where it’s at right now.” He and Vance also let me know that the material turned in has been absolutely stellar, so I’m looking forward to seeing the finals on this!

Trinity Continuum – Tasty Bit: Earth Orbital Habitat

• Eddy: Moving ahead of schedule, I’m excited to see what will be in this Tasty Bit for Trinity Continuum: Aberrant!

Post-Editing Development

TC: Adventure! – Stampede of Justice! – Adventure! Jumpstart

• Eddy: The Adventure! Jumpstart is back from editing, and I’ve slung it over to Hiromi for development.

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Art Direction from Mike Chaney!

In Art Direction

• Ex3 Exigents – Gong is finishing up last full… I’m gonna start prep for the KS next week.
• TC Aether – Trying to get Marco on the splats.
• SCION Masks of Mythos – Sketches coming in.
• SCION Dragon – Sketches coming in.

In Layout

• Dead Man’s Rust – Should be ready for proofing in the next day or so.

Proofing

• Scion Demigod – 2nd proof in progress.

At Press

• M20 Technocracy Reloaded – Deluxe at fulfillment.
• Technocracy Reloaded Screen – At fulfillment shipper.
• Mummy 2e – Shipping to KS backers from fulfillment shipper.
• Mummy 2e Screen – Shipping to KS backers from fulfillment shipper.
• WoD Ghost Hunters – At fulfillment.
• WoD Ghost Hunters Screen – At fulfillment shipper.
• Paranormalists Handbook – Prepping for PoD
• TC: Aeon Novella: Meridian – PoD proof arrived.
• Hunter: The Vigil 2e – Deluxe files prepping.
• They Came From Murder Lake! – PoD proof coming.
• They Came From Murder Lake Twist Cards – PoD proofs coming.
• They Came From Murder Lake Quip and Cinematic Cards – PoD proofs coming.
• TC Panopticon – PoD proof on the way.
• M20 The Operatives Dossier – Errata wrapping up.
• TC: Aberrant: Terat Novella – Errata wrapping up.
• Tasty Bit: So Now You’re A Hero for Scion on sale Weds on DTRPG!
• Hunter: The Vigil 2e Electronic Wallpapers on DTRPG this Weds!
• Trinity Continuum: Assassins – PDF out to pre-orders.

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Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Today is Vince Vaughn’s birthday, noted owner of a string of Average Joe’s gyms under his corporate name of Peter LaFleur. I’ve heard that he is also an actor, but don’t quote me on that as I’m only working off of what I’ve seen on ESPN8, the “Ocho”. I can’t get enough of it.