Dreams & Nightmares & Steam! [Monday Meeting Notes]

Today is-

  • The celebrated holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. here in the US.
  • When TikTok went away and came back. Tariffs might happen, but not today…
  • When we at the Monday Meeting finalized plans for the Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars crowdfunder (on BackerKit)!

We were already thrilled and excited to be able to bring Larry Blamire’s Steam Wars setting to TTRPGs, and then even more when between last week’s meeting and today’s we were able to add two additional Stretch Goals to the mix that are really going to add two very different aspects to the giant war-machines game you’ll see in the main book! We just can’t wait for this to go live!

Which could be as early as next week on Tuesday the 28th!

If you’re interested, just keep your eyes open for that pre-launch link we are sure to plaster all over our social media!

In fact, here’s developer Matthew Dawkins with some pre-campaign thoughts that express our excitement…and an excerpt from the Intro of the book:

We’re fast approaching the launch of the Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars crowdfunding campaign, and I have to say, it’s a project I’ve really enjoyed working on. Starting with Larry Blamire’s superb graphic novel – which has been one of our primary sources of inspiration and lore for the game – and delving into war diaries, history podcasts, and documentaries covering the era (1897), it’s been informative and exciting to delve in to the world of Steam Wars.

The team on this one have really brought their best work to the table. I can’t wait to see how people respond to the ability to build your own steam rigs and march them into battle, every character playing a vital part of the crew, from pilot, engineer, or captain to navigator, envoy, or gunner. And then we have the alliances! If you’re an enthusiast about late 19th century / early 20th century history and the politics of the time, you’ll find a lot to chew on here.

For your reading perusal, please find the following text extracted from our Introduction. I hope it helps set the tone for you:

The world has changed and with it the face of war. The Second Steam War is upon us, and with it new machines of destruction. War rigs: clambering, towering, hulking battle tanks. Iron giants capable of cutting through infantry as if they were ants.

In Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars, your player characters are the crewmembers of a war rig, venturing into battles against people from far off countries, aligned to ideals different than their own, and trying to preserve their peace, their way of life, or their rich deposits of condensed coal.

For in the end, the Steams Wars are fought over resources. Though international powers throw the blame at each other, none of this would have occurred were it not for the alchemical transfiguration that has steadily swept south from the North Pole, reaching as far as Southern Europe. Canada, Russia, Scandinavia, and the North Atlantic make for the central battlegrounds, but conflict edges into Central Europe, East Asia, and the USA, pulling every power — major and minor — into the fray as each alliance grasps for the earth’s volatile riches.

Your characters — the crewmembers of these war rigs — are as likely to be enlisted crooks as they are commissioned officers; gung-ho patriots as common as conscripted people from the imperial powers’ colonies. They fight because they have to. But in the fear and fog of battle, bonds form, friendships and rivalries grow, and legends are made.

The Origins of Steam Wars

Steam Wars is a part of the Trinity Continuum, but not exclusively so. As well as a roleplaying game, Steam Wars is a successful graphic novel, series of art creations, and ideas spawned from the brilliant mind of Larry Blamire. Working with Onyx Path Publishing, Larry has co-authored this game to form a new aspect of the Trinity Continuum while furthering the possibilities within his Steam Wars world.

Readers, players, and Storyguides alike are encouraged to look up the Steam Wars graphic novel and get a taste for what this roleplaying game has in store. Many of the characters, rigs, and actions appearing in these pages were introduced in Larry’s comic work, and they’ll undoubtedly serve to inspire you.

The Stage is Set

Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars is set in 1897, just as the Second Steam War is moving into its deadliest phase. Prussia and their Die Lanze alliance wage war on Britain, America, and Japan’s Iron Ring alliance. Meanwhile, the Fulcrum of Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Britain, and America combat their enemies in Central Europe as the Confederation of the Sea comprising Spain, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire seize the Mediterranean with their newfound power. Prussia and Korea utilize the Long Handshake alliance to pincer Russia between them, but imperial Russia isn’t without allies, as the Dual Entente with France aims to weaken Prussia’s aggression. The world is at war, but the theaters of conflict are many.

Your characters are an array of soldiers with different roles and duties to perform. The captain oversees command of the rig and all crew within it. The navigator plots the course, acts as draftsman, and surveys the terrain ahead. The envoy makes whatever diplomatic arrangements are necessary to ensure civilians don’t get harmed and that a friendly government will welcome a war on their land. Meanwhile, the engineers and gunners work as much with their muscles as with their minds to ensure the rig remains moving and with it, lethal. Finally, the pilot — perhaps more than any crew role — is in tune with the rig and walks it wherever it needs to go.

It’s more than fanciful language to describe the war rig as a “well-oiled machine.” Every crewmember does their part. Each crewmember is vital. If one gear fails, if one piston stops shunting, if the coal burns out, or worse, burns too hot, it spells disaster for the rig and the entire crew.

Characters in Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars don’t, however, all look at war as a traumatic misery. The Second Steam War is a great opportunity for heroism, for daring deeds, for medals, and for the chance to serve and save friends, companions, and innocents in peril.

For all soldiers in the Steam War, no matter which alliance pulls their strings and issues their orders, is in their own way a hero. They have to fight a war that has never been fought before in the history of humankind. They climb into their giant iron suits, turn the helm to face the enemy, and let loose with machine guns and cannon even as the same fire is returned.

The bond between a crew and their rig is supreme. All crews are given dispensation to paint and decorate their rigs, to name them and consider them a home as well as a destructive bastion. And all have heard tell of what this new, condensed coal-fueled steam power can achieve. It goes beyond war. Condensed coal promises better lives, cleaner industries, easier times ahead… Once the Second Steam War ends.

The right side needs to control the supply for that future to arrive. And so, we fight. Because diplomacy between alliances is rapidly fading as an option.

M20 Forbidden and Forgotten Orders art by Michael Gaydos

Insurance Company Hold Music

In the meeting today, Eddy was on hold on his phone, but that didn’t stop him, and the rest of us, from starting to talk about this year’s Onyx Path Virtual Convention. We’re hoping to build in more opportunities for you folks to play our various games during the span of the con, as well as some tutorials and actual plays. Plus our usual rollicking panels and even an AMA in there!

Speaking of which, our AMA over on RPG.net has been going for a few days and Ian A.A. Watson and myself have been popping in to chat and answer questions. Mostly about the Trinity Continuum and TC: Aberrant in particular, but there is room for talk about our other games, too, so if you’re inclined – g’head over to RPG.net and ask us something!

If you look down at the Art Direction part of the project progress area, you’ll see a note that says: “Ex3 Miracles of the Divine Flame – Art hit full restart.” I’m going to take a minute to expand on that for a second here.

Mirthful Mike had received sketches for a lot of the art for MotDF, and after the time it had taken to pull things together, we thought we were finally rolling along. But after he forwarded the sketches to our Exalted team, we received some notes back that they were finding what were obvious examples of A.I. usage in the sketches. The weird fingers thing we all already know about, but other indications as well. A lot of them.

Now, all of our art contracts specifically say No A.I.. So even at the sketch stage, we don’t want to take the chance that one of our artists has essentially stolen art via the A.I. in order to create the piece they are sending in to us. Not because artists don’t use all kinds of reference, including copying poses and elements of other artists’ work – because working out your illustration in sketches and then making it yours in finals can be a legit part of an artist’s process (and also a part of developing their own visual vocabulary).

But because electronic media, with layers in Photoshop and other art programs, makes it really easy to “make it your own” by painting and drawing over a layer. Which means, that piece of A.I. imagery is now right there in the finished piece and we’re publishing something we specifically told artists not to hand in.

So we said, we can’t have that stuff in there. And they are redrawing the sections they used A.I. for. It’s actually literally “back to the drawing board”! But in the end, we’ll have finished art, and you’ll have finished art in your book, that was created totally by human artists with all of their foibles.

M20 Forbidden and Forgotten Orders art by Sam Denmark

On to more fun stuff!

This Wednesday, we will be offering two, count ’em, two different Mage 20th Anniversary books for sale on DriveThruRPG! Fresh from being sent out to backers and with errata in place, we have both the PDF and PoD versions of M20 Faces of Magick, and M20 Forbidden and Forgotten Orders – both are small but jam-packed with characters (in Faces) and order details (in Orders) that are great reading and awesome elements to include in your own chronicles. Both were written by people who love Mage and the art is sweeeet! (As Tim Bradstreet used to say).

We considered spreading their releases out a bit, as we original didn’t intend to release them together, but we get messages from buyers often enough that mention buying several PoDs together to save on shipping that we figured we’d see if having them go on sale together would help folks.

Now next Weds, the 29th, is the last Wednesday of the month, so you know that means a new Tasty Bit PDF! But not just any Tasty Bit. This one will be the first of our Curseborne Tasty Bits, which we’ll be doing all year in order to provide our many Curseborne fans, and those who are CB-curious, with extra material as we work on finalizing the core book and getting it out to backers!

Weirdly, the Curseborne curse is making hard to read what this first one is about – it’s like the text is written twice, doubled up on top of itself.

I’m sure it’ll all be clear once next Weds rolls around!

M20 Forbidden and Forgotten Orders art by Brian LeBlanc

Meanwhile, as all these books are getting finished and released, Matthew is still providing looks at the Curseborne Families where he both goes into extrapolated detail you might not have seen from the book, and also he might even hint at some of the tweaks the team has made to the it (you can check out the latest down in the Media section below). And Travis has recently begun a new series of short vids on the appropriate platforms that feature the five Curseborne Tarot Cards to give more of an audio-visual take on the Lineages.

(And also, on top of the Curseborne book, we’ll be releasing Exalted Essence: Deeds Left Undone in PDF and PoD next Weds, too! We can’t let Mage20 have all the fun in January!)

A couple of our sales partners are having sales this week – and surprisingly they aren’t DTRPG:

Select Chronicles of Darkness Screens and Monarchies of Mau books,
screens, and dice 50% off at Studio 2:
https://studio2publishing.com/collections/onx-onyx-path-publishing

Select books and screens on sale at IPR:
https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Deals-and-Specials/

Really, we have something for everyone, dreams & nightmares & steam in our:

Many Worlds, One Path!


Blurbs!


Crowdfunding!

Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars

Coming Early in ’25!


Onyx Path Media!

Check out our attached abbreviated media schedule for the videos on our Twitch channel this week!

On this week’s Onyx Path News Matthew discusses the upcoming Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars and Trinity Style Guides! Check it out right here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ3Z6PDaMNs

On The Gentleman Gamer’s YouTube channel, we have a new Gentleman’s Guide to the Accursed with his guide to the Archivist family of the Sorcerers! Check out this official lore drop about the knowledge hoarders here: https://youtu.be/7ZWI_jvWo_M

And if you’re a fan of Curseborne, here’s a fun video recapping the Final Bout campaign: https://youtu.be/qWCbUzshk80

If you’d like a breakdown of the full page art posters from They Came from the RPG Anthology! Matthew has a fun tour of the They Came From gallery in this video: https://youtu.be/sb_Z3RhXGXU


Virtual Tabletop!

They Came From Beneath the Sea! on Roll20 VTT!
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/bundle/22308/they-came-from-beneath-the-sea

The Scion: Origin and Scion Hero Compendiums are now available on Roll20!
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/publisher/1716/onyx-path-publishing

Scion is just the start! They Came From Beneath the Sea! and other
Onyx Path RPGs are in development for Roll20 virtual tabletop!

The first of our official Scion sheets designed for Foundry VTT are
now available! https://foundryvtt.co

Looking for more virtual tabletop resources? We have a selection of
Tokens, Encounters, and more available now at DriveThruRPG! https://bit.ly/3SnrNJ7


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!

Select Chronicles of Darkness Screens and Monarchies of Mau books,
screens, and dice 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/

Select books and screens on sale 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!

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).


On Sale This Week!

A double feature clad all in purple! M20 Faces of Magick AND M20 Forbidden and Forgotten Orders go on sale this Weds on DTRPG! More magick for your Mage 20 chronicles and reading pleasure!


Conventions!

Here’s where you can find out more info on physical and virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with!

Game Night With Onyx Path Publishing at StartPlaying is the last Friday of each month! Come play some Curseborne that night! (But any of our game lines are welcome all day long!)


Here’s a link to give anyone $10 credit to play games on Start.Playing:

https://startplaying.games/referral/clog9y0v10006ju0968iev95m

Please spread the word about GMing games as much as possible! Details on how list a game are at the bottom of the page in the FAQ:

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


Project Status Updates!

Our full list of projects will be available monthly on our blog! Check out December’s full list report here: https://theonyxpath.com/release-roundup-december-2024/

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY!

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

FIRST DRAFT

They Came from the Cyclops’ Cave! – The Lost City of the Oracle’s Amulet

  • Matthew explains: A very special project I’m undertaking with the children from a local school who are all very keen on writing RPGs! Stay tuned…

Trinity Continuum: Gear and Gadgets

  • The stretch goal project for the Trinity Player’s Guide zooms out of the garage and tears around the first corner at high speed!

Curseborne – Tangled Webs

  • Liminalities have proven to be very enticing to our new Curseborne fans. Let’s see what we can discover by entering them…

REDLINES

Storypath Ultra – SPU additional settings

  • Both settings are in my hands now for redlining. They’re pretty meaty, and I look forward to diving into these new worlds!

DEVELOPMENT

At the Gates – Jumpstart

  • Into development already with this Jumpstart! Let’s see if we can get an actual play of this story recorded.

MANUSCRIPT APPROVAL

Trinity Continuum – Steam Wars

  • We’ve vented all our steam, and the manuscript has clunked its way to the approval stage, as we gather our forces for the upcoming (crowdfunding) campaign!

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

  • Ex3 Abyssals – Finals coming in.
  • Ex3 Miracles of the Divine Flame – Art hit full restart. See blog above for details.
  • Ex Essence PG – Getting the KS art going.
  • SCION Wild Hunt – Reviewing notes.
  • Pugmire 2e Jumpstart. – Sending over to Gong
  • Branch Riders – Getting notes over to Gong
  • TC: SteamWars – Prepping crowdfunding stuff.

Layout

  • Scion Tasty Bit Combo – Gonna knock it out this week.
  • Ex Essence Pillars of Creation – Getting revised text from Dixie when she’s back in office and get it all over to Travis.
  • TC With Great Power – Comic thing in progress…once it’s all in I’ll start on it.
  • TCF RPG Anthology 
  • TC Aether Screen
  • SCION God Storyguide Screen
  • World Below Screen
  • Pugmire 2e Screen
  • SCION God Storyguide Screen

Proofing

  • TCF RPG Anthology – Backer errata ending.
  • TC Aegis – Once Chapter Six is all fixed up, it goes to backers.
  • TC Anima Jumpstart (Terra Surge) – Second proof already notated and being input.

Indexing

At Press

  • Reprints:
  • Scion Origin – At Studio2.
  • TC Core – At Studio2.
  • Ex 3 Exigents – Quoting and press files.
  • Ex 3 Exigents Screen – At Studio 2
  • TC Aether – Quoting and press files.
  • Ex 3 Sidereals – Quoting and press files.
  • Scion: God – Quoting and press files.
  • The World Below – Dropping in index and doing some big work on the character sheet to get it just so. Maps are also wrapping up. 
  • Ex Essence Deeds Yet Undone – PoD ordered.
  • M20 Faces of MagickPDF and PoD versions on sale this Weds on DTRPG!
  • M20 Forbidden and Forgotten Orders – PDF and PoD versions on sale this Weds on DTRPG!

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

As noted above, today is the holiday in the US celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream of a better world. In and of itself, that alone is a Reason to Celebrate! But, in addition to that great Reason, today is also the 91st birthday of MY Doctor, Tom Baker MBE, who was the fourth Doctor Who and played his extremely popular take on the character for seven years from 1974 to 1981, attaining the highest viewing figures of the original series. He also played a fantastic and almost archetypal evil wizard as Koura in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. “His voice, which has been described as “sonorous”, was voted the fourth-most recognizable in the UK in 2006″.

4 thoughts on “Dreams & Nightmares & Steam! [Monday Meeting Notes]”

  1. Was it blatantly AI art and did the artist confirm it? I’ve seen a lot of incidents lately of honest artists being falsely accused of using AI when they haven’t been, because people have started to assume that all art mistakes are generated artifacts. I hope that’s not the case here.

    Reply
    • While I agree that some folks on the internet are quick to yell about A.I. without really knowing what they’re talking about, we’re not those people and we don’t do things that way.

      Reply
  2. Exigents has been “quoting and press files” for a while now. Sidereals joined it a few weeks back. Now
    I see there are four projects at that stage. Is everything ok? Did you run into a roadblock somehow with finding printers?

    Reply

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