Essence Storyteller’s Guide is charging forward – we funded in a smashing two and a half hours and are already charging through more than 200% funded after starting on last Thursday!
Yep, last Thursday and not Tuesday as we originally announced. Sorry for anybody thrown off by that, we had some unexpected tech difficulties on our end. Fortunately, BackerKit is OK with a start delay once you’re good to go! But still, we hope that folks were able to join in as planned – certainly we’re glad that anybody who already signed up on that link for the pre-launch page, that I gave out last week, were alerted!
Now we’re headed for Stretch Goal #2, and Eddy has provided a cool bit from the book itself:
I love a good GM guide, and the Exalted Essence Storyteller’s Guide is chock full of great advice. Here’s a nice bit talking about character personal goals.
What’s on the Agenda?
As the Storyteller, you set the overarching plot and conflicts in your campaign. Players and their characters bring their own personal goals to the story, adding additional story hooks, potential antagonists, and opportunities for character growth.
Character Agendas
First, ask the players to consider both short-term and long-term goals for their characters. These can be used as the personal milestones introduced on p. 107 of Essence. Short-term goals can be things the character wants to accomplish in the current session. While these don’t have to be things that drive character development, how the character goes about achieving them can help to round her out. If “Get in a fight” is the goal, does the character look for someone to pick the fight with? Is she fighting on behalf of someone else? Can her companions jump in, too, or does she want to face her opponent one-on-one? Does it matter if she wins or loses, or is it more important that she gets in some witty banter?
Setting long-term goals can be trickier. Some players come into the game with a strong sense of what they want for their characters and things they’d like to accomplish during the campaign, but others might need some time to settle into both the character and setting before they can think too far ahead.
At the end of a session, encourage players to spend a few minutes thinking about their characters’ reactions to that session’s events. What surprised them? Which actions shored up their Virtues and Intimacies? Which ones challenged them? Ask players to discuss moments that felt significant or important for one another’s characters as well: “I was proud of Tasir when she defied her matriarch,” or “Was Wreathed-in-Ivy tempted to take the Silver Prince’s offer?” Talk with players about parts of the setting that intrigue them and their characters. These might be interesting bits of lore, the local criminal underworld’s hierarchy, or what life is like in a specific district.
Thanks, Eddy! And thanks to all of the over 700 backers who have joined us so far!
Last week, I did a rundown of the various Curseborne projects we’re working on, although I did skip, necessarily, the Curseborne Secret Project we’ll be announcing at Onyx Path Virtual Con in just under two weeks! Thanks to all of you who spread the word and also sent me questions! You are super – and please don’t stop! You can send us your fantastic questions all the way up to and including the Con!
Also leading up to the Con will be our eerie teaser vids that have been populating YouTube and TikTok for several months now. We’re hoping you’re enjoying trying to place those in the CB world as much as we enjoy coming up with them!
Last week’s video was Binding: https://youtu.be/26GQkFtEf8s?si=KlJCIwdrZdVb0tYn . This week’s is Elemental.
Here are some blurbs from Travis for this week:
This week on Twitch we have a brand new episode of Expanding Your Realms on Tuesday at 9 PM EDT, as Jack Berkenstock continues delving into the world of Branch Riders! On Wednesday at 7 PM EDT, Corbin comes back to the channel for more Accursed in Boston, and Thursday at 3 PM EDT Tom Murr comes back to the channel for another installment of Guiding the Path!
Onyx Path Con 2026 is less than 2 weeks away! If you want to run or play games during the convention, there’s still time to sign up over on Startplaying! Visit https://startplaying.games/event/onyx-path-virtual-game-convention-2026 to see what’s on offer, find a game to play in, or sign up to run something yourself!
If Travis has mentioned him in his blurbs, well, you know Jolly Jack B is gonna pop up with his own updates!
Hey friends, fans, and citizens of the Realms – Jolly Jack Berkenstock Jr. here with another missive from Branch Riders headquarters. We are coming back this week with another episode (we’re up to SIX!) in our Expanding the Realms series – showing you all the possibilities that Branch Riders offers players and GMs of all stripes. This week’s focus will be the superpowered realm of The Heights – where caped marvels and villains alike venture the streets in search of the highest Capebook rating and lucrative contracts. We will also discuss the stone-cold, sober streets of our dystopian future setting, The Party, where citizens are banned from expressing their emotions for fear of CNTRL’s faceless police state.
As usual, join this week with Jack and James as they tell you the backstories, some secrets and showcase the unique settings and how you can shape them into whatever your table needs. The show will broadcast live at 8PM EST on Tuesdays on the Onyx Path Twitch channel. Also, catch up if you have missed any of the episodes by going to the Onyx Path YouTube channel. Follow the links below!
ONYX PATH TWITCH – To watch live!
ONYX PATH YOUTUBE – To get caught up!
And that’s not all! Backers make sure to check your emails if you backed to receive the PDF of the Facilitator’s Guide. Time is almost over to review and send feedback through the errata link. After the review and any needed edits, we will announce the launch on DriveThruRPG! We are close to complete fulfillment!
And as we mentioned last week, If you’ll be in Columbus, OH, during Origins Game Fair, stop by Booth 1502 and see all of the wonderful things as we launch Branch Riders at Origins! We’ll have books, Condition Card decks, Exposure Trackers and themed minis that you can ONLY get directly from Bodhana. Also enjoy some of the fundraising ephemera we have to help the cause – including rubber ducks, Bodhana books and some new dice enhancement strategies – in both dice reward and dice punishment varieties. Pictures to follow soon or see them unveiled at Origins! Come by and pick up your copy of Branch Riders… or get signatures from some of the design team, who will be on hand! Join us the week of June 17th – June 21st, 2026! Look for the cool Autumn colors and the duckies!
We at Onyx Path will also have folks at Origins, although we’ll use the Studio2 booth as our HQ! And we might hang around Jack’s booth, too!
Hard to believe that this is our last MMN Blog in May! We’ve been so heads-down on getting books done and the Virtual Con pulled together, the month has just flown by!
Pretty soon now, everybody’s gaming groups are going to have summer holidays to contend with! I dunno if you folks have trouble getting the group together in Summer, even virtually, but I sure do. It’s a great time to try out one-offs and other kinds of games – different genres and even card or board games – with the smaller group. Solo and two-player sessions can also fill that TTRPG yen, so don’t give up hope!
And if, at the end of the day, ya just gotta coast until all the vacations are over, Summer’s a great time to read if you can’t play. I took a Summer to research and study alphabets one year – real-world and fantasy and science fiction ones. Everybody thought I was just a slightly obsessed dweeb, but then all those notes came in real handy when I designed the Werewolf glyphs, the Exalted scripts, etc, etc.
So you never know what’ll come in handy to know in our:
Many Worlds… One Path!
Blurbs!
Crowdfunding!
Funded in 2.5 Hours On BackerKit: Exalted Essence Storyteller’s Guide!
Follow this link to join the fun!
https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/56e7c5a3-11a9-4eba-8c46-a4c306b51e57/landing
Onyx Path Media!
Check out our attached media schedule for the videos on our Twitch channel this week!
In today’s Onyx Path News, Matthew discusses the Exalted: Essence Storyteller’s Guide, They Came from [CLASSIFIED]! Mission Dossier, and Onyx Path Con: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaKlWpswr9E
Over on The Gentleman Gamer YouTube channel, Matthew delves deeper into the mysteries surrounding Junction City, his fabricated setting for Curseborne: https://youtu.be/r5_xPlpViQQ
Meanwhile, over on Tales of Pantheons, the Archangel Michael gets involved with Godly things!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl3HWPVFP8c
Virtual Tabletop!
Art book sale at DTRPG:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/4261/onyx-path-publishing?promo=1000745
Monster book sale at DTRPG:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/4261/onyx-path-publishing?promo=1000747
Monster book sale at Roll20:
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/search?tag=Unique%20Status:MonsterMayhem2026&author=Onyx%20Path%20Publishing
Scion Demigod Available on Roll20 NOW!
The Scion: Origin and Scion Hero Compendiums are now available on Roll20!
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/publisher/1716/onyx-path-publishing
The first of our official Scion sheets designed for Foundry VTT are now available! https://foundryvtt.co
They Came From Beneath the Sea! on Roll20 VTT!
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/bundle/22308/they-came-from-beneath-the-sea
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
Some more deluxe books have popped up on Studio 2, with more on the way.
https://studio2publishing.com/collections/onx-onyx-path-publishing
As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles in PDF and PoD versions at DriveThruRPG.com!
Pathfinder Sale at DTRPG.
Scarred Lands PG featured at 60% off:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/featured_promotions?promotion_id=26_PFS_Path
Other PDFs 30% off:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/4261/onyx-path-publishing?promo=1000749
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!
This month’s Tasty Bit PDF gives you a fresh look at Dangerous Environs for SPU games! Weds on DTRPG!
On Sale Last Week!
The semi-secret secret files distilled through secret spy activities: They Came From [CLASSIFIED]! Tasty Bit Compilation Dossier available at the not particularly secret PDF and PoD headquarters of DTRPG… if you know the code word…
Conventions!
Here’s where you can find out more info on physical and virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with!
ACD Expo, May 27th – 29th (we’ll have a booth at this one) *retailer
industry show*
Onyx Path Virtual Gaming Convention, June 5th – 7th
Origins Game Fair, June 17th – 21st (We’ll be in the Studio 2 booth)
Project Status Updates!
Our full list of projects will be available monthly on our blog! Check out April’s full list report here: https://theonyxpath.com/release-roundup-april-2026/
DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY!
Here are the projects that moved to the next stage of production:
Development
Realms of Pugmire – Lair of the Rat Kings
- Squeek!
ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!
In Art Direction
- Ex3 Champions of the Divine Flame – Gonna send it to DAC.
- Ex Essence PG – Awaiting sketch updates and finals.
- Curseborne PG – Gonna try and finish contracting stuff out this week.
- Curseborne Tangled Webs – Awaiting the last of the half page art.
- TC From the Shadows – Proceeding.
- Monster Kingdoms – Sending over to Gong.
- Monster Kingdoms Jumpstart – Art buy configured…
- Ex Essence STG (BK) – Went live Thursday.
Layout Queue
- Pugmire 2e Unleashed – With Ron Thompson.
- At The Gates – Workin on it.
- TC Aeon Tasty Bit Omnibus #2
- Making of Curseborne – Headed to first proof.
- Izzy Curseborne Novella – Doing up the cover.
- Curseborne Screen – Pinging printer this week to get cutlines and to confirm size of the booklet that goes with it.
- ATG Bookmarks – Gonna prep those at some point while I’m working on the book.
Proofing Queue
- Curseborne Community Content Stuff
- Curseborne Jumpstart
- TCF Cyclops Cave Jumpstart
- Ex3 Alchemicals – First interior proof… waiting on dev notes.
At Press
- They Came From the RPG Antho – Preparing to ship from printer to fulfillment shippers.
- Curseborne – Reviewing printer quote stuff. Now we navigate the murky waters of getting books and the peripheral stuff printed up.
- Scion God Divine Inspiration – PoD proof ordered.
- Branch Riders Facilitator’s Guide – Backer PDF out to backers.
- Scion God Jumpstart – PoD proof ordered.
- TCF the Danger Zone – XXs in and interior prepped.
- May Tasty Bit: Dangerous Environs – PDF out this Weds on DTRPG!
Today’s Reason to Celebrate!
Here in the US, it’s Memorial Day – the Monday where we remember and feel thanks for all of those armed forces members who lost their lives in service to our country. There are actually many different stories for how the day of commemoration started, including this one: On May 1, 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina, the recently freed Black population held a parade of 10,000 people to honor 257 dead Union soldiers. The soldiers had been buried in a mass grave at the Washington Race Course, having died at the Confederate prison camp located there. After the city fell, the freed Black population unearthed and properly buried the soldiers, placing flowers at their graves.
Are the deluxe editions of Siderieals, Abyssals, and (possibly) Alchemicals going to be printed sequentially or can you get them in process simultaneously?
With the threat of exorbitant and punishing tariffs still hanging over us, we’ll be working on them one at a time – for now. The Deluxe editions are the most expensive of our books to print, and so we need to be very careful about getting each of them printed and shipped. If things change in that situation, we’ll feel more confident in doing multiple deluxes at the same time. No matter what, we’re pushing to get caught up on all of our pending crowdfunding rewards!