Yes, it was good to have a Monday Monday Meeting today! The team certainly used the time to plot and plan and even set up meetings on various topics later in the week. (We’re not a big meeting sort of company, with only the Monday Meeting mandatory for the crew and a few smaller regular meetings. All the rest are handled with email or on Discord, or set up as needed.)
Our first topic for discussion is our next crowdfunding campaign, which we’re calling the Reprint Retro -a- GoGo! It’s going to be a very different sort of campaign for folks used to us doing them to do Deluxes or to get books in stores.
In a lot of ways, this one really is much more a pre-order, in that it’s going to be short, should deliver this year, and doesn’t contain any new projects. “Wha?!”, I hear you say.
With us moving to our new printer, we can’t use the existing files and films sitting at our old printer if we want to do a new run of books for stores. And right now we’re running low on Scion: Origin, Trinity Continuum Core, and TC: Aeon. Which is great news as this is Origin‘s first reprint (and our first chance to make minor edits to address longstanding errata) and the 3rd printing for TC Core and TC: Aeon. We love that folks keep picking up these books!
But even with the books being popular enough to reprint, it’s still a fair chunk of change (not to mention the time and effort to get the printer files redone to match the new printer’s specs), and that’s where we’re opening it up to crowdfunding. Like I said, it’s going to be short and sweet, and our expectation is that the reprints will be shipping to backers this year. Which means we’ll run through that reprint cycle and then they’ll go out to the stores – so backers get them first.
The only “stretch goals” we’ll be doing will be if we hit a level of funding that allows us to bring in other books that haven’t been traditionally printed yet like TC: Assassins or the Scion Players Guide: Saints and Monsters to the mix. But those are only if we hit some bigger pledge amounts because our main focus is to get those three initial books reprinted!
We’re looking at trying to make this happen next week, maybe as early as Tuesday the 16th, so keep your eyes open for more info if you’re interested!
After the Reprint Repro a-GoGo, we’ll be doing the campaign for Curious Cats of Mau for Realms of Pugmire next. Sometime in February, it looks like!
Since we’re looking ahead to these campaigns, may I also suggests that folks take advantage of Impish Ian’s End of 2023 Retrospective blog that went up about a week ago? You can find it here: https://theonyxpath.com/release-retrospective-2023/
Whew! We put out a bunch of fantastic projects in PDF/PoD, VTT, merchandise, etc – and our Community Content creators were also going full blast!
And if you’re an Exalted fan, check out what Advance PDF goes on sale this Weds: I’m not telling, but we were soooo close and tried so hard to put it out in 2023!
Hope you all had a chance to enjoy your favorites!
If you haven’t, well, here’s a chance: the New Year, New Game sales on DTRPG and Storytellers Vault, as well as on the Roll20 Marketplace (which is indicative of the increasing value of VTT marketplaces to our hobby) starts TODAY! Check out the details below in our Sales Partners section!
Couple of Follow-Ups Following Up
So last week there was a power failure in Matthew’s part of the UK, and that meant that he thought he wouldn’t be able to send in the Media section he does each week. Which was a drag, but stuff happens. Then, he sent me the note I posted about odd messaging and stuff.
Which is a big weird yikes, but again, in this business, stuff happens.
This week, power is back, no more odd messages, and when Matthew goes to film the YouTube vid for Onyx Path News, they alerted him that there were problems. They said it wasn’t recording, the timer got reset, when he checked it had recorded but it was mostly garbled until it was just him typing for ten minutes while waiting to hear that YouTube was OK…
He tells the story on the Onyx Path News in the Media section below – if you want to hear more about it – but c’mon! This job’s hard enough without gremlins on the wing of the plane!
Things have been weird in other places, too: we’ve heard from a bunch of our friends doing podcasts that they too have had odd break-ins or gaps, or stuff added to their vids and chats that don’t make any sense.
Is there a new year weirdness/glitchiness like we were worried about for Y2K (those of us who still remember that time way back when!)? Are the AIs coming?
Meh, probably a series of things we wouldn’t notice except that they just happen to all be happening in a clump.
Listening to the questions folks sent in for the Onyx Pathcast mailbag episodes, and one of the questions was whether I’d played or run any Storypath games. But OF COURSE, mon ami!
I’ve played on several They Came From! games as characters as different as a mad scientist and an ex-FBI investigator, and on a Scion one where we descended into “a” hell. For Trinity: Anima, I got to play two different characters, like you do!
Mostly these are online convention games, as I don’t have tons of spare time for an ongoing game, and I’m playing because, again, not a lot of time to pull together a game – even though once you are used to Storypath, particularly coming from other dice pool systems, the rules are very easy (for me) to finagle. And that goes triple for Storypath Ultra.
That being said, I would like to run some more games, if only for my Crossroads Continent setting for D&D, as even moving it to 5e still means I pretty much can extemporize any given situation for a group as they run amok, like groups do! 🙂 I know I’ve promised the Pathcast gang to finish up our CC adventure In The Hole, and if last year wasn’t just brutal in terms of getting our old house sold and our new house fixed up, I’d have done it.
I’ve only just started DMing in-person for some of my old gaming group and their kids, and some of mine, and that multi-generational group has been a lot of fun to run a game for in my old stomping grounds in the Kingdom of Twenty Horses. Don’t tell them, but I had one page of notes for the adventure as we first sat down and so far we’re still only half-way down the page – and I’m still just ad-libbing until the group fuses well enough together to have even the thinnest thread of a common purpose.
Plus I have an entire magical items supplement for Crossroads that Travis and I worked on in 2022 and I put on hold through all of last year! Other things for other Onyx Path games just took precedence, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view).
Let’s hear it for doing what we couldn’t do last year in this year of 2024! Where and how will we do that? On and with our:
Many Worlds, One Path!
Blurbs!
Crowdfunding!
Next week! The Reprint Repro-a-GoGo! starts on IndieGoGo! Help us to reprint some of your favorites for getting into stores…and maybe even contribute towards our doing traditionally printed hardcovers we haven’t done yet!
Onyx Path Media!
This week: Matthew GOES ROGUE and records a solo design diary about They Came from the RPG Anthology!
As always, this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue!
Please check out our attached media schedule for the 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:
Let’s go back to Scion: Titans Rising for a while, as we had a fantastic actual play of that one going in 2023! Check it all out starting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc6fa-4yZOY
The Onyx Path News discusses recent and upcoming releases! You can find it on our YouTube channel (click the bell to be informed when we go live!) but if you missed the last episode, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-FacU8qxUA
Virtual Tabletop!
New on the Roll20 Marketplace, it’s the Scarred Lands Creature Collection and Camp Murder Lake Tokens for Roll20 VTT play!
NEW!
They Came From Beneath the Sea! on Roll20 VTT!
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/bundle/22308/they-came-from-beneath-the-sea
Here are some more shots from the They Came From Beneath the Sea! Compendium!
And there’s also the Scion Jumpstart, all ready for Roll20 VTT fun!
More news and links when we have them!
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!
Direct Link: https://foundryvtt.co
Looking for more virtual tabletop resources? We have a selection of
Tokens, Encounters, and more available now at DriveThruRPG!
Get ’em here: 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!
Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books, dice, and screens? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/
As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles in PDF and PoD versions at DriveThruRPG.com!
New Year, New Game Sale on DriveThruRPG and Storytellers Vault starts
today. All of our Core Rulebooks and Jumpstarts will be on sale 20% –
40% off.
AND the NYNG sale on the Roll20 Marketplace is also live: https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/search?tag=Unique%20Status:NYNG&author=Onyx%20Path%20Publishing
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 Melody Through the Mirrorshade Lens and Facets of Truth, as well as Trinity Continuum: Terat and The Hollow Courts on Kindle in the Kindle store!
On Sale This Week!
The years of arduous exploration and cartography are over! The Across the Eight Directions for Exalted 3e Advance PDF is now available this Weds on DTRPG!
Conventions!
As we are slowly returning to attending conventions in person after avoiding them during the COVID-19 outbreak, keep an eye out here for more physical and virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with!
Game Night With Onyx Path Publishing at StartPlaying will be the last Friday of the month! Come play some of our games, especially Trinity Continuum: Assassins! (But any of our game lines are welcome all day long!)
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:
DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY
Here are the projects that moved to the next stage of production:
First Drafts
Tasty Bit – Æon: Spaceships (May)
- Eddy: The first TC: Æon Tasty Bit is already in approval, so time to get the next one going! This is going to be a PDF full of spaceship stats!
Tasty Bit – Dragon Lairs (all four)
- Danielle: My devious plan is to get all four of these done at the start of the year, so that I don’t have to think about them later in the year. It’s called precrastination.
Redlines
Scion – Rock Gods and Side Quests
- Matthew: Rock and Roll is the name of the game as these Scions hit the road to tell their legendary tales cross country!
Exalted – Sidereals Companion
- Danielle: Chazz is reading through everyone’s first drafts. From the chatter I’ve seen, the book is shaping up to be a really cool read.
Development
Scion – War Games (Titans Rising Hero and Demigod Adventures)
- Matthew: As William Regal would say: “WAR GAMES!” I’m very much looking forward to reviewing this manuscript.
Manuscript Approval
Realms of Pugmire – The Curious Cats of Mau (was Mau 2e)
- Eddy: Lauren has given me all the developed drafts! As a co-dev I’m doing my own development pass, but since Pugmire is my baby it’s also a bit of an approval pass, so I’m just handling both at once before we hand it all over to Rich for his review.
Tasty Bit – TC: Æon: Large Scale Space Combat (February)
- Eddy: After a glorious space battle with Travis where we had vicious lazer sword fights about rules, peace has finally come to the galaxy and the manuscript is now at approvals!
Tasty Bit – They Came From [CLASSIFIED]! Villain #2 (April)
- Matthew: What are the Ministry of Disorder up to? This book will be your briefing, agents.
ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!
In Art Direction
- The World Below – Got artnotes, now to get art.
- SCION Titans Rising – Prepping art buy.
- SCION Demigod Companion – Rolling.
- TC Player’s Guide – Getting this going as well.
In Layout
- Ex Essence Charm Cards
- DTR Clade Companion
- Ex3 Many Faced Strangers – Getting the layout rolling.
- CTL 2e the Hedge – art is in.
- M20 Victorian Jumpstart
- SCION God 2e –Â Getting files over to Travis.
- TC Aether – Finals rolling in. I’m gonna start laying it out at some point.
Proofing
Indexing
- They Came From the Cyclops’s Cave
- They Came From CLASSIFIED!
- Ex 3 Exigents
At Press
- W20 Apocalyptic Record – Printing.
- W20 Apocalyptic Record Screen & Booklet – At Studio 2.
- Exalted Essence – At Press. Making fixes to the Retail cover gloss. Waiting on hard proofs.
- Ex Essence Screen – At Studio 2.
- Ex3 Exigents – Indexing.
- TC Anima – Sending it off to press.
- M20 Lore of the Traditions – Fixing a couple of snags on the interior.
- W20 Icons of Rage – PoD proofs on the way.
- They Came From CLASSIFIED! – Indexing.
- They Came From the Cyclops Cave! – Indexing.
- Scion Once and Future – Awaiting errata.
- Ex3 Across the 8 Directions – Advance PDF on sale this Weds on DTRPG!
Today’s Reason to Celebrate!
It’s an excellent week for anniversaries, so let’s celebrate:
On Jan 10 2018 we publish Beckett’s Jyhad Diary, so it’s 6!
On Jan 11 2023, a year ago, Victorian Mage arrived coincidentally.
On Jan 12 2022, it’s two years since They Came from Beyond the Grave! dug it’s way to freedom.
And 20 years ago, on Jan 14 2004, Gehenna (+Gehenna: The Final Night) staked the original run of VtM! (Sorry!)
A most important reason to celebrate on 1/9/24, it’s my Birthday!
Woohoo! Happy BDay!
What ever happened to those Ghost Hunters stretch goals? Hunting Monsters and Necromancers & Mediums? Just curious.
Combined into the Paranormal Investigator’s Handbook. Released as PDF on DrivethruRPG
That was all folded into the Paranormal Investigators Handbook supplement which was sent out to backers around 2 years ago (or at least the final version is from March 2022).
Hey Rich!
I know you have some sentimentality going on with your Crossroads Continent setting, having played in multiple versions of that one game, but it would be fantastic if we all could just step away from the bozos running it now. That’s totally amazing. They don’t respect their own fans, the people making the product, or especially artists.
It’s been such a long ongoing mess with the H this past year, but I just wish they would fade into the ether. This is a hard ask, I know, but is it just something you would be willing to consider? Maybe go with a system from a smaller studio or your own system you’re working on?
Thanks!
Well, we’ve already moved Realms of Pugmire to our own 20-sided+ dice system with Onyx20. That was something Eddy had accomplished before the crappy OGL fiasco, and we’re still a bit pissed off about not getting to fully announce it! 😉 We’re still looking at possibilities for rules for Scarred Lands. Crossroads Continent would be next in those discussions, but I think I’d need to get a lot more time available for working on it to see how we can change it to a different system. Considering that the gang here have been encouraging me to do up a big world book sort of project, with all the maps and histories and all that, and such a book would potentially be doable as rules-agnostic, that might be a place to get started. If only this company would run itself, oh the projects I could jump onto!
A Crossroads Continent sourcebook would be fantastic.
That’s very cool (and kind) of you to say! Someday….