This is the art for the cover of Cavaliers of Mars by Chris Huth, and it just so strongly reminds me of Mike Mignola’s comic art for Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, but even more detailed. Those comics were early 90s, and I was thrilled to be able to hire Mike Mignola some years later for the covers and some interior pieces for the editions of their adventures White Wolf reissued under our Legends fiction imprint.
Which is a round-about way of saying: I like that Cavs cover!
It’s sword and sorcery, and pretty inspiring, and Rose Bailey absolutely loves that inspirational material. She’s woven a setting that draws on all that great early sword and sorcery, and modern fiction and anime, and more. We’re half-way through Cavaliers of Mars‘ Kickstarter, and she’d be thrilled if you took the time to check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/cavaliers-of-mars-a-tabletop-roleplaying-game
One thing, if you do: don’t be put off by Cavaliers of Mars‘ Kickstarter Estimated Delivery dates. We’ve had many adventures with those dates, and at this point I just stretch them out far further than we really plan to deliver. I know that scares off some backers, but it’s a trade-off between accuracy and our process that needs to allow creators to take more time than originally estimated in order to nail the feeling and info they want to deliver for the project.
Or to allow creators who have unforeseen life changes come up, that prevent them from delivering when they originally thought they could, to still continue helming their projects. Like I mentioned last week, our creative process has been very much developer-driven going back to when Onyx Path was founded. So our estimates have been mostly based on working out delivery dates with the developer(s) and then extending the estimates out from there.
Rather than tie ourselves to the dates, we’ve extended the time-frames, maybe ridiculously. We’re also aiming to only go live with a Kickstarter after the text is completely finished and not add entire new sections to the KS’d project that would delay delivering the book to backers. And like I also mentioned these last couple of weeks, we’re bringing in more support folks like Eddy Webb to help beleaguered developers finish their projects.
If these initiatives help out, we’re more than likely to pull back the Estimated Delivery deadlines to more normal time-frames.
Speaking of initiatives, remember when I wrote about our Extended Media projects? Sure you do! I babbled on about them for quite a few blogs in the early parts of this year. Let’s see how they’re doing!
First, we have our fiction books getting onto Amazon and the Nook marketplace. We have put multiple waves of books up in both places, for a total of 25 books (a combination of novels, anthologies, and a cookbook) all in the proper Kindle and Nook formats for easy and convenient reading. World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, Exalted, and Scarred Lands fiction are all up there. They’re selling and we’ll be adding more as we publish them, but we’re caught up on the backlog, so the new titles are likely to come out as each one is ready.
This was, I think, a win for what we were trying to do, and a big round of applause for Bill Bridges and Valerie Tate!
Val also has been working with our first App team in creating Onyx Path‘s dice rolling app. We’re nearing the time that we’ll be able to release the app, and we’re starting with ten-sided dice pools for Scion, and our licensed WW IPs, but the app is customizable for any 10-sided pool system. (And before we release to the public we need the OK from WW and then we need to send the very patient backers of Werewolf 20th their dice rolling app stretch goal rewards).
This project rolls into another with our App team, and things are looking awesome with it, so another expected win here – but we’ll hold off on actually marking that down until it releases.
Then we have the online gaming accessories, and here we’ve had less success. We are getting more traction on those venues (like Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds) but that’s mostly because fans (in the companies involved or their existing customers) are making stuff, but we have not yet. Mostly, so far I haven’t been able to find creators we can hire on as freelancers.
We’re not giving up though, and with our recent purchase of Scarred Lands, I have some hopes that we’ll be able to work with some of the folks already engaged with SL in the online gaming space. But for now, I’ve got to take the hit for this and call it a loss. For now.
On a different topic, I also said a few weeks ago that I’d relate the new projects and such revealed at Gen Con last August. I’ve done Chronicles of Darkness, so this week it’s Exalted 3rd.
Besides the ongoing monthly monster and antagonists releases, we have The Realm and Dragon-Blooded. Which you pretty much know about. We expect Dragon-Blooded‘s Kickstarter next year to generate additional projects, some DB-oriented and others maybe not, so we’re keeping our “official slate of releases” pretty much focused on the big books with the expectation that smaller projects will fill in from that Kickstarter.
Because we know that our Exalted community needs certain big books in order to play their ongoing games, we’re focusing on Lunars and then Exigents after DB. The old and then the new, as it were. We really think that will take us through the year, so even though we do have ideas for starting to work in some of the already-announced projects, and even some new ones, we want to get our Dev team entirely through The Realm and Dragon-Blooded and all that goes along with developing those books, before committing to anything further.
Too much, too fast has already slammed our Exalted developers going all the way back, and we’d like to avoid that with our new team.
So that’s pretty much what I said at Gen Con, and also:
Different Worlds, One Path!
BLURBS!
ON SALE!
YOUR COVER IS BLOWN! The Demon: The Descent Bundle of Holding goes live tomorrow 10/3 and runs until the 23rd – unlocking new books as it runs! It will be here tomorrow: http://bundleofholding.com/
We’ve been looking for something to do to help out the disaster in Puerto Rico, as have a bunch of other publishers and we’ve donated PDFs for this: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/220574/Puerto-Rico-Hurricane-Relief-Bundle-BUNDLE We contributed the Trinity Core Rulebook. Please consider picking up this bundle, with proceeds going to GlobalGiving’s Puerto Rico and Caribbean Hurricane Relief Fund.
KICKSTARTER:
The Cavaliers of Mars Kickstarter funded and is now past 600%, with Stretch Goals including an Exclusive T-Shirt, an increased art budget, Postcards from Mars, and we are closing in on the goal that completes an additional book: City of the Towered Tombs, describing the bustling canal city of Vance, from the brooding waters and desperate criminals of the Dredge to the beautiful environs and macabre spectacles of the Hangman’s Garden. Delve into the affairs of colorful nobles and the schemes of the desperate criminals in this look at Mars’ greatest remaining city! If all that sounds interesting to you, here is the link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/cavaliers-of-mars-a-tabletop-roleplaying-game
ON AMAZON:
We’re delighted to announce the opening of our ebook store on Amazon! You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle. Our initial selection includes these fiction anthologies: Vampire: the Masquerade‘s Endless Ages, Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition‘s Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage 2, Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition‘s Truth Beyond Paradox, Chronicles of Darkness‘ God Machine Chronicle, Mummy: The Curse‘s Curse of the Blue Nile, and Beast: The Primordial‘s The Primordial Feast!
And now you can get these books in the Barnes and Noble Nook store too!
- Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II
- Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox
- Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology
- Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile
- Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology
And here are six more fiction books:
- Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds
- Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology
- Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology
- Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology
Andand six more more:
- Vampire: The Masquerade: The Beast Within Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse: W20 Cookbook (Kindle, Nook)
- Exalted: Tales from the Age of Sorrows (Kindle, Nook)
- Chronicles of Darkness: Tales of the Dark Eras (Kindle, Nook)
- Promethean: The Created: The Firestorm Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
- Demon: The Descent: Demon: Interface (Kindle, Nook)
And even more books are going up on Amazon and the Nook store on Wednesday!:
- Vampire: The Masquerade Dark Ages: The Cainite Conspiracies
- World of Darkness: Strangeness in the Proportion
- Vampire: The Requiem: Silent Knife
- Mummy: The Curse: Dawn of Heresies
- Scarred Lands: The Walled Warren
We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there!
https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire
Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: https://theonyxpath.com/press-release-onyx-path-limited-editions-now-available-through-indie-press-revolution/
You can now order wave 2 of our Deluxe and Prestige print overrun books, including Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary, and Deluxe V20 Dark Ages! And Screens…so many Screens!
And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296
ON DRIVETHRURPG.COM:
From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: God’s Own Country (Geist: The Sin-Eaters New Zealand 1950s). World War II is over and a new age of technology is coming, but a hidden storm threatens to overwhelm both the Maori and the European New Zealanders, flooding the world with the restless dead. The Bound are the last line of defense between a spirit-world gone mad and a sleepy island nation concerned with the advent of rock and roll and mourning their lost soldiers.
On sale in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG this Wednesday!
EX3 Music Suite #1: Fanfare for the Chosen sounds off long and proud on DTRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/213806/Fanfare-for-the-Chosen-An-Exalted-3rd-Edition-Music-Suite
Fanfare for the Chosen includes inspiring soundtrack themes for each of the ten types of Exalted (Solars, Lunars, Sidereals, Dragon Bloodeds, Abyssals, Exigents, Getiminans, Liminals, Infernals, Alchemicals), to set the tone as you encounter these Exalted in your games or are seeking inspiration for new stories.
We’re also releasing the five EX3 Electronic Wallpapers only previously available to EX3 Kickstarter backers on DTRPG : http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/162590/Exalted-3rd-Edition-Wallpapers
From out of the Dreaming, the C20 Jumpstart: Yours To Keep PDF and PoD are now live on DTRPG.com: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/217594/Yours-to-Keep-A-Changeling-The-Dreaming-20th-Anniversary-Edition-Jumpstart
There is magic hiding everywhere. You just need to know where to look.
You are a changeling, a faerie soul hiding in a mortal body, fighting the chill of Nightmares and the oppressive weight of Banality with the pure creative power of Glamour. You have lived many lives, but the story of this one? It outshines them all.
In this hidden world, knights in steel and leather clash sword to sword outside the homecoming dance, dragons fly between skyscrapers, and fantastic castles rise from suburban lawns. A world of magic, intrigue, and adventure, and now that your fae side has awakened, it’s your world too.
“Yours to Keep” includes a rules and setting overview, as well as pre-generated characters and a complete introductory scenario for Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition. It’s perfect for jumpstarting a new Changeling chronicle!
The PDF and PoD versions of C20 are now on DriveThruRPG.com: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/210616/Changeling-The-Dreaming-20th-Anniversary-Edition
Twenty years ago, White Wolf published Changeling: the Dreaming, the fifth of their promised five game-lines that together comprised the World of Darkness. Seen by some as a lighter, more fantasy-based setting in the modern-day, and by others as the darkest game White Wolf had yet created, players had to face the question of what happens once creativity and magic fades from their world.
This 20th Anniversary Edition of Changeling: the Dreaming returns to that deceptively bright yet terrifying world and both compiles and completes the concepts of the previous two editions. Led by veteran White Wolf and Onyx Path developer “Blackhat” Matt McFarland, our writing team consists of longtime Changeling creators like Ian Lemke, Jackie Cassada, Nicky Rea, and Peter Woodworth, as well as familiar names such as John Snead, Maggie Carrol, Matthew Dawkins, and Krister Michl. One and all are dedicated to making Changeling: the Dreaming Twentieth Anniversary Edition the most playable edition yet – while not losing the wonder, awe, and majesty that Changeling is known for.
- A revised and up to date look at the World of Darkness through the eyes of the Kithain – what has happened to the Dreaming in the last 20 years, and what is the state of Glamour and dreams?
- Rules for all of the kiths including in 2nd ed, plus fan favorites from other books: selkies, piskies, clurichaun, and both Arcadian and Concordian sidhe.
- Rules for the Gallain: The inanimae, the hsien, the Nunnehi, and others!
- An overhauled and reimagined system for fae magic, including new Arts and the powerful but dangerous practice of Unleashing!
- New full-color beautiful artwork as well as classic Changeling illustrations including remastered full page pieces of the kiths by Tony Diterlizzi.
Now available, this all-new Trinity Continuum: Aeon poster, featuring the art we used for the cover of the StoryPath Booklet at this year’s GenCon! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/220904/Trinity-Continuum-Aeon-Poster
And this version for art lovers is without the logo: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/220905/Trinity-Continuum-Aeon-Poster-sans-logo
Calling all Good Dogs! The Pugmire Core Rulebook PDF is now available on DTRPG.com!
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/204313/Pugmire-Core-Rulebook
And the actual physical book, screen, and dice, are available to order on the IPR and Studio2 websites!
Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire
Satyr Phil Brucato beckons you once more into the Annex of Mage: The Ascension with this 300 page follow-up to M20. The M20 Book of Secrets is NOW on sale in PDF and PoD versions at DTRPG.com! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/214133/M20-Book-of-Secrets
More Than Magick
For mages who think they have everything, this trove of treasures expands upon the wealth of material presented throughout Mage: The Ascension’s 20th Anniversary Edition. New Traits, new rules, essays, answers, information… the Secrets are revealed within.
Enter the Annex
Building upon the M20 core rulebook, this Book of Secrets features updated rules and setting material, such as…
- An M20 FAQ Genres & Resources
- Matters of Focus Justice & Influence
- New Abilities, Archetypes, Merits & Flaws
- Expanded Rules for Combat, Resonance, Wonders, Computer Systems, and More
This Ascension Continues…
What dark secrets do the eldest vampires hold? Find out in Thousand Years of Night for Vampire: The Requiem! Advance PDF version available now on DriveThruRPG.com. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/214130/Thousand-Years-of-Night
You may think that with a multitude of people coming, going, dying and running away, we’d be tired, done, or ready to give up.
Instead, I find myself restless, looking for the next thing.
There’s always a next thing, and I for one am not yet ready to die.
– Elder Kincaid, Daeva Crone
This book includes:
• Detailed instructions on creating elder vampires, including how to base chronicles around them
• A look into the lives of elders, how they spend their nights, who they work with, and why including their roles in both their clans and covenants
• New Devotions, Merits, and Rituals for elder vampires
• The kinds of creatures that pose a threat to elder vampires, including Inamorata, Lamia, Sons of Phobos, a new elder conspiracy, and more!
CONVENTIONS!
Fast Eddy Webb will be running Pugmire during the online convention Gauntlet Con: http://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/ which runs from Oct. 20 – 22. Here is the sign-up link for the event which will be live-streamed. Currently three of six seats are still open: https://gauntlet-con.firebaseapp.com/event-detail/-KsmNjZtiH5ARXA6T6vb
In November, we’ll be at Game Hole Con in Madison, WI. November 2-5: https://www.gameholecon.com/ Monica Valentinelli (Hunter: the Vigil 2e, Dark Eras), Manda Collis (Exalted 3e), Scott Holden (Scarred Lands), Matt M McElroy (Operations Manager) and other folks from the OPP crew will be there!
Also in November, the Onyx Path crew including Rich, Matt, Lisa, Neall, Dixie, and Meghan will be at the first ever PAX Unplugged in Philadelphia, November 17-19. http://unplugged.paxsite.com/
Planning ahead for 2018, we’re heading back to Midwinter Game Convention in Milwaukee, January 11-14, where we’re going to be bringing a big crew of many of your favorite Onyx Path designers and we’ll be running demos and making some special announcements at the show! http://
And now, the new project status updates!
DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (projects in bold have changed status since last week):
RichT: To save time, I’ll tell you right now, no changes in the writing/dev/editing list this week. Lots of stuff is “on the cusp”, though.
First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)
- M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Monarchies of Mau (Monarchies of Mau)
- Night Horrors: The Tormented (Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition)
- Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)
- They Came From Beneath the Sea! Rulebook (TCFBtS!)
Redlines
- Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)
Second Draft
- WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)
- Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)
- Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)
Development
- Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)
- SL Ring of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)
- Ring of Spiragos (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)
- Pugmire Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers (Pugmire)
- Scion: Origin (Scion 2nd Edition)
- Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)
- Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)
- Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)
- GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)
- The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)
WW Manuscript Approval:
- Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)
Editing:
- Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- DtD Night Horrors: Enemy Action (Demon: the Descent)
Post-Editing Development:
- W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)
- C20 Ready Made Characters (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)
Indexing:
ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:
In Art Direction
- W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook – Art at WW approved.
- Cavaliers of Mars
- W20 Changing Ways
- Ex3 Monthly Stuff
- Scion Origins
- Ring of Spiragos
- VtR Half Damned
- Book of Freeholds
- DtD Enemy Action
- C20 RMCs – Finishes coming.
- Changeling: the Lost 2 – ADing. Getting art in for KS a priority.
- Trinity Continuum – Splats for core book with Mr Jones
Marketing Stuff
In Layout
- Prince’s Gambit – Remaining art is arting.
- Wraith 20
- Beast PG
- M20 Cookbook – Working on it after Beckett is done.
Proofing
- VDA Jumpstart
- Ex 3 Arms of the Chosen
- Becket’s Jyhad Diary – Proofing back and forth with Dawkins.
At Press
- Beckett Screen – Shipped to shipper.
- Scarred Land PGs & Wise and the Wicked PF & 5e – On a boat to the US. PoD proofs ordered.
- Dark Eras: God’s Own Country – PDF and PoD versions on sale this week.
- VTR: Thousand Years of Night – Errors discovered at GenCon, getting fixed.
- Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition) – Deluxe Edition cover and Screen in the works.
- CtL Huntsmen Chronicle Anthology PDF – getting PDF ready.
- Art of Mage – Ordering PoD proofs.
- Pugmire Trick, Condition, and Initiative Cards – PoD proofs ordered.
TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: We did not celebrate the coming of Autumn yet, but it happened. The Fall. My favorite time of the year, and it’s not for all the pumpkin spice crap. Here in the NE USA, we have the leaves changing to reds, golds, oranges, yellows, and darkness comes earlier. The air gets crisper and cooler, less humid. We can wear layers and jackets! And Winter is coming, but it ain’t here yet, so let’s have some fun!
No Pax Aus visit? Maaaan, we antipodeans are never gonna get in on the Scion sample action…
I do not know what you mean.
“Pax Aus” is, I believe, PAX Australia?
It is indeed a thing. They have RPG tables and such! http://aus.paxsite.com/
Very cool! I didn’t know PAX had spread to so many places. As to whether we’d ever go…I’d love to, but the distance and cost might be a bit much.
We’ll have to wait for Dragon-blooded KS till next year?
Sad panda.
That is correct. Don’t be sad, it’ll be even more towards finished by the Kickstarter, so less time waiting for the book after the KS is over!
Hi Rich. I may have missed it, but I haven’t seen anything about Victorian Age: Mage and I was wondering if you can give us an idea on how soon we might see something about that project.
Not really, we’re working with Satyr Phil Brucato right now on arranging the Mage20 schedule to get Victorian on there and started, but we have a couple of projects to get wrapped up so he can devote serious attention to it.
That’s what I was wondering, thank you.
Since Dragon-Blooded’s come up, what’re the next few Kickstarters likely to be?
I think it’s Changeling the Lost and Trinity before the end of the year, but I’m not certain.
That is indeed the plan.
That lives up with what I remember seeing in previous blogs. Lost is listed above in art direction mentioning the Kickstarter.
Yes, Lost2 and then Trinity Continuum – hopefully both this year.
We’re working on setting up Changeling:The Lost 2nd Edition’s KS now, and then we want to run the Trinity Continuum KS after that. Both should be a lot of fun, with some cool Stretch Goals.
Tormented is actually in redlines, not first drafts, just in case anyone’s interested.
Great to hear! Thanks, Matt!
So are Lunars and Exigents still going to get Kickstarters? I haven’t been entirely clear on that point for a while or two.
It’s certainly possible, but we really don’t lock those things in stone until we see how similar projects do on KS. A Kickstarter is a ton of work, and we need to see whether the interest and pledges make that work worthwhile. So, if Dragon-Blooded’s KS goes well, then the odds are Lunars will also be KS’d, etc, etc.
*nods sagely* Like how the Second Edition KSes for Geist and nHunter are or were contingent on the performance of the nChangeling KS. Got it.
W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook – Art at WW approved.
Does this mean it goes into layout next?
Any chance the older novels, like clan novels and the others, might get published on Amazon? Reading the PDFs on a Kindle is really frustrating. Or maybe that is out of Onyx Path’s hands? Is it White Wolf we have to bug for that to happen?
Thanka for the great work and for revitalizing oWoD!
Arms still in proofing, but it doesn’t say which. Does this mean out of first proof and (optimistic hope) maybe in a final one?
Still in first proof
So we know what algorithm is used for the dice roller apps random number generator?
Why do you want to know?
I have seen several established rice rollers that are using a random number generating algorithms that are and not very random. Also, I am just curious.
Very excited for the Beast Player’s Guide. May I ask if it includes an Atavism that lets players apply Defense against Firearms? Has always been one of my favorite supernatural powers, and was bitterly disappointed the corebook didn’t include it.
Oh i am wondering because there isn’t anything in the notes about it, but is there like a general estimate in the time between the different stages like between layout and proofing. I assume book length impacts it, but still i think it would be very helpful to have that along with the list, so one has a better understanding of what the different stages mean.
We have general internal expectations that factor in things like size of book, are we using a format or creating new graphics, those sort of things. But giving out estimated times for a production phase would be as counterproductive as giving out estimated release dates for us.