C’MON to the 3rd ONYX PATH VIRTUAL CONVENTION!
This is the week! Starting on Friday the 10th!
I’ll be starting us off along with the usual suspects at the Opening Ceremonies panel at 5pm EDT on Friday the 10th on Twitch, and you can expect the usual tomfoolery as well as the first of many reveals of new projects (some totally new, some confirming hoped-for game books).
And from there, we have a raft of great programming – the panels and Actual Plays, and also the 40+ games that folks are running throughout the Con. Check out the schedules posted below in the Conventions section, and by following the link there to the Start Playing Games Onyx Path Virtual Convention site!
As I understand it, some of the general games will be free, others are for a small fee that is split between the courageous creative geniuses who are running the games and our charity – the always awesome Bodhana Group! So pop in and play a few games – I hear pretty much all of our game lines are represented!
Give it a go: revisit your old favorites and/or try out new ones, since you have a skilled game-runner just waiting to run the fun!
Also, there will be chats running throughout the shows, so please feel free to ask whatever questions pop into your head – we want to hear from our attendees!
GOGO to the Exalted Exigents crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo!
We’re not quite at the half-way point and the KS has passed 333% funding, which means a ton of super Stretch Goals have been achieved by backers!
There’s an entire companion book that’s feeling pretty bulky at this point, and with these Stretch Goals falling like wheat before Strawmaiden Janest’s scythe, James is also expanding our fancier rewards/perks. It’s a great time to jump in and contribute your pledge and even to the project with one of those higher-tier rewards!
There’s an Exalted panel right after the Opening Ceremonies at 7pm EDT, Friday the 10th, and an Exalted Essence panel on Sunday morning at 11am EDT, June the 12th. Both a great opportunities to ask questions about Exigents (even if Essence is its own thing).
Could we have started more games with an E?
JUNE is Crossroads Continent month!
As we’ve been doing all this 10th Anniversary year, we focus on one of our game lines per month, and June’s is my very own Crossroads Continent campaign setting for “the 5th Edition of the world’s most popular fantasy TTRPG”.
You know what that means, of course.
Up until this coming Wednesday, the line consisted of one book, Peoples of the Crossroads Continent, which provided the stats and adjustments and backgrounds for most of the intelligent peoples that could be used as player characters.
Peoples will be joined this week by Down In The Hole, the first adventure I’ve written in a couple of decades for the CRC, and one I’ll be going into more detail on below. But that’s OK, because we specifically made June the month for CRC because it was the month for our Convention. Any kind of convention is a big, big job to plan, so having a “lighter” game line to also wrangle the festivities for makes sense.
Down In The Hole was also pretty much a two-person gig, with able editing assistance from our own Dixie Cochran, so that also simplified getting everything together while the rest of the team could get our other ducks in a row. I wrote it, made the maps, and provided the illustrations, and Travis Legge made sure we have the right 5e stuff in there and then dragged me kicking and screaming into working with him to create the VTT components.
It was actually a lot more fun than that, but I have a grumpy image to maintain!
And the VTT stuff is really important because then I was able to playtest the adventure over Roll20, which then turned into one, and then two, and now three Onyx Pathcast episodes all through this celebration month, where I get to run Travis and the Pathcast Trio through the dungeon.
That third episode finale will actually be recorded both as a Pathcast and you’ll be able to see us play an Actual Play session starting at 10am EDT Saturday, the 11th, during the Convention. The chats will be going, so if you can pop in and let us know what you think or to ask questions, we’d love to have ya!
(Speaking of online gaming discourse, the final episode of this season of Danielle and Eddy’s Tuesday at 12 noon Lunch and Crunch shows will be happening this Tuesday the 7th on the Onyx Path Twitch channel. They’ll have a special guest to see off the season – none other than Merry Matthew Dawkins! He’ll be there to talk with them about designing humorous games – that’s a Must-Watch!)
Also at the Convention, in keeping with our monthly theme, there will be a CRC panel where we can actually talk about the world and answer questions, in case you miss the chance during the adventure session. I’m hoping it will also be interesting for folks because not only will Dixie be on the panel, representing new players of the CRC, but one of my players going all the way back to our high-school days has agreed, tentatively but enthusiastically, to join us.
That could be a fun juxtaposition of viewpoints! That’s at 7pm EDT Saturday night, right after the ever-popular What’s Up With Onyx Path? panel!
Not specifically CRC related, but more a chance to delve into the founding of Onyx Path itself, I’m sitting down with everybody’s favorite, Impish Ian Watson, at 2:30 PM EDT on Sunday the 12th. With Ian’s incredibly in-depth knowledge of old White Wolf, and inside viewpoint on the start and growth of Onyx Path, it should be quite a chat!
Like in previous months, we are actually having a 90% off sale of the previous CRC PDFs. Although, that’s only Peoples of the Crossroads Continent, so…
As our planning would have it, we do actually have a huge sale tied to celebrating the company as a whole, just like the Convention, and you’ll be able to get discounts at DriveThruRPG, but also at IPR, and also at Studio2! Links below in the Sales Partners section!
Finally?
Here’s a bit on the CRC adventure, Down In The Hole, and how it came to be. This is excerpted from the Introduction:
… I looked through my notes for the many dungeons and caverns that were explored by my players over the years. I was looking for a dungeon to re-write into the fifth-edition rules for the world’s most popular roleplaying game since most of the dungeons I created were before third edition. To my surprise, there were almost no beginning adventures that weren’t really the start of much more involved campaigns — Not ideal for the sort of limited adventure that needs to be designed for running at a convention, online or otherwise.
So I sidestepped to the idea of writing a new CRC adventure, and after thinking about what would be fun, I chatted with Travis Legge, who would take whatever stuff I hammered together and work his 5e magic on it. First, I told him I was going to go all the way back to the sort of dungeons I first experienced as a player. My first GM was an upperclassman named Robert, whose Dungeons & Dragons world was extremely “low fantasy”.
Gold and magic were scarce, low-level natural threats and challenges were the norm: bugs, dirty pools, and mud. There were lots of mud pits and mud piles waiting to be poked and prodded by staves and the ubiquitous 10-foot pole. Most adventures started with a scrap of parchment, torn and stained, upon which a treasure map was emblazoned. Sometimes they were crudely scrawled, sometimes neatly transcribed from another source – but all promised certain riches that we couldn’t get at our day jobs.
That’s right, in Robert’s world, the player characters might go out on adventures, but they also had real jobs in the local economy to pay their bills. For example, my student of the mystical and arcane sold beer for the local inn when not studying eldritch grimoires or out adventuring. He had his own cart to push around town with a barrel of ale and a ladle. By the time he reached 3rd level, he had saved enough to buy a silver dagger to use on those things out there only affected by silver weapons.
Now, the CRC isn’t that low fantasy, but there was just something charming and grounded about those early dungeons of Robert’s, so that was the overall feel and the specific challenges I thought would be flavorful to include in a starter dungeon.
But there was something else that came out of my conversation with Travis – I started thinking about how I would have sat down to create a dungeon “back in the day” and realized as I described the process to him that I would have probably used the random dungeon design tables from…where? I couldn’t remember where they were. Travis and I started searching for old issues of Dragon magazine, the primary place back then for ideas that were okayed by TSR – but had no luck. Grabbing my first edition Dungeon Master’s Guide off the shelf, I flew through the pages until – there they were! A whole section on creating dungeons and caverns with random dice rolling on tables!
That would be my method for creating this new dungeon, just like I did way back when.
Which meant I needed the 1e DMG for the charts, my bag of dice, and just to really push the verisimilitude, I dug out one of my old graph-paper pads. Because those early dungeons were often natural caves and caverns, I started with the idea that there’s a hole that opens into the top of a cavern, with other caves and caverns connected. But, at some point, there was excavation, and tunnels and rooms were added. A whole lot of dice rolling ensued, with me drawing out each room and passage roughly and adding notes as to monsters, treasure, and anything unusual that was rolled. Now, this process wasn’t just mechanical. I would reroll if the dice led to an impossible situation, like off the edge of the page, or were too, too repetitive.
Just a taste of that classic dungeon design process. Rolling the dice, consulting the charts, setting up a playground for some players, and a DEATHTRAP FOR OTHERS!
Ahem.
If you get the chance, please do check it out and you can see for yourself how that process leads to fun around the table. I mean, I think they were having fun. On sale Wednesday will be the Advance PDF, the first Onyx Pathcast episode of the play-through is already up, the second will be on this coming Friday, and you can catch the finale Saturday morning at the Convention.
Hoping to get a chance to chat with all of you during the Con, about anything, not just the CRC, and we can go over all the fun we’ve had these:
Ten Years, Many Worlds, One Path!
BLURBS!
Kickstarter/Crowdfunding!
Exalted: Exigents on IndieGoGo has already passed 1,200 backers and $117,000 in pledges! We’re more than 333% funded and only a day from the half-way point! So many Stretch Goals have already been reached, and they’ve opened up new high-end rewards/perks! Thanks everybody who has backed so far – keep spreading the word!
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/exigents-out-of-the-ashes-for-exalted-3rd-edition/x/25772954#/
Onyx Path Media!
This week:
Crossroads Continent AP, Part 2! RICH THOMAS HIMSELF continues his adventure with Dixie, Eddy, Matthew, and Travis Legge through the new Crossroads Continent adventure!
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:
Devil’s Luck Gaming are in the throes of their Adventure! / Assassins crossover game for the Trinity Continuum! If you want to catch up on their old episodes, all you need to do is give them a follow (it’s free!) on Twitch, and you can tune in live to watch their latest episodes! https://www.twitch.tv/devilsluckgaming
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/n2VJjmxmw90
Virtual Tabletop!
The Scion: Origin Compendium is now available on Roll20!
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/compendiumexpansion/12522/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin
It’s native to Roll20, so not for use elsewhere, but perfect for starting your Roll20 Scion game – plus, the official Origin & Hero sheets are already available!
And 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
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!
To celebrate our Onyx Path Virtual Convention, we’re also running this 50% off sale:
S2 – 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/
To celebrate our Onyx Path Virtual Convention, we’re also running this 50% off sale:
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!
The Crossroads Continent 90% off Onyx Path 10th Anniversary Celebration Sale runs all through June!
Peoples of the Crossroads Continent PDF is 90% Off:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/344601/Peoples-of-the-Crossroads-Continent
To celebrate our Onyx Path Virtual Convention, we’re also running this 50% off sale:
DTRPG – https://www.drivethrurpg.com/promo.php?src=OPP10Sale
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 novellas Dawn and Meridian in the Kindle store!
On Sale This Week!
This Wednesday, rising out of the muck and mire of early adventuring, the first new adventure for the Crossroads Continent setting is Down In The Hole – in Advance PDF on DTRPG!
Down in the Hole is a starter adventure for the Crossroads Continent, designed to capture an old school feel with the 5e ruleset. The adventurers acquire a map to an abandoned treasure horde allegedly belonging to a famed adventurer. Following the map, they discover a sprawling underground cavern filled with dangerous creatures, terrifying traps, and hints of a great threat making inroads into the region. This tale is perfect for a one-shot, or as a springboard to begin your own adventures in the Crossroads Continent using the rule set for the world’s most popular
roleplaying game!
Down in the Hole contains:
• A terrifying subterranean dungeon crawl set in the Crossroads Continent
• New monsters, a new magic item, and optional healing rules.
• Design notes from creator Richard Thomas.
Also this Wednesday, we will be releasing the Chronicles of Darkness Character Sheets Collection – for all your CofD gaming needs!
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!
We’ve just submitted panels for the online version of Gen Con for early August, and if you’re interested in running or playing our games there, they’ve recently released this link:
Tabletop Scotland is due to take place on 27th and 28th August 2022 and will play host to at least four Onyx Pathers running our games and sitting on panels live and there in the room with you! If you’re UK or Europe based, it’s an excellent con to visit and within traveling distance from Edinburgh, which takes flights from a lot of places! Consider paying Tabletop Scotland a visit. https://tabletopscotland.co.uk/
3rd Onyx Path Virtual Con – THIS WEEKEND – June 10th-12th.
This year’s Onyx Path Publishing Virtual Convention 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!
How to list a game:
https://intercom.help/startplayinggames/en/articles/4516071-how-to-create-and-list-a-game
Here are our panel listings:
And our Actual Play Schedules:
And now, the new project status updates!
Our full list of projects will be available monthly on our blog! Check out May’s full list report here: https://theonyxpath.com/release-roundup-may-2022/
Development Status from Eddy Webb!
(Here are the projects that moved to the next stage of production):
First Drafts
Trinity Continuum – Tasty Bit – Psions in the Modern Day
- Eddy: The next Tasty Bit is on the move! This will be a new Allegiance for Trinity Core Rulebook, allowing people to play psions from Æon in the modern day!
Redlines
TC: Aberrant – From the Shadows
- Eddy: Our upcoming TC:Aberrant sourcebook about espionage and Talents is in hand for redlining!
Exalted – Exalted Essence Companion
- Dixie: Moving right along, and chock full of everything we added during the Kickstarter! Expect Charms, Martial Arts, Artifacts, and at least one warstrider!
Scion – Demigod Companion
- Matthew: I’ll look into previewing some of the content from this upcoming book on the blog in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
Final Draft
Hunter: The Vigil 2e – Hunter Jumpstart
- Dixie: As with all our 2e Jumpstarts, this is sure to add to the line while also helping new players and GMs!
Development
Trinity Continuum – Talents Player’s Guide
- Eddy: Speaking of Talents, our Player’s Guide for Trinity Core Rulebook, featuring new options and rules for all sorts of Talented (eh? eh?) characters has all drafts in and is ready for development!
TC: Adventure! – Thrilling Tales
- Eddy: Also having all final drafts in is the TC: Adventure! stretch goal converting the radio play we used to promote the Kickstarter into a playable adventure!
Art Direction from Mike Chaney!
In Art Direction
- Ex3 Adversaries – Whole bunch of final color art in approvals with Paradox.
- TC Adventure! – Going over sketches and grabbing reference.
- DTR Devoted Companion – Awaiting Art Notes
- DTR Clade Companion – Awaiting Art Notes
In Layout
- M20 Victorian Mage – We should see the first layout proof this week.
- Masks of the Mythos – Character sheets to Ron.
- SCION Dragon – With Josh. I’m also working on this Character Sheet.
Proofing
- TC Aeon Mission Statements – Working on finishing the corporation and organization logos for Chapter 2 and 3..
- M20 Sorcerer – 2nd proof.
Indexing
At Press
- Scion Demigod – Trad press files at printer. PoD proof ordered.
- Squeaks in the Deep Screen – Files ready for Press.
- Squeaks in the Deep – Trad press files at printer.
- Squeaks in the Deep Bookmarks – At KS shipper.
- Hunter: The Vigil 2e – Trad press files at printer.
- HTV 2 Screen – Files ready for Press.
- M20 The Operatives Dossier – PoD proofs on the way.
- TC: Aberrant: Terat Novella – PoD proof on the way.
- Trinity Continuum: Assassins – Awaiting errata input.
- Scarred Lands: Dead Man’s Rust – Page XXing.
- Down In The Hole – CRC Adventure – Advance PDF on sale this Weds. on DTRPG!
Today’s Reason to Celebrate!
We’ve had a lot of birthdays recently, but this one landed right on today AND on the week we’re prepping for Onyx Path Virtual Con – which our birthday boy has been working his butt off on. So, Happy Birthday, Travis Legge! For all you do, this Reason to Celebrate is for you!
Thanks so much for the kind birthday wishes! I can’t wait to hear what folks think of Down in the Hole!
Me too!
“Scion Demigod – Trad press files at printer. PoD proof ordered.”
Now the waiting begins, which Charlie T. Wilbury Jr. (of honored memory) told us is the hardest part. (Actually, the guy who said that was only the same person as Charlie T., not the same apostle.)
Yep, and with the US mail being what it is right now, we have no idea how long the hardest part will take! Pretty sure CharlieT didn’t say that, but I could be wrong! 🙂
Have you guys changed something about how you do your proofing process recently? Used to be that when I saw something in proofing I’d expect the PDF to hit about 4-6 weeks later (sometimes sooner). I realised Saints and Monsters has been at that stage for some time, and looking back it got there in February.
There’s no criticism here (real or implied), I’m just curious as to whether there’s a plan behind it and whether its the result of a process that works better for you as a company.
Nope, no changes. Every project is different, so we adapt to what needs to be done to make the best project – and sometimes that means a project will take longer in one phase compared to another project.
Question from a real old/new Trinity fan: will Assassins be traditionally printed with a sewn binding like the other books by Studio 2 or Indie Press Revolution?
Corey, the reason we do crowdfunding is so that we can take the books to traditional printers and either create Deluxe books or books that go into stores. TC: Assassins was not crowdfunded so it won’t be going to a traditional printer. Our experience is that PoD binding is no more or less strong than traditional binding – my D&D 5e book which was trad bound has multiple sections of pages no longer bound in, while almost every one of my PoDs that see “referential” use – going back and forth through the book repeatedly – are still bound in just fine. YMMV.
Yes, my Exalted 3E POD books have held up very well. I was mostly thinking of the way certain parts of the Trinity books are glossy and others are matte.
Whereas my 3e core POD book has torn its cover away from the pagebundle from the bottom to about 1/3rd the way up, without any misuse. Which is a shame, but not the end of the world.