Let’s start serious and move towards our yearly Thanks blog at the end.
I’ve heard from a lot of you asking if the recent messages that White Wolf have posted on their social media are something that will be bad for Onyx Path. As of this writing, everything we’ve heard from over there is that it’s business as usual between our companies. We are still going to be sending projects over for approvals, they are still the ones who OK our pitches for new WW-IP projects, and we’re still running our successful Chicago By Night KS, the first licensed V5 TTRPG supplement.
So fear not, True Believers!
I mean, I just had to channel Stan Lee there, after last week’s MMN blog.
Which was, oddly enough, the least commented-on blog I think I’ve ever posted. Very strange, but I’m just assuming you were all in mourning for Stan, too.
In case you missed it last week, here is the lovely graphic our own Impish Ian Watson made to show what game lines are wholly Onyx Path‘s, the ones at the top, and which are licensed from whom:
I actually didn’t think we’d need it again so soon, but there does seem to be a fair bit of confusion out there, so feel free to point to this if you need to explain things to a friend.
And that’s one of the awesome Chicago By Night full-page pieces up there at the top, illustrated by the amazing Michael Gaydos. More Chicago Kickstarter news – we’re headed into the last week! – down below in The Blurbs!
A bit of related news:
One of the first times I ever heard of Matthew Dawkins, who is our Chicago By Night developer, was when he interviewed me for his YouTube channel a whole bunch of years ago. From then, his Gentlemam Gamer videos have taken deep dives into many of the White Wolf (and other) games, and were very helpful in explaining aspects of V5 during this last year.
Now, Matthew has agreed to create a series of Gentleman Gamer videos for our Onyx Path games starting with the pantheons in Scion 2nd Edition, and you’ll also be seeing Matthew in other ways too, as he helps ramp up our online gaming presence. More on that in the weeks to come!
BUT DON’T WORRY, his dulcet tones are still going to be appearing weekly on the Onyx Pathcast – which this coming Friday features Dixie interviewing Jacqueline “Jax” Bryk with a one-on-one covering not just her work with us, but throughout the TTRPG biz, and how she has become one of our industries leading lights for safe play game writing.
And now, the thanks!
Let’s start with the newest member of our Monday Meeting team, Dixie Cochran:
- I am thankful that the whole Onyx Path team gave me the opportunity to work on these books in a greater capacity this year. I am thankful that Eddy, Matthew, and Rich are always supportive and willing to answer my many questions, and that Rose Bailey recommended me for this job as she moved on to a new stage in her career. I am thankful for all of my amazing Chronicles of Darkness and Exalted developers, writers, and fans, who continue to do amazing work and be a wonderful community. I am also thankful for lovely editors and indexers, Word’s “track changes” function, and Oxford commas.
From the art and layout side of things, there are these points from Mirthful Mike Chaney, in no particular order he tells me:
- Thankful our first Storypath IPs are really close to being done and ready to release.
- Thankful our non WW stuff has been continually well received…
- Thankful that Wraith 20 is almost done… and Scion…
- Thankful my wife is still as into 40k as I am… now if I could only get her into D&D 5e.
- Thankful that the midterms weren’t an utter shitshow.
- Thankful that I still get to work with all of you and still get to make game books after all these years.
Our marketing guru and developer/writer extraordinaire Monica Valentinelli shares these thoughts:
- I’d like to thank fans for their continued support and enthusiasm. People are really excited for the games we make, and that’s the reason why I do what I do.
Here’s Eddy Webb, with his thanks:
- I continue to be thankful for all of the fans of Realms of Pugmire.
- I am thankful that Monarchies of Mau is shipping (and ahead of schedule!)
- I am thankful to find so many people who are really excited about our upcoming Storypath games like Scion, Trinity Continuum, They Came From Beneath The Sea!, and Dystopia Rising: Evolution.
- And I am thankful that there are still people who love and support Onyx Path Publishing.
Mighty Matt McElroy takes a long sip of coffee and sez:
- I want thank everyone who has had the time and energy to introduce an
Onyx Path game to someone new. Whether that is inviting someone to
join your gaming group or running a demo at a convention, this past
year has been an amazing opportunity to meet new gamers around the
world.
Our behind-the-scenes keeper of the flame, LisaT has these thanks to share with all of you:
- I am thankful again this year for the opportunity to work with so many talented and creative people. And this year I had the opportunity to meet a number of them face to face along with many fans of our products. I’m looking forward to meeting even more of you at PAX Unplugged in Philadelphia in just a couple of weeks. So if you’re in town stop by and become part of what I’m thankful for for next year!
Impish Ian Watson, lord of Bloodlines modding, also does some other stuff he has thanks about:
- I’m thankful that, after years toiling in the word mines, the Trinity Continuum and Æon are almost done, and we’ve done a significant chunk of the next two supplements, plus Aberrant. I can’t wait for people to see the fruits of our labours.
- I’m thankful to Trinity‘s Kickstarter backers for having faith in us.
Let’s see what sort of thanks Mr. Dawkins has to share:
- Yo Gentlemaniacs, it’s Thanksgiving night, and this is the happiest time of year for all the maniacs, brother! You know, me and all my little Gentsters, we got a lot of things to be thankful for. Number one: we’re thankful for being happy and very healthy. We’re thankful for having time to share with our loved ones. We’re also thankful that Gentlemania is still the strongest force in the universe. And after the turkey’s done, after the blessings are all done, I can tell you what the Gentleman is mostly happy about: it’s SURVIVOR SERIES TIME! And I’m thankful for my team of Gentlemaniacs!!
- That, and Onyx Path are pretty cool.
Uhhhhh. He may be cracking under the pressure. Hard to say.
From me:
- I sometimes sit at my desk, stunned by the realization that I still get to do this after all these years and I’m thankful for that – a lot! Thanks to our creative freelancers who continue to find delightful new ways to verbally and visually describe our game worlds, and our full-time folks who orchestrate all this rampant creativity into the formats and pages that we all love to read and play. Thanks to all of our associated partner companies that give us the reach to deliver and communicate this thing we do to all of you!
- Which, of course, actually brings me to all of you and all of our community who have supported us through our growing pains, lo! these many years, and even through pains not of our choosing! Without this intricate eco-system that includes all of us and all of you, we just would not have been able to keep building all our game lines and worlds!
- Thank you.
Many Worlds, One Path!
BLURBS!
KICKSTARTER:
ELECTRONIC GAMING:
As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is both rolling and rocking!
Here are the links for the Apple and Android versions:
http://theappstore.site/app/1296692067/onyx-dice
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onyxpathpublishing.onyxdice&hl=en
Three different screenshots, above.
And our latest, the dice for Werewolf: The Forsaken 2e:
ON 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).
If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue you bought it from. Reviews really, really help us with getting folks interested in our amazing fiction!
Our selection includes these fiction books:
- Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II (Kindle, Nook)
- Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox (Kindle, Nook)
- Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
- Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile (Kindle, Nook)
- Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
- Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree (Kindle, Nook)
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds (Kindle, Nook)
- Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
- Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
- Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
- 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)
- Scarred Lands: Death in the Walled Warren (Kindle, Nook)
- V20 Dark Ages: Cainite Conspiracies (Kindle, Nook)
- Chronicles of Darkness: Strangeness in the Proportion (Kindle, Nook)
- Vampire: The Requiem: Silent Knife (Kindle, Nook)
- Mummy: The Curse: Dawn of Heresies (Kindle, Nook)
OUR SALES PARTNERS:
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
And we’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game
Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/
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/
And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296
DRIVETHRURPG.COM:
This Wednesday is a cornucopia of delicious choices!
Featuring: electronic wallpapers previously only available to Kickstarter backers for Changeling: The Dreaming 20th, W20 Shattered Dreams, V20 Beckett’s Jyhad Diary, Pugmire, Dark Eras, and Prince’s Gambit on DTRPG!
Followed up by Monarchies of Mau symbol t-shirts on our Red Bubble store, as a lead-in to next week and the release of Mau in PDF and PoD versions to the public!
CONVENTIONS!
Rich, Lisa, Matt, Eddy, Dixie, Danielle, and other Onyx Path writers
and developers will be at PAX Unplugged in Philly, November 30th –
December 2nd running demos of Scion, Monarchies of Mau, Exalted, and
more!
http://unplugged.paxsite.com/
Start getting ready for our appearance at MidWinter this January in Milwaukee! So many demos, playtests, secret playtests, and Onyx Path Q&As you could plotz!
And now, the new project status updates!
DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM FAST EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):
First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)
- C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)
- M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)
- Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)
- Scion Ready Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)
- Scion Jumpstart (Scion 2nd Edition)
- Geist2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)
- Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)
- Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)
- Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
- Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)
Redlines
- Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)
- Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)
- Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)
- Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)
Second Draft
- Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)
Development
- Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)
- CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)
- Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon (Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition)
- Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)
- Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)
- CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)
Manuscript Approval:
- V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)
- Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)
- Wr20 Book of Oblivion (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
Editing:
- Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)
- Aeon Aexpansion (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
- C20 Players’ Guide (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)
- M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Adventures for Curious Cats (Monarchies of Mau)
- In Media Res (Trinity Continuum: Core)
- Tales of Excellent Cats (Monarchies of Mau)
Post-Editing Development:
- Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)
Indexing:
ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:
In Art Direction
- Dystopia Rising: Evolution – Sketches coming in, and they look good.
- Geist 2e
- The Realm – Fulls contracted. Talking to Gong and Gunship about availability during holidays.
- Ex3 Monthly Stuff
- Chicago By Night – KS moving along.
- C20 Player’s Guide – Contracted.
- Aeon Aexpansion
- They Came From Beneath the Sea! – Getting more KS art since we have a little time, gonna start on KS assets.
- Lost 2e Jumpstart – Art contracted – sketches trickling in.
- EX3 Lunars – KS art contracted.
- Signs of Sorcery – Contracted – sketches trickling in.
Marketing Stuff
In Layout
- M20: Gods and Monsters – With Josh, progressing.
- Pugmire Roll of Good Dogs and Cats
Proofing
- Scion Hero – Pre XX errata fixes.
- Scion Origin – Corrections are in.
- Ex3 Dragon Blooded
- CtL2 Jumpstart – Awaiting more corrections.
- Trinity Core
- Trinity Aeon
At Press
- Monarchies of Mau and Screen – And dice and buttons, all shipped to backers. Waiting for PoD proofs.
- Wraith 20th – Fixing some issues with the front cover emboss. Everything else good to go though.
- Wraith 20 Screen – Printing.
- Scion Dice – At Studio2.
- Lost 2e Screen – Printing.
- Scion Screen – Printing.
- Changeling: The Lost 2e – Printing.
- Fetch Quest – Proof coming this week.
- Exalted 3rd Novel – Out to backers, getting errata.
- VtR Guide to the Night – Inputting errata and prepping for PoD.
- PtC Tormented – I think we hit errata shutdown on Wednesday.
TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE:
Thanksgiving! Not necessarily the “school” holiday of pilgrims and first winters and all that, but the holiday of togetherness and actually looking at how things are in your life and being glad (thankful) for the good parts and the parts that you learned from. And MST3K new season dropping on Turkey Day!
How the heck is Aberrant all the way to manuscript approval!? I’m really excited about that one since that was the first RPG I ever GM’ed way back in 2008.
Hard work, mostly!
I see the Scion Companion, Jumpstart, and Ready Made Characters in the work queue. I think the only item not up there yet is the Bestiary.
Is the current plan to finish the “Hero-tier” books before moving onto the Demigod KS or will we see the Demigod KS “soon”? On a related note, are their any non-KS-related Scion books planned?
We’ll be announcing our future Scion plans soon. I will say at this point that the plan doesn’t involve waiting for one set of books to be done before starting another set, and we have a LOT more planned. Stay tuned!
As Eddy noted…OH YES. We have many the plans for Scion 2nd.
Thanks for everything guys. You guys still keep being you and not only keep continue writing books but continue to keep on getting better at writing said books. For that you guys are awesome. In any case excited to Across finally on the board. Also surprised to see that Matthew is gonna be making a video series, especially to see them going through the Scion pantheons. Well have to say that definitely sounds interesting. If I can offer any advice on it that be just make sure to study up, Scion has been plenty good on that department so it should be good, I’m sure Matthew will be fine(Blind Faith)
Jk but really interested to see more from you guys.
Do we have Blind Faith as a Condition in Storypath? We might need to add it 🙂
Thanks!
I read it correctly that Monarchies of Mau is to be put as PDF on sale in next week? :O
Assuming nothing goes weird, Monarchies of Mau will go live on DTRPG in PDF and physical book PoD forms next Wednesday (the 27th). The traditionally printed versions we did the Kickstarter for will join Pugmire as available at Studio2 and Indie Press Revolution soon after!
Thank you all for making great games that we are glad and proud to share with other gamers.
And we’re thankful that we got to help out the Wreaking Crew demo Onyx Path games at the last five Gen Cons. That’s been a real big deal to us.
Happy Thanksgiving to the Onyx team.
-Louis
Dead Gamers Society organizer
Thanks to you and your team for all the hard work and hard gaming! We love it when we’re at a con and we have folks coming to the booth telling us how much fun they’ve had at the demo tables all through the day.
Canadian Thanksgiving was a solid month ago, but I’ve still got something in mind to piggyback on the thankfulness.
I’m thankful that Onyx Path is out there, creating games that have just as much meaning as Promethean did for me when I first read it while I was in a dark, dark place a long time ago.
I’m thankful that Chronicles and Scion continue to be enthusiastically inclusive and celebrate different people, cultures, and times.
And I’m thankful to have been able to able to contribute to these legacies in my own small way as a freelancer. It has been a wild year, but it has definitely changed me for the better. It may not be obvious to anyone but me, but the experience of writing creates feedback for my job as a high school teacher. I can see the ways that freelancing for OPP has and will prove invaluable for my students. That’s pretty powerful and it will have a long-term positive effect. I’m extraordinarily thankful for it and my students are too (even if they aren’t aware of it).
Thanks for your thoughts (and your contributions!), and for noting that we try and make our game worlds accessible to all. The proof is in the reading of them.
Why does Aberrant Core need manuscript approval? I thought it was owned by OPP?
Yes, but when we’ve finished putting it together, Rich still needs to give it his thumbs up. It’s internal rather than external, but it still needs the boss’s approval.
Great minds think alike, or I’m just glomming onto your brain waves
If the recent events at White Wolf/Paradox show nothing else, it is the importance of brand image and staying on message.
Keep up the incredible work folks!
Well, more that Rich owns it, and he has to like it. 🙂
Yep, it is a tough thing to communicate if you are tied to an existing fan-base community. We’ve had several phases in Onyx’s seven years, from counteracting the “White Wolf Is Dead!” meme when we started, to “Who IS Onyx Path Anyway?” for a bunch of years, to our current “Many Worlds, One Path” motto that’s designed to talk about our exciting variety of game worlds. Through all of them, we were challenged by the lack of any real central communications hub that speaks to most of our community – what we have now was built out of a variety of venues including this site, and we still find that we have to keep pushing into new venues to get folks our news. The corporate changes certainly didn’t help that for us, and I don’t think it was easy for WW. Their business intentions have been pretty consistent, but the message wasn’t clearly sent nor received, with more members of our community than you’d think expecting that they were the same WW as the original, with all of the same intentions and creative direction. That’s a big hill to clamber over, communication of brand identity-wise.
Maybe lead on book still has to run it by Rich??
Since we have that phase as part of our project process, we just thought we’d include my usual review in that slot, rather than me doing it “sort-of as part of the process”.
The announcement from White Wolf – and the email from Mophidius about delays in shipping the physical V5 books – did allow for some discussion about licensing connections. I saw that chart on one of your social media outlets, so I’d already used it! Seriously, I’m filled with hope that the “new direction” of White Wolf will be good for all of us. I’m thankful that all y’all at Onyx Path are doing the rad work you’re doing, all around!
Awesome- glad to hear it has already been useful. We thought a visual might help more than our written explanations seem to have so far! Thank you for all of your support!
Excited for Changeling the Lost 2e to hit the printer! 🙂 Was a Truth and Lies textbook added in the final proof of the Intro?
Oh yes, it’s printing away at this point! Not sure what you’re asking about the final proof, though.
Sorry for the confusion in my previous post.
I was referring to the Truth and Lies box that is in the Intro chapter of the previous Chronicles of Darkness books (Ex: True or False: Prometheans are Undead: False, the are living beings usually made from dead tissue). I was looking at the backer preview of CtL2e the other day and didn’t see one in the Intro chapter and was curious whether or not one was added in the final edits.
I’m thankful for Onyx Path, Stewart Wieck, and everyone involved for reviving the Scarred Lands and continuing the setting, hopefully with new books coming next, but also with the Slarecian Vault program. And, I can’t be thankful enough to Stewart and Scott (Holden) for giving me the opportunity to write in the Player’s Guide.
Thanks for your contributions, and yes, we are really serious about bringing the Scarred Lands to present-day gamers and appreciate everybody like yourself who gets the word out that it is happening!
I’m thankful to the Onyx Path for carrying the torch and continuing to make the games that brought me together with most of my longest friends. I’m thankful to Rich for offering to line up interviews for the Story Told; the podcast would not be as excellent without the creative folks who are willing to share their time.
Glad to do it, and thanks to you for giving our creators a venue to talk about their projects and themselves.
Sounded in the Pathcast like Dixie was saying Dystopia Rising is at the back of her to do list for editing. Say it isnt so.
I have promised it to Eddy by mid-January at the latest, so it’s not so bad. I had to take some time and concentrate on a few older projects that fell into my lap, but it’s definitely happening soon!
Saying something like that isn’t saying that the project isn’t important, it is saying that Dixie, or any of our team who is keeping on top of multiple projects, has made a strategic decision, based on the current status of all of their projects, to work on them in the sequence that looks to deliver the best result.
You use words prettier than I do, Rich. You should go into publishing. 😉
So… what’s the chances that I’ll have physical copies of Scion and Trinity in my grubby hands in say, the next six months?
In case you weren’t aware, we don’t do release estimates.
I know. I was just hoping for a little hint.
Looking forward to PAX Unplugged! Which of your smiling faces will I be greeted by at your booth?
Well, we may not always be smiling, but I believe we’ll have Rich, Lisa, Matt McElroy, me, Dixie, and Bill Bodden.
The art for Chicago V5 looks absolutely amazing. You rock.
I am exceptionally happy to see that the meat is still in the grinder, the sausage is still being made. After seeing the WW announcement, I was very concerned.
On a brighter note, I received my copy of MoM today (scheduled for Friday arrival)! Not chance to look through it yet, but ICANHASCHEEZEBURGER! …er well, you know.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all who celebrate, happy long weekend to those that don’t, and happy gaming to all!
Hope you enjoy being an excellent cat!
As with others on here, very thankful for you lot at the Path and the work you’re doing. I do not have words for how excited I am for the new Aeon Continuum properties and upcoming Scion 2nd. The closest I’m likely to get to articulating it is a noise that just bothers the local dogs. 😉 I wish all the best for you and your families, and look forward to walking the Onyx Path to new stories with you this next year.
Thanks! Although we prefer the term “Trinity Continuum: Aeon” over “Aeon Continuum.” 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving all you wonderful people at Onyx Path! Thank you for all the wonderful worlds and creations that have helped so many of us in our lives. Bless you all!
Well, it’s still Thanksgiving in some parts of the US, so I’ll pitch in my bit. :> I’m thankful to Onyx Path for giving me the chance to form some really close friendships with my gaming group through their games, and giving me probably the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had.