And the answer is “None. None more backer.”

More BackerKit, that is!

Last week I mentioned that our Scion community should look out for something about Scion: God at the end of the week. And before Friday was over, folks started posting about ads letting everyone know that the Scion: God crowdfunding campaign was going to happen on a brand new platform!

Onyx Path is participating in BackerKit‘s beta for their very own crowdfunding platform, and we are excited to start off with Scion: God!

Our backers of our various crowdfunding campaigns should all be familiar with BackerKit, as we’ve used them for our post-campaign organization for years – something like 40 campaigns!

From the beginning, they’ve made the whole process easier, and they’re always looking to improve the services and ease of use for both us and all of our backers, so I’m really interested in seeing how they can bring that same excellent usability to the crowdfunding campaign, itself! Right now, I can say that with this being a beta, we’re looking at a lot of great features already in place, some awesome ideas for features that are on the way, and some that are in there to be tested. We’re all excited to find out which ones nail the crowdfunding experience you’re looking for!

Welp, we’re gonna find out in about 20 days!

In the intervening time, BackerKit and Onyx Path will be spreading the word, releasing some teasers, and generally trying our best to let everybody know that this campaign for Scion: God is happening. Any time you can link to the pre-launch page, re-tweet a tweet, like and/or repost a FB ad – we really appreciate it!

And, of course, I hope everyone reading this also signs up to be alerted when it goes live – especially since there’s a little early-bird bonus for people who pledge first, too! See you on the 18th of October!

Meanwhile, here we are still in September. But before I remind everybody about sales and Pugmire month and all that, there’s something I have to talk about that is quite serious and absolutely one of my least favorite parts in sharing this blog.

Last Friday we received the sad and tragic news that one of our most well-regarded freelance creators, Leath Sheales, passed away suddenly. Matthew wrote a beautiful memorial post here: https://theonyxpath.com/leath-sheales-has-passed-away/

As Matthew noted, Leath was really a mainstay of our creators, with his work appearing, or set to appear, in a wide variety of our projects. He was known for his work on Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition (I mean, his online name on our forums was Bunyip – a tip of the hat to his love of WtA and Australian heritage.), but he contributed to CofD projects, and was a prolific and vital creative force for the Trinity Continuum line.

Just to give you an idea, here’s a list Ian Watson compiled in tribute:

TC: Aeon
Writer: Æon Rulebook (w/Alex)
Writer: Æon Æxpansion
Writer: Aeon Ready-Made Characters
Writer: Distant Worlds (w/Alex)
Writer: Terra Firma
Writer: Under Alien Skies
Writer: STB: Pets
Writer: Prometheus Unbound
Writer: Mission Statements
Developer: Aeon Ready-Made Characters
Co-Developer: Prometheus Unbound (w/John)
Developer: Mission Statements

TC: Aberrant
Writer: Aberrant Rulebook

Upcoming:
Writer: Aether Rulebook
Writer: Aegis Rulebook
Writer: Aberrant: With Great Power
Developer: Aberrant: From the Shadows (edited)

Even more telling as to Leath’s outstanding abilities is the way both his co-creators and those fans who interacted with him always talk about he was simply fun to talk with – and always willing to lend a friendly hand. And the thing is, there’s no “simply” to it – it’s rare that any creator shines forth as a fantastic team-mate in the creative process, a true professional, and also someone who can communicate with our community with clarity, fun, and respect.

Leath was a very special part of our freelance creators here, and we’re going to miss him a great deal.

The Other Things We Talked About in the MM Today:

Many of us were not feeling it after the news from Friday, but after reminiscing about Leath, we did finish up today’s more subdued meeting with our normal reports on our projects, sales, and events.

As I mentioned earlier, this is the last week of September, which means it’s the last week of our month-long celebration of the Realms of Pugmire as part of Onyx Path‘s 10 Year Anniversary.

This is the last week of our Pugmire sales, and also Friday features both our StartPlaying Onyx Path Game Night, featuring Pugmire, as well as the finale of the Onyx Pathcast‘s month-long series featuring playing in the Realms of Pugmire.

According to the gang, this coming Friday is going to reveal “The Secrets of Pugmire“, and even I don’t know what they mean by that. You’ll have to listen and let me know-

So, we’re going out with a bang and a bark!

Along the same lines, I steal from Eddy one last time this month, as he shares more of his thoughts on the game design thinking behind his creation ofPugmire:

As we head into the last week of Pugmire month, I wanted to talk a bit about another design decision I made for the game: the level 10 cap.

I like this decision, because it’s a perfect example of a design decision that makes system sense (or “crunch” if you prefer), fiction sense (or “fluff” if you like), and metatextual sense.

Starting with the system reasons, let me fill you in on a secret: Most versions of D&D tend to break down somewhere around levels 10-20. Challenges on average don’t feel as engaging, but failures matter more. Outside of specific high-level design changes (which some versions have attempted), it ends up being both sides chipping away at the other, with the occasional failure resulting in a complete splattering.

I hasten to add that some people really dig this style of play, and I don’t want to harsh their fun. Just that the game slowly and almost imperceptibly changes around that stage.

It’s why (I suspect) most D&D chronicle books are geared to take you from level 1 to 10, because that’s the sweet spot. Another reason is that people are more likely to buy a starting-level campaign instead of a high-level one, but that’s a bit outside the scope of this.

So for Pugmire, it’s simple: I just capped the game at 10. It allowed me to worry less about making sure things scale in any hypothetical post-level-10 situations, and it allows more flexibility and freedom inside that 1-10 scale.

Yes, you absolutely can play after level 10, and nothing’s really stopping you (especially since you do the exact same thing every level). It’s just that this means I can signpost “hey, shit gets weird after this point, so you’re on your own.”

And again, some people dig that. Have a blast! But I’m not designing for that kind of game.

The world-building reason is that our pets (some birds and turtles excepted) live shorter lives than we do. So by having a level 10 cap and calling that “gray fur,” I have a way of signposting that relationship without making it morbid.

Characters can quietly retire (to a nice farm, upstate…) and pass on their knowledge to a new generation. Which also ties into something very few fantasy games do, which is dynastic play.

It’s not a big part of the Pugmire design, but it’s intentional: I wanted an explicit off-ramp for a character to wrap up their story.

Which leads to the metatextual reason. In a decent Pugmire chronicle, you’ll hit level 10 at a satisfying point of “I’ve had a lot of fun, and could have gone a little longer before I ran out of steam.”

Or, to steal a cliche, ending at level 10 is going out on a high note.3

It’s one of those design decisions that a few people are surprised by, mainly because I don’t think they’re used to RPGs saying “here is the end point of your game.” But in practice, I’ve never heard anyone having any concerns about it, and it’s worked out much like I intended: it gives people incentive to try and do things they wouldn’t otherwise do, because they know they have a limited time frame.

Y’know, I’m gonna miss stealing large blocks of text from Eddy – not only do they mean I don’t have to type them up, but his design musings are so insightful and useful! If you are interested in what happens in game design and why decisions are made as they are, the whole series of posts by Eddy are golden.

Maybe I can get Matthew to write up some thoughts next month!

I mean, I have to take advantage of every time I can get somebody else’s writing in here, having written one an MMN blog almost every week for:

TEN YEARS, MANY WORLDS, ONE PATH!

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BLURBS!

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KICKSTARTER/CROWDFUNDING!

Coming next on BackerKit crowdfunding… Scion: God!

https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/a0c8d51d-83cd-4f6c-8577-f80482b2c1f8/landing

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Onyx Path Media!

This week:

Concluding the month of Pugmire, Eddy and the gang talk about The Secrets of Pugmire (spooky noises)!

As always, this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

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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:

Roll to Meddle has recently concluded a three-part They Came from Beneath the Sea! actual play, which you can find right here:

https://feeds.captivate.fm/roll-to-meddle/

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 the last episode, here it is: https://youtu.be/0hHU9QptKzM

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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!

Direct Link: https://foundryvtt.com

As they say: “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!

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

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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/

Pugmire/Mau books and dice are 50% off at IPR until the end of this month:

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!

Select Pugmire/Mau PDFs are 90% off at DTRPG:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/saleguide.php
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4261/Onyx-Path-Publishing/subcategory/8329_23127/Pugmire

These will be available until the end of the month, when a new set of various PDFs will go on sale to celebrate a different game line!

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!

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On Sale This Week!

This week we go back to school! Back to Scion High for this month’s Tasty Bit PDF! Crack it open this Weds on DTRPG!

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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!

Game Night With Onyx Path Publishing at Start.Playing is Friday the 30th, this WEEK! Our special focus is the Realms of Pugmire! (But any of our game lines are welcome!)

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

Our friends at The Bodhana Group return to the physical convention space at the Heritage Hills Resort in York, PA on Oct 6 – 9 with this year’s Save Against Fear Convention:
www.saveagainstfear.com

As always there will be lots and lots of games being played, vendor booths, virtual gaming, and many panels – including some that RichT and Eddy Webb will be sitting on!

One of the things that makes this convention different is that it is run by and helps finance The Bodhana Group‘s efforts towards using tabletop gaming as a tool for therapy. They even have a separate track of panels and workshops for therapists and facilitators that runs before the rest of the con!

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And now, the new project status updates!

Our full list of projects will be available monthly on our blog! Check out August’s full list report here:

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY

Here are the projects that moved to the next stage of production:

Final Draft

Trinity Continuum Core – Brave New Worlds

• Eddy: Our book for the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook is back in finals! This covers all sorts of strange and wonderful realms for Talents to explore.

Manuscript Approval

Trinity Continuum – Assassins VTT Adventure

• Eddy: Our new Assassins adventure, created specifically for VTT platforms, is now at approvals!

Post-Approval Development

Scion: Demigod – Path to Apotheosis (was Demigod Scenarios)

• Matthew: I’m excited to see people play these Demigod scenarios at conventions and our Start.Playing events! Path to Apotheosis is ideal for both.

Scion: Demigod – Demigod Companion

• Matthew: More additional options for Demigod than you can shake a divine relic at! Once Lauren has finished making tweaks to this one, it’s off to editing.

They Came From – They Came from the Danger Zone!

• Matthew: Back from approvals, I need to add a bit more 1980s to this manuscript before it heads to editing! Please make suggestions for what can be done to 80sify a book!

They Came from Camp Murder Lake! – VTT Adventure

• Matthew: The Funkhouse of Horror is opening for business! Beware slashers dressed as James Brown. And James Brown in general.

Editing

Trinity Continuum – Tasty Bit – Queer Nova Alliance

• Eddy: A little bit of restructuring to better organize the information, and a quick consultation with Steve Kenson, and this Tasty Bit is now in the queue for editing!

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ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

• Ex3 Sidereals KS – More sketches and revisions.
• TCF Cyclops Cave  and Classified Jumpstarts – Contracting out artwork.
• SCION God 2e – Working on graphics for the (Backer Kit) funding page. Odds are it won’t be until after Mythos and Dragon are off to press… but you never know.
• TC Adventure Jumpstart – Workin on it.
• DTR Clade Companion – Reviewing Notes.
• DTR  Devoted Companion – Reviewing Notes.
• Contagion Chronicles RMCs – Art Notes in.
• CtL2e The Hedge – Awaiting notes.
• MtAw Tome of the Pentacle – Awaiting notes.

In Layout

• Squeaks Jumpstart – All the art is in.
• W20 Apocalyptic Record

Proofing

• Victorian Mage – I have all of Aileen’s files and all the corrections are in.
• TC Adventure! – Maria is helping me out on this one to get a couple of artists on track.
• Ex3 Adversaries

Indexing

At Press

• Scion Demigod – KS rewards starting to ship out.
• Scion Demigod Screen – KS rewards starting to ship out.
• Squeaks in the Deep Screen – At KS shipper prepping for ship out.
• Squeaks in the Deep – At KS shipper prepping for ship out.
• Squeaks in the Deep Bookmarks – At KS shipper prepping for ship out.
• Hunter: The Vigil 2e – KS rewards shipped out.
• HTV 2 Screen – KS rewards shipped out.
• Scarred Lands: Dead Man’s Rust – KS books at fulfillment shipper.
• Scion Masks of Mythos – Getting ready for Press.
• Scion Dragon – Getting Ready for Press.
• M20 Sorcerer – Awaiting PoD proof.
• Scion Players Guide: Saints and Monsters – Awaiting PoD proof.
• MTC Book of Lasting Death – Awaiting approval on final piece of art.
• CtL 2e Kith and Kin – Awaiting errata.
• TC: Mission Statements – Awaiting errata.
• September Tasty Bit:  Scion High PDF live this Weds on DTRPG!

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Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Happy Rosh Hashanah for those who celebrate!