If Mars Has Canals…[Monday Meeting Notes]

by

…It Must Have a Venice.

That was the first line Rose Bailey pitched to me describing her new idea for a game, Cavaliers of Mars.

That was right when I started Onyx Path several years ago, and she’s been working on the project ever since. Swashbuckling adventure inspired by just about everything ever written in the fantasy genre for Mars, tossed roguishly into the game design blender that is Rose’s brain, and mixed with all the other stuff that she has absorbed in her years making games with White Wolf and Onyx Path.

And now, we are currently prepping for the Cavaliers of Mars Kickstarter and looking at next week, hopefully Tuesday the 19th at noon to go live!

It’s been a longer trip than we originally expected, but well worth the time spent. We think you’ll agree once the KS goes live, so please join us.

 

 

Cavaliers of Mars illustration by Nate Pride

 

 

So. Conventions.

He says, swerving the conversation wildly.

I know I highlight them a lot here on the blog, which can be a drag if you aren’t able to get out to any of them. There I am talking how awesome they are and how much fun we’re having, but not all of our community can get to them, so I thought maybe a deeper dive today as to why we think they are important to Onyx Path‘s continued success.

First, let’s throw out the obvious: we sell stuff and that makes us huge bucks!

This is not actually the case. We are happy if we attend a con, sell stuff, and those sales cover both the attendance and the costs associated with printing and shipping the books. Remember, that until Pugmire, any physical books needed to be printed PoD just like how you folks would order them, except we pay the printing and shipping costs and order more than you probably do. Add a few of our Deluxes that were printer overruns, and that’s our booth product mix, as they say.

But, what selling things at the booth does is give everyone something to talk about when they come up to our booth. Which is awesome and gives us the chance to start to have more involved conversations about what our community wants us to be creating, and how they’d like us to do that. And it gives folks a segue into asking us those questions they always wanted to ask of a real live human, face to face.

Then we have those attendees who (gasp) have never heard of Onyx Path. Amazing, yet true, this is a problem we are always trying to surmount. This is why GenCon50 was an excellent match for us in this their golden anniversary year, with the largest attendance yet it was such an opportunity to reach people who don’t shop/browse/game online. Or folks who know (and play!) some of the WW game lines, but would never think to look for them as being published by Onyx Path.

Since we’re also expanding beyond our beloved WW game lines into our own and new ones, conventions are one of the best places to start letting new folks know we are creating these amazing worlds that they might be interested in.

 

 

Half-Damned illustration by Avery Butterworth

 

 

 

Which then brings us to demoing our games at conventions; either shorter, easy to be assimilated, tastes of the games, or longer multi-hour sessions. Again, we use these as a chance to introduce folks to the worlds we create and the way they play. A game of Pugmire feels very different in play to a game of Scarred Lands, even though they both use variations of the same system, and each of the WoD or CofD game lines reveals their own themes and moods as the story unfurls while being played.

So we are experimenting with a few more cons this year. Trying combinations of booth, booth sales, formal panels, informal meet and greets, demo tables, and online cons. PAX Unplugged is brand new, but is worth checking out to see if the PAX crew can deliver tabletop gaming crowds like they do with their other conventions. GameHole Con is a d20 focused convention, but since we have game worlds that use that system now, worth checking out to talk with that audience.

We’ll also be returning to MidWinter in Milwaukee this coming January with pretty much all of our Onyx Path crew. Like last year, we’re planning on more informal gatherings and playtest peeks of upcoming projects, with many more of us attending to demo games and be available for questions.

Also, with Evil Eddy Webb in Ireland, we’re asking him to check out some of the EU cons next year, just to take a look. Hopefully he’ll be joined by some of our other creators over there. He’s also going to be running a Pugmire game for the online Gauntlet Con. Check out the convention section below for more details and links to sign up for his game – he still has three spots open for Good Dogs!

 

 

V20 Dark Ages RMC Gangrel illustration by Riley

 

 

To wrap up, we see conventions as a great opportunity to continue to spread the word about Onyx Path, and will continue to experiment with our set-up and offerings at different cons to see what works best. As we’re doing that, if you’re at a convention we’re attending, we would always love to see you and enjoy a chance to chat. Because, besides all the stuff we’re trying out, that face to face time is really the point.

Many Worlds. One Path.

 

 

 

BLURBS!

ON SALE!

Haaawooooo! The W20 Bundle of Holding is raging for ONE MORE WEEK until September 18th! https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Werewolf20

You can get all sorts of W20 PDFs at great discounts and better still you can help our chosen charity for this bundle: the International Wolf Center.

 

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!

 

And here are six more fiction books:

 

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)

 

 

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

 

 

iprlogo

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:

The PDF and PoD versions of C20 are coming this Wednesday on DriveThruRPG.com.

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

 

 

 

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: After the Fall (Demon: The Descent Constantinople 1453-1458). The Ottoman conquest shatters Constantinople…and also the God-Machine’s grip on it. Unchained flock from all over the world to seek their fortunes in rebuilding the city. But is the Machine really gone, and if it is, can the Unchained face the horrors it drove into the shadows?

On sale in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/217978/Dark-Eras-After-the-Fall-Demon-the-Descent

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: A Grimm Dark Era (Changeling: The Lost Grimm’s Tales). With the publication of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, the Lost find themselves subject to the strength of stories, to a degree never before seen. As numerous stories reach greater audiences, the power of tales redefine what it means to be a changeling. Here, we explore a shift in the veil between fiction and reality, and find changelings who escaped by embracing the odd rules of the fantastic.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/217370/Dark-Eras-A-Grimm-Dark-Era

On sale in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG!

 

 

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Lily, Sabre, and Thorn (Changeling: The Lost Swashbuckling France 1600s – early 1700s). In the Age of Reason under the reign of Louis XIV, enlightenment went hand-in-hand with court intrigues. The Sun King’s court influenced a time when changeling freeholds gained increasing unity and communication. It is a time of adventure, deception, betrayal, and passion — the roar of cannon, the rustle of silk, the ring of steel. The joys and sorrows and outrageous fortunes of the swashbuckler — these are all too well-known to the Lost.

On sale in PDF and PoD versions at DTRPG.com this Weds!

 

 

 

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…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sailing out of the dark, the V20 Dark Ages Companion PDF and physical book PoD versions are going on sale Wednesday on DriveThruRPG.com! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/211504/V20-Dark-Ages-Companion

Travel the long roads and deep seas in search of power and experience danger, or tackle the wilderness to hunt monsters and face death. Settlements large and small dot the black expanse with the promise of sanctuary, life, and community. These bastions of civilization present cold comfort, when playing host to vampire warlords and sadistic Cainite faiths. Whether led by a Prince, a coordinated belief, or hounded by monsters from without and within — no domain is truly the same as another.

Dark Ages Companion includes:

• Domains scattered across the world, from small fiefdoms to massive cities. Bath, Bjarkarey, Constantinople, Rome, Mogadishu, and Mangaluru each receive coverage.

• Apocrypha including plot hooks, new Paths, and mysteries to explore in your games.

• A how-to guide on building a domain within your chronicle, including events and servants necessary to make a domain as functional or dysfunctional as you wish.

• A study on warfare in the Dark Ages period, so combat in your chronicles can gain authenticity and lethality.

 

 

 

 

 

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://midwintergamingconvention.com

 

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (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)

  • 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)
  • Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

 

WW Manuscript Approval:

 

Editing:

  • C20 Ready Made Characters (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • 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)
  • M20 Cookbook (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

 

Indexing:

 

 

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

  • W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook – Sending art to WW for approval.
  • Cavaliers of Mars – Prepping KS.
  • W20 Changing Ways – Some of the halfs are in and at WW for approval.
  • Ex3 Monthly Stuff
  • Scion Origins – Art almost all in.
  • Ring of Spiragos
  • Beast PG – Art is in and at WW for approvals.
  • VtR Half Damned – Art coming in.
  • Book of Freeholds – AD’d.
  • DtD Enemy Action – AD’d.
  • C20 RMCs – Should see sketches in the next week or so.

 

Marketing Stuff

 

In Layout

  • Prince’s Gambit – Remaining art is arting.
  • Beckett’s Jyhad Diary – Layouting.
  • Wraith 20
  • Ex 3 Arms of the Chosen – At Josh for layout.

 

Proofing

  • VDA Jumpstart – Working on 2nd proof.

 

At Press

  • Beckett Screen – Shipped to shipper.
  • Scarred Land PGs & Wise and the Wicked PF & 5e – On a boat to the US. PoD files processing.
  • Dark Eras: God’s Own Country – PoD proof on the way.
  • VTR: Thousand Years of Night – Errors discovered at GenCon, getting fixed.
  • Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition) – PoD and final PDF on sale on DTRPG this Weds (Backer PoD discount coupons earlier than that). LtD Edition cover and Screen in the works.
  • C20 Jumpstart PDF – PoD proof ordered.
  • CtL Huntsmen Chronicle Anthology PDF
  • Art of Mage – Waiting to see if there is any errata.
  • Pugmire Trick, Condition, and Initiative Cards – PoD files processing.

 

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: We celebrate the heroism and sacrifice of those who died and those who responded 16 years ago.

31 thoughts on “If Mars Has Canals…[Monday Meeting Notes]”

      • It’s odd though, because the Changeling Huntsman Anthology is listed above as being at press but unless I’m being really thick there is no sign of it on drivethru.

        Reply

        • At Press is the stage before release, so like C20 this week, we’ll announce a project going on sale there – but being in that section doesn’t automatically mean the project is actually on sale. Hope that helps!

          Reply

          • Not really Rich. It’s been sitting in the ‘At Press’ section for at least a month, maybe more. Items normally drop into that section as you say before they’re released, and then update as they move through the errata and onto the POD release. It’s never showed up on the Blurbs section indicating it’s hitting the store in any given week. I noticed it a while ago, but it looks like either it’s in the wrong section of the update or it’s slipped through the cracks.

    • We weren’t able to make recordings this year, but the Darker Days crew recorded a couple. They’ve posted their recordings already.

      Reply

  7. Hi! Is “CtL Huntsmen Chronicle Anthology” Second Edition material? If so, this looks like it will be out before the 2nd Edition core book itself. How’s that work?

    Reply

    • Nah this is pretty typical with the CofD 2nd editions thus far. It’s almost always been the case where an anthology precedes the actual 2nd edition core rulebook. Happened with Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, and Promethean. I wouldn’t expect any less to happen to Changeling.

      Reply

      • Which 2E books came out before their core material? I know God Machine Chronicles, D:tD and Vampire Blood Smoke were all out before there was officially a Second Edition, but those weren’t add-on books, which is what this one sounds like?

        Could be I’m just missing something here.

        Reply

    • The Anthologies are collections of short fiction, with no rules text whatsoever. They can be done first because they’re just short story collections (or rather, Anthologies), & could be read without any knowledge of the games they’re about.

      Reply

  9. Glad to hear about the C20 PDF going to DrivethruRPG! I thought those of us with preorders were getting it just before that point. Should we be getting our codes tonight, or is that expected for tomorrow as well?

    Reply

  10. gotta say super Hyped for Arms. Been waiting on that book a while, and will help me to pimp Exalted to my current playgroup. Exalted without it’s artifact rules is pretty hard as Artifacts can be *so* important. (truncated Artifact rules were..frustrating)

    So yeah. Arms Hype.

    Reply

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