It’s In The Cards…[Monday Meeting Notes]

Over a month ago, I was talking about Onyx Path‘s sales venues and things like that. Just kind of getting folks caught up on where they could find our stuff and which projects you could find there.

A different, but similar, thing that I wanted to touch on today is some of the other sorts of projects we have to offer beyond book-shaped things. Specifically, because Mighty Matt McElroy sent me some pics of the proofs for a couple of card projects, I’m going to touch on those today.

(Never mind that I haven’t received my card proof samples yet…sob.)

The Realm illustration by Yiyhoung Li

There are two types of card-based projects that we have been creating. The first, are card games. We don’t do a lot of them, as we need to see a clear connection to whatever TTRPG they are derived from or it’s tough to put effort towards them when there are books to be created.

Right now, we have Justin Achilli’s Prince’s Gambit for Vampire: The Masquerade, which we saw as a fun political machinations game that is waaay shorter than a VTES match. Something to play while waiting for your RPG or LARP session to start up.

And Fetch Quest for Realms of Pugmire, which has shipped to Kickstarter backers, should be available to order and in stores in May, and which we are waiting for the PoD proofs for. This is a cooperative card game set in the wilds around Pugmire that complements the TTRPG.

In fact, we’re looking to have the option for folks to make their own cards via DriveThruCards, so folks can play their TTRPG characters.

You might have noticed that the part of DriveThru that deals with these sorts of things is DriveThru Cards, which is a different Print on Demand company than the one who does our books. Everything still all goes through DTRPG, or OBS as it’s corporately known, but the card guys have their own little differences in how they proof, etc.

We’ve been really happy with the quality of their cards, and that’s one of the reasons we have made both the games, and the second type of card projects we put together: roleplaying aids. These can be the extensive selection of Charm Cards for Exalted 3rd, or Condition Cards for our CofD games, or Trick Cards for Pugmire, and more.

Pugmire also has Spell Cards, and right now we are proofing Spell Cards for the Scarred Lands that can be used for a SL campaign, or worked into any 5e fantasy roleplaying session.

If you’re saying, “Hey, what is this here Scarred Lands you keep going on about, Mr. Rich?“, then you should give a listen to last Friday’s Onyx Pathcast where our terrific trio take a Deep Dive into the Scarred Lands setting, and highlight the things that they think really work. Link below in the Blurbs!.

They do a fantastic job of conveying what they love and are intrigued by in Scarred Lands, which is actually really interesting to me, as a guy who helped create it way back in the crazy d20 Rush days. None of our Trio were around then, so to hear them go over the parts that compel them about our new edition and the first one, is kind of like hearing a whole new generation finding it.

Makes me feel both old and proud, by crackee!

C20 Players Guide illustration by Brian LeBlanc

Finally, to wrap up the Scion Errata situation I touched on the last couple of weeks, Neall, in his non-real-world-job time, was able to assemble and create a list of the corrections that he had made but which hadn’t stuck. We turned that into a downloadable PDF (in both full-color and easy to print versions) for any and all to get ahold of, and input the corrections and the backer credits into the PDF and the upcoming PoD files.

When all was said and done, there is a page of Scion: Origin errata, a page of Scion: Hero errata, a page for a FAQ Neall put together, and ten updated pre-generated character sheets. For perspective, Neall’s original list derived from backer input from all over the internet was well over 300 entries (many of them duplicates) across the two books so the vast majority of the fixes worked – except for a page per book’s worth.

While we wanted all of the errata we painstakingly gathered and collated to have stuck as we intended, and we’ve changed a couple of processes to try and make sure that when a change is made it by-gum sticks, we’re just glad that none of them were so bad that they wrecked the books and made them impossible to read and play.

As Neall noted in a message to the backers, we’re disappointed that the projects aren’t as polished as we intended, and we apologize to all involved for disappointing you too.

We will do better, as we continue to create:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!


KICKSTARTER:

Our next Kickstarter starting in several weeks will be for Pirates of Pugmire!

ONYX PATH MEDIA

Illustration by Charles Bates

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast is our 50th! So please join Dixie, Matthew, and Eddy, as they look at Fun! What is “fun” in gaming? Should games even be defined by the fun they provide? Come hear them answer these and other pressing questions of our time on: https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

And Here’s More Media About Our Worlds:

Here’s last week’s Onyx Path News, in which Matthew talks a little about the conclusion of the Contagion Chronicle Kickstarter and the movements on our schedule: https://youtu.be/UGERLK6nFQc

No Contagion Chronicle actual play this week, as our audio failed! We do however have a wonderful Scarred Lands actual play, run by Matthew for the Red Moon Roleplaying folks. Here’s the link to episode one: https://youtu.be/1xmU0HvT1Bw

If YOU have a podcast, YouTube or Twitch channel, or talk about games on a blog or other website, and want to perform actual plays or make reviews of our games, please reach out to the Gentleman Gamer on the Onyx Path forum. From there we’ll share emails and get you started, so when you do start producing content we’ll be able to promote it on our blog and YouTube channel!

Here’s the Story Told Podcast‘s superb Dragon-Blooded actual play, for all of you who are audio-inclined: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/fall-of-jiara-episode-4

As well as Occultists Anonymous, which ventures into ghost territory with their Mage: The Awakening chronicle: https://youtu.be/_rMd7rda2a0

We’re never not going to promote the superb folks at Devil’s Luck Gaming, with their excellent Scarred Lands actual play: https://www.twitch.tv/DEVILSLUCKGAMING

The Dramatic Failure Podcast ventures into Mage territory over here with a big, big story arc filled with inspirational ideas: https://dramaticfailure.podbean.com/

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

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’s an update from the App devs:

Onyx Dice!  We’ve recently released the Changeling: The Lost, Trinity Continuum: Aeon dice, and now the Geist dice.  Next up on our radar is: Demon: The Fallen,  Mummy: The Resurrection,  Kindred of the East, Vampire Dark Ages, and Mummy: The Curse.

We have a serious issue on the Pixel and Motorola phones that prevent the user from using the app correctly.  A fix is coming shortly.  A temporary workaround is to minimize the app without shutting it down, and then restore it.

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:

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

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio 2:
https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

iprlogo

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can now order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we’ll be offering the Advance PDF of the Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition Players’ Guide!

CONVENTIONS

UK Games Expo: May 31st – June 2nd From the US comes Eddy Webb, Matt McElroy, and Rich Thomas to join with Matthew Dawkins, Steffie de Vann, John Burke, Chris Allen, and Klara Herbol!
Gen Con: August 1st – August 4th
Save Against Fear: Oct 12-14
GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd
We’ll also be back at PAX Unplugged later this year.


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)

  • M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)
  • Geist2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)
  • Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)
  • Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)
  • Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)
  • TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
  • Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)
  • Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • DR:E Jumpstart (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)
  • One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)
  • Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Redlines

  • Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)
  • Legendlore core book (Legendlore)
  • Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)
  • Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)
  • DR:E Threat Guide (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Second Draft

  • Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)
  • Let The Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
  • Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
  • Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
  • Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Blood Sea: Crimson Abyss for 5e (Scarred Lands)
  • TC: Aeon Ready Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Development

  • Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)
  • WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)
  • Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)
  • Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)
  • Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)
  • M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Manuscript Approval:

  • Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
  • Scion Ready Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)
  • Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Editing:

  • Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)
  • CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)
  • Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Post-Editing Development:

  • M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)
  • V5 Chicago By Night Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade)
  • CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)
  • Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Indexing:

  • Trinity Core
  • Trinity Aeon

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

  • Ex3 Monthly Stuff  
  • Chicago By Night
  • They Came From Beneath the Sea!
  • EX3 Lunars
  • Hunter: The Vigil 2
  • Contagion Chronicle
  • VtR Spilled Blood – Hiring artists.
  • M20 Book of the Fallen
  • Dark Eras 2 Getting the rest contracted out.
  • CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel
  • Pirates of Pugmire KS art contracted, sketches and finals coming in.
  • Trinity Continuum: Aberrant – KS art started contracting.

Marketing Stuff

In Layout

  • Dystopia Rising: Evolution With Josh.
  • Shunned By the Moon
  • Scion Jumpstart
  • C20 Novel: Cup of Dreams

Proofing

  • The Realm
  • Book of Oblivion – Inputting last corrections.
  • Signs of Sorcery – Dev comments back to layout.
  • Trinity Core and Aeon Screens Prepping for printing.
  • Aeon Aexpansion

At Press

  • Scion Hero – Shipping to backers, PoD version processing.
  • Scion Origin – Shipping to backers, PoD version processing.
  • Scion Dice – Shipping to backers.
  • Scion Screen Shipping to backers.
  • Fetch Quest – Waiting for PoD proofs.
  • In Media Res – PDF out to backers, gathering errata with new sheet.
  • Geist 2e PDF out to backers, gathering errata with new sheet.
  • Scarred Lands Spell Cards Waiting forPoD proofs.
  • Adventures for Curious Cats Errata.
  • Tales of Excellent Cats – Errata.
  • Dragon-Blooded Deluxe at printer.
  • Dragon-Blooded Screen At printer.
  • C20 Player’s Guide – Advance PDF on sale this Wednesday!

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: 

On this day in 1429 – Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orléans. (And then she got screwed over. I’ll leave the message you may derive from that to you.)

47 thoughts on “It’s In The Cards…[Monday Meeting Notes]”

  1. Ah Exigent in first draft huh, amazing. Very excited for it. Also much love for Neall for the work you did for the errata, thanks for doing this.

    Reply
    • Thank you for saying so. We really appreciate the understanding comments; they help the team keep those that are -less- understanding in perspective.

      Reply
  2. First of all, thanks to Neall for the great job on the Errata and FAQ. The way people were talking on Forums looked like it was a monster, but in the end it was 1 page each. FAQ was a great addition to the book as it solve many small but really frequent questions.

    Now, Aberrant KS art is on its way! That’s great news!

    Reply
    • Yes, that’s really one of the factoids about all this. End of the day, there’s a page per book- which is very much either par for the course with any rpg release, or even far less than some big releases. Whatever the programming glitch was, and we are still researching that, Neall and team did months of proofing and errata work that resulted in very tight books, even with the reverted errata. Thanks!

      Reply
  3. Yay! We’re finally getting the C20 PG this week! /shuffles episode schedule to add a review episode…

    Reply
  4. Thanks Neall for all your hard work on the Scion errata stuff. Sorry it’s been a frustrating experience but I for one really appreciate your dedication to fixing it.

    Also, YAY for Exigents hitting the first draft stage!

    Reply
    • I’d call it a new project that will update some of the original book. But it’s not designed to be a 1 to 1 revision of the first one.

      Reply
  5. Thanks for working hard to fix this Scion situation, Neall. Rich, I appreciate that you’re putting new safeguards in place.

    I’m excited about Exigents, C20 PG, Aberrant (WOOT!), and I’m looking into getting into Mage: the Awakening 2E.

    Question; I see Signs of Sorcery is coming along. Are the 1st edition sourcebooks for Mage Awakening fairly compatible? I’ve looked over the Dev notes and it looks like that as a goal, with Core and Signs being something of a mechanics update? Any guidance welcome.

    Reply
      • I’ve been a little unclear on what you’re allowed to create. Do you need their consent to write and support Chronicle of Darkness and Exalted games? It appears that they do approvals, but do you require their authorization first?

        It also appears they have an even tighter control of World of Darkness games, but you’ve been able to proceed with Mage20.

        And of course, you own some properties outright. I’m just curious.

        Reply
        • No problem, let’s see if I can help. With both CCP and Paradox/WW, we have always submitted project ideas for approval before we create them. Then there are various approval stages ending with their final OK of the completed project. This applies to the WW IPs: CofD, Exalted, and WoD.

          We completely own Scion, the Trinity Continuum, Scarred Lands, and They Came From Beneath the Sea!. Paradox/WW is not involved in any way, shape, or form with them, or projects we do with other creators – like Realms of Pugmire or Cavaliers of Mars – and other licenses like Dystopia Rising: Evolution and Legend Lore.

          Reply
          • Got it! Thank you for the explanation. I guess I never think of pitching the idea, but since you require final approval, that step only makes sense.

            All clear now.

  6. Any Chance we could see a Push to redo Arcadia the wyld Hunt? As a CCG it seemed like a bad fit but as a modern Deck Builder game it would be a great.

    Reply
    • Ah, I loved working on Arcadia! It certainly would be more in tune with Deck Builder games, but we’d really have to get past the valid concern that the first time out the gate it flopped, even if the CCG format was the chief culprit.

      Reply
      • I feel like there’s a solid option there to revisit in some fashion perhaps paired down much like PRince’s Gambit is to V:TES

        I definately feel there’s a position for some form of Changeling based cardgame..

        Reply
        • Gut feelings are sometimes the best indicators of possibilities. Other times, and I certainly have been there, those feelings aren’t backed up by the data. For both good or bad, actually. I try to find the right mix between what years of experience and my own preferences are telling me, and the info we can pull on sales numbers and print costs, and all that stuff. For example, for years I thought that Geist was just not a popular game line, as the initial sales numbers (Geist was one of the last WW books to go into traditional sales channels) were abysmal, and with all the difficulties in the writing, it just seemed like a wreck. Sales data from DTRPG, though, gave us a different picture of a line that kept selling through the years. Which made doing a 2nd Edition more of a chance to get people excited by something other folks were already excited by – rather than a hard sell of an unpopular line. That made a lot of difference for us.

          So, not saying you’re wrong about there being a space for a Changeling-based cardgame, just putting out some of the challenges in ultimately green-lighting such a project.

          Reply
  7. I would like to add my voice to those saying “Thank you for the hard work” in dealing with the Scion errata issue. I am happy with the two pages and the FAQ, and look forward to rhe books themselves.

    Reply
  8. Are the White Robes the only entries for hundred devils and adversaries of the righteous this month?
    Or are the others just not uploaded yet?

    Reply
  9. Just wanted to add my voice to those praising Neall and company for all of the hard work that went into resolving the errata situation. Sometimes things happen and all we can do is acknowledge what happened and evolve our approach to try to stop those things from happening in the future. It is great to see Onyx Path doing that. 🙂

    Reply
  10. I add my voice as well. Thank you for doing everything you could. We can work with the errata. That’s fine. Don’t let this wear you down. Can’t wait to get my hands on that book, that hasn’t changed in any way.

    Reply
  11. Dates have been announced for Pax Unplugged. DEC 6th thru the 8th. I’ll be there all 3 days. Can’t wait to see you all there! Aberrant, Neall?

    Reply
  12. Random Question cuz I don’t know anything about the process. Would it be a lot of work for you guys to make it so we could buy stickers of the Redbubble designs in addition to shirts? I’d love to get a vinyl C:tL skull or something for my laptop etc… Thanks for the great work OP, your the best.

    Reply
  13. A single page of errata per book isn’t a misprint that’s a miraculously good outcome in my opinion. Bravo to Neall et al for the hard work to fix it up all the same, of course! Very satisfied with this outcome.

    Reply
    • Overall, in the big picture of RPG publishing, you are absolutely right. In terms of fixes that were made and then reverted, they are a real drag, which is why we needed to fix them again. Thanks!

      Reply
  14. Scion is my love. Neall and team have done amazing work, and that one page errata per book? I understand it’s frustrating. I do. But…only one page, and all minor things? The RPG industry has come a long way. That’s fantastic!

    RPG fans, though, are spoiled. :p

    Reply
    • Well, let’s be honest. There’ll be more in the future. There always is.

      But still! Compared to Scion 1e? 😛

      Reply

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