So, yeah. I was reminded by social media that Vampire: The Masquerade was introduced to the world 35 years ago at that year’s Origins Game Fair…

Woah.

Have to let that one sink in. That means that sometime, maybe less than a year or maybe more, before that, the gang at the newly-formed White Wolf Game Studio (Games For Mature Minds) had reached out to me as a designer and illustrator they’d worked with on other projects, especially White Wolf Magazine in Stewart Wieck’s case, to do some design elements and to illustrate one third of a story running along the bottom of the pages of the new game they were working on.

It was a story about someone newly turned into a vampire…and he was the protagonist!

Not the villain, although the character did some morally questionable things during the course of the story. A beast he was, lest a beast he’d become.

This was pretty freakin’ new in the TTRPG space!

Which was obviously what a lot of roleplayers were looking for, because VtM first edition was a runaway success – in fact, so successful that in the short term it needed several very fast reprints! It also enabled Stewart to afford to bring me down to Atlanta as the WW art director!

For us, life-changing. Long term for TTRPGs, it broke records and actually brought new players into TTRPGS. Add in fans from the nascent LARPing scene and fans of the next World of Darkness games which we released once a year, and a whole new era of gaming had begun!

And for White Wolf; well, we grew and grew and I did my best to keep us looking good with great art and design. My team of art directors grew starting with Michelle Prahler, Larry Snelly and Aileen Miles finding us even more great artists for VtM, and bringing their design and illustration talents to bear as well. It was a wild time with ridiculously tight deadlines to get our books “arted” and laid out and printed, but we (and the whole rapidly growing team at WW) did it again and again and again for the next two editions.

Jump forward to the next edition, created more as a goodwill gesture to the VtM fans who were still playing long after we officially brought on the Gehenna end of the world (you pick your favorite ending!), which was the 20th Anniversary Edition that we did while working for CCP and trying to create a WoD (really VtM) MMO.

Little knowing as we worked on it that V20 would be the impetus for Onyx Path, as I realized how much I loved working on art directing (hiring a lot of my old favorite artists like the late William O’Connor and the very much present John Cobb for the first time in years!) and doing the graphic design for the book! Enough of this stinky old MMO stuff!

By leaving WW/CCP and starting Onyx Path fifteen years ago, we opened the door to paper TTRPGs again for the WW game worlds I was able to license and purchase outright. All because twenty years earlier a group of TTRPG players and designers led by Mark Rein (dot) Hagen thought that vampires would be cool to play.

Enough of my somewhat spotty and self-absorbed reminiscences – how about we hear from some of our crew here about their experiences with VtM over the years?

Here’s Eddy and his long relationship with the game that might sound familiar to many of you:

My history with Vampire: The Masquerade is long (going all the way back to playing the first edition!) and complicated (going from player to LARPer to writer to developer to line developer). I have amazing memories from it (such as meeting my future wife of 25 years at a Vampire LARP) and awful memories of it (such as being threatened with violence over making Celerity and Potence slightly less useful). My impact on the game ranges from the ridiculous (such as forcing Rich to add literally hundreds of Oxford commas to V20) to the sublime (such as months of long days and nights to make V20 such an amazing celebration of the game over two decades). And now the 20th anniversary edition is 15 years old, so in a few years maybe we’ll get to make the 20th Anniversary Edition of Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition!

Impish Ian Watson also had an interesting early part to play:

I’d been playing since about 1995, shortly after Vampire originally came out, so I had a long history as a fan. I’d also dabbled in freelancing for White Wolf before, with Scarred Lands. But when I was contacted and asked if I’d be interested in contributing to V20 it felt like a dream come true, and like destiny coming full circle. My task: content was needed from the Revised-era Guides to the Sabbat and Camarilla, but those only existed as scanned-image files, so they needed someone to make the text usable by typing it all out manually. Each book was about 150,000 words, totaling about the same wordcount as V20 itself! Justin Achilli optimistically estimated I’d be finished in two weeks. It was closer to two months. My wrists were screaming. But I loved it, and would do it all over again.

Then of course, a few months later Onyx Path got started up, and I was brought in pretty early on. I’ve managed to poke my fingers into the World of Darkness a few more times, mostly with Mage. And I’m still here! V20 was sort of the beginning of my current life trajectory. It’s wild to think that it’s already almost 20 years old itself.

Matthew obviously has quite a connection with VtM – hence The Gentleman Gamer – and here he shares his favorite project:

My abiding fondest memory of Vampire: The Masquerade as a writer will be my co-developing Beckett’s Jyhad Diary with Neall Raemonn Price. This ode to the deep trenches of lore built across 20+ years of Vampire history was such a labour of love, referencing and expanding the material in so many sourcebooks, video games, and novels – well known and obscure – to really establish a setting for Vampire players new and old. As we approach a new edition of Vampire, I’d say it’s an excellent time to dip back into Beckett’s Jyhad Diary and find a plot you want to use in your chronicle. Whether it’s in sect war Berlin, dealing with the Eye of Hazimel, or burrowing into the history of Clan Giovanni, there are hundreds of possible stories you can tell with Beckett’s Jyhad Diary as your resource.

Dixie also has a direct connection with BJD after many years as a fan:

I started playing Vampire: The Masquerade when I was about 14 years old in 9th grade, thanks to my high school’s Sci-Fi/Fantasy Club (a lampshade for the RPG club, because RPGs were still forbidden thanks to rules on the books from the Satanic Panic, which seemed a distant memory in 1999 when I started playing). If someone had told baby goth Dixie she’d be working on the 20th anniversary edition about 20 years later, she may have laughed at you, but that’s what happened! When I was still freelancing under Rose Bailey, before I came on full time, I edited Beckett’s Jyhad Diary, which was both my first time working on VtM (I think) and my first time working with Matthew and Neall. Now, I’ve worked on countless things for World of Darkness and Chronicles of Darkness, as well as all the lines Onyx Path owns and created, among others, but there really was something special about working on a game I’d been a fan of since high school. In fact, getting to edit my favorite clan, the Lasombra, for Chicago by Night, was another huge highlight, as I never thought I’d be bringing them to a new edition with an amazing team.

Please feel free to share your VtM stories on our social media and even the Comments section of this blog!

That Was Then, What’s Happening Now?

Thanks for asking!

Our meeting today was brief, but only because everybody was reeling off lists of projects and their statuses that were rolling along. To tie into the horror genre like we were talking about above, there are something like seven Curseborne projects that all had progress of one kind or another.

Some projects should have had more movement and we’re looking into those. And a big old ship heading to the US with some crowdfunded books is making whatever progress it does – we can’t make that one go faster!

You can check out the Progress Reports below if they are the ones that moved into another phase of production. A lot of the time things move forward within a phase, and we watch that each week, too – even if we don’t mention it here on the blog.

Here’s Travis with a report on some Twitch programming progress, which took a few hits these last weeks due to illness and the awful heat:

This week ComradeBubbles returns to the channel with another episode of Behind the Screen on Tuesday at 9 AM EDT. In this episode they’ll be continuing their work on a Trinity Continuum: Adventure! supplement for the Storypath Nexus. Wednesday at 7 PM EDT Awkward GM Corbin returns to the channel for another installment of Curseborne: Accursed in Boston! Get tips and tricks for bringing Storypath Ultra to the table with Storyguide Tom Murr at 3 PM EDT with a brand new episode of Guiding the Path!

As you might have guessed by the art being shown off this week, we’re getting ready for another kind of progress with Pugmire Unleashed. That book was the first to be crowdfunded specifically for PDF and PoD only in order to give folks a chance to support one of our projects without needing to beware of the shipping and tariff costs. Now, we just need the PoD versions to be OK’d after proofing and we can get those coupons to backers and call the campaign successfully finished!

Progress here, a bit more there, and soon we’re rocking along towards even cooler worlds and towards delivering our past projects, too! Whether you just joined us, or have been along with us even before Onyx Path came into being – Thanks! Glad you’re here so we can share our long history, and our:

Many Worlds… One Path!

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Blurbs!

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Crowdfunding!

Meep! Meep! Keep an eye out for Lair of the Rat Kings! Coming SOON in July!

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Onyx Path Media!

Check out our attached media schedule for the videos on our Twitch channel this week!

On the Onyx Path News today, Matthew covers They Came from the Cyclops’s Cave! Jumpstart, the Celestian Giant, and They Came from the Danger Zone!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEKbNuuZVpM

On the Gentleman Gamer YouTube channel, Matthew delves into some of the great moments he’s recently experienced in games of Curseborne and Monster Kingdoms: https://youtu.be/EbP7uMwlc_U

And Tales of Pantheons continues their superb Scion campaign! You can start the series all the way from the start right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8cZ9N_8uig

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Virtual Tabletop!

Check it out now! The Scion Demiplane Nexus! Click here for Early Access:

http://www.scionnexus.com/

Campaigns for Scion Nexus went live last week as well. This blog post explains how Campaigns work on Demiplane:

https://www.demiplane.com/blog/campaigns-have-arrived

Scion Demigod Available on Roll20 NOW!

The Scion: Origin and Scion Hero Compendiums are now available on Roll20!
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/publisher/1716/onyx-path-publishing

The first of our official Scion sheets designed for Foundry VTT are now available! https://foundryvtt.co

They Came From Beneath the Sea! on Roll20 VTT!
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/bundle/22308/they-came-from-beneath-the-sea

Looking for more virtual tabletop resources? We have a selection of tokens, encounters, and more available now at DriveThruRPG! https://bit.ly/3SnrNJ7

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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!

Select Chronicles of Darkness Screens and Monarchies of Mau books, screens, and dice 50% off at Studio 2:
https://studio2publishing.com/collections/onx-onyx-path-publishing

Some more deluxe books have popped up on Studio 2, with more on the way.

https://studio2publishing.com/collections/onx-onyx-path-publishing

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles in PDF and PoD versions at DriveThruRPG.com!

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).

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On Sale This Week!

A very special guide for running Branch Riders, with special sections for licensed therapists who want to incorporate BR into their sessions using the Bodhana Method! PDF and PoD versions this Weds on DTRPG!

On Sale Last Week!

Who wants a They Came From the Cyclops’s Cave! Jumpstart? The answer isn’t “no one”, it’s everyone! And you can get the Weapons of the Gods Advance PDF only on DTRPG!

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Conventions!

Here’s where you can find out more info on physical and virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with!

Gen Con, July 30th – August 2nd (Studio 2 will have our books and more).

Twin Cities Con – November 20th – 22nd (Looking into running panels, and Game Room demos).

PAX Unplugged – December 4th – 6th (Studio 2 will have our books and more).

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Project Status Updates!

Our full list of projects will be available monthly on our blog! Check out June’s full list report here: https://theonyxpath.com/release-roundup-june-2026/

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY!

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

First Draft

SPU Tasty Bit – Martial Arts (October 2026)

• Lots of Tasty Bits this week! This is the latest one that’s just getting started — a deeper look at various way you can emulate martial arts in Storypath Ultra.

Redlines

SPU Tasty Bit – Magic (September 2026)

• Similarly, this one is about how to emulate magic in Storypath Ultra. The draft’s on my desk for redlining!

Jadestorm (Earthbane Cycle)

• Have a tiny preview of the Sword Saint Discipline from Jadestorm!

Sword Saints are wandering paragons of will and steel, disciples of both blade and spirit. Where others rely on brute strength or rigid formation, they cultivate the unity of motion and intent. Their armor may be light or ceremonial, their garb flowing like banners in the wind, but their presence weighs upon the battlefield like fate itself. Each movement is deliberate; each strike a verse in a longer story of justice.

Sword Saints must devote their bodies and spirits. They walk a narrow path between conviction and obsession, guided by personal codes that may align with heaven, their sect, or their own hard-won understanding of the world. Their strength lies in the certainty of their purpose.

Post-Approval Development

Blood on the Dance Floor (Curseborne Jumpstart from Player’s Guide KS)

• The approvals team had some notes for the developer on this, but everyone’s excited to add a second jumpstart to Curseborne!

Lair of the Rat Kings (Realms of Pugmire)

• Development’s done and approvals were quick, so now it’s ready to compile feedback from the (upcoming) crowdfunding campaign.

Post-Editing Development

Essence Player’s Guide Novella: Even the Heavens Will Burn (Exalted Essence)

• The second of the two novellas from the Essence Player’s Guide crowdfunding campaign is now back to the developer for review!

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ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

• Ex3 Infernals – And again: this week.
• TCF Murder Lake Jumpstart – Getting notes together for Leblanc.
• TCF Witchford – Looking for appropriate artist for the fulls.
• Curseborne PG – Last of the halfs being sent out to artists.
• Curseborne Covenant – Running down my art notes list to see what I’m still waiting for sketches and finals for.
• TC Danger Skies – Yep… map stuff. I got sidetracked.
• Jadestorm (BK) – Matthew got me some notes on Friday… so getting that going.
• Monster Kingdoms – Sketches signed off on, so now it’s just waiting for finals.
• Lair of the Rat King (BK) – Working on what graphics i can for the crowdfunder while waiting for finals.

Layout Queue

• Curseborne Compact Edition
• Ex Essence PG – Thus beginneth the layout.
• Curseborne Tangled Webs – Gathering stuff up for Ron Thompson.
• Curseborne Screen – All part of my Curseborne Round Up.

Proofing Queue

• Curseborne Community Content Stuff 
• Making of Curseborne 
• At The Gates – Proofing.
• Ex3 Alchemicals – Awaiteth the errata from the devs.

At Press

• They Came From the RPG Antho – Shipping from printer to fulfillment shippers.
• Curseborne – Trying to wrap up some of the peripheral stuff and getting things ready to go.
• Izzy Curseborne Novella – PoD prep.
• Curseborne Jumpstart – Page xx’s.
• Pugmire 2e Unleashed – PoD proofs ordered, getting PoD coupons set up for backers.
• TCF Cyclops Cave Jumpstart: Weapons of the Gods – Advance PDF errata ending.
• Branch Riders Facilitator’s Guide – PDF’s and PoD’s on sale Weds on DTRPG!

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Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Speaking of anniversaries of the starts of stuff: there are a ton of famous birthdays from history and pop culture today! 1747 – John Paul Jones, Scottish-American captain, early leader in the Continental Navy (died 1792). 1823 – Sophie Adlersparre, Swedish publisher, writer, and women’s rights activist (died 1895). 1887 – Marc Chagall, Belarusian-French painter and poet (died 1985). 1907 – Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter and educator (died 1954). 1918 – Sebastian Cabot, English-Canadian actor (died 1977). 1922 – William Schallert, American actor; president (1979–81) of the Screen Actors Guild (died 2016). 1925 – Bill Haley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1981) and Merv Griffin, American actor, singer, and producer, created Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! (died 2007). 1927 – Janet Leigh, American actress and author (died 2004, not in a shower) and Pat Paulsen, American comedian and perennial presidential candidate (died 1997). 1931 – Della Reese, American actress and singer (died 2017). 1935 – Candy Barr, American model, dancer, and actress (died 2005). 1937 – Ned Beatty, American actor (died 2021). 1945 – Burt Ward, American actor and good chum. 1946 – George W. Bush, painter and 43rd President of the United States and surprisingly not the worst. 1946 – Fred Dryer, American football player and actor, and Sylvester Stallone, American actor, director, and screenwriter. 1950 – John Byrne, English-American author and legendary comic book illustrator. A three-for in 1951 – Lorna Golding, Former First Lady of Jamaica; Geoffrey Rush, Australian actor, producer, and undead pirate captain; and Rick Sternbach, American illustrator and Star Trek concept designer. 1958 – Jennifer Saunders, English actress, comedian and screenwriter. All older than me, so let’s stop here – sorry 50 Cent!