Down in The World Below, that is!

As announced last week, we’re doing a two book crowdfunding campaign on BackerKit for the next two main books for The World Below: The Delver’s Guide, a Player’s Manual for The World Below, and Secrets of Kalm and Kaos, a Storyguide’s Manual for The World Below!

Our Buried Treasures crowdfunder will let you pledge for one or both books, and as usual, every Reward Tier gets access to the text of the books as delivered throughout the length of the campaign!

From there, pledging on this crowdfunder will give the PDFs, when ready, before they are up on DTRPG for the general public, a chance to comment and suggest tweaks during both the campaign and after the Backer PDF is delivered, and early and discounted access to the physical book PoDs! Which we think are all good reasons to back this tariff free campaign!

One thing, we have been approved by Backer Kit for this campaign, but we think there’s a technical glitch because the usual “Press Here to Go Live” button has not shown up. We sent in a glitch report to BackerKit, but they are out until Tuesday morning…which means, there is a slight chance we won’t be going live as we intend, at 2pm EST.

So, if you go to BK and we’re not live yet after 2pm on Tuesday, you know why! Using the pre-launch button below in the Crowdfunding section of The Blurbs! to get notified when we go live will mean you won’t miss it if the time does shift, so click on that and join the folks already signed up!

Here’s some great info from Matthew as to what’s actually in both books, as well as an excerpt about the nature of Kaos Storms:

Tomorrow we dig for buried treasure! But we start from a place already underground, where digging too far, too recklessly, may make the entire world fall down around us. So be careful, bratan, because some treasures can spell one’s doom.
Coming up in The World Below: Buried Treasures we have The Delver’s Guide and Secrets of Kalm & Kaos, two huge sourcebooks for the first of our Earthbane Cycle games. The Delver’s Guide plays the role of our player’s handbook, while Secrets of Kalm & Kaos occupies the place of a Storyguide’s manual, both of which containing extensive playable options, new depth for the setting, optional rules and minigames, new powers, and two scenarios taking you to depths in The World Below never before reached.

The Delver’s Guide provides a massive array of new material for The World Below RPG, including:

• New Dawns, Dialectics, and Callings, including the Gem Master, the Soulweaver, and the ooze forged Ichori, complete with new powers, Theses, Syntheses, and Sorceries.
• New detailed systems for crafting, harvesting, and generational play.
• A full scenario that can be run straight from the pages of the book.
• Three appendices filled with random encounters, Kaotic Retaliations, and every single World Below Trick compiled into a single place.

Secrets of Kalm and Kaos provides a huge range of new options for The World Below RPG, including:

• New playable options from among Dawns, Dialectics, and Callings, including the mentalist Braegan and the living memory known as the Tableaux; along with new powers, Theses, Syntheses, Sorceries, and rituals.
• New systems for machinery, beast taming, Kaos storms, portals, gaming, and fishing.
• In-depth explorations of the planar spaces such as the Dark and the Obscura, and settlements such as Telver’s Hearth and Oracaster.
• A full scenario that can be run straight from the pages of the book.
• Three appendices filled with random encounters, interesting characters, and every single World Below Trick compiled into a single place.

Moreover, here’s a teaser of Kaos Storms and how people survive within them:

The Nature of Kaos Storms

Bristletoe Puck, a puffy-eyed Mischief Maker of the Chaos Inquisition, ruminates.

Remember that almost all people experience a storm or outburst only from afar. Only a few witness the glimmering streams that sort out good-old mother World Below’s bones. There is nothing like sipping a lungful of fresh air directly from the source. You know, the real good stuff. I saw them plenty of times. You need to hunt them down to study them and stay mobile. The eruptions that birth the Kaos storms begin at the Well and spread throughout the World Below toward the World Above like a swarm of irritated arachniida. Kalm begins in Oracaster before it reaches Tekelau or the Crystal City. Before the storms reach Tark, they pass Bura and any other settlements between. I even tried to outrun one of them from Oracaster to Tark. Almost made it. Good thing Telar knows his Kaos portals.

The storms follow the tunnels, or ore veins, or most likely the flow of water. Garliv, the tharker, is still convinced they follow the connections between Kaos gates. Utter vurth… In the end, they funnel the World Below’s lifeblood where it needs to go. We call the flow times of the Well the Kalm, when plenty of Kaos flows from it and decides to become a problem for us all. Outside of Kalm, we experience the ebb of Kaos from the Well. I’m working on mapping the main streams, which will finally show Garliv the errors of his ways.

See, Kaos storms are always transformative, and always good to throw a femur between your feet. During one storm, you might see the air burn, and during another, mushrooms turn into parchment. All storms come from the Well, but couldn’t be less like each other; even within one single storm, you can find different expressions of change. I call this phenomenon currents, brilliant, right? Each of them is distinct in power and effect.

What? No, I do not know where to find one to regrow your tail. Not only are there myriad different currents, but according to my notes, they change paths every time. But I have made some calculations and am pretty sure I know when the next storm will hit and open the gates of the fabled Kalm Engine. If you’d be so helpful as to confirm my forecast? The pay is excellent.

Please lend us your support and share the campaign around! We’ll be teasing parts of the manuscript throughout the campaign, and if you back, you’ll get full access to both manuscripts ahead of release.

Matthew also has two videos out this week talking about the Buried Treasures crowdfunder, in case you’d prefer the info straight from the Haemexii’s mouth parts!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCkUB1CqdQU

https://youtu.be/ImZrDS3_YJQ

Over on DriveThru Fiction, we have three books in their Valentine’s Day Sale, with the link to that below; the Exalted Essence Novella Omnibus, Silent Knife for CofD, and the Realms of Pugmire Fiction Omnibus – something for everyone!

Here’s Travis with news of a new show on our Twitch, and a Starter Pack of APs on Bluesky for folks interested in seeing our games played! In his own words:

As we roll into the new week, we have a new show popping up! If you’re on the Onyx Path Discord or following us on Bluesky, you know we’ve launched a new Trinity Continuum: Adventure! actual play on Mondays at 9 PM EST with Storyguide Mike Athey! This promises to be a collection of thrilling tales, so make sure you don’t miss out! Remember, if you’re unavailable to watch any of our Twitch programming, Twitch subs get immediate access to video on demand from all shows. Most content makes it to YouTube 7 days after broadcast, so if you haven’t already done so, make sure you’ve subscribed there as well!

Speaking of actual plays and Bluesky, we’ve created another Starter Pack on Bluesky featuring folks who stream actual plays, reviews, lore dives, and other content based on Onyx Path games. Follow the Starter Pack here and if you don’t see yourself on there but you create content about our games — or would like to start doing so — reach out to us via our Content Creator form at https://forms.gle/aqTBztswhRQLMADd9

With the Curseborne Tasty Bit Compilation going live on DTRPG this Weds, as well as some other offerings to enable more online play, we also want to let folks know that our usual vid offerings in the weeks to come may be interrupted by some spooky stuff. We’ve been having weird breaks in our in-house communications, text is appearing in manuscripts mysteriously, moths are fluttering where they shouldn’t be – like around street lights in below freezing temperatures – and other issues that feel oddly familiar…

Now’s about the time for me to hghk zsret mlkkkhf and also let you know dsadaj jj fjhjky poikj. After all, we all jjhkf our:

Many Worlds… One Path!

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Blurbs!

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Crowdfunding!

For The World Below: The Delver’s Guide & Secrets of Kalm and Kaos!

Two book campaign coming on Feb 17th at 2pm EST!

Sign up here to get up to the minute info on the campaign and notified when it is starting! https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/66f29db7-4e18-4269-b48c-b93914a8a8be/landing

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Onyx Path Media!

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

In this week’s Onyx Path News, Matthew dives into Gifts of the Titans and tomorrow’s crowdfunding campaign for The World Below: Buried Treasures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCkUB1CqdQU

And on The Gentleman Gamer YouTube channel, Matthew goes even further into what you’ll find in the Buried Treasures campaign: https://youtu.be/ImZrDS3_YJQ

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Virtual Tabletop!

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

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

Some last chance/clearance titles at IPR:

https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Last-Chance/

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

We have 3 books in the Valentine Sale at DriveThruFiction:
https://www.drivethrufiction.com/en/publisher/4261/onyx-path-publishing?promo=1000257

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!

All last year, we delved deep into the arcane lore of Curseborne: presenting each month a small but Tasty Bit of the eldritch lore we uncovered! Now, we have compiled this unsettling and horrifying material into a single blasphemous volume: the Curseborne Tasty Bit Compilation! Available Wednesday in PDF and PoD versions on DTRPG!

Also this Weds on DTRPG, to further your Curseborne activities: we are also offering the Curseborne VTT Tokens and the Curseborne Streaming Overlays for your online gaming needs!

On Sale Last Week!

BEWARE! the Gifts of the Titans for Scion 2e: PDF and PoD versions on sale 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!

GAMA Expo, March 1st – 5th (will be at Studio 2) *retailer industry show*

ACD Expo, May 27th – 29th (we’ll have a booth at this one) *retailer
industry show*

Origins Game Fair, June 17th – 21st (We’ll be in the Studio 2 booth)

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Project Status Updates!

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

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY!

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

First Drafts

Storypath – SPU Tasty Bit (May 2026) – Dangerous Environs

• Our May Tasty Bit is off and running… potentially into a dangerous situation….

Redlines

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

• The second Exalted Essence Player’s Guide novella, which we were able to do because of our generous backers, is now in redlines!

Manuscript Approval

Sidereals Jumpstart

• More Exalted news! The Sidereals Jumpstart is off to Paradox for approval!

Post-Editing Development

Curseborne – Curseborne Player’s Guide

• The Curseborne Player’s Guide is edited and back in my hands for post-editing development…

Storypath – SPU Tasty Bit (February 2026) – Traps

• … but first, I also need to do a post-editing development pass on our February Tasty Bit so we can get it out to everyone later this month!

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ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

• TCF Murder Lake Jumpstart – This is the next TCF thing to get going… 
• TCF the Danger Zone – Gotta talk to Brian about doing the cover…
• Curseborne Accursed Adventures – digging up some reference.
• Scion God Divine Inspiration – grabbing ref.
• TC From the Shadows – Dom’s on the cover… got a new guy on some of the interiors.
• TC Gadget Guide – signed off on sketches.
• At The Gates –  Checking in with artists as I haven’t heard from anyone since the new year….
• TWB Underworld Adventures – After Murder Lake stuff is done….
• TWB Secrets of Kalm and Khaos & Delver’s Guide (BK) – Going live Tuesday. 

Layout Queue

• Ex3 Alchemicals
• TCF Cyclops Cave Jumpstart 
• Scion God Jumpstart 

Proofing Queue

• Curseborne Community Content Stuff 
• TC Anima AR – Wrapping it up so it can go out to backers this week.
• Scion Pandora’s Box – Second proof to dev.

At Press

• Ex 3 Exigents – Shipping to fulfillment shippers.
• Curseborne – Getting together some printer quote stuff.
• They Came From the RPG Anthology VTT – I’m setting this and some other VTTs Travis had ready up to go.
• SPU Core Manual – Wrapping up… just need to do some tweaks to the character sheet.
• TWB Ed Greenwood Book – Out to backers.
• Curseborne Tasty Bit Compilation – PDF and PoD versions on sale Weds on DTRPG!

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Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Today, on the US Federal Monday Holiday of President’s Day, meant to honor George Washington, the president that ceded his office when his term was up – to the surprise of those who expected GW to want to be the new king, and Abraham Lincoln, the president who held the Union together during our Civil War – as well as other decisions all about bringing the US together more than apart, we are going to let you all unpack meaning there and instead offer up an entry from Eddy’s calendar: today in 1249 the French ambassador was dispatched to the Mongol Empire. (Quite sure that worked out well.)