March Marches On [Monday Meeting Notes]

At the end of last week, we finished up the Kickstarter campaign for the new Trinity Continuum core book, and the Trinity Continuum: Aeon book. We pretty much unlocked a Stretch Goal a day, and built out two PDFs for backers; an Aeon Aexpansion containing added info on more cool parts of the TC:Aeon setting, and In Media Res, a collection of adventure ideas for the TC core modern-day time period.

There are a few reasons why the results of this Kickstarter are satisfying to our crew here at Onyx Path:

1- The two books with the two extra PDFs give us a great start on the two time periods featured in the books. Now we can have a few meetings and discuss both the continuation of those two settings, and we can start looking at what other time periods we can cover soon. Which brings us to:

2- Based on the response to this latest KS, we are confident that we can put together a team ASAP to create the Trinity Continuum: Aberrant book, and plan on another Kickstarter for it when its text is done. Why then? Well:

3- All available evidence shows that allowing backers to read the finished text for a book being Kickstarted in weekly or two per week sections like we did for this and the last couple of KSs, does indeed give folks a chance to read, absorb, and discuss that section pretty well until the next section drops. Folks have something new to check out every couple of days. Finally:

4- With this Kickstarter, we have revealed to our community the last of the first slate of projects that came out of our initial plans for the worlds Onyx Path would publish. We, of course, have a whole bunch of new projects coming up that we’re thrilled to be starting on, or finalizing the plans for, but getting the three game-lines I bought from CCP (Scion, Scarred Lands, and the Trinity Universe) recreated and available in one form or the other for our community is a fine indicator of how we’ve thrived these last 6 years. (Heavy sigh of relief as it was never, and remains never, a slam-dunk that folks would dig what we’re doing).

And while we’ve been bringing the Storypath System and our own game-lines to life, we haven’t forgotten our Exalted 3rd, Chronicles of Darkness, and World of Darkness projects. In fact, I just sent a raft of project pitches over to White Wolf for approval. Some of them are projects that fans of those lines have heard of already (or at least the rumors of) and a couple are brand new.

More on those when we hear back from WW and can move on to outlining and getting writers a writin’.

 

 

 

Dragon Blooded illustration by Yihyoung Li

 

 

 

One thing we did not have in mind when we started was the ability to put together formats that creators in our community could use to make their own projects. I’m referring of course to Community Content programs, and our first is the one for Pugmire called Canis Minor that I announced a month and a half, give or take, ago.

We already have seven PDF projects up there, all either pay what you want or below $2.00 and it’s clear that the writers were just all having a blast exploring the world of Pugmire. A character creation guide, heroes and villains, a bunch of adventures, the list goes on.

And you can add to it if you have a yen to join our happy band of creators – the guidelines and formats are easy to follow, and you’ll retain half the earnings. Plus, Eddy Webb is a really nice guy and loves reading how folks have taken his ideas and run with them!

We’re finishing up the initial stages of our Scarred Lands Community Content site, and then we’ll be moving on to Scion, and we’re not done yet.

 

 

 

Night Horrors: Enemy Action illustration by Luis Sanz

 

 

Finally, I just want to briefly touch base on the Chronicles of Darkness‘s Night Horrors series of books – particularly since the one for Demon: The Descent, Night Horrors: Enemy Action, goes on sale this Wednesday. Long-time members of our community will recall that the Night Horrors “brand” was a sort of cross-line series of projects for the “new World of Darkness”, and were designed for one line but usable by all of the others.

With the advent of the Chronicles of Darkness, it made sense to me to bring back this popular series of antagonist books for the 2nd edition rules. Plus, the way the books present discrete write-ups for the various “baddies” is a great way for us to try out the new writers we’ve been looking to bring aboard for the last couple of years. If there’s a problem with a write-up, it’s just one creature, and not a huge word count to replace.

So go ahead and check out the blurbs in The Blurbs below and on DriveThru and see if there might not be some antagonists that could fit into your home chronicle, or be used to throw your players a surprise, even if that particular Night Horrors book isn’t from a line you’d normally play.

And with that, I’m outta here, and dropping this here motto right there:

 Many Worlds, One Path!

 

 

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

 

Our next Kickstarter is slated to be EX3‘s Dragon-Blooded near the end of March.

 

 

 

As we try and 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!

The devs have added a whole bunch of new game lines’ dice and rolling bg’s and got caught by a bug Apple needed to fix, so be sure to update your app and soon that should be fixed.

There’s been tweaks to all elements of the UI, you can now preview every die type in the store, and you can use multiple die types per roll! Here are the links for the Apple and Android versions:

http://theappstore.site/app/1296692067/onyx-dice

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onyxpathpublishing.onyxdice&hl=en

Three different screenshots, above.

(The Solar Anima special Dice above)

 

Promethean: The Created and Demon: The Descent dice on a Demon: The Descent tabletop

 

Hunter: The Reckoning and Mage: The Awakening dice on a Mage: The Awakening tabletop

 

 

 

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

We’re delighted to announce the opening of our ebook stores 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). Our initial selection includes these fiction anthologies:

  • Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II (Kindle, Nook)
  • Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox (Kindle, Nook)
  • Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile (Kindle, Nook)
  • Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

 

And here are six more fiction books:

  • Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree (Kindle, Nook)
  • Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds (Kindle, Nook)
  • Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)
  • Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

 

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)

 

And even more books are now on Amazon and the Nook store!:

  • Scarred Lands: Death in the Walled Warren (KindleNook)
  • V20 Dark Ages: Cainite Conspiracies (Kindle, Nook)
  • Chronicles of Darkness: Strangeness in the Proportion (KindleNook)
  • Vampire: The Requiem: Silent Knife (Kindle, Nook)
  • Mummy: The Curse: Dawn of Heresies (KindleNook)

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

Ask the darkness, and it shall answer: the Beast: The Primordial Player’s Guide Advance PDF will answer your questions when it goes live on DTRPG.com this Wednesday!

The Beast Player’s Guide expands on the material presented in Beast: The Primordial, with additional information on the Families and Hungers, what it feels like to be a Beast and experience the Devouring, and how to commune with the Dark Mother. You’ll also find two new Families and two new Hungers!

The book also includes a plethora of new Atavisms, Nightmares, Merits, and Birthrights, as well as systems for creating smaller, subservient versions of the Horror, new forms of Inheritance, and details on the mysterious Obcasus Rites.

 

 

 

There are some things that even a Demon fears – Night Horrors: Enemy Action for Demon: The Descent arrives as an Advance PDF this Wednesday on DTRPG.com!

Fighting the Machine is like fighting the ocean. You literally cannot hurt it. Doesn’t matter how much poison we dump into the ocean. We’ll only kill the things in it. We’ll never kill it. Same with the God-Machine. Kill angels, traitors, stigmatics, cultists, cryptids, whatever, you’ll never hurt the Machine Itself. No, that doesn’t mean we stop trying. You stop trying, you drown. Screw that.

—Mr. Bliss, Guardian Inquisitor

Night Horrors: Enemy Action includes:

• Dozens of Storyteller characters, including Unchained, angels, exiles, cryptids, and stigmatics, for use as antagonists, allies, or just inspiration

• Multiple plot hooks and story seeds for your Demon: The Descent chronicles

• A brief look at cults in Demon, including the Ten Thousand Names of God, a secret society fueled by the God-Machine

 

 

 

 

With a howl of RAGE, the W20 Changing Ways PDF and physical book PoD charges at you on DTRPG.com! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/229183/W20-Changing-Ways

Changing Ways is an in-depth look at what it means to be a werewolf, both on a personal level and as part of a pack. It digs deep into what it feels like to have bones re-knit after breaking, the range of senses available across all forms, and the sudden heady rush of the Gifts and Rites bestowed by spirits. It also provides a look at what life is like for lupus and metis werewolves, characters who have had experiences alien to any person. It shows the many ways that werewolves organize in packs, and how those packs are designed as groups of warriors, rather than aligned to the behavior of wolves.

Changing Ways contains:

• A detailed look at what it means to grow up as a lupus or metis werewolf, and how that colors a character’s perspective.

• More information on what it feels like to be a werewolf, a creature that changes in both body and mind.

• Frameworks and organizations for packs, along with new tactics and systems for forging the pack as part of play.

 

 

 

 

Appearing on DriveThruRPG are the PDF and PoD physical book versions of Arms of the Chosen for Exalted 3rd Edition! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/226224/Arms-of-the-Chosen

Take up the panoply of legendary heroes and lost ages, and awaken the world-shaking might of their Evocations. Before the dawn of time, the Exalted wielded god-metal blades to cast down the makers of the universe. In an ancient epoch of forgotten glories, Creation’s greatest artificers forged unimaginable wonders and miracle-machines.

Now, in the Age of Sorrows, kingdoms go to war over potent artifacts, scavenger princes risk everything to uncover relics of the past, and the Exalted forge great arms and armor on the anvil of legend. These treasures are yours to master.

Discover the mystical power of the five magical materials and the secrets of creating your own Evocations. Wield weapons of fabled might and don the armor of mythic heroes, making their puissance your own. Claim Creation’s wonders: the miraculous tools of the Chosen, living automatons, flying machines, hearthstones, and more. And unleash the mighty warstriders, titanic god-engines of conquest and devastation, to once more shake Creation with their footfalls.

 

 

 

 

Coming as an Advance PDF on DTRPG, we reveal The Secret of Vinsen’s Tomb, a Jumpstart adventure for Pugmire. (And yes, there will be a physical book PoD version coming soon). www.drivethrurpg.com/product/232337/The-Secrets-of-Vinsens-Tomb–A-Pugmire-Jumpstart

A cat living in Pugmire disappears, but neither the police dogs nor the cats of the Cat Quarter know why. When zombies attack the heroes, however, all signs point to an invasion by the Monarchies of Mau. But how does this intrigue tie into the lost tomb of the first king of Pugmire?

The Secret of Vinsen’s Tomb is a Pugmire story for three to six characters. This jumpstart contains all the rules and characters you need to play — just grab some dice and go! You can also use this adventure with the full version of Pugmire.

The Secret of Vinsen’s Tomb contains:

• An evocative and mysterious setting that’s both family friendly and deep enough to create compelling stories.

• A summary of Pugmire’s traditional fantasy rules system. It’s designed for streamlined play, with an emphasis on cooperation and action over competition and violence.

• A complete adventure for a Guide to run for three to six players. Also useful for Guides running a full Pugmire game of first or second level characters!

• Six ready-to-play characters, so you can jump into the action.

Can your good dogs discover the secret of Vinsen’s Tomb?

 

Also available on DTRPG is the physical book PoD version of the Pugmire Core Rulebook itself!

 

 

 

 

 

We unveil Vampire: The Requiem 2e‘s Half-Damned as PDF and PoD versions on DTRPG.com!

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/227500/Half-Damned

I love her, she’s family, but I don’t love what she is.

– Antonio Ramírez, dhampir

This book includes: 

• An exploration of what it means to be one of the Half-Damned, dhampir, revenants or ghouls.

• Mechanics for creating Half-Damned characters.

• Information for creating and running chronicles using the various Half-Damned character types, both with vampires and alone.

• Information on Half-Damned antagonists for vampire chronicles.

 

 

 

 

A Land Where Legends Walk

Drawing enthusiastically on Greek mythology, the revised and re-imagined Scarred Lands nonetheless retains its place as a modern fantasy RPG setting. This is a world shaped by gods and monsters, and only the greatest of heroes can expect to be counted among them. The most populous continent of Scarn, Ghelspad, plays host to vast unexplored regions, hides unsolved riddles from ancient cultures, and taunts adventures with the promise of undiscovered riches hidden among the ruins of older civilizations.

Yet the myths of the Scarred Lands are relatively recent events. The effects of the Titanswar still ripple through the world, and the heroines and villains of many of these stories are part of living memory, if not still living.

The Award-Winning Fantasy Setting Returns

Scarred Lands has been a favorite fantasy setting since the release of the Creature Collection for the d20 System in 2000. In subsequent years, over 40 titles were published for Scarred Lands, making it one of the most fully supported fantasy RPG settings ever and the premiere product line of Sword & Sorcery Studios.

Available in both 5th Edition and Pathfinder compatible versions! PDF and PoD formats available NOW!

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/193014/Scarred-Lands-Players-Guide-Pathfinder

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/197803/Scarred-Lands-Players-Guide-OGL-5e

 

 

 

CONVENTIONS!

 

 


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 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)
  • Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)
  • CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)
  • M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)
  • Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)
  • CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

 

Redlines

  • Guide to the Night (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

 

Second Draft

  • WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)
  • Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

 

Development

  • Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)
  • GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)
  • Night Horrors: The Tormented (Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition)
  • Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)
  • Fetch Quest (Pugmire)
  • They Came From Beneath the Sea! Rulebook (TCFBtS!)

 

WW Manuscript Approval:

 

Editing:

  • Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)
  • Monarchies of Mau (Monarchies of Mau)

 

Post-Editing Development:

  • Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)
  • Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers (Pugmire)
  • The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)
  • Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)
  • Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)
  • Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

 

Indexing:

 

 

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

  • Ex3 Monthly Stuff
  • Scion Hero
  • Changeling: the Lost 2 Art is contracted.
  • Trinity Continuum
  • Ex3 Dragon Blooded
  • Boggans – Contracted.
  • Monarchies of Mau – Sorting through buy and figuring out roster.
  • Fetch Quest – KS art contracted. Taking some time this week to tweak the card design.

 

Marketing Stuff

 

In Layout

  • Scarred Lands Community Content –Figuring out the covers and the Slarecian Vault Logo.
  • Scion Origin
  • Wraith 20 Screen Front approved… now waiting for errata phase to assemble all the charts.
  • Cavaliers of Mars Laying out while new art coming in.

 

Proofing

  • Book of Freeholds – Maggie has 2nd proof.
  • Pugmire – Pan’s Explorer’s Guide (or whatever)

 

At Press

  • Beckett Screen – Shipped to shipper.
  • Scarred Land PGs & Wise and the Wicked PF & 5e – To fulfillment shipper. PDF and PoD physical book versions on sale at DTRPG.
  • Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition) – Books and Screens created and preparing to ship from printer to fulfillment shipper.
  • Prince’s Gambit – At press.
  • V20 Beckett’s Jyhad Diary– Deluxe edition files sent to printer.
  • C20 Ready Made Characters – PoD proofs on the way.
  • Pugmire Artisan Cards PoD proofs on the way.
  • Pugmire Shepherd Cards PoD proofs on the way.
  • Scion Dice Packaging – At press.
  • Wraith 20 – Backer PDF out, and errata is coming in.
  • Ring of Spiragos – PoD proofs on their way.
  • Pugmire Vinsen’s Tomb – PoD proofs on the way.
  • Beast PG Advance PDF on sale at DTRPG.com this Wednesday.
  • DtD Enemy Action Advance PDF on sale at DTRPG.com this Wednesday.

 


TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: In the US, March has indeed come in like a lion and we’ll see if it goes out like a lamb. But: “Now look, pal! I know a country where March comes in like an emu and goes out like a tapir. And they don’t even know what it means! All right? Now listen, there are nine different countries, where March comes in like a frog, and goes out like a golden retriever. But that- that’s not the weird part! No, no, the weird part is, is the frog. The frog- The weird part is-[has seizure and falls off chair]”

29 thoughts on “March Marches On [Monday Meeting Notes]”

  1. AHHHH! The Beast PG is almost here! I can hardly contain my excitement! And right after I spent….let’s not talk about how much on the GM’s Day Sale too. :p I’m still so excited for this.

    Obcasus seems to mean something to the effect of “ruin” in Latin unless my Google-Fu is too weak, and I’m already in love with the idea of creating a minor version of one’s Horror. I can’t wait to bring all this into my campaign!

    Reply
    • My initial guess was that they’re the rites mentioned in the Beast core-book that enable the Begotten to establish Family Ties with conspiracy-tier hunters. That definition seems to argue against it, but doesn’t absolutely rule it out.

      Reply
      • This is possible! That would be neat to see rules for. On the subject of what Obcasus rites might be, I do believe at some point it was mentioned we’d see something about Cults of the Dark Mother so perhaps they tie into that somehow?

        Reply
    • Fair warning, though, in the past, I’ve received my book before the shipper notified me. If location matters, I’m near Washington, DC.

      Reply
  2. Suggestion that might sound crazy but I think might have merit.

    Trinity Continuum Aberrant & Trinity Continuum Adventure at the same time.

    Now I know that might seem like a silly idea, but my thought process on the matter is that while there is some fanbase overlap, it’s not universal. There are plenty of people who like one or the other. The idea in my head is that by running the Kickstarters and production together, you might get some cross-sales that otherwise wouldn’t happen. And if you don’t, if one of them is weaker than the other it, the stronger of the two could bootstrap the other.

    Also, the 1st Edition PDF bundles for those two gamelines would both be significantly smaller than Aeon’s was. Slapping them together could make them seem like a firmer package.

    Reply
    • I agree with you. I’m an Aberrant fan, but absolutely LOVE the Adventure! setting. Getting them both out there at the same time would really draw in fans from both eras, and would personally bring a smile to my face. The only downside would be that it would probably mean a longer wait for both manuscripts to be finished, but well worth it I feel.

      Reply
    • Unless the projects are linked in some way, like Scion Origin and Hero, or Trinity Continuum’s core rules being needed for TC: Aeon, a multi-book KS fails to focus on any of the projects, so I try and avoid those. I’ll consider your idea, though.

      Reply
  3. After Shattered Dreams, you did it again. Just needed to pop in and say AMAZING work on Changing Ways, which I just picked up in Drivethrus GM day sale. The art in W20 has always been good, but this is just eye poppingly good stuff, and not just the Ron Spencer pieces. Fantastic job in the art department guys, the pics just ooze interesting tales, and art is where every book makes its first impression, looking forward to reading a lot.

    Reply
    • Thank you so much! Mirthful Mike juggles a lot of projects with a lot of different visual styles, and does it all so amazingly well that most folks don’t notice, so it is great to hear when a particular book nails it so completely for you.

      Reply
  4. Super exited about the Slaracian Vault. Do you plan to have a FAQ thread on the forum as for Canis Minor? (because I will probably have a ton of questions about what is possible and what is not XD

    Reply
  5. I just wanted to say, as a backer of the Trinity kickstarter, I am really happy to see that its success showed enough merit to continue the line. I also really appreciated that the previews of the book were available during the kickstarter. As a backer of another rebooted line that was ultimately disappointed in the resulting product, not because it was poorly done or low quality but rather because it went in a direction I did not enjoy, I was a bit nervous about where this might go and it was nice to be able to back it knowing I would be able to back out if the previews were not what I was looking for.

    Keep up the good work. My only regret is not getting on board with Onyx Path sooner, despite being a White Wolf fan boy from way back.

    Reply
    • Glad you made it to us! I agree, in that I’ve backed projects and you sort of have to accept that there will be changes, which I’m OK with having had years of putting these sorts of projects together myself, but it can be rough when you’re not used to that. So that is one of the reasons we are looking to have the completed text done for most projects we KS.

      Reply
  6. So, could we see Deviant, The contagion Chronicles, and Aberrant this year or is that simply to much to ask for?

    Reply
  7. I am very excited to see that Enemy Action is coming out this week. I have always enjoyed the Night Horrors series, and I really enjoyed working on this one. I can’t wait to see what everyone thinks of it. Thank you, Matt McFarland and Onyx Path, for giving me this opportunity.

    I’m also quite excited for the Beast Players Guide, but I don’t have any of myself invested in that one.

    Reply
  8. Can’t wait for Deviant to get it’s own thread. Maybe that’ll happen soon now that it’s actually in first draft.

    Reply
  9. I would love if the Dragon-Blooded KS included an addon for a traditional-print of the EX3 corebook (if the finances can work… perhaps requiring a stretchgoal or something).

    I’m extremely wary of buying such a large book from POD due to binding stress.

    Reply

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