Mike:

Hi Everybody,

I’m Mike Chaney, Art Direction Dude and Graphic Design Monkey here at Onyx Path Publishing.

Welcome to the lead up to Gen Con…that crazy time of year when RPG publishers scurry around like a pack of spider monkeys that are being stung by a swarm of a thousand angry wasps… in a mad attempt to get those last minute items ready for the “Big Show.” Okay, it isn’t really like that… well not 100% anyway. However, it is true that from the beginning of July until the day the show opens that things tend to get a little hectic.

Luckily, most of us here at Onyx Path have been through many pre-Gen Con crunches and so it has become almost routine to us. One of the fantastic things we’ve been working over the last few weeks leading up to Gen Con is the Onyx Path Publishing Schedule/Brochure/Catalog. It is 32 glorious pages of full color goodness that will be available at our booth.

If you have been wondering what’s been coming up next for your favorite World of Darkness lines (both CWoD and NWoD) or maybe you’ve heard about Exalted Third Edition and you’d like to know what all the hooplah is, then this is for you. I’m really excited about all the new titles we have lined up for 2013 and 2014 and when you pick up the brochure, I think you will be as well.

Speaking of upcoming titles, here is my rundown on where our various upcoming titles are in the Art Direction/Graphic Design pipeline:

• M20 – Finals are starting to roll in and have been forwarded onto CCP for approval. Thus far we’ve gotten some fantastic pieces from John Cobb, Vince Locke, Drew Tucker, and Andrew Trabbold. I’m hoping we can post some in an art blog once we get the official thumbs up from Eddy and the guys at CCP.

• Void Engineers – Finals are continuing to roll in. Thus far, I’ve gotten some fantastic looking pieces from Andy Hepworth and Justin Norman. I’ve also gotten some template illos in from Nate Pride….trust me when I say your jaw will drop when you see these.

• Blood and Smoke – Got splat notes in from Rose and will be contracting those out this week. I’ve got a couple of artists in mind for these, just have to see who has room in their schedules.

• Demon  – Art notes are out to artists as of yesterday afternoon. I do still have a few I’m awaiting that I’m awaiting confirmation on, but I’ll probably hear from them this week. Thus far we have Sam Araya lined up to do all the fuels and Cathy Wilkins lined up to the various splats.

• Demon Quickstart –  Wrapped up the layout and design on that Friday afternoon and it is off for approval.

• Guildhalls of the Deathless – Finals should start to roll in for this on Monday. Some really good looking stuff in there.

• MtC Ready Made Characters  – Sending those over to the artist this week as their finals for Guildhalls should be in on Monday or Tuesday.

• Covers  – For Darkening Skies, I’m currently talking to a couple of artists about it. It has some historical elements to it and you have to find that right artist who can get the historical details right and still deliver an action packed scene.

A busy pre Gen Con week…but not too busy. Should give me some time to go find some shirts that don’t have band names or video game titles on them to wear to the booth 🙂

And now I turn you over to my partner in crime this week…take it away Rose….

Rose:

Hi, I’m Rose Bailey. I usually blog in my capacity as Vampire developer, but I’m also Onyx Path’s Development Producer. That means I book and coordinate all of the individual developers and editors who work on our books, plus maintain the master schedule.

Last year was our big coming out at Gen Con… and I missed it. This year, I plan to be right in the thick of things, talking to you folks and meeting with our teams. If prior years are any indication, it’ll be quite a rush.

Here are this week’s books in development:

First Draft

• MtC Cursed Necropolis DC: With Neall Reamonn Price and Harry Heckel
• MtAs m20 core: With Phil Brucato and his braintrust.
• WtA White Howlers: With Jess Hartley, working like a madwoman.
• HtV Monstrous Basterds: With Matt McElroy and his writing crew (including me!)