Very glad to let y’all know that we funded the Monster Kingdoms crowdfunding campaign on BackerKit in just about three hours last week, and have advanced over the weekend – and a holiday weekend, at that, where pledges tend to be low – to almost 200% funded!
Thanks so much to you 500+ backers who have already demonstrated your faith in this, the third new game in the Earthbane Cycle!
I was trying to avoid starting the campaign so close to the holiday weekend, but we had a delay in approval for the campaign that we’ve never run into before from BackerKit that prevented us from going live on Tuesday. There was no indication from BK as to why there was a delay, so we’re looking into it still, but we defaulted two days to Thursday – thanks to all of you voicing concern, and who followed us just fine to the Thursday 2pm start!
Because, we don’t want the drama to be outside the game: we want everyone to enjoy the drama inherent in a setting where the traditional “bad guys” are ruling, and you can play one of them! And a big part of creating and expanding on that dramatic setting has to rest on the talented shoulders of our own Matthew Dawkins, who took my starting threads of ideas and wove them into a complex, dark, but eminently playable and fascinating new game.
As if on cue, here’s Matthew now with a message for you!
Hello blog readers!
It’s absolutely fantastic that we’ve almost hit 200% of our funding target in under a week since Monster Kingdoms’ campaign start! Thank you so much for everyone who has backed and/or shared the campaign in your social media spaces. It’s genuinely appreciated.
Some of my favourite aspects of Monster Kingdoms are the edges, sceptres, and crowns you have available to your characters in this game. I’m always in favour of utility in games, and none of our games have ever had so many edges and such a devastating array of fantasy powers as our edges and crowns. And the great thing is, each of them are very easy to create yourself. The formula behind edge, sceptre, and crown design is remarkably simple, which means if a character becomes a crownbearer and the player wants to create their own, they need only look at the templates in the books and express what area effect your crown can achieve, the status effects it leads to, and any Tricks purchasable through its use.
Another aspect of crowns I particularly enjoy is a somewhat subtle one. You’ll find out more in the setting chapter, but there are several legendary crownbearers with ties to the Major Arcana. These are the ultimate crownbearers – the big bosses in your games. If you take them on, you stand a firm chance of changing society and environment in the Monster Kingdoms, and the trick is, they’re character not too dissimilar to the player characters – just with incredibly powerful magic and hellish infamy ratings.
Now, while Matthew is both developer and wrote that magnificent introduction/history chapter, we’ve got a powerhouse team of writers on Monster Kingdoms, a couple of whom have sent along messages for y’all for this week’s MMN blog. First, here’s Dixie with some thoughts here in the first week of the crowdfunder:
I had such a blast writing the Kingdom, Mantle, and Dusk Paths alongside Eddy and Matthew. It was a fun challenge to make the people monstrous but also people you’d want to play as, and I think we struck a good balance there. You can still see the old-school fantasy DNA in a lot of it, but I think we found some interesting niches and subversions to those. The elves, for instance, being super into bugs and also having strange anatomy was mostly inspired by a mix of some weird characters from books I like and the way elves are portrayed in Larian’s Divinity games. I was also really glad we were able to mechanize the Elementors in a way that feels satisfying!
Thank you so much to those who’ve already backed the book, and if you haven’t, please at least check out the manuscript when you get a chance! It’ll be fully released at the $5 tier by the end of the campaign, so it’s really easy to tell if you’ll want the full book or not. Can’t wait to hear what y’all think about the chapters as they come out!
And here’s writer Chris Jones, with a note – Chris also has put together an unofficial character sheet that you can pick up on our Monster Kingdoms Discord, or as a backer! Herrrre’s Chris:
Hello everyone, Chris here, one of the writers for Monster Kingdoms – I’m loving the support I’ve seen so far, so thanks so much!
I’ve seen plenty of questions around the worldbuilding aspect (can you build dungeons, conquer the world, raise armies, etc?) so i thought this might be a good opportunity to offer a quick tease of what we’ve put together.
When I was approached to write on MK, the idea was to create something akin to the Kalm phase in The World Below, but instead focusing on how your characters might Expand their empire, or how they might instead Consolidate their power. This gave rise to two elements that each squad has under their control; the Regiment (think you own, personal army), and the dungeon (exactly what it sounds like, your very own evil lair to retreat to, build engines of war, store you prisoners, etc). During each session, as a group you decide where your focus falls – is your army out and about, doing your bidding and getting resources for you (it could be gold, it could be blackmail material, it could be so much more), or are you focusing on your home base (perhaps your prisoners know a spell to help you from afar, or your blacksmith is busy forging that brand new dreadnaut armour you’ve always wanted). Where you give your attention is a balancing act, as it all depends on what you need, and where the story is heading.
One of the best parts about writing these sections was looking at what these two areas could add to the field of war – recruiting armies and building trebuchets is all well and good, but you need somewhere to unleash them – that, however will be revealed over the course of the crowd funding!
We’ll be having more of the creative team sending messages about their process, their favorite bits of Monster Kingdoms, all sorts of stuff, in the weeks to come, AND we’ll be having some Actual Plays going on coming up, too!
In fact, this Friday at 2pm on our Twitch, you can watch a Session 0 for a Monster Kingdoms campaign with all sorts of monster character creation- check it out!
I am working on Curseborne. I’m sure there are other things, but for now all is Curseborne and Curseborne is all.
Yes, that is Mirthful Mike Chaney’s mantra right now; we hear him chanting it in the background of our meetings. Why he doesn’t just mute, I’ll never know…
Anyway, yes, we are working hard on two big Curseborne projects right now: the core book itself, which the Mirthful One is pulling towards a first proof with all of his considerable might, and pulling together the materials for the Curseborne Players Guide Kickstarter for October. Expect to be teased a lot more now that we are a month out!
And for those of you who are always concerned when I emphasize one project – just check out the August monthly report from Ian from yesterday, as well as the CB projects in today’s weekly progress report, for all the other projects we’re working on!
FYI: select Scarred Lands Savage Worlds PDFs are on sale at DTRPG right now if you want to check out one early fantasy setting adapted for a very smooth system:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/338/aegis-studios?promo=45278
As we await the annotated proof of Branch Riders, here’s a reminder that Jack Berkenstock and Doug Hagler from the Branch Riders design team will be appearing on the Randomworlds Q and A to discuss Branch Riders on September 2nd (tomorrow!) at 8:30PM EDT. You can join in on the discussion and ask your questions by going to http://www.tinyurl.com/randomworlds-discord in the q-and-a channel. They’ll be discussing the rules and mechanics, the lore and background and any other questions that the people have! Its a Branch Riders briefing better than anything Captain Inorvic has on his agenda. Eight Realms… One Mission!
Well, there you go! All the news that’s fit to spit. I mist admit to still being wrung out from all the “plan B-ing” we did last week with the Monster Kingdoms campaign, so hopefully we’ll get more things accomplished this coming week.
One thing I did want to share, for all of you Magic: the Gathering fans out there, is that if you are in Boston a week from this coming Friday, the 12th and Saturday the 13th, I’ll be signing cards and doing orders for alters at Lobstercon! I’d love to see ya there.
If not though, at least we can meet here every week and talk about:
Many Worlds, One Path!
Blurbs!
Crowdfunding!
Monster Kingdoms!
FUNDED IN THREE HOURS! Use this link here to join all the monsters!
Onyx Path Media!
Check out our attached media schedule for the videos on our Twitch channel this week!
This week on the Onyx Path News, Matthew discusses the Monster Kingdoms crowdfunder and Curseborne: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4SKqE0GL68
Matthew (the Gentleman Gamer) has also made a video about the system used for Monster Kingdoms right here: https://youtu.be/mQHR4BJZwgE
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
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!
Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books, dice, and screens? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/
As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles in PDF and PoD versions at DriveThruRPG.com!
Select Scarred Lands Savage Worlds PDFs are on sale at DTRPG:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/338/aegis-studios?promo=45278
The first part of the print shopping experiment is live on DTRPG:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/browse?format=1000240-book-printed-publisher-fulfilled
This is limited to the USA only at first, but will expand later after data crunching and review.
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).
On Sale This Week!
This week look out for these Realms of Pugmire wallpapers: Realms of Pugmire Wallpaper, Realms of Pugmire Mobile Wallpaper, Curious Cats of Mau Wallpaper, all on Weds on DTRPG!
Conventions!
Here’s where you can find out more info on physical and virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with!
We’ll have demo games running at these upcoming conventions:
GameHoleCon 10/16 – 10/19
Paganomicon 10/25 – 10/26
PAX Unplugged 11/21 – 11/23
Game Night With Onyx Path Publishing at StartPlaying is the last Friday of every month and through that weekend! Come play some Curseborne that night! (But any of our game lines are welcome all weekend long!)
Here’s a link to give anyone $10 credit to play games on Start.Playing:
https://startplaying.games/referral/clog9y0v10006ju0968iev95m
Please spread the word about GMing games as much as possible! Details on how list a game are at the bottom of the page in the FAQ:
https://startplaying.games/event/game-night-onyx-path
Project Status Updates!
Our full list of projects will be available monthly on our blog! Check out August’s full list report here: https://theonyxpath.com/release-roundup-august-2025/
DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY!
Here are the projects that moved to the next stage of production:
EDITING
Curseborne – Accursed Adventure Supplement
- Dr. Scritch-Scratch to surgery. I repeat, Dr. Scritch-Scratch to surgery. We have a patient getting loose, and we need Dr. Scritch-Scratch down here NOW.
The World Below – The World Below Delver’s Guide
- Everything from underwater and vertiginous settlements to new Callings and Dialectics, and deeper crafting, harvesting, and generational play to tables, tables, and more tables of random encounters, Kaotic Retaliations, and so much more. This player’s guide is epic.
ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!
In Art Direction
- Ex3 Alchemicals – Revisions and finals are in. Sending off for dev approval.
- SCION Dragon Companion – Artwork is in and ready to go.
- SCION God Player’s Guide – Finals are in and ready to go.
- At The Gates – Gonna try and do some wrapping up….
- Curseborne PG KS – Sketches coming in.
- Monster Kingdoms (BK) – Crowdfunder funded and running.
Layout
- TC Anima AR – Getting map info over to cartographer.
- Curseborne Tasty Bit August – I’m gonna knock it on out….
- Pugmire 2E Screen
- SCION Rock Gods – Gathering for Ron Thompson.
- Curseborne – Getting ready for first proof.
Proofing Queue
- Branch Riders
- Ex3 Miracles of the Divine Flame
At Press
- TC Aether Screen – Prepping for Drivethru. Printed. Getting boxed up and sent out to Studio 2.
- They Came From the RPG Anthology VTT
- TC Aether – At Studio2, starting to ship physical books to backers.
- Scion God – At Studio2, starting to ship physical books to backers.
- Scion God Screen – Printed. Getting boxed up and sent out to Studio 2.
- TC Aether Jumpstart – PoD uploaded.
Today’s Reason to Celebrate!
It’s Labor Day here in the US, and the first day of September! For a lot of folks here, Labor Day is the practical last day of Summer. For others, it’s to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements in the United States, as described online and as intended. (Canada also celebrates Labour Day today, fyi.) Seems like now more than ever we need to remember how folks gathered together to insist on the rights and value of the “common man” who works their ass off.
Is there any progress on the deluxe Exalted books that have been in the queue for a while? I realize there were challenges even before the tariffs, but with Abyssals released there are now 3 books in queue, and Alchemicals isn’t that much further behind. It makes me very hesitant to join the upcoming Infernal campaign. Would you be willing to share a bit more of any recent efforts? It would go a long way to alleviate that hesitation for me and others like me. I know there has been a little talk about it in the blog in the past, but some more details would be appreciated.
When it looks like there’s a stabilized tariff situation, then we’ll start moving the EX deluxes to press again. Right now, there are overlapping lawsuits (some by TTRPG companies) and orders from judges, fluctuating reports on what tariffs apply to which kinds of products and whether the port authorities are following the codes and whatever law exists when they make their call, and the person making seemingly random calls on tariff amounts is still in charge. We have several printers that we could work with, all in different countries, and we’re champing at the bit to work with them as soon as we think the situation is predictable. The overarching point of crowdfunding for publishers is to reduce just this sort of risk, but the US government has managed to find a way to bring the risk back in – and in the case of the deluxes, the risk is too high that we’ll get hit by a tariff that drains all of our resources.
I’m guessing the answer is “the same,” but since you specifically mentioned deluxe books what about non-deluxe backer copies for things like Realms of Pugmire?
Pretty much, yes. Since the tariffs are (so far) percentages of the cost of the books, the more expensive the book, the more damaging a potential tariff could be. With some shipping services throwing out very high flat rates, though, there may be additional costs brought on by the tariff situation that aren’t a percentage. Plus, as James and I have noted before, it’s the unpredictability that is the biggest hurdle: are prices going to stay the same long enough to get the book printed and back to the US and our fulfillment shipper? So far, they have been all over the map in the seven months since this all started.
Thanks for the detailed responses, Rich.