That’s 250 for the non-Roman Numeral readers out there. Why that, you might ask? Because…

Congrats! to our Terrific Trio of Onyx Pathcasters – Dixie, Matthew, and Eddy – for their 250th episode!

That is just SO MANY episodes! It is amazing how consistent these are in terms of what the gang have been covering, their continuing range of interests, and how the hell do they always sound like they’re genuinely having a great time?!

I dunno. I have to psyche myself up before every appearance on the show, and they do an episode a week! Plus, they manage to cover all of our games from so many different angles – reviews, retrospectives, interviews with the creators, actual play sessions, the list goes on.

Plus, it’s all them – and a few guest hosts. They decide on subject matter and approach – nobody at Onyx Path determines their content. Even when perhaps I should, Mr. Dawkins.

He knows what I mean…

Seriously, I’ve been thrilled by both our talented Trio’s repartee and incisive commentary, and how far they’ve run with this “lil podcast that could”. Here’s to many more!

From Q’s To A’s, Courtesy of Our Monday Meeting Crew

Since sometimes I know this blog can drift into my lecturing about something or another, I thought maybe it’d be fun if I ask a question and have our Monday Meeting crew provide some answers, instead. In this case, my question is a general one: “What do you think our community should know about how Onyx Path and our creators work?”

Here, then, are their answers:

Mirthful Mike: KS campaigns take as much time and effort to put together as a making a book production wise. All the art, graphics, page prep, videos, and so on do not just happen overnight. 

Ian: “Will this backer PDF be available to the public?” Yes, every product we make becomes available to the public. We’re still a fairly small company, and it doesn’t make financial sense to close off a substantial number of potential customers by limiting a product to a small audience. The only thing “exclusive” to crowdfunding backers are our traditional print runs and deluxe editions, but even then that stock is made available via Studio2 and Indie Press Revolution. We’re in our 12th year, about to launch our 64th crowdfunding campaign, and we’ve never done a backer-exclusive product, nor do we have any current plans to do so.

Ian: And relatedly, “will this PDF be available in print?” If it’s big enough (50 pages or so) then yes, every PDF we’ve done has been made available in print. Nearly every time we release an advance PDF we get people checking that it’s going to be available in print. We’ve released hundreds of products at this point, and everything that meets that extremely low criterion gets a print version.

Danielle: Most of our freelancers work day jobs and freelance as a side-gig. They devote a lot of time to their craft, but are often juggling a 9-5 and several writing and/or development projects at one time. So if you’re wondering why they don’t always have time to answer questions or engage with fans, that’s why.

LisaT: One things I would want OPP fans to understand is how much work gets done by such a small company. We have a commitment to offering a new product every week. And considering we are a company of 4 full time employees, 7 contracted staff members and a constantly changing number of freelance writers, artists and developers, it shows true dedication. These are some of the best people I’ve worked with and they all spend immense time and energy trying to provide games and supplemental materials that will be enjoyed by the gaming community. 

Dixie: We really are a tiny staff, and most decisions are made collaboratively among the nine people who attend the Monday Meeting every week, along with some input from the other couple of folx who work with us regularly. There’s no office or corporate overlords or anything of that nature when it comes to Onyx Path Publishing, just a group of creatives who truly enjoy working together and are doing our absolute best to put out books that contain fun games that help people have a good time and tell cool stories.

Eddy: One thing I wish folks realized was that a new game takes about two years to make, and we can’t do everything at once! We have a process that’s been pretty well refined over a decade (and based on twenty years of experience before that between all of us), and generally we do get to everything. But sometimes that means that we don’t have answers for things near the end of the process when we’re focused on things early on or in the middle. That doesn’t mean we aren’t thinking about it, but those answers aren’t firm or ready for public consumption just yet.

Dixie: Editors work incredibly hard to fix every error they see, and they are not responsible for the content of the book aside from its readability and grammar, along with a few specific style guide things. Sometimes errors can get introduced after editing is done, such as in the layout and various proofing (and even errata!) stages. Though we continue to refine this process, books will probably have a typo or two. No one is flawless at pretty much anything.

Danielle: We are proud of all our material, warts and all. We know that sometimes there are errors, or pieces that don’t make the most sense in context with other parts. I know personally, I try my best, and there are always things that I would absolutely go back and change about the text of some of my books, but there comes a point where we just have to call a project done and focus on other things. My biggest example comes from Trinity Continuum Core, where I know there’s at least one Stunt that doesn’t do anything, an Edge that doesn’t convey mechanics, and some Skill Tricks that should honestly be Gifts. But on the whole, the number of changes I would need to make to be satisfied with it are very small, and IMO not worth bothering over. I’ve definitely answered fan questions on those things, and mentioned in some places what I’d change them to, but beyond that, I must give myself the grace to recognize that nothing I make will be perfect, and I wish the fans would do the same.

Travis: I would want our fans to know that Onyx Path has been refining processes for over a decade at this point, and continue to strive to streamline and update those processes. In addition to the constant work of producing games to meet our release commitments, the team is perpetually looking for opportunities to improve processes and communication so we meet and hopefully exceed fan expectations. There’s plenty of moving parts that the fans might not directly see that are undergoing continuous maintenance and improvement. A visible example would be the recent forums relaunch, whereas less visible, but no less vital, are updates to the templates and resources our freelance writers use. There are always multiple things in the works beyond the core task of making new books. 

Danielle: Books take a lot of time, and some of that time is downtime for different people who are working on the process. For example, we often give authors 6-8 weeks for their first drafts. As a developer, all I have to do during that time is answer questions and give direction, which doesn’t take up a lot of time. When authors turn in drafts, going through them can take anywhere between 2-4 weeks, at which time the authors don’t have anything to do for the project. Final drafts take anywhere between 4-6 weeks, during which time the developer again only needs to be answering questions. A single project takes months, but there’s tons of downtime for both the developers and the authors to also be working on other projects. So when you see one project move forward faster than another, it isn’t because the team is prioritizing one project over another, it is simply that some projects need more time in those interim steps to make sure it is doing it’s best.

Matthew: I find redlines one of the most enjoyable, useful processes at Onyx Path: both giving and receiving them. When I first started writing professionally, I remember getting incredibly thorough, incredibly insightful redlines from Richard Dansky, Eddy Webb, and Stew Wilson in particular. They really informed me on how best to deliver feedback to authors, making the work better but also teaching the authors better skills in writing quality. When compared to some redlines I received back then, far sparser in detail, snarky, or just complimentary, I remember seeking out the constructive criticism.I feel a lot of the developers at Onyx Path really take lessons like that to find ways of improving the work of writers on their books, but also the writers themselves. Redlining is an excellent teaching tool, and as I’ve worked for many companies now, and seen plenty who don’t even give redlines (they allow the developer to manage all changes before submitting to editing or layout), I find the Onyx Path method of first draft > redlines > final drafts > development, etc. incredibly valuable. 

Mirthful Mike: Artists and designers do not just sit around idle while waiting for a particular book to hit production. If something slips on the schedule during writing, development, or editing… it can drastically impact when a book gets art done and when it goes into layout. If something isn’t ready at it’s appointed time, we move onto the next thing and slot the slipped item back in as soon as we can. Sometimes it’s a month later… sometimes it’s 6 months later… and so on…

Dixie: Speaking personally, this is the best job I’ve had in over 20 years of being employed when it comes to caring about the mental and physical health and well being of all staff and freelancers. Everyone is as supportive as possible while still trying to hit all of our internal goals and deadlines, and are happy to rearrange duties, take projects off people’s plates when they are struggling, and help each other through all sorts of trying times, from illness to moving to just general stress. It’s a great environment overall and we really care about each other.

Hope those notes are as interesting for y’all to read through as they were for me! We certainly hope they give some perspective on what we are and what we do as Onyx Path. I’m thinking maybe the next one will be “What is your favorite Clan?”, or the like! 🙂

Just a Few More Things, Sir…

Wanted to point out that DTRPG and DriveThruFiction are having a couple of sales on our projects right now that amount to one of the single biggest sales of our stuff, EVAH! Almost 1000 of our projects are on sale across those two parts of the DriveThru universe! Our friends at IPR are also continuing their super sales of our physical books and other projects as well, so check it out! Links below in the Sales Partners section.

You’ll also note that we’re releasing two different Exalted 3rd projects this Wednesday: the compiled and revised Adversaries of the Righteous in PDF and physical book PoD versions, and the Lunars novella: Facets of Truth PDF/PoD/ebook!

Folks who purchased Adversaries of the Righteous individual PDFs several years ago when we were releasing them monthly-ish will get discount offers similar to how we handled Hundred Devils Night Parade‘s release!

For our VTT audience, we expect to have something new on sale next Wednesday for Roll20 that we think a bunch of you will like – keep your eyes open in next week’s MMN blog!

Finally, following up on giving everybody a peak into the creation of a Trinity Continuum cover, our most tightly designed to a certain visual format covers, here are this week’s tight sketches:

The Minotaur, the Mask, and one third of our Model PC characters – with some suggestion of where the other two characters will be going in front of our warrior-type. Again, at this stage, I’m taking the visual research I’ve done and creating the tighter drawings that I’ll be redrawing even tighter in place for the cover artist.

I’ll probably have the other two characters ready for next week’s blog, assuming nothing major pops up and diverts my attention and time! I mean, that never happens as I’m running herd on our:

MANY WORLDS, ONE PATH!

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BLURBS!

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KICKSTARTER/CROWDFUNDING!

Coming up next on crowdfunding: The Trinity Player’s Guide!

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Onyx Path Media!

This week:

Eddy, Matthew, and Dixie will celebrate TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY EPISODES by going back into the mailbag to answer more listener questions!

As always, this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

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Onyx Path Media now has its own blog on Tuesdays! We’ll continue posting our highlight of the week here, but Tuesday will be the day to visit if you want to catch up on actual plays, interviews, deep dives, and other assorted Onyx Path media!

Please check out our attached media schedule for the videos on our Twitch channel this week! In particular, keep those eyes open for our Storypath Showcase, where we give an excellent profile of our various Storypath games and how to play them!

MEDIA HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK:

Today we shine a spotlight on another of Awkward GM Corbin’s Beginner’s Series videos, this one on Hunter: The Vigil 2e! https://youtu.be/EzkUlQlu4ks

The Onyx Path News discusses recent and upcoming releases! You can find it on our YouTube channel (click the bell to be informed when we go live!) but if you missed the last episode, here it is: https://youtube.com/live/MS5hhghnqho

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Virtual Tabletop!

Two new Roll20 items of interest for Scion players!

First, a Scion VTT bundle is on sale over at Roll20:

https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/bundle/19378/scion-second-edition-bundle

And there’s also the Scion Jumpstart, all ready for Roll20 VTT fun!

https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/bundle/21165/a-light-extinguished-a-jumpstart-for-scion-second-edition

Here is a new screenshot of the upcoming They Came From Beneath the Sea! Compendium!

More news and links when we have them!

The Scion: Origin and Scion Hero Compendiums are now available on Roll20!

https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/publisher/1716/onyx-path-publishing

Scion is just the start! They Came From Beneath the Sea! and other
Onyx Path RPGs are in development for Roll20 virtual tabletop!

The first of our official Scion sheets designed for Foundry VTT are
now available!

Direct Link: https://foundryvtt.co

Looking for more virtual tabletop resources? We have a selection of
Tokens, Encounters, and more available now at DriveThruRPG!

Get ’em here: 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!

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

CofD and OGL Sale at IPR :
https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Deals-and-Specials/

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

GM’s Day Sale at DTRPG:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/rpg_gmsday.php?manufacturers_id=4261

Mystery Sale at DTFiction:
https://www.drivethrufiction.com/sale.php?manufacturers_id=4261

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).

Check out the Trinity Continuum: Aeon novellas Dawn and Meridian in the Kindle store!

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On Sale This Week!

It’s a double dose of Exalted excellence this Weds! First, Adversaries of the Righteous in PDF and PoD versions on DTRPG!

Second, we have the Lunars Novella: Facets of Truth – also on DTRPG this Weds!

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Conventions!

Because dates for physical conventions are subject to change due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, we don’t yet have a list of upcoming physical conventions. Instead, keep an eye out here for more virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with!

We’ll be at the IPR booth at the GAMA Trade Show April, 24th to 28th, so let your friendly local game store know that they can talk to us there! And if you ARE a retailer, we’d love to chat right there with you!

Game Night With Onyx Path Publishing at Start.Playing is the last Friday of every month! Come play some Trinity Continuum in celebration of the upcoming Talents Player’s Guide KS! (But any of our game lines are welcome all day long!)

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

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And now, the new project status updates!

Our full list of projects will be available monthly on our blog! Check out February’s full list report here:
https://theonyxpath.com/release-roundup-february-2023/

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY

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

First Draft

Scion – Titans Rising (was Titanomachy 2)

• Matthew: An all new bestiary with more than just beasts included! Hiromi, Cat, and David head up the team on this one, with details to be revealed soon!

Scion – Scion: God Player’s Guide

• Matthew: Hiromi and Michele are developing this book, which will provide a flurry of new player options for Scion: God, my personal favourite of the Scion series. Any book with utility is a good book, in my mind, and this one will have no lack of uses.

Redlines

Tasty Bit – They Came From Beyond the Grave: Graveyard

• Eddy & Matthew: The Tasty Bits are kicking into gear! This one features a spooky graveyard suitable for using in your next They Came from Beyond the Grave! game!

They Came From – They Came From…?

• Matthew: I’m going to be very coy here, other than to say fans should get what they want with this book…

Final Draft

Tasty Bit – TC: Aeon: Spaceship

• Eddy: Our second Tasty Bit this week covers a couple of short scenarios that can take place about a spaceship. It’s exciting to see how much our writers can put into a small wordcount!

Post-Approval Development

Realms of Pugmire Jumpstart

• Eddy: Rich looked it over and told me that it was the best thing he’s ever read and I should get a million dollars for working on it. None of that is true, but what IS true is that it’s moving ahead to post-approval development!

Exalted – What Lies Forgotten novella

• Danielle: Once again, Lauren’s novella has sailed through approvals and will be going off to editing this week.

Editing

Tasty Bit – Scion: Street Intersection

• Eddy: Our third Tasty Bit this week was in good shape, so I was able to turn it around and get it off to editing. Look for it at the end of the month!

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ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

• HTV Tending the Flame – Contracted.
• TC Anima – Artnotes over to HIVE for arting.
• TC Player’s Guide KS – Prepping assets for Crowdfunding.

In Layout

• W20 Apocalyptic Record – Layout has begun…
• EX3 Surface Truths Novella
• SL Vigil Watch Kelder Mtns – With Ron Thompson.
• Ex3 Crucible of Legends – All art is in.
• TC Stampede of Justice (Adventure JS) 

Proofing

• Storypath Ultra Brochure
• DEVIANT Devoted Companion

Indexing

• TC: Adventure!

At Press

• TC: Adventure! – Indexing.
• Exalted Essence – Awaiting errata.
• M20 Victorian Age – At KS fulfiller.
• M20 Victorian Age Screen – Printing started.
• Scion Dragon Screen – Printing started.
• Scion Dragon – At KS fulfiller.
• Scion Masks of the Mythos – At KS fulfiller.
• Scion Masks of the Mythos Screen – Printing started.
• SCION Realms of Magic and Mystery – Gathering errata.
• Ex3 Lunars Novella: Facets of Truth – PDF, PoD, ebook versions available this Weds. on DTRPG!
• Ex3 Adversaries – PDF and PoD versions available on Weds. on DTRPG!

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Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Let’s celebrate legendary artist Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, who was born today in 1475. Michelangelo achieved fame early; two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, were sculpted before the age of thirty. Although he did not consider himself a painter, Michelangelo created two of the most influential frescoes in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, and The Last Judgment on its altar wall. At the age of 71, he succeeded Antonio da Sangallo the Younger as the architect of St. Peter’s Basilica. Michelangelo transformed the plan so that the western end was finished to his design, as was the dome, with some modification, after his death. Biographer Giorgio Vasari proposed that Michelangelo’s work transcended that of any artist living or dead, and was “supreme in not one art alone but in all three.” In his lifetime, Michelangelo was often called Il Divino (‘the divine one’).