I never get the spelling right, but at the end of the week there’s the St. Patty’s Day celebration when both the rivers and the beer turns green across the USA.

What does that have to do with Onyx Path and all of our many games and worlds? Not much, actually. Our folks will or will not be celebrating, and being careful out there as they do, but this week we’ll be rocking and rolling on our projects as usual!

Now, back in the day, St. Pat’s Day was actually an official day off for old White Wolf, and many, if not most of the company, got together at an “Irish Pub” in Atlanta when they opened. And a bunch of the crew stayed well into the evening. A lot more folks stopped in for just a bit, but there were certainly some that partied hearty.

I mean, really hearty. Yet, there were surprisingly few fights, and the worst damage was usually from impromptu touch football games across the street. In other words: a lot of people were blowing off steam, in order to return to the office a day or two after and dive right back into the game-making mines.

Yep. The office – singular. One place we all worked in. Very different from the remote office that Onyx Path has always had, and, mostly, benefited from. It’s certainly not perfect, even though we do try hard to make it so, and we’ve had challenges like any creative company these last several years. But one of the great advantages with how we do things is that most of time, if one of our crew is hungover, they’re doing all that goes with that in the privacy of their own home/office!

No regrets with that aspect of our working environment!

Enough of the past, here’s what we’re doing now:

While we have a bit of “memory lane” going on today – and it is good not to forget the past and what came before – really most of our Monday Meeting today was all about the future. We have some pretty exciting projects coming out, as well as things like Storypath Ultra, with which we’ll be able to both create new games and tweak others to allow for a more unified and – dare I say it? – simpler system to play with.

For example, we’re going to start revealing more about The World Below, which uses Storypath Ultra in order to allow players to explore a fantasy world below the surface of a devastated world. Expect to hear more about this from Matthew, but for now, here’s a little teaser containing the text I received last year in order to create art during Inktober based on The World Below.

Klo’Tha
The Klo’Tha rise from abyssward, pushing skyward as if their lives depend on it. A solitary one might keep a façade of elegant courtesy long enough to analyze your thoughts, but the ruse merely hides the contempt and hatred they feel toward us. Never saw one? Well, although they keep coming, Klo’Tha are still are a rare sight, especially in upper strata.

There’s no chance you’ll mistake them for anything else: each is a slender creature, featureless aside from their empty white eyes. They seem to be made of a substance similar to tar, which shifts and wanes in veins and pseudopods according to their mood. When their visage splits open revealing a mouth filled with dozens of sharp needle-like teeth, you have only a few instants before a cluster of grasping tentacles unfolds from within, eager to crack your skull open.

Among the deadliest threats in the entire underground, the Klo’Tha are an organized force of malevolent invaders. Although creatures of the Abyss, the Klo’Tha fear the void more than anything else in the world. Spurred by primal terror, their species flees upward, eager to find a new home far from the tendrils of the Abyss. At best, Klo’Tha consider the other inhabitants of the underworld as hated competitors for resources and spaces that belong them by right of superiority, each a candidate for either slavery or extermination.

In their natural form, Klo’Tha resemble pitch-black tentacled lampreys, but that appearance isn’t the one most people associate them to. If a Klo’Tha manages to enter a sentient creature’s skull and devour its brain, it can use the memories to initiate a metamorphosis’ process and transform into the alien horrors they’re known as. Outside of the Void, Klo’Tha resort to surgery to create more of their kind faster, opening their captives’ craniums to insert their larval kin inside. In a bout of twisted irony, their abyssal nature is what allows the Klo’Tha to unleash psychic ruin upon their enemies, the same ravenous imprint driving them to feast on brains and memories to escape the dread of the void.

Looking into the future, but only by a week or two, you can now sign up to be alerted when our next Crowdfunding By BackerKit campaign goes lives – this one is for the Trinity Continuum Players Guide:

https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/95ca375d-7d44-4b47-9cc6-df11bd469a90/landing

This is still BackerKit‘s beta for their front-end crowdfunding platform designed to interlock with the back-end tool they are renowned for, but already they have provided a comparable experience to Kickstarter. At least as far as we’ve seen with our one previous campaign. James has been working with the team over there, so I expect he’ll be full of his usual friendly and often wacky help once we go live.

As for when exactly that’ll be? We will let you know soon, but certainly clicking on that link and enrolling for pre-start alerts will be just the thing to keep you informed and ready for when all the fun starts! Remember, it’s on Crowdfunding By BackerKit, so you won’t be notified by KS.

As for what’s in the book…well, here are some thing Impish Ian has already posted: More options. More info on the so-called “Minor” Allegiances. Rules on interplanetary, interdimensional, or microverse travel. And more!

Another look into the future – long-term in terms of more VTT content, and short-term as this is our release this Wednesday – is the They Came From Beneath the Sea! Compendium (and character sheets and tokens, etc) on the Roll20 marketplace!

Now you can play They Came from Beneath the Sea! online over Roll20 as soon as you have this material. No more losing Quip Cards, they’re built right in!

That’s Wednesday, but this Friday, Saint Patrick’s Day itself (see how I masterfully weave the theme through the blog 😉 ?), the Terrific Trio will be answering listener questions in part 3 of the 3-part Onyx Pathcast Q&A that grew from a single episode, celebrating their 250th, to three episodes filled with laughter and even a little bit of serious commentary. All based on providing the As to their listener’s Qs.

The first two episodes were pretty great and informative, and I’m betting this last one is even more focused on getting through the rest of the questions! Check it out Friday wherever you grab podcasts, or direct on PodBean!

Now, if you aren’t already tired of my sketches, bear with me as I continue with what should be the last of my “research sketches” for Trinity Continuum: Aegis – adventure in the late Bronze age/ early Iron Age. From here I’ll be working on creating a combined cover sketch that uses all of the previous, and then I’ll tighten that up and notate it for the cover artist to do their magic with!

These will be two of the three “PC Characters” that we have on every Trinity Continuum cover strip – you saw the helmet/shield/spear warrior in a previous sketch. These two needed special research into possible oracle-type character robes, and for an Olmec dressed and armored half like their people, and half like other archers during that era.

Hoping now to be able to meld all these different images into a strip that really nails the overall features and themes of this particular TC era. But that’s something for next week – I hope. For now, thanks for checking out this blog, and enjoying our:

MANY WORLDS, ONE PATH!

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BLURBS!

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KICKSTARTER/CROWDFUNDING!

Here’s the link to the pre-campaign sign-up for The Trinity Player’s Guide:

https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/95ca375d-7d44-4b47-9cc6-df11bd469a90/landing

Sign up to get direct alerts for when it goes live!

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Onyx Path Media!

This week:

Matthew, Eddy, and Dixie continue to the Mailbag Trilogy as they once again 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 the wonderful team at Devil’s Luck Gaming, who are working wonders with their Scarred Lands and Exalted Essence campaigns over on Twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/devilsluckgaming

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/sexOX_3Bins

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Virtual Tabletop!

NEW!
They Came From Beneath the Sea! on Roll20 VTT!
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/bundle/22308/they-came-from-beneath-the-sea

Here is a screenshot from the They Came From Beneath the Sea! Compendium!

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

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

Both Sales are ending on the Wednesday, the 15th!

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!

Available Wednesday on Roll20!

They Came From Beneath the Sea! Compendium and character sheets and tokens on Roll20 VTT!
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/bundle/22308/they-came-from-beneath-the-sea

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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

Tasty Bit – Scion Demigod: Village

• Eddy: See below.

Manuscript Approval

Tasty Bit – They Came From Beyond the Grave!: Graveyard

• Eddy: The Tasty Bits are charging ahead! The April Tasty Bit for They Came From Beyond the Grave! is ahead of schedule (a set, story hook, and some antagonists set in a graveyard), while the June Tasty Bit for Scion: Demigod is gearing up for its first draft!

Post-Approval Development

Exalted – A Murder in Whitewall (was Exalted Essence Novella 3 (Cole))

• Danielle: Rai’s novella has sailed through approval and is now with me to quickly turn around to editing.

Editing

Realms of Pugmire – Jumpstart

Realms of Pugmire – Pugmire 2nd Edition

• Eddy: Speaking of charging ahead, I’ve incorporated the feedback from playtesting into the Realms of Pugmire manuscript. It just so happened that I had also gotten the Jumpstart ready for playtesting at around the same time, so they’re both moving into the hands of editing!

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ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

• Ex3 Eight Directions – Straightening out deal with maps.
• TCF Cyclops Cave/Classified – Need rest of the art notes.
• M20 Victorian Jumpstart – I got someone on the splats… just have to get an artist for the full and half page scenes.
• HTV Tending the Flame – Contracted.
• SCION Once and Future – Reviewing sketches and color comps.
• SCION Dragon Jumpstart – Contracting.
• TC Anima – Need new reference links.
• TC Player’s Guide – Backerkit page done… so we should be good to go on time.
• TC Assassins VTT Adventure – Straightening out maps.
• COFD Contagion Chronicles RMCs – Reontracting.
• Squeaks in the Deep Companion – Reviewing Sketches and straightening out maps.
  

In Layout

• W20 Apocalyptic Record – Layouting…
• Ex3 Crucible of Legends – All art is in. Seeing if Josh is available to lay the book out. 
• TC Stampede of Justice (Adventure JS) 

Proofing

• DEVIANT Devoted Companion– At paradox for approval.
• EX3 Surface Truths Novella – At paradox for approval.
• SL Vigil Watch Kelder Mtns

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.
• Storypath Ultra Brochure – Inputting final fixes and prepping for press.

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Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

So, Friday is a classic celebration day as mentioned above, but here are a couple more things: 20 years ago, the Shelzar: City of Sins supplement for Scarred Lands was released, and it’ll be 12 years since V20 was announced! Plus, on the 15th we have the traditional date that Caesar was warned about: the Ides of March. Should have listened, Julie!