Yeah, the above art is pretty much us, dealing with Kickstarter shipping.
I’ll get back to that later, but right now, YAY! for our Trinity Continuum: Aberrant Kickstarter that funded in less than a day! Right now we’re blasting through the Stretch Goals as noted below in the Kickstarter section of the Blurbs!
Thanks so much for everyone supporting this KS, we’ve had some great comments and ongoing conversations there, with all kinds of fantastic ideas for how folks can enjoy TC: Aberrant. That’s really one of the best parts of using a crowd-funding platform: the energy and ideas that backers share with each other and all of us.
Now, at the beginning, there were a bunch of concerns voiced about the cost of International Shipping, and I would like to poke at that just a bit here, because some folks are moving from “Yikes, that’s expensive!” to “You’re out to get us.”
The former being totally understandable – and my reaction, too, when getting those costs from our shipper – and the latter one…not so much.
Particularly because I made the decision to continue to allow international backers, and to be upfront about the costs, specifically so that our international community could have the information and options to be able to choose how they can obtain our projects. You can back the KS for a hardcover with shipping, you can back the KS for a PoD version, you can back for a PDF, you can not back and buy the hardcover in stores, you can not back and get the PDF and/or PoD version from DTRPG.
You see, other game companies have straight-up just stopped shipping internationally. Boom- full stop. And I understand why. Primarily, there are the costs. If you do as we have and put accurate shipping costs into your Kickstarter, backers and potential backers can get angry. As I understand it, a lot of these other companies have chosen not to take the chance that angry customers become customers no longer.
And really, all we do is take the numbers our shipper gives us and add them in; there’s no secret mark-up so we make more sweet, sweet, cash. But there’s still sticker shock. Like I said, I understand and have experienced it myself. It makes no sense to me why our own Dixie Cochran just spent $50 to ship a book to a friend in Canada. Canada! Right up there to the north and connected to the US by land (mostly). So seriously, we all relate.
The thing is, we’re not just wringing our hands and passing the shipping costs on to backers. We continue to explore other options that are actually possible for a company our size. Like, despite how big we seem, we’re still doing TTRPG Kickstarters, so even our biggest ship-outs to some 4,000 backers are once in several years things. Those numbers are “phftt!” to shippers; I mean they don’t earn us reduced rates or anything that could help from that direction.
We have tried to ship in bulk to individuals and companies outside the US, to the EU specifically, but either through logistics reasons or just bad luck, I’ve never been able to find a way to do that which didn’t wind up costing us more. Which is, y’know, the opposite of what we’re trying to do with our Kickstarters…we want to make the pledges go towards the KS’s goals, not to shipping.
So, I continue to look. Part of the reason we are working with Handiwork Games on the Scarred Lands 5e Creature Collection is to explore with them more potential solutions, as they are not a US-based company. We also continue to talk with our friends at Modiphius with the same eye towards finding solutions to the KS shipping problem.
Enough about this for now, I think, it’s a complicated issue that gets even further into the weeds once you factor in getting through Customs as well – which is probably a topic for a whole nother blog!
Gen Con 2019 is fast approaching in less than a month, and while we have decided that we won’t be in a booth on the exhibition floor this year, like I talked about several MMN blogs ago, you’ll be able to find Mighty Matt McElroy and myself around the con, chitting and chatting with anybody who will listen.
Specifically, we may be at either the IPR or Studio2 booths, or at these events:
- Wednesday night – Diana Jones Awards
- Thursday 3pm – What’s Up With Onyx Path Publishing? panel
- Friday 11am – What’s Up with Onyx Path Community Content? panel
- Friday 3pm – Freelancing with Onyx Path Publishing? panel
- Saturday 11am – What’s Up with Onyx Path Publishing? panel
Right now, I’m not going to be able to make the Saturday panel, although if things change I will be there with bells on. But Matt and Eddy are slated to run things there, plus we always have walk-on creators stopping by.
It’s going to be a very different Gen Con for us, but I think a really good one.
Finally, a few notes from the meeting today:
#1: The Scarred Lands mega-epic adventure series, The Vengeance of the Shunned, started going on sale last week and will continue all month on the Slarecian Vault, the SL Community Content site. Check out interviews and profiles of the creators on our social media, and the projects themselves!
#2: The Storypath Nexus Community Content site is coming this week! Could be tomorrow or later in the week, but the chance to publish your Scion ideas is almost upon us!
#3: DTRPG is going to be starting their Christmas in July sale very, very soon, and as always there are going to be some great deals on our PDFs as part of it!
And that is a lot of PDFs, because we’re not just talking one game line on sale, but games from:
Many Worlds, One Path!
BLURBS!
Kickstarter!
The Trinity Continuum: Aberrant Kickstarter funded in less than a day and continues to blast its super-powered way into our lives! We’ve already passed Stretch Goals that are enabling us to recreate missing first edition books, a compilation of the web comic, and…
N!WE N!TERNATIONAL WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT – A new PDF product discussing the N!WE, the performers and industry personnel, and various elements of professional wrestling in the world of Aberrant!
At $73,000 and climbing, we’ve got many more fantastic Stretch Goal rewards to come, so come check it out! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/trinity-continuum-aberrant
ONYX PATH MEDIA
This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features a timely deep dive (considering our new errata process and forms) by our Intrepid Trio into errata, playtesting, and how to give good feedback: https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/
And Here’s More Media About Our Worlds:
The Onyx Path News returns with another live edition for last week here: https://youtu.be/nlQjKxQX860
Subscribe to our channel and click the bell symbol to be informed whenever a new video goes up!
The first major chapter of Matthew’s Contagion Chronicle concludes here: https://youtu.be/JUTaYwffjI0
We will return once all the players are again available!
Keep watching Travis Legge’s Scarred Lands actual play of Myths & Matchmakers over here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmiXCaSrrCIjmCJQQ7oLwLNahmDbdn_2J
Devil’s Luck Gaming continue their epic costumed pirate journey through Scarn here: https://www.twitch.tv/DEVILSLUCKGAMING
Occultists Anonymous‘ Mage: The Awakening actual play continues here: Episode 27: Hammer & Anvil With some technical difficulties, on our part, we’ve got a short episode. Songbird delves into his soul. Wyrd, Mammon, and Atratus breach the home of… someone? https://youtu.be/xmiuK7lU_oQ
And here’s the Story Told Podcast with another episode of their excellent Dragon-Blooded actual play: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/fall-of-jiara-episode-9-a-road-to-trouble
Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!
ELECTRONIC GAMING
As we 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 awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)
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).
If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!
Our selection includes these fiction books:
OUR SALES PARTNERS:
We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau 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
We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game
Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost
Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!:
https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands
Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online
Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/
And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!
On Sale This Week!
This Wednesday, we are offering the Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition Night Horrors book Shunned By The Moon Advance PDF on DTRPG!
Like all Night Horrors books, this is usable for any of the Chronicles of Darkness game lines, although I’m told it is especially tasty as a treat for Hunter: The Vigil and Beast!
CONVENTIONS!
Gen Con: August 1st – 4th
Save Against Fear: October 12th – 14th
GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd
We’ll also be back at PAX Unplugged later this year!
And now, the new project status updates!
DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM 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 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)
- Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)
- Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)
- One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)
- Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon) Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)
- Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)
- W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)
- W20 Art Book (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)
- Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)
- Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)
Redlines
- Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)
- Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)
- Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)
- Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)
Second Draft
- Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)
- Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)
- Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)
- Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)
- Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)
Development
- WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)
- Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)
- M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)
- Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)
- Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
- Legendlore core book (Legendlore)
- City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)
- TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
Manuscript Approval
- Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
- Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)
- Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
- Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)
- TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
- Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
Editing
- Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)
- Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)
- Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)
- Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)
- DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)
- DR:E Jumpstart (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)
- Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)
Post-Editing Development
- M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
- V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)
- V5 Chicago By Night Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade)
- CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)
- Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
- Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)
- Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)
Indexing
ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE!
In Art Direction
- Contagion Chronicle – Figuring out art buy.
- Dark Eras 2
- VtR Spilled Blood
- Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds – Sketches coming in.
- Trinity Continuum Aberrant
- Hunter: The Vigil 2e
- Ex3 Lunars
- They Came From Beneath the Sea
- TCFBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers
- Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed
- Ex3 Monthly Stuff
In Layout
- M20 Book of the Fallen
- Trinity Core – Getting cover specs from printer.
- Trinity Aeon – Getting cover specs from printer.
- CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel
Proofing
- DR: E – annotated proof back to Josh
- Aeon Aexpansion
- C20 Cup of Dreams – This week.
- V5: Chicago – Proceeding to 2nd proof.
At Press
- Dragon Blooded – Deluxe at Studio2.
- Dragon-Blooded Cloth Map – Shipped at Studio2.
- Dragon-Blooded Screen – Shipping to Studio2.
- The Realm – PoD proofs ordered.
- Trinity Core Screen – Shipping to Studio2.
- TC Aeon Screen – Shipping to Studio2.
- Geist 2e – Inputting Errata.
- Book of Oblivion
- Signs of Sorcery – Gathering Errata.
- Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs ordered.
- Scion Jumpstart – Prepping PoD files.
- Scion Ready-Made Characters – Waiting to order PoD proofs.
- Blood Sea – PoD file uploaded, waiting to order proof.
- WtF Shunned by the Moon – Advance PDF on sale Wednesday at DTRPG.
Today’s Reason to Celebrate!
Today we are 6 degrees from Kevin Bacon’s birthday!
I am happy that you continue to ship internationally and are will support your Kickstarters further on.
For most Books I switched to PDF to save shelf space but everything Classic WoD i want to own as physical Product and if possible Deluxe Edition and are happy to pay shipping and occasionally release them from customs…
And so I am the next asking about Hunter 20. Where can I sign a petition for WW to get to a decision about cWoD20?
Are you planning a KS for Victorian Mage and Technocracy Reloaded? I am in…
Thanks, I really appreciate your support. If you want to let WW/Paradox know you’d like an H20, you’ll have to reach out to them on their sites and social media – politely, of course. We’d certainly like to run KSs for both M20 books as we know the audience interest is there. We’ll have to see as we get closer to finishing the text.
So glad to see the interview with Steve Kenson. He was a huge influence on me as a writer of superhero fiction and helped get my career going. I also was a massive M&M fan.
I also am very glad to see both LTSRR and The Chicago Folio are in manuscript approval. Chicago by Night V5 seems like it’s also within spitting distance. So exciting.
Yes, Steve is really just a super guy, and wonderful to work with. I also absolutely love M&M and was remain impressed by it. Keep your eye out for a further Stretch Goal that is inspired by an idea I loved from it.
Is there any info on the remaining Scion stretch goals, like the app and the audio drama? 🙂
As info comes to us, we’ll relay it to backers. For projects where we have agreed to work with other companies, we start the arrangement with their situation as it is right then – and some of them are able to start really soon while others can’t due to their schedules or other commitments or whatever is happening with them business-wise. And others, like the folks who were working on the Anathema character creation page for Exalted 3rd, can’t keep going and leave the business and we have no project to link to for backers, although we did our part. Stuff, it sometimes happens.
*Happy werewolf dance* thank you for continuing to support so many product lines.
Yes, we do have a lot, and we’re always juggling to give each one a bit of attention, but they’re worth it!
Speaking as another of your international backers, thank you for being upfront about the costs. The general vibe I’ve been getting in whichever country it is I live, is that folks are frustrated at these new taxes but understand that it’s on the governments involved rather than the companies.
I’ve backed some things on KS where the companies have needed to resort to flat-out begging for as many people as possible to chip in a little extra, just to make sure that the creators don’t end up on the streets themselves. On the balance of things, I’m happy to pay this from the outset if it makes sure that getting more goodies from the better creators is still in the cards!
Long story short, please don’t let a few sour folks dissuade you from catering from us overseas folks. Most of us appreciate it and will be happy to pay the extra few dollars to ensure that we can be Demigods and Gods in the appropriate countries for our pantheons!
Thanks! It’s great to hear your thoughts on this.
Is book of oblivion out on pod?
Not yet, we’ll let folks know when it is released – never fear!
Thank you for continuing with exports.
I would certainly buy more titles if it were cheaper, but I’m sure I’ll have all the physical books of the second edition of Changeling the Lost and Werewolf the Forsaken.
The export issue I talk about in the MMN blog is really pretty much for Kickstarters. The PoDs from DriveThru aren’t cheap to ship, but the printer does have plants in a few locations around the world, so they are better situated for international customers.
Have fun at Gen Con. As you may or may not know, this year the Dead Gamers Society will not be joining The Wreaking Crew to help run games at the con, as we’ve done for the last five years.
We are taking a break this year. Gen Con prep (preparing games and playtesting them) dominates our efforts for most of the first half of the year. We decided it’d be nice to focus on organizing and playing games locally.
Our Gen Con efforts have been a blast, we were glad to be part of the action.
-Louis Garcia
DGS Organizer
Thanks for all you’ve done, Louis- you guys were always great to work with and talk to, and I’ve only heard good things from your players. If you get a chance, could you reach out to Matt McElroy, if you haven’t already, and you two could compare notes. Thanks!
Anything planned for Demon the Descent?
On the shipping topic and why folks in Europe are outraged (and rightly so): I’m from the USA but lived in Prague for 5+ years, which was several years ago. Even at that time, it was sometimes cheaper to ship things from Czechia to the USA than it was between US states. Compared to European postage prices, shipping in the USA is outrageously expensive.
It’s a mess, really.
Exalted music suite 2.
Has this been canned or is there just very little money to encourage the contractor to get it done?
Neither. The composer is wrapping it up now. Oh, and we don’t bribe creators along the way – the terms are set out by contract and the amounts are set in there.
Onyx Dice is still being advertised here, but my phone offloaded it and every time I try to redownload the app, I’m told it’s no longer available on the App Store (I have an iPhone). What’s going on with that? Is it coming back? I found it so useful!
I do not know, we certainly have not pulled the App. Did you just upgrade either phone or system?
I recently updated my system, but if I remember correctly I was getting the same notification before the update. I can’t find it on the App Store when I look, either 🙁
Hey Rich, I just checked the iPhone App Store. Onyx Dice doesn’t come up when searched.
Something’s busted.