And MICE, too!

Of course, I’m referring to our newest Realms of Pugmire book: Squeaks in the Deep, going live on Kickstarter on Friday, July 9th, at 2pm EDT!

Squeaks is going to cover playable uplifted mice and rats, just like the dogs and cats (and birds and reptiles) we’ve covered already in the Realms of Pugmire books. Much like the dogs and cats, they are struggling to survive in a world after humans have disappeared.

In the world that existed before Pugmire, they had a very different relationship with mankind, with many of their ancestors having been test-subjects in human labs rather than pets, and this informs their overall world-view – as well as their thoughts concerning humankind.

It also means that some of them have strange powers not present in the other uplifted species which may be the results of those long ago experiments.

Additionally, their civilization is more connected to the underground remains of human habitation, as well as other secret ways within the bowels of the earth. And beneath the city of Pugmire!

Now, on a meta-level: here come the mice and rats! We all know that those three go together! The third of the classic triumvirate of dogs, cats, and mice that we have already touched on with the Cult of Laba-Tor – but now all three are playable. In fact, you can play Squeaks in the Deep using either Pugmire or Monarchies of Mau as your core rulebook.

So if you want to explore the archetypical cat vs mouse relationship without throwing in more complications with the dogs, you can stick with Mau and Squeaks.

Plus, we really wanted to push the idea that all the civilizations that came before could have structures under the ground to adventure in, thus providing a classic D&D gaming experience of dungeon-delving. It’s something that was always a part of the Realms of Pugmire experience, but with this book, Eddy and company bring it to the forefront!

And since it’s Realms of Pugmire, that experience isn’t focused on some sort of grave-robbing experience, but on discovery and exploration of those areas and maybe, just maybe, finding out more about the mysterious humans who left everyone alone in a world they never made.

(That’s a 1960-80s Marvel Comics bit of cover phraseology that I always wanted to use. “Fighting for their life, in a world they never made!” What does that even mean?)

If you’ve caught any of Eddy’s interviews about Squeaks, then it’s no secret when I say that he is really interested in the mega-dungeon experience where you explore an underground complex, natural or man-made or both, that is expansive enough for weeks of fun adventures.

As a long-time D&D player – which everybody knows I am after putting out the first part of my long-time D&D world in the Peoples of the Crossroads Continent book, available on DTRPG – I’m with Eddy on wanting to give players a chance with Squeaks in the Deep to really explore that dungeon crawl kind of adventure. This sure seems like the perfect book to do that with!

I was surprised, though, when Eddy let me know that he was also going to bring another old-school aspect into Squeaks in the Deep and allow the rats and mice to use Psionic powers! This has always been a part of D&D (since Eldritch Wizardry, the sixth lil’ pamphlet book?) and has been attempted with each edition of the game. Yet, I really think you are going to find Eddy‘s implementation of Psionics and how they fit into Pugmire to be an awesome and fresh addition to your games!

Which you’ll be able to read yourselves by pledging to the Kickstarter and reviewing your backer sections of the text!

As is our practice with our Kickstarters, we give out a section of the text one or twice a week to backers, and by the time the KS is over, backers can review pretty much all of the finished text and choose whether they want to continuing backing, raise their pledge, or drop out entirely. We are good any way that goes. It’s sort of like a beta-release.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Kickstarter on Friday!

We Also Had A Meeting Today & It Went Like This:

First, thanks to Dixie for picking up the MMN Blog last week! She did a great job and please let me know if I missed anything from last week’s Progress Report after trying to reconcile my last post, Dixie’s, and our reports from Mirthful Mike and Eddy today.

Dixie noted, and I’d like to underline, the Pre-Order we are doing on DTRPG for Rich Bastard’s Guide to Magick for M20. The is the first time we’re doing a pre-order on DTRPG, so it’s a bit of an experiment to see if folks would like to be able to lock in a PDF of a book when they see it and then receive the link as soon as it is available, without them needing to follow up.

If it works for enough people, then we’ll consider it for other projects that aren’t being crowd-funded or which came out of KSs.

Another aspect of the M20 Rich Bastard’s Pre-Order that we discussed today are some of the questions we’ve received. Like: “Why are you doing this?” Well, the answer in its simplest form must be “Why not?”. The ability of DTRPG to handle PoD pre-orders is something we’re interested in trying out, other companies certainly do it, so why not do so ourselves? “But, won’t that screw up the book’s ranking on DTRPG?” – not to my knowledge, nor that of our DTRPG experts who really do understand how the site works.

But, sincere thanks for being concerned for us and looking out so we don’t get screwed out of something by the new system. We really do appreciate it.

Another question was “Will there be a PoD version?” – yes, if a Pod version is possible for one of our projects, we are doing a PoD version! A thousand times, this! “But won’t the Pre-Order screw up the PoD bundle?” Nope, should function the same as we have been doing Advance PDFs and then the joint PoD bundles. Been doing that for years and years, now. This’ll work pretty much the same as it’s only the time before release that is affected by the pre-order process, not the release and afterwards.

Speaking of PoDs, I’m so glad my warning folks about the July 1 Premium PoD price increase combined with DTRPG‘s across-the-site PoD sale really seemed to give a lot of people a chance to pick up Premium PoD versions of their favorite books before the increase occurred! A LOT of you jumped in on that one!

Speaking of July 1st, some of you may already have noticed that our V5 books are no longer listed on our Onyx Path Drive-Thru page. As was announced months ago, Renegade was signed on by Paradox as the folks who will coordinate and manage all V5 sales, both online and in-store, and our V5 book listings have been moved over to their part of DTRPG as part of that.

From here on in, no matter who creates an official V5 book, it’ll go up for sale via Renegade – so keep an eye out over there for all of our current and future V5 projects!

(This deal in no way impacts our CofD, Exalted, or 20th Anniversary projects, just V5.) (In case you were worried).

And speaking of Vampire: The Masquerade, I highlight that it is VtM‘s 30th anniversary below in the Reason To Celebrate, but I think it’s worth bringing up here as well (as we certainly did so during the meeting today).

The response to VtM thirty years ago really starting the whole thing for White Wolf. Up until then, we had small successes with TTRPG material, and White Wolf Magazine, but it was a whole new ballgame after VtM got into people’s hands and they started playing.

On a personal level, the success of VtM enabled Stew Wieck to afford to bring me on staff and move me down to the WW offices in Atlanta. It propelled forward all of the WoD game lines in multiple editions, Trinity, Exalted, Street Fighter (!), and all the projects that came after. Ultimately, from that spark came the creative connections, knowledge, and energy that allowed me create Onyx Path.

So it a sense, it’s been 30 years of:

Many Worlds, One Path!

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BLURBS!

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Kickstarter!

Our next Kickstarter coming up will be Squeaks In the Deep, for Realms of Pugmire! Check it out Friday, July 9th, at 2:00 pm EDT!

Rats and mice join the world as player characters! Come explore the hidden depths under the skin of the world and below the City of Pugmire!

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Onyx Path Media!

This week: The Trio have an in-depth and revealing interview with Leath Sheales – writer and developer extraordinaire from Down Under, mate!

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

For anyone new to our media section, you can find us running and playing games over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath pretty much every day of the week! Plus, if you’d like your games hosted there, just get in touch with Matthew Dawkins using the contact link on matthewdawkins.com. 

Please check out our attached media schedule for the impressive number of videos on our Twitch channel this week!

Come take a look at our YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/theonyxpath, where you can find a whole load of videos of actual plays, dissections of our games, and more.

This week, we focused on our OnyxPathCon videos!:

OnyxPathCon Art and Design Panel – https://youtu.be/O7YA69vbImU

OnyxPathCon Trinity Continuum Panel – https://youtu.be/OhX12vFZk6w

OnyxPathCon Storypath Q&A – https://youtu.be/xHm0RgpSHVo

OnyxPathCon They Came From! RPG Panel – https://youtu.be/lYTntHRobSI

OnyxPathCon Scion: All Myths Are True Panel – https://youtu.be/v8PSqnTLbWg

OnyxPathCon Realms of Pugmire Panel – https://youtu.be/h_XEEA90AL0

OnyxPathCon Freelancing Panel – https://youtu.be/T6cHys8oBx4

OnyxPathCon Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Panel – https://youtu.be/kOz7W8w2gws

Vampire: The Masquerade – Styx and Bones – Table Goth – Ep. 7 – https://youtu.be/Sp3F6b2UuHU

https://youtu.be/Sp3F6b2UuHU

Subscribe to our channel and click the bell icon if you want to be notified whenever new news videos and uploads come online!

Actual Story Podcasting have kicked off an excellent They Came from Beneath the Sea! actual play involving some of the cast and crew from the movie VHS 2! You can find their play right here: https://actualstorypodcasting.com/podcast/rpg-anthology
Vorpal Tales have a lot of Onyx Path content for you to check out!

On Fridays at 5pm EDT experience Contagion Chronicle: No Time for Reality Season Two. Chicago is still flooded with the reality warping Contagion from strange spaces beyond the Supernal realms. The original team is still lost in Arcadia, but Macintosh alerted a new team to be ready to step in should he and his team disappear. It’s up to this new group now to leverage their vectors and contain this threat.

On Tuesdays at 5pm EDT experience their new overarching Chronicle of Darkness, Insurgence. Vorpal Tales weave an ambitious tale connecting 7 Chronicles of Darkness game lines in one overarching story of rebellion and the cost of self-awareness. Book 1: Defiance begins the tale with Mage: The Awakening 2e.

Join Vorpal Tales every Monday at 9pm EDT for They Came from Beyond the Grave! Enjoy their tale of derring do against the minions of evil in a six part summer tale!

Also, join Vorpal Tales for a story of a pack’s Rite of Passage as they tell a terrifying tale of Werewolf: The Apocalypse every Saturday at 9pm EDT
A Bunch of Gamers interviewed Neall Raemonn Price and Dixie Cochran regarding Exalted: Essence right here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/gm-talks-episode-18-exalted-essences-ft-dixie-and-neall/id1499268564?i=1000527364912

And if you don’t like Apple Podcasts, just type in “A Bunch of Gamers” and find their show on all kinds of media!

The Exaltcast continues its fantastic show kicking the tires of Exalted: Essence’s system! https://www.exaltcast.com/2021/06/27/essence-of-exalted-essence-part-3-ventures-social-systems-and-advancement/

Wards & Witchcraft reach Session 27 of their fantastic Mage: The Awakening chronicle right here: https://youtu.be/82n3W-tAH3U
Turning the key of all reality, the cabal start the time car. They navigate the arcane technology left to them by the previous owners and plot a course to change the world.

Please check these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games! We’d love to feature you!

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Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! The 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.)

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Virtual TableTop!

Two Virtual Tabletop adventures: the Gauntlet of Spiragos and the Dagger of Spiragos for Scarred Lands on Astral TableTop and DriveThruRPG!

Scars of the Divine War, which ended less than 200 years ago, have still not healed. One such scar is the Chasm of Flies, a rent in the earth created when the titan Spiragos the Ambusher was smote down by one of the young gods, Vangal the Ravager. Now, the Chasm is inhabited by spider-eye goblins and their spider allies, but it is also thought to be the resting place of powerful artifacts from that elder age.

Astral TableTop is the easiest way to play any tabletop RPG online, free. Astral already supports popular systems like D&D and Pathfinder, and Astral can support virtually any tabletop roleplaying game. Get started quickly with built-in support for most popular game systems. Whether you’re brand new to TTRPGs or a veteran tabletop gamer, Astral‘s ease-of-use and built in automation is designed to streamline gameplay.

Build your own adventure, or choose from pre-generated game kits like Gauntlet of Spiragos and Dagger of Spiragos. Create character sheets, craft maps, or just jump right in to connect with your friends and start your adventures!

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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 latest fiction books:

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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!

You can pick up the traditionally printed Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau main books, screens, and the official dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

Now, we’ve added Chronicles of Darkness books such as Changeling: The Lost Second Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

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

Our Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition books are also available from Studio2 in the US: https://studio2publishing.com/products/vampire-the-masquerade-chicago-by-night-sourcebook

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 and Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

Look out for the X-Mas in July Sale coming soon!

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On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday look to the skies! The alien skies! The Trinity Continuum: Under Alien Skies Advance PDF will be available Wednesday on DTRPG!

Under Alien Skies expands the setting of Trinity Continuum: Æon with details about the alien Chromatics, Coalition, and Listeners, including rules for playing characters belonging to these three species. In addition, this book provides information about six other species of aliens.

Under Alien Skies requires both Trinity Continuum: Æon and the Trinity Continuum Corebook to play. Inside, you will find:

• Further information about the Chromatics, Coalition, and Listeners, including details about their lives and societies, rules for creating characters belonging to these species, and advice to Storyguides for incorporating these aliens into their chronicles.

• Information on five extinct or nearly extinct aliens, including several that left behind dire threats to humanity, as well as the first detailed information about the strange and malevolent Doyen.

• Advice to Storyguides for incorporating aliens into their campaigns as either species for the characters to encounter and as characters who are the heroines and heroes of their own chronicles.

• Step by step instructions for creating new aliens species as either creatures for characters to encounter as well as unusual options for characters.

• New technologies used by various aliens, including common devices and barely understood wonders that continue to baffle and amaze human researchers.

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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!

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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.)

• Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)
• Panopticon Novella (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• With Great Power (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• Trinity Continuum: Aether core book (Trinity Continuum: Aether)
• Weird Wonders and Revolutionary Magick (M20 Victorian)
• Bizarre Tales and Unusual Characters (M20 Victorian)
• Scion: Dragon Jumpstart (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Scion: Dragon Companion (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Terat novella (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Redlines

• Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Tome of the Pentacle (Mage: the Awakening 2e)
• The Hedge (Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition)
• Scion: God (Scion 2e)

Second Draft

• No Gods, No Masters (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Tasty Bit: The Autocracy (Scion 2nd Edition)
• They Came From the Cyclops’s Cave! core book (They Came From…!)

Development

• Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)
• Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)
• Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)
• TC: Adventure! Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Manuscript Approval

Post-Approval Development

• Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• M20 Lore of the Traditions (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Editing

• Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• The Book of Lasting Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)
• Dead Man’s Rust (Scarred Lands)
• M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
• Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)
• CtL2e Novella Collection: Hollow Courts (Changeling: The Lost 2e)
• Heroes in a World of Horror! (They Came From…!)
• Dystopia Rising: Evolution Fiction Anthology (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)
• Prometheus Unbound (was Psi Orders) (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• Legacies of Earth (Legendlore)
• Scion Fiction Anthology (Scion 2nd Edition)
• They Came From Beyond the Grave! Jumpstart (They Came From…!)
• Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Monsters From the Crypt! (They Came From…!)
• TC: Aeon Novella: Meridian (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)
• Proteus Nova Compendium (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• TC: Aeon Novella: Dawn (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• Tasty Bit: Pets (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• Trinity Continuum: Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)
• They Came From Camp Murder Lake! (They Came From…!)
• Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)
• Trinity Continuum: Anima
• Tales of Depravity! (They Came From…!)
• They Came From [Classified]! (They Came From…!)
• They Came From [Classified]! Jumpstart (They Came From…!)
• Realms of Magic and Mystery (was Terra Incognita) (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)
• Vigil Watch: The Kelder Mountains (Scarred Lands)
• Ghost Hunters Jumpstart w/RMCs (WoD 20th)
• The Paranormal Investigator’s Handbook (WoD 20th)
• Once and Future (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Apocalyptic Record (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)
• Tasty Bit: They Came From Plan 9! (They Came From…!)

Post-Editing Development

• Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)
• N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• Dearly Bleak – Novella (Deviant: The Renegades)
• Squeaks In The Deep (Realms of Pugmire)
• Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• They Came From Beneath the Sea! Jumpstart (They Came From…!)
• Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Indexing

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Art Direction from Mike Chaney!

In Art Direction

• Scion: Dragon
• Masks of the Mythos
• Scion: Demigod
• TC: Adventure! (KS) – Reviewing Danielle’s art notes.
• M20 Victorian (KS)
• Dead Man’s Rust
• Exalted Essence (KS) – On KS.
• V5 Forbidden Religions – AD’d.
• TC Mission Statements
• TC Aberrant N!WE
• M20 Technocracy Dossier/Companion – AD’d.
• Squeaks In The Deep (KS) – Prepping KS.
• TC Prometheus Unbound – Maria ADing.
• They Came From Camp Murder Lake! – AD’d.
• Realms of Magic and Mystery
• Saints and Monsters
• TC: Anima (KS)
• TC: Assassin
• Legandlore: Legacies of the Earth – Art buy breakdown all brokedown.

In Layout

• Spiragos Collected Adventures
• WoD Ghost Hunters (KS)
• Legendlore – Layout rolling along.
• M20 Rich Bastards Guide – With Charles.
• They Came From Beneath the Sea! Jumpstart – Over to Andrea.
• They Came From Beyond the Grave! – Final art coming in.
• M20 Technocracy Jumpstart
• Hundred Devils Night Parade – Getting layout files over to Josh.
• Aberrant VTT

Proofing

• Heirs to the Shogunate – Inputting errata.
• TC Aberrant Jumpstart – Getting ready for release.
• Hunter: The Vigil 2e
• Players Guide to the Contagion Chronicle – Backer PDF out for errata.

At Press

• M20 Technocracy Reloaded – PoD proofs shipping from DTRPG.
• Mummy 2 – Getting ready for press.
• Mummy 2e Screen – Getting ready for press.
• Deviant – Waiting on printer specs.
• Deviant Screen – Getting ready for press.
• Technocracy Reloaded Screen – Getting ready for press.
• TC: Under Alien Skies – Advance PDF for sale this Weds on DTRPG!

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Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Yesterday marked 30 years since Vampire: The Masquerade premiered at the 1991 Origins Game Fair. VtM’s success was like nothing the White Wolf crew had ever seen, and several months later it had continued to explode sufficiently that Stewart Wieck was sure that finally we were seeing the level of interest that could propel and sustain a company – and would enable WW to fulfill the promise made in the back of VtM to create a new horror game line per year. (Daddy made a lot of crazy promises, kids!) Stewart was not wrong!