Yes, that’s my amusing way to write out with the minimum letters: Essence Players Guide. At least, it amused me! Maybe one of you folks will want to use it as your personalized license plate?
Of course, that’s all about the crowdfunder for the Essence PG that’s running right now on BackerKit!
We’re over 400% funding, which pushed us past another Stretch Goal and that achieves the addition of more Universal Charms to the Essence PG companion book! Huzzah! Backers have been receiving the raw text for each chapter as we work our way through the book, and everybody seems really excited by what the team have done to expand on the different Exalted types covered by the core book! Here’s developer Monica Speca with another tantalizing tidbit:
The Player’s Guide also introduces two brand new Exigents, the God Admirals and the March Lords. Let’s take a peek at their Advantages!
The March Lords
At the edges of creation go the March Lords, the Chosen of Cartography. They are explorers, pioneering scholars, map-makers, and conquerors. They are the ones who venture into the unknown, who dare to map the uncharted territories of Creation and reclaim its lost borders. Play one of the March Lords if you want to deal with themes of adventure, exploration, intense companionship and equally intense loss. Explore boundaries, define them, push them, and do righteous (or less-than-righteous) violence enforcing them.
March Lords have the following Exalt Advantages.
By the Wyld Untouched: March Lords automatically resist mutation and addiction in Bordermarches. For Middlemarch and Deep Wyld, the difficulty of resisting the Wyld is reduced by 2.
Anywhere and Everywhere: March Lords gain two bonus dice on all rolls during travel ventures. Additionally, they can understand and speak languages they’ve never encountered at a very rudimentary level. A March Lord never needs to roll to ask for directions, find lodging, order food from a vendor, or catch the gist of a more complicated conversation. All March Lords may access Forma’s Queenly Carriage.
Resonance: March Lords are Resonant with moonsilver.
The God-Admirals
God-Admirals are legendary mariners of the far West, the Chosen of six dead gods who were patrons to the Balurenji people in the Spindrift Archipelago. Play a God-Admiral if you want to be a god-king of the seas, struggle perpetually towards grand goals, be spurred ever-onward to conflict, exploration and discovery, and to be hunted and hunt your own kind for power.
Exalt Advantage
Apotheosis: God-Admirals cultivate their Essence through tribulation, allowing access to Apotheosis Modes.
A Sea of Kings: God-Admirals sense the presence and general direction of fellow God-Admirals within the same nation or region of sea. When a God-Admiral within range experiences extreme distress — such as the loss of a great treasure, experiencing a sorcerous curse, the Realm putting a bounty on their head — or suffers aggravated damage or a dramatic injury, the God-Admiral is alerted with a vision. This doesn’t provide specific information: the God-Admiral has a general understanding of the nature of the problem, its urgency, and the God-Admiral’s emotional state and directions to their current whereabouts. Should one of their number die, the God-Admiral feels it viscerally. Worshipers of the God-Admiral within range experience similar visions about her own circumstances.
Resonance: God-Admirals are resonant with black and blue jade, and all Artifact ships.
Thanks, Monica! And thanks to all of our backers – and the folks who came out to our AMA last Thursday on the WW Discord – thanks for all your questions and thanks to our Exalted writers who showed up and answered a whole lot of those questions! And thanks as well to that Discord’s mods who let us talk to “their” folks! It was quite a rollickin’ event!
A Balanced White Room
Once again, our subtitle comes from a phrase said today during the Monday Meeting. In this case, it’s a fairly clear one, as we were discussing what you can and can’t learn from pitting character types against each other in a “white room” without context, storytelling, or extras. Yep, we talk a lot of business and production during our weekly meeting, but we do also cover game design and creation best practices.
Speaking of that AMA I mentioned above, we were thrilled by all the mentions and questions about Curseborne, which just seems to keep on intriguing our community. Very encouraging to our team as they continue to finalize the text/editing/art buying for the project.
As always, we also had more than a few questions about our previous horror projects, both WoD and CofD, and I always hope we’re not dashing apart their hopes when we tell them that all of that is up to Paradox because they own those game lines as their intellectual property, not ours.
We hate to break that news, even if we ourselves think Curseborne is a worthy new horror setting to pour our efforts into. Fortunately, we had plenty of other questions to answer about our other game lines, and even about how the tariffs will affect us (answer: still too early and chaotic to tell). Once again, thanks to all of you who participated, and hope you enjoyed the AMA as much as we did!
Here’s a reminder of the currently running traditionally printed book sale over at our friends at IPR, the Spring into Darkness Sale:
https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Deals-and-Specials/
You’ll note that Wednesday’s sales offerings include the revised/updated PDFs and PoDs of three books that we were re-stocking over at Studio2 (we even did a very small crowdfunder for it). Just so folks know ahead of time, here are three relatively broad categories of most of the changes we made to each book:
Scion: Origin:
- Correct Purviews for over 15 Gods
- Amended Attribute names where necessary
- Made original errata sheet changes
TC Core:
- Clarified the rules on a number of Stunts
- Improved weapon and armor tags
- Updated antagonist rules
TC: Aeon:
- Updated Tier references
- Corrected legion symbols
- Clarified psi tech references
Good ol’ Travis went out into the real world and helped a new game store in his area get started with our games. Here he is to explain:
Last Saturday I had the privilege of hosting Exalted: Essence Demos at Gobl1n Bra1n, a new Friendly Local Game Store that recently opened in Cherry Valley, Illinois’ Cherryvale Mall. The owners were kind enough to set me up a demo table, and they have several copies of Exalted: Essence as well as Storyteller’s Screens in stock! It was great to have a local FLGS showing such enthusiasm and support for our books, and I will be having another event there soon! If you’d like to get our books through your FLGS, head in and let them know they can order directly from Studio2 Publishing, or they can ask their distributor to reach out to Studio 2 on their behalf! And you’re in northern Illinois or southern Wisconsin, particularly in the greater Rockford area, make your way down to Gobl1n Bra1n!
Here’s the promo video I made from my visit to Gobl1n Bra1n: https://www.tiktok.com/@travislegge/video/7492463058040704302?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
And while we’re talking about things on social media, let me once again encourage you all to join us (and a ton of your fellow Onyx Path fans) on Bluesky by including this note from Dixie:
For those who aren’t aware, Onyx Path is now on Bluesky (https://bsky.app/)! Bluesky is a microblogging app similar to the old days of Twitter. One of the features on Bluesky is Starter Packs, which allow you to follow multiple accounts at once, so we’ve made one for our freelancers you can follow here: https://bsky.app/starter-pack/theonyxpath.bsky.social/3laz43eiw3u22
We’re continuing to update it as freelancers let us know their Bluesky handles, so never miss a skeet (that’s what they’re called) from the Onyx Path team! You can also just follow us for company updates at @theonyxpath.bsky.social
Hope to see you all in bluer skies!
And there we go, another Monday Meeting and another MMN blog setting down what’s goin’ on with us! Hope things are going well, or at least not awfully awful, with you, and however it goes, here’s hoping you get a bit of fun, distraction, and enjoyment from our:
Many Worlds, One Path!
Blurbs!
Crowdfunding!
Exalted Essence Players Guide
Fully Funded in Less Than One Hour on BackerKit!
* A book full of player options for Exalted: Essence
* Each of the ten Exalt type gets their own chapter
* Lots of new Charms for your game
We’ve already achieved these Stretch Goals!
* Exalts of Creation Expansion I (Solars and Sidereals)
* Exalts of Creation Expansion II (Lunars and Dragon-Blooded)
* Exalts of Other Realms Expansion I (Infernals and Abyssals)
* Exalts of Other Realms Expansion II (Liminals, Getimians, Alchemicals)
* RedBubble Shirt Design
* Exigents Expansion (2 new Exigents)
* Desktop Wallpaper
* Essence Extended: Universal Charms Expansion
With more to come!
You can check it out here! https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/17e590f2-e5ed-428f-ab1e-fa3b178c6e84/landing
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 – Lost City of the Oracle’s Amulet! Check it out right here: https://youtu.be/xKHkZysSh3Y
This week we dive deep into the murky waters of the Spawn of Vodník in our Gentleman’s Guide to Curseborne series: https://youtu.be/_z2B499eOmw?si=qRZKP8ufi6YVAsMw
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/
Spring into Darkness 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!
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!
Lots going live this week with Trinity Continuum: Aberrant – With Great Power going up on DTRPG in PDF and PoD versions on Weds! Then, all three of our books that were revised (see the blog above): Scion: Origin, Trinity Continuum Core, and TC: Aeon, are on sale in PDF and PoD versions Weds on DTRPG too!
Conventions!
Here’s where you can find out more info on physical and virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with!
This year’s Onyx Path Virtual Game Con will be happening on June 6-8! Mark your calendars!
Envoy will be running multiple demos of Curseborne at Gen Con, Thu, Jul 31, 2025 – Sun, Aug 3, 2025 in Indy, so sign up and get to actually play the game if you’re curious (but do it as soon as you can because Curseborn has been getting a lot of attention and is sure to sell out like happened at PAXunplugged), and we’ll have books and screens for sale at the Studio 2 booth.
Game Night With Onyx Path Publishing at StartPlaying is the last Friday of every month! Come play some Curseborne that night! (But any of our game lines are welcome all day 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 March’s full list report here: https://theonyxpath.com/release-roundup-march-2025/
DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY!
Here are the projects that moved to the next stage of production:
DEVELOPMENT
Curseborne – Curseborne Jumpstart
- Final draft of the Curseborne Jumpstart is in! Now to give it a development pass, and it’s off to approval!
POST-APPROVAL DEVELOPMENT
Trinity Continuum: Gear and Gadgets
- The stretch goal for the Trinity Player’s Guide has zoomed through approval and is back in the developer’s hands!
ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!
In Art Direction
- Ex3 Miracles of the Divine Flame – Map in progress.
- Ex3 Alchemicals – Looking to get the rest of the art going….
- Ex3 Exigents Jumpstart – Need minor tweak on full and then art is off to Paradox.
- TC From the Shadows – Getting the cover and comic rolling.
- TC Hated and Feared – Getting the cover going.
- Curious Cats – Sketches signed off on… looking good.
- Branch Riders – Getting just one piece fixed.
- Ex Essence PG (BK) – Campaign running.
Layout
- Scion Tasty Bit Combo
- TC Aether Screen
- SCION God Storyguide Screen
- Pugmire 2e Screen
- SCION God Storyguide Screen
- World Below Screen
- Ex3 Abyssals – Working on it.
- SCION Mythic Shards
- SCION Wild Hunt – Going to first proof this week.
- SCION Demigod Companion – Art is in. It can go to layout.
- Essence Novella Omnibus
- TC Aether Jumpstart
Proofing
Indexing
At Press
- Ex 3 Exigents – Quoting.
- Ex 3 Exigents Screen – At Studio 2
- Ex 3 Sidereals – Quoting.
- TC Aether – Reviewing proofs from printer.
- Scion: God – Reviewing proofs from printer.
- Ex Essence Pillars of Creation – PoD Files uploaded.
- SCION Titans Rising– PoD Files uploaded.
- Lost City of the Oracle’s Amulet – Errata ends Wednesday.
- Pugmire Conversion Doc – Errata ends Wednesday.
- TC: Aberrant With Great Power – PDF and PoD versions on sale this Weds on DTRPG!
- TC Aeon Reprint – PDF and PoD versions on sale this Weds on DTRPG!
- Scion Origin Reprint – PDF and PoD versions on sale this Weds on DTRPG!
- TC Core Reprint – PDF and PoD versions on sale this Weds on DTRPG!
Today’s Reason to Celebrate!
Happy Birthday 76th Birthday to Dave Gibbons, best known in the US for collaborating with Alan Moore on the 12-issue limited series Watchmen, now one of the best-selling graphic novels of all time, and the only one to feature on Time‘s “Top 100 Novels” list. Gibbons’s artwork in Watchmen is “notable both for its stark utilisation of the formulaic comicbook nine-panel grid layout, as well as for its intense narrative and symbolic density, with some symbolic background elements suggested by Moore, others by Gibbons”. And without Watchmen, we wouldn’t have been inspired to create Aberrant, so thank you from all of us, Dave!
I was not able to make the AMA but I found this tidbit, “Curseborne Players Guide that we’ll be crowdfunding later this year.”
To whit I would like to say, WOOT TO THE WOOT THE WOOT TO THE WOOTNESS, YEASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Care to share any follow up commentary. Any AT ALL, PLEASE
Glad to hear you’re up for it! We’ll have a lot more to say about Curseborne and the PG at Onyx Path Virtual Con in June, and then after that on social media. Woot!
Richt,
You have probably answered this before but I have to ask. Is there any chance of Onyx Path being able to acquire the Exalted line?
Paradox has not been interested in that idea so far, but never say never!
I’ve also been hoping for something. 3e has been amazing, especially the recent stuff.
The only thing I’d love to see is a slight revision to the Solar Charms after all other splats are done. The Abyssal Charms are very similar, but that slight revision is already baked in. It’s not required of course; more of a nice to have.
What we do after the splats are done is still undetermined, although there are several possibilities-
Essence Novella Omnibus? Is this a collection of the existing novellas?
Yep! We’re looking at combining a bunch of our fiction so folks can get them together-