When I talk about aether, I am of course referring to Trinity Continuum: Aether, and its Kickstarter campaign that is burgeoning along! Seems like a good bunch of you are really interested in this mash-up of Victorian Era tropes, literary characters, and the earlier history of the Trinity Continuum.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/trinity-continuum-aether-tabletop-roleplaying-game

TC: Aether is currently the furthest back in time we’ve gone with the Continuum, although we do have plans afoot to skip even further back through history – stay tuned for that! That means that we looked at what we knew was coming and postulated what would be the circumstances that led to TC: Adventure!, its closest relative in the series (so far). Because of the nature of this being a continuum, it’s less of a timeline of events that HAVE to lead to TC: Adventure!, and more a series of events that COULD lead to the pulp era.

So, yes, you get to learn about Maxwell Mercer’s parents, and you can deduce why he then invited Safari Jack Tallon to join Aeon in the 1930’s. We learn more about Tesla in the time of TC: Aether, and some of that can be used to chart towards understanding the Tesla presented in TC: Adventure!. (That’s Tesla the genius inventor, and not the electric car thing).

If you just want to dip a toe in, we are getting the sixth of the TC:Aether serial segments ready for release, and the fifth came out last week. This is a great way to get a feel for the world, and if it intrigues you, please do check out the KS.

https://theonyxpath.com/v-the-future-unwritten-the-past-erased/

Last week we had the first of our Onyx Path Game Nights at Start.Playing Games, and we’re so happy that so many players got a chance to have fun playing! We already have about the same number of games slated for the next one – the last Friday in August – so we expect there to be a lot more available games to play as the month continues!

Now, happening this week, we’ll be doing three panels at Gen Con Online – one on Thursday and two on Friday, as noted and linked to below in the Conventions section.

Thursday is our classic “What’s Up With the Onyx Path?” panel, that is always filled with fun – and doing it on Twitch means that there’s no disruption of the proceedings by the sounds of rumbling trains like we had for many years at the live Gen Con!

Then, Friday starts with a “Storypath Q&A”, which is a great opportunity to lob some rules questions at us, as well as questions about the new Storypath “Ultra” ruleset we let slip at our own online con earlier this year! Oops.

Finally, we have a panel about our games that use the 5th Edition of the world’s most favoritest rules system, and that will give folks a chance to chat about Legendlore, Pugmire, Crossroads Continent, and Scarred Lands.

Scarred Lands? Scarred Lands, you say?

Come with me over this header below, and I’ll tell you some stuff about Scarred Lands!

“I used Matthew to poke Travis”

This comes under the category of “Things said at our Monday Meeting”. We’ll keep this context-less as it’s funnier that way.

August is indeed Scarred Lands month during this, our Tenth Anniversary Celebration, and like we have done with other game lines through the previous months, we’re looking to highlight the Scarred Lands game line with actual plays and panels on Twitch, a Scarred Lands focused series of Onyx Pathcast episodes (this week Eddy interviews SL developer Travis Legge), and, of course, the famous sales!

Right now, you can get any of the Scarred Lands PDFs that use the 5e or Pathfinder rulesets for 10% of their normal price (10% for the 10 Year Anniversary – get it?) – so 90% off. That sale lasts until August 15th, and then we’ll do the same for the classic 3e Scarred Lands PDFs!

Our friends at IPR are also putting all Scarred Lands physical books and dice on sale for 50% off – you can check them out below in our Sales Partners section!

And if you’ve never heard of this game line, and are sitting there muttering “But what is this Scarred Lands?”, let me help you out with some info.

SL is a fantasy setting which is set in a world where the mythic war between the gods and titans has already happened, and things went pretty badly. Oh, the gods won the war, but the cost was wrecked and poisoned lands, the guilt of terrible deeds, and kingdoms shattered and new ones scrambling to survive. Against this bleak tableau, heroic and valiant deeds shine forth, and the opportunities for quick blades and quicker minds are rich, indeed!

But wait there’s more –

It’s time for a story. The story of how old White Wolf created the Scarred Lands setting.

But for that, you have to go back to an earlier project, a legendary project called The Creature Collection. This was a book of monsters that we at WW at the time created using the very, very, early Open Game License created by Wizards of the Coast. This was an innovation that would lead to the D20 boom and bust, but at the time, it was like some strange, three-headed, animal walked into one of our parties. What the hell is that?

We didn’t know either, but what we did know was that there was a comparatively huge amount of time before WOTC was going to release the 3e Monster Manual – in fact, there was actually enough time to release our own monster book, if that was something we wanted to do…

Was that…something we wanted to do?

The answer was a resounding, hell yes! We can do it, we have the best team in the business – we can get a monster book written, illustrated, laid out, and published before the industry leader can do theirs. Yep, we were brats, but we did, in fact, do it.

During the process of just about every creator in the place writing up monster entries – I even wrote up the rat-men, but that’s another story – our writers began to include flavor text about these creatures. While some of them were unrelated to the others, there were a good number of entries where the writers worked together to suggest a world where all these terrifying creatures lived (and died).

I seem to remember Ethan Skemp being heavily involved in developing a consistent setting, as that’s his bread and butter. The man can pull together a viable adventuring world while most of us are trying to figure out which dice to roll to get started. Or maybe, someone else spearheaded the effort, I really can’t recall as I was way to busy hiring all the artists we knew for a crash-deadline project. Every day sketches would roll in over our fax (that’s right, they were printed out on a long roll of paper and we cut them part to look at each one).

We dropped in the text of each entry as soon as it was OK’d by Editing, dropped in the art, and worked 24/7 to get it to press in time to be first to market. And…we were and it was a huge success! There was even a rumor that the OGL creators at WOTC ran through the halls with the Creature Collection held over their heads because we had proved that a “major publisher” would create material under the license!

And that’s how this fantasy world called Scarred Lands got started – from there we did the Scarred Lands Gazetteer to properly reveal the setting the CC monsters all were from, and we created sourcebook after sourcebook. “Mithril: City of the Golem”, “Vigil Watch: Warrens of the Ratmen”, “The Faithful and the Forsaken”, and “Hollowfaust: City of Necromancers”, were just a few of the staggeringly creative titles that continued to build out the Scarred Lands!

Of course, there is a lot more, and we’re not even talking about the fantastic work done on Onyx Path‘s own edition of Scarred Lands. But that also is a story for another time – after all, there’s a million stories within:

TEN YEARS, MANY WORLDS, ONE PATH!

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BLURBS!

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KICKSTARTER/CROWDFUNDING!

With a green flash, Trinity Continuum: Aether has topped 200% funding at almost the half-way point!

Check it out here!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/trinity-continuum-aether-tabletop-roleplaying-game

For some of our previous backers, the indominable James sent out a small peek into what TC: Aether is about. And now you can see it as well!

Call it what it was: hubris, arrogance, a collective delusion of grandeur… We thought we were the only beings in this universe and that with our grand intellect and glorious empires we were the best humanity would ever be.

And then came Aether.

And along with Aether came mental expansion, form mutation, matter warping, time manipulation, and the discovery of new worlds, new peoples, new and terrifying possibilities.

And with Aether came the doom of humankind. Aether brought the Martians to our world, and the unravelling of the reality we knew.

Aether is a full rule and setting expansion for the Trinity Continuum line of games, set in the year 1895, at a time when humanity has conquered its own world, and now seeks to conquer the limitations imposed on us by the laws of all the sciences known to our kind. Inside, you will find:

• A complete Victorian-era setting and Paths for characters to embark upon within it.
• Aether powers allowing you to manipulate fate, space, time, and even your own bodies in wondrous and horrifying ways.
• Societies both lawful and rogue, looking to leave their imprint on the world, from those in league with Mina Harker to those affiliated with Dr. Jekyll and Moriarty.
• Storyguide advice, secrets, hooks, and plots, to enable you to start your game of Aether off with a bang.

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Onyx Path Media!

This week:

Eddy does a deep dive with Travis Legge on the Scarred Lands, and Dead Man’s Rust in particular.

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 impressive number of 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:

Matthew Dawkins is hosting an AMA on his channel regarding Trinity Continuum: Aether on Wednesday, and it’s taking place right here: https://youtu.be/j302ev2cTfY

The Onyx Path News goes live every single week to discuss recent and upcoming releases, dive into some of our most anticipated books, and answer questions from the audience. 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://youtu.be/3hEBpXzwtMo

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Virtual Tabletop!

The Scion: Origin Compendium is now available on Roll20!

https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/compendiumexpansion/12522/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin

It’s native to Roll20, so not for use elsewhere, but perfect for starting your Roll20 Scion game – plus, the official Origin & Hero sheets are already available!

And the first of our official sheets designed for Roll20 are now available!

The first of our official sheets designed for Foundry VTTis now available!

Direct Link: https://foundryvtt.com

As they say: “Foundry Virtual Tabletop is a self-hosted roleplaying platform with support for hundreds of game systems with modern features and a developer-friendly API. Foundry VTT is a one-time purchase where your players connect for free using a web browser.”

More VTT offerings and projects will be arriving this year!

On DrivethruRPG, here is the main filter for all of our current VTT content:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4261/Onyx-Path-Publishing?filters=0_0_0_45317_0

A few highlights of our platform agnostic DTRPG content:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/309127/Scarred-Lands-Creature-Collection-VTT-Token-Pack
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/317690/Trinity-Continuum-Hunt-for-the-Red-Widow-VTT
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/340327/Trinity-Continuum-Aeon-VTT-Tokens
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/311578/Scarred-Lands-VTT-Separation-Anxiety
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/311580/Scion-2e-VTT-Origin-Signature-Tokens
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/311579/Scion-2e-VTT-Hero-Signature-Tokens

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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/

Scarred Lands books and dice are 50% off at IPR this month:

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!

Scarred Lands: the 5e/Pathfinder PDFs sale is live on DTRPG:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4261/Onyx-Path-Publishing/subcategory/8329_24824/Scarred-Lands-new

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!

M20 Sorcerer‘s advance PDF teleports in, in order to be on sale this Weds on DTRPG!

The shadows of the World of Darkness have always concealed supernatural secrets. Monsters exist and magic is real. Hedge wizards and psychics dwell on the edges of those shadows and of human society, straddling the liminal space between daylight and darkness. These sorcerers draw on inborn gifts or intense magical study to forward their agendas, protect their communities, or seek personal gain and power. Some few cast their lots with one faction of the Ascension War or another, but most sorcerers neither know nor care of the conflict among the so-called mages. For these practitioners, power is personal and to be used for personal ends.

• Streamlined and complete rules for incorporating hedge magic Paths and Psychic Phenomena into your Mage: The Ascension chronicle.

• Character creation rules and options to bring your hedge wizard or psychic to life.

• Twenty Affiliations for Sorcerer characters to join or oppose, including classic favorites such as the Arcanum and Project Twilight.

• New Merits, Flaws, Artifacts and more!

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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!

Game Night With Onyx Path Publishing at Start.Playing are the last Fridays of the month!
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

We’ll be doing panels for the online version of Gen Con for early August, and if you’re interested in running or playing our games there, they’ve recently released this link:

https://www.gencon.com/gen-con-online/hosting-events-eo-gmhttps://www.gencon.com/event_registrations/new

Here are the links to our panels:

https://www.gencon.com/events/217051 – What’s Up With Onyx Path?
https://www.gencon.com/events/217052 – Storypath System Q&A
https://www.gencon.com/events/217053 – Onyx Path 5E OGL Games

Tabletop Scotland is due to take place on 27th and 28th August 2022 and will play host to at least four Onyx Pathers running our games and sitting on panels live and there in the room with you! If you’re UK or Europe based, it’s an excellent con to visit and within traveling distance from Edinburgh, which takes flights from a lot of places! Consider paying Tabletop Scotland a visit. https://tabletopscotland.co.uk/

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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 July’s full list report here: https://theonyxpath.com/release-roundup-july-2022/

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY

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

Final Draft

Scion – Tasty Bit – Scion High

• Eddy: Our snack-sized exploration of teenage Scions is off to final drafts! I was really happy with how this turned out even in first drafts, so I expect the finals will just be adding even more awesomeness in a small space.

Exalted – Pillars of Creation (was Exalted Essence Companion)

• Dixie: *slaps roof* We’ve crammed so many stretch goals into this bad boy, woo! I’m truly excited about this one.

Manuscript Approval

Changeling the Lost – The Hedge

• Dixie: With Kith and Kin also on the way, these two books will help supplement anyone’s Changeling 2e game amazingly!

Scion – Path to Apotheosis (was Demigod Scenarios)

• Matthew: Off to approvals goes our Path to Apotheosis, expanding out the story options for Scion: Demigod! There’s three excellent campaign setups in this book.

They Came from Camp Murder Lake! – VTT Adventure

• Matthew: We’re on a non-stop train to Funky Town Central! This book has a whole load of one-shot ideas in, and maps of the exciting, funky, dangerous Funkland!

Post-Approval Development

TC: Adventure! – Danger Skies! (was Thrilling Tales)

• Eddy: The stretch goal adventure from Trinity Continuum: Adventure! has been approved, so it’s off to the developer to make a few changes and get it ready for editing!

Post-Editing Development

Trinity Continuum – Tasty Bit- Phoebe Trust (was Psions in the Modern Day)

• Eddy: Our Trinity Continuum Tasty Bit, which presents an alternative world where psions appear in the modern day. It’s now done being edited, so it’ll get a quick review and then be sent off to editing!

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ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

• SCION God 2e – Finding someone to do the remaining 3 halfs for the KS.
• TC Aether – KS going.
• TCF Cyclops Cave  and Classified Jumpstarts – Art buys brokedown.

In Layout

• SCION Masks of Mythos – Rest of the artwork should be here today.
• MTC Book of Lasting Death – Doing up initial layout with placeholders for artwork.

Proofing

• Spiragos 5e Compilation – Moving ahead.
• Scion Dragon – Working on Character Sheet.
• M20 Victorian Mage – Corrections being made.
• CTL2e Kith and Kin

Indexing

At Press

• Scion Demigod – Trad press files at printer.
• Scion Demigod Screen – Press files at printer.
• Squeaks in the Deep Screen – Press files at printer.
• Squeaks in the Deep – Trad press files at printer.
• Squeaks in the Deep Bookmarks – At KS shipper.
• Hunter: The Vigil 2e – Trad press files at printer.
• HTV 2 Screen – Press files at printer.
• Scarred Lands: Dead Man’s Rust – Trad press files at printer.
• TC: Novas Worldwide – Backer PDF out to KS backers – errata-ing.
• Trinity Continuum: Assassins – XXing.
• Down In The Hole – CRC Adventure – PoD proofs on the way.
• Scion Players Guide: Saints and Monsters – Backer PDF out to KS backers – errata-ing.
• M20 Sorcerer – Advance PDF debuts this Weds on DTRPG!

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Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Wow, it really seems like we are saying farewell to so many creators and performers who defined broad sections of our geeky pasts. Sorry if this Reason To Celebrate continues that trend, but there’s no way I could let the passing of Nichelle Nichols go without commemoration. Her original work as Lt. Uhura has been accurately described as groundbreaking and inspirational – she truly went where no African-American woman had gone before, and she opened doors not just within the Star Trek universe, but throughout the entertainment industry. But, not even just within the entertainment industry, she was an inspiration for millions of people. She herself chose to focus a lot of that energy towards working with NASA, the US space agency, and was deeply involved in bringing more women and people of color into NASA’s departments. Inspirational, indeed!

In unrelated yet happier news, Changeling: The Dreaming 2nd Edition was released 25 years ago, today!