Of course, I’m talking about Halloween coming at the end of the week!

What did you think I was referring to?

Oh, of course – the same thing I’ve been talking about for the last month! The Deluxe 20th Anniversary World of Darkness: Ghost Hunters Kickstarter is now in it’s last week and it actually ends Saturday afternoon on Halloween!

So plenty of time to get in your last pledge boost and then change into your costume for Trick or Treating. Or, you know, you could play a game of WoD: Ghost Hunters using the complete text you’ll have received as a backer!

Which is actually a pretty big deal, because I’ve been reading some concerns from folks who backed our older Kickstarters like Wraith20 and they don’t seem to know that we’ve changed how we do our KSs now.

They don’t know that by the time the KS is over our backers will have the complete text – and that we can do that because the text is really complete. In fact, unless it’s a very different kind of Kickstarter (like for Dark Eras 2), we won’t start a KS anymore unless the writing is finished. We learned that waiting for the text to be done was the first, biggest, issue with our estimates on when the book would be finished. If that ran late, it all rolled late in each stage after.

People also look at our extended estimates and wonder why a book would take so long. Well, before we were affected by the pandemic, we were actually delivering quite a bit earlier than estimated. Which was and is our plan. Covid screwed that up a bit, but we’re catching up again, so that extended estimate is just there for covering the unexpected – like the pandemic, I guess!

Now, I’m pretty sure that if you’re reading this, you know all that already. You might have already backed WoD: Ghost Hunters (and thank you if you did!), but if you know somebody who is still working under the idea that we haven’t responded to KS challenges by improving how we do them, then please let them know how we changed things with our KSs. Help us adjust those preconceptions (as accurate as they once were), and get more folks onboard for this excellent project’s Kickstarter!

Here are some interviews about WoD: Ghost Hunters to help inspire participation:
The 2D10 Podcast (https://utilitymuffinlabs.com/utility-muffin-podcast) and A Bunch of Gamers YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1gGeo8OM3IygRFkmECHt0Q)

What We Talked About This Week:

On Wednesday, Frostlands of Fenrilik goes live on the Slarecian Vault community content site for Scarred Lands. We’re pretty interested in how folks respond to this, as it’s kind of a hybrid project. It’s a real book project that sets the stage for our community content creators to take what is in the book and run with expanding the ideas in there, and to fit brand-new creations into the mostly blank continent.

We don’t appear to be the only folks excited, because we have more community content material at launch than we’ve ever had before. Here’s hoping that even more creators get inspired to add even more projects!

A bunch of our freelancers, as well as Eddy and Matthew, had a fantastic talk with Justin Achilli of Paradox as they went over our various projects for V5. With the pandemic and all it took a lot longer than expected for Justin to travel over to the team in Sweden, but now that he is there, things seem to be hopping! The dreaded hopping vampires, of course! (Not a reference to any project whatsoever, please don’t write in!)

So, we talked a fair bit about that today as Vampire: The Masquerade is still near and dear to our creative hearts.

We also talked a bunch, because we discuss both creative and business topics during our Monday Lunch Meeting, about how both of our ongoing sales were going: IPR‘s Halfoween Sale of Chronicles of Darkness prestige hardcover and associated Screens, and DTRPG‘s annual Halloween sale. Both are ending in early November, so check out the info below for some great deals!

Finally, we’ve been (vampire) batting around ideas for questions for a survey, and we threw around some more ideas today. We want to get a better idea of what you, our audience, think and enjoy about our game lines, but we also don’t want this to be a long slog for folks to fill out.

So each question gets a lot of scrutiny. Maybe too much, I dunno – we do tend to hit ideas with lots of very different sticks. We’ll get the finished one out to you folks as soon as we can, so that we can start to get your feedback and apply it as we continue to create our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

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Blurbs!

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Kickstarter!

The World of Darkness: Ghost Hunters Kickstarter is in its last week and ends on Saturday – Halloween! KS Concierge James has released a raft of Stretch Goals for this last week:

At $56,000 in funding – Necromancers and Mediums – Adding rules and options for mortals who use Psychic Abilities to interact with the dead, this supplement will be expanded to include Necromancers and Mediums.

At $60,000 in funding – Art Budget Increase! – We’ll be able to increase the art budget for the World of Darkness: Ghost Hunters book, adding even more eerie illustrations and alarming artwork!

At $63,000 in funding – Instant Investigators! – A trio of Ready-to-Play characters will be released as a PDF supplement, providing examples and allowing players to jump right into the frights! Instant Investigators will be added to the rewards list of all backers receiving the World of Darkness: Ghost Hunters PDF.

At $66,000 in funding – Additional Investigators! – A second trio of Ready-to-Play characters will be added to the Instant Investigators PDF supplement, providing further options and opportunities!

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Onyx Path Media!

This week: Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition round table with Matthew Dawkins, John Burke, and Klara Herbol!

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

This week on the Twitch channel you’re really going to want to see our Frostlands of Fenrilik and Ghost Hunters streams, so please check us out if you can! We’re going to be popping up with a lot of Scarred Lands media in the coming weeks, so let us know if there’s anything you’d like to see!

Tune in to the 2D10 Podcast (https://utilitymuffinlabs.com/utility-muffin-podcast) and A Bunch of Gamers YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1gGeo8OM3IygRFkmECHt0Q) for interviews regarding the ongoing Ghost Hunters Kickstarter!

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 give our Twitch channel a follow, as you can find a huge number of videos of all kinds of games being run!

This week on Twitch, expect to see these games and streams running:

• Scarred Lands – A Family Affair
• Contagion Chronicle – No Time for Reality
• Scion – Behind the Screen
• V5 – Cults of the Blood Gods – Styx and Bones
• Scarred Lands – Frostlands of Fenrilik
• World of Darkness Ghost Hunters – FINALE
• Changeling: The Dreaming – The Last Faerie Tale
• Mage: The Awakening – Occultists Anonymous
  
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Boston by Night
• V5 – Cults of the Blood Gods – Thy Kindred Come
• Hunter: Unbound Anomalies – Devil’s Luck Gaming

Get watching for some fantastic insight into how to run these wonderful games and subscribe to us on Twitch, over at twitch.tv/theonyxpath

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, including:

Changeling: The Dreaming – The Last Faerie Tale – E18 – https://youtu.be/PluRdXh5hTI

Chaos: The RPG – A Danielle Lauzon RPG Mashup Creation – https://youtu.be/fOp2TswC4ac

Vampire: The Masquerade – Boston by Night – Game 2 – https://youtu.be/9lVLaJriMpY

They Came from Beyond the Grave! – Vorpal Tales – Episode 2 – https://youtu.be/CmkDrSDYol8

Scion: Demigod – Strange Days – Episode 1 – https://youtu.be/kp4MZj-GWlU

Scarred Lands – Purge of the Serpentholds – S1E20 – https://youtu.be/nXEvHKqe2Pk

Deviant: The Renegades – A Cautionary Tale – Episode 6 – https://youtu.be/Pt6qwUSvuCg

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

Strange Assembly wrote up a review of V5 Let the Streets Run Red over on their website: https://www.strangeassembly.com/2020/review-let-the-streets-run-red-vampire-the-masquerade

And Charles Phipps did the same on Book Nest! Please give his review a read: http://booknest.eu/reviews/charles/2080-letthestreetsrunred

Systematic Understanding of Everything is a fantastic Exalted Explainer Podcast by Exalted Dev Monica Speca and Exalted Writer Chazz Kellner. You should check it out, because frankly, it’s brilliant.

Their most recent episodes are available over on https://www.exaltcast.com/, with their newest covering protagonists empowered by the Fire of Exaltation, those stolen from the Loom of Destiny, and those who the hosts don’t quite know about… https://www.exaltcast.com/2020/10/19/every-door-opened/

Occultists Anonymous continue their wonderful Mage: The Awakening chronicle right here:

Episode 137: Called To Account
After a bit of celebrating with werewolves, Atratus gets a visit from a Sentinel of the Consilium. She will need to stand before the Hierarch and Councilors for breaking the Lex Magica.
https://youtu.be/VgmA_1rzdVk

Episode 138: A Deal with Heaven
Atratus makes plans to help the Sleepers. Wyrd makes inroads with Moonkeeper. Songbird reaches out to the Aether.
https://youtu.be/sI7TvcFH6iU

If you missed Virtual Tabletop Gaming Live, please check out our video from the convention where Dixie interviews Matthew regarding They Came from Beyond the Grave! https://youtu.be/VyWrpJtWZ7w

From the same convention, here’s Danielle Lauzon being interviewed by Dixie regarding Trinity Continuum! Check it out if you want details about the game! https://youtu.be/eTwDqYbkbRQ

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! 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.)

We’re told that the App Dev is currently creating an updated version for the latest devices, so keep an eye open for those!

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Virtual TableTop!

Introducing a Virtual Tabletop adventure: the Gauntlet of Spiragos for Scarred Lands on Astral TableTop!

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.

Gauntlet of Spiragos is a Scarred Lands adventure designed for 1st level characters, although it can be easily modified for characters of up to 5th level.

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.

Astral is browser-based and uses the latest technology to streamline your storytelling experience. Connect with your party online and run your campaigns however you like. Astral offers tools optimized for phone, tablet, and desktop devices, no installation required.

Build epic battlemaps using Astral‘s enormous collection of scenery, props, and tokens or upload your own. Pro users gain access to over 12,000+ assets and fresh new packs every month. Add weather, visual effects, triggers, and so much more with easy-to-use tools

Build your own adventure, or choose from pre-generated game kits like Gauntlet 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

IPR‘s Chronicles of Darkness Halloween Sale is running until November 1. For the Return of Halfoween, all CofD Books and Screens will be 50% Off! https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Deals-and-Specials/

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

DTRPG‘s Halloween Sale will be the 19th – Nov 2nd and all of our Horror
PDF titles more than 30 days old will be 25% off! Plus, get an eye out for our 6 or 7 freebies in the annual trick-or-treat giveaway!

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On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday the Titanomachy for Scion is here with PDF and PoD versions at DTRPG!

Also, this Wednesday Vigil Watch: The Festering Fields, part 5 of the Vigil Watch monthly PDFs, will be available at DTRPG!

Ghelspad is a massive and diverse land. Once a paradise, this continent is now scarred by the ravages of the Titanswar. In the wake of divine bloodshed, and beset on all sides by titanspawn, the people of Ghelspad survive and thrive on this befouled continent. Vigil Watch explores six different locations across Ghelspad.

From the bloody shores of the Toe Islands in the east to the Sweltering Plains of the west, Vigil Watch provides an in-depth look at a variety of locales and cultures.

Vigil Watch Part Five details the Festering Fields, a wasteland corrupted by undeath and one of the most dangerous regions in the Scarred Lands!

Finally this Wednesday, over on the Slarecian Vault community content site for Scarred Lands 5e, Frostlands of Fenrilik explodes into being in a spray of ice crystals!

Frostlands of Fenrilik is an expansion for Scarred Lands 5e OGL that explores the frozen continent of Fenrilik. Known as the Roof of the World, Fenrilik is a massive frozen tundra filled with unique creatures, dangerous weather and deadly Titanspawn.

This book is created through the Slarecian Vault Community Content program and is designed to not only permit your party to take their adventures to Fenrilik, but also to allow you to create your own Fenrilik content for release via the Slarecian Vault!

Frostlands of Fenrilik includes:

•  Information on the history, geography, civilizations and religions of Fenrilik
•  New rules for travel and survival in the arctic wastes
•  New player options including 3 new races, 4 new subclasses, and 8 new spells
•  Over a dozen new monsters, and guidelines for creating more
•  An introductory adventure designed to take a party from levels 1-3

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Conventions!

Though dates for physical conventions are subject to change due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, here’s what’s left of our current list of upcoming conventions (and really, we’re just waiting for this last one to be cancelled even though it’s Nov/Dec). Instead, keep an eye out here for more virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with:

PAX Unplugged has confirmed that they are cancelling the con for this year.

We’ll be playing games at GameHole Con – the virtual edition – from Nov 5th to Nov 8th! Here’s a link to the con, and the events…pay no attention to the info about the venue and all that detritus from the earlier plan for their usual live convention: https://bit.ly/37lEEaF

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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)
• No Gods, No Masters (Scion 2nd Edition)
• TC: Aeon Novella: Dawn (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• TC: Aeon Novella: Meridian (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• Once and Future (Scion 2nd Edition)
• They Came From Beneath the Sea! Jumpstart (They Came From…!)
• They Came From Beyond the Grave! Jumpstart (They Came From…!)
• Tales of Depravity! (They Came From…!)
• Tome of the Pentacle (Mage: the Awakening 2e)
• Monsters From the Crypt! (They Came From…!)
• They Came From Camp Murder Lake! (They Came From…!)
• They Came From [Classified]! (They Came From…!)
• They Came From [Classified]! Jumpstart (They Came From…!)

Redlines

• Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Second Draft

• Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Squeaks In The Deep (Realms of Pugmire)
• Trinity Continuum: Anima
• Scion Fiction Anthology (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Heroes in a World of Horror! (They Came From…!)

Development

• TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)
• Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)
• Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)
• Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)
• M20 Rich Bastard’s Guide To Magick (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)
• Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)
• Legacies of Earth (Legendlore)
• Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Manuscript Approval

• Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Dystopia Rising: Evolution Fiction Anthology (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)
• Prometheus Unbound (was Psi Orders) (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Post-Approval Development

• Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)
• Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Editing

• Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)
• Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)
• Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)
• TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• LARP Rules (Scion 2nd Edition)
• The Book of Lasting Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)
• Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)
• Dearly Bleak – Novella (Deviant: The Renegades)
• N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)
• Under Alien Skies (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• Dead Man’s Rust (Scarred Lands)
• V5 Trails of Ash and Bone (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
• M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)
• Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)
• The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)
• V5 Children of the Blood (was The Faithful Undead) (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
• Peoples of the Crossroads Continent
• M20 Technocracy Operative’s Dossier (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)
• Yugman’s Appendix: People of Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)
• V5 Forbidden Religions (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
• CtL 2e Novella Collection: Hollow Courts (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Post-Editing Development

• W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)
• Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)
• Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)
• Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)
• Legendlore core book (Legendlore)
• Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)
• They Came From Beyond the Grave! (They Came From!)
• Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Indexing

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Art Direction from Mike Chaney!

In Art Direction

• WoD Ghost Hunters (KS) – KS going.
• Hunter: The Vigil 2e
• Mummy 2 – ADing rest of the book art.
• Legendlore
• Scion: Dragon (KS) – Art for KS in progress.
• Masks of the Mythos (KS) – Ready for the KS.
• Scion: Demigod (KS)
• They Came From Beyond the Grave! – Starting this rolling.
• TC: Adventure! (KS)
• Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness) – Awaiting artnotes.
• Monsters of the Deep – Monsters all AD’d. LeBlanc’s art is all in.
• M20 Victorian (KS) – ADing rolling.
• TC: Under Alien Skies – ADed. Sketches coming in.
• Heirs to the Shogunate – Working on art notes.
• Dead Man’s Rust (SL KS) – KS art AD’d. Finals from Shen Fei in.
• Children of the Blood

In Layout

• Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad
• Vigil Watch
• M20 Technocracy Reloaded – In layout realized needed some more art: contracted.
• Deviant – Maria designing symbols.
• Geist: One Foot In the Grave – Off to Travis.
• Tales of Aquatic Terror – Ready for Travis layout.

Proofing

• Cavaliers of Mars: City of the Towered Tombs – Backer PDF going out for errata.
• Yugman’s Guide Support Decks (Scarred Lands)
• Aberrant – Waiting for a couple of pieces of art due in by Friday.
• V5 Cults of the Blood Gods – Should be going into 2nd proofs this week.

At Press

• TCFBTS Screen and Booklet – At KS fulfiller, shipping getting started.
• They Came from Beneath the Sea! – At KS fulfiller, shipping getting started .
• Pirates of Pugmire – At KS fulfiller, shipping getting started .
• Pirates of Pugmire Screen – At KS fulfiller, shipping getting started .
• Dark Eras 2 – At KS fulfiller, shipping getting started .
• Dark Eras 2 Screen and booklet – At KS fulfiller, shipping getting started .
• Contagion Chronicle – Printing.
• Lunars Wall Scroll Map – At KS fulfiller.
• Lunars Screen and Booklet – At KS fulfiller.
• Lunars: Fangs at the Gate – Deluxe printing. PDF and PoD on sale at DTRPG.
• Titanomachy – PDF and PoD versions on sale this Wednesday!
• TC Aeon Terra Firma – PoD proofs ordered.
• V5 Let the Streets Run Red – PoD files uploaded.
• Trinity Core Jumpstart – PDF files prep.

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Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

BOO!