We’re in the last days of the They Came From the RPG Anthology Kickstarter, and today we listed the last planned vote for the final chapter! (One of genres being voted on is Dawkin’s Creek – those 90s mopey teen shows acted by twenty and thirty-somethings – hence the title!)

Currently.

I say currently, because there is still a slim chance that enough new backers will come onboard, or current backers will up their pledges sufficiently that we’ll rocket past the last listed Stretch Goal, and then….

We’ve had stranger come-from-behind pledging with our crowd-funding, so you never know!

Right now, though, the book contains the original five setting chapters, plus the three already voted in during the last three weeks of the campaign:

They Came from the Billiard Room with the Candlestick! (The Mystery Genre – Benoit Blanc, Agatha Christie, Clue, etc. with thrilling new Archetypes such as the Butler and the Colonel and a mystery plot device system!)

They Came from Beneath Capes and Cowls! (Superhero Genre – Four Color Heroes with a splash of camp, with Archetypes including the Mystery, the Savior, the Mutant, and the Mecha and, Quips designed to emulate Batman, Spider-Man and Superman of the 1960s)

They Came from the Meticulously Planned Bank Job! (Heist and Gangster Media – Ocean’s Eleven, Reservoir Dogs, Goodfellas, etc. with new rules for planning your caper and building your reputation in the criminal underworld, including Archetypes such as the Mafioso, the Professional, and the Hitman.)

Up for vote now are the runners-up from those previous three rounds of voting:

1. They Came from the High-Octane Apocalypse! (Post-apocalypse movies and video games, often taking place along long stretches of highway – Mad Max, Fallout, The Road, etc. with Archetypes such as the Loner and the Leatherdaddy and explosive Cinematic effects!)
2. They Came from Dawkins Creek! (The ’90s early ’00s teen drama genre – Dawson’s Creek, The O.C., Sweet Valley High, etc. with new Archetypes including the Lovesick and the Wunderkind, and Cinematics designed for playing Coldplay at appropriate moments!)
3. They Came from the Steel Dragon Fighting Tournament! (Fighting Games and Martial Arts movies- Tekken, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, King of Fighters, Virtua Fighter, Enter the Dragon, etc. with Archetypes including the Black Belt, the Street Fighter, and the Pugilist, and expanded Tropes and Stunts to allow you to customize your fighters with special moves)
4. They Came from Neo Tokyo! (1990s Anime Genre – Neon Genesis Evangelion, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, lots of shouting protagonists, etc. with a system for mech battles and Archetypes including the Android, the Street Racer, and the Neo Ninja!)
5. They Came from Avast Behind! (Adventure Movies and TV, especially focusing on pirates – Treasure Island, Our Flag Means Death, Three Musketeers, Mutiny on the Bounty, etc., with a flurry of exciting new Archetypes and Quips based on an adventurous life, including the Captain, the Swashbuckler, and the Scurvy Dog.)
6. They Came from the Code of Bushido! (Samurai Movie Genre – everything Kurosawa, 13 Assassins, Zatoichi, etc. with a system for duels, mass battles and declarative Quips, including Archetypes such as the Sword Master, the Old Hand, the Divine Avenger, and the Stoic Monk.)

So hard to choose! Although I do hear that Avast Behind has blasted past the others to take the lead! Currently!

And this was something I heard talking about last weekend’s Actual Plays at the Onyx Path Virtual Con: “They Came From! games have to be played to be believed!”

The game is just something that folks really, really, enjoy the actual playing of – far beyond the basic concept. It’s a secret sauce of game concepts and rules that all work together to encourage great times. No matter whether your gaming group generally plays this sort of game, They Came From! games can be played as one-shots between your ongoing campaigns/chronicles or expanded to become multiple session epics!

After all, they’re based on movies, TV, and other mass media: sequels and single-episode pilots getting picked up for a series are part of the magic!

Con Wrap-Up!

As I mentioned above, this weekend we ran the fourth Onyx Path Virtual Convention, and so a huge part of our Monday Meeting today was reviewing how that went. Compared to previous years, it was amazingly smooth, although as always we had some gamers and panelists move about as life got in the way, and a couple of technical issues but no systemic problems.

Huge thanks to Travis Legge and all our behind-the-scenes techs who brought the whole thing off so smoothly! They really do work their butts off to make everything work across the various platforms!

Here’s some thoughts from our crew-

From Eddy:

I had a great time at OPP Con this year. Sure, going from UK Games Expo to OPP Con was pretty exhausting in a lot of ways (I ran six games and sat on six panels across both conventions!), but they also got me excited for running and talking about games in a way I haven’t felt in years. The players in both my games at OPP Con were fantastic, and my first-ever time running a They Came From game (CLASSIFIED, specifically) went so well that Matthew said nice things about it! In public, even!

And of course it was great to do the panels. The “What’s Up?” panel has been such a staple, with Rich and I doing it for easily 15 years and maybe longer (I always forget when we started it), and it feels comfortable and proper to do it every year. But it was also lovely to be a part of new things, like seeing Danielle properly talk about her exciting work on Storypath Ultra, or Rich showing off the teaser for the Scion TV show.

Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but then no convention is. I’m glad that what started off as something fun during lockdown has evolved into a really great way to hang out with our fans and collaborators all over the world and celebrate some of the amazing games we have here at Onyx Path.

Danielle adds:

I had a whirl-wind event this year, as this was my first time being an inhouse developer at OPPCon. I sat on some lovely panels where I got to give some insights into Storypath Ultra, and ran a Storypath Ultra showcase game that went swimmingly well. 

I’ve so excited by our announcement of the Earthbane Cycle and the future line of fantasy games coming after The World Below. I can’t wait to reveal more about At the Gates, but first I want everyone to get a good taste of The World Below in the upcoming Ashcan version.

All in all, it was a great time to engage with our fans and see all the hype for our upcoming games.

Travis notes:

Our fourth annual Onyx Path Virtual Gaming Convention was an amazing time! The panels were fun and informative, and those I was able to attend had pretty active chats. The actual plays were great and I want to commend and recognize the efforts of our partnered channels in bringing together so many events over the course of three days. We had a few speedbumps (as I like to say on the channel: TECH HAPPENS) but most scheduled events went off without a hitch. I would like to thank the tech team who helped keep things running smoothly, and give a special shout out to D and Dixie for their contributions above and beyond the call of duty.
I’d also like to thank the attendees. The vibe throughout the show was positive and exciting, and that’s got everything to do with the community members who showed up and engaged with the chats. I’d also like to thank the folks at the Bodhana Group for the work they do, for showcasing Branch Riders, and for being a wonderful charity partner for the event. I can only hope everyone enjoyed the show as much as I did. Can’t wait for next year!

Matthew mentions:

I had a huge amount of fun at this year’s Onyx Path Virtual Gaming Convention. It was a treat to be able to speak about The World Below and They Came From at length, and of course, to run The World Below on stream for the very first time (and to decent audience numbers, too!). My players Michael Brown, Victoria Meng, Zak Naldrett, and Cat Evans were perfect picks for our inaugural dive into the Vast Underneath, though they refused to be led astray by a cultist who may have wanted to sacrifice them to a subterranean pyramid thing…

One of my highlights was getting Ed Greenwood to attend our World Below panel (with Cat Evans, Rich, and myself), as he provided some fantastic insight to the viewers (and us!) on worldbuilding and what exactly makes The World Below a special, intriguing game. I’ve known Ed for over a decade now, have had the chance to play games with him, and interviewed him before, but hearing him discuss The World Below, his work on it, and be so complimentary about the work of the rest of the team was delightful.

Another highlight was watching the number of backers go up on They Came From the RPG Anthology! as we discussed it on the They Came From panel. Michele Masala, Kim Godwin, and Travis did a stellar job explaining why They Came From is one of the most entertaining RPGs on the market today.

In all, it was great fun, and I look forward to next year!

Ian sez:

Things were pretty chill on my end this year, with only one panel appearance, and otherwise hanging out in chat and talking to people. It was great to see so many of you, engaging with panels with some excellent questions, or having fun in actual plays. An unexpected surprise was seeing Steve Wieck himself at the Roll20 panel instead of one of the other staffers.

As always, the weekend was over far too soon, and I’m already looking forward to next year. 

Dixie lets us know:

I had a blast at our fourth(!!!) Onyx Path Virtual Convention this year! As per usual, I did a few panels and even played in a game of Realms of Pugmire with the fine people of Dork Tales. I’m stoked about all of our announcements, and can’t wait for people to see all the new projects we’re working on.

And as for me:

This year, I was all about being on panels. The ones you’d expect, like the Opening and Closing Ceremonies so I can ring the Onyx Path Silver Bell, and the What’s Up With Onyx Path? panel, which Eddy rightly notes has been a panel I started doing with him over 15 years ago at conventions except it was What’s Up With White Wolf. So named because our fan community was concerned as we were in that pre-Onyx Path transition period with TTRPGs.

Those were all great because I got to finally reveal a bunch of our plans and goof around with a bunch of our MM crew. We just don’t do enough of that day to day as we all run around putting out our different fires.

But then on the Onyx20 panel and the World Below panel, it was really fun to go A LOT deeper into the creation and strategery behind those projects. Plus, on WB, Ed Greenwood did not disappoint. His general thoughts on game-worldbuilding, and how those applied specifically to The World Below were fantastic and edifying! Well worth catching the vid once it’s up on our YouTube!

So for me, it was a really satisfying con as we got to hang out with our co-workers and fan community, talk about the stuff we make and do, and donate some small contribution to The Bodhana Group’s efforts! Wahoo!

Lemme pull out the announcements mentioned in the quotes above and provide a little handy reference here:

• Exalted Alchemicals is coming next after Abyssals with Infernals planned for after that, fatsplat-wise.

• We played the Scion TV show teaser trailer, which is now out on both our social media, as well as on that of Jenkins and Tate, who are the ones who created it in order to help in their efforts towards getting the Scion TV show picked up.

• The Storypath Ultra Brochure was released to the public on DTRPG during the con. Previously, only distributors or retailers could get the physical brochures.

• We also announced that we’re currently working on the Storypath Ultra Core Manual – an upcoming rulebook that allows folks to build their settings on the Ultra rules.

• We let folks in on the secret that The World Below is not just one standalone game, but that it’s actually the first one in the Earthbane Cycle, followed by a new game called At The Gates.

• We also revealed that we’re creating The World Below Ashcan, a stripped down intro to The World Below that’s is going to provide a quick and early chance to play The World Below and give us your feedback before we even get to crowd-funding! In fact, it’s on sale this Weds at DTRPG!

Phew!

Post -con, c’mon to the Comments below and ask me about any of these announcements, any questions you didn’t get answered during the Con, or whatever! Little bit more spontaneous subjects, rather than a specific themed question like I’ve lobbed your way in past weeks, but I need a little recovery time after spending all weekend helping our super crew and con guests to come together and celebrate our:

MANY WORLDS, ONE PATH!

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BLURBS!

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KICKSTARTER/CROWDFUNDING!

The KS for They Came From the RPG Anthology! is FUNDED! and over this Thursday!!! Let’s get some Stretch Goals and maybe even add another chapter!

You can help in the fun and start bringing in even more chapters by going here and pledging! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/they-came-from-the-rpg-anthology-tabletop-roleplaying-

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Onyx Path Media!

This week:

Matthew and Eddy interview Chris Jones and Michele Masala at UK Games Expo!

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 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:

The Old Ways Podcast recorded an actual play of They Came from Cowboy’s Gulch! which went live on the 14th! Go give them a listen: https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/27070314

The Onyx Path News discusses recent and upcoming releases! 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://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW-sbg6FhBI

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Virtual Tabletop!

NEW!
They Came From Beneath the Sea! on Roll20 VTT!
https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/bundle/22308/they-came-from-beneath-the-sea

Here are some more shots from the They Came From Beneath the Sea! Compendium!

And there’s also the Scion Jumpstart, all ready for Roll20 VTT fun!

https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/bundle/21165/a-light-extinguished-a-jumpstart-for-scion-second-edition

More news and links when we have them!

The Scion: Origin and Scion Hero Compendiums are now available on Roll20!

https://marketplace.roll20.net/browse/publisher/1716/onyx-path-publishing

Scion is just the start! They Came From Beneath the Sea! and other
Onyx Path RPGs are in development for Roll20 virtual tabletop!

The first of our official Scion sheets designed for Foundry VTT are
now available!

Direct Link: https://foundryvtt.co

Looking for more virtual tabletop resources? We have a selection of
Tokens, Encounters, and more available now at DriveThruRPG!

Get ’em here: https://bit.ly/3SnrNJ7

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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/

Special Onyx Path deals 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!

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 Melody Through the Mirrorshade Lens and Facets of Truth , as well as Trinity Continuum: Terat and The Hollow Courts on Kindle in the Kindle store!

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On Sale This Week!

What’s that sound? The roar of hooves?!! It’s the Stampede of Justice, the Jumpstart for TC: Adventure!
PDF and physical book PoD versions available this Weds on DTRPG!

Also available this Wednesday on DTRPG is The World Below Ashcan Advance PDF! Your first look at both our new fantasy game and how it is run using Storypath Ultra!

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Conventions!

As we are slowly returning to attending conventions in person after the current COVID-19 outbreak, keep an eye out here for more physical and virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with!

Origins Game Fair (June 21st – 25th) is coming up quickly. We’re going
to do the same setup as we did at this last PAXU: we’ll be hanging in our section of the Studio 2 booth.

Game Night With Onyx Path Publishing at Start.Playing is the last Friday of the month: June 30th! Come play some They Came From! in celebration of the current They Came From…? KS! (But any of our game lines are welcome all day long!)

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

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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 May’s full list report here: https://theonyxpath.com/release-roundup-may-2023/

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY

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

Final Drafts

Tasty Bit – They Came from CLASSIFIED!: Hotel Lobby

• Eddy: The first draft was really solid, so a lot of my redlining amounted to cutting things down to fit other things in! I even used this map as part of my inspiration for my They Came from CLASSIFIED! Actual Play at Onyx Path Con this weekend.

Editing

TC: Aether – Aether Player’s Guide

• Eddy: In classic Michele fashion, I was told it would take a few weeks to go over the post-approval comments, and I got it back in a few days. So this is already in the queue for editing!

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ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

• They Came From ? – Ends this week!
• M20 Lore of the Traditions – Farri should be done this week.
• SCION Once and Future – All of the art minus the cover is in.
• SCION Titans Rising – Should be reviewing the last of the finals this week.
• TC Aegis (KS) – All the KS art is in – I have changes to the cover in as well.
• TC Player’s Guide – Figuring out art buy.
• TC Adventure Addendum – Durwin is working on it…

In Layout

• Legacies of Earth – Still with Dixie.
• Scion Dragon Jumpstart

Proofing

• TC Anima
• Ex3 Crucible of Legends
• TC Assassins VTT Adventure

Indexing

At Press

• TC: Adventure! – Trad printing files prepping. Awaiting specs from Printer.
• TC Adventure Storyguide Screen and Booklet – Quoting with Printers.
• HtV Tending the Flame – Backer PDF out to backers for errata, ending this week.
• W20 Howls of Apocalypse – Prepping for PoD.
• Ex3 Surface Truths – PoD proof on the way.
• MtAw Tome of the Pentacle – Sending PoD files.
• The World Below Ashcan – Advance PDF available on DTRPG this Weds!
• TC Stampede of Justice (Adventure JS) – PDF and PoD versions available this week on DTRPG!

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Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Today is Juneteenth! Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the date Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and delivered General Order No. 3 announcing the end of legalized slavery in Texas. It is now a national holiday in the US. Juneteenth is also a “symbolic date” representing the African American struggle for freedom and equality, and a celebration of family and community.