Panda-demic! [Monday Meeting Notes]

Monday Meeting, News

I just figured we could all use a pic of a whole bunch of pandas hanging out.

Now, on to our stuff.

As you might imagine, our Monday Meeting today was primarily about how everyone got through this last week of the C19 pandemic. Our core Onyx Path team are doing pretty well, with no illnesses reported, and nobody has gone stir-crazy yet.

Like I mentioned last week, we’re trying to stay in even closer communication with our freelance creators, both in terms of their assignments and also just to give everybody a friendly ear during these freaky times. So far, folks are doing OK, although there certainly is a lot of adjusting of work habits that has to happen.

Some creators are speeding through projects and asking for more, and others find it hard to stay focused. There’s no right reaction to all this, though, and we’re not expecting our creators to adhere to anything except what their own circumstances require. Internally, that was a large part of our talk today: just how to offer support for all of our folks, with extended deadlines for some and more assignments for others.

Scion Companion art by Shen Fei

So far, luckily, we are in a position to be flexible and we’re not yet looking to how schedules might need to be changed if any of our creators are attacked by the virus.

Part of our flexibility is the way we have progressed our business operations into a variety of sales venues, most of which have online components if they aren’t totally an online sales venue. So, with that thought, here’s an Update:

Right now, IPR and Studio2 are still selling and shipping our physical books. DTRPG is still selling PDFs, and PoD books. DTRPG, Amazon, and the Nook Store still have ebooks of our fiction available for download. You can find all their contact info down below in the Blurbs!, and elsewhere on this website.

Standard distribution into stores has stopped or slowed, though, and many of those stores’ physical locations are closed because of the virus. Conventions are all being delayed, so they are also not available for folks to get their games. These are not the biggest of our sales venues, but we don’t know how our currently working venues will hold up as things progress.

Oak, Ash, and Thorn art by Drew Tucker

We also talked about how we can continue to help out everybody stuck inside and looking for a bit of diversion or even something engrossing to get stuck into. Fortunately we already have our many online game sessions on YouTube, and our Twitch channels that are chock full of actual play goodness.

And often other things as well, like Eddie’s Twitch demos of development and game design.

You can find some great examples of other folks’ efforts in creating fun and informative sessions below in the Onyx Path Media section. Many of them are indeed superb, as Matthew likes to say – the others are simply great! We’ve been featuring links to these sessions in these Monday Meeting Notes for quite a few months now, but never has it been a better time to tell you about them.

As the Onyx Pathcast‘s 100th full episode looms, the Pathcast continues to be a delightful way to get a weekly earful of irreverent humor and insights into the TTRPG biz, and our game lines in particular. (Also into video games past and present, pop culture, Broadway musicals, Sherlock Holmes, and professional wrestling, past and present).

This Friday’s episode features the return of the very popular 5 Minute Pitches theme, with Dixie, Eddy, and Matthew speed-describing game lines for the others’, and your, edification.

Another method of diversion I want to point out, since we decided to postpone the Legendlore Kickstarter campaign because of the pandemic, is this interview with developer Steffie de Vaan, hosted over at High Level Games! https://www.highlevelgames.ca/blog/legendlore-rpg-from-onyx-path-publishing-an-interview-with-steffie-de-vaan

It’s a great chance to hear directly from Steffie as to what makes Legendlore exciting and unique!

Vigil Watch art by Pat Loboyko

Finally, we’re going to continue deals and sales all through this pandemic time period. For however long it takes, we want to make it easier for folks to enjoy delving into our game worlds.

Our Storypath and Scarred Lands PDF 50% Off Sale ends with March (and wasn’t this the longest month ever recorded?), and thanks to all of you who wisely took advantage of the sale!

Hot on the heels of that sale, starting Thursday, all Exalted PDFs will be on sale on DTRPG, with the oldest PDFs getting the deepest discounts. A great chance to read up on first edition treatments of elements you might be playing in Exalted 3rd!

So folks, stay healthy, take precautions, wash your hands, try and stay focused, give yourself leeway to be diverted, and please be well. Until this thing runs its course, we truly do want to help you get through this and enjoying our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

Blurbs!

Kickstarter!

Last week, we cancelled the Legendlore Kickstarter for the time being. While we wait for that happy day, here’s a fantastic Legendlore interview with developer Steffie de Vaan, hosted over at High Level Games! https://www.highlevelgames.ca/blog/legendlore-rpg-from-onyx-path-publishing-an-interview-with-steffie-de-vaan

We’ll get Legendlore back on KS as soon as we can, and meanwhile we are building the M20 Technocracy Reloaded Kickstarter!

Onyx Path Media!

This week, it’s the Return of the 5 Min Pitches! Join the gang as they “speed date” a smorgasbord of games, giving out highlights and their ideas – all for your viewing pleasure and edification!

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

Before we get into the promotion of our games and actual plays being featured this week, we should draw your attention to Virtual Horror Con, being organized online by the good folks of Gehenna Gaming! Expect actual plays, interviews, seminars, and a whole hell of a lot more, and all running this coming weekend! Find out more right here: https://www.gehennagaming.com/

If you’re self-isolating or locked down, please take the time to tune in and watch some fun gaming. This week we’ve got a game of V5, the start of a Scion campaign, Pugmire, Hunter: The Vigil, Changeling: The Dreaming, Mage: The Awakening, Scarred Lands, and a Dark ErasWerewolf: The Forsaken chronicle!

This week sees the start of an exciting new Scion game, following the excellent Behind the Screen series we’ve had on our channel. A massive thank you to the players participating in this game! You can subscribe to our channel over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath to catch up with any episodes you missed!

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 Lost – Littlebrook Reunion: https://youtu.be/gdzfHOTtnjE

Trinity Continuum: Hard Holidays: https://youtu.be/xPGqisyMQV4

Pugmire: Paws & Claws: https://youtu.be/CSxZ8PZgtW8

Blood City: Chicago by Night: https://youtu.be/zRCRzv5AQ-o

Trinity Continuum: Community Service: https://youtu.be/a5SOnTSvyS4

Scarred Lands AMA with Travis Legge: https://youtu.be/38fPD50puSM

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

If you missed the finale of Red Moon Roleplaying‘s V5 Cults of the Blood Gods “The Family” chronicle, here it is again! Thanks to the Red Moon team for hosting such a fun and horrifying story. https://youtu.be/4lK3dM3_fns

The superb 307 RPG podcast has produced a series of shows based around the equally superb Scarred Lands campaign setting, and you can find an interview with Travis Legge, a dissection of sub-classes, a deep dive into Vengeance of the Shunned, and more, right here: https://307rpg.com Please give them your support!

More new Occultists Anonymous for all you Mage: The Awakening fans:

Episode 92: Gaze Into The Abyss

The cabal tromps into the jungles of Cambodia, beside the ancient city of Koh Ker with Abaddon and his warriors. They know Abyssal dangers lurk in the area, but to fight them, they need to identify them first.https://youtu.be/tUk0b5PMZ-I

Episode 93: It Gazes Back

The cabal has banished the Abyssal entity for now, and now confront the Bound creature, who should be slumbering. Has the Seer, Abaddon, led them into a trap? And will the Abyssal entity return?https://youtu.be/OnOifUrybTM

Plus, we have a fantastic Legendlore interview with developer Steffie de Vaan, hosted over at High Level Games! https://www.highlevelgames.ca/blog/legendlore-rpg-from-onyx-path-publishing-an-interview-with-steffie-de-vaan

The Story Told Podcast conclude their Geist: The Sin-Eaters story right over here: This Monday, we’ll be releasing the final episode in our Geist series: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/the-78-laments-episode-5-the-devil-drives Thanks for a fantastic show, team!

Ekorren returns with an incredible deep dive into the Scarred Lands which you really must watch. His enthusiasm shines through in everything he says about this beloved setting: https://youtu.be/56QKuLlCCPI

And as we’re on the subject of Ekorren, if you missed it he also did a Charms for Solars video, for Exalted 3rd Edition right here: https://youtu.be/4AG2FxJi0dg

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!

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.)

Update: the devs are working on the updates for the roller in both Android and iOS; here is the rundown from them:

1) Redo the UI for system for Android. It will look the same as the current design. My goal is to have something ready by Saturday to send out to the Facebook users, asking them if this fixes the issues. This will be a beta type thing. This will break several of the fancy dice.

2) If the above worked out and the android users give all the clear, we’ll redo the graphics system to fix the fancy dice that got broken. We’ll do another Android beta through Facebook. This might take up to two weeks, as my schedule allows.

3) If everything worked well, we’ll release to Android for real at that point.

4) Port all of the existing stuff to iOS and release on that.

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:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

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

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!:

https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

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

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!

This week, we end the month and the Storypath and Scarred Lands 50% Sale, but never fear, we’re following that up with a Gigantic Exalted Sales starting Thursday! Everything Exalted in PDFs is on sale!

On Sale This Week!

This week we’re thrilled to announce that V5 Chicago Folios will be available in PDF and PoD versions on DriveThruRPG on Wednesday!

The Chicago Folios include:

Accounts of vampire mysteries in the heartland of America, spanning the activities of Camarilla, Anarch, Independent, and other, even more terrifying Kindred.

Dozens of chronicle hooks laid out in a way that any Storyteller, new or old, might use them to start a new chronicle of Vampire: The Masquerade or add fresh content to an existing one.

or add fresh content to an existing one. Over 20 individual Kindred with biographies, aspirations, secrets, connections, and purpose for inclusion in any chronicle, whether as antagonists, a supporting cast, or inspiration for playable characters.

Loresheets for new vampires introduced in this book and chronicle threads from the Vampire: The Masquerade metaplot.

metaplot. New Blood Sorcery rituals, handling the Thaumaturgical powers devised in the domains of Chicago and Milwaukee.

But our journey into the Mid-West isn’t all that’s coming this week! In addition, we’ll be traveling to The Realm for The Silence of Our Ancestors novella for Exalted 3rd Edition in PDF, PoD, and ebook versions on DTRPG, Amazon, and the Nook Store.

Conventions!

Though dates are subject to change due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, here’s our current list of upcoming conventions:

UKGames Expo: https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/

GenCon: https://www.gencon.com/

Tabletop Scotland: https://tabletopscotland.co.uk/

Gamehole Con: https://www.gameholecon.com/

PAX Unplugged: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/

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)

Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)

M20 Rich Bastard’s Guide To Magick (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)

Dead Man’s Rust (Scarred Lands)

V5 The Faithful Undead (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

V5 Trails of Ash and Bone (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

V5 Forbidden Faiths (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Redlines

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

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Second Draft

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (They Came From!)

Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)

The Book of Endless Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Approval Development

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Editing

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

LARP Rules (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

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)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Indexing

They Came From Beneath the Sea! (TCfBtS!)

Art Direction from Mike Chaney!

In Art Direction

Scion Titanomachy – Contracting.

Tales of Aquatic Terror

TC Aeon Terra Firma – Contracted.

V5 Let the Streets Run Red

Cavaliers of Mars: City of the Towered Tombs

WoD Ghost Hunters – Getting KS artwork going. Gaydos on fulls.

Aberrant

Pugmire Adventure

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Mummy 2 – ADing that out post Aberrant AD.

Deviant – Going over the notes.

Legendlore – Kickstarter on hiatus.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS) – Prepping for KS.

Cults of the Blood God – Getting more ADed this week.

In Layout

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad

Contagion Chronicle

Vigil Watch

Scion Companion

Proofing

Trinity Aeon Jumpstart

Pirates of Pugmire

TCFBTS Heroic Land Dwellers – Inputting proofing comments.

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate – Inputting first round of dev corrections.

At Press

Ex 3 The Silence of Our Ancestors (Huggins Novella) – On sale in PDF/PoD/ebook versions on Weds .

. TC Distant Worlds – PoD proof ordered.

Scion Mythical Denizens – PoD proof on the way.

Night Horrors : Nameless and Accursed – Errata gathering ending this week.

Dark Eras 2 – PoD proof ordered.

VtR Spilled Blood – PoD proof ordered.

Dystopia Rising: Evolution

DR:E Screen & Booklet

DR:E Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

Geist 2e Screen

Memento Mori

TCFBTS Screen and Booklet

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Indexing.

Chicago Folios – PDF and PoD versions on sale this Wednesday.

Geist 2e Anthology – Errata gathering.

C:tL 2e Oak, Ash, & Thorn – Errata gathering.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Thursday, Dixie levels up! That’s right it’s the Quarantine Birthday for the green-tressed one, and like the true gamer she is she’ll be playing Animal Crossing all day long and maybe even kicking it into high gear with Eddy and Matthew with some Mario Kart! Whoot- enjoy your day, Dixie!