Augustine Musings [Monday Meeting Notes]

Monday Meeting, News

Well, hello!

I’m back from both GenCon and then a week off on family vacation, and big thanks to the amazing Dixie for filling in with this blog last week!

I’m full of energy and rarin’ to go. Doing that thing where you bounce on your toes a bit – which is kind of hard to do typing away as I have been all day!

If my emails were physical mail, the letters would fill my office, so I’m taking a bit of time to get through all of them. Plus, this week’s Monday Meeting was a fair bit of catch-up for all of our crew (besides Eddy, who is still on his vacay visiting wrestling events), with a few reports from us on GenCon, and the meetings that came out of it.

Which I’ll share with you now:

First, the message we relayed at our various panels was that we’re continuing to change/evolve as we need to as a company. So if you think our Kickstarters are only about Deluxe books and we run them like we did in 2013, please check again, because we’re far more likely to run a KS in order to do a print run of books to get into retail stores.

Which is another continuing evolution as we continue to add projects that will mean books that get into distribution and stores via our sales partners at Studio2 and IPR– all while maintaining our availability on DriveThruRPG and our other venues.

Distant Worlds illustration by Sam Denmark

The big change at GenCon was our choice to not appear there with an Onyx Path booth in the Exhibitor Hall, so that was something brought up a fair bit at the convention.

So far, from talking things through today, we’re still thinking it was a good decision. Both Mighty Matt McElroy and I had much more time to talk with creators like Travis Legge, our friends in the business (either existing or prospective), translators, and I even made a walk-through of artist alley and got to chat with some of our favorites.

Meanwhile, as we anticipated, our panels were a great place to field questions from our regular attendees. Thanks to all of you who attended and put us through our paces with your questions! We’ll be getting a report on how our demo games went later from The Wrecking Crew, but I, at least, only heard good things about those.

If you were there, or had friends there, and heard anything otherwise about our presence at Gen Con, please let me know – either here in the comments or directly to richt@theonyxpath.com. We really do appreciate knowing how others saw things.

Book of Oblivion illustration by Drew Tucker

Another big set of questions were about White Wolf/Paradox and how Vampire, V5, WoD, 20th Anniversaries, CofD, and Exalted are going to be created, published, handled.

Part of the confusion was within that “not happening like it used to” theme we talked about. WW/Paradox is signing lots of licensees for all sorts of projects; mostly for V5, but also for other WoD projects. Seeing boardgames come out from four or five different companies, several card games from different companies including the rebirth of Vampire: the Eternal Struggle, and also several computer games is a lot happening that we should be thrilled about as fans.

What seems the most confusing for folks, though, is when they see different companies producing V5 TTRPGs, maybe because they’re concerned about V5 game books being created by multiple companies and that’s just not how it has been done, or they’re are concerned about rules and setting coherence, or overall quality. Or maybe because it’s not clear how the rest of the WoD game lines will be handled.

We at Onyx Path can only reply as we did at the con – with our understanding of the situation. Which is that it is not easy to reconfigure a business as WW/Paradox has been reconfigured and that currently their team is juggling a lot of existing licensed projects as the folks responsible for overseeing the V5 brand. That means, in answer to the concerns of coherence and quality, that WW/Paradox reviews and approves all the projects and follows through their creation with further approvals to maintain everything V5 the way they want it.

Which is another good reason they are working with the fine folks at Modiphius to get more V5 TTRPG material published, as Modiphius can take the biggest portion of the nuts and bolts of publishing and working with other licensees like Onyx Path off of WW/Paradox‘s busy hands and let them focus on brand management.

As for us, well, the wonderful accolades for V5 Chicago By Night‘s Backer PDF, the strong interest in the follow-up material for CbyN that came out of the Kickstarter Stretch goals, and the recent happy excitement over the V5 Cults of the Blood Gods press release, are all music to our ears and are great data-points when we discuss further projects.

(And hey, I know that sometimes it seems like we say stuff over and over on all our social media, including this MMN blog, about our upcoming projects, but we heard from so many surprised folks after that Cults press release who had no idea it was coming that you just gotta let us keep getting the word out in as many ways – and as often we have to in order to reach our far-flung fantastic fans!)

Beyond V5, and figuring that the time will come that other game lines get attention, it’s always going to start with what WW/Paradox wants to do, so they’re the folks you want to politely let know your thoughts and feelings about those WW game lines. We can, and do, submit pitches as a licensee, but they’re the owners and decide which things get the green light to move ahead.

Aeon Aexpansion illustration by Gong Studios

Back to overall Onyx Path changes, we noted at Gen Con that there was no new brochure debuted at Gen Con, as we want to do a full year one – Jan through Dec. So expect 2020 one to debut a month early at PAX Unplugged this year and then throughout 2020’s cons starting with MidWinter in Jan.

That also means that we didn’t spring any new projects at the con, as we usually build them into the brochure. Part of that is the brochure timing thing, and part of it is that we’re looking at announcements that roll out through the year rather than happening at a single event- unless tying it to the event makes the most sense.

You can expect some of those about new projects unannounced that are already in the works, as well as those we worked out in meetings at Gen Con, throughout the rest of this year and through 2020, as we keep on making:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Keep an eye out in this space as well as on our social media for the Deviant: The Renegades Kickstarter that will be launching after August wraps up!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features an interview the team conducted with Travis Legge, the man behind our Twitch endeavors and creative genius for the Scarred Lands!

The Onyx Path News was live today and can be found on our YouTube channel right here, along with Matthew’s Wraith: The Oblivion actual play, uploads from Twitch, and a request for you to submit Deviant questions: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheOnyxPath

And mentioning Twitch, Travis has continued with our streams of actual plays, interviews, and more, and would love to have you join us live! Please tune in and subscribe to get notifications of upcoming content: https://www.twitch.tv/theonyxpath/ There’s Pugmire: Paws and Claws, Scion: Athens, Ohio, Pirates of Bloodwater, and more!

In other news, the Story Told Podcast just interviewed part of the team behind the Changeling: The Dreaming Player’s Guide! Please check out their show here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/episode-33-c20-players-guide-round-table-interview

Do you love Exalted? Please please please check out Beamduck‘s show right here, as it’s excellent: https://www.twitch.tv/beanduck

Occultists Anonymous are hammering out new episodes of their Mage: The Awakening chronicle, and we’d love for you to check them out. Here are the details:

Episode 34: Broken Things – Mammon works with the Mysterium to determine what is going on with his memories of Beck. Elsewhere, Atratus searches for the reason behind her trouble with spells. Wyrd searches the city for her own answers. https://youtu.be/1mS2Cz8ymtQ

Episode 35: Watching Eyes – Mammon and Hiza flee a Grigori as they search for the reason for Mr. Graves’ intrusion on Mammon’s memories. Atratus travels into her own soul with Songbird and Wyrd on the advice of the Apeiron they named Hephaestus. https://youtu.be/b3RLfdK9vZM

Do you listen to Twin Cities by Night? If not, why not? This show puts out a whole host of different actual play content, and if you want a gritty Chronicles of Darkness game, they’re one of the best places to go: https://twincitiebynight.podbean.com/

Our good friends over at Caffeinated Conquests are continuing to run The Sacrifice from Chicago by Night using V20 rules! There are very few playthroughs of that story that involve a Gargoyle and a True Brujah, but theirs certainly does: https://www.youtube.com/user/CafConIsOn/videos

Devil’s Luck Gaming is always a fantastic place to go for your Scarred Lands hookup, too. One of the best actual play channels going today: https://www.twitch.tv/DevilsLuckGaming

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

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.)

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 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 2nd 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 are available to order!

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

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we’re putting the PDF and physical book PoD versions of Book of Oblivion for Wraith20th on sale!

The Book of Oblivion Includes:

New Shadow Archetypes, Thorns, and an array of horrifying new antagonists.

Chapters devoted to Spectres, their terrible cults, and the rare process of Spectre redemption.

Deep explorations of the Tempest; the Labyrinth; the Dark Kingdoms of Flint, Gold, Ivory, Obsidian, and Swar; the Mirrorlands; and several other bizarre and fascinating Necropoli.

Conventions!

Save Against Fear: October 12th – 14th

GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd

PAX Unplugged: December 6th – 8th

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)

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

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

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

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

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

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

W20 Art Book (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

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

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

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Redlines

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

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

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Second Draft

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

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

Development

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)



Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

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

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Manuscript Approval

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

V5 Chicago Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Editing

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)



Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Post-Editing Development

Memento Mori (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e Companion)

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

DR:E Jumpstart (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle

VtR Spilled Blood – All the art that is in is approved. Felipe is working on stuff.

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds – Waiting for Gregor and Darko to wrap up.

Trinity Continuum Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Contracted. Sketches already coming in.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers – Contracted. LeBlanc doing the splats.

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

DR:E Jumpstart – Sam Denmark is doing this.

Deviant for KS – Contracted.

In Layout



CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel

Dark Eras 2 – Files with Aileen

Proofing



Aeon Aexpansion

C20 Cup of Dreams

V5: Chicago – Backer PDF out, errata lock down Friday.

Geist 2e – XX’s and then Indexing.

Signs of Sorcery – Inputting errata.

M20 Book of the Fallen

At Press

Dragon Blooded – Deluxe at Studio2, shipping after Gen Con.

Dragon-Blooded Cloth Map – At Studio2, shipping after Gen Con.

Dragon-Blooded Screen – Shipped to Studio2, shipping after Gen Con.

Trinity Core Screen – At Studio2.

TC Aeon Screen – At Studio2.

Book of Oblivion – PDF/PoD versions ON SALE WEDNEDAY.

Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs coming.

Trinity Core – Printing.

Trinity Aeon – Printing.

DR: E – Backer PDF out to backers.

Shunned By the Moon – PoD files uploaded.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

On this date in 1990, Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton found to date, is discovered by Sue Hendrickson in South Dakota. Y’know, I sure love dinosaurs. As a kid, I corrected Miss Larmen, my Kindergarten teacher, when she misidentified and mispronounced their names. Lest you think I was just a little know-it-all, she encouraged me to do so, thus unknowingly setting me on a life-long path as a smart-ass.