Life on Mars [Monday Meeting Notes]

Monday Meeting

Hi, folks. Rose here, filling in for Rich. ^_^

A lot of the Monday crew are traveling back from conventions today, so we didn’t technically have a meeting, we just sent stuff back and forth in a Skype chat room. It’s very curious to feel like you’ve been left alone in the office when you work from home, but there it is.

Rich asked me to talk a little bit about Cavaliers of Mars and doing a creator-owned game with Onyx Path. So let’s step back in time a bit…

…to 2008, when I was working at White Wolf in Atlanta. I was kinda desperate to come up with a game for Thanksgiving. I had promised my former Vampire group that I would do something cool when I came back to DC for the holiday. I decided to go for the biggest spectacle I could, so I cooked up this “trailer” and posted it to RPGnet:

[sound of howling wind] On a world beyond time [zooming across a landscape of red sand] In a land beyond the desert [shifting, zooming along a canal] In a city without compassion [the ziggurat looms in the distance, the sprawl of the city rushes by below us as we zoom in on its top] [we settle and circle on a priest atop the ziggurat. his clothes are yellow silk, but he’s showing plenty of muscled, shining skin. his head is unnaturally oval. he’s covered in tattoos and ritual paint designs, and stands with a wicked knife over a silent-screaming sacrificial victim] [closeup on the victim’s face] [shots of the shouting crowd, eager for blood] [close on the knife, then on the roaring priest as he stabs it downwards] [lock on the knife as it stabs downward — and is blocked by a rapier shining in the martian noon — sparks flying from the impact] [close on the face of a man with a beard and an extravagant hat. he’s holding the rapier] [music with a pumping drumbeat kicks in] [another scene of the swordsman in the hat, this time walking through a crowd of ragged but stylish people that parts like the red sea. he’s got a babe in one arm and a flintlock laser pistol in the other] [cut to a hover chariot racing through the desert. a woman on a mechanical horse pulls even with it. she aims and fires a flintlaser. the chariot spins, flips over, cut to the woman’s horse rearing over the driver] Die for honor [the bearded swordsman plummeting from a great height] [a gorilla artillery man firing a howitzer at figures mounted on flying beasts] [the bearded man pulling a dancing girl to him by the waist] Live for everything [silhouetted figures duelling with swords on a telegraph wire above the city] [the gunslinger girl crushing a guy’s mouth to hers] Cavaliers of Mars

(Obviously, that’s meant to be narrated in the voice of the late, great Don LaFontaine.)

Thanksgiving came and went, and I’d come back to that RPGnet thread occasionally to post another random bit of text related to the setting.

I came back to it in earnest in 2011. Once again, I needed a game, this time to run for a group of World of Darkness writers at Gen Con. I decided to do The Prisoner of Zenda, but on Mars. That’s when I coined the phrase “Mars has canals, therefore Mars must also have Venice.”

And that’s what caught Rich’s attention. A few months later, when he was starting to form Onyx Path, he asked me to come on board for two things: a new edition of Vampire: The Requiem, and a full-size version of Cavaliers of Mars. I think everyone in the house that day heard my “YES.”

So what is Cavaliers?

It’s duels among towered tombs, it’s adventure in dusty desert towns, it’s a sandstorm lifting to reveal a spectacular city built of colored glass. It’s Milady de Winter and Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and Julie d’Aubigny pulling off the heist of the century from an immortal witch-queen’s shadowed citadel. It’s love affairs and tragedy and the melancholic beauty of a fading world. It’s about people set apart not by blessings or curses or forbidden knowledge, but by their luck and their laughter at death.

And it’s coming to Kickstarter in early 2017. 😉

With my reminiscence done, let’s move on to…

…BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER!

Up next, we’re kickstarting Scion Second Edition. Never-resting Neall Price has recorded his voiceover, Indefatigable Ian Watson is making the video, and Riotous Rich Thomas and Mirthful Mike Chaney are pulling together the art.

(Is it okay for me to do the nickname thing, Rich? Guess I’ll find out!)

I’ve been working with Neall on this book for a long time now, and none of us can wait to start showing off what his team has created.

ON SALE!

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://theonyxpath.com/press-release-onyx-path-limited-editions-now-available-through-indie-press-revolution/

A Festival of Blades, the swashbuckling new Jumpstart advance PDF for Rose Bailey’s Cavaliers of Mars is live and coming at you on DTRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/191678/A-Festival-of-Blades-A-Cavaliers-of-Mars-Jumpstart

In this adventure, you’ll find yourself in the city of Vance at festival time. When revolutionaries strike a visiting prince, you’ll need to explore the city’s dark underbelly, before racing across its towered tombs!

Live, fight, and love on Mars, a world of red death and strange mystery, a world of savagery and romance.

Includes:

A complete adventure set in one of dying Mars’ greatest remaining cities.

The innovative DEIMOS rules, for high-flying, swashbuckling adventure.

Four pre-generated player characters, ready to get into the heart of the action.

If you weren’t lucky enough to get our gorgeous new Scion 2nd Edition and Pugmire posters at Gen Con, they are now available on DTRPG!

The Scion 2nd Poster: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/191677/Scion-2nd-Edition-Gen-Con-2016-Poster

The new Pugmire “Spike and Friends” Poster: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/191676/Pugmire-Spike-and-Friends-Poster

Behold the Miracles of the Solar Exalted! Originally a backer reward for the EX3 Kickstarter, but now so much more, with additional Charms written by the developers just for this book! For sale now at DTRPG in PDF and PoD versions! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/184596/Miracles-of-the-Solar-Exalted

This book contains over 80 new Solar Charms embodying a range of concepts and stories dreamed up by players of Exalted and meticulously crafted and balanced for inclusion at any and all tables.

Fire an arrow and let it become a waiting judgment upon the wicked. Unleash a sword stroke that can overwhelm the blade of Heaven itself. Train your loyal beast companion into an unstoppable colossus. Effortlessly seed the battlefield with inspiring words alongside arrows and blades. Empower your spirit familiar with the light of your anima. Tame a hurricane with your music. These miracles and more may be found within.

What was once unliving now arises! The Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition Advance PDF is now available at DTRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/189395/Promethean-the-Created-2nd-Edition

You are a pilgrim now, one of the Created. You rose to life from dead flesh or inert matter, under the ministrations of one of your own, or a mad scientist, or perhaps just the power of the Divine Fire. You wander the world, sometimes alone, sometimes in the blessed company of your own kind, driven by memories of events and facts you never knew, all in the service of one Great Work…

…to be human.

This book contains:

The complete guide to playing a Promethean in the Chronicles of Darkness

Reimagined Lineages and Refinements, and a redesigned system for Transmutations

A more detailed approached to the Pilgrimage that presents players with more control over their characters’ path

New challenges on the road to humanity, including deranged, greedy alchemists

NOTE: This is the Advance PDF version. A final PDF version and PoD versions will be available at a later date. If you have purchased this Advance PDF, you will be automatically updated to the final PDF and receive a link to enable you to purchase the PoD at a discount designed so that your total price matches our usual PDF and Print combo offer.

The Tales of the Dark Eras , the Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras fiction anthology is now on sale at DriveThruRPG in PDF/electronic and PoD versions! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/187316/Tales-of-the-Dark-Eras

Walk through the ages…

As a companion to Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras this anthology reveals secrets of the mystics, whispers rumors of the dead, and shines a light into the darkest corners of the world. Includes historical stories based within the shadowed past of Vampire: the Requiem, Mage: the Awakening, Werewolf: the Forsaken, Changeling: the Lost, and other Chronicles of Darkness settings.

In the Chronicles of Darkness…

Explore the shadows with tales by Howard Ingham, Malcolm Sheppard, Pete Woodworth, Renee Ritchie, Jess Hartley, Monica Valentinelli, Danielle Harper, Matthew McFarland, Mike Tomasek, Eric Zawadski, Meghan Fitzgerald, and Dennis Detwiller.

Now Available! on DTRPG in PDF and PoD versions: V20 Ready Made Characters. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/185028/V20-Ready-Made-Characters

Running a one-night game of Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition? Wanting to start up a new chronicle, but your players aren’t sure what to play? Looking for some examples of how to use the material in Lore of the Clans? Thanks to our generous Kickstarter backers, these thirteen ready-made characters cover each of the vampire Clans. Each character is provided with background, roleplay suggestions, art, and some potential coteries and plot hooks — everything you need to start your endless nights as one of the Kindred.

This book includes:

Thirteen pre-generated player character, with both starting and experienced character sheets.

A brief break-down of the character’s history and roleplaying suggestions.

Six possible coteries for these characters, complete with coterie charts.

Seven plot seeds to help the Storyteller jumpstart her chronicle.

Servants of the Damned: the PDF and PoD versions for V20 Ghouls & Revenants are now available at DTRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/184039/V20-Ghouls–Revenants

Ghouls & Revenants includes:

Expanded and revised character creation for ghoul and revenant player-characters

Clan and Sect write-ups for ghouls who serve them

New revenant families including the Rossellini, Kairouan Brotherhood, and more.

New rules for ghouls and revenants including new Merits & Flaws, Backgrounds, Discipline Packages, etc.

A Storyteller chapter for advice on running ghoul-or-revenant focused chronicles.

…and more!

Mage: the Awakening 2nd Edition Advance PDF NOW available at DTRPG.com! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/181754/Mage-the-Awakening-2nd-Edition

You are a mage, one of the Wise. You see, know, and explore what others can’t imagine, from the depths of the human soul to the hidden corners of reality. Armed with your spells, driven by an addiction to Mysteries, you delve into the secrets of the world. Knowledge has a price, and the dangers are many.

This book contains:

The complete guide to playing a mage in the Chronicles of Darkness.

Reimagined Paths, Orders, and powers to create your Awakened characters and their allies, including an updated version of the most comprehensive free-form magic system in gaming.

Five example settings across the world, from Los Angeles to Salamanca, each with a central Mystery.

A brand-new look at all the strange places of the Fallen World, from the Lower Depths to the Emanation Realms, and what mages might find within.

NOTE: This is the Advance PDF version. A final PDF version and PoD versions will be available at a later date. If you have purchased this Advance PDF, you will be automatically updated to the final PDF and receive a link to enable you to purchase the PoD at a discount designed so that your total price matches our usual PDF and Print combo offer.

You must have your DTRPG account set to accept messages from Onyx Path Publishing before the link messages are sent out, though, so please adjust your settings if you want that discount.

Development from… me, actually

Projects in bold have changed status.

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

CtL fiction anthology (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

BtP Building a Legend (Beast: the Primordial)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Scion: Origins (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

BtP Player’s Guide

V20 Dark Ages Jumpstart (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

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

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

VtM Beckett’s Jyhad Diary (Stretch Goal Content)

GtS Geist 2e core

Redlines