It’s In the Cards x1000 [Monday Meeting Notes]

Monday Meeting, News

How Intriguing!

I know, bad joke. (More on that later). But excellent Intrigue cards from the Prince’s Gambit social-deduction card game, pictured above. Our Kickstarter is just finishing up its first two weeks and we’re already 400% funded and have reached over 1000 backers!

That last factoid is actually really significant, as it’s a milestone I love to see with our KSs. I think in comic book publishing that’s called the Golden Thousand, and applies to a creator who can rely on that many fans, at least, picking up and talking about their latest work. Get that amount, they say, and you have enough voices out there to spread the word about every project you publish.

And in general, it is just fantastic that 1000 people are excited about our little card game!

Thanks to all of you that joined us for our AMA last week on Reddit. Mostly about Prince’s Gambit, the questions were fired at us fast and furiously and were all over the place. It was great- thanks to all of you and all of the various Onyx Path creators who dropped in from that afternoon all into the night and even the next morning!

Now what was I going to say about bad jokes?

Oh yes, I remember. One person’s bad joke is another’s laugh-riot. Humor just works like that. It, like all art, is subjective.

In fact, I’d say that humor is even more subjective than horror, and that much harder to successfully use well in roleplaying games. So generally, I tell our developers to try and avoid writing the Funny. Let the situation and characters dictate whether a situation might have humor in it, but let the players decide just where in that subjective humor zone they want to land.

Eddy and I had a similar conversation about the humor in Pugmire, and we decided to dial it up just a notch, but not to undermine the fantasy adventure basis of the world, nor the essentially pathos of dogs awaiting their masters’ return. But ultimately, we know we’re not stopping the sniffing each other’s butts jokes that are almost always part of the first reaction to the game.

Which brings us to our April Fool’s joke project this year.

Every year, we try and come up with something amusing. Just that, just amusing. Not big laugh, not change your life. And absolutely not something that freaks anybody out as sometimes happened back in olden White Wolf days. We get enough in the freak out department with just everyday business as usual. (More on that later).

So this year, it’s an homage to Chuck Tingle and his projects. (Google him).

And no, the humor is not for everyone. It was not designed to be. Nor is the over-the-top nature of the humor a threat to anything you hold dear. It’s not for sale, so if you get it and don’t get the joke, then you’ve lost nothing. It didn’t come out of our regular production efforts, so no projects were delayed for it. It is only official Scion lore if you want it to be.

It’s a joke, which I don’t say as a put-down to anyone who didn’t get it, or as an excuse. It’s a joke because jokes are subjective. Jokes are the things that look at life at an angle, that at their best can contain unpleasant truths that can’t be told any other way. For the record, I’m pretty sure our little effort this 4/1 is not the best that jokes can be, but it made us and a bunch of other people laugh.

Which is a win any day of the week.

For anybody that didn’t get the joke, got it but didn’t think it was funny, or was offended: No worries, we’ll be doing another something next year, and we’ll try and get you laughing with that one.

One more thing this week: I’ve been talking a bit about how we’ve been working on “shoring up our infrastructure”. I’m sure it is obvious by now that that also meant that we are getting some projects and entire lines moving forward as we need them to. There are a lot of approaches that we are using, and sometimes after using a bunch of them, we see no choice but to change the team.

Some of you have expressed concern for your favorite project, or line, or developer(s) after we’ve made these changes, and I understand that. Change is scary. We invest a lot of ourselves in our favorite creators of our favorite games (and media in general), and it sometimes feels like we’ve lost out on something if they move on. Please rest assured that we at Onyx have been there, and know how you feel, and are doing everything we can to make the changes needed as non-disruptive as possible.

I will say that we don’t make these sorts of changes casually. We don’t make changes to projects merely for the sake of doing so, particularly if the project or line has already been shown, even a bit, to our community. We take that very seriously. We always pay for publishable work that is handed in to us when we require it. And unless a creator’s actions are actively harming Onyx Path, we generally would like them to continue doing something with us, just not the thing that wasn’t working out.

It is my preference that Onyx Path‘s representatives don’t go into the details of how and why we’ve made those changes, but on the ultimate result by announcing to you all how a project or line will be moving forward and with whom. There are many, many, reasons why these sorts of things turn out like they do, and rarely are there villains of the piece. Like I’ve said before, more often, due to where we are with what we need and where a creator is in their lives, there’s no longer a good fit.

Again, I’m keeping this all kind of general and broad-sweeping rather than getting into examples, and while I know that’s not as entertaining, in this case I’m erring on the side of treating people like I’d like to be treated.

And there I go from jokes to some pretty serious stuff, hope none of you got whip-lash.

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER!

The Prince’s Gambit casual vampire card game Kickstarter continues to roll with over 1000 backers! We’ve been passing alternating Stretch Goals for adding the Independent Clans and new art at a rapid clip since then, with more cool rewards yet to come. So please check it out: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/princes-gambit-casual-vampire-card-game !

Designed by long-time Vampire: the Masquerade tabletop RPG developer Justin Achilli, Prince’s Gambit is a fast-paced social deduction game set within the world of Vampire, but which requires no special knowledge to play. Players must cooperate to gain the favor of the Prince while deducing who among them are secretly the traitorous Sabbat infiltrators.

Next, the Monarchies of Mau KS is scheduled come after Gambit.

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/

You can now order wave 2 of our Deluxe and Prestige print overrun books, including Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary, and Deluxe V20 Dark Ages!

The splendor and horror of Rio is unwrapped this Wednesday! Cursed Necropolis: Rio for Mummy: the Curse goes on sale in PDF and PoD versions.

Beneath the splendor of Rio de Janeiro seethes a hotbed of occult activity. Over a score of mummies keep their tombs in Rio, their presence seeping into the soil and stones and souls of the city. Over all this reigns the infamous Teshra-Gemet, the pretender Pharaoh.

The city of Rio births marvels both bright and dark… and you never know which kind you have until it’s too late.

Cursed Necropolis: Rio contains:

The secrets and schemes of Rio’s Arisen.

New Utterances, from the perception usurping Horse and Rider to the cleansing fire of Baal’s Due.

“The Serpent’s Tooth,” an all-new adventure to introduce players to the conflicts and power plays of Rio de Janeiro.

Beasts are added to Hunter: the Vigil with Hunter: Tooth and Nail, coming atcha in PDF and physical book Pod versions on DriveThruRPG.com! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/204066/Hunter-Tooth-and-Nail

Tooth and Nail is a bonus chapter/companion book to the previous released Hunter: Mortal Remains that explores antagonists inspired by the Beast: the Primordial RPG.

Hunter: Tooth and Nail includes:

Fiction and story hooks to bring these beasts of legend to your Hunter: The Vigil chronicle.

chronicle. New bestial Dread Powers.

New Compacts and Conspiracies which hunt the monsters, but also sometimes hunt the zealous heroes that hunt as well.

The Secrets of the Covenants for Vampire: the Requiem 2nd REVEALED this Wednesday on DTRPG! Physical copy PoD version coming to DTRPG: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/199280/Secrets-of-the-Covenants

Vampires gather under many banners. But five have endured the tumult of Western history better than any other. The Carthian Movement. The Circle of the Crone. The Invictus. The Lancea et Sanctum. The Ordo Dracul. Each has its fierce devotees, its jealous rivals, and its relentless enemies. Now,for the first time, the covenants speak for themselves. This book includes: A variety of stories from each of the covenants, all told in their own words.

Never-before revealed secrets, like the fate of the Prince of New Orleans.

New blood sorcery, oaths, and other hidden powers of the covenants.

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Fallen Blossoms (Hunter 1640-1660 Japan). Japan is moving into the Edo Period. New laws and new ways of thinking wash over the land, and with a new order come new threats to humanity. Take a look at the Vigil in a time where samurai transition from warlords to bureaucrats, Japan massively and lethally rejects outside influence, and when Edo rapidly grows into a world power.

Continuing our individual Dark Eras chapters, we offer you Dark Eras: Fallen Blossoms on in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/205483/Dark-Eras-Fallen-Blossoms-Hunter-the-Vigil

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Doubting Souls (Hunter 1690-1695 Salem). Immigrants and tribes struggled to co-exist on the Eastern Seaboard in the ever-expanding Colonies. Violent clashes, supernatural beliefs, and demonic influences spelled disaster for Salem Village and its surrounding towns, while others fought werewolves and vampires on the frontier. With so much at risk, only god-fearing men and women were deemed innocent — and those were few indeed.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/204372/Dark-Eras-Doubting-Souls-Hunter-the-Vigil

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: The Bowery Dogs (Werewolf 1969-1979 NYC). New York City in the 1970s. Crime. Drugs. Gang violence. Vast economic disparity. And werewolves. It’s a lean, ugly time to be alive, and the lone wolf doesn’t stand a chance out there. In the end, all you really have is family.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/203762/Dark-Eras-The-Bowery-Dogs-Werewolf-the-Forsaken

The Locker is open; the Chronicles of Darkness: Hurt Locker, that is! PDF and physical copy PoDs are now available on DTRPG! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/199275/Chronicles-of-Darkness-Hurt-Locker

Hurt Locker features:

Treatment of violence in the Chronicles of Darkness . Lasting trauma, scene framing, and other tools for making your stories hurt.

. Lasting trauma, scene framing, and other tools for making your stories hurt. Many new player options, including Merits, supernatural knacks, and even new character types like psychic vampires and sleeper cell soldiers.

Expanded equipment and equipment rules.

Hurt Locker requires the Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook or any other standalone Chronicles of Darkness rulebook such as Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, or Beast: The Primordial to use.

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Ruins of Empire (Mummy 1893-1924). Perhaps the quintessential era of the mummy in the minds of Westerners, this period saw the decline of the two greatest empires of the age: British and Ottoman. Walk with the Arisen as they bear witness to the death of the Victorian age, to pivotal mortal discoveries in Egypt, and to the horrors of the Great War.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/178801/Dark-Eras-Ruins-of-Empire-Mummy-the-Curse

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: The Sundered World (Werewolf and Mage 5500-5000 BCE). At the birth of civilization, in the shadow of the Fall, the Awakened stand as champions and protectors of the agricultural villages spread across the Balkans. In a world without a Gauntlet, where Shadow and flesh mingle, the steady taming of the world by humanity conflicts with the half-spirit children of Father Wolf.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/202272/Dark-Eras-The-Sundered-World-Werewolf-the-Forsaken-Mage-the-Awakening

Night Horrors: Conquering Heroes for Beast: the Primordial is available now as an Advance PDF: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/202615/Night-Horrors-Conquering-Heroes

This book includes:

An in-depth look at how Heroes hunt and what makes a Hero, with eleven new Heroes to drop into any chronicle.

A brief look at why Beasts may antagonize one another, with seven new Beasts to drop into any chronicle.

Rules for Insatiables, ancient creatures born of the Primordial Dream intent on hunting down Beasts to fill a hunger without end, featuring six examples ready to use in any chronicle.

Open the V20 Dark Ages: Tome of Secrets now on DTRPG! Both PDF and physical book PoD versions are now available! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/197358/V20-Dark-Ages-Tome-of-Secrets

The Tome of Secrets is a treatment of numerous topics about Cainites and stranger things in the Dark Medieval World. It’s about peeling back the curtain, and digging a little deeper. Inside, you’ll find:

• Expanded treatment of Assamite Sorcery, Koldunic Sorcery, Necromancy, and Setite Sorcery

• A look at Cainite knightly orders, faith movements, and even human witchcraft

• Letters and diaries from all over the Dark Medieval World

CONVENTIONS!

Discussing GenCon plans. August 17th – 20th, Indianapolis. Every chance the booth will actually be 20? x 30? this year that we’ll be sharing with friends. We’re looking at new displays this year, like a back drop and magazine racks for the brochure(s).

In November, we’ll be at Game Hole Con in Madison, WI. More news as we have it, and here’s their website: https://www.gameholecon.com/

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (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 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

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

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

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Monarchies of Mau Early Access (Pugmire)

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

DtD Night Horrors: Enemy Action (Demon: the Descent)



The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Arms of the Chosen (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Redlines