A Little Island In a Sea of Kickstarts [Monday Meeting Notes]

Monday Meeting, News

I just got off the phone with an old friend wanting advice on their new Kickstarter they’re hoping to run. This is not the first time I’ve been asked to help friends new to the wonders of Kickstarter, and I’m always glad to give some thoughts. My first question is always: Why Kickstarter?

Just in working out that question, I’ve actually had folks realize that they did not, in fact, need crowdfunding for their project, and that by using KS they would actually be taking on a whole lot of hassle and expense they didn’t actually need. But their bosses thought Kickstarting was a magic money fountain, so they were pushed into using it.

Kickstarter is NOT a magic money fountain.

You can do quite well with the amounts raised, even in the tabletop RPG business (Hi, John! Hi, Monte!), but the KS and then the post-KS fulfillment is a huge amount of work that I guarantee eats up a huge percentage of the pledge dollars raised that aren’t ear-marked for printing and shipping the main KS rewards. It becomes a huge part of, if not the new focus of, your TTRPG company.

If you’re not careful.

I never wanted Onyx Path to go “all in” on any one method of delivering our projects to our community, so I never used all those pledge dollars to hire KS fulfillment staff to take over for our developers or other creators, and I’ve tried to learn from our craziest KSs, many from before we really learned the stresses and demands of getting out all the varied Stretch Goals. I put those dollars aside in order to cover the costs of making all the projects from any given KS while using our normal development processes and staff.

That way, we’ve always been ready to pay each bill as it comes due. Which I kind of think is important long-term.

Along the same lines, I didn’t turn us into only doing Kickstarters for every book as a business model. We started with Deluxes, with covers we could not afford without the KS upfront money for specialty printers, then the Prestige covers that had effects that our PoD printer couldn’t do but which were the same (more or less) as our original print runs for the New World of Darkness lines.

And now we’ve added Kickstarters to fund traditional print runs larger than we have been doing, in order to use our new distribution connections to get into retail stores and do different sorts of projects like the Prince’s Gambit casual card game.

Basically, we have continued to evolve and improve our Kickstarter processes even while experimenting with different methods and kinds of projects. For example, we have not in the past felt the need to Kickstart our Chronicles of Darkness 2nd Edition core books. Partly, because of the idea I noted above about not putting all our eggs in one delivery method basket, and partly because we had plenty of ideas for 20th Anniversary WoD projects and only so much available time to run KSs.

Now, with us easing back on the 20th Anniversary books with the “Big Five” core books all out or in progress, and with WW revving up their first 5th Edition projects, there is time to experiment with KSing Changeling: The Lost 2nd. (See the Kickstarter part of the BLURBS!, below).

Having Jammin’ James Bell as our new Kickstarter wrangler and all-around good guy, has also helped open up a lot of what we can do with KS, especially next year once he has his sea-legs, and you are going to love what he’s got planned for the CtL2 Kickstarter. James can focus on making sure each Kickstarter campaign is an event, which is really what they should feel like considering all the time and energy our backers pour into them.

And all this year we’ve been steadily delivering KS Stretch Goal projects as well, which we are very thrilled to be able to focus on, even to prepping for delivering Werewolf 20th Kickstarter backers their long-awaited free version of a W20 Dice Rolling App. (More on the whole Dice Rolling App another week, because it is not just for W20).

Finally, in all the madness of running KSs and delivering KS projects, we’re also looking towards making sure that our special Kickstarted books from 3 or 4 or 5 years ago can find good homes with folks that really want them. So, we’re having a sale at Indy Press Revolution for the last remaining Deluxe and Prestige books and screens that they have been selling for us!

The “last” until we send them more of our printer overruns to make available, that is. Check out the details in our IPR section of the BLURBS!, below!

This has run pretty long, actually, and I was planning on telling you more about our other “new guy”, Eddy Webb, and what he has been doing as a sort of “roving developer” for us, but that’ll have to happen next week. Until then, remember our motto:

Many Worlds. One Path.

BLURBS!

ON SALE!

Check out our Halloween Sale at IPR and get scary discounts on our Kickstarter printing overruns! If you missed a KS, wish you had upgraded, or just want a beautiful game book of your favorite 20th Anniversary WoD, or Chronicles of Darkness core books…THIS IS THE SALE FOR YOU! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

This includes products like:

…And much more! Lots of nice solid Storyteller Screens to pick up, too!

This 50% off sale runs until midnight Halloween night! Awhoooo!

It’s very SPOOKY here!

Welcome to DriveThruRPG’s Halloween Sale!

First, we have a super sale on Mummy: The Curse: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/featured.php?promotion_id=ScaryStuff2017

And then the big sale itself! Over 170 Onyx Path PDFs discounted! It’s terrifying!

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/sale.php?manufacturers_id=4261

KICKSTARTER:

The Cavaliers of Mars Kickstarter is OVAH! Thanks to our energized and friendly 885 backers, we raised funds just shy of 800% of our funding goal, and we’re well set to finish Cavs and get onto the Stretch Goal projects! Thank you all again for your support!

NEXT, we’re pulling together the Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition Kickstarter, and our Kickstarter muscle-man, Jammin’ James Bell, has got my notes and is speedily piecing the KS page together. We think folks will dig what we’ve got planned, with even a few surprises to keep things interesting! Because of some art delays, we aren’t going to be able to get this KS started on Halloween, which is hugely disappointing for appropriateness if nothing else, but early in November instead.

Which also means that our Trinity Continuum Kickstarter will start in early January – since it makes no sense to start a KS mid-December!

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

We’re delighted to announce the opening of our ebook stores 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). Our initial selection includes these fiction anthologies:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

And here are six more fiction books:

Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Andand six more more:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Beast Within Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Werewolf: The Apocalypse: W20 Cookbook (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Exalted: Tales from the Age of Sorrows (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Chronicles of Darkness: Tales of the Dark Eras (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Promethean: The Created: The Firestorm Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Demon: The Descent: Demon: Interface (Kindle, Nook)

And even more books are now on Amazon and the Nook store!:

Scarred Lands: Death in the Walled Warren (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) V20 Dark Ages: Cainite Conspiracies (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Chronicles of Darkness: Strangeness in the Proportion (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Vampire: The Requiem: Silent Knife (Kindle, Nook)

(Kindle, Nook) Mummy: The Curse: Dawn of Heresies (Kindle, Nook)

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire 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

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! And Screens…so many Screens!

And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

Is a life of running and hiding a life worth living? We say yes. There’s always something between the running and the hiding, and those moments of grace make it all worthwhile.

The Huntsmen Chronicle Anthology is a perfect companion piece to Changeling: The Lost, 2nd Edition. These stories spin tales of the Lost, of those abducted and enslaved by fairies. Those who escaped, but whose captors will stop at nothing to find them. These fairies summon forth the Huntsmen, primordial hunters who understand nothing but pursuit and capture. The Huntsmen are unstoppable monsters, and the Lost can only look to each other for respite, rare comfort, and rarer trust.

The Hedge parts on Wednesday and you can get the Advance PDF of The Huntsmen Chronicle Fiction Anthology for Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition at DTRPG.com!

For over 20 years, the artists of Mage: The Ascension have conjured spirits and constructed hypertech that can transform reality on a whim.

Within this retrospective, those artists and images depict the ever-changing face of magick. From the debut edition to the twenty-first century, this book explores the people behind the pictures, the process of putting such books together, the story behind Mage’s Tarot iconography, and more.

Featuring the artwork of Echo Chernik, Joshua Gabriel Timbrook, Michael Gaydos, Mark Jackson, Leif Jones, Michael Kaluta, Steve Prescott, Alex Sheikman, Christopher Shy…and many, many more.

The Art of Mage: 20 Years and More has manifested on DTRPG in PDF and physical book PoD versions! Here: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/220431/M20-The-Art-of-Mage-20-Years-and-More

A Land Where Legends Walk

Drawing enthusiastically on Greek mythology, the revised and re-imagined Scarred Lands nonetheless retains its place as a modern fantasy RPG setting. This is a world shaped by gods and monsters, and only the greatest of heroes can expect to be counted among them. The most populous continent of Scarn, Ghelspad, plays host to vast unexplored regions, hides unsolved riddles from ancient cultures, and taunts adventures with the promise of undiscovered riches hidden among the ruins of older civilizations.

Yet the myths of the Scarred Lands are relatively recent events. The effects of the Titanswar still ripple through the world, and the heroines and villains of many of these stories are part of living memory, if not still living.

The Award-Winning Fantasy Setting Returns

Scarred Lands has been a favorite fantasy setting since the release of the Creature Collection for the d20 System in 2000. In subsequent years, over 40 titles were published for Scarred Lands, making it one of the most fully supported fantasy RPG settings ever and the premiere product line of Sword & Sorcery Studios.

Available in both 5th Edition and Pathfinder compatible versions! PDF and PoD formats available NOW!

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/193014/Scarred-Lands-Players-Guide-Pathfinder

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/197803/Scarred-Lands-Players-Guide-OGL-5e

Heroes, Villains, and Others in Between! This tome is a revision of the original book by the same title, originally published for use with 3rd edition rules for the world’s most popular roleplaying game. In this revised edition of The Wise & the Wicked, all the same characters have returned (and we’ve added some new ones, too!), for use with the Scarred Lands Player’s Guide. Champions of Gods and Titans The Wise & the Wicked introduces a rogue’s gallery of the Scarred Lands’ movers and shakers, characters who carry out the will of the gods or the fallen titans. These non-player characters can be friends, enemies, or simply convenient resources for the player characters in your game. Inside, find villains such as King Virduk of Calastia, the Black Dragon, along with his wife, the beautiful (and black-hearted) Queen Geleeda; the Grand Vizier to King Virduk, the wicked warrior-mage Anteas; and the sinister general of Virduk’s northern armies, Archduke Traviak the Steel-Fisted. At the other end of the spectrum, meet the gracious Lady Ariniel, the Swan Knight, champion of Madriel; Kimer the Shatterer, bearer of the Earth Sword of Scarn and tenacious foe of the titanspawn of the north; and King Thain the Just, the Aleking, ruler of Burok Torn. And many others beside! Here you’ll find a fascinating compendium of characters from the Scarred Lands, but easily transported into campaigns set elsewhere. In addition, find multiple appendices full of new magic items and artifacts, class archetypes and prestige classes, new feats, new creatures and races, and more. Available in Pathfinder and 5th Edition versions! PDF and PoD formats available NOW! http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/202523/The-Wise–the-Wicked-2nd-Edition-Pathfinder

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/204371/The-Wise–the-Wicked-2nd-Edition-5e-OGL

From out of the Dreaming, the C20 Jumpstart: Yours To Keep PDF and PoD are now live on DTRPG.com: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/217594/Yours-to-Keep-A-Changeling-The-Dreaming-20th-Anniversary-Edition-Jumpstart

There is magic hiding everywhere. You just need to know where to look.

You are a changeling, a faerie soul hiding in a mortal body, fighting the chill of Nightmares and the oppressive weight of Banality with the pure creative power of Glamour. You have lived many lives, but the story of this one? It outshines them all.

In this hidden world, knights in steel and leather clash sword to sword outside the homecoming dance, dragons fly between skyscrapers, and fantastic castles rise from suburban lawns. A world of magic, intrigue, and adventure, and now that your fae side has awakened, it’s your world too.

“Yours to Keep” includes a rules and setting overview, as well as pre-generated characters and a complete introductory scenario for Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition. It’s perfect for jumpstarting a new Changeling chronicle!

The PDF and PoD versions of C20 are now on DriveThruRPG.com: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/210616/Changeling-The-Dreaming-20th-Anniversary-Edition



Twenty years ago, White Wolf published Changeling: the Dreaming, the fifth of their promised five game-lines that together comprised the World of Darkness. Seen by some as a lighter, more fantasy-based setting in the modern-day, and by others as the darkest game White Wolf had yet created, players had to face the question of what happens once creativity and magic fades from their world.

This 20th Anniversary Edition of Changeling: the Dreaming returns to that deceptively bright yet terrifying world and both compiles and completes the concepts of the previous two editions. Led by veteran White Wolf and Onyx Path developer “Blackhat” Matt McFarland, our writing team consists of longtime Changeling creators like Ian Lemke, Jackie Cassada, Nicky Rea, and Peter Woodworth, as well as familiar names such as John Snead, Maggie Carrol, Matthew Dawkins, and Krister Michl. One and all are dedicated to making Changeling: the Dreaming Twentieth Anniversary Edition the most playable edition yet – while not losing the wonder, awe, and majesty that Changeling is known for.

A revised and up to date look at the World of Darkness through the eyes of the Kithain – what has happened to the Dreaming in the last 20 years, and what is the state of Glamour and dreams?

through the eyes of the Kithain – what has happened to the Dreaming in the last 20 years, and what is the state of Glamour and dreams? Rules for all of the kiths including in 2nd ed, plus fan favorites from other books: selkies, piskies, clurichaun, and both Arcadian and Concordian sidhe.

Rules for the Gallain: The inanimae, the hsien, the Nunnehi, and others!

An overhauled and reimagined system for fae magic, including new Arts and the powerful but dangerous practice of Unleashing!

New full-color beautiful artwork as well as classic Changeling illustrations including remastered full page pieces of the kiths by Tony Diterlizzi.

Calling all Good Dogs! The Pugmire Core Rulebook PDF is now available on DTRPG.com!

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/204313/Pugmire-Core-Rulebook

And the actual physical book, screen, and dice, are available to order on the IPR and Studio2 websites!

Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

What dark secrets do the eldest vampires hold? Find out in Thousand Years of Night for Vampire: The Requiem! Advance PDF version available now on DriveThruRPG.com. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/214130/Thousand-Years-of-Night

You may think that with a multitude of people coming, going, dying and running away, we’d be tired, done, or ready to give up.

Instead, I find myself restless, looking for the next thing.

There’s always a next thing, and I for one am not yet ready to die.

– Elder Kincaid, Daeva Crone

This book includes:

• Detailed instructions on creating elder vampires, including how to base chronicles around them

• A look into the lives of elders, how they spend their nights, who they work with, and why including their roles in both their clans and covenants

• New Devotions, Merits, and Rituals for elder vampires

• The kinds of creatures that pose a threat to elder vampires, including Inamorata, Lamia, Sons of Phobos, a new elder conspiracy, and more!

CONVENTIONS!

In November, we’ll be at Game Hole Con in Madison, WI. November 2-5: https://www.gameholecon.com/ Myself, Monica Valentinelli (Hunter: the Vigil 2e, Dark Eras), Manda Collis (Exalted 3e), Scott Holden (Scarred Lands), Matt M McElroy (Operations Manager) and other folks from the OPP crew will be there!

Also in November, the Onyx Path crew including Rich, Matt, Lisa, Neall, Dixie, and Meghan will be at the first ever PAX Unplugged in Philadelphia, November 17-19. http://unplugged.paxsite.com/

In December, Matthew Dawkins, Dave Brookshaw, and Eddy Webb are going to be at Dragonmeet in London. https://www. dragonmeet.co.uk/ Expect plenty of playful class warfare as these three mix it up, represent Onyx Path, and generally redefine the term “hooligans”.

Planning ahead for 2018, we’re heading back to Midwinter Game Convention in Milwaukee, January 11-14, where we’re going to be bringing a big crew of many of your favorite Onyx Path designers and we’ll be running demos and making some special announcements at the show! http:// midwintergamingconvention.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)

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

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

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

Monarchies of Mau (Monarchies of Mau)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Redlines

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

They Came From Beneath the Sea! Rulebook (TCFBtS!)

Second Draft

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

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

Night Horrors: The Tormented (Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition)

(Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition) Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Development

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

SL Ring of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Ring of Spiragos (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Scion: Origin (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

WW Manuscript Approval:

Editing:

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

Pugmire Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers (Pugmire)

Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Post-Editing Development:

W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

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

Indexing:

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Cavaliers of Mars – Need to figure out new art budget and I’ll get to contracting that.



Need to figure out new art budget and I’ll get to contracting that. W20 Changing Ways



Ex3 Monthly Stuff



Scion Origins



Ring of Spiragos

Book of Freeholds



DtD Enemy Action

Changeling: the Lost 2 – Artists are arting.

Artists are arting. Trinity Continuum – Splats for core book with Mr Jones, prepping multi-cover single piece of artwork for illustrator.

Marketing Stuff

In Layout

Beast PG

Pugmire/Scarred Lands Community Content

VtR Half Damned

Pentex Indoctrination Manual

Proofing

Ex 3 Arms of the Chosen – Second proof going out to devs today.

Second proof going out to devs today. Wraith 20 – Waiting on layout proof notes from RichD.

Waiting on layout proof notes from RichD. M20 Cookbook – At WW for approval.

At WW for approval. Becket’s Jyhad Diary – At WW for approval.

– At WW for approval. C20 Ready Made Characters – Second proof going out today.

At Press

Beckett Screen – Shipped to shipper.

Shipped to shipper. Scarred Land PGs & Wise and the Wicked PF & 5e – On a boat to the US. PDF and PoD physical book versions on sale at DTRPG.



– On a boat to the US. PDF and PoD physical book versions on sale at DTRPG. VTR: Thousand Years of Night – Waiting for PoD proofs.



Waiting for PoD proofs. Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition) – Deluxe Edition cover and Screen in the works. Full proof sheets arriving tomorrow.



Deluxe Edition cover and Screen in the works. Full proof sheets arriving tomorrow. CtL Huntsmen Chronicle Anthology PDF – Advance PDF going on sale Wednesday.

– Advance PDF going on sale Wednesday. Pugmire Trick, Condition, and Initiative Cards – PoD proofs ordered.



PoD proofs ordered. V20DA Jumpstart – Errata phase.

Errata phase. Prince’s Gambit – Errata phase.

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: It’s Weird Al’s birthday! You ever notice how many of his song stylin’s are about food? I Love Rocky Road, Eat It, My Bologna – the list goes on.