November 2024 Monthly Update - Divine Inspiration Preview
Hello Scions,
No massive updates on our regular progress chart this month (I don't expect any huge jumps as we close out the year), BUT I do have a cool preview for you toda...
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James Bell
about 2 months ago
October 2024 Monthly Update
Hello Scions!
It's time for our regular monthly update! Last month was a biggie, with the Scion: God PDF finalized and released on DriveThruRPG. This month will be a quick chec...
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James Bell
3 months ago
September 2024 - Finalized PDF!
Hello Scions,
Thanks to your feedback and support, Onyx Path has now fine-tuned the Scion: God PDF, added in an index and fixed all of the page numbers, and the finalized PDF i...
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James Bell
4 months ago
August 2024 Monthly Update
Hello Scions,
Already time for our August update! It's making me feel like the summer is almost done. Maybe it's just back to school vibes creeping in. Anyway, I'll fight those...
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James Bell
5 months ago
July 2024 Monthly Update
Hello Scions,
It feels like it's been a pretty fast few weeks, but it's already time for our regular monthly update! Before I get to our project round up, I wanted to share two...
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James Bell
6 months ago
June 2024 Monthly Update
Hello Scions,
Before I get to this month's regular update, I just wanted to let you know about the latest Scion project that just came out today!
If you believe that as childr...
No massive updates on our regular progress chart this month (I don't expect any huge jumps as we close out the year), BUT I do have a cool preview for you today!
Scion: Divine Inspiration is absolutely filled with story hooks and seeds. Enough to run several chronicles, in fact! Here are some of the intriguing locations introduced in this book for you to add to the World:
Martyr Technologies Main Campus
(The Source of Genius, A Chance to End the World, Epic of Martyrs)
Located on the southern edge of Central Park, Martyr Technologies Main Campus stands no less beautiful than the ancient Tower of Babel. The 550-meter-tall skyscraper serves as both the residential quarters of company executives and the cover for the rampant divine experimentation going on beneath it. Those with proper clearance can ride the elevator down 15 levels, entering the Research & Development Hall. Here, experiments on non-human phenomena run rampant — some on living things, some on Relics, some on ideas inspired by myth alone.
Martyr Technologies has five other campuses across the world. These campuses are cutting-edge research centers for archaeology, software and artificial intelligence, physics, chemistry, and cryptozoology. The data these branches produce is Martyr Technologies’ actual product. Martyr Technologies itself is ran by founder Shahida Fadel, secret Scion of Tiamat and woman whose destiny is poised to change the course of the world.
Shahida Fadel’s divine lineage and existence as an Incarnate of Tiamat affords her the ability to birth genius ideas so long as she chases her desires. This miraculous ability culminated in the creation of the Chaos Gate — a locked gate hidden within the bowels of the Research & Development Hall that gives those with a passcode access to an Overworld called the Primordial Sea.
This is the body, power, and domain of Tiamat herself. Within this sea exists every possibility, and the raw essence to make those possibilities real. Shahida has pulled mythical creatures, esoteric objects, and even raw information from this sea. Those creatures and objects she so births are studied in secret. What’s learned from those studies fuels technological innovations in the industries related to the company’s five branches.
For example, a Sphinx-like creature pulled from the sea undergoes brain scans and has its riddles recorded, solved, and deconstructed. The creature’s brain is studied and inspiration from said study inspires a new way to program language-based AI models, which lead to new innovations, and newer and newer still. The leap from divinity to science is enabled solely by Shahida’s Purview, mirroring the way in which Tiamat was both the origin of chaos and could create nearly anything from her chaos.
However, experiments such as these must remain secret. Not only is Shahida’s existence as a Scion kept secret — protecting her company from critical public opinion — but studying divine mystery would earn the ire of many Gods, Denizens, Scions, and so on. Beneath the looming skyscraper, divine beasts never meant for life are vivisected cruelly, or put through horrendous trials, resulting in isolated wards and wings, faculty that are lied to and kept separate, extreme security protocols to ensure no overlap or outside contamination. This makes it supremely difficult, though not impossible, for suspicious investigators to figure out the rot festering here.
The main campus’ top six floors are dedicated to Shahida and her family, with Shahida living on one floor and her five children each assigned one of their own below her — two of which stand empty after their occupants went no contact with the rest of the family. The remaining floors are a mixture of dormitories, playrooms, and museum exhibits that help create a friendly public face for the company. Those trying to infiltrate the Research & Development Hall need a badge and passcode unique to every employee living on the main campus.
The tower’s passcodes and badges only work for an employee’s work ward. There are numerous work wards, each kept in the dark about the other, and they often change names and locations in the hall. Only Shahida and her current husband — recently departed in Chapter Two’s “Epic of Martyrs” — have passcodes that grant master access. Master access is a requirement to find the Chaos Gate — a nondescript metal door — located in the bottom of the hall.
Plot Hooks
A Dragon hungry for secrets sends its Heirs to steal a passcode and badge and to bring back tales of what happens beneath the main campus.
A divine creature being experimented on calls out to its God or Goddess, who in turn sends the Scions to free it.
A mysterious esoteric object of great, dark power was smuggled out of the Research & Development Hall. Shahida sends Scions to secretly recover it.
Murphysboro, Illinois, USA
(Ill Winds, My Big Muddy Buddy, The Storm of Last Century)
Murphysboro is a small city in Southern Illinois, supporting a population of several thousand people and serving as the county seat for Jackson County. Most famous as the birthplace of Civil War general John A. Logan, a chosen Scion of Heru, Murphysboro hosts a small museum bearing his name. Its annual apple festival, offering parades, crafts, and a street fair featuring food, music, and carnival rides, draws thousands to the area each year, revitalizing the city’s economy with copious tourist dollars. While the apple festival is its largest event, it’s far from the city’s only one, with others focused on barbecue cook-offs, farmers’ markets, and even a beer festival celebrating their Big Muddy Monster.
Walnut Street, the main road through Murphysboro, hosts most of the city’s restaurants, businesses, and its single-screen Historic Liberty Theater. Most of these are within easy walking distance. A pleasant smell of barbecue tantalizes those approaching 17th Street while enjoying an afternoon stroll. A prospering Gods’ shop a few doors down from the theater offers new and used books, fragrant incense, glittering pendants, and anything else a mortal might desire to honor their Gods in private rituals. Carl Lee Park, an outdoor amphitheater beside the Sallie Logan Public Library, provides free sunset concerts several times during the summer months and a tree-lighting ceremony each Christmas.
The people of Murphysboro are generally friendly and welcoming, though many residents would quietly prefer outsiders to spend their money and depart quickly. The Christians and Kemetics hold on to a longstanding rivalry in the city, the latter feeling Little Egypt should belong to the Netjer alone and the former believing the time of the Egyptian Gods passed long ago. This rivalry’s usually demonstrated by merciless one-upmanship conducted with friendly smiles and backhanded compliments. Most recently, a passing Scion of Khnum helped the Kemetics take the upper hand by raising a great stone obelisk, though one of the churches has been looking into the cost of erecting a higher cross upon their steeple. While they’re distracted by their petty rivalry, subtle cults in service to Mythos entities infiltrate both groups, hiding their dark machinations behind small-town charm.
During the prohibition era, bootleggers dug tunnels beneath the town. Today, these tunnels are off limits, ostensibly due to unstable construction making them too hazardous to explore. This is a half-truth, and not a year goes by without a lost sewer worker or group of foolhardy teens vanishing after setting foot inside. In the aftermath of the Tri-State tornado outbreak and his Apotheosis, the Shroud of Scythes set up residence within these tunnels. Since then, they’ve grown into a Terra Incognita, far more expansive than any small city could hold. Within the tunnels, the effects of Euclidean space and time don’t apply. The massive, shifting labyrinth twists at impossible angles, and retracing one’s steps seldom leads to the point of entry. Even gravity is relative here, allowing some explorers to walk along walls or ceilings and causing others to plummet down hallways. The time one leaves them doesn’t necessarily equate to the time one spent inside, though for unknown reasons, carrying an object crafted by human hands helps to bring people out at a time close to its creation — usually.
Plot Hooks
Young Scions of Nyarlathotep sow discord between the city’s Christian and Kemetic citizens, pushing their usual quiet rivalry toward outright violence unless the Band steps in.
Entranced by the Maddening Music, the Carbondale Marching Terriers crash the apple festival parade, playing a discordant song to infect the crowd with the Music’s alien wishes.
A brief jaunt in the Bootlegger Tunnels leaves the characters in a different time, or causes them to emerge into a different realm entirely.
Panama City, Home of Saints
(City of Saints and Prophets)
Panama City, with its indigenous and Spanish ruins and churches amid towering skyscrapers, straddled by the Pacific Ocean, is one of the world’s premier trading ports thanks to one of the wonders of the modern world: The Panama Canal. The capital city is a vibrant and worldly tropical metropolis with many cultures, religions, ideologies, income classes, and more. They all share the same sea-breeze-and-ceviche-scented and reggaeton-bumping neighborhoods of a city its residents consider exists, as the national motto states, “Pro Mundi Benefico” (For the benefit of the World).
Panama City overflows with busts, statues, shrines, and monuments dedicated to Saints and other great figures who have lived up to that ideal. Alongside those monuments are the shrines of Panama’s varied communities, whether the Chinese shopkeepers, Guna Craftsmen, or Santero Antillans. These can be found in parks, roundabouts, metro stations, and residential neighborhoods, where material tributes and offerings of various kinds can be so stacked so high, they obscure who the monument is dedicated to. Not all of these Saints are adored equally in a city of such sheer diversity and passionate engagement, as some are despised and attacked by rival Saints and their followers. Their memories are also manipulated by politicians, clergy, activists, and definitely by the great merchant families of Panama who either claim to fly their banners or denounce them as the greatest enemies of their people.
Modern Saints would do well to remember the atmosphere they find themselves in, suffused with such rivalries and passions and the mysticisms of many faiths, and what the Saints stand for. It’s hard to fall under the radar of the residents of a city where they wear t-shirts, lovingly stained through the years with cerveza and passion-fruit juice, emblazoned with their unofficial (and what many consider truer) motto: “Panama City: Crossroads of the World, Center of the Universe.”
Plot Hooks
An expedition has returned from the deepest and most dangerous depths of the Darien Gap, a jungle so thick and mountainous it’s widely considered impassable. They make claims they have returned with the rifle and sword of Victoriano Lorenzo, the great revolutionary hero of the Thousand Day War. The supposed Relics were stolen before the expedition could display their findings by what one of the scholars claimed were “spectral and vengeful figures.”
The Panama Canal, one of the world’s most crucial trade and transportation passages, is about to be closed due to the Panama Canal Authority ordering the surprising and irrational firing of all of its employees. This comes after a strike that was declared for increased pay and better working conditions. Journalists, in an attempt to figure out why the PCA would make a decision that could destroy Panama City and the entire nation, have reported strange colored lights and noises coming from the PCA’s headquarters in the Ancon neighborhood of Panama City at night.
Lots of great stuff there, and I look forward to the eventual release of this Stretch Goal supplement!
REWARDS STILL PENDING
With the PDF finalized, print prep continues on our hardcover reward. It's all a matter of confirming specs and locking in the schedule for the print run and delivery. Until Onyx Path has updated the status to "Printing" it will still take some time to work it's way to us. I'll update as I learn more info.
REWARDS DISTRIBUTED TO BACKERS
[Add On] Scion Second Edition Book One: Origin PDF (Dec 17 Update)
[Add On] Scion Second Edition Book Two: Hero PDF (Dec 17 Update)
[Add On] Scion Second Edition Book Three: Demigod PDF (Dec 17 Update)
[Pledge] Discounted PoD Order LInk(Sept 17 '24 Update)
ONYX PATH PROJECT TRACKING
You can read Onyx Path's most recent monthly summary, covering all projects and their status up to that point here: <October 2024 Project Status Summary>
You can find the weekly Monday Meeting blog updates <here>, which note any projects with status changes since the previous Month End summary. The project statuses listed are current as of last Monday, so do check it out each Monday night to see if anything may have progressed!
I will continue to post regular updates everymonth until the final reward has gone out.
ONYX PATH DISCUSSION CHANNELS
If you've got questions about the rules or setting, or just want to discuss this game with other fans (as well as the Onyx Path writers and developers!), you can check out these Onyx Path discussion zones:
If you've got a question about your pledge or BackerKit page or any part of the process, you can contact me with any of these methods
Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
Via Kickstarter: Click RichardThomas under the "Created By" heading on the main page, and then press the "Contact Me" button - the message will come to me!
Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
The Alchemical Exalted are the Chosen of the Machine God, biomechanical demigods forged from divine metal and heroic souls. They do not rule the Eight Nations, but serve as Champions of the people, a sacred duty greater than any ambition. The eldest of Alchemicals transcend their human forms to become metropoli, living cities that offer the Eight Nations a stronghold against Autochthonia’s perils.
The Realm of Brass and Shadows is unforgiving, and the Eight Nations find themselves faced with many challenges: cataclysmic upheavals of Autochthon’s world-machinery, incursions of gruesome techno-organic gremlins, and the ever-present threat to their livelihoods. All the while, the slumbering Autochthon grows ever sicker, his corrupting Blight metastasizing throughout his world-body. Despair not. There is work to be done.
Alchemicals: Forged by the Machine God is an expansion for the ExaltedThird Edition tabletop roleplaying game. It’s set in a mythic world where spirits walk openly among humanity, warring demigods topple kingdoms, and the restless dead roam on moonless nights. Heroes granted divine power contend against one another for the future of Creation. These are the Exalted!
It's time for our regular monthly update! Last month was a biggie, with the Scion: God PDF finalized and released on DriveThruRPG. This month will be a quick check in, but I'll have a preview from our Divine Inspiration stretch goal supplement next month for you! Look forward to that!
REWARDS STILL PENDING
With the PDF finalized, print prep continues on our hardcover reward. It's all a matter of confirming specs and locking in the schedule for the print run and delivery. Until Onyx Path has updated the status to "Printing" it will still take some time to work it's way to us. I'll update as I learn more info.
REWARDS DISTRIBUTED TO BACKERS
[Add On] Scion Second Edition Book One: Origin PDF (Dec 17 Update)
[Add On] Scion Second Edition Book Two: Hero PDF (Dec 17 Update)
[Add On] Scion Second Edition Book Three: Demigod PDF (Dec 17 Update)
You can find the weekly Monday Meeting blog updates <here>, which note any projects with status changes since the previous Month End summary. The project statuses listed are current as of last Monday, so do check it out each Monday night to see if anything may have progressed!
I will continue to post regular updates everymonth until the final reward has gone out.
ONYX PATH DISCUSSION CHANNELS
If you've got questions about the rules or setting, or just want to discuss this game with other fans (as well as the Onyx Path writers and developers!), you can check out these Onyx Path discussion zones:
If you've got a question about your pledge or BackerKit page or any part of the process, you can contact me with any of these methods
Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
Via Kickstarter: Click RichardThomas under the "Created By" heading on the main page, and then press the "Contact Me" button - the message will come to me!
Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
Curseborne is a game about being unapologetic monsters in a world where being monstrous is the least of your worries. In Curseborne, you play as Accursed, descendants of monstrous lineages lurking in a modern world that closely resembles our own. You rebel against the ancient feuds between these entwined families, as well as against the web of curses that bind you, while fending off inhuman antagonists seeking to claim — or reclaim — your power.
The world of Curseborne is full of intrigue, magic, and things that go bump in the night. It’s just like our world, except the reason that things don’t go your way or that bad things happen is that the people are literally living in a world of curses. Some people are cursed more than others, and these are our Accursed characters. They have a particularly large curse that hangs over their heads and makes them more prone to bad things happening to them and around them. The nature of this curse also makes them magical in nature. They have a sense of the thing holding them back, and they can manipulate it in ways that normal people cannot.
This book is comprised of two main parts. The first part is the setting of Curseborne, as well as more about the Accursed themselves through the view of the characters. It shows how they see themselves, their world, and their place in that world. Lineages represent five broad categories of Accursed: The Dead (ghosts and spirits), The Hungry (vampires), The Outcasts (angels and demons), The Primal (shapeshifters and werewolves), and The Sorcerers (magicians).
The second part of the book are the instructions on how to use this book to play a game. You’ll find the chapters on how to play the game using the Storypath Ultra system, how to create a character, all the cool powers those characters have, and information on how to run a game of Curseborne.
With 9 days left in the campaign, we've passed 500% of our initial funding target and unlocked several Stretch Goals - including three new supplements that will be added as bonus rewards for backers of this project!
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT: Over the course of the campaign, backers will receive access to chapters from the current draft manuscript of Curseborne. By the end of the campaign, backers will be able to read the entire book as it stands now, before any pledges are processed or payments collected. No secret curses with this campaign - you'll know exactly what you're supporting with your pledge. Read the manuscript and make sure the project is right for you.
Hey guys can we get a overview as to why this specific project is taking over 2 years to complete? Normally I expect a long wait time from Onyx Path you guys are pretty slow in comparison to other games and rpgs, but this one seems particularly dragged out and I for one would like to know why.
Thanks to your feedback and support, Onyx Path has now fine-tuned the Scion: God PDF, added in an index and fixed all of the page numbers, and the finalized PDF is now available in your DriveThruRPG digital library.
You can access your DTRPG Digital Library at any time and download the latest version of the book at your convenience.
Tomorrow, Onyx Path will release the PDF for purchase on DriveThruRPG. When that happens, they'll also make a print-on-demand version of that PDF availble for purchase. As one of your rewards, you will have access to a discount link that will allow you to add the PDF to your cart at a slightly reduced price, should you wish to buy a hardcopy of the PDF.
DISCOUNTED PRINT-ON-DEMAND ORDER LINKS COMING THIS WEEK
If you pledged to the Aspirant Digital reward tier or the Seeker digital reward tier, or have the hardcover version as one of the items in your pledge list, one of your rewards is a discounted option to order a print-on-demand version of Scion: God. Now that the print files have been finalized, Onyx Path can finalize the PDF at DriveThruRPG and make a PoD version of the PDF available for purchase.
Again, just to ensure it's understood -
THIS IS NOT YOUR CROWDFUNDED HARDCOVER REWARD!
This is a discount link for a one-off printed version of the PDF that will soon be released for purchase on DriveThruRPG.com (but YOU can order it at a discounted cost if you wish!) As noted, the hardcovers are currently being set up at the printer and will ship to you next year.
DIFFERENCES IN PoD FORMATS
So, for those backers who pledged at the PDF reward tier, or those backers who will later be receiving the hardcover book but might be looking for a second copy for the table, there are two different versions of Print-On-Demand options available.
Standard Color uses a thick 70# white paper which has better page opacity. (that's "70 pound" for reference, but does not mean each page weighs 70 lbs!). Standard Heavyweight Color uses inkjet technology. (These are not the same inkjet printers you have at home - these are often as big or bigger than a car!) This option offers lower cost but the colors won't be as sharp or bright as a Premium Color book.
Premium Color uses the same 70# paper, but uses "Digital Color Print Engine Technology," which sounds super fancy and certainly costs a lot more, but I'll admit to not knowing the exact difference. This option offers superior color quality but is more expensive to produce, and has gotten even more expensive over the past year.
(Remember to login to DriveThruRPG prior to clicking or pasting the discount link in your BackerKit digital rewards locker, if you that was part of your rewards list! That link is your coupon and must be usedfor your PoD order.)
Please note: This discounted Print-on-Demand ordering link will be valid atthis costfor the next six months - it expires on March1, 2025 - so please, if you choose to order a Print-on-Demand copy, use the provided link prior to spring 2025to ensure the best pricing. (That is to say, I can't confirm the price will stay at this same spot past March, so best to order before then.)
REWARD DISTRIBUTION
If this rewards are on your rewards list, your link to claim them will be sent out by our BackerKit pledge manager over the next few days. Since we are using our partners at DriveThruRPG as the host for this, you will need to set up a DriveThru account if you don't have one already. If you encounter any problems with downloading your rewards, please contact DTRPG's customer service to resolve the matter, they've always been top-rated for customer service. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/contact_us.php
If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://scion-god.backerkit.com
[Pledge] Discounted PoD Order LInk(Sept 17 '24 Update)
ONYX PATH PROJECT TRACKING
You can read Onyx Path's most recent monthly summary, covering all projects and their status up to that point here: <August 2024 Project Status Summary>
You can find the weekly Monday Meeting blog updates <here>, which note any projects with status changes since the previous Month End summary. The project statuses listed are current as of last Monday, so do check it out each Monday night to see if anything may have progressed!
I will continue to post regular updates every other month until the final reward has gone out.
ONYX PATH DISCUSSION CHANNELS
If you've got questions about the rules or setting, or just want to discuss this game with other fans (as well as the Onyx Path writers and developers!), you can check out these Onyx Path discussion zones:
If you've got a question about your pledge or BackerKit page or any part of the process, you can contact me with any of these methods
Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
Via Kickstarter: Click RichardThomas under the "Created By" heading on the main page, and then press the "Contact Me" button - the message will come to me!
Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
CURRENTLY FUNDING
In 2017 Onyx Path unveiled the Storypath System, the rules engine that has come to power many of our games: the sci-fi universe of hope, heroism, and peril known as the Trinity Continuum, the modern-day stories of old gods and titans called Scion Second Edition,and the trope-focused exploration of genres that is the They Came From! series, and more.
We're extremely proud of what we’ve done over the years with Storypath, but felt it was time to tighten up the rules, smooth off the rough edges, and get rid of anything that got in the way of telling amazing stories. As a result, we’ve created the Storypath Ultra Core Manual.
Storypath Ultra isn’t a new edition, nor is it a replacement rule set — many of the concepts we developed and refined from the Storypath System are still there, even as they rearrange or rename things to make them as clear as possible. Think of it as a new take on Storypath: It’s the same great game but spruced up and tweaked to be the best possible version.
Curseborne is a game about being unapologetic monsters in a world where being monstrous is the least of your worries. In Curseborne, you play as Accursed, descendants of monstrous lineages lurking in a modern world that closely resembles our own. You rebel against the ancient feuds between these entwined families, as well as against the web of curses that bind you, while fending off inhuman antagonists seeking to claim — or reclaim — your power.
The world of Curseborne is full of intrigue, magic, and things that go bump in the night. It’s just like our world, except the reason that things don’t go your way or that bad things happen is that the people are literally living in a world of curses. Some people are cursed more than others, and these are our Accursed characters. They have a particularly large curse that hangs over their heads and makes them more prone to bad things happening to them and around them. The nature of this curse also makes them magical in nature. They have a sense of the thing holding them back, and they can manipulate it in ways that normal people cannot.
This book is comprised of two main parts. The first part is the setting of Curseborne, as well as more about the Accursed themselves through the view of the characters. It shows how they see themselves, their world, and their place in that world. Lineages represent five broad categories of Accursed: The Dead (ghosts and spirits), The Hungry (vampires), The Outcasts (angels and demons), The Primal (shapeshifters and werewolves), and The Sorcerers (magicians).
The second part of the book are the instructions on how to use this book to play a game. You’ll find the chapters on how to play the game using the Storypath Ultra system, how to create a character, all the cool powers those characters have, and information on how to run a game of Curseborne.
So not to be negative but how many projects does Onyx Path kickstart at one time while they are in production. With 2+ years of lead time that is getting to be a crazy amount of time to hang onto our money. Especially when if you don't back you can't get the offset print book which is much better quality than PoD options. I hope the company can one day revisit this business model to make it more friendly for paying customers. I get the situation you are all in but I worry that deadlines are slipping farther and farther away and more projects are going on at once with multiple crowdfunding platforms. It is getting concerning. I tried to be civil in this criticism and hope it doesn't sound like an attack but there is frustration in it as well. I love your work and books but it seems like things are slipping out of control.
