October 2024 Monthly Update
30 days ago
– Tue, Oct 22, 2024 at 07:12:00 AM
Hello Shardstriders,
We're about to settle into the regular routine of monthly updates tracking the progress on all of our rewards. We're still in the earliest stages of this post-campaign, where projects make incremental movements along the progress path. A lot of months will be pretty similar, just a quick note to let you know that the Onyx Path team is still working on it. Any time we have a new reward or something of interest to share, I'll include that as well.
At the end of each month, I'll include a summary of our rewards and their current status (they'll either be delivered or marked as still pending, possibly with additional details if I know more). I'll also list any relevant Update posts, in case you want to go back and check into something.
Each month, I'll list our "Pending" rewards and our "Delivered" rewards. We'll track the project status of our pending rewards by filling in the stage dots, and I'll note which update (and include a link) with each delivered reward, in case you want to go back and re-read the relevant update for more information. If any of these rewards were on your pledge list, you can access download codes in your BackerKit Digital Rewards page. And once they've been added to your DriveThruRPG library, you can access them through your DTRPG digital library at any time.
REWARDS STILL PENDING
First up, I'll note that I've marked our Mythic Shards book as "First Draft" status. That doesn't mean any work has been undone, I'm just reflecting the status of the new shard sections that we added during the campaign. You can still download the draft manuscript from your Backerkit page to see all of the work that already exists. I'll continue to track it based on where the new shards are at, so we'll call that the "overall status" of the project.
REWARDS DISTRIBUTED TO BACKERS
-
Scion Book One: Origin PDF (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion Book Two: Hero PDF (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion Book Three: Demigod PDF PDF (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion Book Four: God PDF PDF (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion: Dragon PDF PDF (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion: Masks of the Mythos PDF PDF (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion: Dragon Digital Supplement Bundle (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion: Masks of the Mythos Digital Supplement Bundle (Sept '24 Update)
All of the existing Add On options were sent out last month. If you had any of these as rewards, they will be availble in your Backerkit Digital Rewards page, alongside the draft manuscript.
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-mythic-shards.backerkit.com/
ONYX PATH PROJECT TRACKING
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 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:
TO CONTACT JAMES
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 Richard Thomas 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 ON KICKSTARTER
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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!
Want to know more about the Curseborne RPG?
PREVIEW MATERIAL: You can find information from the numerous previews Onyx Path has shared.
Curseborne Actual Play Sessions, including:
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.
September 2024 Update - Existing PDFs Going Out
2 months ago
– Fri, Sep 20, 2024 at 07:30:23 AM
Hello Shardstriders,
It's been
a week since we started sending out our Pledge Manager invitations. If you haven't yet filled out your backer survey, please do so as soon as possible - you can change it or update it right up until the books are printing and we're getting ready to ship. We use the Pledge Manager for all reward fulfillment, so having your backer page set up ensures you'll be getting your rewards in a timely manner.
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-mythic-shards.backerkit.com/
DIGITAL REWARD DISTRIBUTION
Many of the rewards for our Crowdfunding projects take a lot of time and effort to complete. Usually, the campaign is a means of moving the project from an idea (even when it's a mostly-fully-written idea) into the actual channel that turns it into a project/product. It'll be a while before we're ready to talk about delivery of Scion: Mythic Shards, and even longer for our projects generated via Stretch Goals (the digital wallpaper, the token pack, and the rest).
That said, there are a few rewards that are available now, as they were mostly add-on PDFs or bundles of existing products. And now we can work on getting those out to you over the weekend.
The following Add On Rewards Will Be Distributed This Week:
-
Scion Book One: Origin PDF (and discounted PoD order link)
-
Scion Book Two: Hero PDF (and discounted PoD order link)
-
Scion Book Three: Demigod PDF PDF (and discounted PoD order link)
-
Scion Book Four: God PDF PDF (and discounted PoD order link)
-
Scion: Dragon PDF PDF (and discounted PoD order link)
-
Scion: Masks of the Mythos PDF PDF (and discounted PoD order link)
- Scion: Dragon Digital Supplement Bundle
- Scion: Masks of the Mythos Digital Supplement Bundle
It's basically this section from our Add On menu during the campaign.
If you want any of these and didn't add them on during the campaign, you can still update your BackerKit page and add them to your rewards list. See the
BackerKit How-To instructions above.
REWARD DISTRIBUTION
Your link to claim these digital rewards will be sent out by our BackerKit pledge manager
over the next few days. Since we are using our partners at DriveThruRPG as the hosts for these, 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.ph
The best way to ensure these redemption codes work smoothly is to log in to your DTRPG account first, and then click (or copy) the link shown in your BackerKit.
Again, you will receive an e-mail from BackerKit with links for these rewards over the next 2-3 days if any of them are on your expected list of rewards. I'll be releasing them in waves, so don't panic if you only see a couple links at first... the rest are coming. (We're in a digital world, but there are still a lot of manual processes. And there are many links to go out!!)
The easiest way to see if you've got digital downloads available is to login to your backerkit account:
https://scion-mythic-shards.backerkit.com/ and it'll show anything available. Your backerkit account should also confirm all rewards that you should expect from your reward tier selected.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT
In addition to redemption links for these digital rewards, all backers have received a link to the compiled draft manuscript. This link can be found in your BackerKit digital rewards page, and you likely received an e-mail linking to that with the Backer Survey invitations. Again, this isn't a new manuscript, it's just all of the pieces we shared during the campaign put together in order. It's the same link that I share at the bottom of these campaign updates, but I want to make sure you have access to it in any place that makes sense.
MONTHLY UPDATES
With the Pledge Manager up and running, this is officially the first "regular" monthly update for our project. I'll send these updates out every month to let you know where we sit. We're still in the earliest stages of this post-campaign, where projects make incremental movements along the progress path. A lot of months will be pretty similar, just a quick note to let you know that the Onyx Path team is still working on it. Any time we have a new reward or something of interest to share, I'll include that as well.
At the end of each month, I'll include a summary of our rewards and their current status (they'll either be delivered or marked as still pending, possibly with additional details if I know more). I'll also list any relevant Update posts, in case you want to go back and check into something.
Each month, I'll list our "Pending" rewards and our "Delivered" rewards. We'll track the project status of our pending rewards by filling in the stage dots, and I'll note which update (and include a link) with each delivered reward, in case you want to go back and re-read the relevant update for more information. If any of these rewards were on your pledge list, you can access download codes in your BackerKit Digital Rewards page. And once they've been added to your DriveThruRPG library, you can access them through your DTRPG digital library at any time.
REWARDS STILL PENDING
With most of our Add Ons, they already exist in physical format, but don't really "exist" for fulfillment on this project until the final Mythic Shards books are ready to go, so they'll sit in the Print Prep phase until all physical items are ready and waiting together, since they'll all go out in one shipment. Really, I just listed them all here to make the list look impressive. Really, that top row is the most important.
I'll post this chart in each monthly update, and fill in dots as projects move along.
REWARDS DISTRIBUTED TO BACKERS
-
Scion Book One: Origin PDF (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion Book Two: Hero PDF (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion Book Three: Demigod PDF PDF (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion Book Four: God PDF PDF (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion: Dragon PDF PDF (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion: Masks of the Mythos PDF PDF (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion: Dragon Digital Supplement Bundle (Sept '24 Update)
-
Scion: Masks of the Mythos Digital Supplement Bundle (Sept '24 Update)
Once a project finishes up on the progress chart and is distributed to backers, I'll move it down to this list and note which update talks about reward distribution for that item in case you want to go back and get more information.
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
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:
TO CONTACT JAMES
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 Richard Thomas 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.
Currently Crowdfunding! We're in the final week! Join now and you can vote on an example game that will be included in the final version!
COMING TO KICKSTARTER ON OCTOBER 1ST
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.
SIGN UP TO BE NOTIFIED AT LAUNCH
Pledge Manager Surveys Coming Soon!
2 months ago
– Fri, Sep 13, 2024 at 10:38:27 AM
Hello Shardstriders,
It's time for our first update of the post-Crowdfunding campaign phase!
We finished up the Crowdfunding portion of our campaign just over four weeks ago with a successful run, adding many backers and extra content to the final book. Now it's time to start the next phase of the project - the Post-Campaign, where we track the progress of the various projects we helped fund and send out rewards as they become available.
To help with all of that we use BackerKit's Pledge Manager.
Today's Topics
- BackerKit Pledge Manager Surveys Coming Soon
- Compiled Draft Manuscript (available in BackerKit Digital Rewards)
- Coming Next
BACKER SURVEYS
Over the next handful of days (Sept 14-17), you’ll receive an email from us with a special link to your Pledge Manager survey. It’s important to respond to your survey as quickly as you can since we need this information to fulfill your rewards.
You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey (although you probably already have one from pledging to this campaign). When you receive the email with the survey, click the survey invitation link to respond. Answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like.
You don’t have access to this survey link yet, but it will be available later this week via email!
The e-mail will have a button that looks something like this:
After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys and get our final counts, and that won't happen until the books are being printed and we're preparing to ship.
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-mythic-shards.backerkit.com/If you have any other questions or concerns, you can post them to the comments for this update, the comment section, or message me via one of these methods:
TO CONTACT JAMES
- Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
- Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
If there are any issues you find with the Pledge Manager, please contact me as soon as possible to let me know. It rolls out in waves so that I can correct issues on the fly and make it work as best possible as people come on board.
I had initially expected to be sending this out a few weeks from now, but everyone in my house is working through a cold in sequential order, so I tried to get this done before my time to feel under the weather. The chances of a few errors in the Pledge Manager set up are ...
greater than zero ... so let me know if you see something off and I'll fix it as quickly as possible.
Within the BackerKit Survey and Pledge Manager, you can:
- Review your Pledge Tier Selection and Rewards
- Upgrade your Reward Tier pledge selection
- Confirm Add On selections
- Set up payment information for any failed payments from the Crowdfunding campaign or to pay for any new Add On options selected.
When you click on your BackerKit invitation link, you should see something like this...
From the Pledge Manager welcome page you can choose to
-
Review Your Pledge Level and Rewards
-
Start Your Survey, confirming pledge rewards, confirming or selecting new Add On options, and confirming any shipping and payment info that may be needed
- Switch Your Pledge Level
If you've pledged to a reward tier that includes physical rewards, you can enter your shipping country at this stage. As noted during our campaign, we haven't set shipping costs yet - those will be calculated and added in when we're preparing to ship the book. That won't be for a long time, though, and there will be plenty of opportunity - and notice - for you to make changes.
If you click on your Pledge Level, you will see a list of all items included in your Pledge Rewards (including Stretch Goals and the Draft Manuscript), and also have the option to switch your Pledge Level, in case you've decided to get the hardcover pledge instead of the PDF-only pledge tier for example.
Once you've confirmed that your Pledge Level is correct and where you want it to be, you can GET STARTED with your BackerKit Pledge Manager Survey.
Once we've got a fair response to our survey and collected a reasonable amount of info, I'll be working on fulfilling rewards that are available now - like the PDFs of the titles included in our Add On section (for example, Scion: Dragon PDF and Scion: Masks of the Mythos PDF, along with their digital supplement bundles, plus the other Scion core book PDFs). Those will likely be coming to you in late-September, and I'll send another update with more info when that time comes.
So, in summary:
- Look for an e-mail invitation to BackerKit's Pledge Manager sometime over the next 4-5 days
- Get Started on your survey
- Confirm your Pledge Level (or SWITCH your Pledge Level if you want to change it)
- Confirm and Select Any Add On options
- Confirm Your Shipping Information (if needed)
- Confirm Your Payment Information (if needed)
I will post an update in another week or two as I begin outlining the delivery of our first Add On rewards (the existing Scion title PDFs, as noted above) and beginning distribution of those PDF rewards.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT
Looking in the example pledge list above, you can see a listing for the Draft Manuscript. In your BackerKit digital rewards page, you will have access to the compiled draft manuscript. It won't be different from the one that was shared during the campaign - it'll just be all gathered together in one big file. The Draft Manuscript link may not be active when you first login to your BackerKit survey, but I'll throw the switch and it'll send you a notice next week after all of the invitations have gone out.
I will talk about how to access your BackerKit digital rewards links in an update coming later this month, when I send out the first wave of available rewards.
COMING NEXT
In the next 2 weeks or so, I'll send an update with details about the distribution for that first wave of Starter Bundle rewards. I'll also get the compiled draft manuscript up and ready for you.
In October, we'll also begin our regular monthly check-ins, tracking the progress of this project as it moves through this phase. It'll take some time, but we'll have regular updates all through the process. I'll also have notes on how to check the weekly and monthly All Project Progress updates on Onyx Path's website.
TO CONTACT JAMES
- Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
- 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.
COMING TO KICKSTARTER ON OCTOBER 1ST
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.
Crowdfunding over! Scion: Mythic Shards will become a book!
3 months ago
– Thu, Aug 15, 2024 at 11:04:38 AM
Hello Shardstriders,
We did it! We all came together for this book for of weird, new, exciting takes on The World for Scion second edition and made it into a reality!
Thanks to the support of more than 950 backers, Onyx Path will be able to develop PDF and hardcover versions of
Scion: Mythic Shards!
We had so many new backers join in over the past week - and really, so many in the past 48 hours - and it was fun to see the numbers jump up dramatically in these last few days. Great job!
There's more to celebrate! Not only did we fund the project in the first day, we also unlocked a fantastic FIFTEEN Stretch Goals. From standard Onyx Path milestone markers to a DIY Storyguide screen Reference supplement PDF to a series of thematic dice sets included as Add On options to the big one, adding two additional shards to the book!
It came down to the last few days but we managed to hit every Stretch Goal we'd posted and nearly hit 250% of our funding target!
Our Bonus Reward Collection
Some Milestone Markers
ADDITIONAL UNLOCKED ADD ON OPTIONS
STORYGUIDE REFERENCE RESOURCE
BEST OF ALL, MORE CONTENT ADDED TO OUR BOOK!
Thanks to stretch goal achievement and backer vote, the final version of Scion: Mythic Shards will include a sixth shard!
LOST TIME will have rules for playing a battle for the stability of all realities as Scions slip through the different shards and semi shards trying to thwart a usurper's plan to invade another reality. Sliders and Doctor Who style adventures with a group of Scions who are selected to be reality police.
AND! Thanks to your support and participation in our poll, the final version of Scion: Mythic Shards will include a SEVENTH shard!
JOURNEY TO THE WILD WEST is Journey to the West, but it's set in the Wild West. Wuxia cowboys!
Can't wait to see what the writers do with those ideas!!
FIFTEEN STRETCH GOALS
I'm glad we were able to unlock all 5 of the Storyguide Reference sections, more excited that we managed to unlock all 5 sets of dice Add Ons, but most excited that we added two new shards to the book.
And all of that is, of course, on top of our main purpose here - the creating of the actual book itself! This is the real reward - everything else is a bonus!
So a huge congratulations to Kim and Hiromi and the creative team on this project, and to all of the backers who've joined in to make this possible. I'm happy about the goals we hit and rewards we introduced, but I'm also always amazed and excited about having so many backers join in during this campaign. Even though Scion is an established line, there's always some trepidation and hesitation when new material that strays from the "Core Four" books is presented, but the ideas here are just so cool and I'm glad the team took the chance!
AN EXTRA THANK YOU!
So, thank you to all the backers who supported us and made this happen. And an extra thanks to everyone who participated online, either in the Community comments section of the campaign, and on social media around the web. Thanks to everyone who talked about the project on the Discord and thanks to the Onyx Path team who answered questions and provided insight.
COMMUNICATION
So, as noted in today's earlier update, starting in September I'll be sending out updates once a month and whenever we've got a new goal, survey, or other item to cover. If you have any questions or need clarification on something related to the campaign, feel free to get in touch. I may take a bit to answer as I recover from these past four weeks and sneak in a a quick anniversary dinner somewhere in there, but I'll eventually have an answer!
TO CONTACT ME
-
Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
-
Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your forthcoming survey page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
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:
Let's all gather together At The Gates!
The Discord is particularly lively, and I loved seeing the thoughts and jokes as the chapters came out bit by bit.
BackerKit will begin collected pledges and processing payments later tonight, so be ready for that.
High fives all around in the comment section and on the Discord, and you'll hear from me again in a month-or-so when I've got the pledge manager set up and ready to roll out!
#ScionMythicShards
FINAL HOURS: CHECKLIST & WHAT COMES NEXT
3 months ago
– Thu, Aug 15, 2024 at 04:28:40 AM
Hello Shardstriders,
Welcome to the final hours of this campaign! We've had a pretty great run - funding very quickly and coming up to the end with over 900 backers! We've unlocked fourteen Stretch Goals and we may make that a fantastic 15 before the end of the campaign!
The most important part of this campaign, though, is that we have successfully funded this project! Thanks to everyone who's come out to support this campaign, we'll be getting this cool book!
And backers have made the book even better by adding two additional shards to the final version! So far we've got LOST TIME, and we'll have one other that'll be decided by your vote today!
FINAL DAY CHECKLIST
Whether you're completed your apotheosis or have just had your first visitation, these are some good topics to review over these final six hours...
1. KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SUPPORTING
2. PLEDGE TIERS and ADD ONS
This update breaks down your best starting point for figuring out which Backer Reward Tier to choose to help support this project in a way that works for you.
The first decision you need to make in figuring out your reward tier is whether you want to receive the PDF version or the hardcover edition (which comes with bonus PDF version).
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MUTATED SCION: This is the PDF-only reward tier. So, if you're saving trees or saving shelf space - or avoiding the shipping charges that are absolutely ever-increasing - this is the reward tier option that you should begin with. The PDF will be fulfilled by our partners at DriveThruRPG.com - when it is ready, you will receive a link to add it to your DTRPG library at no cost for you to download at your leisure.
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HERAKLES INCIDENT: This reward tier includes the standard hardcover version of this book. Shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping after the campaign through the pledge manager. In addition, this option also includes the PDF version, so you will get a digital copy as described above.
As noted, shipping charges will be calculated later and charged in the BackerKit Pledge Manager. We'll have exact shipping costs once the book is in production and we know the specifications, but we do expect it to be expensive. See our estimates on the front pate. If you're an international backer, you can pledge to the Mutated Scion tier and upgrade in the pledge manager to the hardcover tier once the shipping costs are known before we lockdown orders.
ADD-ON OPTIONS - The other half of our Reward Tiers update, including information on the second step of pledging. There are several Add On options that you can add as part of your pledging process, including semi-shard settings Scion: Dragon and Scion: Masks of the Mythos, plus the four core Scion books! We've also got different dice sets themed around the five shards presented that we've unlocked via Stretch Goal achievement!
ADD ON selections will be available in the post-campaign Pledge Manager as well.
SO: Ensure that you've selected the Reward Tier you want, and select any Add On options you wish to include. AND - make sure that you are comfortable with the Pledge amount, in terms of it covering everything you want and the affordability of the pledge at this moment!
I'm going to speak against my own self interest for a moment, and repeat something I say at the end of every campaign - 2024 has been financially challenging for many, and there's still lots of uncertainty ahead. Ensure that your circumstances enable to afford this pledge at this moment - BackerKit will begin processing payments late tonight after the campaign ends and neither Onyx Path nor I have any involvement in that process. If you are unsure of your financial situation but don't want to miss out, please pledge for a tier you can afford now and know that you will be able to upgrade to open pledge levels in our post-campaign Pledge Manager for some time before the book is completed. There are no refunds for regret, and the funds raised start being spent immediately on paying for the work done thus far and the additional work ahead plus the projects unlocked via Stretch Goal. So please be financially responsible.
- Choose a Reward Tier You Can Afford
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Read the Manuscripts and Make Sure You Know What You're Getting
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Be Aware of the Projected Delivery Date (Onyx Path will try to deliver earlier than this, but the book will take some time to get perfect)
3. PAYMENT AND CONTACT INFORMATION
Once you're comfortable with your pledge, please ensure that the payment and contact information in your BackerKit account is up to date and correct. Making sure your e-mail is entered correctly and your credit card isn't expired will speed up the next step process. (
I have learned from experience!)
4. OVERTIME MODE
Overtime Mode extends the campaign past its original end time to give backers a final chance to make their pledge and adds an interesting twist to the end of the campaign. How long will it extend? That’s entirely up to backers: The campaign will keep going for an additional 10 minutes as long as pledges keep coming in – a chain of back-to-back pledges is called the
Backer Train. The campaign will end only when the Backer Train stops after a period of 10 minutes passing without any pledges.
You’ll know we’re in Overtime Mode when the campaign’s Backer Train counter displays a bright rainbow border and a new countdown that resets to 10 minutes after each new backer joins that final Backer Train ride.
So, we've scheduled the campaign to conclude on August 15th at 2:00 pm EDT, but it'll be extended in 10 minute chunks as long as backers keep pledging. Will we add an extra 10 minutes? An extra 20? Or will it all finish up as we programmed? Who knows, but we'll find out together! Making these shards Mythic indeed!
WHAT COMES NEXT?
5. AFTER THE CAMPAIGN ENDS
First, we celebrate. The campaign page will subtly change, locking out the ability to pledge and showing the final totals. We'll give socially-distanced high fives and digital fist bumps in the Community section and over on Discord.
Then, the BackerKit payment process begins. Starting late tonight and continuing over the next week, Backerkit will begin charging your payment methods for the total amount you've pledged.
If there is an issue with your payment method (expired credit card or incorrect number or pre-paid Visa awaiting funds, for example), BackerKit will keep trying to process payment during this time.
Once this step is done, which will likely be by early September, BackerKit will confirm everything with Onyx Path and I can begin to set up the project in the Pledge Manager and load in all of the campaign data.
In addition to providing the crowdfunding platform for this campaign, BackerKit is also Onyx Path's regular Pledge Manager partner.
BackerKit provides a robust fulfillment integration and pledge management program that will allow us to work with all of the data and distribute the rewards to you. It will take me about a month to set the project up. Once I've got it all entered and built, the team from BackerKit will review to ensure I didn't mess anything up too badly, and then I'll make any changes they've suggested and we can move on to the Survey stage.
6. BACKERKIT SURVEYS
Once BackerKit says I'm good to go, I will send out a survey to all backers. This is why confirming your e-mail is important!
The BackerKit survey is both a verb and a noun - it will collect data for the analysis of some aspect of a group (enabling Onyx Path to set print runs, prioritize new projects, and fine-tune future campaigns), as well as providing a general review or summary of the reward tier you've chosen, confirm all of the rewards associated with that reward tier, and confirm your total pledge amount.
I expect Surveys to go out by late September 2024.
During the Survey period, you can choose to increase your reward tier and add on additional options. If you've found $20 in your fall jacket or found an alternate income source and decide it's time to trade up to the hardcover version of the book or include another add-on, you can do so at this time. Note, you will not be able to reduce your reward tier selection, only increase.
If you selected Add On options, they'll be added to your reward list automatically.
Note that you'll be able to upgrade your pledge tier for quite some time - until we're getting ready to print the book itself and have figured out International shipping costs. So don't feel pressure to have it all figured out right away - we'll make sure there's plenty of time to get it all sorted before the books go out.
Similarly, if you have a hardcover book as one of your rewards, the survey will ask you to confirm your shipping address, even though it'll be some time before we ship out the final product. Do not worry about moving before shipping begins - you will be able to update BackerKit right up until the point that we begin fulfilling the final book. We will send out a notice prior to lock down so you can update any information.
I'll also use the Survey to confirm some details for the premium reward tiers.
7. REWARD DISTRIBUTION
Once the surveys are up and running, I'll prepare fulfillment for the existing rewards - the Add On options that are all currently available, like the digital supplement bundles and the PDFs for the existing Scion books. Depending on how smoothly the Pledge Manager process goes, those should be out fairly soon after the survey stage starts. So, let's say the existing PDF rewards will be out to you by the start of October, if not earlier. That's only the beginning, though.
This is a long process, but I will send out regular updates (usually at the end of the month) to keep you up to speed on Onyx Path's progress. There will be strings of updates that are just "still working on it," but I will share new artwork or information when I can.
Eventually, we will have a completed PDF of Scion: Mythic Shards. Onyx Path will take some time to distribute, review, and compile any errata or corrections that need to be made. When they've made any necessary changes, they'll make an updated version of the PDF available in your DriveThruRPG digital library and then begin creating print-ready files for the Print-on-Demand and the hardcover versions.
It's yet another long road ahead, likely full of twists and turns and surprises, but one that we wouldn't be undertaking if not for your ongoing support.
So - one final time - please spread the word to any potential backers and fans, and thanks so much for a great campaign!
AND DON'T MISS YOUR FINAL OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE FOR THE SEVENTH SHARD!!
Your options for the final shard:
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Teen Drama: Scion High, but with a more action-y style and greatly expanded. More like Riverdale than other teen dramas.
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Cartoon: Where being made a fool is worse than being Taken Out.
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Sports Drama: Drawing inspiration from Ted Lasso, A League of Their Own, and the Sandlot. Personal growth through sports competition.
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Journey to the Wild West: Journey to the West, but it's set in the Wild West. Wuxia cowboys!
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Aquatic Adventures: An Atlantis meets Waterworld and pirate-themed shard. Dive into the depths to recover lost relics or awaken the slumbering Earth Gods to create new lands.
Voting will close once the campaign ends.
Here's to our final hours!!
#MythicShards
#FinalDay
