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theorynexus · 4 years

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56: We continue, perhaps a bit later in the day than I might have liked.

Before we get started, I would just like to ponder something to myself: What is Dirk’s actual motivation? I had assumed that his decision to take over the narrative was just a result of the belief on his part that it was a natural part of his evolution, or that he was actually not doing it with a particular purpose in mind, but after Alt!Calliope accusing him of Megalomania became a thing, I guess I have to open up my mind to other possibilities. It could be that she has simply observed him exploiting the capacity he now has in order to heighten his control over others (as was the natural result, considering his personality), but it might actually be that there’s something more. If I had to guess, it would be that (based on his conversation with Rose, and the statement about reality becoming congealed) he desires to prevent everyone’s lives from losing relevance and fading into an empty heap of incomplete thoughts and useless garbage. That is to say: given the story was over, but in such a way that things were left unanswered, the story was incomplete, and the main characters were gods that would continue growing over time, it is conceivable that once Dirk reached the point where he could actually discern the narrative himself and saw that Hussie had essentially abandoned Homestuck (closing out the story in such a way that locked LE in canon and placed the early parts of Universe C/Earth 3′s timeline[s] outside of it), he had a crisis surrounding his existence as a fictional character, and wanted to take up Hussie’s role as a way to attempt the preservation of all of their lives, and the integrity of reality within their fictional (thus murky/fluid/malleable) world? Considering I know that Dirk is the first character with a “speaking” role in Homestuck^2, and that this is him writing a long letter (note: I am now reminding you all that I accidentally very slightly dipped into it before I realized that it was not the Homestuck Epilogue[s]), I guess... maybe he eventually succeeds? I mean, getting a continuation/spin-off would be one way to fulfill the “escape the destruction of Paradox Space by creating/traveling to a separate version of reality/world beyond its limitations” win condition that was one of the many possibilities that would mean the epilogue was satisfying in a narrative sense and not (entirely?) a Bad End. Given the fact it’s on a different site, which could further emphasize this achievement, if that is the correct interpretation/guess to make about the later events which I have not read yet... congratulations, horrible person/Unreliable Narrator for theoretically saving reality for a time? I don’t know. That all seems uncertain and possibly a bit of a stretch at this point, and I feel like I’m cheating for including that accidental viewing into my analysis for the work I’m presently navigating. I want to be honest with you all about my thoughts and experiences-- or at least as honest as I can be while ensuring that I don’t essentially post things stream-of-consciousness -style. I do have certain standards of plausibility and coherence that I hold myself to, after all. I want to keep this interesting and entertaining for you guys, just as it is for me. ... And finally, we get back to Terezi and John. I will not react to their entire page, this time-- or at least my intention is to not do so --but rather, only a half of it. That way this post won’t get as too terribly bloated. ***irony rimshot ahoy***

Uuuugggh! John, can’t you tell that you’re killing yourself?!?!?! Gah!

Tin of tobacco? What, is Dad a chewer? Certainly an int--- ooohhh, it’s pipe tobacco. I see. I wonder what sort of nutritional value there is in there. (Note: That’s two toxic substances she’s been eating for some reason.)

OH MY FRICKING GOSH!!! XD

Hmm. John presents an interesting question, just after this, with regards to her getting flavors from colors. Indeed, that is very much a form of synaesthesia. That said: Yeah, I know at least chewing tobacco can do that. Not sure about flakes of the smoking variety. I know that it can poison you to death if you eat too much of it.

Oh, hey, it seems that Terezi has probably noticed John’s confused+growing feelings for her. Neat. (And yeah, that’s what you get for talking with a Mind player. :P)

So great. So great.

... I am pretty sure it has been more than a few years. I guess the time in the Furthest Ring can be really fricking weird, though, and since Terezi said he wasn’t as old-seeming as she thought he would be, maybe the four of them somehow just got insanely lucky time-ways, which is... sortof ridiculous, considering Lord English’s time powers. I guess it’s like Clover’s caveat that luck only bends so far as to not counter things that could be considered either lucky or unlucky, or neither in great amounts? (Note: Clover’s defeat by Karkat happened because Clover thought it would be him “getting lucky” and falling into a Hearts, Stars, Horseshoes relationship with him. At the same time, it was unlucky because it was him being defeated. Thus, the power is shown to not only be weak against mediocre things like being hit with something that doesn’t hurt you [the only reason LE could get hit at all, probably, with the exception of his eventual critical sword wounds as the Green Sun Black Hole’s void influence grew], but also against things that could be described as either good or bad.) LE getting opponents that are not massively crazy from being held enclosed for trillions of years without connections to the outside world could be considered lucky insofar as he has been constantly desiring and looking for real challenges for ages upon ages, at least as far as I understand things. Obviously, there’s the collective wills of all who have every been oppressed by him, and the prophesy of the Ultimate Juju being used as a weapon against him after its use by him to be considered, as well, but I think that there can logically be many sources playing into these sorts of outcomes. But yeah, I guess maybe it was seemingly eons for everyone else, but that little pocket of the Furthest Ring inexplicably only suffered a few years’ passage~

Hey, you asked for her to get real with you! Don’t complain when her sincere reactions aren’t what you’d want! XD Also: They’re totally going to run into something important while they’re not paying attention, aren’t they?

Of course she’d put them on there. It was practically like using candy to bait a trap for a baby. NOW CLICK YOUR SHOES TOGETHER THREE TIMES AND GO HOME!!!

Sortof like the fight with LE, but you got lucky and pulled a Pyrrha out of your hat.

This should remind you of the fact that you can use your retcon powers to go save Vriska. WHY DIDN’T YOU THINK OF THIS EARLIER?!?!?!!! (Honestly, with his bleed+poison, it’s almost a miracle he’s thinking this straight, so I really don’t hold it against him, truthfully. ... And yeah, self-blinded “F1X TH1S” Justice Terezi Pyrope was so fricking amazing, it’s almost unbelievable.)

***suddenly feels like I got my heart torn out and bashed against a hard surface by a time travelling robot for not remembering [S] Terezi: Remem8er. merged her memories of the two sides of the Retcanon Timelines***

Gah. This... this hurts so much. ;~;

Huh. I thought for sure Caliborn’s circle drawing had “HUGE BITCH” in the center of it, and I was going to post that in relation to the Fat Vriska/Vriska being sucked into the black hole prophesy/foreshadowing, here, but it said, “FAT UGLY WHORE.” Still somewhat relevant, but not what I was remembering, and thus not quite so connected as I’d like. I guess there’s always her intro panel:

#Homestuck Epilogues #Homestuck^2 #Homestuck Liveblog #Homestuck Spoiler #Vriska Serket #Terezi Pyrope #John Egbert #Dad Egbert #The Wallet #Green Sun Black Hole #Homestuck Theory #Thoughts #Stuff

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agentaw · 6 years

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Detroit: Become Human - Funny story...

Okay... so Story Time because my friends pointed this out and it’s been fucking with me ever since.

This is the story of how I kinda...sorta wrote/ predicted parts of DBH about...2 years ago. Just hear me out...okay?

So this all started similarly to how DBH started, with that dope-ass demo back in 2012. My 15 year old self became enthralled in it, much like I am now enthralled in the full game. I’ve always loved story telling and had a sort of soft spot for digital modelling. So that demo was a masterpiece to me, it had a great concept and beautiful design. It was a short obsession but it had an impact.

And that was the last piece of news I’d ever hear about it until a month after they released the full game. I remember hearing some rumour that they weren’t gonna make it a full game or something and left it at that. I didn’t hear anything about it’s coverage at E3 because while I like video games, I become absorbed in different obsessions from time to time.

And two years ago I was obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons, the thought of creating a whole world and having others enter it was fascinating. And while I tried to create worlds from scratch, I had a problem.

I had never been too interested in Fantasy things, I liked fantasy characters but tended to focus on too much of the political aspect of fantasy worlds and not the fun stuff like slaying dragons and stuff.

The return of an old obsession began to try and take my focus off of DnD but I wasn’t ready to let it go yet.

So I merged them, DnD didn’t have to be fantasy, I didn’t have to invent a world from scratch and luckily my old obsession had a world pre-designed. Marvel, specifically MCU had a treasure trove of lore and I could take a number of rules from DnD 5e and tweak them to suit the change in genre.

So I started off with a one shot campaign, set in a HYDRA base. My three player characters would be playing themselves and making decision based on how they’d react. They ‘woke up’ in a white plastic robot body. Singular, all three were in the same body, looking through the same eyes and rolling for control over said robot body. It was entertaining to watch them figure out what they hell was going on organically. They quickly met the first NPC an old doctor/sciencist who was a very nervous person. He explained that they’d all been loaded into the same body by accident and that he was just testing out that his creation (the body itself) was working correctly. So my players decided to answer the jumpy doctors questions and let one of them take control as the doctor got them to walk around while still connected to the computer around them by a bunch of wires connected to the back of their neck. The doctor left the room briefly (to report to his superiors) before returning and calmly explaining that he’d need to shut them down before making the rest of the bodies. Yes, this was heavily inspired by the demo but the players didn’t notice or didn’t comment on it at the time. And they genuinely really like the one-shot. So, I started writing more, growing the campaign and expanding my list of NPCs.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “wow...you ripped off the demo and think that counts as writing a whole game” but I never said I wrote the whole story, that would be mental. But as both me and my players have pointed out, there is a large number of similarities which is spooky because as i already stated I didn’t know anything about DBH until almost a month after it’s full release.

The first and most profound is Amanda. Or my Amanda, who’s called Ruth LaRue. Dr. Ruth LaRue, the trio’s psychologist/co-creator who acts pleasant (too pleasant) towards them...unless they disobey or resist their training to become Hydra Assets. One of my players is rebellious and LaRue has tried to manipulate and coldly threatened him as a result. While another obeys and gets praise and rewards as a result. Also she looks like Amanda (a character i didn’t even know existed), I originally described her as the same race, hairstyle, though slightly younger. And then I drew her (poorly) for my players to get a better idea of how she looked and Jesus Christ they look the same.

Another is the fact that I have three player characters. There was a possible fourth player but work and life made it difficult for her to be a part of the game. Also my players are two boys and one girl. And while that’s all freaky, their characters appearances/designs are extra weird. Originally, after all getting their own bodies, they all had white plastic robot bodies, all male design (which female player wasn’t happy about because she missed her boobs). The only way to tell them apart was voice and the nervous doctor had given them different coloured eyes. Creating robots came with the challenge of figuring out how their bodies worked (one player was particularly interested in this). Once again inspiration partly came from the Kara demo, the robots are a water (blue liquid) based system, a pump (heart) transports water, which is collect in bags (lungs) through the robots absorbing moisture in the air (through breathing), around the machine frame (body). The water has two purposes, to thinly coat the white plastic casing (skin), which allowed the robot to feel pressure but not texture and also to keep the pump valves going, which creates the energy the machines (players) are run on. After learning that the white plastic version could be easily broken during training, the nervous doctor created a second batch of models, this time made out of metal (female asked for a female body and therefore the doctor gave her a large dent in her chest plate, she was pleased). They then get a new model, ones that are designed to blend in with humans. And this is where this section gets super freaky. The player got no say in how they looked because in game they wouldn’t.

The female is the shortest model as well as they palest model with loads of freckles, the similarities with Kara stop there but the female player has been gifted a female kitten (thankfully named Cookie, not Alice) as the reward and is quite paranoid about it being taken off her or harmed (calm down, I haven’t hurt the cat...yet).

One of the males is only slightly more tanned than the female with considerably less freckles and markings. He’s the tallest and the player has been surprisingly obedient, only "failing” when he doesn’t understand what’s happen or doesn’t think something will benefit HYDRA. Because of this he’s been promoted to team leader by the powers that be. He’s logical and is usually thinking about training and what’s going on in the NPCs’ heads.

Lastly we have the second male who looks southern European (Spain, Italy, Greece and could probably pass as Mexican but the story is set in central Europe) so a different ethnicity/race to the other two. This is the rebellious player who generally plays pranks, cracks jokes and says “fuck you” to authority. Like I said before as a result, he tends to be the one looked down on and oppressed by the powers that be. He generally has a very clear line which he won’t cross no matter what and is willing to stand up if he views something as drastically wrong (refused to hurt his friends or pick up a gun).

Also when asked what they wanted to be called (I.e What’s your name?) The players decided to to sick to what the nice nervous doctor had designated them, i.e the colours of their eyes. Rebellious is Red. Logical is Blue and Female is Purple (name later changed to Violet).

Next is three more NPCs, who have enough in common with the DBH characters to mess with me.

The nervous doctor, Dr. Thomas Thornley, while having a completely different personality, has formed relationships like Hank. A number of the players refer to him as “Daddy Thornley”, not to his face but when talking to each other in game. And most disturbingly the rebellious player has implied on several occasions that he “ships” the logical male player with father-figure Thornley, jokingly of course. And while in the beginning Thornley may have viewed the robots as a project or experiment, he now appears quite protective and fond of them. Even displaying discomfort when one is broken or completely destroyed.

Their combat and gun trainer, Agent Woodrow who is ex-military and treats the robots exactly like you’d expect he would, like machines. He could either be Gavin or Captain Allen but either way he’s a genuine aggressor and dislikes/hates the robots.

The Head of Hydra, Director Malachi Storm who has an air of mystery around him and commands any room he enters. He’s considerable less creepy than Kamski but is an “all-knowing, all-powerful” character. Also I guess I’m technically also Elijah Kamski (a.k.a GOD) and my players pointed out that i have his sadistic, power hungry play style (thanks, guys).

Lastly is a few game mechanics and events i put in the game. The players have always been able to telepathically talk to one another, they can also transfer images to each other. If broken beyond repair (i.e Killed) they now get automatically rebuilt, similar to Connor. I made LaRue give them a morality test which was mostly the “Track dilemma” which is similar to both the driver-less car AIs and the Kamski test. I actually did the motherfucking Kamski test with one or two of my players (but with humans instead of androids lol). Also the players believe they’re alive (which technically they are). They’ve literally been give zero context as to how they are in robot bodies in the MCU, specifically they’re last memories before the start of the game are of going to sleep in their beds in the real world. They are literally three robots walking around stating that they’re alive.

And yes, I realise that Cage took shit from other movies but it have seen any of those movies so...:P

If I looked hard I could probably find more scary comparisons but a) I don’t particularly want to show all my cards, in case my players read this post, and b) I appear to have written a fucking TED talk out of what was supposed to be a short funny story.

#dbh #dbh connor #dbh kara #dbh markus #dbh hank #dbh amanda #dbh kamski #dbh everyone #custom dnd #dnd shenanigans #story time #freaky #what is life #thanks for coming to my ted talk

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Cursed Season 2: What to Expect

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This Cursed feature contains spoilers for both the Netflix series and the illustrated novel of the same name. Read our spoiler-free review of the series here.

Netflix’s Cursed puts a feminist spin on the legend of King Arthur by centering its origins around a woman – Nimue, the future Lady of the Lake. Its first season contained a little bit of everything, from romance and action to politics and magic, with a finale that featured several big character revelations and ended on a major cliffhanger. While Netflix has yet to announce a season 2 renewal for the show, it certainly feels as though Cursed has plenty of stories left to tell. After all, no one’s even referred to Nimue as the Lady of the Lake yet!

Save for a few – admittedly, very intriguing – tidbits, the bulk of Netflix’s Cursed is fairly faithful to the novel upon which it is based. Therefore, we don’t have much to go on by way of a roadmap for what the second season could look like. (That, naturally, may change in the weeks and months ahead, since it seems like a pretty safe bet that the book series will continue, regardless of whether there’s a second season of the show.) But there are a few hints to be mined from the ending of the book, and from the bones of Arthurian legend itself, that might provide us some clues.

Here are our best educated guesses for what we can expect to see in Cursed Season 2.

Nimue Survives

There’s not much fun in the idea of a second season without our leading lady, is there?

Cursed Season 2 will have to sort out precisely what’s happened to Nimue, last seen plummeting toward what may well be her death – or potential eternal supernatural imprisonment – after being shot full of arrows. This is a fantasy series, though, so no one should be really surprised when she inevitably survives. The show is very careful to never show us a body, after all, and leaves us with a final image of Nimue drifting through blood-tinged water. It’s really the how of it all that will be the question.

How Katherine Langford Shakes Up Arthurian Legend in Netflix’s Cursed

By Lacy Baugher

But we have a pretty good idea of what that will probably look like, too. The Cursed TV series ends a few moments before the novel upon which it is based does. The book not only confirms Nimue survives her fall but several other key factors as well, including what appears to be her assumption of the Lady of the Lake mantle. While in the water, Nimue can still sense the Sword of Power and vows to protect it until “a true king rises to claim it.” But instead of transforming into some sort of otherworldly being, an injured Nimue eventually washes up on the shores of the Minotaur Mountains, where she’s surrounded and taken off by a mob of the lepers that serve King Rugen. Whether he will help her or try to use her against Merlin is anyone’s guess at this point.

Merlin’s Magic Tips the Scales

Wild with grief after Nimue’s apparent death, Merlin regains the Sword of Power, reclaims his magic, and murders a bunch of Red Paladins. What’s next for the famous wizard? Probably not helping the Viking king that engineered his daughter’s murder.

Merlin originally allied with Cumber, promising him the sword in the hopes of both keeping Nimue alive and unseating King Uther. Cumber’s betrayal – joining forces with the Red Paladins and ambushing the escaping Fey – means Merlin’s now an enemy, and the only real question is whether he’ll use his newly returned magical abilities to just kill Cumber, or if he’ll decide that Uther should keep his crown as well. Whatever happens, Merlin seems set to claim his place as the real power behind the throne. And that could ultimately prove a boon to Arthur down the road.

We’ll Get to Know The Weeping Monk

The shocking revelation that the murderous Weeping Monk is Lancelot came in the first season’s final moments, leaving audiences little time to process this information. In the world of the original legends, Lancelot is kind of a big deal. He’s most widely remembered for his affair with Guinevere – which brings about the downfall of Camelot – but he’s also the greatest knight of the Round Table and a model of Christian chivalry. (The contradictions are what make it all so fun.)

One has to assume that any Cursed Season 2 would need to focus fairly heavily on turning this character – who spent most of his screen time brooding and executing complex fighting maneuvers – into an actual three-dimensional person. If the intention is that this Lancelot, who murdered a countless number of his Fey brothers and sisters, will one day become Arthur’s most trusted champion and a hero all can admire? Well. He’s certainly got a long way to go.

A Love Triangle – or Possibly Quartet? – on the Horizon

Things will probably get real messy on the relationship front pretty quickly in Season 2. While Arthur and Nimue’s love story feels like it’s barely gotten started, their connection is sweet, romantic, and seems to make them both better people. Arthur, at any rate, has certainly learned to be a leader by watching his girlfriend do it first. Yet, his last-minute meeting with a Viking woman known as the Red Spear means potentially more than a bit of trouble in paradise.

Because the Red Spear’s name is Guinevere. Yes, Cursed reimagines the most famous (and controversial) female character in Arthurian legend as a battle-hardened warrior who wants a crown for herself. Let me count the ways that I am here for this. Because although Guinevere is well known as a major player in this legend, her character is another that’s often not fleshed out terribly fully. Despite the fact that her decisions eventually bring down a kingdom, we’re given precious little idea why she makes them. So there’s something intensely appealing in an opportunity to see her get some real agency within her own story, as Nimue has.

Netflix’s Cursed Reinvents the Traditional Once and Future King

By Lacy Baugher

Because much like Nimue, Guinevere also has a destiny, and it involves a future as Arthur’s wife and Lancelot’s mistress. Given that she spent approximately five minutes fighting alongside the former and hasn’t met the latter yet, we’re clearly a ways away from that future. But speculating about how that might come to pass – and how Nimue will react upon meeting Arthur’s new lady friend – is definitely entertaining. Largely because it feels as though Cursed could go in any direction with this group, even as they’re all fighting toward the same ends.

Could We Meet the Actual Green Knight?

Putting a stake in the ground now – there’s no way that Gawain is actually dead. Sure, we did see a body this time – sort of –but in a world that’s brimming with magic? Anything’s possible.

One of the most intriguing fusions in Cursed is the decision to merge the character of Gawain, one of the most famous Knights of the Round Table, and the Green Knight, a man sent to test and challenge Gawain’s chivalry, who also happens to be literally green. (And can also withstand being beheaded.) But it seems quite likely that Gawain’s himself may become a true version of the Green Knight in Cursed, resurrected by the magic of the Fey greenery in Season 2.

There’s Probably More to the Leper King

Out of all the predictions in this list, this one feels the most outlandish. But throughout Cursed it’s difficult not to draw parallels between Ruben, king of the lepers, and the Fisher King of Holy Grail legend. In the Grail story, the Fisher King – sometimes referred to as the Maimed King or the Wounded King – is the last surviving member of the bloodline charged with guarding the famous chalice. He’s always grievously injured in some way, and usually unable to stand. Sometimes the lands of his kingdom are as blighted as his body. Various knights journey to his castle to try and heal him, but everyone fails, except for Percival (and in later versions, Galahad.)

Leper King Ruben isn’t nearly as incapacitated as the Fisher King of legend, but he is physically suffering, and he keeps a horde of ancient, magical, and/or singularly valuable items in his castle vault. Don’t be surprised if one of them turns out to be a particularly powerful cup.

The post Cursed Season 2: What to Expect appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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theonyxpath · 4 years

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Oh yes, the time has come. We are getting prepped for the Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition for Chronicles of Darkness Kickstarter on Thursday, the 6th at 2pm EST. Flashlights, arcane knowledge, talismans, Desert Eagles, stakes, silver bullets, all that kind of thing!

HtV 2e will be the last of the first edition core books needing to be updated to 2nd Edition, and we are really excited to be able to essentially add in the final piece of the Chronicles of Darkness 2e puzzle for first edition fans.

And beyond that, I’m excited because first edition was one of the two Chronicles of Darkness (back when the line was called the New World of Darkness) game lines that I green-lit as WW Creative Director and worked on from start to finish with the developers.

Not that I was involved with every day to day decision – no siree! The genius parts of Changeling: The Lost and Hunter: The Vigil were all brought to you by the incredible creative teams that put their awesome hard work into those books. No, my efforts then, and a large part my efforts still, were to set the course, determine the tone we were going for, hire the right main dev, and make sure they were onboard – and then help them bring it to fruition with that overall feeling intact.

Nameless and Accursed art by Tilen Javornik

Why, I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was sitting at my computer desk in my studio on the fringes of Philadelphia talking to newly signed-on Hunter developer Chuck Wendig…

…waaaaavvvvy liiiiinnnneeesssss…

“Chuck”, I said, because that’s his name, “You good with all the pitch notes and idea files I sent you?” He replied that he had a couple of ideas to run past me, actually. One, he was thinking of ways to give the Hunters something special. Not supernatural, but a boost in what they could do in combat with foes that will usually outmatch, or completely outmatch them.

The other was a meta way to look at the Hunter: The Vigil experience so you could comfortably, and be supported by the game if you wanted to, use HtV to play the lone hunter type, the plucky band of investigators, and the world-spanning hunters that are part of huge or wealthy or ancient organizations.

So we talked about different ways both those elements could work in the basically working-class joe sort of Hunter he was envisioning.

…waaaaavvvvvyyyy lllliiiinnnneeeesssss…

From that conversation were planted the seeds that grew into the Tactics system and the Three Tier system that Chuck did such a fantastic job of bringing to the game, and were both such an important part of what made first edition HtV stand out.

Side note: Although not involved with HtV 2e in any way, Chuck Wendig has, of course, gone onto a stellar writing career after his stint writing and developing for White Wolf over a decade ago, and has written both for brands like Star Wars, and has written his own novels, including the absolutely superb and terrifying Wanderers, which I truly can not recommend strongly enough. I read it almost non-stop for three days last summer; it is just that compelling!

Distant Worlds art by Pat McEvoy

During the time we were working on the core book, I remember doing a PowerPoint presentation during a CCP North America retreat – in fact this might have been the first one since White Wolf and CCP had merged – about the Tabletop RPGs we were making in our little division of the now-merged company.

Up until I began to explain Hunter – the new game – I got the impression that of the audience consisting of the WW crew, plus those CCPers who had moved to the US, plus new employees, that only the WW crew were responding with any real enthusiasm. There were some chuckles at the right spots, but not enough of the kind of response I was used to.

Then, I started to explain the ideas behind Hunter, and one after another, you could almost see them like flowers opening one by one as the sun hits them at dawn, the audience began to really listen. And react to the amazing Hunter art we were showing them. And laugh. And finally, at the end, it was the Icelanders from CCP that cheered the loudest when I practically yelled out that we should “Take Back The Night!”.

Helluva moment.

Now, that was the past, which sets us up for the present, which is this new, second, edition. Here’s a run-down of the book pulled from the Kickstarter page:

Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition includes all the rules you need to play a hunter in a tier-one, -two, or -three chronicle.

Chapter One: Provides an overview of a hunter’s world; the history of the hunt; the types of hunters you can play; and three, separate types of gameplay included in this book: tiers one, two, and three.

Chapter Two: Compacts and Conspiracies are specialized hunter organizations that may be used for tier-two or -three games. In this chapter, you’ll read more about Hunter lore and the history of the compacts and conspiracies, find write-ups for six compacts and six conspiracies, along with rules for tier-three Endowments and how to make them.

Chapter Three: Allows you to build and customize a character. You’ll learn how hunters retain one foot in an unsuspecting world and another in the Vigil. Plus, you’ll discover more about the Code and how it shapes hunters’ core identities and beliefs.

Chapter Four: Dives into the rules for gameplay. It also offers rules for specific aspects of Hunter that includes investigation and socializing along with teamwork and Tactics.

Chapter Five: Offers a taste of the strange and unusual monsters hunters may come across during the hunt. Sample monsters are presented according to the type of terrain from which they originate along with notes for how these creatures may be modified. Additionally, monster-creation rules, ephemeral-entity rules, and Dread Powers are found in this chapter.

Chapter Six: Takes another look at the Hunter setting by introducing where monsters live, locations the supernatural has tainted, and which places are actually monsters themselves. It offers new rules to handle each type of location, along with several examples.

Chapter Seven: Is a sample chronicle setting. Yanked from the slasher-movie genre, the Slasher Chronicle is a horror-movie-themed setting that includes a new slasher-specific compact and conspiracy, rules for building slashers, customized approaches for tier-one, -two, and -three gameplay, new Storyteller characters, and more!

Chapter Eight: Offers advice for Storytellers to help build and manage a chronicle while fleshing out rules for Storyteller characters. Additional content includes advice for creating player-facing compacts and conspiracies.

The Appendices: Provide Equipment, Conditions, and Tilts likely to come into play in Hunter.

Heroic Land Dwellers art by Brian LeBlanc

So with that lead-in, I hope you’ll check out the HtV 2e Kickstarter when it goes live Thursday. Like most of our recent KSs, we’re doing this to finish off a great hardcover traditionally printed book and then print extras to get them into stores.

And also like most of our recent KSs, backers will receive sections of the finished text throughout the KS so they can decide if what they are reading works for them. If so, that’s what we want, and if not, backers can drop their pledges before the KS campaign is over.

Basically, unlike for the Hunters, it’s a no-lose scenario for backers, so I hope we’ll see you all there!

Or if not, then in others of our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Next on Kickstarter is Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition for Chronicles of Darkness starting THIS WEEK at 2pm EST on February 6th!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features the Terrible Trio of Terrific-ness playing around with setting mashups and crossovers! Check it out direct on Podbean, or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

A heaving schedule on Twitch this week with Vampire: The Masquerade, Chronicles of Darkness, Scion, Pugmire, Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition, even more Vampire: The Masquerade, Changeling: The Lost, Changeling: The Dreaming, Mage: The Awakening, Scion, two lots of Scarred Lands, and yet another Vampire: The Masquerade game! What a bloody week.

As ever, subscribe to our channel over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath

Our YouTube channel continues filling up with content, including the Onyx Path News! This week will also see uploads of Pugmire, Changeling: The Lost, Vampire: The Masquerade, and an interview concerning Mummy: The Curse! Do stay subscribed to youtube.com/user/theonyxpath to catch the news when it comes out live!

Some new Occultists Anonymous for all you Mage: The Awakening lovers out there:

Episode 76: Fault Lines Arriving home in NYC, the cabal check to see what has happened to their shared Sanctum, then share some of what they’d found in Mexico, reaping both reward and consequences of their actions. The Consilium might make a power grab based on what the cabal has discovered… https://youtu.be/5b8gZ-Z1X14

Episode 77: Hold My Beer Wyrd the Seer and Atratus dig into the Athanaeum to find out more of this creature Wyrd has made a deal with, while Songbird speaks to Hadramiel about his future. Then the cabal meet with a vampire… https://youtu.be/hFH_p5N_sQA

The Botch Pit release their Beginner’s Guide to Promethean: The Created video regarding Flux Pandorans right here: https://youtu.be/cAc75iTtA68

Red Moon Roleplaying continue their actual play of V5 Cults of the Blood Gods, on their YouTube channel, Spotify, their website redmoonroleplaying.com and everywhere else good podcasts might be found! https://youtu.be/S58N1EZlU5s

The Story Told Podcast have commenced a new Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition actual play right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/the-78-laments-1

And in case you missed them last week, the Keeper of the Archive has assembled a triple bill for Trinity fans:

The Trinity Core: https://youtu.be/3-MkRv7z37s

ÆON: https://youtu.be/CMRBAEGnHfE

The Storypath System: https://youtu.be/RJgN6sGr0CQ

Finally, if irreverent interviews are your thing, Matthew Dawkins was interviewed by Utility Muffin Labs for the 25 Years of Vampire: The Masquerade podcast right here. It’s a bit sweary: https://utilitymuffinlabs.com/25-years-of-vampire-the-masquerade/2020/1/30/cults-of-the-blood-gods-interview-episode-153

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

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).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau 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

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero AND Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we will be releasing five different Storyteller Screen PDFs on DTRPG! Exalted 3rd Edition! Dark Eras 1! Beast! Changeling 20th! Wraith 20th!Collect them all!

Conventions!

More conventions will be listed for 2020 in the weeks to come-

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

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

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Duke Rollo fiction (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

RUST (Working Title) (Scarred Lands)

Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Redlines

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Second Draft

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

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Post-Approval Development

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Editing

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

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

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant – Rolling on this.

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars – Art is in.

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed – Just waiting for cover art.

Cults of the Blood God (KS)

Mummy 2

City of the Towered Tombs – Recontracted.

Let the Streets Run Red – Contracted.

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Contracted.

Deviant

Legendlore (KS) – Pulling assets for KS.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS) – KS finals coming in.

Scion Companion – Working on art notes for that with Meredith.

TC: Aeon Terra Firma – Getting that rolling out.

WoD: Ghost Stories – Cover contracted.

Tales of Aquatic Terror

In Layout

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds – With Travis.

Pirates of Pugmire – With Aileen.

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad – Ongoing.

Scion Mythical Denizens – In proofing but need some full page art to come in.

Contagion Chronicle – With Josh.

Vigil Watch – Getting first release ready for this month.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

Proofing

Dark Eras 2 – Backer PDF out to backers, errata ending.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Backer PDF out to backers, errata wrapping up.

VtR Spilled Blood – At WW.

Chicago Folio – Sending for WW approval.

Wraith20 Anthology – Sending Backer PDF out to KS backers this week.

At Press

V5: Chicago – Shipping to stores, scheduled to go on sale this month.

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – At fulfillment shippers.

Geist 2e Screen – At fulfillment shippers.

DR:E – At fulfillment shippers.

DRE Screen – At fulfillment shippers.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

Memento Mori – Awaiting errata for input.

Trinity Continuum: Aeon RMCs – Wrapping up errata.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Today is The Day The Music Died, when in 1959 a plane carrying The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, and Ritchie Valens crashed, killing all aboard. This was an event that gutted American Rock ‘n’ Roll and created a domino effect on US culture far beyond the music industry that I can expound on for hours, and have. So, to take my mind off of that, here are some folks that I like that were born today: Norman Rockwell, painter (1894), Shelley Berman, comedian (1925), Victor Buono, actor (1938), Blythe Danner, ethereal actress (1943), and Warwick Davis, actor in many legendary nerd films (1970).

#Onyx Path Publishing

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