Hello Players!

With so much to read in the draft manuscripts, I'd sort of lost track as to how long we've been running this campaign, but we're already finishing up our third week! And with that, it's time to start our Final Week Countdown!

Over the next week I'll be sharing a handful of instruction and review-type posts about Reward Tiers & Add Ons, Stretch Goal reviews, and What Comes Next, so if you've got any process questions or are wondering about how the Crowdfunding steps work, I'm hoping to clarify any remaining questions before we finish. Of course, if you're still wondering about something, please ask and I'll help as best I can.

We've got a brand new Time Extension Charm and we may be able to manipulate our planned finish line a bit. We're going to try and unleash our Exalted power when we get to the big finale! It's called "OVERTIME MODE" and it allows us to keep the campaign rolling as long as backers are pledging.

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 April 24th at 2:00 pm Eeastern Time, 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! Exalted indeed!

I know, this is something I've already said many times (and seem to say during every project!), but for this final week, you are officially an Exalted: Essence Emissary for the Player's Guide and this Crowdfunding project. It's time to share your excitement for the Exalted: Essence Player's Guide! Basically, we want to recruit as many curious backers as possible to see how long we can keep our Backer Train running over this final week.

I know I've ended many update posts with "Keep spreading the word! Invite others to join in!" - but what does that mean, and how do you do it?

Easy answer - don't stop talking about the XSPG until 2:01 PM Eastern next Thursday April 24th  (and then as long as we continue running in Overtime Mode). Yes, family and friends are tired of me talking about it. But what else have I got to talk about? Chocolate Eggs? And -  they've learned to tolerate me during a crowdfunding campaign. But here's the thing - there are others around who haven't heard or don't know about the campaign.

There are many, many Onyx Path and Exalted: Essence fans who haven't yet heard about this campaign and would love to join in. We're right in the middle of a very busy season - tons of different things competing for our attention and changing schedules and spring weather - so it's not surprising that new backers are just finding out about the campaign every day. If you have an opportunity to let someone know, please do and let's make sure they have a chance to join in before the end.

Onyx Path does their best to let everyone know about their projects through their social media, streams, youtube videos, and on their webpage, but I still get fans contacting me affer every campaign saying they just missed out! And even though you will be able to pre-order the book through the Pledge Manager later, late backers won't be able to Add On the Essence Extended Companion that we've built via Stretch Goal achievement to their pre-order items.

So, let's help out our awesome Exalted fans and make sure that we've spread the word as best we can and everyone has an opportunity to participate in this campaign!

If you're inviting new backers, or if you are a new backer (hi new backers!), here are a few key resources to be aware of for this campaign.

Backers are able to review the (soon-to-be) complete manuscript for this book before the campaign closes and any pledges are processed. With the exception of the Liminals chapter coming on Tuesday, the entirety of the rules and options from this book are available for download and review by backers. That's a massive pile of Charms, Milestones, and advice for 9 different kinds of Exalted!

Anyone who pledges to this campaign before the end can read the entire book now AND provide feedback directly to the developers to help guide the manuscript through the final phases of development and editing!

And, if you join now, as I've noted, we'll be posting the final chapter of the book next week before we reach the finish line. This final chapter is all about the Liminals, those Exalted brought back from the grave - sort of.

Last week, many members of the Onyx Path team dropped by Reddit to answer your questions about Exalted and other gamelines. Lots of bits and pieces discussed, many attempts to find out about future plans and projects, a great desire for Paradox to approve more Onyx Path book ideas, and other general fun.

You can check out the questions and answers <here>

The Discord is particularly lively, but you might be able to gain further insight and some in-depth conversation at any of these Onyx Path discussion zones:

1) Don't forget to share a link to the Crowdfunding page in any discussion you have (where appropriate) - and feel free to pass any of the long list of links above to those who may need more info (or, just point them to this post!)

2) Don't forget to tell us about any post or review or discussion you write! Come to the comments section and let us know so we can all go and contribute! Like the discussions going on at RPG.net. I know I keep saying it, but really - these last days are key. Keep the enthusiasm high and keep on inviting others to join in, either directly ("Come see...") or just by setting an example of your enthusiasm and interest.

I'm really interested to see if we can get a backer train going at the end of the campaign and wondering if we can keep rolling for another 10 or 20 minutes past our set end time!

We've got one week to go, everyone! Thank you all so much for your support! We work together because it's the right thing to do, and because backers make it better! Let's finish strong! And let's continue exploring this Player's Guide together, sharing our feedback with the writers and delving into the draft manuscript, and let's see if we can't get another Stretch Goal before we review next Wednesday!