Hello Monsters,
While our main book works through the Art Direction process, one of our Stretch Goal supplements - the Mosnter Kingdoms jumpstart - has finished up in drafts...
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James Bell
about 1 month ago
January 2026 Monthly Update
Hello Monsters,
Our main reward, the Monster Kingdoms core rulebook, has just tiptoed into the first stages of production. Now that the manuscript has gone through a final d...
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James Bell
2 months ago
December 2025 Update
Hello Monsters,
I'm taking a quick break in the middle of my holiday vacation to get out our last update of 2025. As a reminder, I'll be posting these updates once a month, ...
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James Bell
3 months ago
November 2025 Monthly Update
Hello Monsters,
It's time for our regular monthly check in. As a reminder, I'll be posting these updates once a month, just to check in on the various projects from the Crow...
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0
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James Bell
4 months ago
Reward Distribution - Existing PDF and Draft Manuscript Rewards Going Out to Backers!
Hello Monsters,
It's been about 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...
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James Bell
4 months ago
Pledge Manager Surveys Coming This Week!
Hello Monsters
Welcome to the final days of October and the first update for this next phase of the project.
We finished up the Crowdfunding portion of our campaign just ov...
A pretty exciting day today! It's a big chapter, one I've been eager for since the beginning and even more so since our Paths chapter last week.
All beings within the world of Monster Kingdoms possess a unique combination of powers, abilities, and advantages called edges, sceptres, and crowns. This chapter will break down each of the talent categories, their requirements, and what each one does within the world. These benefits can be as simple as granting an Enhancement or as complicated as granting access to unique abilities, status effects, Complications, and Tricks with their use.
Before we get to our download for today, a few bits of business.
We've unlocked our third Stretch Goal of the campaign! An Onyx Path classic...
Achieved! - At $32,000 - BACKER SHIRT DESIGN
BACKER SHIRT DESIGN - A Monster Kingdoms-themed Backer shirt will be hosted on Onyx Path’s Redbubble store for a limited time. Backers will be notified when the shirt becomes available for purchase.
So, our next target...
At $35,000 - JUMPSTART PDF
MONSTER KINGDOMS JUMPSTART PDF - A basic rules overview and a starting scenario will be added to the Ready-Made Characters PDF, expanding it to a full Monster Kingdoms Jumpstart PDF supplement. Everything you need to kick off your own story in the Monster Kingdoms in one PDF that will be added to the rewards list of all backers receiving the Monster Kingdoms PDF as one of their rewards.
CHARACTER SHEET
Since we're in the character building portion of the game, it's not a bad idea to have a character sheet to start scribbling down your ideas and choices! One of the writers on the game, Chris Jones, has put together this awesome character sheet for you to use when you pick your paths!
Over the course of this campaign, backers will receive the entire current draft manuscript for Monster Kingdoms, but it's not going to come to you all in one go. The previews will come out in monster-sized sections throughout the campaign. This helps me seem interesting over the next several weeks, but it's more about guiding the conversation and helping steer feedback for the developers.
Because they want your feedback! These manuscript previews are of the current draft manuscript – the document in its latest, approved form. This may not be the final form after editing and any additional development, but you can consider it about 95% finished, so keep that in mind.
In fact, you can help guide the team through the next stages of development by providing feedback on these manuscript previews! The Onyx Path team has set up a special Feedback Form just for campaign backers for this very purpose: https://forms.gle/TpaaPsUqJ79zD1kE6
You can use this Feedback Form to share your thoughts directly with the Monster Kingdoms creative team to help guide them through the next rounds of development and editing.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT PREVIEWS - BACKERS ONLY
Remember, thanks to BackerKit magic, these download links are visible to Backers only - you must be logged in and reading this on the website to have access to the manuscript preview links. So, if you're reading this via e-mail, click that "Learn More" link on the bottom and I'll see you below the banner.
We're bouncing around the draft manuscript again today, jumping way into the end with Appendix II. This is a quick but stuffed section that covers Expansion and Consolidation regarding troops you may acquire in the game.
Legions of gauntlets flock to the banner of strong warriors. Once these despots have filled their ranks, stuffed their coffers, and left their names on the quivering lips of the terrified masses, it’s time to take stock of their victories from the relative safety of the underground. Dungeons act as fortresses for the aspiring warlord, balancing security for their conquests with an external sign of their ever-growing power.
Expansion places a regiment of (mostly) loyal mercs under the squad’s direct control. The army’s theirs to command in any way they see fit, and as the squad cuts through the terrain to ensure its infamy is well justified, the army picks up the scraps, keeps the locals in line, and maintains the legend. This rampaging regiment takes anything their masters desire, repurposing and reconfiguring whatever they find into something useful for an army. Akin to a swarm of locusts, the regiment leaves behind only that which they’ve no use for: blackmail material, valuable materials, fighters and skilled workers are all targeted equally, for the regiment is nothing if not resourceful.
Consolidation inevitably follows. Once the regiment’s taken everything and everyone they can carry, the dungeon provides a place of respite, a place to return to and count your coin, craft your wonders, and ensure no one can do to you what you’ve done to them. Machines of war are constructed, making way for expansion on an even grander scale.
Some quick things to note before we get into the manuscript.
Shipping Costs will be Collected in the Pledge Manager
First up, it's amazingly expensive to ship, especially from Onyx Path's home base in the US. And that's as of today - we're all in the dark about how things will look in 2 years. We get that, but there's not much we can do at this time. Onyx Path is in a difficult space where the company is big enough that they're not saving money by fulfilling out of Rich's garage, but small enough that they haven't been able to set up ongoing international partners to handle portions of the fulfillment. So we are where we are - for now.
The best we can do at this point is to plan carefully, advise everyone up front that shipping will likely be expensive (see our projections on the main page) and only charge what it costs us when the time comes. We’ll be charging for shipping in the Pledge Manager once the books are being printed and we can deal with the actual shipping charges rather than using our best-guesses this far out. If you aren't sure you want one of the hardcover editions, you can pledge to the PDF tier now and upgrade your pledge in the Pledge Manager once we know the final shipping costs.
Draft Manuscript Previews
Over the course of this campaign, backers will receive the entire current draft manuscript for Monster Kingdoms, but it's not going to come to you all in one go. The previews will come out in monster-sized sections throughout the campaign. This helps me seem interesting over the next several weeks, but it's more about guiding the conversation and helping steer feedback for the developers.
Because they want your feedback! These manuscript previews are of the current draft manuscript – the document in its latest, approved form. This may not be the final form after editing and any additional development, but you can consider it about 95% finished, so keep that in mind.
In fact, you can help guide the team through the next stages of development by providing feedback on these manuscript previews! The Onyx Path team has set up a special Feedback Form just for campaign backers for this very purpose: https://forms.gle/TpaaPsUqJ79zD1kE6
You can use this Feedback Form to share your thoughts directly with the Monster Kingdoms creative team to help guide them through the next rounds of development and editing.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT PREVIEWS - BACKERS ONLY
Remember, thanks to BackerKit magic, these download links are visible to Backers only - you must be logged in and reading this on the website to have access to the manuscript preview links. So, if you're reading this via e-mail, click that "Learn More" link on the bottom and I'll see you below the banner.
While our main book works through the Art Direction process, one of our Stretch Goal supplements - the Mosnter Kingdoms jumpstart - has finished up in drafts and is now in development, where the Developer hammers all the pieces together to make it into a cohesive whole. Incremental progress, and a few dots filled in.
Let's get to our monthly review!
Pending Projects
REWARDS DISTRIBUTED TO BACKERS
The World Below Core Rulebook PDF (Nov 6 '25 Update)
At the Gates Draft Manuscript (Nov 6 '25 Update)
Pledge Manager
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://monster-kingdoms.backerkit.com/
Even as we're mostly playing with the draft manuscript, Onyx Path is introducing new support for the Storypath Ultra system in general each month. These can easily be added to your Earthbane Cycle games or any game using the SPU system.
This Storypath Ultra Tasty Bit introduces traps for use with the Storypath Ultra Core Manual or any game using the Storypath Ultra system.
Traps are a natural fit for action-adventure scenes, endangering the protagonists without needing to directly confront their enemies. The characters may also set traps of their own to even the odds against a superior foe in pursuit. Regardless of who’s wielding them, traps ensure the environment’s perilous to any who tread carelessly.
Troublesome Traps includes:
Rules for setting and disarming traps
Expanded crafting rules for traps
New trap tags, Edges, and Area and Status Effects
Thirteen trap elements to inspire you
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: <January 2026 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.
Remember: You can use the links at the bottom of this e-mail to unsubscribe from updates or Manage your notification settings. These status updates are available on the campaign page for you to review at any time.
ONYX PATH DISCUSSION CHANNELS
If you've got questions about the rules or setting, or just want to discuss this game with other fans (as well as the Onyx Path writers and developers!), you can check out these Onyx Path discussion zones:
If you've got a question about your pledge or BackerKit page or any part of the process, you can contact me with any of these methods
Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
CURRENTLY CROWDFUNDING!
The World Below: Buried Treasures
As you know, The World Below is a game of adversity, heroism, terror, and awe. Your characters will overcome or be defeated by terrible beasts, environmental calamities, and Kaos storms ravaging their surroundings and the souls they encounter. They will chart their journeys, chronicle their tales, and pass their stories down to their descendants, who will, in turn, become your characters when your old ones perish or retire.
Now, two new books will let you delve deeper into The World Below and illuminate some of the darkness!
The Delver’s Guide is a Player's Manual for The World Below.
Delvers may be brave, but that doesn’t mean they don’t require help once in a while. That’s what this guide is: help for all delvers, explorers, and survivors in the World Below. New Callings and weapons, new Dialectics and powers, a new scenario and fresh rules for crafting and harvesting, and much, much more await within, so every delver can feel properly equipped for the adventures ahead.
Secrets of Kalm and Kaos is a Storyguide’s Handbook for The World Below.
There are hundreds of tales to tell of the World Below. From stories of adventurers braving Kaos storms to intrepid explorers who throw themselves into the dreamlike Obscura or harrowing Abyss. From chronicles of settlements rising and falling to those of bold delvers who go so far as to tame the beasts of their realm and call them pets. New playable options, new powers, new rules for Kalm, machinery, monstrous mounts, and more besides await within.
Our main reward, the Monster Kingdoms core rulebook, has just tiptoed into the first stages of production. Now that the manuscript has gone through a final development pass (though, it's never really finished until it's printed), preliminary work in Art Direction has begun. The Developer and Art Director are figuring out the artwork needs for the book, both in general and then specific illustrations, and then seeing how those needs can line up with artist's styles, abilities, and availability before figuring out contracts and getting the illustrations rolling.
So, we've got a bit to wait for our backer PDF still, but I'll be tracking progress each month in these regular updates.
I know many groups have been playing with the draft version of the manuscript while we wait. If that's the case - or you want to prep for the future - I have new rules that you can incorporate into your game right now!
This Storypath Ultra Tasty Bit introduces two new kinds of antagonists for use with the Storypath Ultra Core Manual or any game using the Storypath Ultra system.
Giants are characters, creatures, or artificial constructs operating on a scale where meaningful, direct interaction with human-sized creatures is possible, while titanic-scale creatures are beings so immense that human-sized creatures are unable to interact directly with them in any meaningful way.
Massive Monsters includes:
Four new antagonists ready to drop directly into your Storypath Ultra game
Two new antagonist types: Giants and Titanic-Scale Creatures
New Antagonist qualities
New Area Effects
Onyx Path will be releasing Storypath Ultra Tasty Bits all year - bite-sized rules & tools that you can drop into your Storypath Ultra system games with ease.
Now let's get to our regular check in...
Pending Projects
While our main book moves into Art Direction, our jumpstart supplement unlocked via Stretch Goal achievement is in redlines, where the developer provides the writers with direction to take the manuscript to a final draft before further development happens.
REWARDS DISTRIBUTED TO BACKERS
The World Below Core Rulebook PDF (Nov 6 '25 Update)
At the Gates Draft Manuscript (Nov 6 '25 Update)
Pledge Manager
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://monster-kingdoms.backerkit.com/
You can read Onyx Path's most recent monthly summary, covering all projects and their status up to that point here: <December 2025 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
You may be able to get further insight and possibly some in-depth conversation at these Onyx Path discussion zones:
I'm taking a quick break in the middle of my holiday vacation to get out our last update of 2025. As a reminder, I'll be posting these updates once a month, just to check in on the various projects from the Crowdfunding campaign and make sure we're all in the loop and on the same page. For many months, they'll be pretty boring - just a note that the Onyx Path team are "still working on it" and we'll see only incremental progress. Still, I find it's better to touch base once a month even if we don't have any big news than to wait in silence while we all wonder what's going on.
So let's get to it!
Pledge Manager
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://monster-kingdoms.backerkit.com/
While our main book is finishing up in final development before heading to preliminary art direction in the new year, there has been a bunch of advancement on our jumpstart stretch goal. The writer has turned in a first draft and now the developer is providing redlines - feedback and corrections needed to move this towards a final draft. Many more dots to fill in for 2026, and I'll continue with our monthly updates so we can all track it as it goes.
REWARDS DISTRIBUTED TO BACKERS
The World Below Core Rulebook PDF (Nov 6 '25 Update)
At the Gates Draft Manuscript (Nov 6 '25 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: <November 2025 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
You may be able to get further insight and possibly some in-depth conversation at these Onyx Path discussion zones:
