Ah, the last day of June and time to sneak out a monthly update! As a reminder, 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.
Not much to note just yet, but you can learn more about the current and future plans for The World Below from Onyx Path's recent Online Gaming Convention!
Our Advent of Silt stretch goal adventure has moved to the final draft phase, while the developers and art director hammer out the illustration needs for the book. Eventually they'll have that and then figure out artist availability and production schedules and write up contracts.
Rewards Distributed to Backers
The World Below corebook PDF
At the Gates Draft Manuscript
Monster Kingdoms Draft Manuscript
Curesborne corebook PDF
Storypath Ultra Core Manual PDF
They Came From the RPG Anthology! PDF
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://buried-treasures.backerkit.com/
The June update should be posted later today, so the link may not work until this evening. 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:
As a reminder, 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 "Distributed" 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.
Let's dive in!
Pending Projects
Here's our project's "character sheet" - I'll fill in the dots as things move through the progress track and stages are completed. The editing and development teams used your feedback on the draft manuscripts during the campaign to get the "almost final" draft set up so that the team can begin working with the Art Director to figure out the art needs for the project. We're still a bit away from artists getting assigned specific pieces, but this is where they figure out how many and where the illustrations will go, and then the developer figures out what the subjects should be. After that, they'll start looking at artists availability and schedules.
While that work is happening on our main books, our Stretch Goal adventure, the Advent of Silt, has moved into Redlines. Writers have turned in their first drafts, and now the developer is sending feedback and they'll hammer it back and forth until the manuscript is in final draft form and goes to live in the hands of the developer.
We'll note the progress each month in an updated chart.
Rewards Distributed to Backers
The World Below corebook PDF
At the Gates Draft Manuscript
Monster Kingdoms Draft Manuscript
Curesborne corebook PDF
Storypath Ultra Core Manual PDF
They Came From the RPG Anthology! PDF
As detailed in our last update, the existing Add On rewards have gone out to backers. If you added any of these on to your Rewards List and haven't yet claimed them, you can find redemption codes in your Digital Rewards page on your Pledge Manager.
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://buried-treasures.backerkit.com/
A great place to learn more about pending and future Earthbane Cycle projects is Onyx Path's annual Virtual Gaming Convention! In one week, Onyx Path will be running their online convention - FRIDAY JUNE 5 to SUNDAY JUNE 7.
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:
Add On Reward Distribution - xisting PDF Rewards Going Out to Backers!
Hello Lightbringers,
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 possible - you can change it or update it right up until the books are prepping for distribution and we start locking down orders, so quite a long time away. 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://buried-treasures.backerkit.com/
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 The World Below: Delver's Guide and Secrets of Kalm and Kaos and the Stretch Goal projects.
That said, there are many rewards that are available now, as they were mostly add-ons for existing products. And now we can work on getting those out to you over the next few days.
The following Add On Rewards WillBe Distributed This Weekend:
The World Below corebook PDF
At the Gates Draft Manuscript
Mosnter Kingdoms Draft Manuscript
Curesborne corebook PDF
Storypath Ultra Core Manual PDF
They Came From the RPG Anthology! PDF
It's basically this section from our Add On menu during the campaign.
The redemption codes will come over the next few days. You'll receive an e-mail if you have any of these rewards on your rewards list, sending you to the Digital Rewards page on your Pledge Manager. The Digital Rewards page will have redemption links to add the PDF files to your DriveThru cart at $0 cost.
You may need to click the links two or three times to get them to add to the cart properly. In my experience, the first click ends up getting me to login to my DTRPG cart and I have to click the redemption link a second time while my cart is open to properly add it (in a new tab, usually). Just keep trying, you'll get there!
REWARD DISTRIBUTION
Your link to claim these digital rewards will be sent out by our BackerKit pledge manager over the next day, as noted above. 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
DRAFT MANUSCRIPTS
In addition to redemption links for these digital rewards, all backers have received a link to the compiled draft manuscripts. These links 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, these aren't new manuscripts, it's the same as the one I shared at the bottom of our previous update. From this point forward, your Digital Rewards page in your Pledge Manager will be the place to access the manuscripts.
MONTHLY UPDATES
With the Pledge Manager up and running, in May I'll have our first "regular" 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.
That's for the end of next month, though. For now, enjoy your Add On rewards!
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.
LAUNCHING TODAY
The lightning-fast crowdfunder for physical versions of the Curseborne Jumpstart starts tomorrow! It’s bigger than our usual jumpstarts, giving you everything you need to play a slice of Curseborne with The Wolf You Feed, an introductory adventure which follows an investigation into the disappearance of Rosa Rivers (which can also be used for Curseborne if you have the full rulebook). Also, if you loved the five iconic characters from the Curseborne Ashcan, the jumpstart will have updated and expanded versions of those characters in beautiful spreads with all the information players need.
We finished up the Crowdfunding portion of our campaign just about four weeks ago with a successful run, adding many backers and a few fun stretch goals. 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 SurveysComing Soon
CompiledDraft Manuscript (available in BackerKit Digital Rewards)
ComingNext
BACKER SURVEYS
Over the next handfulof days (April 14 - April 17), you’ll receive an email from Onyx Path (via [email protected]) 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 and purchase add-on items if you like. You don’t have access to this survey link yet, but it will be available laterthis 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 prepped for backer distribution.
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://buried-treasures.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've been mostly in a zombie state over the pst few weeks, and 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.
Whenyou 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 by clicking your Pledge Level title
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 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 double book pledge instead of a single title 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 GETSTARTED 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, The World Below corebook PDF, the Storypath Ultra Core Manual PDF, the Curseborne corebook PDF, and They Came From the RPG Anthology PDF, as well as the draft manuscripts for the still-in-progress At The Gates and Monster Kingdoms). Those will likely be coming to you by the start of next week, 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 1-3 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 Payment Information (if needed)
I will post an update at next week as I begin outlining the delivery of our first Add On rewards (the existing title PDFs, as noted above) and beginning distribution of those PDF rewards.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT
Now that the crowdfunding campaign is finished, I've taken all of the Draft Manuscript previews for each book and smashed them together into one compiled version (per book). In your BackerKit digital rewards page, you will have access to the compiled draft manuscript. It won't be different from the info shared during the campaign, just transformed into a more convenient form. 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.
For now, there's a link for those compiled versions at the bottom of this update post (when viewed on the BackerKit site), but the plan is to have the download links sit alongside your other rewards on the Pledge Manager's Digital Reward Page.
I will talk about how to access your BackerKit digital rewards links in an update coming next week, when I send out the first wave of available rewards.
COMING NEXT
On Monday or Tuesday, I'll send an update with details about the distribution for that first wave of existing digital rewards. I'll also get the compiled draft manuscript up and ready for you to download from your Pledge Manager page (though you can download it now from this page, as noted above).
At the end of May we'll 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.
As the Kaos Storm subsides and we prepare for our next Kalm Season, it's time to take stock of our recent endeavor and see what we've found.
That is to say... thanks to the support of nearly 300 World Below backers, Onyx Path will be able to develop the PDF and Print-on-Demand hardcover versions of The World Below: Delver's Guide and The World Below: Secrets of Kalm and Kaos!
There's more to celebrate! Not only did we fund the project on the first day, we unlocked FIVE Stretch Goals over the campaign. That's right - we unlocked our final stretch goal target today, in the final hours of this campaign!
.
At $10,000 in Funding - THE ADVENT OF THE SILT
THE ADVENT OF THE SILT - The team will create a West Marches-style adventure for The World Below, focused on exploration and cave delving. A PDF version of The Advent of Silt will be added as a bonus reward to all backers receiving either the Delver's Guide PDF or the Secrets of Kalm and Kaos PDF as part of their pledge rewards.
At $13,000 in Funding - WORLD BELOW SHIRT ON REDBUBBLE
WORLD BELOW SHIRT DESIGN - A new World Below shirt design will be made available on Onyx Path's Redbubble sore for a limited time only. Backers will be notified when this design becomes available.
At $14,000 in Funding - WORLD BELOW DIGITAL WALLPAPER
WORLD BELOW DIGITAL WALLPAPER - All backers supporting this project will receive a digital wallpaper for their computer desktop featuring artwork from the Delver's Guide or Secrets of Kalm and Kaos books.
At $15,000 in Funding - THE ADVENT OFTHE SILT EXPANDED
THE ADVENT OF THE SILT - The adventure scenario will be expanded to include opportunities for base building and resource hunting. A PDF version of The Advent of Silt will be added as a bonus reward to all backers receiving either the Delver's Guide PDF or the Secrets of Kalm and Kaos PDF as part of their pledge rewards.
At $16,000 in Funding - STREAMING OVERLAY
WORLD BELOW STREAMING OVERLAY - A set of overlays for your online game will be created, for your use when streaming your World Below session. This reward will be added to the rewards list for all backers.
So a huge congratulations to Matthew and the 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 excited and delighted about having nearly 300 backers join in to support this quirky, odd, and amazing game. The World Below has such a personality, such a vibe, and I really dig it, if you'll parden the pun.
COMMUNICATION
So, as noted in today's earlier update, starting in April 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 take some time to unwind and clean up my desk!
I'll also see if I can sneak a compiled draft manuscripts out to you maybe by the first weekend in April. Nothing changed, just smashed together in order.
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:
Welcome to the final hours of this campaign! We've had a fun run - funding the books, reading the manuscripts for The Delver's Guide and Secrets of Kalm and Kaos, building our community, and unlocking almost all of the Stretch Goals!
In these final hours, we're tip-toeing up to our final goal, which we just posted yesterday.
At $16,000 in Funding - STREAMING OVERLAY
WORLD BELOW STREAMING OVERLAY - A set of overlays for your online game will be created, for your use when streaming your World Below session. This reward will be added to the rewards list for all backers.
When I shared this yesterday, I thought it was gonna be a tough stretch - possible, but difficult. But we're *this close* to unlocking this before the end!
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 these amazing books!
FINAL DAY CHECKLIST
Whether you're just setting out for to gather food or a seasoned bug-tamer returning from selling your wares, these are some good topics to review over these final hours...
1. KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SUPPORTING
These sourcebooks expand the options and setting for The World Below roleplaying game. Matthew Dawkins has shared many videos about the new content on his Gentleman Gamer channel, so you can absolutely get the vibe of this quirky and amazing game.
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 main reward offered in this campaign is, of course, the main goal of the entire proposition: the finished PDFs and a discounted Print-on-Demand hardcover for The World Below Delver's Guide and Secrets of Kalm and Kaos. The first decision you need to make is whether you're just looking to add the mostly character-focused Delver's Guide, or the Setting and Storyguide-supporting Secrets of Kalm and Kaos, or make it a two-book reward pledge and get both?
With that decision in mind, we've got three key reward tiers to choose from:
LANTERN IN THE DARKNESS
This is the pledge path to select if you're only interested in The World Below: Delver's Guide book. 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 and be able to download at your leisure. In addition, you will get a special code to order the discounted Print-on-Demand hardcover version as part of your pledge reward.
LORE OF THE LABYRINTH
This is the pledge path to select if you're only interested in The World Below: Secrets of Kalm and Kaos book. 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 and be able to download at your leisure. In addition, you will get a special code to order the discounted Print-on-Demand hardcover version as part of your pledge reward
PATHS THROUGH THE VAST UNDERGROUND
This amazing reward tier includes both The Delver's Guide PDF and the Secrets of Kalm and Kaos PDF, along special discount codes to order each of these rewards as Print-on-Demand books.
And another key option:
KALM SEASON
Not ready to commit, or just looking to offer general support? This pledge role is for you. This does not include any of our primary rewards, but allows you to select some digital optional Add Ons, as well as participating in the post-campaign Pledge Manager as a backer. You'll also be able to read the draft manuscripts of The Delver's Guide and Secrets of Kalm and Kaos that we post throughout this campaign.
ADD-ON OPTIONS - The other half of our Reward Tiers update, including information on the second step of pledging. There are a few Add On options that you can add as part of your pledging process, including the World Below corebook as well as pre-ordering the other Earthane Cycle game corebooks, At the Gates PDF and Monster Kingdoms PDF. Since these is still in the pre-order phase, you'll get the draft manuscript for those until the Backer PDF becomes available. Other games using the Storypath Ultra system are also avaialble to add on in PDF form.
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 theaffordabilityof the pledge at this moment!
Be Financially Responsible
I'm going to speak against my own self-interest for a moment, and repeat something I say at the end of every campaign - 2026 has been pretty wild so far, and there's even more uncertainty ahead. Ensure that your circumstances enable you 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 right 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
Readthe Manuscripts and Make Sure You Know What You're Getting
Be Aware of the Projected Delivery Date (Onyx Path will try to deliver earlier than this, but these two books will take some time to get perfect, and we're dealing with an imperfect world. Schedules sometimes go awry)
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 March 19th at 2:00 PM Eastern 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 planned? Who knows, but we'll find out together! Kaos Storm Protocol!
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 the first week of April, 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 schedules, 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 before May 2026.
During the Survey period, you can choose to increase your reward tier and add on additional options. If you've found $20 in your spring coat or found an alternate income source and decide it's time to trade up to include both books 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 distribute the backer PDFs. 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.
I'll also use the Survey to confirm 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 World Below core rulebook PDF, and the At the Gates and Monster Kingdoms draft manuscripts, plus the other Storypath Ultra games (including Curseborne!). 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 May. 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 PDFs of The World Below: Delver's Guide and The World Below: Secrets of Kalm and Kaos. I don't think they'll be done at the exact same time, so we'll likely see one a few months before the other. 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 versions of the PDFs available in your DriveThruRPG digital library and then begin creating print-ready files for the Print-on-Demand 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!
Tomorrow, we kick off our final week countdown. This campaign finishes up next Thursday, March 19th at 2:00 PM EDT. We'll have one final manuscript preview section out for backers next Tuesday, the chapter with our adventure scenario for Secrets of Kalm and Kaos. But we're gonna jump to the end of the book today and I'll share the three Appendicies from the book.
As mentioned when we had our Appendix section from the World Below Delver's Guide, these aren't just mere lists but contain a ton of ideas, plot seeds, challenges, and jumping off points for your stories in the World Below. There's great stuff here, so dig in!
Draft Manuscript Previews
Over the course of this campaign, backers will receive the entire current draft manuscript for The World Below: Delver's Guide and The World Below: Secrets of Kalm and Kaos, but it's not going to come to you all in one go. The previews will come out in mangeable sections throughout the campaign. This helps me seem interesting over these 30 days, 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: <TWB Buried Treasures Feedback Form>
You can use this Feedback Form to shrea your thoughts directly with the World Below developers and help guide them through the next rounds of development and editing.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT PREVIEWS - BACKERS ONLY
Remember, thanks to BackerKit sorcery, 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 "Reply to this Update" or "Learn More" button on the bottom and I'll see you below this title treatment.
Ready to get into our second chapter from the Secrets of Kalm and Kaos today? Some treasures get unearthed today!
THE WORLD BELOW REDDIT AMA COMING ON FRIDAY
I'll mention this again in our next manuscript preview drop (which comes on Firday, coincidentally), but if you've got Questions, the crew have some answers and will be running an Ask Me Anything session this Friday starting at NOON Eastern Time in the Onyx Path subreddit.
If you've got questions and won't be around to throw them into Reddit, feel free to leave them below and I'll pass them along!
Draft Manuscript Previews
Over the course of this campaign, backers will receive the entire current draft manuscript for The World Below: Delver's Guide and The World Below: Secrets of Kalm and Kaos, but it's not going to come to you all in one go. The previews will come out in mangeable sections throughout the campaign. This helps me seem interesting over these 30 days, 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: <TWB Buried Treasures Feedback Form>
You can use this Feedback Form to shrea your thoughts directly with the World Below developers and help guide them through the next rounds of development and editing.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT PREVIEWS - BACKERS ONLY
Remember, thanks to BackerKit sorcery, 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 "Reply to this Update" or "Learn More" button on the bottom and I'll see you below this title treatment.
A brief reprieve between storms in my area means it's time to dig deeper into the World Below with the next section from the Delver's Guide draft manuscript. We're going to get more options for our characters, as well as some new tools to add to help our chances for survival in the great test that is The World Below.
First up, though, let's celebrate!
STRETCH GOAL UNLOCKED
ACHIEVED! - At $10,000 in Funding - THE ADVENT OF THE SILT
THE ADVENT OF THE SILT - The team will create a West Marches-style adventure for The World Below, focused on exploration and cave delving. A PDF version of The Advent of Silt will be added as a bonus reward to all backers receiving either the Delver's Guide PDF or the Secrets of Kalm and Kaos PDF as part of their pledge rewards.
We'll get back to the Advent of the Silt adventure and hopefully expand it before the end, but let's set up our next two Stretch Goals. These may be pretty familiar to frequent Onyx Path supporters. A couple of milestone markers to help us keep our pace and celebrate as we move forward with the project.
At $13,000 in Funding - WORLD BELOW SHIRT ON REDBUBBLE
WORLD BELOW SHIRT DESIGN - A new World Below shirt design will be made available on Onyx Path's Redbubble sore for a limited time only. Backers will be notified when this design becomes available.
At $14,000 in Funding - WORLD BELOW DIGITAL WALLPAPER
WORLD BELOW DIGITAL WALLPAPER - All backers supporting this project will receive a digital wallpaper for their computer desktop featuring artwork from the Delver's Guide or Secrets of Kalm and Kaos books.
Draft Manuscript Previews
Over the course of this campaign, backers will receive the entire current draft manuscript for The World Below: Delver's Guide and The World Below: Secrets of Kalm and Kaos, but it's not going to come to you all in one go. The previews will come out in mangeable sections throughout the campaign. This helps me seem interesting over these 30 days, 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: <TWB Buried Treasures Feedback Form>
You can use this Feedback Form to shrea your thoughts directly with the World Below developers and help guide them through the next rounds of development and editing.
Digital and Print-on-Demand Rewards
We know times are hard these days, particularly with rising costs and economic uncertainty, so we’ve designed this crowdfunder to be as painless as possible. We offer a wide variety of digital options for backing, as well as leveraging print-on-demand technology to have physical products printed as close to you as possible to cut down shipping and reduce tariff concerns - and avoid some of the manufacturing delays that have delayed other campaigns.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT PREVIEWS - BACKERS ONLY
Remember, thanks to BackerKit sorcery, 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 "Reply to this Update" or "Learn More" button on the bottom and I'll see you below this title treatment.
Ah, the last day of June and time to sneak out a monthly update! As a reminder, 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.
Not much to note just yet, but you can learn more about the current and future plans for The World Below from Onyx Path's recent Online Gaming Convention!
Our Advent of Silt stretch goal adventure has moved to the final draft phase, while the developers and art director hammer out the illustration needs for the book. Eventually they'll have that and then figure out artist availability and production schedules and write up contracts.
Rewards Distributed to Backers
The World Below corebook PDF
At the Gates Draft Manuscript
Monster Kingdoms Draft Manuscript
Curesborne corebook PDF
Storypath Ultra Core Manual PDF
They Came From the RPG Anthology! PDF
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://buried-treasures.backerkit.com/
The June update should be posted later today, so the link may not work until this evening. 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:
As a reminder, 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 "Distributed" 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.
Let's dive in!
Pending Projects
Here's our project's "character sheet" - I'll fill in the dots as things move through the progress track and stages are completed. The editing and development teams used your feedback on the draft manuscripts during the campaign to get the "almost final" draft set up so that the team can begin working with the Art Director to figure out the art needs for the project. We're still a bit away from artists getting assigned specific pieces, but this is where they figure out how many and where the illustrations will go, and then the developer figures out what the subjects should be. After that, they'll start looking at artists availability and schedules.
While that work is happening on our main books, our Stretch Goal adventure, the Advent of Silt, has moved into Redlines. Writers have turned in their first drafts, and now the developer is sending feedback and they'll hammer it back and forth until the manuscript is in final draft form and goes to live in the hands of the developer.
We'll note the progress each month in an updated chart.
Rewards Distributed to Backers
The World Below corebook PDF
At the Gates Draft Manuscript
Monster Kingdoms Draft Manuscript
Curesborne corebook PDF
Storypath Ultra Core Manual PDF
They Came From the RPG Anthology! PDF
As detailed in our last update, the existing Add On rewards have gone out to backers. If you added any of these on to your Rewards List and haven't yet claimed them, you can find redemption codes in your Digital Rewards page on your Pledge Manager.
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://buried-treasures.backerkit.com/
A great place to learn more about pending and future Earthbane Cycle projects is Onyx Path's annual Virtual Gaming Convention! In one week, Onyx Path will be running their online convention - FRIDAY JUNE 5 to SUNDAY JUNE 7.
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:
