project-image

Monster Kingdoms

Created by Onyx Path

A fantasy TTRPG world where the monsters we fear are the rulers, and we are the monsters.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Reward Distribution - Existing PDF and Draft Manuscript Rewards Going Out to Backers!
5 months ago – Thu, Nov 06, 2025 at 07:44:50 AM

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 possible - you can change it or update it right up until the books are laid out and we're getting ready to send your redemption links. 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://monster-kingdoms.backerkit.com/



DIGITAL REWARD DISTRIBUTION

Many of the rewards for our Crowdfunding projects take a lot of time and effort to complete. Usually, the campaign is a means of moving the project from an idea (even when it's a mostly-fully-written idea) into the actual channel that turns it into a project/product. It'll be a while before we're ready to talk about delivery of Monster Kingdoms and the Stretch Goal projects.

That said, there is one reward that is available now, and a draft manuscript that you may receive while we wait for the backer PDF on the other. And now we can work on getting those out to you over the next few days.

The following Add On Rewards Will Be Distributed This Week:

  • The World Below Core Rulebook PDF
  • At the Gates Draft Manuscript

It's basically the non-Monster Kingdoms options from our Add On menu during the campaign.

The redemption codes will come out over the next week. 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 links to add the PDF files to your DriveThru cart at $0 cost.


REWARD DISTRIBUTION

Your link to claim these digital rewards will be sent out by our BackerKit pledge manager over the next week, 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



The best way to ensure these redemption codes work smoothly is to log in to your DTRPG account first, and then click (or copy) the link shown in your BackerKit. You may have to refresh your Cart to see the item before checkout.

Again, you will receive an e-mail from BackerKit with links for these rewards over the next week if any of them are on your expected list of rewards. I'll be releasing them in waves, so don't panic if you only see a couple links at first... the rest are coming. (We're in a digital world, but there are still a lot of manual processes. And there are many links to go out!!)

The easiest way to see if you've got digital downloads available is to login to your backerkit account: https://monster-kingdoms.backerkit.com/ and it'll show anything available. Your backerkit account should also confirm all rewards that you should expect from your reward tier selected.


DRAFT MANUSCRIPT

In addition to redemption links for these digital rewards, all backers have received a link to the compiled draft manuscript. This link can be found in your BackerKit digital rewards page, and you likely received an e-mail linking to that with the Backer Survey invitations. Again, this isn't a new manuscript, it's just all of the pieces we shared during the campaign put together in order. It's the same link that I share at the bottom of these campaign updates, but I want to make sure you have access to it in any place that makes sense.

MONTHLY UPDATES

With the Pledge Manager up and running, at the end of November 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 the 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.


Pledge Manager Surveys Coming This Week!
5 months ago – Thu, Oct 30, 2025 at 08:09:35 AM

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 over 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 Surveys Coming Soon 
  •  Compiled Draft Manuscript (available in BackerKit Digital Rewards) 
  •  Coming Next 

BACKER SURVEYS

Over the next handful of days (Oct 30- Nov 2), you’ll receive an email from us with a special link to your Pledge Manager survey. It’s important to respond to your survey as quickly as you can since we need this information to fulfill your rewards.



You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey (although you probably already have one from pledging to this campaign). When you receive the email with the survey, click the survey invitation link to respond. Answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like. You don’t have access to this survey link yet, but it will be available later this week via email!

The e-mail will have a button that looks something like this:



After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys and get our final counts, and that won't happen until the books are being printed and we're preparing to ship.

If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://monster-kingdoms.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 distracted by October baseball, 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.

When you click on your BackerKit invitation link, you should see something like this...



From the Pledge Manager welcome page you can choose to

  • Review Your Pledge Level and Rewards
  • Start Your Survey, confirming pledge rewards, confirming or selecting new Add On options, and confirming any shipping and payment info that may be needed
  • Switch Your Pledge Level

If you've pledged to a reward tier that includes physical rewards, you can enter your shipping country at this stage. As noted during our campaign, we haven't set shipping costs yet - those will be calculated and added in when we're preparing to ship the book. That won't be for a long time, though, and there will be plenty of opportunity - and notice - for you to make changes.

If you click on your Pledge Level, you will see a list of all items included in your Pledge Rewards (including Stretch Goals and the Draft Manuscript), and also have the option to switch your Pledge Level, in case you've decided to get the hardcover pledge instead of the PDF-only pledge tier for example.



Once you've confirmed that your Pledge Level is correct and where you want it to be, you can GET STARTED with your BackerKit Pledge Manager Survey.

Once we've got a fair response to our survey and collected a reasonable amount of info, I'll be working on fulfilling rewards that are available now - like the PDFs of the titles included in our Add On section (for example, The World Below PDF). Those will likely be coming to you before the middle of November, 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 2-4 days
  • Get Started on your survey
  • Confirm your Pledge Level (or SWITCH your Pledge Level if you want to change it)
  • Confirm and Select Any Add On options
  • Confirm Your Shipping Information (if needed)
  • Confirm Your Payment Information (if needed)

I will post an update in another two weeks 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

Looking in the example pledge list above, you can see a listing for the Draft Manuscript. In your BackerKit digital rewards page, you will have access to the compiled draft manuscript. It won't be different from the version I shared a few weeks ago. There's a link for that compiled version at the bottom of this update post (when viewed on the BackerKit site), but I'll also have a download link sit alongside your other rewards on the Pledge Manager's Digital Reward Page. The Draft Manuscript link may not be active when you first login to your BackerKit survey, but I'll throw the switch and it'll send you a notice next week after all of the invitations have gone out.

I will talk about how to access your BackerKit digital rewards links in an update coming early next month, when I send out the first wave of available rewards.

COMING NEXT

n a few weeks or so, I'll send an update with details about the distribution for that first wave of existing Earthbane Cycle 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 November 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.


Final Day!: Curseborne Player's Guide


 
  • Nine new families of Accursed!
  • New Role Paths, Lineage Torments, and spells
  • Fully playable Venators
  • Fully playable orphaned Accursed 
  • Quick-build and random character templates
 
The Curseborne Player’s Guide is primarily focused on the players at the table who take on the role of individual characters. If you’re a Storyguide, you can expect to find ideas that help you prompt the other players and frame their place in the world. Use these to create details that resonate with a player’s intentions and to direct the story to places where the main characters’ themes and concepts can flourish. Other players can expect to find tools to develop your character, both in your narration and on your character sheet.

In this book, we introduce grounding concepts for playing the Accursed, providing role-playing hooks and touchstones rooted in the world they find themselves. These are intended for both brand-new players looking for a place to start and for players in the middle of a story who are open to new angles and complications. We expand on all the types of Accursed introduced in the Curseborne corebook, including those who don’t have a family to call their own, but also provide even more ways to express and wield the power of curses through new spells. We even add a new angle to the world of Curseborne as we present playable rules for the monster-hunting Venators, who contend with the same supernatural forces as the Accursed without Damnations of their own.

On Kickstarter: Scarred Lands Player's Guide


 
A Land Where Legends Walk
 
Drawing enthusiastically on Greek mythology, Scarred Lands offers a world shaped by gods and monsters. Only the greatest of heroes can expect to be counted among them. The Divine War left the world of Scarn ravaged. From the battle-scarred continent of Ghelspad to the desert wastelands of Asherak, the wounds of war still fester. The jungles of Termana are corrupted by titanic influence. The Blood Sea is tinted red because the titan Kadum lies bleeding at the ocean floor. The Dragon Lands and the frozen north of Fenrilik were spared the worst of the Titanswar, yet these lands carry their own perils. 

Scarred Lands is a beloved setting introduced 25 years ago by White-Wolf Publishing and currently wholly owned by Onyx Path Publishing. In the years since its introduction, the setting has been published under three editions of d20 licensing and a Pathfinder compatible version. Aegis Studios has now licensed Scarred Lands from Onyx Path Publishing to convert the setting to Savage Worlds. With this Kickstarter, we aim to bring the Scarred Lands to the popular Savage Worlds Adventure Edition by Pinnacle Entertainment Group with a brand new Scarred Lands Player's Guide (SWADE)!

Compiled Draft Manuscript
6 months ago – Sat, Oct 11, 2025 at 10:03:48 AM

Hello Monsters,

As we ease into the autumn where I live, we're getting ready for a few big family dinners and watching sports (hockey and baseball! In October!) this weekend. But that doesn't mean I can't squeeze in one quick update!

BackerKit is just finishing collecting up all of the data from our campaign, and I expect they'll make it available to Onyx Path either today or tomorrow and next week I will be able to start building our Pledge Manager, as discussed in our "Final Hours" update post.

I expect the Pledge Manager to be live and ready for you around the end of October. When it's done, I'll send an update letting everyone know and going over the details about accessing your Pledge survey and confirming your pledge selections and Add On options. About a week after that - so early November - I'll begin fulfilling the digital rewards for the products that currently exist (basically The World Below and the At The Gates draft manuscript). 

So, a bit of a wait still... but I do have one treat for you today.

COMPILED DRAFT MANUSCRIPT

I've taken all of the pieces from the manuscript that we looked at over the campaign and mashed them all together into one big document. There are no changes from the preview during the campaign - this is more of a structural update than any textual changes.

So, you know the drill. 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 "Reply to this Update" or "Learn More" button on the bottom and I'll see you below this title treatment.

Our journey has come to an end! [Travelogue #12]
6 months ago – Thu, Sep 25, 2025 at 11:00:23 AM

Hello Mosnters,

We've named our sceptres! We've captured our crowns! We've claimed our kingdoms! The Monster Kingdoms!

Thanks to the support of 766 backers, Onyx Path will be able to develop PDF and print versions of Monster Kingdoms!


There's more to celebrate! Not only did we fund the project on the first day, we unlocked SIX Stretch Goals over the campaign. We defeated every challenge that was laid out in front of us!





Achieved! - At $20,000 - NEW ADD ON: STORYGUIDE SCREEN

NEW ADD ON: STORYGUIDE SCREEN - A three-panel Storyguide Reference Screen with charts and information for running a Monster Kingdoms game will be created and offered as an Add On to any hardcover reward tiers for +$25.

Achieved! - At $30,000 - READY-MADE CHARACTERS PDF

READY-MADE CHARACTERS PDF - Do you want to game but your players aren’t sure what to play? Looking for inspiration to get you into the world of Monster Kingdoms? These five characters cover a range of Kingdoms, Mantles, and Dusks are ready to make their mark in the Monster Kingdoms! This PDF will be added to the rewards list of all backers receiving the Monster Kingdoms PDF as one of their rewards.



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.

Achieved! - 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.



Achieved! - At $37,000 - DIGITAL WALLPAPER

MONSTER KINGDOMS DIGITAL WALLPAPER - Marvelous Monster Kingdoms artwork will be used to create a wallpaper for your computer desktop. This digital wallpaper will be added to the rewards list of all backers supporting this project.

Achieved! - At $41,000 - VTT TOKEN PACK

VTT TOKEN PACK - Digital assets will be created to support online play for Monster Kingdoms, including key character and creature tokens from the book. This online asset pack will be added to the rewards list of 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 amazed and excited about having more than 760 backers join in to support this weird and wonderful game!



COMMUNICATION

So, as noted in today's earlier update, starting in about a month 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 manuscript out to you in a week or two. 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:


Backers make it better! Now, get ready to march into the Monster Kingdoms!


BUT... even as our campaign is complete and we look upon a promising new phase of our adventure, not all journeys come to such a positive conclusion! The Monster Kingdoms are aptly named, and peril hides around every corner. 


Monster Kingdoms Travelogue

Our journey so far...



XII: Suffocated Hope

I write this in haste and apologize for the unintelligible scrawl. I had naively assumed that after all I had witnessed and experienced, a kingdom of uncivilized, raiding and drooling orcs would pose little threat to me. 

I am a crownbearer. I still hold my sceptre. I am fearful, as established in Iom, but I am brave with it. Yet never before have I seen such toil and suffering. I thought the empire was cruel to its subjects. Here, subjects are literally fed into machines and mills to help grease the gears. Here, goblinoids are master artisans, but only for so long as their hands and digits function as desired. After their purpose is served, they are deployed in mines and never again see the (dim) light of day.

The orcs are no better, and they hold command in this kingdom. Smithing and smelting, crafting and training. They militarily drill repeatedly, night and day. You cannot cross the land without breathing in toxic fumes and almost stumbling blindly into an open mineshaft or the open doors of a giant furnace. The orcs here are addicted to conflict. They fight interlopers like myself, and where we’re not visible, they fight each other.

One orc — slightly more lucid than her peers — explained it’s rare and dishonorable for any being of Krr’szch to live longer than 25 years. What misery!

I must stress again that I write this in haste. Straighose Balikossus (a feared commander here in the delightfully named city of Lygmunt) issued a warrant for my immediate capture, and I have spotted more than four squads of Krr’szchians hunting for me close to my present location. 

I do not believe I will escape this one, nor will I overpower quite so many armed gauntlets and marauders. I witnessed a crownbearer among them, a wreath of tall, curling horns above his head. He sweeps the air with a jagged greatsword, which sends his foes flying apart in pieces.

Despite my proximity to the Kingdom of Dys I do not believe I will make the border. Therefore, I choose to take drastic action. I hate to part with you, my dear reader, but I will be placing you safely here, in this hollow wall. If all is well and I survive or return with allies, I shall recover you, or dispatch someone else to do so. I am heartened that at least archlich Khufu has been able to see everything I have seen, and hear everything I have heard. That is what he told me. I have felt his protection in every place until now. Now, he feels curiously absent.

I must finish this entry. Tis time to bolt for the border, and if not the border, then my glorious doom.

Dear reader, I thank you.


What an ending! I hope that Domina Neferkare has underestimated the chances of survival and will live on to write another day!

But now the Monster Kingdoms story is yours! Create your characters, name your sceptre, and claim your crown! And begin your own journey across the Monster Kingdoms!

FINAL HOURS: CHECKLIST & WHAT COMES NEXT
6 months ago – Thu, Sep 25, 2025 at 04:57:06 AM

Hello Monsters,

Welcome to the final hours of this campaign! We've had a fun run - funding the book, following along with the travelogue, adding more than 700 backers to our legion, unlocking all of the Stretch Goals!

That's right! We smashed this one as we head into our final hours!



ACHIEVED! - At $41,000 - VTT TOKEN PACK

VTT TOKEN PACK - Digital assets will be created to support online play for Monster Kingdoms, including key character and creature tokens from the book. This online asset pack will be added to the rewards list of all backers.

Our final mission before the end is to finish strong ... and bring Domina Neferkare's journey to a conclusion. We'll get the final travelogue entry before our time ends! 

The most important part of this campaign, though, is that we have successfully funded this project! Thanks to everyone who's come out to support this campaign, we'll be getting this cool book!



FINAL DAY CHECKLIST

Whether you're just setting out to make a name for yourself and build your legion or a seasoned warleader with a fiery crown returning after a victory, these are some good topics to review over these final hours...

1.  KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SUPPORTING

A plethora of videos, interviews, articles and more for you to check out to learn more about this game


Backers can read the entire current draft of the manuscript <HERE>. Please make sure you read the manuscript before the campaign concludes so you know exactly what you're pledging to support.


2. PLEDGE TIERS and ADD ONS

This update breaks down your best starting point for figuring out which Backer Reward Tier to choose to help support this project in a way that works for you.

The first decision you need to make is what form your rewards will take. Do you want your main rewards in digital form and are going for the PDF rulebook? Or do you have space on your shelf for the hardcover book? Or, better yet, do you go all in with the limited deluxe edition?  (Note - both hardcover versions include the PDF as a bonus!).

ELF

Not ready to commit, or just looking to offer general support? This pledge tier is for you. This does not include our primary reward, but allows you to select some digital optional Add Ons, as well as participate in the post-campaign Pledge Manager as a backer. You'll also be able to read the draft manuscript of Monster Kingdoms that we post throughout this campaign.

WRAITH

This is the PDF-only reward tier. So, if you're saving trees or saving shelf space - or avoiding the ever-increasing shipping charges - this is the reward tier option that you should begin with. The PDF will be fulfilled by our partners at DriveThruRPG.com - when it is ready, you will receive a link to add it to your DTRPG library at no cost for you to download at your leisure.

DWARF

This reward tier includes the standard hardcover version of this book. Shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping after the campaign through the pledge manager. In addition, this option also includes the PDF version, so you will get a digital copy as described above.

DRAGONKIN

This reward tier includes the limited edition deluxe version of Monster Kingdoms hardcover book, with a leatherette cover, special cover design, and bound-in silk bookmark. Shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping after the campaign through the pledge manager.  In addition, this option also includes the PDF version, so you will get a digital copy as described above.

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 and At the Gates rulebook PDFs. Since At The Gates is still in the pre-order phase, you'll get the draft manuscript for that one until the Backer PDF becomes available.

ADD ON selections will be available in the post-campaign Pledge Manager as well.

SO: Ensure that you've selected the Reward Tier you want, and select any Add On options you wish to include. AND - make sure that you are comfortable with the Pledge amount, in terms of it covering everything you want and the affordability of the pledge at this moment!


I'm going to speak against my own self interest for a moment, and repeat something I say at the end of every campaign - 2025 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
  • Read the 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 the book 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 September 25th 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! Rally the troops!

WHAT COMES NEXT?


5. AFTER THE CAMPAIGN ENDS

First, we celebrate. The campaign page will subtly change, locking out the ability to pledge and showing the final totals. We'll give socially-distanced high fives and digital fist bumps in the Community section and over on Discord.

Then, the BackerKit payment process begins. Starting late tonight and continuing over the next week, Backerkit will begin charging your payment methods for the total amount you've pledged.

If there is an issue with your payment method (expired credit card or incorrect number or pre-paid Visa awaiting funds, for example), BackerKit will keep trying to process payment during this time.

Once this step is done, which will likely be by early October, 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 November 2025.

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 the hardcover edition or Deluxe Edition tiers 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 hardcover books and know the shipping costs. So don't feel pressure to have it all figured out right away - we'll make sure there's plenty of time to get it all sorted before the books go out.

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 draft manuscript. 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 mid-November. That's only the beginning, though.

This is a long process, but I will send out regular updates (usually at the end of the month) to keep you up to speed on Onyx Path's progress. There will be strings of updates that are just "still working on it," but I will share new artwork or information when I can.

Eventually, we will have a completed PDF of Monster Kingdoms. Onyx Path will take some time to distribute, review, and compile any errata or corrections that need to be made. When they've made any necessary changes, they'll make an updated version of the PDF available in your DriveThruRPG digital library and then begin creating print-ready files for the Print-on-Demand hardcover version.

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!