Our journey so far...

I: The Journey Begins
II: From Magic to Death
III: The Aschelagoan and other Eaters
IV: A Kingdom of Numbers
V: Skinless in the Spearwood
VI: This Place Should Not Be
VII: Prisoners

Dear reader. In this last season I have spent time convalescing in the Kingdom of Scales. In many ways, despite my loyalty to and origins in Draoidahaek, as a dragonkin this realm feels more like home to me. I have been treated with grace and dare I say, warmth. My wounds are healed. My mind recovers. My sceptre has been returned to me.

Dear reader, I must confess to you. The crown I gained in Xin was not my achievement to celebrate. The drowning beast was already injured, washed ashore after suffering a number of deep puncture wounds. I delivered the final blow when I recognized the barbs growing from its head as a magical crown, and I won the glory despite not earning it.

I wonder if that is why I have suffered. I am no longer as filled with excitement and hope for the sights of Gewinn as once I was. Domina Neferkare has been defeated. Perhaps by Iom. Perhaps following my murder of a woman I grew to appreciate as more than just a bedding companion. Perhaps I am unworthy on this dusk. Perhaps I am unworthy of the blessed status great Khufu Triple-Wand bestowed upon me.

I can recount for you this, though I shall omit passages that do me harm to think of them. I did escape Iom, but only through acts of great sacrifice. I did emerge in the Nithera Empire, and this time I knew it to truly be the imperial domain, as before long I was seized by dreadnauts who brutalized both myself and Sheos, who somehow found her way free with me, and while these dreadnauts were no different to Iom’s torturers, their dullard insistence on vapid questions of politics, invasion, and territory were wholly unlike the imaginings of the fae kingdom.

I was certain that Sheos and I would die in those cells, by my reckoning somewhere close to Mudriven, within but ten days of travel to my own, beloved Draoidahaek. I could practically smell the spiced tarts from Flirin’s Market, though I know that olfactory memory to be a self-constructed tormenting illusion. Each day we were dragged out and put through further indignities and agonies, and when they weren’t questioning us under their chimerical banner, they were making us wade through the thick muck of that town to burrow for their catfish and mudclams. Apparently this work is beneath the good folk of Nithera.

Aye, dear reader, I felt this would be the end of my tale. That if anyone found my journal, it would end with my plaintive intent to escape Iom. I mused whether some feyborn merchant might sell my incomplete thoughts to a magus from Draoidahaek as a novelty narrative, to read to children or for the amusement of other apprentice magi. I wept at the thought that I would be mocked after death. I realized that despite the inevitability of doom, I wanted to leave a legacy of greatness instead of a half-concluded destiny.

I engineered my escape. Despite past differences, I enlisted Sheos for the task, relying on her shapeshifting affinity to act as a distraction, if not a weapon. With Sheos I recruited several other prisoners, many of whom originated in kingdoms Emperor Supherus has been assaulting and raiding in recent years (Dys, Tsul Gazar, Pandemion, among others). The most curious of my newest companions was Zeldera, of the Kingdom of Shards.

Do not think me some traitor to doom and Draoidahaek that I would align with a forlorn from that realm. Here I address my good reader and archlich Khufu, who I know reads my mind. When attempting to overthrow the might of the imperial gauntlet, one finds allies in the strangest of locales. Verily, though it turned my stomach to work with her, Zeldera was a prestigious rootwinder, and I could scarcely turn away her elemental power or the crown she bore deep within her skull.

It was a coup, a revolution, a prison break, dear reader! Oho, it thrills me even now to think of the dreadnauts, Nitheran jailers, and weak prisoners who aligned with their wardens instead of the righteous escapees. But my thrill is subdued, I confess. Many of those righteous souls died, with several drowning in that thick mud as the Nitherans fought to turn the land against us. Only through Zeldera’s crown magic did we prevail and though she is no longer at my side, I hope that one day I might find her again and introduce her to the archliches of Draoidahaek. I believe there is much we might learn from her.

You may be wondering, dear reader, how this brings me to the Kingdom of Scales. For after all, Mudriven is closer to Draoidahaek and Tsul Gazar than the dragon kingdom. Perhaps fortuitous, mayhap fated, the great black dragon Olza-ku was in flight during our mutiny and laid waste to the Nitheran reinforcements ready to march into Mudriven. I saw over a hundred gauntlets and marauders perish in magical dark fire. It was glorious.

I knew this opportunity would not present itself again. I reclaimed my belongings (those not sold or destroyed by the Nitherans) from the remains of the prison storehouse and pled with the dragon to carry me to his home, revealing my scales to be opal black just like his. For a moment I suspected he might devour me, and I was ready for this. Instead, he lowered his head, allowed me to climb upon him, and in a matter of seconds we were in flight, leaving the empire and flying northeast to Scales.

You may not believe this tale, dear reader. It may feel too fantastical, especially following the events of the prior seasons. I give you my solemn word, however, that from here everything I write shall be truth. 

I am now in the Kingdom of Scales. This realm of deep chasms, snowtipped mountains, and broad, expansive fields feels so alive compared to the prisons from which I recently escaped. Scales is enormous. I could never explore every town, every village, every tomb, and every plain or forest. Nor, do I believe, has an inhabitant of Scales done the same. For while the dragons fly and view their vast realm from above, they do not know what their kin (such as myself) and the many humans, kobolds, and other creatures think or feel. They engender fear, for true, but they do not know every small nook and every uncomfortable cranny where a being in this kingdom might hide a valuable, a note, or a loved one.

What I am learning in my rest here is that as in most of the Monster Kingdoms, the peoples here are secretive and paranoid. I suspect not all of them welcome autocracy, but they have little option but to bend the knee and accept errant dragon strikes and make offerings to their betters to avoid arbitrary destruction. Scales, for all its size, ancient history, and even older wyrm dukes and duchesses, is a kingdom that feels ready to break apart.

I would not be surprised if the dragonkin and kobolds launched a coup that saw every dragon herein slain to protect the folk of this realm. But what then, dear reader? Would they install a new regime? Would they subject themselves to the mercies of the Nithera Empire?

Politics is not my place. My suspicions, therefore, are that Scales is wracked with the same turmoil as every other kingdom, but that turmoil is invisible unless you dwell with these people, observe their fears, and note down (as I do) how they look up at the sky in terror whenever a shadow passes overhead. They may claim fierce devotion to the dragons, but I assure you, they are praying that the darkness cast is from clouds, not wyrms.

Hello Monsters,

A big big chapter for backers today! We've talked a lot about the "Monster" part of this game (and will a bit more in just a moment), but today's manuscript download digs into the "Kingdoms" bit of the game.

We've had a bit of the history of the setting and a general overview of the world in our first manuscript section, but now we'll get a definitive deep dive into all of the Monster Kingdoms, along with all of the hard facts and hidden truths!

Well, maybe not quite the objective truths of the setting...

How the world became what it is today and where the world is headed are both debated matters. A scholar from Branduur serves a different master than one from Draoidahaek, and truth is a subject the ruling classes control, pay for, and punish horribly if it’s not what they want to hear. Dyso chroniclers are widely seen as the most reliable, such is their dedication to books, words, names, and history. Therefore, it is from them that this chapter draws its information. Just be wary, because anything written here could result in immediate penalty if proclaimed aloud in another kingdom.

Over the past few updates, I've shared some informative videos from Matthew Dawkins on his Gentleman Gamer youtube channel and a video of some Monster Character Creation in a Session Zero stream on Onyx Path's channel. I've got a few more follow up videos for you today!

The single biggest question that Onyx Path is getting asked is how easy is it to create a character – followed up by what characters are the coolest – Matthew has made a video of Monster Kingdoms character creation here: hhttps://youtube.com/live/UM5XTVaWAGA

Onyx Path also has two cool interviews. First up, posted yesterday, an interview with Monster Kingdoms writer Ferne Milton at https://youtu.be/RmrWP0BDtnA

Then the interview with Matthew Dawkins mentioned last friday where he answers your Monster Kingdoms questions live on today at 4 PM EDT at https://youtu.be/4nljRS6Wzic

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.

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.

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.

Hello Monsters,

Thanks to everyone who dropped by Onyx Path's Twitch channel on Friday to watch the interview with Matthew Dawkins. And bigger thanks to those who submitted questions for Matthew to answer! If the recording for that stream becomes available before the end of the campaign, I'll make sure we share in in a future update.

With the main Character Creation chapters out and available to backers, I want to share another recorded Twitch stream from Onyx Path. This one is a Session 0 and all about creating your character for a Monster Kingdoms game. One of my favorite ways to learn about a game is to see it in action, and watching these players build the characters for their game is a great way to gain new understanding of the ideas and rules from the book.

And if you want to play along at home while you watch, it's not a bad idea to have a character sheet to start scribbling down your ideas and choices! The Storyguide from the video (and one of the writers of the game), Chris Jones, has put together this awesome character sheet for you to use when you pick your paths!

Our journey so far...

I: The Journey Begins
II: From Magic to Death
III: The Aschelagoan and other Eaters
IV: A Kingdom of Numbers
V: Skinless in the Spearwood
VI: This Place Should Not Be

I am afraid. Master Khufu, I feel fear. I cannot stray from the path of doom, for tis my belief that all life must end, but I am now terrified of everything from here until that time.

We never left Iom. For a season we hiked through Tsul Gazar, entered the Nithera Empire, encountered people, places, monsters, and acquired treasures and Sheos even seized a crown, but it transpires everything we have lived through was an illusion. We are prisoners of Iom and my greatest source of frustration is that I do not know when this imprisonment began. Was it when we entered the kingdom? Was it when we ate the cakes? Was it when we reentered the witch’s house? Was it when Valenao stole the keys?

I do not know the truth. I know that Valenao has been mocking us all this time, leading us astray, playing us into the hands of our jailers. Every suffering and every victory has been for their amusement.

We must find our way out of here. I will study every aperture, every door, and every sigil. I will trek far from the people who smile at us and make us feel welcome. I will kill Valenao. I do not believe he knows that we know of his perfidy. If that does not end this perdition, I will slay Sheos and then Tophenni, for now I have no clue as to who is real and who is not.

If none of these methods suffice, I will end my own life, for doom is a release from torment.

Hi Monsters,

A potpourri of bits today for you. Mini monsters, if you will.

First up, let's talk about something coming later today on Onyx Path's Twitch channel. And then let's look at the Gentleman Gamer's videos about Monster Kingdoms. 

He'll be talking about Monster Kingdoms. If you've got any questions, feel free to put them in the Monster Kingdoms section of Onyx Path's Discord channel or watch live and submit them while they go!

Of course, some of your questions likely have been answered by our Draft Manuscript Preview releases of in the videos Matthew has released already. You can (and should!) check those out on Youtube:

All great stuff, as always from Matthew, and the easiest way to understand how this all comes together. 

Hello Monsters,

Let's talk about the field of battle and the forces that wage war.

Having deployed your regiment to scour the land in your name and tasked your dungeon’s workers with the construction of all manner of killing machines, you’ll inevitably want to put the fruits of your labors to good use and escalate things to a grander level. This ever-present arms race is how wars begin, and this chapter gives you all the tools you’ll need to marshal the souls of thousands onto the killing floor. This is all-out war!

Every battle consists of several warring regiments, each specifically constructed to crush the opposing forces. As these templates are not individuals; we refer to them as legions, and each unit is filled with many soldiers.


Some quick things to note before we get into the manuscript.

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.

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.

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.