Onyx Path Publishing
Onyx Path Publishing is an American tabletop role-playing game publisher known for original, creator-owned, and licensed game lines.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
Onyx Path Publishing is a United States-based publisher focused primarily on tabletop role-playing games, supplements, settings, and related card-game products. The company was founded in January 2012 by Richard Thomas, formerly the creative director of White Wolf. Its emergence followed the appearance of the name “The Onyx Path” and a related logo on White Wolf products and community channels earlier that year; the company publicly explained its plans at Gen Con in August 2012. The publisher was established during a period of transition for several major White Wolf properties. Onyx Path became a licensee for Paradox Interactive’s World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, and Exalted properties. It also acquired the Trinity Universe and Scion game lines from White Wolf and CCP Games, enabling it to continue projects that had previously been announced for White Wolf’s 2012–2013 publishing schedule. This combination of licensed publishing and ownership of established settings became a defining feature of the company’s business model. Onyx Path’s catalogue spans multiple genres and formats. Its licensed and formerly White Wolf-associated work includes editions and supplements for Exalted, Mage: The Ascension, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Changeling: The Lost, Hunter: The Vigil, Mummy: The Curse, and other Chronicles of Darkness lines. The company has also developed the Trinity Continuum, Scion, Scarred Lands, and a range of creator-owned or creator-led games, including They Came From...!, The World Below, Cavaliers of Mars, Dystopia Rising: Evolution, Legendlore, and the Pugmire-related games. The company has relied heavily on digital distribution and print-on-demand production. Many titles are offered as PDF products through DriveThruRPG, while physical editions may be produced through print-on-demand or distributed through conventional game and book retailers. Onyx Path has also used Kickstarter and other crowdfunding campaigns to finance deluxe editions, new game lines, and substantial supplements. Crowdfunding allows the publisher to gauge demand and fund larger print projects, while the digital-first model supports long-running lines with a comparatively broad catalogue. A further part of the company’s strategy is collaboration with independent creators and community-content platforms. Onyx Path has worked with designers and rights holders including Rose Bailey, Michael Pucci, Eddy Webb and Pugsteady, Caliber Comics, and other creative partners. Its Storypath Nexus and related community-content arrangements allow fan and third-party creators to publish material connected with selected game systems and settings through DriveThruRPG. In 2024, Onyx Path announced Curseborne, an urban horror and fantasy role-playing game featuring player characters such as vampires, shapeshifters, sorcerers, possessing dead spirits, and exiled demons. The game was promoted through online video and streaming channels and was crowdfunded in October 2024. The reference material identifies a core rulebook release on DriveThruRPG in November 2025. Onyx Path therefore occupies a distinctive position as a specialist tabletop publisher combining legacy intellectual properties, new settings, creator partnerships, crowdfunding, digital sales, and print-on-demand fulfillment.
History
Onyx Path Publishing was founded in January 2012 by Richard Thomas, who had served as White Wolf’s creative director. Before the formal public announcement, the name “The Onyx Path” and an associated logo appeared on White Wolf products and message-board material. The company clarified its purpose during Gen Con in August 2012, presenting itself as a new publisher connected to the future of several established role-playing game properties. The company’s formation coincided with changes in the ownership and licensing of White Wolf-related intellectual property. Onyx Path became a licensee for Paradox Interactive’s World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, and Exalted properties. It also acquired the Trinity Universe and Scion game lines from White Wolf and CCP Games. These arrangements allowed Onyx Path to publish projects that had previously been announced under White Wolf’s schedule, while giving the new company a foundation of recognizable settings and established audiences. Its publishing programme developed along two parallel tracks. One track consisted of licensed or acquired properties, including Exalted, Scion, Trinity, World of Darkness-related material, Chronicles of Darkness, and Scarred Lands. The other consisted of original and creator-led projects. The latter group included genre games such as They Came From...!, the subterranean fantasy game The World Below, Rose Bailey’s Cavaliers of Mars, Michael Pucci’s Dystopia Rising: Evolution, and games associated with Pugsteady, including Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, and Squeaks in the Deep. Onyx Path also collaborated with Caliber Comics on Legendlore. The company’s distribution model emphasizes digital publication and flexible physical production. Books are commonly sold as PDF files through DriveThruRPG, and many physical titles are available through DriveThruRPG’s print-on-demand service. Selected products have also been made available through conventional game and book retailers. This model enables Onyx Path to maintain extensive lines of supplements and editions without relying exclusively on large traditional print runs. Crowdfunding has been another recurring element of the company’s operations. Kickstarter campaigns have been used for deluxe editions, new game lines, and major expansions. Examples mentioned in the reference material include Dystopia Rising: Evolution, Realms of Pugmire, The World Below, and Curseborne. These campaigns have supported projects requiring substantial development or premium physical production while also allowing the publisher to measure interest among existing communities. Onyx Path has expanded beyond its own direct catalogue through creator and community-content relationships. The Storypath Nexus programme supports third-party material for selected Storypath games, while Slarecian Vault supports community-created content connected with Scarred Lands. These arrangements extend the usable life of the company’s systems and settings and give independent designers a route to publish compatible material. In the 2020s, the company continued developing new games alongside its legacy lines. Curseborne was announced at Onyx Path Con 2024 following a promotional campaign on YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok. Its playable concepts include Hungry vampires, Primal shapeshifters, Sorcerers, the Dead, and Outcasts. The campaign completed crowdfunding in October 2024, and the supplied reference material gives November 19, 2025 as the digital release date for the core rulebook. Overall, Onyx Path’s history is characterized by continuity publishing for established role-playing properties, experimentation with new genres, collaboration with outside creators, and a digital- and crowdfunding-oriented production strategy.
- 2025
Curseborne core rulebook digital release
[1]The supplied reference material identifies November 19, 2025 as the DriveThruRPG release date for the Curseborne core rulebook.
- 2024
Curseborne announced
[1]Curseborne was revealed at Onyx Path Con 2024 as a new urban horror and fantasy role-playing game.
- 2024
Curseborne crowdfunding completed
[1]The Curseborne crowdfunding campaign concluded in October 2024.
- 2023
Realms of Pugmire crowdfunding
[1]The second edition of Pugmire, titled Realms of Pugmire, was funded through Kickstarter.
- 2021
The World Below announced
[1]Onyx Path announced The World Below, a fantasy role-playing game centered on descendants of survivors living beneath a catastrophically changed surface world.
- 2012
Company founded
[1]Richard Thomas founded Onyx Path Publishing in January 2012 after the company name and logo had begun appearing in White Wolf-related materials.
- 2012
Public launch at Gen Con
[1]Onyx Path publicly presented its plans at Gen Con in August 2012.
- 2012
White Wolf-associated licensing and acquisitions
[1]The company became a licensee for World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, and Exalted, and acquired the Trinity Universe and Scion lines.
Products and positioning
A specialist tabletop role-playing publisher combining licensed legacy properties, original settings, creator-owned games, crowdfunding, digital distribution, and print-on-demand publishing.
Urban horror and fantasy tabletop role-playing game · 2024
Curseborne
Curseborne is an urban horror and fantasy role-playing game announced at Onyx Path Con 2024. Its character concepts include Hungry vampires, Primal shapeshifters, Sorcerers, the Dead—phantom entities capable of possession—and Outcasts, demons banished from their home realm. Each lineage is divided into families that support different play styles and themes. The game was promoted through online video and streaming channels and completed crowdfunding in October 2024.
Epic fantasy tabletop role-playing game
Exalted
Exalted presents a mythic fantasy world in which characters wield extraordinary powers and become champions of ancient supernatural forces. Onyx Path published the third edition and expanded the range with character-focused material including Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought, Lunars: Fangs at the Gate, and Sidereals: Charting Fate’s Course. The line is built around powerful protagonists, political conflict, legendary societies, and high-scale adventure.
Modern myth tabletop role-playing game
Scion
Scion allows players to portray the descendants and chosen children of gods from multiple pantheons, including the Theoi, Aesir, and Kami. Its progression moves from Origin, where characters are mostly human but divinely touched, through Hero, Demigod, and God levels. Onyx Path’s second-edition line has also explored unusual mythic subjects, including dragons and the children of Lovecraftian entities. Community material is supported through Storypath Nexus.
Science-fiction and superhero tabletop role-playing game
Trinity Continuum
The Trinity Continuum links role-playing games set across different periods and genres, with protagonists such as Talents, Psiads, Novas, Daredevils, and Aethernauts. The line explores conspiracies, alien threats, superhuman abilities, and the responsibilities that accompany power. Published or announced settings include Aberrant, Aeon, Assassins, Adventure!, Anima, and Aether, ranging from mutated superheroes and far-future psychics to pulp heroes, cyberpunk characters, and Victorian reality-benders.
Modern supernatural horror tabletop role-playing game
Chronicles of Darkness
Onyx Path is identified as the sole licensee for Paradox Interactive’s Chronicles of Darkness properties. Its catalogue includes second editions of Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Promethean: The Created, Changeling: The Lost, Geist: The Sin-Eaters, Hunter: The Vigil, and Mummy: The Curse, as well as Beast: The Primordial, Demon: The Descent, Deviant: The Renegades, and associated sourcebooks.
Gothic and urban horror tabletop role-playing game
World of Darkness
Onyx Path has published licensed material for Paradox Interactive’s World of Darkness properties. Its cited Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition work includes Chicago by Night, Let the Streets Run Red, The Chicago Folios, Cults of the Blood Gods, Trails of Ash and Bones, Forbidden Religions, and Children of the Blood. The publisher has otherwise concentrated on material for the twentieth-anniversary editions of Mage: The Ascension and Werewolf: The Apocalypse.
Fantasy tabletop role-playing game setting
Scarred Lands
Scarred Lands is set in Scarn, a world damaged by a devastating war between gods and titans. Onyx Path produced fifth-edition Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder material including the Scarred Lands Player’s Guide, Creature Collection, and Dead Man’s Rust mega-campaign. The setting is also supported by Slarecian Vault, a DriveThruRPG community-content programme for additional fan and third-party material.
Genre-parody tabletop role-playing game series
They Came From...!
They Came From...! is a series of cinematic role-playing games that parodies cult film genres and the conventions of low-budget movies. Its rules allow characters to exploit cinematic logic, such as breaking through cheap sets, using deleted scenes, or inserting missing footage. Published themes include 1950s science fiction, horror, espionage, fantasy, and slasher films, represented by titles such as They Came from Beneath the Sea!, They Came from Beyond the Grave!, They Came from [CLASSIFIED]!, They Came from the Cyclops’s Cave!, and They Came from Camp Murder Lake!.
Subterranean fantasy tabletop role-playing game · 2021
The World Below
The World Below is a fantasy role-playing game announced in 2021. Its protagonists descend from people who survived a great catastrophe on the surface and now must survive, explore, and establish communities in underground environments. The game’s stated influences include J. G. Ballard, The Platform, and Hollow Knight. Crowdfunding took place in November 2023.
Post-apocalyptic tabletop role-playing game
Dystopia Rising: Evolution
Dystopia Rising: Evolution adapts Michael Pucci’s zombie-apocalypse, mutation, and survival setting from a long-running live-action role-playing context into a tabletop game. Onyx Path published the game after licensing it from Pucci, with Kickstarter funding followed by digital and physical distribution. Supporting material includes Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties and the Trouble on Steel Pier adventure.
Anthropomorphic fantasy tabletop role-playing game · 2023
Realms of Pugmire
Realms of Pugmire is a second edition of the Pugmire role-playing game created in collaboration with Eddy Webb and Pugsteady. The setting imagines a far future in which uplifted animals explore the ruins and mysteries left after humanity’s disappearance. Related games include Monarchies of Mau and Squeaks in the Deep, which broaden the setting through dog, cat, rat, and mouse perspectives. Realms of Pugmire was funded through Kickstarter in 2023.
Romantic planetary fantasy tabletop role-playing game
Cavaliers of Mars
Cavaliers of Mars, created by Rose Bailey in collaboration with Onyx Path, presents a romantic and swashbuckling Mars filled with swordplay, deserts, courtesans, canal cities, and political intrigue. Supporting books include Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel and Esoterica of Mars, which expand the setting with locations, adventures, factions, character material, and additional rules.
Fantasy tabletop role-playing game
Legendlore
Legendlore was developed through collaboration between Onyx Path and Caliber Comics, drawing on the setting and concepts of the Legendlore comic. The game uses a fifth-edition Dungeons & Dragons-derived approach to bring the comic’s Realm and its characters, conflicts, and principles to tabletop play. Megan Mackie is identified as a contributing writer.
Marketing campaigns
- 2024Curseborne teaser and announcement campaign
United States · International online audience
Onyx Path promoted Curseborne through teaser activity on YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok before formally announcing the game at Onyx Path Con 2024. Subsequent company blog coverage and creator videos introduced its supernatural character lineages and setting concepts.
Outcome. The campaign led into a crowdfunding effort that concluded in October 2024.
- 2024Curseborne crowdfunding campaign
United States · International tabletop gaming community
The company used crowdfunding to finance Curseborne, a new urban horror and fantasy role-playing game featuring several supernatural playable lineages.
Outcome. The campaign completed in October 2024 and preceded the digital core-rulebook release identified for November 2025.
- 2023Realms of Pugmire Kickstarter
United States · International tabletop gaming community
Onyx Path and Pugsteady used Kickstarter to fund Realms of Pugmire, the second edition of the anthropomorphic fantasy role-playing game.
Outcome. The campaign supported development and publication of the second-edition game.
- 2023The World Below crowdfunding campaign
United States · International tabletop gaming community
The World Below, a subterranean fantasy role-playing game, was crowdfunded in November 2023.
Brand decisions
2024
Launch CurseborneProduct launchBackground
Onyx Path sought to expand its catalogue with a new urban horror and fantasy property distinct from its established licensed lines.
Action taken
The company announced Curseborne at Onyx Path Con 2024, promoted it through online video channels, and took it through crowdfunding.
Aftermath
Crowdfunding concluded in October 2024, with the supplied reference material identifying a digital core-rulebook release for November 19, 2025.
2012
Adopt a mixed licensed and creator-owned publishing modelStrategyBackground
Onyx Path was founded during a transition involving White Wolf-associated properties and needed a catalogue combining established audiences with new creative projects.
Action taken
The company pursued licenses for World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, and Exalted, acquired the Trinity Universe and Scion lines, and developed original or creator-led games.
Aftermath
This approach became the basis of a broad catalogue spanning horror, fantasy, science fiction, superhero, cinematic parody, and post-apocalyptic role-playing games.
2012
Emphasize digital and print-on-demand distributionStrategyBackground
A specialist publisher maintaining numerous game lines requires distribution methods that can support niche demand and long supplement programmes.
Action taken
Onyx Path made many products available as PDFs through DriveThruRPG and offered physical editions through DriveThruRPG print on demand, while sending selected products to traditional retailers.
Aftermath
The model allowed the company to maintain a substantial catalogue across digital and physical formats without relying solely on conventional print distribution.
Recent events
- 2025
Curseborne core rulebook released digitally[1]
Product launch
The reference material identifies a DriveThruRPG release of the Curseborne core rulebook on November 19, 2025.
- 2024
Onyx Path announces Curseborne[1]
Product launch · Campaign
The company announced Curseborne, an urban horror and fantasy role-playing game, at Onyx Path Con 2024 after a teaser campaign across online video and streaming platforms.
- 2024
Curseborne crowdfunding campaign concludes[1]
Product launch
Curseborne completed its crowdfunding campaign in October 2024, supporting development and publication of the new game line.
- 2012
Onyx Path Publishing is established by former White Wolf creative director Richard Thomas[1]
Other
Richard Thomas founded Onyx Path Publishing as a new tabletop role-playing game publisher during the transition of several White Wolf-associated properties.
- 2012
Onyx Path becomes licensee for major White Wolf-associated properties[1]
Other
The company obtained publishing rights connected with World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, and Exalted, while acquiring the Trinity Universe and Scion lines.
Sources2 sources
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