project-image

Exalted: Essence Player's Guide

Created by Onyx Path

An expansion for the Exalted: Essence tabletop roleplaying game, full of roleplaying advice and new mechanical content for players to enjoy.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

July 2025 Monthly Update
10 months ago – Wed, Jul 30, 2025 at 07:05:36 AM

Hello Essence Players,

It's the Wednesday before the last Thursday of the month, and the stars say that's Exalted Update Day. 

We're still in the earliest stages of the Post-Campaign on this one, so a lot of these udpates are going to have minimal or incremental progress. Things move forward, but our poerception often isn't fine-tuned enough to catch all of the little steps. I'll monitor the information Onyx Path shares as best possible, and we'll track on our handy chart!

Rewards Still Pending


So, our main reward has moved from the Editing stage to the final Development stage, where the development team take their final crack at incorporating your feedback and notes from the Editor to turn it into a near-perfect manuscript. Once that's done, they can begin the first steps of Art Direction, working out the needs of the book with the Art Directior (who will then work out the next steps with the individual artists). Forward progress, though still a long path ahead!


Rewards Distributed to Backers

  • Exalted: Essence Core Rulebook PDF
  • Pillars of Creation PDF
  • Tomb of Memory PDF
  • Deeds Yet Undone PDF
  • Across the Eight Directions PDF
  • The Realm PDF
  • Heirs to the Shogunate PDF
  • Many-Faced Strangers PDF
  • Exalted Third Edition Core Rules PDF 
  • Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought PDF 
  • Lunars: Fangs at the Gate PDF 
  • Exigents: Out of the Ashes PDF 
  • Sidereals: Charting Fate's Course PDF 
  • Abyssals: Sworn to the Grave Backer PDF
  • Alchemicals: Forged by the Machine God Draft Manuscript
  • Exalted Music Bundle
  • Exalted Fiction Bundle


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. Again, this isn't a new manuscript, it's just all of the pieces we shared during the campaign put together in order.

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://exalted-essence-players-guide.backerkit.com/



Onyx Path Project Tracking

You can read Onyx Path's most recent monthly summary, covering all projects and their status up to that point here: <June 2025 Project Status Summary>

You can find the weekly Monday Meeting blog updates <here>, which note any projects with status changes since the previous Month End summary. The project statuses listed are current as of last Monday, so do check it out each Monday night to see if anything may have progressed!

I will continue to post regular updates every month until the final reward has gone out.

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:


To Contact James

If you've got a question about your pledge or BackerKit page or any part of the process, you can contact me with any of these methods

  •  Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
  •  Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.


June 2025 Monthly Update
12 months ago – Wed, Jun 25, 2025 at 06:40:51 AM

Hello Essence Players,

It's the Wednesday before the last Thursday of the month, and the stars say that's Exalted Update Day. 

The 2025 edition of the Onyx Path Virtual Gaming Convention was a fun time! If you missed it, they're starting to post videos of their panels and Actual Plays on Youtube, and you can now watch the <Onyx Path Con 2025 Exalted Panel>where Dixie Cochran, Mike Gill and Emily G. discuss Exalted!



If you listen carefully to the panel, you may even hear about a future Exalted: Essence project ... an Exalted: Essence Storytelling Guide, which sounds like the perfect next step for ExEss after our Player's Guide! But that's for the future. For now, let's get into our monthly update!

MONTHLY UPDATES

With the Pledge Manager up and running, this is 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 - usually the Wednesday before the final Thursday of the 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.

Rewards Still Pending


We'll use our XSPG "character sheet" to track the progress on our projects. Right now, our main reward has entered the editing phase. Still lots of dots to fill in until everything's in your hands, and we'll track that each month in these updates.

Rewards Distributed to Backers

  • Exalted: Essence Core Rulebook PDF
  • Pillars of Creation PDF
  • Tomb of Memory PDF
  • Deeds Yet Undone PDF
  • Across the Eight Directions PDF
  • The Realm PDF
  • Heirs to the Shogunate PDF
  • Many-Faced Strangers PDF
  • Exalted Third Edition Core Rules PDF 
  • Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought PDF 
  • Lunars: Fangs at the Gate PDF 
  • Exigents: Out of the Ashes PDF 
  • Sidereals: Charting Fate's Course PDF 
  • Abyssals: Sworn to the Grave Backer PDF
  • Alchemicals: Forged by the Machine God Draft Manuscript
  • Exalted Music Bundle
  • Exalted Fiction Bundle


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. Again, this isn't a new manuscript, it's just all of the pieces we shared during the campaign put together in order.


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://exalted-essence-players-guide.backerkit.com/



Onyx Path Project Tracking

You can read Onyx Path's most recent monthly summary, covering all projects and their status up to that point here: <May 2025 Project Status Summary>

You can find the weekly Monday Meeting blog updates <here>, which note any projects with status changes since the previous Month End summary. The project statuses listed are current as of last Monday, so do check it out each Monday night to see if anything may have progressed!

I will continue to post regular updates every month until the final reward has gone out.

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:


To Contact James

If you've got a question about your pledge or BackerKit page or any part of the process, you can contact me with any of these methods

  •  Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
  •  Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.

Currently Crowdfunding


Pugmire Unleashed: A Player’s Guide is a supplement for the Realms of Pugmire tabletop RPG. Pugmire Unleashed is primarily a book for players who are interested in new options for their games. Inside you’ll find not only more options for dog player characters, more advice on how to play dogs, and more information about dog communities beyond the kingdom of Pugmire. You’ll also find more species to play: badgers, birds, lagomorphs, and reptiles. 

If you have a yen to be a nautical adventurer, there are rules for sailing and ships presented within, as well as a more detailed writeup of the main coastal city, Waterdog Port. For dogs looking to use strange and exotic weaponry, there are rules for gunpowder weapons, as well as the associated syndrome of Gunpower Panic that goes with using them. Combined with loads of new spells and backgrounds, there’s something for every player in these pages.

We haven’t forgotten the hard-working Guide in all this. Within in this book, we present not only some new enemies for player characters to thwart or befriend, but also three adventures that present a loose chronicle using much of the material presented in this book (and Realms of Pugmire). Players should avoid reading the back of the book, in case of spoilers, but most of the book is here for you to enjoy.

Come join the pack <here>

Reward Distribution - Print on Demand Discount Codes for Existing PDF Add Ons
about 1 year ago – Mon, Jun 02, 2025 at 10:37:37 AM

Hello Essence Players,

This is a quick follow-up to last week's note about the distribution of our Add On Rewards. PDF redemption codes for the existing books went out last week (and are available in your BackerKit digital rewards page if you had added them to your pledge during the campaign or in your Pledge Manager), and now I'm following up with the discounted order codes for the Print-on-Demand versions of those same titles.

The following Add On Rewards Will Be Distributed This Week:

  • Exalted: Essence Core Rulebook PDF + Discounted PoD Code
  • Pillars of Creation PDF + Discounted PoD Code
  • Tomb of Memory PDF + Discounted PoD Code
  • Deeds Yet Undone PDF + Discounted PoD Code
  • Across the Eight Directions PDF + Discounted PoD Code
  • The Realm PDF + Discounted PoD Code
  • Heirs to the Shogunate PDF + Discounted PoD Code
  • Many-Faced Strangers PDF + Discounted PoD Code
  • Exalted Third Edition Core Rules PDF  + Discounted PoD Code
  • Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought PDF  + Discounted PoD Code
  • Lunars: Fangs at the Gate PDF  + Discounted PoD Code
  • Exigents: Out of the Ashes PDF  + Discounted PoD Code
  • Sidereals: Charting Fate's Course PDF  + Discounted PoD Code
  • Abyssals: Sworn to the Grave Draft Manuscript
  • Alchemicals: Forged by the Machine God Draft Manuscript
  • Exalted Music Bundle
  • Exalted Fiction Bundle

DISCOUNTED PRINT-ON-DEMAND ORDER LINKS FOR ADD ONs

If you added any of these titles as Add On rewards during the campaign or in your Pledge Manager survey, you were sent the PDF redemption codes last week and will receive the discounted order codes for the Print on Demand books today.

These are discount links for a one-off printed version of the PDF that have already received.

DIFFERENCES IN PoD FORMATS

There are two different versions of Print-On-Demand options available.



Standard Color uses a thick 70# white paper which has better page opacity. (that's "70 pound" for reference, but does not mean each page weighs 70 lbs!).  Standard Heavyweight Color uses inkjet technology. (These are not the same inkjet printers you have at home - these are often as big or bigger than a car!) This option offers lower cost but the colors won't be as sharp or bright as a Premium Color book.

Premium Color uses the same 70# paper, but uses "Digital Color Print Engine Technology," which sounds super fancy and certainly costs a lot more, but I'll admit to not knowing the exact difference. This option offers superior color quality but is more expensive to produce, and has gotten even more expensive over the past year.

(Remember to login to DriveThruRPG prior to clicking or pasting the discount link in your BackerKit digital rewards locker, if you that was part of your rewards list! That link is your coupon and must be used for your PoD order.)

THESE DISCOUNTS ARE VALID FOR TWO MONTHS

Please note: This discounted Print-on-Demand ordering links will be valid at this cost for the next two months - they expire on August 1, 2025 - so please, if you choose to order a Print-on-Demand copy, use the provided link prior to August 2025 to ensure the best pricing. (Ongong price increases have forced Onyx Path to update codes regularly to keep up with the costs.)


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.

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://exalted-essence-players-guide.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.



Reward Distribution - Existing PDF Rewards Going Out to Backers!
about 1 year ago – Wed, May 28, 2025 at 09:39:43 AM

Hello Essence Players,

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 printing and we're getting ready to ship. 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://exalted-essence-players-guide.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 Exalted: Essence Player's Guide, and even longer for 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 Will Be Distributed This Week:

  • Exalted: Essence Core Rulebook PDF
  • Pillars of Creation PDF
  • Tomb of Memory PDF
  • Deeds Yet Undone PDF
  • Across the Eight Directions PDF
  • The Realm PDF
  • Heirs to the Shogunate PDF
  • Many-Faced Strangers PDF
  • Exalted Third Edition Core Rules PDF 
  • Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought PDF 
  • Lunars: Fangs at the Gate PDF 
  • Exigents: Out of the Ashes PDF 
  • Sidereals: Charting Fate's Course PDF 
  • Abyssals: Sworn to the Grave Draft Manuscript
  • Alchemicals: Forged by the Machine God Draft Manuscript
  • Exalted Music Bundle
  • Exalted Fiction Bundle

It's basically this section from our Add On menu during the campaign.


The redemption codes will come out in waves. The first wave will have links to add the PDF files to your DriveThru cart at $0 cost. In a few weeks, I'll have a second wave that will have links to order the PoD versions at a discounted 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.

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://exalted-essence-players-guide.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, in June 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!

ONYX PATH VIRTUAL GAMING CONVENTION



Onyx Path Virtual Gaming Convention 2025 is just around the corner! As they enter the final weeks of preparation, the schedule is settling in. Some panels and actual plays needed minor tweaks, which is normal for this stage of the game. People’s availability shifts and schedule issues bubble up, but so far they’ve been able to roll with the punches pretty easily and are on track for a smooth, fun, and informative show!



They’re also getting games for attendees to play ramped up via Startplaying.games. There are already a few games set up, and your encouraged to consider setting one up yourself, if you like running games! It’s a great opportunity to try out games you might not otherwise get the chance to, meet new players, and make a few bucks. Onyx Path's partners at Envoy who run convention games for them will also be running games via Startplaying.games and those entries will be showing up very soon at https://startplaying.games/event/onyx-path-2025!

As noted, all panels will be streaming on Onyx Path's Twitch channel running Friday June 6 - Sunday June 8, and Actual Plays will be streaming at Plastic Age Plays channel. I'd suggest checking out

  • The Exalted Panel on Saturday June 7 at 4:00 PM EDT
  • What's Up with Onyx Path on Sunday June 8 at 12:30 PM EDT


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!
about 1 year ago – Wed, May 21, 2025 at 09:18:33 AM

Hello Essence Players,

Welcome to the final third of May and the first update of this new phase of the project.

We finished up the Crowdfunding portion of our campaign almost four weeks ago with a successful run, adding many backers and funding additional projects. 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 (May 21-24), 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://exalted-essence-players-guide.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 had initially expected to be sending this out in June, but managed to get to it a little early! That said, 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 various Exalted: Essence and Exalted Third Edition books). Those will likely be coming to you in the first week of June, 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 sections we shared during the campaign, it'll just be those bits all mashed into one compiled version. 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

In a few weeks or so, I'll send an update with details about the distribution for that first wave of existing XS / Ex3 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 June 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.