Bad puns aside, we are grateful for the latest Steamworks review to roll in–this time from the Flames Rising e-zine. If you’re still not sure if Steamworks is for you or you’d just like more information, brave the Flames to see what they have to say.

Okay! No more puns (today). I promise!

We would have said something sooner, but we only got the schedule on Friday. 12 to Midnight will be at AggieCon in College Station, Texas this coming weekend– Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29. We are currently scheduled for 3 panels.

• Friday:  3 pm - Archetypes vs. Stereotypes
• Saturday: 12 pm - Breaking into the RPG Business
• Saturday: 2 pm - Elements of Horror

If you live in Texas and want to hang out, this is the perfect opportunity. We haven’t committed to running any demos this time, so that means we have lots of time to hang out. In attendance will be Ed Wetterman, Jerry Blakemore, TC Largent, and Preston DuBose.

We are still making like busy bees and working on our first plot point setting book. I’d estimate the 1st draft of the book is about 70% complete. This is an exciting time for us as we hope to have the 1st draft off to the editors by early May. This will be followed by a 2nd round of writing, rewrites, additions, and sidebars, then another pass by the editors. We will then do a final rewrite, a final edit, and then go into layout. We are hoping to have it laid out with all art by early spring 2009. Of course it will then have to be approved by Pinnacle and then be printed before it will actually be available for distribution, but it is our primary goal as a company to make certain this happens.

The good news is that once the editors have the copy, we can finish some other outstanding work such as the 12 Hours adventure series, The Prodigal, and House on Dale Island.

So far we have playtested ETU for approximately 35 gaming hours and the heroes have reached about 22 experience points, making them Sophomores and enabling them to finally have a wild die of d4. Everyone has had a great time and we have some extremely cool, scary moments. IMHO, we have successfully captured the flavor of attending college, albeit a very weird one. Check out the writeups in our forums for more on the details of the playtesting.

The basic experience point system we have used is 3 xp for a plot point or published adventure (such as Last Rites), 2xp for completing a tale, and 1xp for each generated adventure. Generated adventures take on special importance, since Research adventures apply to increasing a student’s Studying bonus which is in turn necessary to passing final exams each semester. This has worked very well and controlled character growth and story pacing.

Finally, I’d like to report that Mike Dukes, (Bloodshadows on the forums) is writing some tales for ETU. After his work on Bites of Midnight, I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

12 to Midnight would like to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Gary Gygax. Gary co-created Dungeons and Dragons and created a hobby for millions of people around the world.

Many folks who don’t play these games ask why this hobby is important. First it provides a reason for many young people to read and learn to understand charts and graphs. 1st Edition AD&D did that very, very well. Secondly the hobby develops individual thinkers who use their imagination to solve problems and to think “outside the box.” Finally this hobby brings people together to interact with one another and grow bonds of friendship, just as sports do for other folks.

Gary was a pioneer who inspired every role playing game designer and company since the mid 1970s and he was still writing and producing games and adventures as recently as last year.

The Tomb of Horrors was one of the greatest adventures ever written and it inspired us to produce Innana’s Kiss.
Most of us have gamed for 20 or more years. Jerry and Ed have for over 30 years. That’s a lot of throwing dice, laughing, adventure, imagination, and inspiration. Thanks Gary.

If you’re not familiar with the horror webzine Flames Rising, now is the perfect time to get acquainted. Not only have they recently redesigned their site, but they are holding a contest for the best short essay on your favorite horror game. Flames Rising has always had great reviews and interviews with big names in horror, so visit for the contest but stay for the amazing content. 12 to Midnight is glad to support Flames Rising in their site relaunch celebration by joining the ranks of many other publishers who are offering prizes for essay winners. The contest deadline is March 15, but there’s no harm in getting those essays in today!