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!

Back in December Preston was interviewed on The Digital Front podcast for the free PDF he wrote on lessons for those considering starting an e-publishing company. As sometimes happens, life got in the way and Daniel, the podcast host, wasn’t able to get the recording edited and released until this week.

If you have an interest in what goes on behind the scenes in game publishing, we hope you’ll check it out. However, we’d recommend downloading and reading the free PDF first. You’ll probably get more out of the podcast that way, rather than listening first and reading second.

For those of you who haven’t visited 12 to Midnight’s store in the last few days (surely you’ve been to the Midnight Cellar recently), I’d like to point out a not-insignificant change. Whereas before, you found the store at http://shop.12tomidnight.com, now when you visit that address you’re automatically forwarded to http://midnightcellar.com.

As I promised in the state-of-the-company report at the beginning of the year, we have moved the store to a new server. While we were at it, we decided to give the shop its own domain name. If you have already shopped at the Midnight Cellar, all your account information was transferred to the new server. However, should you have a problem logging into your account and re-downloading your purchases, please let us know. We’re also looking for feedback on Google Checkout. How is it working out for you? Are you avoiding the shop because we don’t offer other payment methods like, Paypal? Let us know!

Please take a moment to visit the not-necessarily-new-but-definitely-improved midnightcellar.com. You’ll immediately notice that the new site is blazing fast! This is just Step 1 in our evil plan to coerce you into giving us money in exchange for cool RPGs and (soon) related products. Keep checking back, because the store–and 12 to Midnight–are only going to get better.

PINEBOX, TX – 12 to Midnight is auctioning off a role in their upcoming college horror campaign book ETU: Degrees of Horror to benefit the Autism Research Institute. The auction is just one of the fundraisers being held this month as part of the Midnight Charity Project. All fundraisers are in support of autism research.

 The winner of the Ebay auction will be written into an ETU “Midnight Tale” (adventure outline) and includes a piece of interior art in his or her likeness. 12 to Midnight pledges to let the winner choose whether the character in this horror setting is killed in a spectacular style or allowed to survive as a potential victim another day. 

 “This is a great opportunity to not only become a part of RPG ‘canon’ in a campaign world, but also to help advance the mission of defeating autism,” says 12 to Midnight president Preston P. DuBose. “Not many people know that at least some forms of autism are treatable, but the Autism Research Institute is literally changing people’s lives. The RPG community has been very supportive of us for the last four years, so we felt it was past time to ‘pay forward’ and help a very worthy cause.”

 The ETU auction runs until December 21. Other fundraisers include an auction for an autographed copy Bloodlines (modern d20 System edition) and donations of sales made at the Midnight Cellar online store.