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.

It’s the end of an era for Silven Publishing, but the beginning of a new partnership with 12 to Midnight. In light of Silven Publishing’s closing this month, the company has chosen 12 to Midnight to continue stewardship of their titles. Needless to say, we at 12 to Midnight are excited and honored to have been chosen to carry forward Silven Publishing’s work. The titles will be listed under a new "Silven Crossroads" imprint in 12 to Midnight’s catalog. With the name change, Silven returns to its roots. Silven Crossroads was the name of Silven’s online gaming community in its earlier incarnation, and now the name will serve as 12 to Midnight’s banner for outstanding fantasy titles.

Silven Crossroads titles will be available at 12 to Midnight’s own Midnight Cellar, as well as RPGNow, DriveThru RPG, and e23. 12 to Midnight will be publishing new titles under the Silven Crossroads imprint in the coming months. Previous Silven Publishing freelancers, or those who haven’t worked with Silven but would like to continue one of Silven’s product lines, are welcome to contact Eytan Bernstein and Preston P. DuBose to inquire about writing under the Silven Crossroads label. Please send any such inquiries to both Eytan and Preston.

PINEBOX, Texas — RPG publisher 12 to Midnight is launching a monthlong charity initiative called the Midnight Charity Project. This year the initiative, which runs from midnight December 1 to midnight December 31, will raise money for the Autism Research Institute. 

12 to Midnight is offering several ways for gamers to participate. First, they can bid in an online auction to win a guest role as an NPC in the upcoming college-horror RPG campaign book, “ETU: Degrees of Horror.” You can also bid on an official City of Pinebox death certificate or an autographed copy of 12 to Midnight’s adventure “Bloodlines.” Finally, when you purchase products from Midnight Cellar, 12 to Midnight’s store, the company will donate 100% of the purchase price of Last Rites of the Black Guard, Brainwashed and Skinwalker, as well as 20% of the proceeds from all other titles, to the Autism Research Institute.

Anyone who participates in the charity project is invited to further help raise awareness by using the html or BB-code snippets found on the Midnight Charity Project home page. Also, throughout the month of December, 12 to Midnight will post articles about autism at 12tomidnight.com.

Other RPG publishers, podcasters, bloggers and everyday gamers are invited to participate in the Midnight Charity Project and help grow it into a hobby-wide, focused campaign. If you would like to donate merchandise, airtime, space on your blog, banner ads or anything else, please send an e-mail to mcp at 12tomidnight.com.

The Autism Research Institute (ARI) is the hub of a worldwide network of parents and professionals concerned with autism. ARI was founded in 1967 to conduct and foster scientific research designed to improve the methods of diagnosing, treating and preventing autism. ARI also disseminates research findings to parents and others worldwide seeking help. The ARI data bank, the world’s largest, contains over 40,000 detailed case histories of autistic children from over 60 countries. 

12 to Midnight has been publishing RPG materials—primarily adventures for modern horror campaigns—since 2003. The company also publishes the works of two game design studios, Dirty Unicorn Games and Fabled Environments. This year marks the inaugural year of the company’s Midnight Charity Project.

The Game’s the Thing podcast has posted part 2 of the interview with Fabled Environment’s Charles White. Give it a listen, then come discuss it in the newly renamed Midnight Haunt forums.