12 to Midnight

Okay, I critically failed my roll to keep everyone updated on 12 to Midnight’s plans. Exactly one month ago when I announced the Last Rites print edition, I said I’d be back in a week to tell you about the following release. Before I knew it, the holidays had jumped out from behind a dumpster, knocked me out, and took my wallet. Well I’m finally back, with part 2 of our plans for 2009.

In April we’ll be releasing a special print edition of Fear Effects for Savage Worlds. Fear Effects is exactly what it sounds like– a set of fear rules. The nice thing about Fear Effects is that it doesn’t require a sanity score or additional record-keeping. If you fail your Guts roll, you make a roll on our fear chart rather than the standard table found in the Savage Worlds rulebook. Did I mention that our chart has 100 possible outcomes, versus the standard 10?

The original Fear Effects was conceived as a santiy toolbox. Ed wrote the rules with several variants and options that you could choose based on the kind of horror campaign you were running. It was a great idea, but we got some feedback from you that all those choices led to deadlock. With this version we decided to streamline things and give you a single set of rules to play by. Don’t worry though; all those options and variants will go into a free download from Midnight Cellar.

We had another reason for streamlining the rules. We really wanted it all to fit onto 5 pages plus a cover. Why? Because we’re releasing Fear Effects in a handy GM-screen format! Fear Effects, like Last Rites before it, will be 6×9 folded. That’s just a little bit more narrow than your Savage Worlds Explorer’s Edition book, which should mean that you’ll be able to slip it between the pages and carry it everywhere you carry your rulebook. However, it unfolds to 3 panels per side, giving you a compact GM screen with the entire 100 item Fear Effects chart on one side and the rules summary on the other.

All of this for only $4.99! At that price, you can buy two and give one to a friend! The item number is TWL1002, and you should be able to pre-order this item online or in game stores in another month or so. Speaking of preorders, don’t forget that you can preorder Last Rites of the Black Guard at your FLGS. Just ask for TWL1001.