12 to Midnight

In August 2003, a publisher no one had ever heard of released a RPG adventure in a format most people still hated in a genre most gamers didn’t play. This month we celebrate the ten year anniversary of Last Rites of the Black Guard, the game that started it all.

It’s pretty easy for me to remember the date. It’s only a month after the birth of my first child, and I was the one laying out the book in the sleep-deprived weeks that followed. I’d only started with 12 to Midnight a few months earlier. It was before Last Rites’ release but after it had been written and the cover art ordered. It was an exciting time. We had little clue what we were doing or what sort of sales we could expect from a PDF-only product. I was invited to join based on my enthusiasm, my having already written Bloodlines, and most importantly my layout expertise. In those early days the 12 to Midnight motto was “Why pay a freelancer when you can make them a partner?!” (I guess it worked because ten years later here I am.) Anyhow, the only catch was that I was (and still am) a gaming hermit. Even in my 30s, I’d never run a game from a commercial adventure module nor did I have any idea what one was supposed to look like. I just made it look how I imagined a module ought to look.

Fortunately we had several things going for us. First was Ed’s kick-ass story. Ten years later it still holds up as a very spooky adventure that ignites your imagination. We also distinguished ourselves with downloadable freebies, most notably our audio files of EVPs (“electronic voice phenomenon”) which could be played by the GM during the game. These were universally loved and did a lot to help earn the game earn positive reviews. Finally, I think the game’s evocative cover made people stop and click to read more. At a time when many “indie press” publishers at RPGNow were still using clipart and stock photography for covers, we invested a few hundred dollars to commission what turned out to be an amazing canvas painting.

Unfortunately, that painting pretty much blew our entire art budget. For interior art Ed suggested that we use “photoshopped” photography. I distinctly remember taking photos of houses, friends, and even kitchen knives for use as interior art. I made them look like polaroids (despite polaroid cameras already being a couple decades out of fashion even in 2003) with little captions as if they had been taken by the heroes themselves. Adding “ectoplasm” or other supernatural effects was by far the hardest part. In the end it might have been a little cheesy, but somehow it still worked.

Having no previous experience, when we published it we really didn’t know how many copies we would sell. We hoped for hundreds of sales but we were prepared to be disappointed with only hundred or so for starters. Boy, were we in for a shock. As I mentioned in the introduction, back then most gamers wouldn’t touch PDF games with a 10-foot pole. Worse, the ones who bought PDFs were mostly fantasy gamers. The horror fan base back in 2003 was tiny compared to today. Call of Cthulhu hadn’t been updated since 5th edition in 1992 and the 6th edition wouldn’t come out until two years after Last Rites. Worse yet, we weren’t even releasing an entire game system but only a single adventure for d20 Modern (a product that itself hadn’t flown off the shelves). As we often lamented in August and September of 2003, “We’re a niche of a niche of a niche.”

But that’s not to say that good things didn’t come. We sold dozens of copies and the reviews were largely positive. Even better, Ed’s game caught the attention of other game designers who sent him private emails of encouragement. Without those messages of encouragement and praise, Last Rites probably would have been both our first and last product. It’s a powerful reminder of how even a small word of encouragement can make a huge difference in someone’s life.

For all the good that came from Last Rites (and there was a LOT), there was one not-so-great thing that we heard over and over again. “Why did you end it on a cliffhanger? When is the next part coming out?” This is where Last Rites’ popularity was its own worst enemy. Like any movie fan can tell you, the longer you have to wait for a sequel the higher your expectations. Even though Ed had some ideas about what would happen next, as the game earned more and more praise he felt corresponding pressure to make sure his ideas surpassed the first book.  Before long he felt like anything he came up with couldn’t compete with what fans had built up in their minds.

Here we are ten years later, and people still want to know what happens next. That’s a testament to the power of Ed’s story of a suburban haunting. The good news is that your wait will be rewarded in our upcoming East Texas University campaign book. Inside, you’ll find Savage Tales that revisit the evil Nazi mummy and his Black Guard, finally delivering closure after a decade of uncertainty. Ten years is long enough.