12 to Midnight

Designer’s Notebook: Exams

Preston DuBose — Mon, 18 May 2026 14:52:46 +0000

For those who haven’t played ETU before, one of the core mechanics is that each Advance corresponds to an exam (either mid-terms or finals). You ARE a student after all, so that means making choices between investigating a haunting or attending a study session. Your academics can be improved or worsened based on extracurriculars and […]

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Designer Notes: More Setting Rules

Ed Wetterman — Fri, 15 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

First, I want to say thank you with all my heart to those who have backed Fresh Blood on Kickstarter. It means so much to Preston and I and we hope you like and appreciate our efforts. Our fans are awesome, and I can’t wait to hear all of your tales and adventures in Pinebox. […]

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One Crazy Idea

Preston DuBose — Wed, 13 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

I (Preston) published a version of this article on my Substack back in early April. If you want the early scoop about my writing projects, that’s a good place to subscribe (for free). A couple months ago when we were building up momentum to talk about the Kickstarter for East Texas University: Fresh Blood, I […]

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Designer Notes: Orientation

Ed Wetterman — Mon, 11 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

East Texas University has long-time fans who know Pinebox and the ETU campus as well as we do, but there’s also plenty of gamers who are discovering ETU for the first time. For the new inductees and the ones who need a refresher, we have a section all about the setting. We begin this section […]

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ETU: Fresh Blood Designer Notes, Part 3

Ed Wetterman — Fri, 08 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Hindrances and Edges We set out to really break down each of the ETU: Degrees of Horror Hindrances and Edges, studied the Horror Companion, and the new SWADE to determine the best way to generate Edges and Hindrances for Fresh Blood. Preston is a better rules guy than I am, so he took the first […]

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ETU: Fresh Blood Designer Notes, Part 2

Preston DuBose — Wed, 06 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Heroic Horror Ed:The sandbox of Pinebox was always meant to be a place of Heroic Horror. This is because Preston and I like to believe that good always defeats evil. In ETU, the heroes are not victims. They are students that stand up to evil, fight it, and come out stronger on the other side. Some […]

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We’re Launching a Kickstarter, and We’re Grieving

Preston DuBose — Mon, 04 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

This is an incredibly difficult article to write, so I hope you’ll extend us grace if I get the words wrong. Like the title says, we’re launching our ETU Kickstarter on Tuesday, May 5. But we also received some crushing news about the loss of our longtime friend, Jodi Black. We got to know Clint […]

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Designer Notes on Chickens in the Mist Graphic Novel

Preston DuBose — Fri, 01 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

EdChickens in the Mist was one of our greatest adventures and a convention favorite that we have run for almost 20 years now. So many characters have met their end racing down the muddy dirt roads and crashing into the Piney Woods or pecked to death and eaten by the giant mutant chickens. So many […]

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ETU: Fresh Blood Designer Notes, Part 1

Preston DuBose — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:42:41 +0000

Ed WettermanSo, back in 2019 or so, I wrote a series of plot point adventures that involved some of the history of Golan County. We were thinking it would be published in a serial format, but things changed after Covid, and it sat for a while. About 2022, Preston and I decided it was time […]

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Preston on Pinebox Perils & Study Abroad

Preston DuBose — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 13:55:15 +0000

Ed and I have previously written about what a big undertaking East Texas University had been for us. It had been written, re-written, re-re-written, and so on, over the course of several years. On top of that, due to may graphic design experience with 12 to Midnight I was also the layout artist for both […]

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