Gehenna Gaming are closing in on the very final hours of their BackerKit campaign to bring Eldritch Automata, a unique-sounding roleplaying game to life. Bringing Mecha-based badassery and cosmic horror together, Eldritch Automata sounds like a bit of a wild ride!

Eldritch Automata // Gehenna Gaming

So what is Eldritch Automata? Inspired by the likes of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Pacific Rim, and Escaflowne and powered by the Year Zero Engine, you will dive into a world of cosmic horror after a recent apocalypse. You are one of humanity's last defenders, tasked with bringing down eldritch horrors that really want to snack on your brains. You'll do all this in the back of your mecha, the Automata but the twist is that your weapon against the darkness is also killing you.

The Year Zero Engine has been used here to give people a low barrier to entry and the idea is that the game is - Accessible. Fast. High Risk, High Reward - you use the Year Zero dice pool system based on your four Attributes and twelve Skills with sixes meaning successes. Additional sixes beyond the first then give you more options. If you fail, the Year Zero system sticks to the "fail forward" formula which keeps the story going but with a twist. You can also try and push your rolls but that could mean things go seriously wrong and you might even push yourself to the brink.

Eldritch Automata Rule Book // Gehenna Gaming

Inside the book, you'll find ways to build your Pilot Archetype alongside your Automata Archetype. This allows you to make loads of interesting combinations and when built on by your Equipment Loadout, you can do some crazy stuff.

• Choose from 12 Pilot Archetypes to determine your Strand and Hope Talents and Breakdown, including The Bound, The Control Freak, The Empty, The Hatred, The Hedgehog's Dilemma, The Hyper-Responsible, The Inferior Superior, The Legacy, The Manufactured, The Other, The Sheltered, and The Thanatos
• Choose from 12 Automata Archetypes to determine your additional Talents and Berserk trait- The Ancient, The Beast, The Collateral, The Heavy, The Junker, The Legion, The Mass Produced, The Overload, The Prototype, The Strainer, The Stealth, and The Operations Admin
• Further, customize your Automata with your Attributes and Skills, determine your Stability and Ego, and Equipment Loadouts
• Optimize your loadout with Weapon and Gear Tags to customize your combat style and make every Automata uniquely yours, including range, versatility, accuracy, damage, unique powers, and flaws

What else is in the book?

• An expansive rule set designed using the Year Zero Engine that allows for both narrative storytelling and the high-octane action of launching in an Automata to face down a monstrous cosmic being
• A comprehensive character creation system combining 12 Pilot Archetypes and 12 Automata Archetypes, each boasting a multitude of abilities and talents for over 144 unique combinations
• Personal relationship mechanics that allow you to forge bonds with other PCs and NPCs and leverage them in combat to gain an edge or break your opponents, plus downtime mechanics to flesh out non-combat scenes and roleplay hooks to make them more meaningful to character development
• A full equipment loadout system allows you to create the weapon of your dreams for your Automata using Weapon Tags, as well as lists of pre-made weapons and equipment so you can simply grab your gear and launch
• A breakdown of the world and setting with six different regions to base your game in, each with its own rich history and tales of survival, plus four unique secret societies and conspiracy groups to add plot devices and ‘Xanatos Gambit’-fuel to your games
• A terrifying list of sample Horrors and Seraphs to deploy against your pilots and fuel your stories with unique abilities and mechanics to keep players on the edge of their seats
• A full overview of how E//A is intended to be run, leveraging the media that inspired the game and our experience as seasoned Game Masters of the horror genre.

Automata pilots will also be able to power their Mecha forward into the fight using their Ego. This allows you to do awesome things but if you push yourself too far, you might go Berserker and lose yourself. It's a constant balancing act! Pilots can also make use of Strands which are ways for you to link yourself to your companions and others that you know, using your connections to push you that little extra step.

High Octane Cosmic Horror // Gehenna Gaming

If this all sounds suitably epic to you then there is a Quicklaunch Guide that you can download for Free right now HERE. As it stands right now, the campaign only has a few hours left but you've got some great options when it comes to pledging for the game.

Eldritch Automata Rewards // Gehenna Gaming

Get yourself rules (both digital and physical), dice, accessories and more as part of the current offerings on BackerKit. It certainly sounds like a fascinating concept blending together elements of anime and manga-style Mecha-based combat and the horrors from the other side of the stars.

Could you be tempted by Eldritch Automata?