Hey Backers!

I’ll admit these Backer updates are getting harder and harder to write. To clarify before I talk about the rest of the updates, the person who is writing these is Nick Francia, the independent creator behind Eldritch Automata. I am not Gehenna Gaming, I am not a representative of Gehenna Gaming, and I don’t have control of the most important part of the BackerKit (the bank account).  Also I’ll explain in the update but this is the last update you’ll see in the BackerKit until circumstances change. 

Gehenna Gaming has been largely quiet to my responses. The last time I received a response from them was March 30th in which they told me a lawyer would be sending over paperwork (presumably the one I had sent over initially). Before that, the last message I received from them was March 10th. It’s tough to write these updates because I feel as much in the dark about the important stuff than anyone else is. And with the lack of response becoming more sparse over time (before I would at least get a single response back a week) I’m skeptical that they intend to give the funding back. With the funding being as crucial to finishing the PDF, printing the books, supplying the Backers. So the question goes, where do I go from here? I’d like to think that my previous partnership with Gehenna Gaming would have ensured the smoothest transition. Litigation has come up as a possibility but is extremely pricey and puts us on a path that would take years from what legal consultation has given us. In the case of the funding it seems we are forced to an unknown timeline and I am being forced to move on counting it as a loss until it isn’t. This sucks, I know you know it sucks. But I’d like to tell you why “it sucks” is an understatement. 

I began writing what would become Eldritch Automata in 2017. Almost ten years have been spent writing this damn thing. I watched it go from a novel to a PbtA hack for a fan Neon Genesis Evangelion game to a full blown TTRPG system. I didn’t even know what the TTRPG industry was, I was still living in my apartment in Arizona working at a crappy call center a year or so out of college. Before I was a writer and designer, I was a player and a fan. Now fast forward to see what could amount to work be held up red-tape, and knowing that the funding to make all of it a reality is just out of reach separated by the single permission on a BackerKit setting is torture. I brought the game to someone I thought would want to fly high with me, I genuinely believe (and I still believe) that Eldritch Automata would become a powerhouse in scifi roleplaying games. That EA would be mentioned alongside Lancer and Beam Saber as some of the best mecha games offered. I got to watch how the game exploded at the best couple PAXs. How people want to play it. I still can’t fathom how we got this close, for parties just to pull out and hold us up for over half a year at this point. It’s heartbreaking for this game, the friendships that were soured, and the achievements that were tainted. 

Yet, we must endure.

As I said before we had made back-up plans for us to forge on ahead in case this happened. So now I’m here to talk about that. We recently sat down with a publisher (in the first of a few meetings we’re going to have with various publishers) talking about the road to finishing Eldritch Automata. We do have an offer for production that will include a trial publishing agreement that would fund the rest of the PDF and do an initial print run available for purchase by Q4 of this year. Where the issue lies is that this does not account for the core rulebook printing for the backers who paid into the original funding that Gehenna Gaming holds. The loose plan currently is to take our profits from that (which would take a few print runs) in order to fund the Backers print run ourselves. This would estimate that we won’t see Backers receiving physical copies until 2027 most likely. Clearly, not the most ideal plan. 

We also discussed what it would look like to open up a print-on-demand special Backer shop that would just have Backers have to pay for the cost of printing production and would ship the book out to them. This is 100% easier and gets people their books faster. But it also involves the Backers paying a little more on top of shipping. As we continue to talk with publishers, new options and possibilities for getting the Backers their books will open up. 

We will not shut the door on getting that funding back and will keep trying to get things from Gehenna Gaming. But it’s an injustice to myself, to you guys, and the game to just wait on that. So we’re moving ahead with what we know. The next paragraph is our proposed plan for compensating Backers in the case that we need to declare the original funding as a loss.

In terms of the add-ons without the BackerKit funding we’ll have to cancel all add-ons that aren’t the core rulebook (at least physically). Dossiers will still be able to be delivered via PDFs. The Backer special Horrors and Pilots are already complete and in the book. The physical only addons like the patches, the pins, the t-shirts, desk mats, dice, and arms however will not. Especially as some of these are manufactured and still in the hands of Gehenna Gaming.  Now of course this leaves us with a “what can we do” to offer compensation. Most likely what we’ll end up doing is separating Backers into tiers depending on what they backed at (and addons bought), and continue to offer free products of Eldritch Automata (digital) going forward which means supplements and operations or deep discount vouchers to basically allow you to buy anything new at manufacturing value until we’ve matched what you roughly spent. In the future if we’re able to fulfill these add-ons we will, but consider this the loose plan. Stretch goals such as the campaign book from Storyteller’s Forge, and Eldritch Automata: Homefront are still on the docket. But like said before I can’t even begin to think about those until at least the PDF of the core is done. 

This will be the last update on the BackerKit. If Gehenna Gaming does not give me control or access to the BackerKit and the funds, I literally cannot fulfill the campaign. All updates will now exclusively go through the Discord Server, and email list. I’ll attach links at the very end of this update. This might be confusing to some, but we need to draw a line on the separation between the entities of Nick Francia and Gehenna Gaming even harder than we already have. If in time, the BackerKit has been given back to me in full control I will return to making updates here.

My last act for the time being on this BackerKit will be to release the updated edition of the BackerKit Preview. This includes the first half of the book plus the Enemy Codex allowing you to utilize all the enemies for your ongoing Eldritch Automata games and rules to make your own. This is offered to backers only. Please take these rules and run the game to your hearts content, I hope you enjoy it. I would love to hear about your games in the Discord. 

The Eden Automata Pilot Academy otherwise known as the Garden, is humanity’s most controversial answer to the training and deployment of pilots for the Automata. Established within a remote mountain range among harsh and perpetual winter conditions, the facility was built to combine natural isolation with already existing underground infrastructure to house a robust training facility for the next generation of Automata pilots. Originally a mining complex, it has been retrofitted and rebuilt with state-of-the-art training facilities, and a community that mimics a school based learning environment. The academy’s directive is simple: to train and ready Automata pilots from different countries from a pool of specially identified recruits. The controversy in the Garden arises from the fact that the recruitment pool focuses on younger ages, roughly 13 to 18. The decision to recruit and train young candidates is a divisive one. In a world that still regularly communicates with one another, something like the Garden would not exist. But in a world largely separated from one another, the Garden is not known by many and the credentials for the recruitment pool even more so.

It is not secret that one of Eldritch Automata’s biggest inspirations is Neon Genesis Evangelion, it is built into the bones and identity of Eldritch Automata. However, Eldritch Automata by default does not consider the default pilots of the Automata to be children. We talk about how war affects people in general but never how it affects the young ones. For a game that’s focused on psychological torture, body horror, and the brutalities of war, please make sure everyone is onboard with playing children who will undoubtedly go through all of that and more. The Garden is abusive, it’s a mill for churning out pilot fodder whose retirement plan largely consists of being torn apart by cosmic horrors. 

The Eden Automata Pilot Academy divides its training into four distinct but closely integrated sectors, each designed to develop and train different aspects of a pilot's capabilities. As recruits advance through their training at the Gardens, more specialized training is undergone to focus on honing a pilot’s strength and mitigating weaknesses. The training focuses on: Synchronizational Piloting, Physical Conditioning, Technical Proficiency, and Tactical Operations.

The Combat Threshold Rating, or CTR, is an important part of a student’s time at the Garden and represents the recruit’s overall score and ability to keep calm under extreme duress. It is a measure of a recruit’s worth and recruits who score higher on high earning squads often enjoy perks including more comfortable living spaces, extra portions of food, or even more free time. This is a new trackable stat you can utilize when playing in campaigns that are focused around being pilots within the Academy. 

Alongside CTR, comes the new punishment mechanic. The Garden of Gethsemane serves as Eden Automata Pilot Academy’s most advanced and one of their most dangerous training systems to date. Gethsemane is a state of the art fear induction chamber that uses Anathema technology and neural stimulation to psychologically profile and create personalized scenarios based on the user's fear. Gethsemane is designed to induce trauma under controlled conditions so that players may be broken and rebuilt on a rapid schedule. Mechanics of Gethsemane operate around the previous Combat Threshold Rating, as Gethsemane acts as punishment/consequence to those who allow their CTR to drop to below 0.

I want to give a special shoutout and thanks to everyone who has sent kind and encouraging words to myself and the rest of the other people who are still involved in Eldritch Automata. This game has truly been a labor of love, and the development of it has been a test to see how much I love TTRPGs. It has not been easy, the circumstances around this game are in every waking moment I have and many lessons have been learned about how I would conduct business in publishing this a second time around.

Discord Server: https://discord.gg/cuEwTcP2T7

Hey Backers!

Quick lil' update to let you know that Titans of the Deep is out now on itch.io. I'll be working on getting seperate releases for VTTs in the future after doing some updating of the Backer Preview and updating the Quicklaunch.

Titans of the Deep is an official operation for the horror-mecha tabletop roleplaying game Eldritch Automata. Designed to be completed in 6-10 hours of play, everything from pre-generated characters, and an updated rule set come bundled together in a single book.

Titans of the Deep follow a team of Automata pilots (and their Operations Administrator) who have found themselves on the ocean-floating research station of Elysium. But what originally was designed to be a haven of the world's smartest minds after the occurrence of Advent Day, has started to reveal that not all is as it seems. Strange signals from the ocean floor, the mysterious work of one Dr. Argento and of course the massive underwater trench that has start singing to you in your sleep are only the firsts of your problem on this station. It's up to you and your players to discover what the hell is actually going on Elysium. Where did the funding for this place come from? What was it's original intent? All in all, your answers lie beneath; 30,000 feet down and under the extreme pressure of the ocean floor. Hope you brought your floaties.

Titans of the Deep is inspired by the likes of media such as Underwater, Event Horizon, Dead Space, and Barotrauma. Written by Nick Francia to serve as a companion Operation in the expanding world of Eldritch Automata.

https://noblemannick.itch.io/titans-of-the-deep

Hey there Backers!

It’s been almost a month since the last update and navigating the separation between Eldritch Automata and our previous publisher. You may notice that this update isn’t Update 23, in support of wanting to further emphasize a fresh start. I’ve penned this as Update #1 to recognize the different chapter that Eldritch Automata is entering. I’ve been in discussions with Gehenna Gaming and slowly going through the process. Paperwork has been sent from my end, so now we play the waiting game.

Thankfully, we’re not waiting for everything. I am proud and excited to say Titans of the Deep will finally release sometime next week (first week of March) published digitally independently by myself and teaming up with a publisher to get a print run for conventions (and eventually for online orders as well). The sales from Titans of the Deep are earmarked to fund the development of the core rulebook while we wait for the full process of BackerKit funds to be sent from our former publisher to us. But that’s not all! Titans of the Deep has been expanded from a simple adventure to a starter set that now includes the new updated rule tweaks. These tweaks were directly made from the feedback you all submitted.

Titans of the Deep is a 90-page book which includes: 

Moving away from Titans, I want to talk about what future development is looking like. Two adventures written by our convention GMs will be entering into clean up and production and will get a similar treatment to Titans. Depending on how sales of Titans go, we should be seeing these with fairly quick turn-arounds. The aforementioned solo rules should also be ready to go fairly soon and I’ll be writing a companion adventure to accompany that. We’ll be running playtests for those adventures in the coming months that you’ll be able to sign up for. I’m also happy to announce that an upcoming online gaming event will include purchasable tickets to play in one-shot variants of Titans of the Deep. When that event goes live, I’ll make an announcement in the official Discord promoting that. If you are going to PAX East, we have a few GMs running under third-party organizations games of Eldritch Automata including Titans of the Deep and some of their own original scenarios!

That’s the short and sweet of everything! Have a good March, and let’s ride out the end of winter together!

- Nick

Official Mailing List: https://eldritchautomata.net/

Question of the Update?: If we were going to do another lore drop what would you want to know about, comment below. 

This is Nicholas Francia, the lead designer and creator of Eldritch Automata. I’ve written a decent amount of the updates you’ve seen, and most likely we’ve talked if you posted in the community section or on Discord. We have some important news regarding the future of Eldritch Automata that Ian and I want to share with you today. Moving forward, Eldritch Automata will no longer be published by Gehenna Gaming. I’ll hand things over to Ian for a brief explanation of what is going on with Gehenna.

Ian here. As some of you may know, I started Gehenna Gaming over five years ago, and have had a lot of major life changes since, including moving across the country, becoming a father, and taking over as primary caretaker for my partner due to the sudden onset of a long term health issue. Over the last six months, I have come to the realization that I no longer have the time, energy, or means to keep up with Gehenna Gaming and everything that is needed to properly support a project like Eldritch Automata at this time. In order to do what is best for E//A and Nick, and make sure that the game you’ve all been supporting continues to get the time and attention it deserves, I am working with Nick to split Eldritch Automata off from Gehenna, and separate Gehenna from further development of the game and fulfillment of the Backerkit campaign. Nick and I are working behind the scenes to properly hand off all assets so that Nick can fully take over and finish production and fulfillment.

For Gehenna, I’ll be taking an indefinite hiatus while I focus on my career and family. If you’re a member of the Gehenna community, I will share more there at a later date regarding my plans. But back to Nick for now to talk about E//A.

We’ve slowed down on development of the final bits of art and editing until we get this settled, and I’ve separated E//A from Gehenna. All additional supplements we’ve announced or discussed are also paused, as trying to separate these things afterwards provides another layer of complexity. As soon as Ian and I have all the paperwork signed and in place, I will move forward with the release of Titans for digital distribution. 

Writing Progress: 100%

Editing Progress: 50%

Art Progress: All Automata, Horror, and Pilot art is complete, including BackerKit Horrors and Pilots. 

What happens next?

My commitment to finish Eldritch Automata remains our top priority. Ian is working with me to ensure we have a smooth transition. Once the remaining assets controlled by Gehenna have been transferred in my name, we’ll ramp back up to finish the book. Thankfully, as with PAX Unplugged this past year, we will still be running games at various conventions throughout the year through third-party organizations thanks to the dedicated group of GMs we’ve had running Eldritch Automata. Once things are more set in stone, I’ll be happy to show a roadmap to PDF and eventual printing release. All in all, the aim is to release within 2026, the sooner the better. 

How can we keep updated?

To ensure you receive future updates and news, please join our new communications channel. I’ll still be updating through the BackerKit, but if you’d like multiple avenues for discussion and engagement.

In closing this update, the current situation is not where I’d imagined we would be. This is not the outcome any of us envisioned when this journey began. Please understand that as an independent creator, I am navigating this situation alongside you. Despite these setbacks, I remain dedicated to finding a new publishing partner that will be eager to bring the high-quality TTRPG we all deserve to life.

Thank you for your continued patience and support.

Sincerely,
Nicholas Francia, Creator of Eldritch Automata

Nick here to give you the latest on Eldritch Automata. Ian is under the weather, so he couldn't check my update or edit it. So if the grammar sucks, I apologize. We’re keeping things fairly light after our meaty previous update but still want to wet the whistles of those who are chomping for more Eldritch Automata content. We’re going into my favorite month of the year and saying goodbye to Automata summer and saying hello to the fall season. Before we get to the updates; pre-orders are now reopened!

Finally we can say that the manuscript text is 100% complete. The last bits of writing that we were waiting on finally came in from our writers and I can finally call this bird cooked and done in that aspect. It’s exciting to see it all finally together into a single cohesive folder of documents as it’s being tossed to the art director to put the initial layout together. The layout is looking stellar, and we’re hovering around 330 pages for the finished product. Editing for the main book is firing on all cylinders, and it should take us little time to update the layout with the edited text once all is said and done. Once editing is done we’ll have a few of our content readers give it a look over to ensure we haven’t written in potentially inflammatory or exclusionary language. As a writer and a designer, my job is currently done now on the main book. Now I leave it in my art director’s hand to help finish the fight. Currently all art has been allocated space and planned for, so we have no new surprises, no lack of artists. Everything is on the table and we’re turning things up to 11. Our Stress is at a 10, and we’ll need to make a Trauma roll at the end of this encounter. But such is the life of an Automata Author. 

A lot of talk has been discussing when the PDF will finally be released and right now we are on controlled sprints to release the PDF by end of year hitting that 2025 release window with the PDF going to printers right after. So if everything goes to plan, we’ll be looking at a physical release in Q1/Q2 of 2026 with the additional BackerKit items like the Equipment Deck and Dossiers going to print fairly soon after. The soundtrack will be released sometime in 2026, with writing for the campaign book from Storyteller’s Forge and Homecoming beginning in 2026 as soon as Eldritch Automata Core Rulebook goes to printers and we can breathe a little easier. Titans of the Deep is undergoing some finalizations and last minute polish but should be available some time this month. Truly an Operation I am proud of, it will be available for PDF purchase with a print run planned for the future. Titans of the Deep, Homecoming, and Storyteller’s Forge Campaign makes up what’s tentatively called Season 1 of Eldritch Automata, and may include even more projects in the future. With the core rulebook being out, it means we can start working on smaller releases that use the Core Rulebook as the central heart of E//A has a whole.

Thanks to the Backers on the Discord and some of the playtest forms, I've gone ahead and cleaned up and clarified a lot of the languages behind certain Talents and Tags that might have left too many things up into the area for interpretation. Here are specific changes due to revisions of the manuscripts before our final edits.

Danger Close: There has been no gameplay mechanic in this game that has not been combed over as much as the Area tag and the rules for general Explosion. In it's original form, Area was too powerful of a tag and in our pre-release nerf we may have traded off too much damage weakening it severely. As one of the only Cost 3 tags, Area should feel powerful but not game breaking. We have made a slight edit, that will ease the concerns over Area's damage which in turn has changed Explosion. Originally Blast Power had a set dice pool to roll for damage (either 5 or 7), now Blast Power is a static damage (still cannot be improved via Stunts) so that your damage is consistence and fierce even against foes with Ego Fields.

Slowing Down the Arms Race: Weapon balancing has been adjusted, normally your weapons are built with a maximum of 5 points worth of Flaw Tags. Now, your Flaw Tag are set a maximum of 5 for Signature Arms and 3 for Side Arms, lowering the amount of power a Side Arm can do in conjunction with a Signature Arm. This also serves as an indirect nerf to the Legion's power, curtailing them a bit.

Slippery Hands: Grappling is a powerful tag giving a player the ability to lockdown from afar and we believe that setting it at 1 cost might be too low for this. We're upping the cost to 2 to keep it's power at a decent trade off.

Limiting the Ceiling: We never anticipated that someone might take certain tags multiple to an exorbitant amount, so we're giving Accuracy, Ego Degradation, Piercing all now have their tags capped at 3, to stop them from being abused in-game. 

Installing Ego Limiters: Ego Conversion is an incredibly powerful tag for keeping your Ego Field up, and in conjunction with tags such as Swift, we have seen some Automata being able to keep their Ego Field up at max indefinitely with ease. We've now changed this so Ego Conversion instead of redirecting full damage back into your Ego Field now only does a static 1 Ego Field recovery for every successful attack piercing a target's Ego Field.

Sheltered: Put on a Smile can only be used once per scene, you can't infinitely stack your Empathy for Stress.

Empty: Unfeeling has been changed, it now restores all Ego after a Shift of rest. Bad Influence now correctly states Manipulate and Command.

Hedgehog's Dilemma: Growing Pains now only exhausts a Strand instead of breaking it.

Puppeteer: Dark Secrets now says a significant secret.

Forgotten: Blank Space is now properly listed as a required talent. 

Alicia Aguilar exemplified and later would create the concept of what a pilot was. A middle ground between experiencing significant hardships while also being incredibly headstrong. Aguilar had lost her family during Advent Day and had survived multiple encounters with Horrors, within events since Advent Day pushing her towards isolation. Aguilar managed to achieve unprecedented synchronization in the initial tests. When she interfaced with Genesis, the system roared to life. The Anathema was able to connect the two and the first connection with the Automata was established. We understood that Aguilar was able to succeed not despite her trauma but partially because of it. She had experienced the past dissolution of everything she knew already and when it came to merge her consciousness and reject reality all-together she had already healed her scars in exactly the right way. To understand loss but to have been able to move with loss still in tow. They needed not healthy psychological profiles but resilient ones. The unofficial motto of the pilots soon became “The broken become gods”. Not spoken with pride but understanding. 

With a pilot successfully chosen, Genesis was ready for a test drive. The world governments stood at a standstill as their first anti-Horror weapon had been developed. But now it was time to test man-made infinity against the world. Aguilar could only interface for short periods of time, initial merges only allowing her three minutes before the stress on Ego got to be too much. But with each synchronization attempt within the Ego Chamber, Aguilar was able to push the past records of her time more and more. Seven minutes, then twenty, and finally even a full hour before collapsing from exhaustion. Aguilar reported feeling a distinct “other” connected to her. She could only passively glean its emotional state and intentions but surmised that whatever it was. It felt caged and wanted to be let out. Soon Genesis made its first movements with thick steps of metal it cascaded outside into the desert declaring its existence Aguilar and Genesis roared. Each outing in Genesis it was observed that Aguilar had begun experiencing different effects of the strain. Strange dreams, becoming more highly reactive and malleable to the Anathema, feeling sick without daily exposure to Genesis. The concerns of Aguilar and Genesis were noted but it couldn’t be helped. What the world needed to see was a dead Horror. 

Aguilar piloted Genesis in the first battle among several Horrors. The combat capabilities of Genesis were admirable, but Automata was bulkier, it was slower, and more vulnerable to being overwhelmed than a faster vehicle. Genesis sustained significant damages but had successfully managed to clear out a small Horror nest all by itself. 

Operation Crescendo would be most of civilization’s first time hearing about the Automata project. Deployed among a major hub of civilization, Genesis was set to engage a large Horror that had nested within a largely abandoned Santiago, Chile. The intention was to clear the Horror presence out completely and return civilians and government to the city. This major deployment revealed both the peak of the Automata Project but also its shortcomings, Aguilar piloted with record high Ego Synchronization rates. Genesis engaged into a drawn out engagement with the skyscraper sized Horror and a small pack of Horrors. Genesis took heavy damage but scored a decisive victory over the Horrors, wrenching the nest’s alpha into two and sending the pieces of its corpse hurdling into the nearby mountain range.
 
During this time Genesis had pushed Aguilar to their limit before the boundary between Aguilar and Genesis gave way, completely revealing the true devastation of the Automata. Genesis ignored all orders instead tearing through the city and annihilating with extreme measures every Horror it could find. When the battle was over Genesis had bathed most of Santiago into a rubble filled inferno. Not only was the city not fit to hold a proper population anymore, but Aguilar fell deep into a coma. Yet, even still the Automata arms race was underway to create more of these unstoppable Horror killing machines. 

Ok, so this is going back on something I stated previously. I didn’t think that a Solo Mode was possible in Eldritch Automata, I didn’t think it fit the themes of the game especially with Strands. To be honest, it really doesn’t. A big part about Eldritch Automata is about levying your personal relationships to push yourself beyond limits and I felt like a solo mode really took away from that. I recently read Free League’s new Alien Evolved Edition, and saw the Lone Survivor mode they’ve added for solo play. There are some decent bones there to start as a base, so with my writing duties done on the main book I’m throwing myself into writing a solo-option mode that’s loosely taken shape in my head. This is by far one of the most requested features for Eldritch Automata and for the people who don’t have a full party, this is for you. The additional ruleset will most likely be released sometime next year alongside a compatible adventure I’d like to write for it specifically. Right now the working title is Lone Wolf mode which is partially inspired by the apt mentioned Lone Survivor mode from Alien Evolved Edition and Halo Reach’s final mission also titled Lone Wolf which gives the last stand vibes I want to evoke with this mode. Lone Wolf is a mode meant for short and gusty dives into Eldritch Automata, their about the final mission and the last stands of being an Automata Pilot. As of right now that also means there is no planned support for the Operations Admin in the Lone Wolf mode and strictly working with the pilots. 

My principles of writing for Lone Wolf are laid out as such; 

Look forward to more information on Lone Wolf mode in 2026. 

Due to our commitment to finish the book amidst other important changes, Gehenna Gaming has decided not to do PAXU or any future planned events currently. There are a few online events with former Gehenna GMs running games of their own volition that I have given my blessing that will be running at the end of the October month, so please if you haven't gotten to play the game stay tuned for those events being announced very soon.