Greetings Backers, Nick here! It’s a new year, and we bid goodbye to 2024 and march into 2025. It’s a brave new world and we’re excited that you’re here taking the journey with us. First off, we wanted to apologize for the lack of updates since before PAX Unplugged. It was a big month for us and we were attempting to get this update out by the end of the new year but with the holidays and PAXU and some other challenges, we found ourselves overwhelmingly busy. We also didn’t want to release an update so close to the BackerKit pre-release empty-handed… But with our editing complete on the pre-release it’s time to give you the New Year Update!

Let’s start with some news.

PAX Unplugged was an amazing show for Eldritch Automata with over 60 sessions running eight different scenarios, six of which were created by our team of amazing GMs. We managed to fill every table and bring Eldritch Automata to the masses of Philadelphia for PAX. We brought a whole batch of physical copies of the Quicklaunch Guide and completely sold out by the third day, making Eldritch Automata a huge hit. We got to meet fans and prospective players alike and showcase the war against the Architect for them. We also did countless interviews during the show! But overall, showcasing the scenarios – including a new one written by yours truly – was a massive highlight of the show, and we got some amazing feedback from the players. And, of course, if you managed to stop by our booth we had some get our special edition pins (which you may see at future conventions as well)!

Did you play E//A at PAX Unplugged? Let us know what you thought in the comments!

Here are a couple of the great interviews we had:

The first eight chapters of the book have been finished and edited, and we’ve setup a PDF to share with all of you! By our current count, we have 16 total chapters for the Manuscript and our final page count will be somewhere north of 300 pages for the core rulebook in GLORIOUS US Letter size. The second half of the book is around 80% complete, pending some editing and revisions, and one of our guest operations is completely finalized, with the second one pending some light edits. The modules remain the last things from the BackerKit stretch goals that remain unfinished for the core rulebook, which is good for us! The only challenge we’ve hit is getting art finalized. The Automata Archetype art is about 99% complete as we near the end of that chapter being laid out, and the Pilot Archetype is underway, as well as some of our general page and margin art. Once we’ve finished the stretch goal modules, the core rulebook will officially be in its final stages, and my writing duties move on to the supplements and [REDACTED].

Ok, this is probably why you’re still here reading. Yes, it’s time for the pre-release to go out, as we’ve been discussing. That means you get your hands on the first eight chapters of Eldritch Automata (roughly the first half of the book) as a raw (edited) manuscript PDF, or “ashcan,” as we sometimes call it. I don’t consider this an ashcan anymore since it has gone through final editing, but rather an art-free PDF of the first eight chapters. The chapters have been run through our editing team and match what will be in the book, minus any errata you submit upon review. You’ll notice some things have been changed since the Quicklaunch and have been modified. Which begs the question…

So, we consider the Quicklaunch Guide our official public release beta version of Eldritch Automata. It’s a polished version of the rules of that time alongside an official scenario. As of this time, we have no plans to update the Quicklaunch Guide, as it will serve as the publicly available rules until the release of the core rulebook. The Quicklaunch Guide is a state of the game that is tried, tested, and works. We know it does. The changes we have made that you’ll see in the pre-release are what is currently in flux and may not be final.

The next, and final update to the Quicklaunch will be after the core rulebook is finalized to align the two.

What does this mean for the pre-release player manuscript? Well, consider this a private beta, a v0.75 to the Quicklaunch Guide’s v0.5. Which is why we are sending out a feedback form with it. This feedback form will continue to stay open until the final publication of the core rulebook is locked in. This will be open to all Backers and playtesters, so please use this form to submit your feedback, typos you may have found, inconsistencies in the rules, and things that you feel need further clarification. The feedback form also has a question about what aspects of the game or mechanics you like+ and might want us to focus more on in future supplements.

To be crystal clear, this update gives Backers access to:

It will also include a blank character sheet for you to build your own characters, test the rules out, try some of the new changes we made for the rules out, and give us your thoughts. The private playtesting is over, it’s time for Eldritch Automata to enter your hands!

Unfortunately, with all of this, we need to be clear there is some bad news to share. While we have some art in process - art is very behind schedule. We were holding off on sharing this on the chance we would hit our deadline of getting the book to print by Chinese New Year, but between the current state of US relations with China, the status of our art direction, and finalizing some of the stretch goals, we know for sure that isn’t in the cards now. This means our timeline is going to shift a couple of months. Rest assured, we are still releasing in 2025. We’re just looking at a late Q3, Q4 release now. We will be proactive in sharing updates on this progress with you all, and showcasing some of the new art as it comes in, and we thank you in advance for your patience as we get this phenomenal game across the finish line!

Keep an eye out for an email containing the manuscript and character sheet, coming shortly!