The Eldritch Automata campaign has officially launched on Backerkit. The project was fully funded within the first 30 minutes of going live and continues to gain momentum. Most of the stretch goals have been unlocked which means excited fans will receive a generous amount of goodies. The campaign ends on July 25, leaving plenty of time to decide if you want to embark on this bleak adventure of survival featuring mechs. While Gehenna Gaming does have a solid record with their delivery, always be mindful of what you back on these types of crowdsourcing campaigns.

What is Eldritch Automata?

Eldritch Automata is a post-apocalyptic TTRPG powered by the award-winning Year Zero Engine.

Society crumbles under the weight of Eldritch invaders. Monsters and horrifying angels spread their rain and despair across the world. Humanity is pushed to the brink of extinction, but hope is not lost. Giant Mechs known as the Automata come to humanity’s salvation, but piloting them comes at a cost. Those brave and competent enough to pilot these mighty machines must risk their entire mind, body, and soul. Some will rise and become the shining pillars of hope and salvation, while others will lose themselves under the strain of piloting an Automata. How far can you push yourself to save humanity?

How to Play

Impressions

Pilots in Eldritch Automata must survive the strain of an unforgiving world. Infighting between factions, the stress of survival, the strain of piloting the Automata, and facing the endless waves of Eldritch horrors wear down their spirit. Eldritch Automata is a game where even the bravest and brightest can lose themselves in the madness.

The game does a decent job of creating systems that emulate the strain of surviving in its world. The game is set up where players are constantly having to push their limits while risking their sanity. Piloting an Automata is cool, but it can make you go crazy or leave you with a permanent, life-altering injury. Having a player lose control of their character due to a dice roll is bound to lead to some interesting roleplay.

Gameplay seems solid and easy to learn. I’ve ran a few Year Zero games, and my table is always content with how they run. It makes for a nice break from D&D without being too big of a shift.

Ultimately, you’re playing Eldritch Automata for its flavor. I love the dark hopelessness that will inevitably seep into every session, and I am sure my players will enjoy fighting in giant mechs. The combat system seems to involve enough strategy to make it engaging without being overly complicated while establishing its unique flare in the space. As a GM, I like the amount of tables and charts available for a healthy amount of chaos. I can’t wait to see how my players react when they have to roll to keep their sanity. It is going to get tense.

If you’re looking to run a bleak survival adventure full of monsters, chaos, and mechs, you’re going to want to go back Eldritch Automata on Backerkit. The art is cool, the flavor is fantastic, and what I’ve seen of the system is impressive. There is a free quickstart available from the publisher if you would like to see if the Eldritch Automata is right for your table. The Quickstart comes with a streamlined version of the rules and a small haunted house-style adventure for you to run. I’ll leave the files below, but you can get the quickstart and the pre-generated characters on the DrivethruRPG.

Quickstart

Pregenerated Characters

Tiers

Official Liveplay