Evangelion AVANT: First Impression (Campaign)

Evangelion AVANT: First Impression is the first Evangelion TTRPG campaign, and the first in the timeline of Evangelion campaigns within the Evangelion Universe. The story takes places in a far-off repeat of the events of Evangelion, many repeats since the original events of the series. The year is 2015 and Evangelion pilot Shinji Ikari has died in his first deployment against the Third Angel, Iruel. With a shortage of capable pilots, the United Nations works with NERV to create the Second Evangelion Series.

The campaign was planned out by the Architect Maddie Soul, and began on April 30th, 2017. The campaign went on its first hiatus on July 27th, 2017. The first hiatus ended on December 26th, 2018, but its second hiatus began after January 16th, 2019. The campaign was officially cancelled by the Maddie Soul on August 19th, 2019; as a result of poor attendance among the player souls.

A sequel campaign was announced on March, 20th, 2021, called Evangelion REBUILD: Eternity is (Not) Forever.

Primary Souls
The M-RAI Database has identified a total of six Primary Souls to have appeared during this campaign. The first five appearing on the list were the first souls to appear in the campaign; with the sixth making a slightly delayed appearance.


 * Merlin Soul
 * Captain Misato Katsuragi, Director of Operations at NERV.
 * Mason Soul
 * Mason Smith, the Fourth Child and pilot of Unit-06.
 * Blue Soul
 * Elfi Klein, the Fifth Child and pilot of Unit-07.
 * Nyx Soul
 * Sixth Child, the Sixth Child and pilot of Unit-08.
 * Luc Soul
 * Aileta Moreau, the Seventh Child and pilot of Unit-09.
 * Noah Soul
 * Ben Robinson, the Eighth Child and pilot of Unit-10.

Secondary Souls
The M-RAI database indicates at least two known appearances of a Secondary Soul within this campaign.


 * Socially Awkward Soul
 * Socially Awkward Civilian
 * Adam Soul
 * Carlin, the Ninth Child and pilot of Unit-11.

Evangelions
The M-RAI database indicates there are six Evangelions that take a primary role during this campaign. These Evangelions are all part of the Second Evangelion Series, which most of the campaign is based around. The primary EVA units of note are Unit-07, Unit-08, and Unit-09. The rest of the EVAs listed played more of a minor role in the campaign's story-line for varying reasons.

It is indicated that there are at least six other non-player Evangelions that had a minor or background role in this campaign.


 * Evangelion Unit-06
 * Pilot: Mason Smith (Fourth Child)
 * Origin: Massachusetts, USA
 * Model Type: Production Model B
 * Evangelion Unit-07
 * Pilot: Elfi Klein (Fifth Child)
 * Origin: Hamburg, Germany
 * Model Type: Production Model A
 * Evangelion Unit-08
 * Pilot: Sixth Child (Sixth Child)
 * Origin: Golgotha Base, Russia
 * Model Type: Production Model A
 * Evangelion Unit-09
 * Pilot: Aileta Moreau (Seventh Child)
 * Origin: Paris, France
 * Model Type: Mass-Production Model
 * Evangelion Unit-10
 * Pilot: Ben Robinson (Eighth Child)
 * Origin: ???
 * Model Type: Test-Type Model
 * Evangelion Unit-11
 * Pilot: Carlin (Ninth Child)
 * Origin: ???
 * Model Type: Production Model B

Angels
The M-RAI database has identified the appearance of at least seven Angels during this campaign; three (arguably five) of which only make a minor appearance. Due to the lack of usage of EVA Unit-06, Unit-10, and Unit-11, NERV struggled to defeat the Fifth Angel, Shamsiel. This later led to issues fighting off the Sixth Angel, Ramiel. The campaign ended before any other Angels could make a proper appearance. The Epilogue of the campaign was written 1.756 years after it was officially announced to have been cancelled.


 * Second Angel, Lilith
 * Symbol: Seed of Life
 * First Appearance: Episode 03 - Evangelions At School
 * Last Appearance: Epilogue
 * Third Angel, Iruel
 * Symbol: Angel of Fear
 * First Appearance: Prologue
 * Last Appearance: Epilogue
 * Fourth Angel, Sachiel
 * Symbol: Angel of Water
 * First Appearance: Episode 01 - Angel Attack
 * Last Appearance: Episode 01 - Angel Attack
 * Fifth Angel, Shamsiel
 * Symbol: Angel of Morning
 * First Appearance: Episode 03 - Evangelions At School
 * Last Appearance: Episode 04 - 12
 * Sixth Angel, Ramiel
 * Symbol: Angel of Thunder
 * First Appearance: Episode 04 - 12
 * Last Appearance: Epilogue
 * Seventh Angel, Baraqiel
 * Symbol: Angel of Lightning
 * First Appearance: Epilogue
 * Last Appearance: Epilogue
 * Thirteenth Angel, Azrael
 * Symbol: Angel of Death and Humanity
 * First Appearance: Prologue
 * Last Appearance: Epilogue

Prologue
In 2014, fourteen years after the last known appearance of an Angel, the Third Angel attacked NERV HQ in Japan. The attack was completely unexpected, and the Angel was identified as Iruel.

Unit-01's deployment against Iruel did not go as planned. The pilot, Shinji Ikari, the Third Child, was killed in combat and as a result, Unit-01 went berserk. Iruel was heavily-damaged by the berserk Unit-01, but not killed. NERV HQ in Japan was able to subdue and capture Iruel for research purposes following the battle. Iruel was later transported to Bethany Base in England for more intense experimentation.

The disastrous results of the battle created many problems for the underfunded NERV. Commander Gendo Ikari disappeared from public view. As a result, Vice-Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki was forced to take up many of his duties. Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki began working closely with the United Nations to fund and complete Evangelions 00-05, as well as produce a new series of Evangelions in-order to fend off the Angels to follow Iruel. His work with the United Nations allowed for the approval of the Second Evangelion Series in 2014.

Early in 2015, when only the first two Evangelions in the Second Evangelion Series had been completed, the Fourth Angel attacked NERV-01 in Germany. Identified as Sachiel, Evangelion Unit-02 was sortied with Asuka Zeppelin-Kaji, the Second Child, as the pilot against the Fourth Angel. Despite Unit-02 having taken heavy damage, Sachiel retreated back into the ocean for unknown reasons. SEELE concluded that Sachiel's real attack would be soon, and that the Second Evangelion Series must be completed before then. Asuka Zeppelin-Kaji was sent to Bethany Base as the designated pilot for Evangelion Provisional Unit-05 as a result of her performance against the Fourth Angel.

Not long afterwards, Commander Gendo Ikari receives the personnel files for Mason Smith, Elfi Klein, Sixth Child, and Aileta Moreau. Having read through the intel for the first four new pilots, Commander Ikari began his preparations for the activation of the Second Evangelion Series and the arrival of the Fourth Angel, Sachiel.

Episode 01 - Angel Attack
Supervised by Captain Misato Katsuragi, the United Nations transported Mason, Elfi, Sixth, and Aileta to NERV on a Heavy VTOL Jet with a heavy security detail. As the pilots began to get acquainted, the Fourth Angel, Sachiel, suddenly emerged out of the ocean and began to advance onto Tokyo-3. The ensuing encounter led to the VTOL Jet being sent spinning before crashing into a nearby building. While most of the security detail was killed, Captain Katsuragi and the pilots survived, Through the shattered window, they get their first glimpse of the Fourth Angel. Sachiel spots the pilots and its eyes begin to glow, indicating preparation for an attack. The pilots scramble to find a way out as half of the building is consumed by a blast of purple energy. Elfi and Sixth make bets about who they think is going to die first (Misato 'Boss Person' and 'One of us two probably').

The group finds a stairwell behind a locked door that they bust down with their collective strength; after which they steal some stacks and begin to look for an exit as quickly as possible. Misato leads them all to the ground floor, where she hopes to reach an emergency route to NERV Headquarters. The building collapses and almost crushes Elfi, who is saved by Sixth. The party steals some items from the corpses of UN soldiers before noticing that all of the UN helicopters fighting off the Fourth Angel are beginning to fly away. Misato tells everyone to get down and shields Mason and Sixth (who shields Elfi) as the United Nations drops an N2 Mine on Sachiel.

After the N2 Mine detonates, Sachiel is immobilized and the party begins making their way to the emergency route. They watch as the Angel begins the process of regenerating itself. They find that the route is covered in debris, and they work together to remove the debris while they still have time. A UN VTOL Jet crashes into a building nearby as they make their escape into the emergency route shaft. The party boards a pulley-powered train-car that descends into the GeoFront, where the pilots see NERV Headquarters for the first time. Sixth takes pictures as Misato hands out pilot IDs and NERV intelligence pamphlets.

Once the party reaches the gates, they meet Ben Robinson, the Eighth Child, who has been waiting for them. Misato hands him his ID, and together they enter NERV Headquarters where personnel are already preparing the Evangelion Units for launch. The pilots meet Commander Ikari and Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki as they become acquainted with their Evangelions and prepare to launch.

(To Be Completed)

Trivia

 * The campaign ran for 838 days or 2.296 years before being cancelled (inclusive of periods of hiatus). It is the first campaign to ever be officially cancelled, rather than simply becoming an Abandoned Campaign on its own.
 * Episode 05 was split off from the original Episode 04, on May 18th, 2021. This was done because the events in the second half of the original Episode 04 were removed enough to be considered its own separate episode, rather than a continuation of the plot of Episode 04.
 * The Prologue and Epilogue are considered Episodes 00 and 06, respectively.
 * The Epilogue was written 641 days or 1.756 years following the cancellation of the campaign.