The Rulebook

This Fragile Sky is a game about ordinary heroes in a broken, and beautiful world. Alongside your squad, you'll share quiet moments, dramatic encounters, and close calls with death. TFS is built on three main tenets:

The three tenets #

Narrative-first

This Fragile Sky is quick to pick up, with a lightweight trait and approach system that's flexible and primed for dramatic moments. The system is built around the GM and players telling a collaborative story, and aims to maximize player agency.

Human moments

A heartfelt conversation around a campfire, a moment spent cleaning your weapon, or an evening spent gambling in a frontier settlement; TFS purposely makes space for scenes like these, incentivizing in-character moments without forcing them.

Tactical, punishing combat

Combat in TFS is quick to resolve but tactically dense. Superior positioning, good use of cover, and suppressive fire are all essential to staying alive in a firefight. You don't get any harder to kill as you level up, making each encounter potentially lethal.

Terminology #

The D6

The letter 'D' is used throughout the rules to indicate a standard six-sided die (commonly called a d6). A number usually precedes the D, which indicates the number of dice to roll. For example, 3D is the equivalent of 3 six-sided dice.

The game master

The game master, or the GM, is the person responsible for facilitating the game. They describe the world, act as the non-player characters, and describe player-characters' effects on their environment. There is plenty of advice out there on how to be an excellent game master — we've added our own GM tips specific to TFS throughout the rules.

Some ground rules #

GM rulings

If a rule is ambiguous, and many are, the GM is empowered to make a ruling on the fly. Player input is encouraged, but the ultimate ruling always falls to the GM.

Measuring distance

Distance in TFS is measured in steps. With each step representing about 5 feet (1.5 meters). If you play with a square or hex grid, treat each space as one step.

Rounding

Whenever the rules say to divide or use half of a value, always round down. For example, half of 7 is 3.

What you need to play #

It's not much, so don't overthink it!

• This rulebook. Check.
• A handful of d6's. Six per player is plenty, or you can all share the same set.
• At least one drama die. Any d6 works fine, as long as it's visually distinct. Treat 1-2 as 'burn' and 6 as 'ace.'
• A character sheet for each player and something to write with.
• A grid and tokens for combat. Squares or hexes both work equally well. If you have a reversible mat, consider using hexes for large areas and squares for confined indoor spaces.
• A GM, and at least one other player.

Start here #

Character creation is designed to be quick and straightforward:

1. Who are you?

   What's your name and story? There is infinite flexibility here, so take your time and work with your GM. Invent something that inspires you; the more invested you are in your character, the more fun you'll have.

2. Choose traits and faults

   Choose 4 traits and at least 2 faults. At this stage, you can't take more than two traits in any one approach. Write each trait on your character sheet under the relevant approach, and list your faults where it says to. You cannot change these later.

3. Pick a skill

   Pick any tier-I skill from any skill tree, and note it on your character sheet.

4. Approach scores

   Fill in your approach scores, shown as circles on your character sheet. Each trait in an approach increases its score by one.

5. Pack size

   Your pack capacity is 10 slots, plus 2 slots for each grit trait you have. Note this by filling in two bubbles under your "Pack" section for each grit trait.

6. Equipment

   Unless your GM has something special in mind, start with the following equipment:

   • Any common gun and 3 ammo of any standard type (S, M, L, or Shell).
   • A backpack, a flashlight, a wristwatch, a multitool, a medical kit, and a canteen.
   • One of the following: a crowbar, a sketchbook, 100 feet of rope, binoculars, a roll of duct tape, an entrenching tool, or a lockpick set.
   • A personal memento or keepsake.

7. Movement

   Your movement is 6. Armor may later reduce your movement.

Traits #

The following list of traits is not exhaustive. If none of them match your vision for your character, you are encouraged to work with your GM to invent your own. A good trait should say something specific about how your character shows up in the world.

* Expertise — choose any domain of knowledge: botany, medicine, history, etc. You can take the 'Expertise' trait multiple times.

Faults #

• Awkward
• Withdrawn
• Arrogant
• Abrasive
• Insecure
• Jealous
• Insensitive
• Vain
• Condescending
• Tactless
• Too Friendly
• Lustful
• People-Pleaser
• Petty
• Forgetful
• Over-Sharer
• Overly Sensitive
• Hungry for Attention
• Can't Take a Hint
• Scared of Conflict
• Show-Off
• Too Gentle
• Tunnel Vision
• Oblivious
• Paranoid
• Naïve
• Scattered
• Superstitious
• Gullible
• Overstimulated
• Easily Distracted
• Prejudiced
• Over-analyzer
• Pedantic
• Obsessive
• Indecisive
• Know-It-All
• Disregard for Safety
• Perfectionist
• Afraid of Uncertainty
• Disorganized
• Compulsive Organizer
• Compulsive Liar
• Reckless
• Hot Headed
• Stubborn
• Numb
• Scarred
• Bitter
• Afraid of Weakness
• Something to Prove
• Vengeful
• Impatient
• Fragile

Leveling up #

Leveling in TFS is milestone-based. It is up to the GM and players to reach a consensus on when to level up. It is usually wise to level-up every 2-5 sessions. Each time you gain a level, you may choose to gain one trait or one skill.

Approaches #

Approaches represent your character's five core competencies. Your level in each approach is expressed as a number between one and five.

Each approach represents how your character acts, not what they accomplish. Many situations can be solved by multiple approaches, and the one you choose says something about your character. For example, you might kick down a locked door (grit) or pick the lock (finesse). Other situations might be approached in more creative ways. For example, you might scare off a bandit gang by convincing them you've brought backup (charm) or you might earn their trust by flexing your medical expertise and offering to treat their wounded (know-how).

Charm

Charm is the art of winning hearts and minds. You might use charm to convince, deceive, seduce, bamboozle, distract, or otherwise exert your will on another character without lifting a finger.

Finesse

Finesse is your ability to move precisely and carefully. It is your balance, coordination, dexterity, and your effortless sense of style when pulling off a stunt. You might use finesse to move undetected, to throw an object accurately, or to perform an impressive feat of acrobatics.

Grit

Grit is a combination of your physical and mental tenacity. You might use grit to lift something heavy, push the limits of human endurance, or assert yourself through sheer willpower.

Know-how

Know-how is a combination of your book-smarts and practical knowledge, born from study or experience. Your know-how might help you salvage components from a derelict vehicle, administer first aid, or identify a mysterious plant.

Perception

Perception encompasses both your sensory acuity and your ability to notice subtleties that others might miss, whether you're looking for tracks in the dark or discerning someone's true motives.

The gameplay loop #

Gameplay in TFS takes the form of a conversation. The game master (GM) and players are working together to tell a collaborative story. The rules are simply a framework that supports that story's unfolding, while the dice provide a touch of drama and unpredictability.

Gameplay usually follows the same five steps, which repeat as events unfold in the narrative. Keep in mind that this is not a checklist or a procedure to follow strictly:

1. The GM sets the scene.
2. A player describes what their character attempts and how. The relevant approach should follow naturally from this description.
3. If the action is nontrivial, the game master calls for a check using a specific approach, and sets the check's difficulty. If the player disagrees on the approach, they may clarify or modify their description.
4. The dice land, and the player describes what success or failure looks like for their character.
5. The GM describes the outcome or consequence of the character's action and the story moves forward.

In TFS it's the player who narrates their character's actions based on their roll, while the GM describes the outcome. The dice tell the table whether something happens, the player describes how, and the GM describes what results.

As a rule, the game master (GM) should call for a check whenever a character attempts an action in which failure would have a meaningful consequence or cost, whether it's time, health, resources, or social standing. If there's nothing at stake, don't roll. The more you can internalize this simple rule, the better your game will flow.

Making a check #

To make a check, roll a number of six-sided dice equal to your approach score. If at least one of your dice lands on a value equal to or higher than the check's difficulty, you succeed, otherwise you fail.

Check modifiers

Many conditions modify a check by either adding or subtracting dice from the dice pool. You always roll at least one die on a check, even if a modifier would make your dice pool zero.

Check difficulty #

The difficulty of a check is classified as easy, normal, or hard based on the circumstances of the scene and the GM's judgement. The difficulty of the check determines the lowest result you need in order to succeed. Whenever the rules do not specify a check's difficulty, assume it's normal.

Contests #

Sometimes, two characters may be required to make simultaneous opposed rolls. When the GM calls for a contested check, both characters make the same check, usually with the same approach (up to the GM), and compare their results. The winner is determined by the following rules:

• Remove pairs. Remove each matching pair between the two rolls (a 6 cancels a 6, a 5 cancels a 5, and so on).
• Compare what's left. Whoever has the highest single die remaining wins the contest.
• If one side is out of dice, they lose. If both sides are out if dice, the situation remains unchanged.

Spark #

Spark is a resource that represents your character's resolve and commitment to their allies. You can earn spark during a rest, and you can spend it to invoke traits or to use certain skills. You can never have more than two spark, plus one occasional bonus spark awarded by the GM. The rules for gaining spark can be found in the "Rests" section.

Invoking a trait

After failing a check using a given approach, you may spend a spark to invoke a trait in that approach and attempt the roll a second time. You must be able to describe how the trait aids you in your action. You may only invoke a trait once on any check.

Bonus spark

At any time, the GM can award any player a single bonus spark for exceptional roleplay or behavior at the table. Your bonus spark does not contribute to your 2 spark maximum, and it is not lost on a rest. You can never have more than one bonus spark at a time.

The combat round #

In a combat encounter, play is organized into rounds, with each player-character (PC) and non-player-character (NPC) taking a single turn each round.

Turn order

At the start of an engagement, the turn order is determined by the position of each character. Whoever (or whatever) started the engagement goes first, followed by the closest character to the center of action, then the second closest, and so on. Once established, the turn order does not change, even as characters move. If two characters are the same distance from the action, the GM makes the call on turn order.

Your turn

On each of your turns, you may move and take one action. You can move before or after your action, or split your movement both before and after it.

Movement #

Your character's movement stat represents how far they can move on a single turn. In conjunction with your action, while standing on normal terrain, you can move a number of steps equal to your movement. Crawling, climbing, or moving through difficult terrain each cost one extra movement per step.

Going prone

Dropping to a prone position costs no movement, but standing up from a prone position costs 2 movement. Crawling while prone costs one additional movement per step.

Climbing

When climbing a vertical surface, each step of vertical distance costs one extra movement.

Difficult terrain

Moving through difficult terrain such as mud, rubble, dense vegetation, or shallow water costs one extra movement per step.

Jumping

There are no hard rules for jumping in TFS, but the GM may call for a check when character tries to jump several steps. Horizontal distance covered while jumping still costs movement.

Fall damage

You take 1 harm for every step (5 feet) you fall vertically. You can half fall damage by succeeding on a normal(5) finesse check when you land, but only if the fall was intentional.

Actions #

The following is a list of all the actions available to your character. When you take an action, describe what your character is attempting to do using as much detail and flare as you can.

Action: Attack

Attack with an equipped weapon, making a single attack roll against a target that you can reach. A single attack action is not always a single shot or strike—it may be a burst or fire or a dramatic melee combo. Be creative in your descriptions.

Action: Sprint

Use your action to move at maximum speed, doubling your movement for your current turn.

Action: Throw grenade

Throw a grenade at a target location by making a normal(5) finesse check. On a success, your grenade detonates at the target location. On a failure, the grenade lands in a random adjacent space. Your accurate throwing range in steps is equal to 4 plus your finesse score, beyond which your check has -1D. Your maximum throwing range is triple that distance.

Action: Grapple

Attempt to grab a target you can reach by making a contested finesse or grit check against them. On a success, you grapple your target instead of dealing damage, grabbing hold of them. The target must not be significantly larger than you, as ruled by the GM.

While grappled, a creature has -1D on attack rolls and cannot move. A grappled creature can attempt to escape as an action, making a contested finesse or grit check against you. You can drag a grappled creature with you up to half your movement.

Action: Hold

Choose an action that you will take in response to a certain trigger. For example: "I will shoot at the first enemy that moves," or "I will throw the grenade as soon as the door opens." If the trigger occurs before the start of your next turn, you may perform the held action as a reaction before, during, or after the trigger finishes. Attacks taken as reactions have -1D.

When making a reaction attack against a moving target, their cover is determined by their position at the moment of the shot.

Action: Do something meaningful

Do something that requires your full attention, such as performing first aid, hacking down a door with an axe, or attempting to override a self-destruct sequence.

Reactions

A reaction is an instant response to a specific trigger, such as an enemy moving or attacking. Unlike normal actions, you can take a reaction outside your turn. Specific circumstances that allow reactions are described throughout the rules. In other words, don't worry about reactions unless the GM or the rules say to take one.

Free actions

During your turn, you may want to take one or more minor actions alongside your main action—shouting a warning, flipping a table, pulling a lever, opening an unlocked door, etc. The GM is encouraged to be rather permissive when it comes to allowing free actions, as they add cinematic flair to a scene and keep the action moving.

Attacks #

Making an attack

To make an attack, roll a check using the approach your weapon requires, rolling the drama die in addition to your dice pool. If your weapons allows for multiple approaches, pick one before rolling. Your attack's base harm is equal to the number of dice that match or exceed the attack's difficulty. If none of your dice match or exceed the difficulty, your attack misses.

Weapon bonuses

Each weapon comes with an attack bonus, which may grant additional dice and/or additional harm on a hit. Each weapon's bonus makes it behave differently in combat. For example, some weapons (like the SMG) hit more reliably, while others (like the assault rifle) reward a well placed shot with increased lethality.

Range, cover & defense #

Weapon range

Melee Range is 1 step (adjacent) unless noted otherwise.

Ranged weapons have a range of short (5 steps), medium (10 steps), or long (20 steps). When attacking outside of your weapon's range, you have -1D on your attack roll for each full multiple of your weapon's range between you and your target. Weapons are ineffective beyond four times their range.

Point blank attacks

When making a ranged attack against an adjacent enemy, you have -1D on your attack roll, unless your weapon has the Compact property.

Attack difficulty (defense)

The difficulty of an attack roll depends on the type of attack:

Melee defense. Rather unlike bullets, melee attacks can be dodged or blocked with quick reflexes. When someone makes a melee attack, both the attacker and defender roll simultaneously—the attacker with their weapon's approach, and the defender with either finesse or grit. The defender's highest result becomes the attack's difficulty. Defense checks make melee combat swingy and unpredictable; closing in for a melee strike is a risky proposition, even if you outmatch your opponent.

Ranged defense. When making a ranged attack, the difficulty is determined entirely by the target's cover.

The drama die #

Whenever you make an attack roll, you must also roll the drama die. The drama die is a d6 marked with two symbols, which indicate either ace or burn. If the drama die lands on any other side, it has no effect.

If you don't have an official drama die, any d6 will do. Treat 1-2 as burn, and 6 as an ace.

Ace

When you roll an ace, choose one of the following:

• If your attack hit, inflict 1 extra harm.
• Trigger an ace ability granted by one of your skills.

Burn

When you roll burn, your attack consumes one ammo, after the attack is resolved. Burn does not apply to melee or thrown weapons.

Taking harm and dying #

Harm

Your character's harm track represents their accumulated fatigue, stress, and physical trauma. Getting hit by an attack inflicts harm, while resting and certain items reduce it. You have 9 harm slots total.

Going down and critical condition

Whenever you have all 9 harm slots ticked, you are in critical condition and must immediately make a hard(6) grit check to stay conscious; this grit check is unaffected by any bonuses or penalties. You must repeat the check at the beginning of each of your turns and each time you take harm, until either you fail a check or are stabilized. If you fail a check, you fall unconscious, and you die on your next turn unless someone stabilizes you first.

Stabilizing

As an action you can attempt to stabilize yourself or an adjacent ally who is in critical condition. Stabilizing an ally calls for a normal(5) know-how check, while stabilizing yourself calls for a hard(6) know-how check. On a success, the target unticks one harm slot and is no longer in critical condition. If you stabilize an unconscious character, they regain consciousness in 1d6 minutes.

Conditions #

Certain character conditions have mechanical effects.

How skills work #

Your character's skills represent their special talents and approach to combat. Skills are divided into six distinct skill trees that each describe a particular martial identity. Within each tree, skills are sorted into tiers from I to IV. Note that each tier may contain multiple skill options.

Whenever you level-up, you may choose to gain an additional skill.

• You may always take a tier-I skill in any tree.
• To take a skill at tier-II or higher, you must already have at least one skill from the tier directly below it in that same tree.

Resting is a core element of the gameplay loop in TFS. Resting does not simply have mechanical effects; each rest is an important moment for characters to bond and develop.

The rest #

When it is safe to do so, the party can take at least 30 minutes to tend their wounds and steel their resolve. During a rest, a character may consume a medical kit to clear all except 4 harm. If you have 4 harm or less, you cannot heal from a short rest.

Regaining spark #

At the start of a rest, everyone's spark is reset to 1, and the GM signals that the scene is open. Players roleplay or describe their character's actions freely—a conversation, a moment of solitary reflection, or even a social confrontation. At the end of the rest, each player who participated gains an additional spark. If any players do an especially good job portraying or developing their character, the GM may award them a bonus spark.

Generally, roleplay during a rest falls into one of three categories. Use these categories as inspiration rather than as a checklist:

• Reflect: Take a moment to reflect on recent events, either by yourself or with the party.
• Connect: Reach out and connect to another character by sharing something about yourself, showing curiosity, or by engaging in banter.
• Prepare: Clean your weapon, cook a delicious meal, or perform a personal ritual to prepare for challenges ahead.

The long rest #

A long rest is several days or weeks of downtime, during which you can take plenty of time to relax and receive medical attention. It is enough time to fully heal from most wounds and recover from mental exhaustion. A long rest should only be employed when the party has nothing urgent to do -- it is a narrative beat rather than a tactical choice.

At the end of a long rest, a character clears all their harm. A long rest uses the same "regaining spark" rules as a normal rest.

Slots #

Your character's inventory is organized into slots, with each item occupying a number of slots according to its size and weight.

Your loadout #

Your loadout is the set of gear available to you during combat. You can use or deploy an item in your loadout without spending an action to find it in your pack.

You can carry the following items in your loadout:

• Any one weapon
• Any small weapon or a small item
• One small item, such as a grenade or MedPen
• 5 units of ammo

Accessing tiny items

Tiny items in your inventory are always accessible to you, there is no need to place them in your loadout.

Armor slots

When you are wearing armor, you gain extra loadout slots at the expense of mobility, depending on the type of armor you are wearing.

Your pack #

Your pack is bigger than your loadout, and is where you carry most of your gear such as food, medical supplies, and salvage. You have 10 pack slots by default, with each grit trait granting you 2 more slots.

Carrying too much

For each slot you fill above your capacity, your movement is reduced by 1.

Reading weapon bonuses

Each weapon has an innate bonus, listed as two numbers, such as 1D/2H. The first number (D) indicates the number of dice to add to your attack roll when using that weapon. The second (H) indicates the amount of bonus harm applied to your attack if it hits. If either value is absent, such as -/1H, that value is zero.

Guns #

Slugger

A heavy automatic weapon that fires three rounds at once, delivering massive kinetic energy with each hit.

Thermal Cannon

A large-bore shotgun that uses an enormous charge to launch a flurry of molten tungsten slivers. The heat imparted to the payload is so intense that the weapon begins to visibly glow after firing.

Rail Rifle

A magnetic rifle with a pair of 8-foot-long extending rails in place of a barrel. The rail rifle launches a super-dense depleted uranium round at near orbital speeds, which can punch clean through a meter of solid steel. The discharge sounds like a lightning bolt, and scorches the surrounding air in a blinding arc of white-hot plasma. Firing consumes a full power cell. After each shot, roll a d6. If you roll a 1, the weapon is permanently disabled by it's own discharge, and requires a new set of rails before it can be fired again.

Arc Rifle

An energy weapon that first ionizes the air with a short laser pulse, leaving a conductive path for the needle-straight bolt of electricity that follows. The bolt has low penetration, but overloads electronics, seizes muscles, and badly burns exposed tissue.

Arc Pistol

The arc pistol works on the same principle as the arc rifle, trading range for increased accuracy at close quarters.

Weapon properties #

Piercing

Piercing weapons ignore up to 2 points of armor.

Suppressive

When attacking with a suppressive weapon, you may choose to lay down fully-automatic suppressive fire against a single target. When you make a suppressive attack, burn one ammo. Your target may choose to become suppressed to avoid taking harm, hunkering down behind cover or dropping prone. The target must choose whether to become suppressed before the attack roll. If your target does not choose to become suppressed, make an attack roll as normal. Since a suppressive attack always burns ammo, burn rolls are ignored. The point of a suppressive attack is not to deal damage, but to gain control of the battlefield.

Area denial

Area denial is a special form of suppressive property, allowing you suppress multiple targets at once. When attacking with an area denial weapon, you may choose to suppress up to 3 targets within a 90 degree firing arc, making a separate suppressive attack against each. (Each suppressive attack burns one ammo)

Compact

Compact weapons don't suffer any penalty when firing at adjacent targets.

Heavy

A heavy weapon is big and unwieldy, and rolls no more than 1D on each attack unless it's braced on a bipod or stable surface. It takes an action to brace a heavy weapon. Once braced, a weapon remains braced until you move it.

Spread

Spread weapons only get their attack bonus when firing at targets within their range.

Stun

When hit by a stun weapon, the target must succeed on a normal(5) grit check or they are stunned.

Ammo #

Ammo in TFS is measured in abstract ammo units, with a single unit representing one or several pieces of ammunition depending on the caliber. You can carry 2 ammo units in a single inventory slot.

Small, medium, & large ammo

Polymer-cased ballistic ammunition was imported to Catalina in huge quantities as part of the doomed relief effort. It comes in three standard sizes: small(S), medium(M), and large(L).

Shells

Shotgun shells existed on Catalina even before the skyfall, and remain relatively easy to manufacture with the planet's limited industrial capacity. They come in a single standardized size.

Power cells

Power cells have many uses, and only one of them is weaponry. Unlike standard ammunition, a power cell is not destroyed when depleted, and can be recharged indefinitely. This makes them remarkably valuable.

Melee weapons #

Melee weapons are categorized as either blunt or bladed. Blunt weapons include clubs, guns used as melee weapons, and most improvised melee weapons. Bladed weapons include knives, machetes, swords, etc.

Grenades #

Grenades come in many forms. For simplicity while using a square or hex grid, the harm-radius of a grenade does not include the center—e.g. a frag grenade's blast is 7 steps edge-to-edge.

Armor #

Armor provides increased survivability and additional loadout slots at the cost of mobility. When equipped, armor does not take up any inventory slots.

Medical & utility gear #

A field guide to the threats of Catalina. Each stat block lists an enemy's vitals, its five approach scores, and its actions — plus a note on how it tends to behave in a fight.

Scavs #

The NCDL #

If you're fighting the NCDL, you've messed up big time.

Militia Medic — stats forthcoming.

Mechanoids #

Not villains — dangerous wildlife. Mechanoids act on instinct and instruction, not malice. Read their behavior, keep your distance, and they may never notice you at all.

Strider is in the roster but only has a description so far — it'll get a full stat block once its actions are finalized.