Coming Apart

Coming Apart
High-speed ship-breaking
in a fragmented future
version 0.3
by Michael Prescott
Introduction
This book contains a work-in-progress role-playing game.
Everything in red is definitely suspect, and there are major gaps
both known to me and unknown. Playtesting is very sparse!
This is version 0.3, last modified June 1, 2021 8:47 PM.
Credits
Writing and Layout: Michael Prescott

Cover & Interior Illustrations: Galen Pejeau
Feedback & Play Testing: Michael Atlin, Sean Winslow, Stephen
Shapiro, Tim Groth
Inspiration
This game is inspired by a number of things, most directly:
Video games: Captain Forever (Flash edition), Void Bastards

Role-playing games: The Regiment v2.1, Blades in the Dark,
both by John Harper
Movies: Ad Astra (2019), 2001 (1968), Alien (1979)
This game can also be thought of as a sequel to Too Good To Be

True, and takes place in the same setting (centuries later).
This document is Copyright © Michael Prescott, 2021.

All rights reserved.
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Contents
Introduction................................................................................ 3
Credits......................................................................................... 3
Coming Apart............................................................................. 7
Scattered Humanity..................................................................... 7
The Scrapper’s life...................................................................... 7
Preparing to Play....................................................................... 8
Starting Out................................................................................. 8
Characters................................................................................... 9
Playing the Game.................................................................... 11
Rush Mode................................................................................ 12
Downtime Mode........................................................................ 13
Salvage Missions.................................................................... 14
Active Duty................................................................................ 14
What’s the Job ?........................................................................ 14
Other Tables.............................................................................. 18
Starting the Mission................................................................ 19

Quick Start................................................................................. 19
Quirks Cause Trouble................................................................ 19
The Mission Clock................................................................... 20
Oxygen...................................................................................... 21
Radiation................................................................................... 21
Scrapside................................................................................. 22
Acting in Concert....................................................................... 23
Ship Environments.................................................................. 24
Module Damage........................................................................ 24
System Damage Dice................................................................ 24
Docking..................................................................................... 25
Hazards..................................................................................... 25
Salvaging................................................................................. 26
Stripping Systems..................................................................... 26
Salvaging whole Modules.......................................................... 26
Close Combat.......................................................................... 28
Space Operations.................................................................... 30
Folding Space........................................................................... 30
Finding the Target...................................................................... 31
Interception................................................................................ 32
Fire Missions............................................................................. 33
4 coming apart version 0.3

Ship Construction................................................................... 34
Supply....................................................................................... 35
Class A Modules........................................................................ 36
Module Reference..................................................................... 38
Attachment Reference............................................................... 43
Downtime................................................................................. 46
Ship Maintenance...................................................................... 46
Recover..................................................................................... 47
Reconnect................................................................................. 47
Flashback.................................................................................. 47
Buying and Selling..................................................................... 48
Sifting your Haul........................................................................ 50
Fabric of Humanity.................................................................. 52
The Holdborn............................................................................. 52
The Factori................................................................................ 52
Holdborn Hubs.......................................................................... 53
Holdborn Stations...................................................................... 54
The Concordat........................................................................... 56
Beyond...................................................................................... 57
Holdborn Ships........................................................................ 58
Viper.......................................................................................... 58
Wasp......................................................................................... 59
Renthal s2 Science Scout......................................................... 60
Bronham N-11 Scow.................................................................. 61
Wakatobi Hub Ship.................................................................... 62
Tapir Gunboat............................................................................ 63
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Coming Apart
Coming Apart is a role-playing game set in a distant future of rust-
bucket starships spread among the stars. Players take on the roles
of emergency salvage crews that take on high speed, last-chance
extraction contracts.
Scattered Humanity
The secrets of interstellar travel have opened to all. Reaching orbit
still requires messy rockets, but easily built fold drives allow nearly
instantaneous travel between points in deep space. Their range
is infinite, limited only by knowledge of safe destinations (and the
conservation of momentum).
At the same time, the lush, inhabited worlds of the Dendrite are
gone. After centuries of extortion with inexpensive, planet-wrecking
weapons, populous trade hubs and mega-cities no longer exist.
Tiny settlements cling to life on asteroids and marginally habitable
moons, or hang in deep space. The few that are large enough to be
worth threatening keep a desperate secrecy, trading only through
need-to-know intermediaries and dead drops out in deep space.
Humanity has spread over incredible distances, but thinly.
Geography is gone, but trust is as precious as air.
The Scrapper’s life

Scrappers’ space-built ships are cramped and mildewy, the bare
minimum that will do the job without getting everyone killed.
It’s not like this for everyone. Comfortable ships do exist! Factori-
printed and even properly factory-built modules show up from time
to time. You don’t have one, but you’ve seen a few on fire. Clever
scrap teams take the good bits and bolt them onto their own ships.
While on active duty, scrappers use a fold-space “periscope” to
listen for emergency salvage auctions. A microscopic fold is opened
to a prearranged location, and radio communications are broadcast
through. The wait can be hours, or weeks.
When it finally happens, bidding takes only seconds: only ships in
the most dire situations are auctioned in this way, so there’s no time
to spare. The winning bidder will often have only hours or minutes
to match velocities for an intercept, and little or no time for recon.
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Preparing to Play
Starting Out
Players take on the roles of a space-faring emergency salvage
crew. These crews bid on the scrap rights of ships that no one else
will touch. The goal: salvage what they can before time runs out.
starting a Crew
When the players start a new crew, roll 2d6 to determine what
ship they’re starting with:
2d6 starting Ship
2 Viper (p. 58)

3 Wasp (p. 59)
4-9 Bronham N-11 Scow (p. 61)
10-12 Renthal Science Scout (p. 60)
Find the ship reference sheet for the starting ship and familiarize
yourselves with it. Each player should get a good look: this is home.
Where does your character sleep? The crew starts 6 cash and the
ship’s supply capacity full.
1d6 crew type
1 You stole the ship, or at least that’s how its former

owners see it. Any time you encounter a ship or
settlement for the first time, roll 2d6. On snake eyes,
they’ve found you. Uh oh.
2-3 The salvage team is a tech foraging operation funded
directly by a Class A station. You are welcome there, and
your duty is to them. When you first visit in play, roll its
details. See “Holdborn Stations” on page 54.
4-5 Salvage collective. Rootless wanderers who take on new
crew members whenever anyone as others retire out.
According to the logs, it’s rotated seven times. You’re
free, but dead broke. -1 supply, cash is 0.
6 Leased: Each month, a governor circuit in the fold
module auto-folds you to an armed collection team
(2 Vipers) to pay 3-cash. If you’re short, it goes up by
2-cash/month from then on. If you tamper with the circuit
or fall short three times, they attempt to repossess.

Characters
Players should each choose a playbook for their character. It’s fine
to have several Scrappers, but it’s best to have at most one Soldier,
Med-Tech, Veteran, and Command. Character creation instructions
are on each playbook.
Relationships
One at a time, each player should roll a random relationship
between their character and the next player’s character. Share the
relationship and your answer with the whole group.
2d6 Relationship
2 You were once enemies. Why did you warm to them?

3 When they first knew you well, you were completely
different. How do they remember you?
4 They’re still working on forgiving you. For what?
5 You both survived the same disaster. What?
6 They pulled you out of your old life. From what, and how?
7 You served together on another scrapping ship. Which?
8 Chosen family. What did they alone give or show you?
9 They’re a sibling/as good as. What’s your nickname?
10 You owe them your life. What did they save you from?
11 New friends, instant chemistry. What draws you to them?
12 Ex lovers make the best shipmates. How’d it end?
Quick Play
For quick play, once characters are made, the GM should roll up
a starting mission target (see “Salvage Missions” on page 14).
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Playing the Game
The sweet spot
This is a game about emergency salvage missions. Friction and
conflict comes from contact with hazards, opposition, but also from
uncertainty, the scarcity of supplies, and repair opportunities. Not to
mention, straight-up shitty luck.
Play can explore other challenges or aspects of the setting, but if
you do, you’re on your own.
Coming Apart assumes that you will be playing “theatre of the
mind”, without miniatures or tokens on a map of the action.
Free-Form Mode
As in most RPGs, the GM describes the fictional situation around
the player characters. The players say how they react: what they
say, do, or try to do. The GM says what happens next. This is free-
form play.
rules
The core rules are presented as short, self-contained procedures
which apply in specific situations.
Continue playing free-form until a rule applies. When it does,
follow the rule’s instructions, and interpret the results in the context
of the current fictional situation.
Players should not treat rules as a list of things they can do, this
will make the game suck. The game works best, however, when
players are putting their characters in situations where the rules are
relevant.
rolling dice
Most die rolls are 2d6 plus a modifier, usually a character stat.
Commonly, a roll of 6 or less is a “miss”, a failure condition which
the GM will interpret to mean something bad happens. A roll of 7+
is a “hit”: the PC gets what they wanted, but seldom without some
complication. A 10+ is a clean break.
Turn Order
Coming Apart doesn’t resolve character actions in isolation, even in
combat. PC vs. NPC action is often simultaneous.
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A common pattern is to tell the crew what they perceive. Tip them
off to what’s happening in the environment or what the opposition is
doing (or starting to do), then ask them how they react.
They’ll make a choice, which will determine what (if any) resolution
rules apply as the action is resolved.
GM: The SKUL opens fire with its rotary autocannon. It chews into
the plastic store-all behind you, sending spinning white fragments
everywhere. What do you do?
The crew might react by scrambling for cover, holding their ground
to return fire, or ignoring the incoming fire entirely to do something
desperately urgent. Each of these could trigger different resolution
rules.
Rush Mode
Whenever events are unfolding too rapidly for the crew to coordinate
easily (e.g. combat in a burning shuttle), the GM should switch to
rush mode.
The GM chooses an order for the crew members. (Any order
will do, e.g. clockwise around the gaming table, alphabetically by
character name, whatever.)
The GM then picks the first spotlighted character, and sets up the
action with a lead-in: a description of what they see.
GM: Stenn, the cabin door in front of you pops open, and zero-g
flames boil out. What do you do?
Choosing a Lead-In
The what the lead-in describes it depends on several things:
initiative, cohesion and situational awareness.
Initiative: Who or what is setting the tempo of action? Does
the crew have a chance to push forward with their own plans, to
choose their actions freely? Or are they being forced to react to an
environmental threat or enemy agenda?
The cabin door is warm, and air is whistling from the seal. The
fire must have started to raise the air pressure in the bridge. What
do you do?
Suddenly, there’s a loud pop and blue fire is all around you. Your
visor starts to darken and bubble, what do you do?

Cohesion: Is the crew organized and in communication, ready
to act together? Are they engaged with separate tasks, separated,
or both? Are they completely scattered and out of communication?
Situational Awareness: How complete is the crew’s picture of
what’s going on? Have they taken it all in and will notice even small
changes? Are they engrossed by something? Are they overwhelmed
by physical sensations, terror, or pain?
The huge cone snail on the power conduit shoots its harpoon at
Tailan, who buckles from the venom. What do you do?
Something wet splashes your cheek, and Tailan starts spinning
limply in the zero G. What do you do?
Sequential and Alone

In rush mode, coordinated, simultaneous action by the crew is
not a given. Their reactions to the lead-in are individual. Other
characters may join or even interrupt the action, but unless they
were established to be waiting at the ready to participate in group
action, this causes characters to accumulate stress.
Downtime Mode
The game focuses on emergency salvage missions and the
resulting effects on the lives of the crew. For the most part, it
breezes past the long waits, smalltalk and mundane ship life with
downtime mechanics. (For more on downtime, see page 46.)
13
Salvage Missions
Active Duty
When on active duty, the crew listens for news of salvage missions
using a periscope, a radio antenna pushed through a pinhole-sized
fold in space created by the fold drive. The periscope sits at an
agreed-upon location in space where a dispatcher will show up
when it has news of a mission.
News can take weeks to come. Staying on active duty is demanding,
since the crew is using up their supplies of consumables, but can
neither completely relax nor perform serious maintenance on the
ship. Folding and accelerating for an intercept could begin any
minute.
When the ship goes on active duty to wait for an auction, roll
+Reputation. The longer you wait, the more bidders show up,
and the more supplies you expend on alert.
Roll Wait Supplies used winning bid
≤6 d6 Weeks 2 supply 10 cash

7-9 d6 Days 1 supply 5 cash
10+ d6 Hours None 1 cash
When a crew has no cash, a dispatcher can give them a truly

desperate job that no one else will take. Roll a job as normal,
but with -3 on every table.
What’s the Job ?

The GM should roll the details of the job in order: target type, auction
context, calamity, integrity, time pressure, location, and opposition.
The crew picks two of these to be part of the auction packet to
decide if they want to buy the job. The rest are a surprise!
Target Type
2d6 target type
2-4 Class A small

5-7 Class A medium size
8-9 Class A large [two threats?]
10 Class A whopper or small station [two threats?]
11-12 Roll again on the Class B target table (p. XX)

Auction Context
2d6 Auction trigger
2 Gig is actually deniable hit job. Adds threat: defending

crew. No integrity roll, it’s Pristine (level 0).
3 Pre-emptive salvage/repossess by owning faction
4-5 Theft has triggered an auto-fold to prearranged location.
Fold module bricked. Adds threat: pirates; +2 integrity
6-9 Automated distress periscope
10-11 Spotted as a derelict, location sold to dispatcher
12 Crew didn’t make lease, ship auto-folded for
repossession. Signal missed, finally relayed by
encrypted mail; +2 calamity, +2 integrity
Calamity
3d6 Calamity
3-5 Actively being shot at (roll on the enemy ships table)

6 Fold pinch (caught between two locations)
7 Deadly cargo breach; radiation or toxins spreading
8 Explosion (ion drive, power module)
9 Struck by anti-orbital pellets/meteoroid (integrity -2)
10 Shot up and left for dead (integrity -2)
11 Biological contamination flare-up
12 Boarded by hostiles (roll) [pirates, SKULs]
13 Crew conflict/mutiny/saboteur
14 Accident while salvaging (roll a second target)
15 Maneuver jet failure, centrifuged to death (integrity -2)
16 Seal breach, total gas loss
17-18 Power failure/fuel ran out, stranded, everything frozen
15
Integrity
How does the ship look? What state are its modules? Space is a
hostile environment, and from a cursory glance it can be difficult to
tell badly damaged modules from normal scarring.
2d6 integrity
2-3 Wrecked and spinning, shedding debris. Modules

shattered on a 1-2, damaged on a 3-5.
4-5 Breached and unstable. Modules are shattered on a 1,
damaged on a 2-3.
6-8 Breached (2 in 6 modules damaged)
9-11 Scratched (1 in 6 modules damaged)
12 Undamaged (just dirty)
Time Pressure
3d6 Time pressure
3-4 Hard radiation has compromised d3 modules; every 3

ticks it spreads to a random adjacent module
5 Toxic, corrosive gas (periodic damage)
6 Pebble field is slowly shedding the ship
7 Falling into a gravity well; fold cost +1 fuse every 10
ticks
8 Fold module unstable; goes nuclear at 2d6+12 ticks
9 Large asteroid/planet collision at 2d6+12 ticks
10 Intensely radioactive environment (1-rad/hr when EVA)
11 Gas leak causing death spin, lethal Gs at 2d6+12 ticks
12 Threats are waking up (creatures, crew, automation)
13 Hostile ships nearby (see table)
14 Auction compromised, unauthorized scrappers inbound
15-18 Briefing leaked; unauthorized scrappers already docking
Threats
2d6 Threats
2 There are two threats (ignore this result if rolled again)

3 Roll on the Class B threat table instead (p XX)
4 d2 SKULs
5 Hot glass outbreak

2d6 Threats
6 Zombies (gangrenous crew with DUTE chips)

7 Anti-personnel drones
8 Glass outbreak
9 Booby traps (nail bombs, keyhole guns, spraytox)
10 d3 Frantic/hungry large animals (chimps, anacondas)
11 d2 Cargo robots in defense mode
12 None!
Ship Detail
3d6 Random Ship Detail
3-6 Hidden smuggling compartments, [some treasure]

7 Disguised military transport, 2 SKULs, armory
8 Covert observation mission, x5 data in either a sensor
or command module
9 Command module contains a stolen Factori IFF
10 Science module, human-glass hybridization
experiments
11 Media trove of entertainment from now-lost planets
12 Specialist skill training media library (medical,
engineering, agricultural, art)
13 Famous ship of great cultural significance to [roll faction]
for military, religious, or historical reasons
14 Extra containment module contains a microscopic,
planet-killing primordial black hole
15 Extra armor screwed on everywhere (effect)
16-18 Upgrade: scavenged class B fold module or ion drive
- (this table needs way more entries)
Location
3d6 Location
3-5 Orbiting a huge black hole spewing x-rays

6 Immense gas giant fills half the sky, radios crackle
7 Orbiting a lightless rogue planet, far from any star
8 Over a rocky, airless moon
9 Galactic core, bright light from hundreds of nearby stars
10 Over the glowing remnants of a populated planet
17
3d6 Location
11 Nestled in the water ice rings of a gas giant

12 In the glittering halo of a comet
13 Inside a luminous pink-purple nebula
14 Near a Factori asteroid/ring mining operation [ship
types?]
15 Dense asteroid field
16 Hanging inside a gutted Factori cylindrical megahab
17 Intergalactic deep space, completely dark
18 Near a wormhole/natural fold (roll for destination)
Other Tables
Hostile Ships
2d6 hostile ships
A Viper
Factori
B Factori tracking limpets
Factori dissassembler
Class B
Class A Tapir
Class D warship (flee!)

Starting the Mission
For most missions, the crew will need to find and intercept the
salvage target first. See “Space Operations” on page 30. For
the first mission (or a change of pace), the GM may choose a quick
start instead.
Quick Start
When you quick start, the GM should tell the players three
job details (one of which should be the location, since that’s
obvious), and show them the target ship’s module layout. Then a
player rolls 2D6:
2d6 Quick Start
2 Ahead of the game! You’re inside, say how. One of you

has already reached a key location.
3-4 You’ve made the approach. Where are you entering?
5-6 You’ve been able to assess for some time. The GM will
tell you two additional details about the job.
7 You had a short time to assess the situation before it
heats up; the GM will give you an extra mission detail.
8-9 You’ve been noticed, and the opposition is preparing.
10-11 You’re heading into completed preparations.
12 You’re playing right into an inspired counter plan. Oops.
Quirks Cause Trouble

Scrapper ships tend to be a patchwork of repairs and semi-
compatible technology. Each ship has a quirk score representing
the number of annoying problems it has accumulated. These are
not dangerous during downtime, but in the high pressure situation
of a salvage mission, they can cause serious trouble.
When the mission starts, the GM should privately roll a die for
each quirk point. For each 6, a point of system damage (see
page 24) lurks in the crew’s ship.
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The Mission Clock
Most missions are conducted under immense time pressure. In
Coming Apart, time is handled abstractly, measured out by ticks on
the mission clock.
When you win an auction, start the mission clock at zero.
How Long is a Tick ?

For the purposes of approximating, a tick is about five to ten minutes
of real-world time. Mark a tick on the mission clock whenever a
character does something that would take more than a minute or
two.
Ticks Action
0 Instant actions - firing a gun, glancing around the room,

activating a ready machine
1 A short, brutal fight; traversing your own ship; searching
a module; stripping a systems; initiating a fold; cutting
through a hatch; overriding a computer system, re-
gearing; working out a fold trajectory; rallying the crew.
Fold times of 10 minutes or less.
2 A massive firefight, loading a ton of supplies into the
hold; long-range fire mission with a ship’s railguns; a
complex repair job done fast and sloppy; synthesizing
chemicals; printing a complex component. Fold times of
30 minutes or less.
Ticks are Sequential

Ticks represent the time lost not just to crew actions that we see
‘on screen’, but also the essential delays in coordination and
communication, and occasional confusion and false starts that
aren’t part of any complex operation.
For this reason, when the crew is doing separate actions at the
same time, they each add their own ticks to the clock.
There are two exceptions: coordinated group actions (which take
no longer than individual actions), and crew member’s duties,
which take no ticks at all.

Countdowns
When something is going to take a long time, or will happen at a
certain time in the future, the GM can add a countdown. The GM
chooses a tick on the mission clock and announces it.
“The Viper’s missile will arrive in three ticks, at tick 11.“
“The automatic escrow beacon just went active. Whoever wins
the auction will arrive in seven ticks, at tick 19.”
“The derelict will hit the asteroid at tick 22.”
Oxygen
Every five ticks (tick 5, tick 10, etc.), everyone currently using their
suit’s oxygen (because they are in space, in a depressurized or
contaminated area of a ship) must mark a point of O2 use.
If they can’t, they mark a point of harm.
Radiation
Every five ticks (tick 5, tick 10, etc.), everyone in an irradiated
environment marks one point of rad damage. (Breathing irradiated
gases is a different thing entirely! See hazards.)
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Scrapside
The frantic heart of play in Coming Apart takes place scrapside,
inside the salvage targets. While scrapside, most of the action will
be rushed (see page 12).
The Basic Rule

When you say what your character is trying to do, the GM will
tell you what happens as a result, unless a more specific rule
applies.
encounters
When you encounter enemies or a hazard, roll +Instinct. On a
hit, choose one. On a 10+, choose two:
● You seize the initiative: you have the jump on the situation. For
the moment, you can act instead of being forced to react.
● Your nearby allies have cohesion: positioned usefully and ready
to help, instead of dealing with their own problems.
● You have a tactical advantage: a useful position, cover, line of
sight to a key target, etc. instead of being in a bad spot.
SPOT IT
When you assess the situation, say what you’re looking for and
roll +Instinct. On a hit, choose one: you get details / you don’t
increase your exposure. On a 10+ you get both, plus something
of the bigger picture.
Boot It
When you haul ass to get away or arrive just in time, roll
+Heart. -1 if you’re overloaded. On a hit, you make it. On a 10+,
take +1 to your next roll, or reduce the accuracy of incoming fire.
Force it
When you push hardware beyond its limits, roll +Stubborn. On
a hit, it works out. On a 10+, you either avoid damage or gain
advantage from your risky move.

Use this to force jammed machinery, overriding the safeties, using
your carbine as a prybar, get an extra G out of your ion drives, etc.
Typical damage might be 1d or 2d Direct.
ghost it
When you use stealth and cover to move into position, roll
+Steady, -1 if you’re overloaded. On a 7-9, choose one, on a
10+ choose 2: it doesn’t take long / bring an ally with you / you
notice an opportunity or useful detail.
Demand it
When you impose your will using authority or threats, roll
+Stubborn. On a hit, they either do what you demand or take 1
stress. On a 10+, 2 stress.
When you make an appeal in a charged situation, roll +Heart.

On a miss, they assume the worst. On a hit, they hear you out.
On a 10+, they assume the best.
Acting in Concert
When you have cohesion, you can freely join the action of the
acting crew member, moving, hauling, or fighting together with
them. If the work can be shared easily, they act with +1.
Interrupt
When you act out of turn to prevent disaster, mark 1 Stress.
Apparently you had an eye out for this—it’s your turn now. (You
may need to boot it to get there in time though!)
Commands
When you command crewmates to take action, bark up to five
words. Optionally pay 1 Stress to allow one other to act with
you, then roll +Heart. On a 7-9, one more may act with you. On
a 10+, another one.
Allies & NPCs

When you rely on NPC allies to follow through, roll +Steady.
On a hit, they do. On a 10+, with enthusiasm. On a miss, they’re
ineffective, in the way, or in trouble of their own.
23
Ship Environments
Ships are assembled from interlocking modules, connected by
airtight hatches. Most modules are pressurized rooms that contain
specialized systems like optical telemetry or carbon filtration.
Module Damage
Catastrophes (explosions, or ship weapons) cause module
damage. There are two levels of damage, ‘damaged’, and
‘shattered’.
Damage description dmg

dice
Undamaged As good as second hand. -

Damaged Shot up, structure sound but creaking, 2
hull in tact, but leaking gases slowly.
Shattered Hull tears large enough for scrappers to 4
enter. Jagged metal, flickering sparks,
clouds of ice crystals. Breakers blown, all
systems unready at best.
System Damage Dice

When the crew uses a system in a damaged module, the GM
rolls one or more lurking system damage dice. Use the highest
result. Lurking dice are only rolled once each. After they’re
rolled, the danger may still be present, but it’s known.
d6 System Damage
1 Undamaged!
2 Unready: powered off, pressure valve cycling,
authorization self check, stowed for maximum safety
3 Jammed: stuck, key consumable depleted, constantly
rebooting, breaker flipped, supply line jostled loose
4 Broken: hinge bent, component shattered, pneumatics
blown, corrupted data, wires fused
5 Dangerous: electrified, toxin leak, sharp, hot
6 Deadly: slams shut, blows open, explosive overpressure
or overheating, suddenly unjams, delayed action, double
speed or force

Docking
To enter a salvage target, the crew must choose how to access it.
Ship-to-ship docking is the safest for the boarding party, but can
expose the salvage ship to fire, radiation, and biological hazards.
Intercepting and then leaping across in suits protects the ship, but
is riskier for the crew. The extreme of this is having the boarding
party go EVA through a fold.
Class A hatches are manually operated mechanisms. They can
be opened by anyone, but except for designated entry ways, most
exterior hatches are locked from the inside.
Torching through hatches, view ports, or the hull is slow but
reliable, as long as the scrappers are careful to avoid the blowout if
the module is pressurized.
Hazards
Shipside hazards
● Evasive maneuvers while unanchored, 2d
● Sudden acceleration while unanchored, 1d per G
● Module damaged by weapons/explosions, 4d per damage level
Scrapside hazards
● Sharp wreckage, 1-2d
● Crunched by a closing bulkhead, 2d
● Fire, small/nearby, 2d
● Engulfed by fireball, 4d
● Incandescent inferno, 6d
● Spent air, 1d stress/tick
● Choking, toxic fumes, 2d rad
● Radiation leak, inhaled, 1d rad/tick (only your actions count!)
● Electrocution, shorting system, 2d
● Electrocution, main power coupling, 4d
Space-side hazards
● Vacuum exposure, 2d stress/tick (only your actions count)
● Pressure blowout while cutting, 1d
● Struck by blowout debris, 2d
● Ion drive thrust, 4d
● Ship-based weapons fire, 8d
25
Salvaging
Stripping Systems
Ship systems are made from 3D-printed resins or plastic. Scrappers
usually just saw out the more valuable “strip”: the small, delicate
parts that require advanced manufacturing or rare materials such
as precision robotics, control processors, laser emitters, print
heads, or lenses. Strip is dense, about 5 strip to a cubic meter.
Some systems contain other specialized loot instead: data or bio.
See the module reference section (p. 38) for which systems are
in each module.
When you demolish a system to strip it, you get a point of strip
(or data or bio). Record it in your playbook.
When you hack a fix to a damaged system, roll +Insight

plus the points of strip you use up. (Or bio, depending on the
system.) On a hit, it works for now. On a 10+, it’s as good as
new.
Salvaging whole Modules

A useful module in good condition is a valuable find. Despite their
mass, in frictionless space, scrappers can nudge them slowly into
place by hand, like massive bowling balls. Or use a claw unit.
When you cut a module from its neighbors, roll +Stubborn

minus the number of neighbors. +1 for each tick you plan to
take. On a miss, there’s damage, blowback, or catastrophe. On
a 10+, it’s quick: reduce the ticks taken by your lowest die.
When you link a salvaged module to your ship, roll +Steady

minus its damage level. On a hit, it’s structurally linked. Add +1
quirk to your ship. On a 10+, no quirk. On a miss, somebody or
something gets crunched. Regardless, it’s offline until you can
properly connect all the supply lines.

27
Close Combat
exchanging fire
When you give or take weapons fire, roll the weapon’s attack
dice and consult the attack table.
Whenever you act in an enemy’s field of fire, take weapons fire

as appropriate.
weapon attack table

By default, weapons fire has Direct accuracy. Reduce accuracy
for cover, range, or haste. Raise accuracy for stationary/confined
targets, and/or for an extended period of aim.
Accuracy 1 2 3 4 5 6
Scattered C C C - S H
Direct C C - S H H
Concentrated C - S H H D
Precision - S H H D D
For each H, the target takes 1 harm. D is a deadly hit causing 2

harm. S is stress. C is collateral damage down range: add one die
of system damage (see page 24) to the module.
Armor
Each point of armor blocks 1 harm or stress per exchange of fire
(not once per weapon).
Assault
When you lead an assault on the enemy to seize a location,
mark 1 ammo and exchange fire. Roll +Stubborn. On a hit, you
control the location. The GM chooses if the enemy is driven
back, overwhelmed, or surrenders. On a miss, you’re pinned,
exposed, or separated from allies.
Suppression Fire
When you unload at an enemy’s position, mark 1 ammo and
exchange fire at reduced accuracy. Roll +Steady. On a hit, you
give an ally an opportunity. The GM chooses if the enemy is

rattled, or takes cover and cedes the initiative. On a 10+, you
also give +1 to the next allied roll.
Take Cover
When you take cover from incoming fire, give up the initiative
and roll +Instinct. On a hit, you scramble to established cover.
On a 10+, keep the initiative (if you had it).
Catch your Breath

When you catch your breath or regain your senses, give up
the initiative and recover 1 Stress. Toxic damage catches up to
you: convert 1 point of Rad damage (if you have any) to 1 Harm.
Rally
When you rally your crewmates in a tense situation, roll
+Heart. On a 10+ earn 3 rally points; on a 7-9 earn 1. Spend 1
rally point to:
● Give the crew cohesion (right away)
● Keep your cool: +1 to an ally’s Steady roll
● Look out! -1d to weapons fire aimed at an ally
Weapon Dice Range Notes
Fists 1d 1m -
Torch 2d 1m Collateral dmg = fires
Knife, Baton, 2d 1m -
Prybar
Pistol 2d 10m -
12mm Pistol 2d 10m D causes 3 harm
SMG 2d 15m +1 ammo for 3d
Shotgun 3d 10m -
Beanbag 2d 10m No collateral dmg
Stunner 3d Stress 10m No collateral dmg
Flashbang 6d Stress 5m Area, No collateral dmg
Frag Grenade 6d 5m Scattered, Area
Rubber Frag 6d 5m Scattered, Area
Spallcake 6d 5m Scattered, Area
29
Space Operations
Folding Space
Despite the energies and distances involved, traveling by space
fold is very gentle. Massive capacitors dump energy into the fold
drive, and a tiny pinprick in the star field starts to expand. It lenses
open to reveal the space on the far side of the fold. Silently, it grows
until it fills half the sky, enclosing the folding ship. For a moment, the
ship is in two places, until a tiny nudge from a maneuver jet breaks
the tie. The entire process only takes a few minutes.
To outside observers, there’s nothing flashy to detect. An invisible
magnifying glass dilates the star field behind the folding ship, which
shrinks down to a speck as the fold closes. Unless the far-side
space is particularly hot or bright, only very advanced sensors will
directly observe a fold from a distance.
Relative Hops
Coordinates to locations in the universe are usually stored
expressed relative to “Sagga” (Saggitarius A, the center of the Milky
Way galaxy), but to use them, a fold navigator must know the ship’s
current location and work out the correct fold vector from there.
Momentum
Folds conserve momentum, so most trips involve both a fold and
an acceleration burn to match the target’s velocity. A leap across a
spiral galaxy (Δv 432kps) could require a 12-hour 1G burn to cancel
out the galaxy’s rotation.
These burns can happen on either side of the fold. A ship that folds
in may be moving very quickly relative to local objects, or (given
very good intel) may arrive almost matching its target velocity.
When you fold space, spend 1 fuse. Your ship silently moves
any distance and direction in the universe, retaining its current
velocity. If you moved an interstellar distance, you arrive within
2d6 meg (million meters) of the coordinates you chose.

Finding the Target
Detecting ships against the enormity of space is difficult, especially
if they don’t want to be noticed. Sensors immediately notice ion
thrust aimed directly at them (decelerating to intercept, accelerating
away, or evading randomly). Anything else requires patiently
combing through telemetry.
When you scan local space, roll +Instinct. Choose whether

you’re looking for ships that are running dark, far away (6+
meg), or a higher danger class than your sensors. On a 7-9,
choose two; on a 10+, all three. If you pick all that apply to your
target, you spot it now; otherwise your search takes d6 ticks.
OBSERVATION
Once a target has been pinpointed, the crew may take time
to observe it carefully. With a sensor module, various kinds of
phenomena are observable at different distances:
meg Sensor Details
0-18 Beacons, transmissions, radiation leaks

Ion thrust in any direction (acceleration, evasion), fire,
0-6
radiation leaks
0-3 Open folds, size, spectroscopy of gas leaks or the hull
Module arrangement silhouette, temperature of the
0-1
hottest module
Surface features, module temperature, leaked gas
0
sample collection, internal sounds (via LIDAR)
31
Interception
Various approaches are possible for non-evading targets.
When you intercept by gliding silently, Roll +Steady. On a hit,

your 6-minute initial burn goes unnoticed. You close at 3 ticks
per meg, only revealing yourself with a last-minute deceleration
burn. On a 10+, your trajectory was accurate to the meter; you
have the initiative.
When you intercept at full thrust, you arrive in 1 tick/meg. Your

bright deceleration burn reveals your approach at the halfway
mark. Burn 1 fuse.
Distances
Distance Notes
12 meg Rocky planet diameter

35 meg Rocky planet geostationary orbit altitude
100 meg Gas giant diameter
300 meg 1 light second
350 meg Earth-Lunar distance
150,000 meg Earth-Sol distance, 1 AU
Velocities
1 G Burn Velocity Meg notes
1 second 10 m/s - -
1 minute 600 m/s 1 meg/6 hrs -
6 minutes 3.6 km/sec 1 meg/hr -
12 minutes 7.2 km/sec 2 meg/hr Avg. low orbit velocity
1 hour 36 km/s 10 meg/hr Avg. inter-planet Δv
12 hours 432 km/s 120 meg/hr Cross-galaxy fold Δv

Fire Missions
Docking with an evading ship is impossible—ships accelerate
quickly and collisions are deadly. Disabling a ship requires reaching
intercept ranges (kilometers), at which point fire missions can be
conducted against individual modules (e.g. ion drives, command).
Weapon Systems
Weapon Range barrage attack dice
Class A Railgun 3 meg 1 fuse 2d

Class B Railgun 4 meg 1 fuse + 1 mun 3d
Class A Missile 4 meg 1 mun 4d
When you fire ship weapon systems, roll their attack dice.
At close range (kilometers), accuracy is Direct by default.
Concentrated fire requires a non-evading target. Precision fire
requires careful aim as well. Reactive, hasty or inexperienced
fire is Scattered.
weapon system attack table

Accuracy 1 2 3 4 5 6
Scattered / Distant - - - - - D
Direct / Intercept Range - - - D D D
Concentrated - - D D D M
Precision - D D D M M
Each ‘D’ damages a random module. If there was a target module,

an ‘M’ result shatters it.
Distant Targets
At military engagement ranges (megameters), accurate fire is
impossible. Railguns fire thousands of inert penetrators over
several minutes in the hopes of disabling surface systems or
piercing something vital. Disabling a target before it’s entirely shot
to pieces is a matter of luck.
When you conduct a fire mission a distant (megameters)

ship, pay each weapon’s barrage cost in fuses and munitions
before rolling its weapon dice at Scattered accuracy.
33
Ship Construction
Mass
Draw the ship’s module layout on the ship schematic ship. Count up
the number of filled-in squares, including units like claws and EVA
pods. This is the ship’s mass in tons.
Thrust
Count the number of aft-facing ion drives and add up their thrust.
(Class A ion drives produce 50 tons of thrust each.)
Acceleration
Divide the total thrust by the ship’s mass. This is the ship’s maximum
sustained acceleration in Gs. Subtract one and round to the nearest
whole number to get its drive rating.
Acceleration (Gs) = mass / thrust
Fold Time
The larger and heavier a ship, the longer it takes a fold drive to
open a fold that’s large and stable enough for the ship to move
through it.
The time to open a fold with the ship inside is the ship’s mass
in tons divided by the drive’s fold power, multiplied by the fold
radius. The fold radius is the “taxi distance” on the module map (no
diagonals) from the fold drive to the furthest module.
Fold Time (min) = (ship mass * fold radius) / fold power
Fold Time (ticks) = Fold Time (min) / 5

Supply
Supply is a generic representation of a ship’s vital stores of
consumables—ships on standby must spend supply to keep the
ship in working order and the crew happy. Without it, scrubbers start
to fail, the fresh food is eaten up, and everyone’s getting grumpy on
a constant diet of recycled Noot™.
When mission time requires supply you don’t have, everyone

takes 1 stress. Add 1 quirk to the ship.
Supply can also be expended to reveal that it was something

specific, such as compressed breathable gas mix, packs of strip, or
a cache with enough gear for you to re-equip.
When you break open supplies, spend 1 supply and choose:

● Replenishes the air in up to 10 modules
● Recover 5 strip
● Reset your current load-out
35
Class A Modules
The ships of the holdborn are built in space using simple, reliable
techniques. The steel hulls are anti-radiation coated (1 rad armor),
with a fiber wrap for micrometeorites erosion, but are otherwise
unarmored. Hatches are 2m wide, manual rotary seals with
mechanical deadbolts on the inside.
Computers are radiation resistant monochrome terminals: tough,
slow, and not networked together. Most modules have ship-wide
intercoms for communication.
Class A ship systems must be operated in person. To aim and fire
a railgun, for example, you go to the module where it’s attached and
use the fire control workstation that protrudes inside.
Power
All modules require power to operate. Without it, nothing works
except for rows of tiny LED outlining the hatches and other major
features.
Power-generating modules (Command and Power) generate
large quantities of energy, enough to power any number of modules
with normal power needs. When they’re accelerating, ion drives
need much more, however, so power-generating modules can only
power a limited number of them.
Railguns and fold drives, however, are the true power hogs.
Using these systems requires spending a “fuse”, a massive charge
of energy stored in a high-density capacitor.
Air
Air is recycled by scrubbers, which require power. Without that, the
air becomes dangerous very quickly: a 1x1 module holds enough
air for one person-day. An unpowered ship can still replenish its air
from supplies: 1 supply replenishes up to 10 modules.
Modules
Type notes
Cargo Storage for 10 supply. Salvage: -

Command Helm controls ship’s ion drives. Broadcast comms.
Mini scrubber provides 6 person-months air.
Pocket reactor powers 4 ion drives. Stores 1 fuse,
regenerates 1 fuse/2 hrs. Salvage: SSSD

Type notes
Fold Drive Uses 1 fuse to project a fold for up to 5

minutes. Operator workstation, nav computer.
Salvage:SSSD
Habitat Large module: 2x1, two tons. During recovery
downtime, restore 2 extra stress. Communal
sit/eat/play space. Recovery bed. Exercise kit.
Salvage: BSD
Ion Drive Exerts 5 tons of axial thrust, with small lateral
vents for turns or reversing. Only a tiny crawl
space for interior maintenance. Salvage: SS
Life High-speed scrubber, extends mission by 12
Support person-months. Stores 3 supply. During recovery
downtime, restore 1 extra harm. Salvage: SSS
Power Power for 15 modules plus six ion drives. Stores 2
fuses, regenerates 1 fuse/30 mins. Salvage: SSD
Sensor Active radar, passive EM detectors, optical
telescope, spectrometer, LIDAR. Salvage: SSSSD
Strut Structural corridor, air pumps for use as air lock.
Ad hoc storage for 1 supply. Salvage: S
Attachments
Type notes
Claw Unit 12m cargo arm, strong enough to hold 1 ton under
1G acceleration. Salvage: SS
EVA Drone Remote control repair drone, cutter, claw arm,
compressed gas jets. Service lifespan 6 ticks of
actions. Salvage: SSD
Missiles Rack of 3 ballistic fragmentation warheads, fire
control workstation inside. Needs sensor telemetry.
Salvage: D
Railgun High ROF gauss gun outside, fire control
workstation and munitions can inside. Fire
missions require 1 fuse, 1 munition, and sensor
telemetry. Close shots can be aimed using FCW.
Salvage: SD
Umbilical Flexible docking walkway, extends up to 18m.
Salvage: SS
37
Module Reference
Cargo rack
Mass: 10 tons
Capacity: 10 supply
Power Use: -
Cost: 2 cash
Systems: -
Cargo racks provide organized storage for

supplies of all kinds, and are a mainstay of
light duty haulers and long excursion survey
ships. They provide internal, pressurized
access to 2 supply. The rest can be retrieved
by going EVA or using a claw unit. Cargo is
exposed, and must be vaccuum safe, but the
cages are rated for up to 5Gs of acceleration.
Command Module
Mass: 10 tons
Capacity: -
Power Generation: 4 ion drives
Fuse Capacity: 1 fuse
Fuse Gen: 1 fuse per 2 hours
Cost: 6 cash
Systems:
● Helm (data)
● Broadcast communications
● Pocket reactor/capacitor
● Mini scrubber (6 person-months of air)
Command modules are the heart of Class A ships, and contain

miniature versions of all vital systems (save fold drives and ion
propulsion). Once linked with control cables, the helm workstation
lets the pilot control the ship’s ion drives together. Designs vary
widely, but most have acceleration moorings for 3-4 crew members
in total.

Fold Module
Mass: 10 tons
Power Use: 1 fuse per fold
Fold Power: 10 tons/minute
Cost: 12 cash
Systems:
● Fold drive
● Fold projection plates
● Operator workstation
● Navigation computer (data)
Fold modules are cramped, access tunnels wrapped around the

spherical core of the fold generator itself. Layers of shielding protect
the crew from the hard radiation created by the drive core during
fold generation.
The time to open a fold with the ship inside is the ship’s mass in
tons divided by the drive’s fold power, multiplied by the taxi distance
(no diagonals) to the furthest module from the fold drive.
Fold can be held open for an additional 1 fuse per 5 minutes.
habitat Module
Mass: 20 tons
Power Use: -
Special: +2 stress regained during recovery
Cost: 8 cash
Systems:
● Recovery bed (bio)
● Exercise station
● Communal sit/eat/play space (data)
Habitat modules provide essential rest and

relaxation for crews on long missions.
They are often decorated with
cultural items, plants (real
or plastic), and the crew’s
hobbies. The interior is often
divided into a series of private
spaces with sound-absorbant
dividers.
39
Ion Drive
Mass: 10 tons
Power Use: High
Special: 50 tons of thrust
Cost: 4 cash
Systems:
● Calibration console
● Cyclic accelerator
Ion drives are the main in-system propulsion system,

and work by accelerating microscopic amounts of propellant to
relativistic speeds, at the cost of tremendous energy consumption.
Lateral vents allow a small part of the thrust to be directed in other
angles, allowing a single ion drive to let a ship rotate or reverse
thrust. This is tiny in comparison to the main aft thrust, and so most
trips involve flipping the ship to use the main thrust to slow down.
Most maintenance must be done from outside; there is a crawl
space in the stern part of the drive, but this only exposes the
calibration console and part of the cyclic accelerator.
Life Support Module

Mass: 10 tons
Power Use: -
Cost: 4 cash
Special: +1 harm restored by
recovery
Systems:
● High speed air scrubber
● Water purifier
● Hydroponic micro farm
Life support modules vastly extend the comfortable mission lengths.

A high-speed air scrubber keeps the crew fresh for an extra 12
person-months. A self-contained hydroponic micro farm produces
small quantities of fresh food, a welcome change from Noot™.
Recovery actions restore 1 extra harm if there’s a life support
module in the ship.
Life support modules are full of pipes and have few clear lines
of sight. The air is thick with gurgling, hissing, and clicking noises.

Power Module
Mass: 10 tons
Power Generation: 10 modules, 6
ion drives
Fuse Capacity: 2 fuses
Fuse Gen: 1 fuse per 30 mins
Cost: 4 cash
Systems:
● Pocket Reactor Core
● Capacitor Banks
● Control Workstation (data)
Power modules are a more potent version of the pocket reactor

inside command modules. With the extra fuse capacity, power
modules allow ships to fold multiple times, use multiple rail guns
simultaneously, or to hold a fold open long enough for an EVA
smash and grab salvage operation.
Sensor Module
Mass: 10 tons
Power Use: -
Cost: 4 cash
Systems:
● Long-range radar
● Passive EM detectors
● Optical telescope/spectrometer
● Short-range LIDAR
● Operator workstation (data)
Sensor modules extend the crew’s

awareness beyond visual range. Without one,
the crew can only spot ship-sized objects if they’re
brightly lit and within a few hundred kilometers.
Sensor modules generate targeting information for
long-range fire missions. The active radar and EM detectors will
automatically track targets that they notice and can generate alerts
as new ones appear; other systems are manually operated.
41
Strut
Mass: 5 tons
Capacity: 1 supply
Power Use: -
Cost: 1 cash
Systems:
● Airlock pumps
Struts are simple, structural modules to build out a ship’s capacity

to attach additional modules. Cargo ship designs, for example, may
include a row of struts to attach a set of cargo racks.
Struts contain pumps that can be used to depressurize them,
allowing them to be used as airlocks.

Attachment Reference
Claw Unit
Mass: 1 ton
Power Use: -
Cost: 2 cash
Systems:
● Hydraulic manifold
● Control/camera display panel
Claw units are utility arms designed for loading/

unloading cargo, or manipulating modules into place in zero G. The
operator guides them using cameras at the claw and base.
Claws are designed for zero G. While they can hold a 1-ton load
under 1G acceleration, any greater force will cause the claw arm
to snap at a break-away safety point to prevent more widespread
damage.
EVA Drone
Mass: 1 ton
Power Use: -
Cost: 4 cash
Systems:
● Control workstation (data)
● Manipulator/cutter array
● Compressed gas omni maneuver
system
EVA drones are a more mobile alternative to claw units. They are
controlled remotely from a workstation inside the recharge point (a
modified hatch), and have enough compressed gas propellant and
onboard battery life to operate for 6 ticks of actions. They have both
mechanical/rotary and thermal cutting tools, and enough arms to
hold precision tools and to safely hold onto exterior panels while
they work inside.
43
Missile Rack
Mass: 5 tons
Power Use: -
Cost: 4 cash (1 cash + 1 per missile)
Systems:
● Fire control workstation (data)
Class A missiles take intercept coordinates

from a sensor module operator, and then
roar away on a bright lance of solid fuel rocket thrust. At 10G
acceleration, missiles reach their targets at 2 meg/tick.
At about one meg out, a passive IR target acquisition system
switches on so the missile can adjust for evasion. A few kilometers
from the target, it explodes into a shower of inert penetrators.
When fired at quick-reacting, alert targets, missiles are vulnerable
to counter-missile railgun fire. They are easy to spot, and almost
any hit on the front of a missile destroys its target acquisition array.
Class A missiles can be dead-fired at targets in visible range, but
if there are multiple target choices, they pick at random.
Railgun
Mass: 2 tons
Power Use: 1 fuse/fire mission
Cost: 4 cash
Systems:
● Fire control workstation (data)
● Precision servo mount
Rail guns use linear magnetic acceleration to hurl inert penetrators

at their targets at incredibly high velocity. They are extremely
accurate against targets in visual range, firing short bursts with
deadly precision.
Beyond one meg, however, the only hope of hits comes from
precise sensor telemetry and a huge volume of fire. This burns both
munitions and energy rapidly, as the rail gun fires multiple times per
second for several minutes, sending a shower of high-speed metal
at the target.
Railgun fire missions produce pulses of EM interference that can
be easily detected by alert sensor module operators.

Umbilical Unit
Mass: 1 ton
Power Use: -
Cost: 2 cash
Systems:
● Gas compressor/control levers
● Universal magnetic docking collar
Umbilical units are expanding corridors,

designed to create ad hoc connections between ships.
Most can expand from about 4m to 18m in a few seconds, and
the universal magnetic docking rings can clamp onto uncooperative
exterior hatches and hulls alike.
Once in place, boarding teams can leap along them with no
chance of tumbling out into space or having to fiddle with harpoons
and guide lines, but still keeping the salvage ship somewhat isolated
from an unstable target.
Umbilicals aren’t structurally strong and will simply rip but will rip
if either ship accelerates or maneuvers.
The anti micrometeorite weave stretched over plastic hoops is
tough enough to be pressurized for short periods. Umbilicals are
leaky and must be constantly replenished, so they are normally
left at vacuum pressure, but they are a viable way to get unsuited
evacuees across in emergencies.
45
Downtime
Between periods of active duty, the crew can take planned
downtime—a chance to rest, perhaps heal, and to fix up the ship.
When you take undocked downtime, spend 1 supply. Everyone

in the crew gets one downtime action. Everyone converts all
their rad damage to harm, 1 for 1.
Ship Maintenance
In downtime, scrappers can repair essential systems and tweak the
performance of their ship.
Repairs & Maintenance

When you repair module damage, 5 strip / 1 supply makes a
shattered module damaged, or a damaged module undamaged.
When you perform general maintenance, roll +Insight plus the

number of points of strip you expend. On a hit, you eliminate a
quirk. On a 10+, you eliminate two quirks.
Drive Tuning
When you tune your ship’s drives, spend a week and roll
+Hardware. On a miss, add quirks equal to your highest die. On
a hit, recalculate the Drive rating, but round up.
reassembly
When a ship starts to feel like a patchwork of modules, a new
arrangement is necessary. The whole crew must take this downtime
action together! This is a risky process; if something goes wrong
while EVA, there’s no safety to retreat to.
When you rearrange your ship’s modules, roll +Steady,

subtracting the number of separate danger classes of modules
in your ship. Add quirks equal to your highest die. On a 10+,
use your lowest die. On a miss, there’s a serious accident or
complication.

Recover
A period of R&R lets you recuperate 1 harm and 2 stress.
Reconnect
From an early age, spacers are taught to perform the calculations
that let them generate the sequence coordinates where they can
get back in touch with friends, family, or vital contacts through the
ship’s fold periscope—either directly, or through email: encrypted
messages relayed by other ships. This process is slow, but it is the
carrier signal of human interactions out in the void.
When you get on the periscope to get in touch, say who you’re
looking for and roll +Heart. On a 10+, they’re willing and able to
connect. On a 7-9, there’s baggage, a debt, or fresh trouble. On
a miss, there’s bad blood, tragic news, or no answer at all.
Flashback
Players may also spend their downtime action to reveal the history
of one of their crewmates.
● Pick a fellow crewmate to be the focus of the flashback.
● The focal player briefly outlines a formative time in their
character’s history. What was a central goal for them at that
time, consciously or otherwise? This might be a worldly goal, a
relationship struggle, or an inner battle.
● The GM then describes a challenge or difficult situation they
faced in seeking that goal.
● The focal player rolls. On a hit, the focal player briefly describes
how they over the challenge. On a miss, the GM briefly describes
the serious setback they faced.
● One at a time, everyone except the focal player suggests a
different deeply held belief that could have been formed by that
experience.
● The focal player chooses which belief took root, says it in their
own words, and writes in their playbook as a truth.
● The focal character decides: is this something they have shared
with the rest of the crew, or is it only in their eyes?
● The inquiring player and the focal character both mark xp.
47
Buying and Selling
Scrap and essentials

Description Cost
5 strip, data, or bio 1 cash

Supply 1 cash
Module damage repair team 2 cash/lvl
Buying and Selling Modules

Description Cost
Module, Undamaged See page 38

Damaged New cost -4 cash
Shattered and/or Stripped 1 cash as scrap
Module delivery via hub to/from station 1 cash/module
Hub / Station Services

Description Cost
Passage to station or multi-hub link 1-cash/person

Luxury passage (private berth) 2-cash/person
Station accommodations, sleep tube 1 cash/month
Station accommodations, private berth 4 cash/month
R&R 1 cash/stress
Medical attention 2 cash/harm
Detoxification 3 cash/rad
Insured warehousing, per module 1 cash/month
Lease, use of small service kiosk 2 cash/month
Lease, use of specialized hub module 4 cash/month
Security background checks, consented 1 cash/person
Security background checks, investigative 5 cash/person
Rescues
Description Cost
Rewards, civilian 3 cash

Specialized personnel 6 cash
Person of interest 10 cash

49
Sifting your Haul
Hubs will normally pay 1 cash for every 5 full points of strip, data,
or bio. Bio and data, however, sometimes contain unusual items of
value that can be found by the discerning scrapper.
When you sift through your haul of data or bio, roll d100 plus
five times the points of unsifted data or bio you’re sifting. In
addition to the base value, you find:
Bio Sifting Table

Roll Bio Result
1-9 Aquaponic eggs, tilapia 1-cash

10-18 Eden ash: full microbial powdered ecosystem 1-cash
19-26 Flavorant microbe mix for Noot™ 1-cash
27-35 Hydroponics gel plant food 1-cash
36-44 Medicines: analgesics, mood stabilizers 1-cash
45-53 Medicines: infection control 1-cash
54-61 Mildew/glass control molluscs 1-cash
62-70 Seeds, hydroponic kress 1-cash
71-75 Gene graft sequences 2-cash
76-81 Genetic specimens 2-cash
82-86 Medicines: affirming hormone balance 2-cash
87-92 Medicines: surgical anaesthetics 2-cash
93-97 Partial gene sequences 2-cash
98-101 Frozen mammal embryos 3-cash
102-106 Glass specimen samples 3-cash
107-110 Human organ template 3-cash
111-114 Medicines: cellular repair 3-cash
115-118 Synthetic glands, +2 stress 3-cash
119-122 Raccoon embryos in cryo, d6 6-cash
123-125 Frozen human embryos 7-cash
126-127 Terraformycin 8-cash
128-130 Hegemonizing mutagen 12-cash

Data Sifting Table
Roll Data Result
1-7 Centuries old social media data breach 1-cash

8-14 Media, corporate training series 1-cash
15-20 Media, historical re-enactments 1-cash
21-27 Media, porn - pretty weird tbh but whatever 1-cash
28-34 Media, propaganda from a long-dead war 1-cash
35-41 Media, rom coms 1-cash
42-47 Media, trashy infotainment 1-cash
48-54 Personal logs 1-cash
55-61 Random astronomical data 1-cash
62-65 Automated system survey, 3d6 systems 2-cash
66-69 Detailed system survey, coords 2-cash
70-73 Espionage, profile of Class B hub captain 2-cash
74-77 Factori IFF broadcast codes 2-cash
78-81 Media, nature videos 2-cash
82-85 Media, philosophy lectures 2-cash
86-88 Media, skill instruction 2-cash
89-92 Media, sportsball tournaments 2-cash
93-95 Class A hub fold sequence fob 3-cash
96-98 Class C decryption algos 3-cash
99-101 Coord: ice-rich planetary rings 3-cash
102-104 Espionage telemetry: Class C shipyard 3-cash
105-107 Espionage, trade network of d6 Class A hubs 3-cash
108-110 Media, cultural preservation instructions 3-cash
111-113 Media, immersive planetary environments 3-cash
114-116 Media, super chill adaptive video game 3-cash
117-119 Espionage, coordinates for Class C hub 4-cash
120-121 Class B hub fold sequence fob 5-cash
122-123 Coord: Factori habitat 5-cash
124-125 Espionage, Class C drive signature telltales 5-cash
126-127 Espionage, Class C military vessel schematic 6-cash
128-129 Class C hub fold sequence fob 10-cash
130 Coord: pristine Earth-like world 25-cash
51
Fabric of Humanity
The Holdborn
There is an immense variety of languages and cultures among the
holdborn, the remnants of a hundred settled worlds of the Dendrite.
Holdborn crews and settlements can be organized along any number
of lines; echoes of corporate structures from long ago, extended or
families, or groups with a shared cultural or religious heritage, as
well as innumerable groups thrown together by circumstance.
The ships of the holdborn are strung between the stars: miners,
surveyors, haulers, liners, privateers, and scrappers. All are
dependent on hubs, the essential links between them and the
larger communities that provide the necessities of life.
Holdborn-build modules are Class A.
The Factori
The first Factori ships were spotted centuries ago, the result of an
automated settlement construction system, damaged by radiation
and turned to self-replication. A small number of humans had lived
inside or near Factori projects, spoofing their IFF beacons and either
skimming from their automated resource collection operations, or
learning to trade with their simplistic control intelligences.
After the fall of the Dendrite worlds, Factori ships were hunted
aggressively for parts. At some point during these clashes, the
Factori acquired fold technology. Like humans, they spread far
beyond the old hyperspace veins to countless places unknown.
Every so often, a holdborn survey ship will stumble on an automated
Factori operation: a half-built ghost habitat, asteroid or ring-mining
operation, or even a manufacturing center.
Purposeful or collateral damage to Factori operations is treated
severely. Factori weapons development is primitive, but their
‘immune responses’ are overwhelming.
Factori control intelligences are simple, but they do understand
resources and trade. A small number of hubs and stations are
human-Factori joint projects.
Factori and holdborn-modified Factori modules are Class B.

Holdborn Hubs
Hubs are large ships, usually a few dozen Class A/B modules
layered around a Factori-built (Class B) fold drive.
Hub Routes
Hubs travel along predefined routes, spots where independent
ships can link up to trade, replenish, predefined sequences of folds
where trusted crews can rendezvous. The routes are often 30 or
more hops in length and change slowly over time. For security
reasons, even well-liked crews will only know several of the stops
a hub makes. Breaking a hub’s rules carries the threat of exile: the
hub may simply never reappear anywhere you know to find it.
Most hubs will link up with other hubs along their routes for the
purpose of exchanging passengers. Two out of three will have a
link to a station.
Hub Details
Most hubs have a combined crew and permanent population of
d6x10 people, plus another d6x10 passengers making their way
between ships or stations along the hub’s route.
Each hub has a primary specialty, and 2-4 other services as well.
d12 Hub Speciality
1 Ore refining
2 Escrow services for ship-to-ship trades
3 Dispensaries, grocery/media/essentials
4 Ship repair team
5 Sex work and/or matchmaking services
6 Body care (hair, modifications)
7 Medical/psychological/relational care
8 Cultural services (shrine, guidance, funerary)
9 Entertainment (music, storytelling, games, gambling)
10 Passenger interlink
11 Dispatch services (scrappers, privateering)
12 Supply depot (supply, munitions)
53
d6 Hub/station Ownership
1 Communal: multiple ships assembled into one for

mutual benefit and support.
2 Corporate: policy setting is centralized and non-
participatory; the specialty operations lease space.
3 Business: the captain/crew is in the employ of the
primary specialist service
4 Suborned: the hub is either controlled by organized
crime or the pawn of undercover Concordat agents.
5 Martial: semi-militarized operation primarily (but not
exclusively) to support a particular holdborn faction’s
other fleet operations.
6 Cult: the hub’s controllers view it as a cultural
outreach project to bring others to their world view.
Exploitation of the vulnerable is likely.
d6 Atmosphere
1 Feudal: the group is divided into tense factions;

expressions or tests of loyalty are common. Watch
where you go.
2 Exploitative: everyone is trying to make a buck; all’s
fair in business. Expect to pay for air.
3 Trusting: it’s worked great so far! People are helpful
and generous. A wary few look out for bad actors.
4 Lax: anything goes; you’ll meet interesting people, but
accidents are a little too common. Security is loose.
5 Regimented: policies are extensive but clear, maybe a
little onerous, but everyone knows what’s expected.
6 Compartmentalized: need-to-know, access restricted
by locks and/or guards, lots of questions.
Docking fees, 2 cash, 1 downtime period each

recovery rates doubled
trading
Holdborn Stations
Stations are much larger than hubs, the largest communities of the
holdborn. d6 x 1000 people live and work in each one.
Station administrators are extremely secretive about their
location as they are too large to fold with holdborn technology. Only

trusted hub navigators know how to reach them. The most cautious
stations require hubs to use station-vetted navigators (who either
stay with the hub, or who are picked up at a safe location a safe
distance from the station).
Scrap crews will normally only reach stations as hub passengers.
Stations offer a temporary relief from the endless claustrophobia of
holdborn ships; some have lush atriums or central spaces.
d12 Station Type
1 Labyrinthine conglomerate of what was once a dozen

smaller ships
2 Hollowed asteroid, studded with balconies and towers
3 Massive, sparse lattice studded with giant spherical
and cylinders habitats.
4 Compact sphere or icosohedron, lightless exterior
5 Gutted Concodat warship hull
6 Factori-built ring or cylinder, 2d6x100m long
Stations are almost always situated where there are no landmarks

to give away their precise location to observant visitors: inter-
galactic deep space.
As much larger communities, stations have all but 3 or 4 of the hub

specialties, plus 1-3 of the following:
d12 Station Specialty
1 Manufactured goods (clothes, electronics)

2 Ship construction facility
3 Large scale aquaponic agriculture
4 Warehousing for hubs
5 Luxury accommodations, dining, and personal
services
6 Administrative locus for a holdborn faction (see below)
55
Holdborn Factions
d12 Holdborn Faction
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
The Concordat
The descendants of high-tech Concordat worlds are extremely
dangerous. Like the holdborn, they are thought to have been
reduced to an entirely space-based existence, but their ships show
that they still have access to advanced manufacturing facilities.
The holdborn know little about Concordat society. It isn’t a unified
bloc, as Concordat ships occasionally engage each other in combat.
Reliable facts are few, as the Concodate are just as secretive as the
holdborn with the locations of their projects. Even their advanced
ships aren’t immune to a high-speed asteroid chucked through a
fold.
Concordat Agents
The secrecy of holdborn operations is partly a result of Concordat
influence; their agents and assets move among the holdborn,
mapping out the connections. There are stories of saboteurs, or
untrustworthy navigators suddenly moving ships to locations where
they could be ambushed by advanced vessels. More than one
holdborn station with lax security has simply disappeared overnight.
Scrappers should not directly engage Concordat vessels under
any circumstances.
Concordat modules are Class C.

Beyond
The universe is a big place, and humanity has spread far enough to
reach some very strange shores. Sometimes, what they find comes
back with them. Do not approach Class D or E vessels.
57
Holdborn Ships
Because of their modularity, holdborn vessels come in an endless
variety of arrangements. However, there are some common
configurations
Viper
Mass: 37 tons
Thrust: 50.0 tons
Drive: 1.4 G (+0)
Power Cap: 1 fuse
Power Regen: 120 minutes
Fold Time: 4 minutes
Cargo Cap: 1 supply
Total Cost: 30 cash
The Viper is minimalist attack/support configuration most often used

by station defense. They are heavily armed for their size, but must
rely on allied craft for the sensor telemetry they need to engage
distant targets. Fold use is constrained by its limited power supply,
and so the crew must choose whether to fold to engage, or
whether to save it for a quick retreat.

Wasp
Mass: 49 tons
Thrust: 50.0 tons
Drive: 1.0 G (+0)
Power Cap: 3 fuses
Cargo Cap: 1 supply
Total Cost: 34 cash
The Wasp configuration has been reported in a number of pirate

actions. It has enough operating power to fold in, fight, and to fold
out without having to wait for regeneration. Claw arms can be used
grab its victims’ debris before folding away. Wasps operate poorly
alone because of their lack of sensor module.
This configuration has also been to drag asteroids up to speed
for rock strikes.
59
Renthal s2 Science Scout
Mass: 80 tons
Thrust: 100.0 tons
Drive: 1.3 G (+0)
Power Cap: 3 fuses
Cargo Cap: 1 supply
Total Cost: 42 cash
The S2 configuration was popularized by the Renthal ice processing

station for extended survey missions. Science scouts have enough
fold power and ion thrust to look for easy pickings in a whole solar
system in just a day or two. The habitat keeps a second science
team comfortable while they’re off duty, so the survey mission can
proceed around the clock.
The limited supply capacity does sometimes pose problems in
case of mishaps.

Bronham N-11 Scow
Mass: 62 tons
Thrust: 100.0 tons
Drive: 1.6 G (+1)
Power Cap: 1 fuse
Cargo Cap: 13 supply
Total Cost: 30 cash
Bronham station’s N-11 cargo configuration is designed for quickly

hub or survey team resupply operations with a limited crew. Its twin
ion drives give it excellent in-system travel times.
61
Wakatobi Hub Ship
Mass: 125 tons
Thrust: 50.0 tons
Drive: 0.4 G (-1)
Power Cap: 3 fuses
Cargo Cap: 15 supply
Total Cost: 56 cash
The Wakatobi is a popular configuration for mixed-purpose hub

routes. It can dock and resupply multiple ships simultaneously,
and the starboard airlock is open to spacers who can’t wait for an
umbilical. Each “wing” contains a full-sized habitat, given over to
a mixture of passenger space, group dining/recreation, and other
specialist services.
The central column (command, fold, power, drive) is usually
off-limits to visitors, except for the central strut that lets visitors
move between the two wings. The six docking hatches allow this
configuration to serve as a spare module transport, delivering them
for sale, or receiving scrapped modules in escrow for sale to a
station.

Tapir Gunboat
Mass: 118 tons
Thrust: 150.0 tons
Drive: 1.3 G (+0)
Power Cap: 7 fuses
Cargo Cap: 7 supply
Total Cost: 72 cash
The Tapir is a single-purpose configuration fielded by stations as

a deterrent against pirates or other high-tech threats. They are
heavily armed, and generate enough power for almost continuous
“peek-a-boo” fire missions through temporary folds.
Tapirs are rarely fielded—not only are they expensive to build,
but they require a dozen combat-trained crew to operate. A typical
Tapir mission involves escorting a hub along a busy route, flashing
the drives for show, then returning to the station to be disassembled
into something more practical.
63

Coming Apart - Rulebook (PbtA)

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Coming Apart - Rulebook (PbtA)

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This is version 0.3, last modified June 1, 2021 8:47 PM.

Writing and Layout: Michael Prescott

Video games: Captain Forever (Flash edition), Void Bastards

This game can also be thought of as a sequel to Too Good To Be

This document is Copyright © Michael Prescott, 2021.

Starting the Mission................................................................ 19

4 coming apart version 0.3

The Scrapper’s life

2 Viper (p. 58)

1d6 crew type

1 You stole the ship, or at least that’s how its former

8 coming apart version 0.3

2 You were once enemies. Why did you warm to them?

12 coming apart version 0.3

Sequential and Alone

≤6 d6 Weeks 2 supply 10 cash

When a crew has no cash, a dispatcher can give them a truly

What’s the Job ?

2-4 Class A small

14 coming apart version 0.3

2 Gig is actually deniable hit job. Adds threat: defending

3-5 Actively being shot at (roll on the enemy ships table)

2-3 Wrecked and spinning, shedding debris. Modules

3-4 Hard radiation has compromised d3 modules; every 3

2 There are two threats (ignore this result if rolled again)

16 coming apart version 0.3

6 Zombies (gangrenous crew with DUTE chips)

3-6 Hidden smuggling compartments, [some treasure]

3-5 Orbiting a huge black hole spewing x-rays

11 Nestled in the water ice rings of a gas giant

18 coming apart version 0.3

2 Ahead of the game! You’re inside, say how. One of you

Quirks Cause Trouble

When you win an auction, start the mission clock at zero.

How Long is a Tick ?

0 Instant actions - firing a gun, glancing around the room,

Ticks are Sequential

20 coming apart version 0.3

The Basic Rule

22 coming apart version 0.3

When you make an appeal in a charged situation, roll +Heart.

Allies & NPCs

Damage description dmg

Undamaged As good as second hand. -

System Damage Dice

24 coming apart version 0.3

When you hack a fix to a damaged system, roll +Insight

Salvaging whole Modules

When you cut a module from its neighbors, roll +Stubborn

When you link a salvaged module to your ship, roll +Steady

26 coming apart version 0.3

Whenever you act in an enemy’s field of fire, take weapons fire

weapon attack table

For each H, the target takes 1 harm. D is a deadly hit causing 2

28 coming apart version 0.3

Catch your Breath

Weapon Dice Range Notes

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When you scan local space, roll +Instinct. Choose whether

meg Sensor Details

0-18 Beacons, transmissions, radiation leaks

When you intercept by gliding silently, Roll +Steady. On a hit,

When you intercept at full thrust, you arrive in 1 tick/meg. Your