Stewart M

I'm a TTRPG game designer and developer creating Fragile Empires, a complete 4-book sci-fi tabletop RPG system.

Fragile Empires is gritty, dark sci-fi built around pressure, consequences, and moral complexity. The setting features twelve competing empires struggling against an incomprehensible cosmic threat called the Void. This isn't heroic space opera—it's survival in a galaxy that's actively hostile.

I designed the system around three core pillars: pressure over power fantasy, consequences that stick, and moral ambiguity as the default state. Characters advance through meaningful tier progression. Campaigns escalate through tracked Heat and Reputation. The Void itself is environmental pressure, not a villain.

My 4-book system includes:

The Core Rulebook — Complete rules for 12 playable species, 8 branching careers, unified d10 dice system, personal and ship combat, character creation and advancement, psionics, cybernetics, sanity mechanics, and mission design.

The Void Master's Codex — GM essentials covering galaxy structure, scene pressure and escalation rules, encounter design, campaign pressure mechanics, and how to run the Void as a pressure system.

The Void Master's Guide to the Galaxy — Setting deep dives, bestiary with threat tiers, void corruption rules, environmental hazards, derelict conditions, and pre-built encounters ready to drop into play.

Echoes of the Void — Full gazetteer of the twelve empires, minor powers, species origins, detailed worlds, factions, trade routes, and conflict zones.

I built Fragile Empires for tables that want dark, consequence-driven gameplay where success doesn't make the world safer—it makes you more visible. Politics corrupt. Factions disappoint. The Void keeps pressing. This is sci-fi for groups that can sit with moral complexity.