Be Not Afraid

An RPG Where Thou And Thine Friends Reprise The Roles Of Angels

VOICE OF GOD Humanoid with Wings, Carries a Scale,

he player who is “in charge” of the game
T (sometimes called DM or GM in other
games) is known as Metatron: the Voice of
God. 2. They are the final authority on
narrating what actually happens in the
cosmos, but they never interfere with nor
inform other angel’s choices. 3. Other players
play as lesser Angels, who play out a story
where they try to help humanity.
RULES OF DIVINITY
f a human directly sees or hears an angel
I that does not mask itself somehow, that
person will almost certainly go mad or die on
the spot. 2. If they do not, that means they are
likely a messiah, which is worse. 3. There is
nothing an angel can do to directly control the
free will of any human. 4. If two or more
angels come to violence, the fallout
is always cataclysmic for
humanity, but angels themselves
cannot be killed, only
temporarily inconvenienced. 5.
Anything else in the cosmos
works the way any angel says it
does. 6. If two angels contradict
each other, they are both correct.
7. Metatron is more correct than
other angels.
DIVINE CREATION
T o create your angel, write your Name
upon a card of inches three by five:
Abbadon, Azrael, Aziraphale, Barachiel,
Castiel, Daniel, Eleleth, Gabriel, Hadraniel,
Lucifer, Marut, Michael, Raphael, Remiel,
Sandalphon, Samael, Temelchus, Uriel,
Wormwood, Zakael, Zephon. 2. Pick 2 or 3
Descriptors: Rings within Rings, Thousands
of Eyes, Cherubic, Many Pairs of Wings,
Blindfolded, Wields a Flaming Sword,
Two Headed, Lion Headed, Bull Headed,
Geometric Shapes, Body of a Lion, Body of a
Deer, Glowing Light, Pure Energy, Wears a
Crown, One Thousand Hands, Androgynous,
Wears a Three Piece Suit. 3. Write down one
thing about humans you cherish and wish to
preserve. 4. Then write down one thing about
humans you despise and wish them to be rid
of. 5. Choose an angel you trust and one you
don’t, and collaborate with them as to why
that is.
GENESIS
he game begins when Metatron or another
T angel asks: “What shall be done about
________?” you may fill in the blank yourself
or roll a d6 on the following list:
1. Global Warming
2. Christopher Columbus
3. The Amazon (Both of Them)
4. Adam and Eve
5. Lucifer’s Followers On Earth
6. The Singularity
OMNIPOTENCE
ny angel who says they do something,
A that thing happens in the world. 2. The
only thing an angel cannot do is directly
control the mind of a human being.
HUMAN REACTION
henever an angel says or does
W something that might influence human
behavior, they roll 2d6 of different colors,
representing humanity’s good and evil
natures. 2. Subtract the evil die from the good
die. 3. If the result is positive, the angel who
produced the miracle describes the positive
effect it has on humanity’s behavior, within
the bounds of reason as determined by the
other angels. 4. If the result is 0, the angel
whose miracle it is describes the outcome as
above, but Metatron describes an unintended
consequence on account of that pesky human
free will. 5. If the result is negative, the
human element fails in some way: fear,
confusion, greed, willful misunderstanding,
etc, and Metatron alone describes the
outcome.
CONFLICT
ngels might not always agree on the
A best course of action. 2. This is part of
the grand design. 3. The angels will of course
discuss at great length the proper course of
action before resorting to other methods of
conflict resolution, but if no accord can be
reached, each will act of their own. 4. Each
angel involved states their desired outcome,
then rolls a six-sided die, rerolling ties. 5. The
angel with the winning roll achieves their
intention and rolls the black and white dice to
determine humanity’s reaction as above. 6.
Regardless of the result, Metatron narrates an
additional consequence of the conflict
between angels.
Being Metatron
TRAGEDY OR FARCE
n this game, lesser angels trying to get humans
I to do something will ~60% of the time either
straight up fail OR succeed with unintended
consequences. 2. Conflicts between angels are
completely random AND have negative
consequences as determined by you, Metatron. 3.
If you play it straight it’s probably going to be
very sad, and you should know that up front.
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
our primary tool to keep the game going are
Y the unintended consequences that arise from
the mechanics of the game. 2. Each one is an
opportunity to move the story in a new direction
and inject drama and impetus. 3. The ideal
consequence gives the lesser angels a new
problem to debate and intervene upon. 4. If you’re
at a loss for keeping a thread going, you can
always declare the issue resolved, then roll again
on the “What shall be done about _____?” table.
SHARING THE SPOTLIGHT
here are no initiative rolls or turns here, so it
T falls to you to make sure that every player gets
a fair share of the spotlight, and no one player
dominates the game. 2. If someone is getting
talked over, step in and ask what they are doing or
thinking in that moment.
NO ESCAPING HUMAN NATURE
ince the lesser angels can do literally anything,
S it might occur to them to eliminate resource
scarcity, or stop entropy, or do something else
crazy to “break the game.” 2. You have the right
to Just Say No to these shenanigans, or make them
roll for it, but also consider: what if eliminating
scarcity does not actually elevate the base nature
of humanity? 3. What if you can’t stop entropy
without creating an eternal hegemony of immortal
human despots? 4. What problems or new issues
might still exist that require the angel’s attention if
you allow them to do something “crazy?”
PVP
he players might not agree about how best to
T help humanity, especially because you are
specifically forbidden from moderating their
choices by the rules of this game. 2. Your job
when angels fight is to A. makes sure everyone at
the table is still having fun and is ok with the
possible outcomes and B. use the unintended
consequence of the conflict to drive the plot
forward and refocus the angels on their real job,
helping humanity. 3. Remember, you’re the final
authority on whether angels can actually harm
each other in any meaningful way, so no one has
to die or fall from grace unless it would be cool.