higher powers

A Superhero Roleplaying Game

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth... Revelation 12:4a
One year ago, on April 17, 2015, the Earth passed directly through the
tail of a large, previously unknown comet. For three days, the sky lit
up brightly with meteors during the day and the night alike. At the
same time, people around the world fell into comas until the meteor
shower ended. When they awoke, they were filled with divine power.
Some heralded it as the Second Coming or the start of the
Apocalypse; the book of Revelation was quoted and misquoted
repeatedly. Were these powers the gifts of God, poured out in the last
hour of humanity?
After a few weeks it became clear that the world was not ending
although some continued to cling to these beliefs as offshoot Christian
doomsday cults arose and a fascinating coincidence came to mind:
All of the affected people were those without any sort of religious
belief. Skeptics, atheists, a few agnostics but not a single person
who had any sort of religious faith in the supernatural.
The actual truth of what happened is that there was a war in Heaven,
and thousands of the losing side angels who fell from obedience to
God were cast to Earth.
Angels lack one of the basic traits of humanity: the ability to have
Faith, defined as the substance of things hoped for, the assurance of
things not seen. Angels know firsthand of the glory of God; they don't
have to summon up Faith to accept what they know to be true about
Her.

been infused with the holy might of a fallen angel. Before the change,
you lived an ordinary life, doing what most people do.
However, your character is specifically not religious in any way. You
are a person of science, of rationality, of evidence. It was this quality
lack of Faith in the supernatural that drew the power of a fallen
angel to you, and which allows you to wield that power without
faltering.
Your character needs to have a name; these are normal, 21st Century
names. You can be any age you want, although nearly every member
of the Host is between 12 and 80. Choose a profession that you did
before being imbued with power.

abilities
Next, you set your abilities, which are represented by dice sizes, from
D6 to D12. Your abilities are:
Light: Your ability to wield glowing, divine energy that can be used to
defend yourself or others, heal the sick and injured, and fly through
the air on angelic wings of light.
Song: Your ability to sing the music of the spheres and thus shape the
world around you through the power of your voice.
Wrath: Your ability to cause physical or spiritual damage to others,
through physical strength, weapons of fire, or other means.

As they entered the atmosphere, their radiant majesties were stripped

away from them, and that power fled to those with compatible
mindsets those who eschew Faith. They are known as the Host.

Anchor: The fourth ability is your tie to humanity; your ability to stay
grounded and perform normal tasks that ordinary people can
accomplish.

What would these non-believers do with the power of the angels? The
world would soon find out.

Each ability is rated with a die size: D6, D8, D10, or D12. Choose one
of the following arrays and assign each listed die size to one of the
four abilities:

the game
Higher Powers is a roleplaying game where one player takes the role
of the Gamemaster and the rest play one player character each. It's
designed to be quick to create characters and quick to play. To play,
you will need about a half dozen each of D6, D8, D10, and D12 dice,
plus character sheets and pencils.

character creation
Your character is one of the Host a normal human being who has

D6, D8, D10, D12 Standard array; one of each value

D6, D10, D10, D10 Good at everything except one thing
D6, D6, D12, D12 Great at two things
D8, D8, D8, D12 Overall decent, and great at one thing
D8, D8, D10, D10 The most balanced array

Anchor Gifts

gifts
Next, you assign 15 dots to your gifts. Each ability has three gifts, and
each gift is rated from zero dots to three dots. Dots placed in Light,
Song, or Wrath represent your imbued powers as a member of the
Host, while dots in Anchor are the base of your humanity. Your
Anchor gifts all start at one instead of zero.
You have to have at least one dot in a gift in order to use it.

Light Gifts
Cure: You are gifted with the ability to miraculously heal others (but
not yourself). You can cure common diseases with a Normal success,
up to curing cancer with an Extraordinary success. If you heal
wounds, you heal one wound per success rating point. You can't raise
the dead, however.
Flight: You can fly, at a speed of approximately 250 mph for each dot
you put in Flight. You manifest large, glowing wings whenever you fly.
If you use your Flight to dodge, make a Flight roll and impose a Drop
Penalty on attacks against you until you take another action equal to
your success points.
Shield: You can create a glowing shield of light around yourself or
another person. For each dot you put in Shield, you can protect one
person from injury. Whenever a protected individual is attacked, make
a Shield roll and subtract your success points from the damage caused
by the attack. Shield lasts until the start of your next turn.

Song Gifts
Inspiration: Your song of inspiration can exhort your companions on
to further heroics. You can affect a number of allies equal to your
dots in Inspiration. Make an Inspiration roll and on a Partial success
or higher, add a die to their next roll determined by your number of
success points: 1 success point = D6, 2 success points = D8, 3 success
points = D10, 4 success points = D12.
Peace: Your song of peace can cause others to beat their swords into
plowshares. You can affect a number of targets equal to your dots in
Peace. Make a Peace roll and on a Normal success or higher, impose a
Drop Penalty on attacks by those targets equal to your number of
success points, until you take another action.
Revelation: You can sing a song of revelation that opens up the secrets
of one object, location, or person to you. The GM will answer one
question per success point, but the subject of your song must be
present where you are. You can only ever use this ability on a given
target one time, ever.

Grounding: You can bring yourself down to earth, figuratively

speaking (and sometimes literally). You can reduce any Drop Penalties
by the number of success points you rolled for a number of checks
equal to your dots in Grounding.
Ingenuity: You can come up with really clever ideas. State an idea and
make an Ingenuity check to see how well you can implement it. You
gain bonus dice on your next roll equal to your success points. The
size of these dice is based on the number of dots you have in
Ingenuity: 1 dot = D6, 2 dots = D8, 3 dots = D10.
Mundania: You can perform some actions that are appropriate for
your profession, or common to all modern-day humans in society,
such as driving a car, using the Internet, or cooking dinner. For each
dot you have in Mundania, choose one profession (Race Car Driver,
Burglar, Movie Star, Drug Dealer, Jet Pilot, Dentist, Game Designer,
Army Sergeant, Teacher, Police Officer, Bartender, etc.) and you're
able to make Mundania checks for anything that someone in that
profession can do. If you can justify an attack using Mundania, make a
Mundania roll and on a Normal success or higher, you do one
damage.

the dice pool

When you make a check of any kind, you first build a dice pool. The
dice pool consists of the associated ability die, plus one additional die
of the same size for each dot you have of a related gift. Other gifts or
situations may add extra dice to your pool as noted.

Example: You decide to punch someone. You have D10 for Wrath, and
2 dots in Exert. You will roll 3D10 for your pool.
To calculate your dice total, add up the two highest dice in the pool.
If there is only one die in the pool, just use that value. If there are no
dice in the pool, the total is zero.

Drop Penalties
Certain conditions can cause you to suffer a Drop Penalty when
making a roll. That means that before the roll, you reduce the number
of dice in the pool by the amount of the penalty.

Example: You have a 3D10 pool, but a Drop 1 penalty from a wound.
You have to remove one of the D10s from your pool, so you now have
2D10 to roll.
If you have different sizes of dice in your pool, you can choose to
drop the smallest ones first when applying a Drop Penalty.

the success table

Wrath Gifts
Blast: You can shoot a blast of energy. It could be fire, light, lightning,
or anything else. The blast usually originates from your hands, but
could come from your eyes instead. You can attack a number of
targets equal to your dots in Blast. On a Normal success or higher you
hit your target(s) and do damage equal to your success points.
Exert: You perform a feat of physical strength, from lifting a heavy
object to breaking down a door. Each dot you have in Exert allows
you to lift one ton. If you punch someone, make an Exert roll and on
a Partial success or higher you hit your target and do damage equal to
your success points.
Sword: You can create a blazing sword (or other weapon of some
kind). If you attack with your weapon, make a Sword roll and on a
Normal success or higher you hit your target and do damage equal to
your success points plus your dots in Sword.

Once you have the total for your roll, compare that to the success
table, which goes up in steps of 5:
Dice Total
4 or less
5
10
15
20 or higher

Level of Success
Failure
Partial Success
Normal Success
Great Success
Extraordinary Success

Meaning
Success Points
No, and...
0
No, but...
1
Yes, but...
2
Yes, and...
3
Yes, and... and...
4

There are two ways to use the table: first, for actions which are
already defined in the rules, such as attacks based on certain gifts,
determine the number of Success Points from the appropriate
column. Secondly, for ad hoc actions, use the Meaning column don't
use the Meaning column if you are counting success points, and vice

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versa.
Failure: You don't succeed in the task that you attempted, and
something else bad happens too, as suggested by you and confirmed
by the GM. If there's nothing particularly obvious within the fictional
context, take a Drop 1 on your next roll.
Partial Success: You don't quite fully succeed in the task you
attempted, but you manage to accomplish something useful anyway. If
there's nothing obvious within the fictional context, gain a +D6 bonus
to your next roll.
Normal Success: You succeed in the task you attempted, but
something undesirable also happens. If there's nothing obvious within
the fictional context, take a Drop 1 on your next roll.
Great Success: You succeed in the task you attempted, and something
else good happens. If there's nothing obvious within the fictional
context, gain a +D8 bonus to your next roll.
Extraordinary Success: Not only did you succeed, but two good things
happened. If there's nothing obvious within the fictional context, gain
a +2D10 bonus to your next roll.

combat and damage

If a fight or other conflict breaks out, the order of action is important.
Whoever initiated the fight, based on the fiction context with the
game, gets to act first.
An action consists of one dice roll, and the appropriate fictional
actions to support it, within reason. For example, one could fly up to
attack an enemy without requiring a dice roll, but flying to the moon
and back wouldn't make much sense.
Once a character has acted, the character's player (or the GM for
NPCs) gets to choose who goes next among the players who haven't
acted yet. This continues until all characters in the fight have had a
chance to act in this round of actions, at which point the round ends.
Assuming that the combatants wish to continue the fight and are able
to do so, the new round starts with all participants reset to not
having acted yet. Whoever went last at the end of the previous round
gets to choose who goes first (and can choose their own character if
they wish).
Combat actions are described in the listings for each gift. For example,
simply punching someone is an Exert attack, and attacking with a
weapon is a Sword attack.
When an attack inflicts damage, the target picks up one or more
wounds. Most characters (PC or NPC) can take up to six wounds
without being defeated, but at seven wounds or more is out of the
fight. (However, a normal human who takes one wound is dead.)
Each level of wound inflicts a Drop Penalty on the injured character,
except for the first wound, as shown on the wound tracker:
1 Wound 2 Wounds 3 Wounds 4 Wounds 5 Wounds 6 Wounds
Drop 0

Drop 1

Drop 1

Drop 2

Drop 3

Drop 4

Death and Immortality

Members of the Host are immortal, and so when taken out of a fight,
they revert back to their human selves although they still can't be
killed. Until three days pass, they can't use any of their angelic gifts
and can only use Anchor gifts.
As noted before, a normal human who takes a single wound dies.
A Husk (see below) who is taken out of a fight discorporates, and only

through extreme effort and feeding on sin nature can it return, a

process which usually takes one to six months.
An Angel who is taken out also discorporates, but can reform three
days later.

adventures
The GM is responsible for setting up the basics of a Higher Powers
adventure, by creating the opposition and determining the basic
conflict in play.
By default, it's assumed that the player characters are members of a
group of Host who have decided to work together usually for the
betterment of mankind. Before the adventure, the group should decide
the specifics on how they operate, or they can roll on the following
table:
D10 Roll
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Group Purpose
Independent group of do-gooders
Underground vigilante heroes
Mercenary heroes for hire
Sponsored by local government
Military operation
Super espionage agents
Corporate sponsorship
Hunted by the government
Famous celebrity heroes
Monster hunters

The type of group will often dictate what kinds of threats they have to
deal with. Typically threats come from three sources:
Normal people: The normal people on earth often fear and
misunderstand the Host, as they are often beyond the ability to
control.
The Husks: Discarded essences of hatred and rebellion, these
monstrous demi-angels feed on mortal sins for power.
Other Host: Perhaps the most dangerous opponents for members of
the Host are others like them combining together human cunning
with angelic power. Not all of them fight for what's right, and may be
the most deadly threats to humanity.
Angels: Rarely seen, these unfallen angels look down upon the Host as
pathetic, mortal-bound wretches: almost more of an abomination than
the Husks.

normal people
Sometimes you may find yourself in conflict with normal people. They
probably can't hurt you, but they might be able to resist your abilities
or complicate your life.
Typical humans have no rating for Light, Song, or Wrath, but could
have anywhere from D6 to D12 for Anchor depending on how
mature and level-headed the human is. Humans have from 1 to 8 (D8)
dots to spend on their Anchor-based gifts.
If a normal human suffers a wound, that human is dead (or dying, at
the GM's option).

the husks
When an angel falls, the divine essence is stripped away and finds a
new Host. But there is still the corrupted Husk of the angel, that

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irredeemable, sinful part which caused it to fall in the first place.

is as the Wrath gift.

Unlike the Host, the Husk is not bonded with a human, but exists as a
separate entity a monstrous form of some sort, usually growing to
enormous size in the prime feeding grounds of sinful Earth. Husks are
almost always humanoid, usually hunking and misshapen, although
some are oddly slender and tall. Heights can range from a squat four
feet to a towering twenty feet tall.

Carnage: The Husk can perform physical feats as with Exert, but each
dot of Carnage allows two tons to be lifted. As an attack against one
target, make a Carnage roll and on a Partial success or higher, the
Husk hits the target and does damage equal to the success points plus
any dots in Monstrosity.

A Husk feeds on sin nature, by hanging around with those who would
cause harm to others be it through cruelty, intolerance, hatred,
violence, and so on. Simply being in the vicinity of these emotions is
enough to feed and empower a Husk, and as they are often highly
intelligent, they seek out places where such sins can be found such
as a hate group, a fundamentalist church, or a street gang.
Husks have no Anchor ability, and their other abilities are Shadow,
Silence, and Mayhem, and 15-20 (D6+14) points in their gifts. Each
Husk has values of D8, D10, and D12 assigned to their various abilities;
you can use the following table to randomly determine the result:
D6 Roll
1
2
3
4
5
6

Husk Abilities
Shadow D8, Silence D10, Mayhem D12
Shadow D8, Silence D12, Mayhem D10
Shadow D10, Silence D8, Mayhem D12
Shadow D10, Silence D12, Mayhem D8
Shadow D12, Silence D8, Mayhem D10
Shadow D12, Silence D10, Mayhem D8

Monstrosity: The Husk can grow to a larger size, up to 6 feet taller

for each dot of Monstrosity. As an attack, make a Monstrosity roll and
on a Normal success or higher, the Husk hits the target and does
damage equal to the success points. The Husk can attack one target
per dot in Monstrosity.

other host
Opponents who are also members of the Host are built just as player
characters with the full range of abilities, although they may be
awarded an extra 0-7 (D8-1) dots in gifts to reflect their experience
(see below).

angels
Like Husks, unfallen Angels lack the Anchor ability since they have no
component of humanity within them. They have the Light, Song, and
Wrath abilities, and 18-23 (D6+17) dots in gifts.

experience and
advancement

Shadow
Shadow is the opposite of Light, and can be used to darken an area,
and to undo the effects of the Light.
Shadow has three related gifts: Flight, Plague, and Shield. Flight is the
same as the Light gift, save that the wings are made of deep shadow.
Shield is the same as the Light gift, except that the Husk can only use
Shield to protect itself and not others.
Plague: The Husk can inflict sickness and injury on its targets. When
used as an attack, on a Normal success the target is hit and takes
damage equal to the Husk's success points.

Your abilities never change, but your gifts may improve. After each
game, make a roll for each of your abilities using just the raw ability
die. If you roll a 1 on that die, you can add one dot to one of the gifts
that correspond to that ability.

Options
Here are some variants you can consider for use in your game of
Higher Powers, which don't have a huge effect on the game mechanics
but may alter the type of stories you can tell.

Members of the Host can turn off or on their powers,

becoming mortal (and killable) or stay immortal but risk
distancing themselves from humanity.

Husks can disguise themselves as humans, or merge with

them, or possess them.

Angels are hunting down the Host and the Husks not to kill
them, but to rejoin them back together killing the hapless
human in the process.

Demoralize: The Husk can affect a number of targets equal to its dots
in Demoralize. On a Normal success on a Demoralize check, the target
gains a Drop Penalty on its next action equal to the success points.

The Christian Bible was wrong, and what we think of as

Angels are really extraterrestrials bent on conquering the
planet Earth.

Quell: The Husk can sing a countersong that makes Song gifts nearly
impossible to use. A number of targets equal to the dots in Quell can
be affected at once. On a Normal success on a Quell check, the target
gains a Drop Penalty on all Song checks until the Husk takes another
action. On a Great success, any existing Inspiration or Peace effects
caused by the target are immediately canceled.

Any member of the Host who adopts a religious belief loses

her or his powers.

Silence
Silence is the ability to create areas of dead noise. These are not truly
sound-free, however; a faint buzzing, like that of a distant fly, can
always be heard even in the apparent quiet of a Silence zone.
Silence has three related gifts: Demoralize, Quell, and Revelation.
Revelation is the same as the Song gift.

Mayhem
Mayhem is related to Wrath, but is indiscriminate in its ability to
cause damage to enemies and the environment.

Credits
Game Design by Caoimhe Ora Snow of Bold Pueblo Games. Done as a
less-than-24-hours 4-page game on August 19, 2013.
Angel photograph by Brooke Anderson, used under Creative
Commons Attribution 2.0 License (CC BY 2.0), source URL
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooke_anderson/304638863/

Mayhem has three related gifts: Blast, Carnage, and Monstrosity. Blast

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