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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8696981" data-attributes="member: 42582">The system was Agon. The players were my kids, who are not experienced RPGers.The basic structure of Agon is quite similar to DitV, only rather than religious enforcers travelling from town to town resolving troubles, the PCs are Greek heroes who get blown from island to island where they confront strife.Agon's designer is John Harper, probably best know for BitD - the system is distinct from both BitD and AW, but similar to those systems likes asking questions and building on answers. When the heroes arrive at an island, they receive Signs of the Gods, and the heroes have to interpret those signs to determine what the gods want on the island; this then provides a "benchmark" against which to determine, when they leave the island, whether or not they pleased or angered the gods. (Unlike, say, the Green Knight RPG, or a classic D&D paladin, there are no "right" or "wrong" answers here - the players aren't trying to guess what the GM has in mind, but rather are invited to impose their own interpretation on the situation. In a similar vein, when a player wants to spend divine favour or call on a bond with a deity to buff a roll, the player has the final say on whether the help of that god makes sense in the particular fictional situation.)SPOILERS BELOWThe Agon rulebook includes 6 "starter" islands and 6 "advanced" islands. Before the session started I'd already decided I wanted to use Tymisos, which involves a labyrinth of canals walled by sheer obsidian. At its centre is a siren, and her beloved hero the Bull of Tymisos, who holds the adamantine chains that in turn hold up the obsidian walls. On the walls are names of former heroes who have travelled and been lost in the labyrinth, but the siren has erased/effaced them.The two heroes that were created were Nimble-footed Dionyxae, Scion of Artemis - a wolf-y human who, it was conjectured (given Artemis is a maiden), was found and reared by the goddess - and Shadow-wise Eris, Scion of Hermes - a more conventional demigod wearing silver armour and armed with a dagger.They grasped the system pretty easily (the GM rolls an appropriate dice pool (d6s to d12s), keeps the highest roll, adds the strife level, which by default is 5, and thus sets the target number; the players roll their pool (same sorts of dice, plus a possible d4 for divine favour), keep the highest two, plus the d4 result if they had one, and tries to equal or beat). It's all one-roll conflict resolution. They had some successes: Dionyxae scaled the walls to see the siren at the centre, and the chains; Eris used charcoal rubbing to identify the names of the forgotten heroes; and when they confronted the Bull and siren they were able to get the initial advantage. But they had more losses: their attempt to properly mourn the forgotten heroes petered out as they were distracted by the siren; they were further entranced by her song in the final confrontation; and the Bull ended up besting them and sinking their ships with their sailors.So in the next session (if there is one), the heroes will be washed up on an island and need to find a new vessel and new crew, together with whatever other strife is waiting for them there.In the post-island discussion (the Exodus and Voyage phase), it was agreed that the heroes had pleased Demeter (by remembering the forgotten heroes), Artemis (through Dionyxae's dancing and distraction of the Bull initially), Apollo (by correctly interpreting his warning about the light cast by the siren) and Hephaistos (through demonstrations of ingenuity). But they had angered Athena, whose sign had warned them to know when to accept losses, which they hadn't done (in particular, Eris's player's narration of her repeated failures against the Bull revealed an unwillingness to accept losses; and an earlier failure by her had also suggested such unwillingness).PC progression in Agon is along multiple tracks: victory in contests brings Glory (and you get more if you're the best - ie highest-rolling - hero), and enough Glory allows you to step up your Name die (which starts at d6). Dianyxae got a bit over 40 Glory, Eris a bit over 20.Pleasing the gods earns Boons, and so does progressing on the Fate track, which mostly happens if things are going badly for a hero (reaching the end of the Fate track is one way a Hero's tale ends; the other is by way of Homecoming, if you please enough gods to complete the required number of constellations on the Vault of Heaven). Eris earned two Boons (one from the gods, one from Fate) and so increased one of her non-specialised domains (roughly, skill competencies - there are four of these) from d6 to d8, and also took on a second epithet, Silver-Tongued. Dionyxae earned one Boon (from the gods) and also stepped up a domain from d6 to d8.One of my kids, who has played a little bit of 5e D&D with her friends, commented that whereas it was never really clear to her what you would use CON for in D&D, in Agon it was clear why you would want to be capable in Resolve & Spirit: your hero will be tested by the elements and by strife. The only times contests took place in the domain of Blood & Valour (which means just what it says on the tin) was when Dionyxae scaled the obsidian walls, and when - in the final contest - the Bull had seized control and hence was able to attack the heroes directly. Which as I said above did not end up well for them!The other two domains are Arts & Oration, and Craft & Reason, and there were contests in both of these (eg Arts & Oration for mourning, and for dancing; Craft & Reason for charcoal rubbings, and for sneaking up on the Bull while he's distracted by dancing). I think it makes for a good balance of heroic endeavours.For me, this is the third session of Agon I've played (I've GMed two sessions for two players from my long-time group). I think it's a good system.</blockquote>

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