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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 9319627" data-attributes="member: 82106">I think the failure of communication here is fundamentally one of concept. The intent of the design of Agon is that the PLAYERS interpret the signs, they're not something made up by the GM. Its not a puzzle to be solved! When you encounter an Agon Island you get 3 signs. Now, the GM/Island Author may have in their mind some kind of idea of what these signs might portend, but it isn't up to the GM to assign them meaning! The PLAYERS assign meaning to the portents and BY DOING THAT they establish what the island is 'about'. Thus every island is about a topic which is selected, to a degree, by the players. Now, the nature of the conflicts is GM-determined, so its certainly not a case of the islands being blank slates, but the 'proper orientation' of the players to the island, maybe you could call it the 'win conditions' is determined by what the leader declares the signs to mean. This is really a kind of unique feature of Agon that sets it apart from other Narrativist designs a bit. But in order to understand how this works, you have to be able to accept that it is players who are in charge of this determination, that there are no 'right answers' as to what the signs mean.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 9319627, member: 82106"] I think the failure of communication here is fundamentally one of concept. The intent of the design of Agon is that the PLAYERS interpret the signs, they're not something made up by the GM. Its not a puzzle to be solved! When you encounter an Agon Island you get 3 signs. Now, the GM/Island Author may have in their mind some kind of idea of what these signs might portend, but it isn't up to the GM to assign them meaning! The PLAYERS assign meaning to the portents and BY DOING THAT they establish what the island is 'about'. Thus every island is about a topic which is selected, to a degree, by the players. Now, the nature of the conflicts is GM-determined, so its certainly not a case of the islands being blank slates, but the 'proper orientation' of the players to the island, maybe you could call it the 'win conditions' is determined by what the leader declares the signs to mean. This is really a kind of unique feature of Agon that sets it apart from other Narrativist designs a bit. But in order to understand how this works, you have to be able to accept that it is players who are in charge of this determination, that there are no 'right answers' as to what the signs mean. [/QUOTE]

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