[Agon] - Fun & Death on the Island of Skyros
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Hi Darcy, no kill stealing expert here I assure you and everyone has said it much better than I could. I haven't played the game all that much yet, but I enjoy it. The game is definitely all about the cock-blocking. I find its loads of fun and there's strategy in it. But its not the most glorious hero gets the most glory. Its the one who gets the most glory is the most glorious. I like the fact that the hero's are performing un-heroic acts so that their heroic exploits are remembered throughout the ages. That kind of tickles my irony bone.
Imagine if the aim of the game was to be first in with a big ol' wallop with your sword. All the heroes rush in and start hitting the thing and opening rolls and trying to do the most damage. The game is basically just rewarding with glory behavior that other games reward with XP. Maybe you position an ally out of range so he can't hit it. But that's not as involved strategically as positioning your ally so that he can hit it first, before you hit it. Or calling on an oath to make him soften the NPC for you. Plus you don't get to swear at your friends for knocking you aside after you did all the hard work and taking your reward, the fuckers! :)
John Harper:
Darren is totally right, as always, with all things Agon.
Darren Hill:
Thanks John :)
One other thing I forgot to mention. I said:
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Then, when the fight looks like it's going the player's way, and they are about to win, there will be a scramble amongs the heroes to get the last and highest glory blows on those NPCs. That's when the competition kicks in.
This is what makes Agon unique among attrition-based combat systems. You know how when you get into an epic battle in Ad&D and in many other games: it's a lot of fun - the outcome is in doubt, everyone is on the edge of their seat. lots of excitement.
Then you reach a tipping point - you suddenly realise the outcome is decided, the fight is over. it's just a matter of going through the motions to finish off what's left of the opposition. What was an exciting battle becomes a mundane exercise in dice-rolling.
In Agon, though, at that stage the competitive element above kicks in, and so the players stay focussed, as the game continues to deliver excitement right to the very end of the combat.
And there's always a chance the players will misjudge: think they've reached that tipping point and start fighting less effectively as they jockey amongst themselves, and the villain makes a surprise comeback, for a short time till the players combine forces again.
That's only happened once in my games, but it was fun when it did.
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