[Agon] Oathbound

[Darren Hill]

I've played Agon now twice with a group of 5 other players.
Tonight, I had two friends over for a game of PTA, but one of them wasn't feeling up to it, due to fatigue and an oncoming cold. Since Agon exercises different creative muscles, I suggested playing that instead.

I was worried that one aspect of the game - Oaths - might not see much use in a two player game, but I couldn't have been more wrong.
To my surprise - both players chose to play normal humans. In Agon, you can accumulate Fate, and when all 16 boxes are filled in, your character is retired (maybe dying tragically, retiring to live pelasantly, or becoming dying a hero and being spoken of for centuries after - this is decided by how much Glory you've gained when your Fate catches up with you). I mention this, because you can play a child of a god, and start with a more powerful character - but with half your fate boxes filled in already. This means you do well initially, but those mortals will almost certainly outlast you and build up more glory in the long run.

I played the sample Quest: The Golden Boar of Ion, and gave the players a few quickj contests, a half-dozen bandit minions to fight (whose leader will now be hunting them), and the Boar itself, after which the characters had each accumulated 23-27 glory. As the players realised they could get Oaths by helping each other, and use those oaths to get help when needed, make them use Interludes for Healing, or control another heroes positioning in battle, their eyes lit up. Honestly, the naked competition between these two, as they accumulated and used Oaths was a lot of fun to watch.
It came to a head during the battle with the Golden Boar. In Agon, your goal is to outdo your companions in personal glory, but you need them to help you. When you face a significant opponent, you inflict wounds in battle. There are six wounds, ranked 1 to 6. You get Glory based on the highest level of wound you've inflicted. During this fight, one of the heroes (named Herodotus...) inflicted the first blow, then the other (Leo) inflicted wounds 2 and 3. Then after a good blow, Leo inflicted wound 4, used Divine Favour to get another attack, which was stopped by armour, then used DF again for another attack, taking it to Level 5. At this point, Herodotus had inflicted a paltry 1 Wound, so Leo was well in front for glory. And then Leo burned his last DF for another attack...

Over in the one.seven design forum, during a discussion of Divine Favour, John Harper had suggested this optional rule:
You can use 1 Oath to tell someone to end their turn there, so they couldn't keep taking attacks as long as their DF lasted. Herodotus's player remembered this, and called in an Oath to stop Leo getting that last attack. That allowed him to immediately take hisattack and slay the beast to Leo's amused frustration.

Another fun use of Oaths was during an Interlude. Herod was injured, so Leo used his Interlude to heal him - to get another Oath from him. His roll failed, so Herodotus decided to Help him - because that got him fully healed, and an Oath! That was funny.

The oath system certainly fuelled the players enjoyment, allowing the players ways to compete with each other and simultaneously help each other. It works amazingly well.

[John Harper]

Hey Darren,

I'm glad to hear that Oaths are working for you. They're one of my favorite things in the game. Can you tell me how many Oaths were made and used during this 2-player game? I'm curious to see the rate at which other groups are using oaths.

[Darren Hill]

My memory is fuzzy now, but it was a lot - especially considering it was only a two hour session. They were used during two battles, during an interlude, and as part of at least one simple contest. I can't be more specific.