AGON Questions

[Ludanto]

I might be playing this soon, but I had some questions (as usual).

1) Divine favor supposedly represents the favor of your patron deity, so do you only get extra divine favor boxes for completing quests for your god?

2) A god oath reward is good "for the next quest".  What does that mean?  Until you complete another objective?

3) Similarly, does a normal god oath go away as soon as you've completed any primary objectives?

4) It seems so, but just to be sure, if a player loses a simple contest with another player, can he call for a battle contest?

[John Harper]

Hey Jason,

Good questions.

1) No. You get the Divine Favor reward for completing a quest for any god.

2 & 3) A god oath lasts until the next time you complete a quest. You might complete any number of objectives to finish a quest (so, no, god oaths don't go away when you complete objectives, only when the whole quest is over). The idea is, you can't stockpile god oaths. You have to use them or lose them.

4) Yes.

And thanks for the Agon review!

[Nev the Deranged]

K, after some futzing around with a friend to get a feel for running the game, I have some questions of my own:

1) What happens when a trait gets impaired below d4? Is it just incapacitated? Or does the impairment shunt to another trait? or does it shunt to your Name (since that's the only time I can see someone impairing their Name die, under any other circumstances it'd just be idiotic).

2) When in Noncombat extended contest, do impairments to whatever trait is being used as "armor" count against that trait? Only during the contest, or permanently (until restored, anyway)?

3) During Noncombat extended contests, Positioning is done EVERY round, just like in combat, right?

4) I read in the FAQ that players can use creative abilities during combat, which means they have the option of using the Tactics as defined for a +/-2 advantage to a specific thing, OR try to get an Advantage die to apply to Anything, but risk letting the OPPONENT get the Advantage instead, as with any contest for Advantage, right?

 Oh, and I saw 300. It was ok. Not as good as Sin City, and not as good as it could have been on it's own. The cool stuff shown in the previews didn't actually end up having much impact on the movie. We never get to see the hunchback do anything. We never actually get to see battle rhinos do anything. And why the hell are there orcs and trolls in ancient Greece?

 That said, these guys seem to have some neat info on the Spartans: http://greyhawkes.com/blacksword/spartan%20combat%20arts%202001/1-pages/history/1-historyintro.htm

 Thanks for the game, I'm looking forward to running it and hopefully doing it justice!

 D.

[John Harper]

Hi Dave,

Good questions.

1) A trait that drops below d4 is incapacitated. You automatically fail any contest (with a result of zero) if you have to use it. This really, really sucks. You can restore the trait with Interludes, as usual.

2) Yep, impairments to the armor trait count, just like normal impairment. That is, the trait is still impaired after the battle.

3) Yes, positioning is done every round in a noncombat battle.

4) You have it right exactly.

[Nev the Deranged]

1) A trait that drops below d4 is incapacitated. You automatically fail any contest (with a result of zero) if you have to use it. This really, really sucks. You can restore the trait with Interludes, as usual.

Yeah, I was reading through the book again and I saw that this is actually in there, I just missed it the first time. Although this leaves me to wonder, when DOES your Name get incapacitated? Or are those corner marks there just for uniformity's sake with the rest of the sheet? I am still poring through the book page by page so perhaps I'll come across the answer to this.

4) You have it right exactly.

Actually, I think I missed one. There is also the option of using Creative Abilities to get extra dice, leaving them impaired a notch after each use. So, Tactics as defined, Creative Abilities and impairment, or replacing your attack with a simple contest for Advantage, which doesn't impair anything but does risk the enemy getting the advantage. That's what I meant to say the first time.

 And of course you can always Help another hero, which impairs the ability you lend them. Does that take your Attack, or no? I'm guessing no, based on precedent.

  I'm working on putting an island together and trying to present challenges that cover all the abilities, especially the noncombat ones, and also engage the players' imaginations by giving them snippets of narration rights. For instance, a challenge of Spirit to cross a bridge over a chasm in the pitch black while the souls of the dead whisper, moan, and howl from all around. Everybody makes it across the bridge whether they pass the challenge or not, but if they win they get an Advantage against the cultists in the next scene, and if they fail the cultists get an Advantage against them. More importantly, each player gets to describe an interaction between their hero and the soul of someone they knew in life that steels their resolve or gives insight into the coming trials (if they win), or saps their resolve or gives them a chilling glance at their fate (if they fail).

 So, yeah. That's one good idea. Now I just need about 12 more, heh.

 Thanks!

[Nev the Deranged]

Oh yeah! I also was wondering about the spot for "special items". I haven't run across anything in the rules for that. Does it just refer to various plot macguffins, or is the GM free to toss the occasional magic item to the players? I had some ideas for a trident with a d10/d6 and an extra range, or maybe a thunderbolt spear that could be used as a spear or a bow without switching weapons, stuff like that. Is that kind of stuff kosher with the rules as written?

I also gave a "beast master" character a lion's head and pelt to represent his helm and breastplate, which is strictly color, but I figured that was the place to put it.

[John Harper]

Oh man, that spirit bridge sounds AWESOME. Very, very nice.

So, yeah, helping doesn't cost you your action. You just take the impairment and can still do whatever. You can also help with multiple dice at once if you want to, impairing several abilities, or one ability by several steps. Make sure to charge oaths for this kind of generosity. :-)

Special items are what you're thinking. "Magic" items are good, too. In one of our games, Wilhelm (the GM) made a special shield which delivered a burst of light attack when it was struck. Stuff like that. Special items generally last for only one quest, then they're donated to a temple or something. The Antagonist has very wide lattitude in this regard.

[Nev the Deranged]

 Well, naturally any items of real puissance belong to the gods, and are probably the object of a quest themselves... meaning, of course, that the gods expect you to hand them over once you've brought them back.

 Ah, those wacky gods... what can you do?

[Darren Hill]

Yeah, I was reading through the book again and I saw that this is actually in there, I just missed it the first time. Although this leaves me to wonder, when DOES your Name get incapacitated? Or are those corner marks there just for uniformity's sake with the rest of the sheet? I am still poring through the book page by page so perhaps I'll come across the answer to this.

In case you haven't found it yet, your Name gets Impaired when you run away or surrender. (That's what I seem to remember anyway - maybe it's just surrendering?)

[Nev the Deranged]

In case you haven't found it yet, your Name gets Impaired when you run away or surrender. (That's what I seem to remember anyway - maybe it's just surrendering?)

 Huh. Haven't found that yet. I plan on going through more of the book tomorrow while at the laundromat (the washer broke down last week).

 That makes a lot of sense, though, thanks for the tip.

[cdr]

You've probably already found it by now, but its on page 57 in the first edition second printing, under Breaks:

Give Up.You exit the battle and your name is impaired by one level.

It goes on to say "If you surrender, you earn no Glory for the battle." I'm assuming "surrender" means the same as "captured" (You Give Up, then your side loses.).

Fleeing does not impair your name, even if Fleet-footed Aleta taunts you later about she's never before seen anyone run even faster than her, but in the wrong direction.

[Nev the Deranged]

Yep. Been through the whole book with a highlighter now. Probably won't get around to typing up a full quick-reference guide before this weekend, but eventually.

[Skywalker]

Is there any way to "heal" armour that has been impaired?

If you have an interlude and call for a challenge, can you restore any ability or just the ability in the challenge?

[John Harper]

Armor impairment can be restored just like any other impairment (with refreshment during an Interlude).

You can restore any ability when you refresh. The original rules for refreshment were more complicated, but they also have a more gamey feel. You can see them here.