[AGON] Questions and Clarifications before first game (in a long time)

[fnord3125]

So, I have played Agon once before, but it was probably like a year ago.  I'm hoping to play again with some new players and a larger group either this weekend or next (unless we decide to play In a Wicked Age) and I wanted to check on some things with John or other experts before then.  I feel like I once knew the answer to most of these things, but I've apparently forgotten.  Maybe I should write them down.

first, the (hopefully) simple questions:
-I'm a little unclear on exactly how much a player can tweak stats during character creation.  The rules about lowering one ability to raise another could be read in a number of ways.  Can a player only do this once?  Can he do it once for each ability category?  Or can he do it multiple times even within the same category?
-Can impairment drop an ability down to d0?
-What happens if a hero is defeated in battle and doesn't get healed right away?  Obviously he's taking -4 to all rolls, but what if he enters battle again before healing?  Is he not allowed to do so (because he's already at the "defeated" point) or does he get knocked out after one more hit?
-In terms of awarding glory, are all rolls within one battle considered a part of that battle?  For example, if a hero gives up his attack to make a contest for an advantage die, does he get glory for that "sub-contest"?

Somewhat stickier issues:
-I've been looking over semi-recent stuff here on this forum and I was wondering, John, if you've given any thought to how to deal with the potentially problematic "defending with a sword" issue?  If not, I'm thinking if any of my friends decide to make a dual sword wielding dude, I might go with the idea of making the left handed sword -2 to attack and defense... though that sounds potentially too-harsh... hmmm...
-Finally, an issue I remember coming up with my first game. Specifically, in the first game I ran, I believe I had some archer enemies whose bow attacks were armor piercing.  My players wanted to take their weapons after they killed them so that they could have armor piercing attacks.  There are any number of ways I could have rationalized not letting them do that, but in the end I decided to give them a small number of armor piercing arrows.  I can see this potentially arising with other kinds of things too, especially if a quest involves any sort of "magic" weapon.  So I wondered what your thought was about "special items" for the heroes. and, in general, I've been wondering if the rules text of Agon should be read with the idea that "Anything not Forbidden is Permitted" or "Anything not Permitted is Forbidden"?

thanks, anyone, for any help you can give me!

[fnord3125]

I wanted to add one one more weird question.
I'd been planning on using Fred Hicks's Heroic Trait Construction Kit optional rules suggestion because I like the idea of giving people more options there, but then I saw someone mention, in a thread here, that there's no point to ever taking a bonus to positioning under a particular circumstance when you could just get +2 to Athletics.  that made me wonder:
in the book, only one Trait combines those two things.  Fleet-Footed, which gives +2 Athletics and +2 to positioning outside.  Are those meant to stack to give a +4 to positioning when outside and a +2 to positioning anywhere else as well?
if not, and I use the Construction Kit, I might just say that the +2 to Athletics doesn't work for positioning.

[Darren Hill]

-I'm a little unclear on exactly how much a player can tweak stats during character creation.  The rules about lowering one ability to raise another could be read in a number of ways.  Can a player only do this once?  Can he do it once for each ability category?  Or can he do it multiple times even within the same category?

You can do it as many times as you like.
So, if you have 4 stats in a category, you can raise two of them to d8 and drop 2 to d4, and you can do that with every category if you want.

-Can impairment drop an ability down to d0?

Yes, when that happens the player can't roll that skill at all - no name die roll.
If a player has Hunt reduced to d0, he automatically fails all hunting rolls - he doesn't get to use his name die.

-What happens if a hero is defeated in battle and doesn't get healed right away?  Obviously he's taking -4 to all rolls, but what if he enters battle again before healing?  Is he not allowed to do so (because he's already at the "defeated" point) or does he get knocked out after one more hit?

As I see it you have two options:
1) the character has the 6th box checked, that means he is defeated, so doesn't get to do anything. That seems supportable by the rules, but isn't a lot of fun.
2) assume he is defeated when he takes a single wound. Don't mark it down though, he still has his six boxes filled in and a -4 penalty to actions - that's enough.

-In terms of awarding glory, are all rolls within one battle considered a part of that battle?  For example, if a hero gives up his attack to make a contest for an advantage die, does he get glory for that "sub-contest"?

You don't get contest glory for rolls in battles, you just get glory for inflicting wounds and defeating opponents.
If a hero did something other than attacking their foe, that would normally be a contest (and I'm not talking about those stunts that are already part of the battle system), you should probably award glory for that.

I'm fairly sure someone on this forum has suggested that allowing glory for each roll made wouldn't unbalance things too much, but I wouldn't do it myself.

Somewhat stickier issues:
-I've been looking over semi-recent stuff here on this forum and I was wondering, John, if you've given any thought to how to deal with the potentially problematic "defending with a sword" issue?  If not, I'm thinking if any of my friends decide to make a dual sword wielding dude, I might go with the idea of making the left handed sword -2 to attack and defense... though that sounds potentially too-harsh... hmmm...

There is no problem with defending with a sword. If you have two swords, you are allowed to defend with a sword.
In fact, you can have a javelin in each hand, and use one of them for defence if you really want.
It works just like a shield, but with a different sized die.

Don't use a penalty for off-hand.

-Finally, an issue I remember coming up with my first game. Specifically, in the first game I ran, I believe I had some archer enemies whose bow attacks were armor piercing.  My players wanted to take their weapons after they killed them so that they could have armor piercing attacks.  There are any number of ways I could have rationalized not letting them do that, but in the end I decided to give them a small number of armor piercing arrows.  I can see this potentially arising with other kinds of things too, especially if a quest involves any sort of "magic" weapon.  So I wondered what your thought was about "special items" for the heroes. and, in general, I've been wondering if the rules text of Agon should be read with the idea that "Anything not Forbidden is Permitted" or "Anything not Permitted is Forbidden"?

I think that kind of thing can be handled in two ways:
1) as you did, give them use of the items they gain (but make sure it is limited use - like, for this adventure or quest, or a limited use like you did).
2) Give an advantage die for the benefit.

[Darren Hill]

Iin the book, only one Trait combines those two things.  Fleet-Footed, which gives +2 Athletics and +2 to positioning outside.  Are those meant to stack to give a +4 to positioning when outside and a +2 to positioning anywhere else as well?

Yes, they do stack. That's an awesome ability.