The Islands of Myth - An Agon RPG Solo Actual Play, The Preamble
The Islands of Myth
Agon Actual Play
The Preamble
Are you on Twitter? Follow me @croakersrpg. I talk about the blog, chat with other TTRPG creators, and have interesting conversations.
Agon is an RPG of epic storytelling in the vein of the Greek myths, Swords and Sandles adventures and modern-day full-on action movies. Written by John Harper and Sean Nittner and published by Evil Hat Productions (of Blades in the Dark fame) https://evilhat.com/, the game is a masterclass in packing drama and action into a rules-light structure.
 |
| A Fantastic book. Go pick it up! Credit to John Harper, Sean Nittner and Evil Hat Productions |
Why did I Pick Agon?
Similar to why I picked The One Ring 2E, I love greek mythology and the stories behind them. I love all ancient myths, and I remember my father reading me the epic of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, the Mesopotamian epic when I was a little kid. Recently games such as Hades and movies like 300 and Troy have reinvigorated my interest in Greek myths. It is such a rich place for RPGs, I’m so glad Evil Hat decided to create this game.
Scope of the Campaign
I expect this campaign to run for 3 to 4 sessions including this Preamble. Agon is structured to be run well as a one-shot or mini-campaign. The themes will be similar to that of the greek myths so lots of epic combat and oration, and less graphic violence. I also believe it is important to be respectful of the myths and the Greek culture, ancient and modern. If I say something insensitive, you can be sure it was unintentional, and please call me out on it.
Tools I’ll be Using
I’ll be using the Agon core book you can pick up at this link and a character fillable sheet made by https://twitter.com/ta_wilkinson (Thanks!). To help move the story along I’ll be using the One Page Solo Engine by Inflatable Studios. It is free so give it a shot!
And with no further ado, let us jump straight into the game with character creation. Character creation will be done a bit differently. It will be like a grandparent telling a story to their grandchild. The whole actual play will be done in this style. I think it is interesting and fun and reminds me of sitting with my grandparents as they told me stories of decades ago.
The Epic Begins
My grandchild, come closer to the fire. Have you heard the stories of my journey’s when I was young? Well, not as young as you are now, but younger than your father and mother are now. I was a great adventurer and explorer, out on the seas with my ship and my crew. We visited many an Island on the great ocean. Do you know what they called me back then? Well, I’ll tell you.
Rolling a D20 to choose an Epiteth from the provided list of 20. An 18 - Swift-Footed
Rolling a D4 and then a D20 to pick a random name, a 2, then a 16, - Kassander.
They called me Swift-Footed Kassander. I was fast let me tell you. Nobody could catch me, even the nymphs of the breeze could not. I’ll tell you a secret, they say our family is descended from the god Atlananta, the swift-footed huntress herself.
Scion is Atlananta, making Swift-Footed Kassander a demigod. For Domains, Blood and Valour will be a D8, whereas the other three will be a D6. This will give Kassander an advantage in contests of Blood and Valour.
Atlananta gave me great speed, allowing me to move among my enemy without being hit and striking as fast as a viper.
Rolling a D12 to see which god Kassander has divine favour from, a 7 which is Demeter. Two more D12s to get two more gods to have favour with Kassander. D8 which is Posiden and D11 which is Hephaistos.
But for as long as I can remember, our family always prayed to Demeter, the god of Conviction. Demeter always guided me and protected me. I also had much respect for Posiden as my crew prayed to him daily and Hephaistos the god of metal working. Without him how could our tools work and our weapons stay sharp?
I was tall and lithe, fast as a viper and as sharp as a blade. I carried my great spear with me, which I could throw and hit a flying bird with. I wore a bronze helmet, which I polished to be as bright as the midday sun, and my leather cuirass was as strong as any iron. I trusted in no one but Atlananta and our ship’s Captain Arras.
1 Bond with Atlananta and 1 bond with Captain Arras. And that is character creation done! It is simple and easy, but some good roleplaying.
The ship will be named Poisedon’s Fury
 |
| Swift-Footed Kassander leads her crew onboard Poseidon's Fury. Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay |
Yes, we sailed the great blue sea on Poseidon's Fury, in search of adventure, glory and a bit of treasure I won’t lie. Our journeys were long and difficult and not every sailor was happy on the long travels. I remember one day, as we approached an unknown island Captain Arras called me from below deck. He said, “Kassander, come quick we need your help with something now!” I rushed above deck to see what was the matter.
Using the One Page Solo Engine you draw cards to create random events. I drew on the Action and Topic Focus tables, Oppose (Physical) and Knowledge (mystical). Oh yes, I know. A member of the crew has been praying to Hades to get home and the other sailors are opposed to this.
I came up to the deck and witnessed a chaotic scene of shouting and arguing from the crew. One sailor, a big man of many seasons is yelling at a younger sailor who recently joined our crew. “You stupid kid. Do not bring your Hades worship onto this ship. It will bring nothing but pain and destruction to us. We pray to Posiden the god of the water alone and nothing else will be allowed.”
The loud sailor I know is Eros the Strong-Armed, a valuable member of our crew for his strong back and stronger arms. He is sometimes shortsighted and dull-witted. I decided I must stop this argument before it becomes violent.
Strife Roll: For this system, a strife score roll is made first and it is what my character needs to beat. I’ll give Eros a D6 for his name and a D8 for his Epithet. 1 and 4. I take the highest and add the strife score of +4 for a strife score of 8. Which is what Kassander needs to beat.
House rule: In Agon the normal Strife score is a +5 but for this solo adventure I’ll be doing a +4. This is in recognition that as one player, Kassander has fewer chances to beat a strife roll than if she were part of a group of player-characters.
To accept and defeat a challenge, heroes must accept it by announcing their name, picking the nest domain (skill) to use and deciding if their epitaph is appropriate. Kassander decides to use her Name Dice (D6) and Domain of Arts and Oration (D6) to defeat this challenge. Her Epitaph of Swift-Footed is not helpful here.
I step forward onto the deck and announce “I am Swift-Footed Kassander and I demand to know who among you causes this chaos? You know we are free to worship whatever god we chose. Hades is as important to this world as Zeus or Posiden. I will not allow this crew to slip into violence and incrimination when Zeus himself tells us we can worship what god we want. You, Eros the Strong-Armed, are an important crew member and someone I would call a friend. Stand down and agree to let our new sailor worship who he would like.”
Roll
Name Dice (D6) and Domain of Arts and Oration (D6)
Need to beat 8.
5 +2 = 7, does not beat. Consequences are a negative relationship with Eros the Strong-Armed
+1 Glory for a failed challenge
Eros the Strong-Armed steps up to me and says “You, daughter of a god huh? You may be fast and swift with your spear but your words do not convince me. You have sailed on this ship for a while but not as long as I have. The seas are violent and Posiden is the only God who keeps us safe. Without him, we are doomed. I will leave this kid alone to worship his gods, but I will not risk my life to save him from a wave or a sea serpent.” And with that Eros spits on the deck and stomps off below.
Captain Arras follows Eros down below and then I hear the lookout shout “Land! And the island is close! Prepare for landing!”
 |
| What adventures await on this island? Photo by Michael on Unsplash |
---
 |
| Simple and quick character creation. You love to see it |
Well, I hope you like the Preamble of this story. We have a character, Swift-Footed Kassander, a ship Posideon’s Fury, a captain and crew. Look’s like we are ready to adventure to mythical islands. What island does Swift-Footed Kassander visit first? What adventures and mysteries await? And which gods will help or hinder her and her crew? Keep reading to find out and write in the comments what your Epiteth would be.
RPG Books I Use (And support the blog!)
These are the books I used to write this blog. These are affiliate links, if you click any links on this blog and buy something from Drive Thru RPG, I get a small cut of the price at no extra cost to you. It will help support the blog and allow me to buy new and interesting books!
- Croaker
Comments
Post a Comment