Agon vs Daggerheart
Compare Agon and Daggerheart side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Agon | Daggerheart | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Historical | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Heroic, Narrative, Rules-Light, Fast Sessions, Low-Prep, Mission-Based, Fast-Paced, Cinematic, Tag-Based | Narrative, Collaborative, Heroic, Roleplay-Heavy, Fiction-First, Theater of the Mind, Character Building, Drama, Beginner-Friendly, Character-Driven |
| Core Mechanic | All conflicts resolve in a single contested roll. Players assemble a dice pool from relevant traits (Name die, Epithet die, Domain die, Divine Favor), each rated as a step die (d4–d12). Everyone rolls simultaneously; highest result wins. The Strife Player sets opposition with their own dice. Divine Favor grants bonus dice from the gods but is unreliable. Pathos tracks a hero's inner fire: when it runs out, the hero's tale ends. | Roll 2d12 Duality Dice (Hope + Fear) and add modifiers vs. difficulty. Which die rolls higher determines whether the moment swings toward the players (Hope) or the GM gains Fear tokens to spend on complications. In combat, adversary attacks roll d20 + modifier against target's Evasion. |
| Dice | d4–d12 | 2d12 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Medium |
| Accessibility | Medium | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | Darrington Press Community Gaming License (DPCGL) |
| Cost | $ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Evil Hat Productions | Darrington Press |
| Year | 2020 | 2025 |
| Best For | Groups who want fast, competitive mythic Greek adventures with minimal prep: each island is a self-contained session of trials, battles, and divine interference. | Groups who want heroic fantasy with emotionally driven storytelling, where every roll shifts momentum between hope and fear. Great for Critical Role fans and narrative-focused tables. |
| Highlights | Island adventures require zero GM prep: everything needed is in the book, one-roll resolution keeps pace fast, competitive Glory system encourages heroes to outshine each other, Strife Player role rotates so everyone can play a hero | Every action roll uses 2d12 Duality Dice, and whether Hope or Fear lands higher hands momentum to the player or the GM. Combat runs fiction-first with no fixed initiative, so the spotlight passes by the action rather than a turn order. Characters equip abilities as domain cards drawn from two domains, building a loadout the player can swap between. |
| Considerations | Narrow mythic Greek genre with limited setting flexibility, competitive Glory system can frustrate cooperative-minded players, heroes have few mechanical traits to differentiate them, campaign arc is finite: heroes eventually reach their Fate and retire | The domain-card system runs best with printed cards, though it can be played from the character sheet alone. Players and the GM use asymmetric rules, so each side has its own procedures to learn. Mechanics are tied to the game's own setting and ancestries, which takes work to reskin for another world. |