Agon vs ICONS

Compare Agon and ICONS side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.

	Agon	ICONS
Genre	Fantasy, Historical	Superhero, Modern
Tags	Heroic, Narrative, Rules-Light, Short Sessions, Low-Prep, Mission-Based, Fast-Paced, Cinematic, Tag-Based	Superpowers, Heroic, Cinematic, Rules-Light, Random Character Creation, Tag-Based, Theater of the Mind, Beginner-Friendly
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.	Effort vs. Difficulty. Each side adds a single d6 to a 1–10 ability level (acting Ability + d6 for effort, opposing Ability + d6 for difficulty); subtract difficulty from effort to find the outcome and its degree (marginal, moderate, major, or massive success or failure). Qualities are short narrative descriptors (titles, drives, catchphrases, weaknesses) that any player or the GM can activate to gain an advantage or create trouble. Activating trouble against your own hero earns Determination Points, which fuel stunts, retcons, ability boosts, and other player-side narrative interventions.
Dice	d4–d12	2d6
Complexity	Very Low	Low
Availability	Paid	Free quickstart
Runnability	5 of 5 book tools	3 of 5 book tools
License	Proprietary	OGL 1.0a
Third-Party Publishing	Not yet researched	Not yet researched
Publisher	Evil Hat Productions	Green Ronin Publishing
Year	2020	2014
Languages	English	English
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 fast superhero campaigns where heroes can be rolled up in minutes, freeform qualities drive both advantages and complications, and the rules stay out of the way of comic-book pacing.
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	Hero creation runs through a handful of dice rolls: origin (Trained, Transformed, Birthright, Gimmick, Artificial, Unearthly), six attributes, number and type of powers, and specialties. It produces a complete superhero in minutes, with the random results functioning as creative prompts for backstory rather than constraints on concept. Qualities act like Fate aspects: any side can invoke them for in-fiction advantage, and accepting compelled trouble against your own qualities is the primary way to refill Determination Points, so personal drama directly feeds the metacurrency. Pyramid tests resolve complex challenges by stacking smaller successes (two moderate successes equal a major, two majors equal a massive), letting investigations, chases, or skill montages play out across multiple rolls and abilities with optional modifiers like Timed, Escalating, Collapsing, and Competitive to shape the challenge.
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	Default hero creation is fully random (origin, attributes, and powers all come off 2d6 tables), so groups wanting a planned concept need to use the alternate 45-point buy or rely on attribute swaps and re-rolls. Combat resolves against a single Stamina pool (Strength + Willpower) with no grid rules or status conditions beyond a handful of effect powers, so brawls play fast but lack tactical positional depth. Powers are intentionally broad rather than deep (about sixty powers cover the genre), and exotic builds rely on stacking extras and limits rather than the granular menu of effects found in crunchier supers games.