Agon vs Pathfinder
Compare Agon and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Agon | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Historical | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Heroic, Narrative, Rules-Light, Fast Sessions, Low-Prep, Mission-Based, Fast-Paced, Cinematic, Tag-Based | Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Lore-Heavy |
| 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 d20 + modifier against a DC. Four degrees of success: critical success (beat DC by 10+), success, failure, and critical failure (miss by 10+). Each turn grants three actions to spend freely on strikes, movement, spellcasting, or other activities. Multi-attack penalty (-5/-10) discourages repeated strikes and encourages tactical variety. |
| Dice | d4–d12 | d20 |
| Complexity | Very Low | High |
| Accessibility | Medium | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | ORC |
| Cost | $ | Free |
| Publisher | Evil Hat Productions | Paizo |
| Year | 2020 | 2023 |
| 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 deep character customization, tactical grid combat with meaningful turn-by-turn decisions, and a richly detailed fantasy setting with free rules. |
| 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 | The three-action economy gives every turn the same three actions to spend on strikes, movement, or spells, so each turn is a fresh tactical decision. Characters customize through ancestry, class, skill, and general feats gained at nearly every level, letting builds diverge sharply within a single class. Four degrees of success, set by beating or missing the DC by 10, turn each roll into a range of outcomes rather than a binary result. |
| 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 | New players must learn the trait system, conditions, and four degrees of success before combat runs smoothly. Multi-attack penalty and numerous combat actions can slow turns for indecisive players. Character creation draws feats from ancestry, class, skill, and general pools at every level, making each build a slow step. |