Agon vs Wushu
Compare Agon and Wushu side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Agon | Wushu | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Historical | Universal |
| Tags | Heroic, Narrative, Rules-Light, Short Sessions, Low-Prep, Mission-Based, Fast-Paced, Cinematic, Tag-Based | Cinematic, Rules-Light, Narrative, Collaborative, Tag-Based, High-Power, One-Shot Friendly, Low-Prep, Theater of the Mind, CC-Licensed Rules |
| 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. | Players narrate actions in the present tense, and the details happen as described. Only the winner of a conflict may narrate victory. Each narrated detail earns one d6, up to a per-player limit the Director sets for the scene (usually 4–10). Players split their dice into Yang for offense and Yin for defense before everyone rolls at once. Each die at or under the most relevant Trait (rated 1–5, default 2) is a hit. Yang hits remove chips from a Threat or are cancelled one for one by an opponent's Yin hits. Hits that get past Yin are paid with Chi tokens. A hit that a character cannot cover with Yin or Chi defeats them. If a hero and a Nemesis are both defeated in the same round, the one with more uncovered hits loses, and ties go to the hero. |
| Dice | d4–d12 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Very Low | Very Low |
| Availability | Paid | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 3 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary | Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Evil Hat Productions | Daniel Bayn |
| Year | 2020 | 2015 |
| 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 improvised, movie-style fight scenes in which the players describe the stunts themselves, played as one-shots or loose episodes with little preparation. |
| 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 | Dice pools are built from narrated details up to the scene's limit, so players are rewarded for elaborating their action rather than for their stats. Nameless mooks are a single stack of poker chips the heroes wear down, which lets players describe as many enemies falling as they like. A four-step zero-prep procedure aims to produce heroes, nemeses and a plot outline in thirty minutes or less. |
| 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 | Characters do not gain experience or levels, and any mechanical change to a hero comes from optional Trait rules such as milestone Traits. Weapons and positioning carry no mechanical modifiers, so tactical choices count only as narrated details that earn dice. How a description is split into details, and whether it fits the agreed tone, rests on the Director's count and the table's judgment. |