First, I must explain that I am French and have been following Multisim's games with passion. Multisim is the publisher of the RPG Nephilim, and Agone owes some of its fantastic vibe to this evocative game of modern occult.

Rather than ramble about the contents, I'll link to an RPGnet review instead.

What's really interesting about Agone is that it's truly original in its feel. It's not a copy from some Fantasy style out there but its own, through and through. It's an evocative type of High Fantasy inspired by tales and legends with a touch of esoterism, poetic license and conspiracy theories in a world of wide variety and contrasts.  

It's not D&D, it's not Warhammer, it's a game world of its own that is truly inspiring. It's not perfect (I'm not a huge fan of its rules system), but it doesn't deserve its relative anonymity either.

I got a real cheap copy of this from Troll and Toad a while ago. I really like the setting and presentation. It's a bit confusing in some of the organization and descriptions though, likely due to the translation. It's not something that I would ever play, but I did enjoy reading it.

A visually stunning and unique looking book. I picked up mine on Ebay, and apart from a few cursory glances and flick-throughs, I confess to not having read much...

I own the core book and a supplement and while fun to read I'm also one of those people who've never been compelled to actually run it.

Interesting. I'd like to know more but I admit to being too lazy right now to go look at the RPG.net review. (I will just not right now.)

I might develop later, but I must say, there's actually a reason why I posted the cover in the OP: sometimes, a picture's better than a thousand words, as they say, and I think it works quite well in this instance to convey the feel of the setting.

Sorry to say, but if the people who own it don't even play it, why is it considered underrated?

Creativity vs. stagnation, free will vs. strict determinism, artistic endeavors as magical conduits, lands and fantasy races that are mostly well-thought-out and interesting(mostly . . . sorry, but that Giants even still exist does NOT make sense given their reproductive habits as written -- unless it's a recent development, they should have died out long before the Masque ever became an issue).

The Masque is seriously one of the best villains ever created -- he wants to make the entire world take part in twisted, sadistic stories of his own devising, much like puppets in a play.

And the only weapons at people's disposal are a small and shrinking supply of shards of the dead(sort-of) goddesses, living dancing bits of magical material(that I believe are remnants of Diurn -- the eternal of light's -- power, but don't quote me on that), and the occasional artifact or place of power from a previous age of greater magic(before shards of the goddesses became so rare). Without these, people can still fight the Masque in some ways, but the lack of magic backing them leaves them especially vulnerable.

It's not a happy setting, though it's not oh-woe-is-me bleak either. There is plenty of room for victories, and the books hint at behind-the-scenes projects that could seriously change things if they're able to pull them off successfully, but it gives the impression that if something big doesn't happen fairly soon then the main characters -- the Inspired -- are probably fighting an ultimately losing battle.

Its in the collection, but its more likely that it will be read, and ideas used, rather than it ever being run.
Heck, I only paid £1 for it...

Yeah, I got the whole set for like $10 plus shipping. And another at the same price for a friend. And another a long time ago for full price that I probably sold -- stupid, stupid, stupid -- during one of my bookshelf purges. But I have a set now, so yay!

Hrms, I recall more of this now. I think my only complaint is PC minotaurs. (I don't know why that bugs me--other animal races don't so why the minotaur? Maybe its cow=food to me...)

I'm curious about this now. Someone ought to start a WTF Agone? thread.

Quote from: Silverlion;300213Hrms, I recall more of this now. I think my only complaint is PC minotaurs. (I don't know why that bugs me--other animal races don't so why the minotaur? Maybe its cow=food to me...)

But they're Darken-tainted Minotaurs from the Abyss(every minotaur starts out with a few points in that kind of taint)! Plus they're only male, and can only reproduce if a female demon of a certain type volunteers to help them out. This is rare, but not as rare as you'd think considering such pregnancies have an over 80% mortality rate.

You'll notice heavy influence from Greek mythology. Not an entire adaptation, but heck -- they even call their primary goddesses Muses, and the whole art-magic theme . . . sweeeeeet!

The cover art is excellent. Does that continue throughout the text?

However, from the review, I haven't been moved to be terribly interested yet. Anyone care to explain the magic system?

Yes.

I wish i hadn't sold my copy. Brilliant game. Brilliant fairytale setting, translation lets it down somewhat. Aside from that, brilliant!