Agêratos Narrative-Driven; Cooperative; Customizable; Universal; Multi-Genre; Sandbox
Agêratos is a universal, narrative-driven TTRPG system of collective, emergent storytelling. It places storytelling above stats in the creation of your very own story, called your Saga. With Agêratos, all players and the GM are treated as equal co-Authors in the crafting of your Saga. The mechanics of its core rules—called the “Narrative Framework”—deal solely with the Author Level, revolving around which Author has Saga Control and how much narrative impact that control can have. All Saga content, from your characters to the world itself, comes about solely through your role-play and narration. This allows Agêratos to be used for any setting, genre, or theme you can imagine—truly, the only limit is your imagination. Theme and Setting Agêratos is wholly setting-agnostic. As a system, it utilises narrative justification and narrative rules as a foundation for its mechanics. Therefore, you can easily craft your Sagas in a highly detailed established game world, or develop your own through collective storytelling from a single, even one sentence, idea. As your Saga is formed solely through your role-play and narration, it truly can be anything you can imagine: shattered, once-divine empires drifting in corrupted heavens, majestic cities of corporations and cybernetics, or the exploration of dreamscapes formed from pure allegory and metaphor. And to help guide your imagination, Agêratos offers a ‘create your own setting’ tool containing hundreds of ideas. Core Mechanics and Rules At the core of Agêratos is the Narrative Framework, rules-light, narrative-first mechanics that focus on collective storytelling. Heavily inspired by literary concepts, your power as an Author is represented by Authorial Agency, you utilise Focus Points to shift the narrative spotlight, engage in Conflict to overcome adversity, and employ Foreshadowing to sow the seeds of future Saga Events. Optional rule add-ons (Called Overlays) allow customisation of the Narrative Framework to tailor the mechanics to suit your RPG style; for instance, if you want a more traditional, character-centric experience, there is the Protagonist Overlay. Other Overlays include soloplay or GM-sharing, and in a newly published supplement, utlising literary archetypes as narrative character classes. What Makes Your Game Unique Everyone at your table is equal in narrative power. The GM cannot dictate, they are not omnipotent—they are an Author like everyone else. As Authors, you can seize Saga Control to shape the Saga as you like, and when that control is lost, you ‘fall’ back to the Character Level to continue role-playing and narrating your character. And, as the system deals with narrative justification, every one of your character’s actions, every word, every item, and similar, means gaining Saga Control becomes easier or harder—the Agêratos mechanics dealing with the narrative impact of your character’s actions, not the actions themselves. Target Audience and Player Experience Agêratos is ideal for players looking to express their creativity and imagination. It has been designed to support your ideas and stories, not dictate any aspect of them. It can be used for stories of any theme or genre, to explore established worlds or to create your own through collaborative imagination. Those new to RPGs are guided through its rules-light philosophy with examples and discussions, while experienced players can dive into its open-ended potential. Agêratos is about fewer stats, more story, and a truly personal connection to the story—to your own, unique Saga.
