Welcome back to the weekly Tabletop Games thread! This thread is where we can talk about all kinds of RPGs, card games, board games, etc. Whether you gather around a physical table in the real world, or use a virtual space to play with friends who may live far away from you, this is where you can discuss your favorites, ask for and/or receive recommendations, recap your recent adventures, or even find some people to play games with!
This week’s prompt: Handsome Young Dugong brings us another game overview!
Hey everybody, today we’ve got an overview of a game that is perfect for the English teacher in your life who has taught the Odyssey so many times they’ve become convinced they live in Ithaca, Greece instead of Ithaca, NY – Nauagoi.
What is it?
Nauagoi (as it’s spelled phonetically in the gamebook, be prepared for some Greek letters to be thrown at you) is a game that uses a scaled-down version of the Forged in the Dark system in an ancient Greek setting. You have a few character classes – more distinguished by theme than by mechanics – that allow you to emulate Odysseus, Daedalus, Diomedes, or characters that likely would have been in the wings of the epic poems rather than the forefront.
What are the mechanics?
The game resolves actions with D6 rolls, with 1-3 being a failure, 4-5 a mixed success, and 6 a complete success. You gain dice to add to the pool of a single roll via your attributes/stats, your class (depending on what the action is), and by checking stress boxes. As with the original Forged in the Dark game, Blades in the Dark, the risk to your character (position) and potential outcome (effect) can be gambled with to achieve a desired outcome. Unlike most other FitD games, players don’t have dedicated moves, instead rolling with specific attributes in a way reminiscent of World of Dungeons.
What does the gameplay look like?
Hippolyta, an aulete (or flautist), having been warned by a priest of Athena that the unnaturally beautiful and strong inhabitants of the island have been partaking in the forbidden nectar of the gods, prepares a poem to warn the denizens of the forthcoming divine wrath. The GM sets her position as desperate and her effect as standard, since the inhabitants enjoy their new status, but divine wrath is a pretty common occurrence. Hippolyta gets two dice for her resolve score of two, an additional die for being an aulete, and checks a stress box to gain one more. Upon rolling, two of her dice are sixes, meaning a success with a bonus, and she wins over the crowd. They agree to help her free the goat of the gods from the King; if only they can succeed before the last box on the sundial is colored in…
Niche
In addition to the obvious appeal for fans of Greek mythology, the neatly trimmed version of FitD makes it a nice gateway to bulkier games down the line.
Pluses
-The game promotes OSR-style creative problem solving and use of equipment
-The game does a great job of staying on-theme, right down to replacing the clocks of Blades in the Dark with sundials
Minuses
-While the game looks very polished, it has a fair number of typos from its translation from the original Italian.
-Leveraging your position and effect may take some getting used to.
Dugong’s advice
There is a lot of good advice in the book for GMs, but the best is probably “play to find out what will happen.” A lot of things will lock into place on the fly. If you miss the “flashback” mechanic from Blades in the Dark, you can use the Divine Favor as a literal deus ex machina instead of its listed effects.
Where can I find it?
The game is PWYW on itch.io and DriveThruRPG.
Thanks again to Handsome Young Dugong for providing this write-up! If you would like to suggest a prompt or contribute a write-up or discussion topic of your own, let me know in the comments!