Basic Rules



This section of the Lords of Tandem wiki will explain the basic rules of the game, and it is advised that you browse through it if you are unsure how to play.

Action Points
Actions Points ( abbreviated as AP) represent a god's energy and power. It is a concept made to try and keep things fair; not everyone has a lot of time to invest in the game, but by restricting everyone's actions by Action Points, it allows for participants with less time to still significantly influence the world. All actions require a certain amount of AP to perform. So how are AP earned?

Every god will begin with 4 AP. These points are to be spent on actions. Every week unless otherwise noted by the Celestial Powers (Game Master) your AP will be renewed, however they will not always return in the same number. Each god will begin the renewal with 4 AP but certain items can increase or decrease this number. Other modifiers such as whether your god is imprisoned or under attack can also change this.

When the time comes to spend your AP, 4 points may seem a small amount. However you can carry points over a period of time and do not need to spend them immediately. The maximum number of points a god can store is usually 12, however it is a troublesome and difficult thing to do. Whenever a god contains more AP than their cap allows they can potentially be destroyed and disperse across the cosmos. Various special rules come into play involving this subject and can be found on the Exitium page.

Most things available to gods you will find actually cost less than 4 AP and each of them have an array of interpretations. Depending on how you word it, many amazing things are open to creation even without the spending of mass points. Actions This is a list of the actions your gods can take with the spending of AP. These range from the creation of sentient species to the ascension of new gods into the game.

Players are encouraged to think creatively about how they interpret and spend their AP. Given enough forethought and explanation, you will be able to do almost anything with the actions listed below. Do note that anything that is out of the ordinary when it comes to actions even though encouraged, should be talked over with the Gamemaster before you take it into play.

Command - Command is used to issue divine orders. This can be as simple as commanding a hill to form, to the creation of a long, winding canyon. This can also be used to order your worshipers (if you have any) to wage war against another religious group, or alternatively to teach them how to perform special actions. The exact potency of their action is determined by the amount of AP that is spent. Examples are shown below.

Command Land (1 AP): This can be used to form small islands or trickling streams. For example, "Kaign reached out and touched the ocean floor. Where his fingers met the sea bed, the earth began to crack and burst. Where once there was nothing but coral and water now, sat a labyrinth of small jetting caves reaching further and further down into the depths of the ocean."

Command Populace (1 AP): This actions can be used to divinely give orders to a sentient populace. This can be anything from instructing them on how to use a certain kind of magic, to telling them to cease their deforestation of an area.

Command Land (2 AP): This action can be used to make moderate to large impacts on a landscape. For example, "Scia'yn looked across the desolate valley and frowned. She focused her eyes on one spot and cooled her mind. Then, with great fury, a colossal mountain sprung from the ground in that place. Thus the great blue mountain was created."

Command Populace (2 AP): This is usually used to command a settlement or group of people to a great degree. For example, "Kaign sent his own image in exarch form to the mighty place of Aronopalis and commanded the slaves of the city to throw down their scythes and shears and take up arms against their dogmatic rulers. With the will of their god on their side, they smashed apart their conquerors."

Command Land (3 AP): This is the highest level of terrain change that near any god can muster. This can be used to create the largest and most epic of landscapes. For example, "Assio looked to the blackness of the sky. So deep and terrible was this darkness that even he, the mightiest of gods, could not stand in sight of such a thing. Thus Assio took in a mighty breath and jetted a great stream of flame into the open sky. This flame grew in size and brightness, and only stopped its growth many days after Assio has begun. Once completed, where once there was blackness now sat the great red rift in the sky.

Populate/Depopulate - Populate is used to create life of all kinds in the world, while depopulate is used to do the opposite.

Populate (1AP): This action is used to create minor amounts of living creatures, or a great amount of creatures which are insignificant. For example, "Scia'yn grew bored of the empty mountain she had created and yearned for entertainment. With a spark of imagination she created the first glass beetles, and the insects have populated the area ever since.

Populate (2 AP): This is used to create more stunning or generally larger creatures in a world. For example, "Kaign being a god of solitude wished to protect his watery realm from trespassers. With malice thought, Kaign reached deep into the minds of the fishermen that harassed his seas and pulled out their paranoid fears. Thus the first sharks were created."

Populate (3 AP): This is generally used to create the most powerful and generally magical of species. Alternatively this can be used to create just one unfathomably powerful creature. For example, "Assio was greatly pleased with the fiery rift he had created. No longer would darkness challenge his senses. Still, Assio feared the return of the night. Thus the mighty god ripped a chunk from the red rift he had created and carved a holy symbol into it. From then on the one almighty Fire Drake has flown across the sky.

Created Populace (3 AP): This action is used to create an intelligent population. Unlike the creation of normal creatures, the creation of a populace is much more complex and should be discussed with the Gamemaster

Create Superior Populace (4 AP): This action is used in the creation of a mighty populace, superior to that of any conventional intelligent species. Just like the creation of a normal intelligent species this should be talked over with the Gamemaster, but be aware that this action is difficult.

Depopulate is an action that is generally frowned upon and represents the complete genocide of a species. Although this is legal to an extent, remember this is a game of creation and not destruction. The use of this power should be discussed with the Gamemaster.

Nourish/Harm - This is used either aid or wither an area or its inhabitants.

Nourish Land (1 AP): This is the prime example of a god's impact on a landscape. For example, "Scia'yn upon her high creation, looked to the sky and smiled. Immediately afterwards a great down poor of rain fell across her mountain and in each place a raindrop fell a blade of grass appeared. Leaving the blue mountain covered with beautiful grass."

Nourish Populace (1 AP): This acts much like nourish land, although it is specified to aid a populace. For example, "Assio looked down upon the towns and cities of the land. From his creation of the red rift the mortals of the world were suffering from a great drought. One village in particular called out to Assio himself and begged him to save their people. Assio felt pity for these people, so whispered a command to light that hit their village and ordered it to hit the settlement with less fury then the surrounding area. Allowing the village to live on as they had previous to Assio creating the red rift."

Harm Land (1 AP): Obviously this action is used to take the opposite effect to nourish land. This can be anything from fire to flood. Preferably things that fit with your god.

Harm Populace (1 AP):  This command can be used injunction with war as well as the simple crippling of a populace. For example, "furious to his worshipers being extinguished by heat from Assio's red rift, the new and young god Niado called a pox down upon the beloved town that Assio had taken for himself."

Create/Destroy - This action is used to create large pieces of terrain or powerful pieces of technology.

Create Artifact (- AP): Artifacts are powerful pieces of equipment that can lead an army to victory for mortals or help confirm a god's dominance in the realms above. The AP cost of an artifact must be agreed on with the Gamemaster depending on what you want it to do. You could create a powerful suit of armor and gift it to the leader of a populace for 1 AP simply to give them the edge in battle, or you could create an almighty staff for yourself to increase the amount of AP you earn a week for something like 3 AP.

Create Plane (2 AP): This action can be used to create and expand worlds for mortals and/or gods. This is generally the formation of an empty, medium sized piece of land for mortals while for gods it is the creation of a new and small dimension. For example, "Seeing the tensions rising between between various gods, Scia'yn created a small pocket in space and time for each god to attend and speak in. This realm was to be known as the Conclave Chamber."

Create Plane (3 AP): This action is used to create and exapand the world much like the previous action, although does so with grander scale and complication. This includes creating larger pieces of land or creating larger and more complex dimensions for gods and their like to inhabit.

Create Plane (4 AP): This action is used to create new pieces of land to the largest scale for this action type. This includes creating new continents or creating an incredibly diverse and large dimension for either gods or mortals to inhabit. For example, "Niado was fearful that Ossio would take revenge on him for plaguing his people. To hide from the great brute, Niado peeled off a segment of his own skin and focused a deep magical will into it. The removed flesh began to blister and grow. As the strip of skin continued to warp and blister so too did it begin to cover a greater and greater area around Niado. Finally, when he was happy with his grotesque creation, Niado hid his newly created haven from the other gods and continued his dark and cunning plot within and around the hills and streams of bloody flesh that he had created in his realm."

Create Domain, Lesser (2 AP): This action plays a very large part of the game and is a component a player simply cannot ignore, and this extends to all create domain actions. This action type is used to claim your own domain for your god to rule over and control. Create domain, lesser, is used to create a small and very specific domain. For example, "Scia'yn watched us the other gods prepared for battles and hostility, and she knew that although she had created the Conclave Chamber, she needed to do more. Scia'yn readied herself and altered her mind to suit what she needed to do. Thus, the minor domain of godly peace was added to her power." Note that to create a domain it must not already exist. However for a cheaper cost your god may claim a domain which came into existence naturally, any domain claimed can be taken from your god, unlike domains they created. For additional information read Domains.

Create Domain, Moderate (3 AP): This action follows the same rules as the one above does, the only difference being you create a slightly larger domain.

Create Domain, Greater (3 AP): This action follows the same rules as the one above does, the only difference being you create the largest possible domain type.

Create Exarch (3 AP): An exarch is an embodiment of your god's power and are generally used as powerful messengers of your power. These beings are divinely powerful but are individuals and can make separate decisions to their gods. It should be noted that god's themselves cannot appear in form to mortals, so exarchs are generally the easiest method for communication between a deity and their followers.

Create Avatar (4 AP): Avatars are similar to exarchs but with several major differences. Unlike exarchs an avatar can only represent a single domain of their god, and are generally much more a part of their creator than an exarch is. A god which created an avatar will, unless interfered with, always have a connection with that avatar, being able to speak through it ans so on.

Destroy (- AP): Destroy costs are typically the same as create costs, but may require the destruction of various forces sustaining whatever it is you wish to kill. This action should be used sparingly as once again, this is a game of creation and not destruction. Just like the depopulate action, any player who wishes to use this action should first consent the Gamemaster.

Claim Domain - As mentioned in the create domain action, this is used to take naturally occuring domains under your influence. These can be domains in other god's control so long as it wasn't them who made it.

Claim Domain (- AP): To claim a domain a god must always spend one addditional AP to how much it would usually cost to create it. For example, to claim the domain of flight, which would be classified as a moderate domain, a god would have to spend 4 AP.

Create/Ascend God - This action is used to either create a new god or to ascend a pre-existing thing or individual to godhood.

Ascend God (2 AP): This action is used to ascend any random individual a god pleases into a deity. This could be a random child in a populace or it may be a particularly impressive stone in a farmer's field. Generally however it is polite to ascend individuals of great renown such as kings or war heroes. To ascend a god you must give away one of your pre-existing domains. Even if you give them a domain you claimed opposed to created, this will be that god's starting domain. Note an ascended god is much weaker than a normal god and must serve as a constant ally to the god who ascended them

Create God ( 4 AP): Much like ascend god, the first difference between the actions is that unlike making a god of a pre-existing thing, the creation of a god makes a god out of nothing. Also, a created god is much more powerful than an ascended god and does not require any friendly relationship with whoever it was that created it.

General Information
Each time you spend AP you must add it in good form to the Action Page. Note that any inappropriate editing of the page will result in you being banned from the wiki. Be very specific when you add the new segment about your god's actions and any mention of any god's name should be done in bold.

For any new thing added into the world it is appreciated if you make a new page about them. For example the red rift created by Assio in the examples would have a page about it expressing information about it if it were a part of the game. This page will be used for other god's to understand that particular thing as well as help flesh out the world. Add as much information as you like, as long as it is clear and makes sense. If you want an example visit the Holy Grail page.

Every so often in the game it is understandable that gods would fight. This is fine and is not discouraged but it is generally better if it is discussed with the god you plan to attack. If possible deciding the outcome ahead of time can be benificial. Attacking another god costs 1 AP but be warned, your god may be damaged and could lose additional AP. You may not kill another player's god unless that player gives you his or her permission; alternatively you canget the permission from the Gamemaster, though this will only rarely happen. To see how combat works, visit the God Combat page for the how-to's of battle.