The Edict(Remnants)

At the start of the game, a mysterious creative force gives rise to the first gods and establishes the Edict, a law that not even gods can break. This Edict bars any god of level 3 and higher from directly meddling in the mortal plane. This means that high-level gods cannot physically appear on that plane, nor can they themselves perform actions there. When gods create alternate planes, they can also tap into the residual power of the Edict to bar certain kinds of god from those planes as well (see [B]Actions[/B] for more information on barring gods from other planes).
Gods can still influence the mortal realm, but they must do so indirectly, through Agents and Footholds.
An Agent is either a being will a divine will of its own, or a unique focal point for a god’s attention. That will/focal point is what allows a god’s energy be shaped into an intended outcome.
A foothold, on the other hand, is a part of a plane that is particularly close to a god, thereby allowing that god to channel some of its power to that location. Footholds effectively “raise the AP cap” in an area. If a god is barred from a plane, its AP cap is essentially 0: it cannot perform any Action there, even ones it could normally do for free. If a foothold raises that cap by 1 (the default for most footholds), then, in tandem with an agent, 1AP actions can be performed there. Unless otherwise stated, footholds stack: for example, two Heroes in an area can work together, both raising the AP cap by 1, for an effective total of 2.
In short, Footholds allow power to be present in an area, and Agents allow that power to be used. The two categories have a little overlaps: some agents also act as footholds, and vice versa.
An Example:
:: Petrolax, god of the elves, is leading a mass exodus of his favoured race from their homeland to conquer the newly discovered continent across the sea. Petrolax is a god of Life, and particularly favours the elves. Because of this he has the Life domain and the Elves portfolio. Each is a foothold in this case, raising the AP cap to 2. Since elves are a race he controls, Petrolax can raise that cap further to 3. Lastly, Petrolax requires an agent to channel his power through and appoints Jason, famed Hero of the Elves. Jason channels Petrolax's power in a Forge Object action to create a magical ark to transport the elves. Petrolax is now easily able to send the elves across the sea.
::
:: The sea, however, is the dominion of a cruel and tempestuous goddess known as the Sleeper. Her aberrant monstrosities lurk at the bottom of the ocean, waiting for tasty morsels such as these to cross their path. The Sleeper wants to toy with these mortals first, and sends in her kraken exarch to do just that. The exarch acts as both a foothold and an agent, and is a powerful mage as well, and so he conjures a terrible storm to plague the elves. This is the moment that the Sleeper has been waiting for. Not only is she goddess of Water and the Sea, but she enjoys access to the Destruction domain and the Storm portfolio, raising her foothold count to 5 in this area. There are a number of actions she can take now to foil and torment the hapless elves and leave them sinking to the ocean depths.
The following is a list of things that might be an Agent or a Foothold (or both), although it may not be exhaustive. If you have an idea for an Agent or Foothold not listed, please run it by the Rules Talk thread.
Domain (Foothold)
Portfolio (Foothold)
Sphere (Foothold)
Leader (Agent)
Hero (Agent)
Legend (Agent AND Foothold)
Exarch (Agent)
Organization (Agent OR Foothold)
Race (Foothold)
Shard (Agent AND Foothold)
Category:Rules(Remnants)