Nomic III Initial Ruleset

Rule 101 (Immutable)

All players must always abide by all the rules then in effect, in the form in which they are then in effect. The rules in the Initial Set are in effect whenever a game begins. The Initial Set consists of Rules 101-115 (immutable) and 201-216 (mutable).

Rule 102 (Immutable)

Initially rules in the 100’s are immutable and rules in the 200’s are mutable. Rules subsequently enacted or transmuted (that is, changed from immutable to mutable or vice versa) may be immutable or mutable regardless of their numbers, and rules in the Initial Set may be transmuted regardless of their numbers.

Rule 103 (Immutable)

A rule-change is any of the following: (1) the enactment, repeal, or amendment of a mutable rule; (2) the enactment, repeal, or amendment of an amendment of a mutable rule; or (3) the transmutation of an immutable rule into a mutable rule or vice versa.

Rule 104 (Immutable)

All rule-changes proposed in the proper way shall be voted on. They will be adopted if and only if they receive the required number of votes.

Rule 105 (Immutable)

All proposed rule-changes shall be written down before they are voted on. If they are adopted, they shall guide play in the form in which they were voted on.

Rule 106 (Immutable)

No rule-change may take effect earlier than the moment of the completion of the vote that adopted it, even if its wording explicitly states otherwise. No rule-change may have retroactive application.

Rule 107 (Immutable)

Each proposed rule-change shall be given a number for reference. The numbers shall begin with 301, and each rule-change proposed in the proper way shall receive the next successive integer, whether or not the proposal is adopted.

Rule 108 (Immutable)

Rule-changes that transmute immutable rules into mutable rules may be adopted if and only if the vote is unanimous among the eligible voters. Transmutation shall not be implied, but must be stated explicitly in a proposal to take effect.

Rule 109 (Immutable)

In a conflict between a mutable and an immutable rule, the immutable rule takes precedence and the mutable rule shall be entirely void. For the purposes of this rule a proposal to transmute an immutable rule does not “conflict” with that immutable rule.

Rule 110 (Immutable)

A player always has the option to forfeit the game rather than continue to play or incur a game penalty. No penalty worse than losing, in the judgment of the player to incur it, may be imposed.

Rule 111 (Immutable)

The adoption of rule-changes must never become completely impermissible.

Rule 112 (Immutable)

Rule-changes that affect rules needed to allow or apply rule-changes are as permissible as other rule-changes. Even rule-changes that amend or repeal their own authority are permissible. No rule-change or type of move is impermissible solely on account of the self-reference or self-application of a rule.

Rule 113 (Immutable)

Votes must be unambiguous. A vote that would be ambiguous is not considered to be a vote. Additional rules may be made to clarify what constitutes ambiguity.

Rule 114 (Immutable)

Server administrators and moderators regulate the server and game. Their responsibilities include the creation of text and voice channels, the designation of which messages go in which channels, the editing or deleting of messages that are inappropriate for the channel that they are in, and keeping track of the state of the game. The server administrator may override the decision of a server moderator, and may grant and revoke moderator status to persons.

A person is a server administrator if and only if they have the “Administrator” role. A person is a server moderator if and only if they have the “Moderator” role.

Rule 115 (Immutable)

Whatever is not prohibited or regulated by a rule is permitted and unregulated, with the sole exception of changing the rules, which is permitted only when a rule or set of rules explicitly or implicitly permits it.

Rule 116 (Immutable)

Rule 201

Players shall initially alternate in a random order to be determined by the server administrator by the start of the game, taking one whole turn apiece. Players joining the game will have their turn order set to precede the player that is taking their turn at the time of the player’s joining. Turns belonging to active players may not be skipped or passed, and parts of turns belonging to active players may not be omitted. All players begin with zero points.

Rule 202

One turn consists of proposing one rule-change and having it voted on.

Rule 203

A rule-change is adopted if and only if a simple majority of eligible voters vote for it.

Rule 204

An adopted rule-change takes full effect at the moment of the start of the turn following the turn that it was adopted on.

Rule 205

Every active player is an eligible voter. Every eligible voter must participate in every vote on rule-changes.

Rule 206

The length of a turn defaults to 24 hours. If the player whose turn it is has made a proposal, the length of the turn is extended by 24 more hours.

Rule 207

An active player becomes inactive (i.e. loses their active status) if any of the following criteria are met:

It is the active player’s turn, and said player has not made a proposal by the end of their turn

It is not the active player’s turn, a proposal has been put forward during the turn, and said player has not voted on said proposal by the end of the turn

The active player has publicly declared that they are now inactive

Players that have become inactive through the above methods may become active again by attempting to cast a vote (the vote will be counted as though it was cast when they were active) or by publicly declaring that they are active.

Players may declare inactivity during their turn. The turn will not end immediately, but any proposal made during the turn is treated as though it does not exist. A player that declares inactivity during their turn cannot become active for the duration of said turn.

If an inactive player’s turn would start, their turn is skipped instead.

Rule 208

Each player always has exactly one vote.

Rule 209

Players may change or withdraw their votes by stating their intention to do so. Players may not edit or delete their votes (*i.e.* alter the voting record). A vote that is edited loses its vote status.

Rule 210

Proposals may not be edited after they are submitted for voting. A proposal may be resubmitted up to two times a turn but may not be resubmitted if the turn has started more than 24 hours ago. Resubmitting a proposal restarts the vote on the proposal.

Rule 211

If a section of a rule relies on a bot to be implemented to the point where its manual implementation would be infeasible, and there is no such bot, then said rule’s section is void until said bot is functional.

Rule 212

If two or more mutable rules conflict with one another, or if two or more immutable rules conflict with one another, then the rule with the lowest ordinal number takes precedence.

If at least one of the rules in conflict explicitly says of itself that it defers to another rule (or type of rule) or takes precedence over another rule (or type of rule), then such provisions shall supersede the numerical method for determining precedence.

If two or more rules claim to take precedence over one another or to defer to one another, then the numerical method again governs.

Rule 213

If players disagree about the legality of a move or the interpretation or application of a rule, then the active player preceding the one moving is to be the Judge and decide the question. Disagreement for the purposes of this rule may be created by the insistence of any player. This process is called invoking Judgment.

When Judgement is invoked, the current turn is extended by 24 hours unless the scheduled end of the turn was already more than 24 hours after Judgement’s invocation. If the turn is extended in this manner, and there are still more than 24 hours left in the turn, a majority of active players may consent to revoke the extension.

The Judge’s Judgment may be overruled only by either a unanimous vote of the other active players taken before the next turn is begun or the server administrator within 24 hours of the Judgement. If a Judge’s Judgment is overruled, and the turn has not changed since the Judgement was made, then the active player preceding the Judge in the playing order becomes the new Judge for the question, and so on, except that no player is to be Judge during his or her own turn or during the turn of a team-mate.

The state of the game has no bearing on whether the server administrator can or cannot overrule the Judge’s Judgement.

The server administrator can only overrule a Judge’s Judgement if the Judgement egregiously conflicts with the rules and would cause lasting damage to the game. A majority vote of the other active players, taken within the 24 hours following the overruling, may nullify the overruling, in which case the original Judgement stands, the original Judge resumes their position as Judge, and all Judgements issued by Judges between the overruling and the nullification of the overruling are nullified.

Unless a Judge is overruled, one Judge settles all questions arising from the game until the next turn is begun, including questions as to his or her own legitimacy and jurisdiction as Judge.

New Judges are not bound by the decisions of old Judges. New Judges may, however, settle only those questions on which the players currently disagree and that affect the completion of the turn in which Judgment was invoked. All decisions by Judges shall be in accordance with all the rules then in effect; but when the rules are silent, inconsistent, or unclear on the point at issue, then the Judge shall consider game-custom and the spirit of the game before applying other standards.

Rule 214

The state of affairs that constitutes winning may not be altered from achieving *n* points to any other state of affairs. The magnitude of *n* and the means of earning points may be changed, and rules that establish a winner when play cannot continue may be enacted and (while they are mutable) be amended or repealed.

Rule 215

If the rules are changed so that further play is impossible, or if the legality of a move cannot be determined with finality, or if by the Judge’s best reasoning, not overruled, a move appears equally legal and illegal, then the first player unable to complete a turn is the winner.

This rule takes precedence over every other rule determining the winner.

Rule 216

Persons wishing to become players may request to do so publicly. Within 24 hours of the request, if no player has publicly objected or privately objected (to a server moderator or administrator) to a player joining the game, that player will join the game. If a player has objected, a vote is immediately held on whether or not the person joins the game. If there is a majority vote in favor after 24 hours of the start of the vote, that player will join the game.