For your perusal and comments. Thanks to Steve and G. for their comments on this last year.
An Initial Set for playing Blitz Nomic 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. Each person has the right, although not necessarily the ability, to perform actions which are not prohibited or regulated by the rules. Except where otherwise explicitly or implicitly stated by the rules, "can", "cannot" and their synonyms refer to the possibility of actions and "shall", "shall not" and "may" and their synonyms refer to the legality of actions. Actions which are illegal are not necessarily impossible except where the rules state otherwise. Rule 102, Immutable Each rule is either mutable or immutable. Proposals that transmute immutable rules into mutable rules may be adopted if and only if the ratio of votes for to votes against is at least 3. Transmutation shall not be implied, but must be stated explicitly in a proposal to take effect. Each rule has a number. Newly enacted Rules are numbered consecutively, starting from the lowest positive integer greater than 100 not already assigned to a Rule. Once assigned, a rule's number cannot change. Rule 103, Immutable A rule change is the enactment, repeal, amendment or transmutation of a rule. Rule changes can occur only as the result of the adoption of a proposal or as otherwise explicitly stated, required or allowed by the rules. Rule changes occur sequentially, never simultaneously. Any ambiguity in the specification of a rule change causes that change to be void and without effect. Rule 104, 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 105, Immutable No rule change may take effect earlier than the adoption of the proposal or the enactment or amendment of the rule that caused it, even if the said proposal or rule's wording explicitly states otherwise. No rule change may have retroactive application. Rule 106, 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. If two or more rules (which are both mutable or both immutable) conflict with one another, then the rule with the lowest 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 defer to one another, then the numerical method again governs. Rule 107, Immutable Where the rules state than an action can be performed "by announcement", then that action is performed by publishing a message to that effect on the public forum, [insert mailing list here], clearly and unambiguously specifying the e performs it. Actions performed in the same message occur sequentially, in the order they appear in the message, unless otherwise specified, but can never occur simultaneously. An action performed by announcement is performed at the time date-stamped on the relevant message. Documents are published by posting them on the public forum. Rule 108, Immutable A person shall not make a public statement intended to mislead others as to the identity of its publisher. A person can become a player by announcement, unless they are prevented from doing so elsewhere in the rules; a player can cease to be a player by announcement. "Forfeiting" is a synonym for voluntarily ceasing to be a player in this manner. A player shall not select a confusing nickname. Rule 109, Immutable When a player loses the game as described elsewhere in the rules, they thereby cease to be a player immediately. A person who has lost the game cannot again become a player. Rule 110, Immutable A proposal is a document that proposes zero or more changes to the gamestate, and which is clearly labeled as a proposal upon its submission. A player can make a proposal by submitting it to the Speaker via a private message or by publishing it to the public forum. Proposals are numbered consecutively starting from 1. Rule 111, Immutable The state of the game (syn. gamestate) at a given time is the set of legally relevant properties of legally recognised objects. An event is the change of a legally relevant property. All events in the game are caused by sending messages. Rule 112, Mutable The Speaker can distribute a proposal by publishing it and indicating its number. Upon the distribution of a proposal, the voting period on it begins; it ends one cycle later. Within one cycle of receiving a proposal, the Speaker shall distribute it. Rule 113, Mutable During the voting period on a proposal, each player can a single vote either for or against the proposal by sending eir vote to the Speaker privately or publicly. Once cast, a player’s vote cannot be changed. Rule 114, Mutable Quorum on a proposal is defined to be 20% of the number of players at the start of the voting period. Rule 115, Mutable A proposal is resolved by publishing the votes on it and indicating whether the proposal is thereby adopted or rejecte d. The Speaker can resolve a proposal whose voting period has ended by announcement. Within one cycle after the voting period on a proposal ends, the Speaker shall resolve the proposa l. Rule 116, Mutable When a proposal is correctly resolved by the Speaker (i.e. the votes and result are indicated correctly), it is thereby either adopted or rejected immediately. Proposals which a) received more votes for than against, unless another rule sets a higher requirement, in which case that requirement is used, and b) achieved quorum are adopted; all other proposals are rejected. When a proposal is adopted, each of its proposed changes occur in sequence (in the order in which they are written unless otherwise specified, in an unambiguous and determinate manner, by the proposal). Rule 117, Mutable Each player has a number of points, which is set to 0 when they become a player. Points cannot be gained, lost or transferred between players except as allowed by the rules. Rule 118, Mutable When a proposal is adopted, each player who voted against it receives 5 points and the author of the proposal receives 10 points. Rule 119, Mutable A cycle is defined to be [amount of time]. [number] cycles after the game begins, the player or players with the most points wins and then the game ends. Rule 120, Mutable The Speaker is [speaker name]. In addition to other duties described elsewhere in the rules, the Speaker shall: a) maintain a list of all players and their scores, and b) maintain an accurate list of all rules. Rule 121 , Mutable If players disagree about the legality of a move or the interpretation or application of a rule, then a player may invoke judgement by submitting a statement for judgement to the Speaker. Disagreement, for the purposes of this rule, may be created by the insistence of any player. When judgement is invoked, the Speaker must, within one cycle, select and announce a Judge as described in the Rules. Rule 122, Mutable The first Judge to be selected to judge a statement shall be a randomly selected player other than the player who invoked judgement. If a Judge beyond the first must be selected to judge a statement, it shall be a randomly selected player, excluding the player most recently selected as Judge for that statement and the player who invoked judgement. Rule 123, Mutable After the Speaker has announced the identity of the Judge, the Judge has one cycle in which to deliver a legal judgement. If the Judge fails to deliver a judgement within this time, e is penalised 10 points and the Speaker must select a new Judge within the next cycle. A judgement is delivered by announcement. The legal judgements are TRUE, FALSE, UNDECIDED and DISMISSED. The judgement may be accompanied by reasons and arguments, but such reasons and arguments form no part of the judgement itself. A judgement of UNDECIDED does not necessarily mean that the game ends; rather, a minimum amount of the game is deemed to be undetermined and is removed from consideration when determining a win. Rule 124, Mutable When interpreting and applying the rules, the text of the rules takes precedence. Where the text is silent, inconsistent, or unclear, it is to be augmented by game custom, common sense, past judgements, and consideration of the best interests of the game.
