[This is the initial ruleset. It used to be on the web at ; that URL has gone away, but it is still available in the Internet Archive. The ruleset can also be found at and at .] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 at the beginning of the first game. The Initial Set consists of rules 101-116 (immutable) and 201-219 (mutable). History: Initial Immutable Rule 101, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. History: Initial Immutable Rule 102, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 103 (Immutable) At any time, each player shall be either a Voter or the Speaker; no player may simultaneously be a Voter and a Speaker. At any time there shall be exactly one Speaker. The term "player" in the rules shall specifically include both the Voters and the Speaker. History: Initial Immutable Rule 103, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 104 (Immutable) The Speaker for the first game shall be Michael Norrish. History: Initial Immutable Rule 104, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 105 (Immutable) A rule change is any of the following: (1) the enactment, repeal, or amendment of a mutable rule; or (2) the transmutation of an immutable rule into a mutable rule or vice versa. (Note: This definition implies that, at least initially, all new rules are mutable; immutable rules, as long as they are immutable, may not be amended or repealed; mutable rules, as long as they are mutable, may be amended or repealed; any rule of any status may be transmuted; no rule is absolutely immune to change.) History: Initial Immutable Rule 105, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 106 (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 and quorum is achieved. History: Initial Immutable Rule 106, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 107 (Immutable) Any proposed rule change must be written down (or otherwise communicated in print media) before it is voted on. If adopted, it must guide play in the form in which it was voted on. History: Initial Immutable Rule 107, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 108 (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. History: Initial Immutable Rule 108, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 109 (Immutable) The Speaker shall give each proposed rule change 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. If a rule is repealed and reenacted, it receives the number of the proposal to reenact it. If a rule is amended or transmuted, it receives the number of the proposal to amend or transmute it. History: Initial Immutable Rule 109, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 110 (Immutable) Rule changes that transmute immutable rules into mutable rules may be adopted if and only if the vote is unanimous among votes legally cast. Transmutation shall not be implied, but must be stated explicitly in a proposal to take effect. History: Initial Immutable Rule 110, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 111 (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. History: Initial Immutable Rule 111, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 112 (Immutable) 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. History: Initial Immutable Rule 112, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 113 (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. History: Initial Immutable Rule 113, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 114 (Immutable) There must always be at least one mutable rule. The adoption of rule changes must never become completely inpermissible. History: Initial Immutable Rule 114, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 115 (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. History: Initial Immutable Rule 115, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 116 (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. History: Initial Immutable Rule 116, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 201 (Mutable) Quorum for a proposed rule change is defined to be 20% of Voters at the beginning of the prescribed voting period for that proposal History: Initial Mutable Rule 201, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 202 (Mutable) All players begin with 0 points. Points may not be gained, lost, or traded except as explicitly stated in the rules. History: Initial Mutable Rule 202, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 203 (Mutable) The winner is the first Voter to achieve 100 (positive) points. If more than one Voter achieves this condition simultaneously, all such Voters win. When a game ends in this manner: -If there is only one winner, that Voter becomes the Speaker, and the old Speaker becomes a Voter -If there is more than one winner, the Speaker randomly selects one of the winners, who becomes the new Speaker, and the old Speaker becomes a Voter. -All players' scores are reset to 0. -A new game is begun. All rules and proposed rule changes retain the status they had at the end of the old game. History: Initial Mutable Rule 203, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 204 (Mutable) A proposal shall be made by submitting it to the Speaker. Only Voters may make proposals. As soon as possible after receiving a proposal, the Speaker shall assign the proposal a number and distribute the proposal along with its number to all players History: Initial Mutable Rule 204, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 205 (Mutable) The prescribed voting period for a proposal shall be one week, beginning at the time the Speaker distributes the proposal to all players. History: Initial Mutable Rule 205, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 206 (Mutable) Each Voter has exactly one vote. The Speaker may not vote. History: Initial Mutable Rule 206, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 207 (Mutable) Voters may vote either for or against any proposal within its prescribed voting period. In order to be legally cast, the vote must be received by the Speaker by the end of the prescribed voting period. The Speaker may not reveal any votes until the end of the prescribed voting period. Any Voter who does not legally vote within the prescribed voting period shall be deemed to have abstained. History: Initial Mutable Rule 207, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 208 (Mutable) At the end of the prescribed voting period on a proposal, the Speaker shall reveal all votes legally cast on that proposal. If the Speaker's consent may be required for a proposal to be adopted, then the Speaker should indicate at that time whether or not e gives eir consent. If the Speaker does not explicitly indicate that e refuses to consent to the proposal, it shall be assumed that e consents. History: Initial Mutable Rule 208, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 209 (Mutable) The required votes for a proposal to be adopted is as follows: For a proposal which would directly alter the actions which are required of and/or forbidden to the Speaker: a) a simple majority of all votes legally cast, if the Speaker consents; b) a 2/3 majority of all votes legally cast, if the Speaker does not consent; For all other proposals, a simple majority of votes legally cast. This rule defers to rules which set the required number of votes for proposals which propose to transmute a rule. History: Initial Mutable Rule 209, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 210 (Mutable) An adopted rule change takes full effect at the moment of the completion of the vote that adopted it. History: Initial Mutable Rule 210, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 211 (Mutable) Voters who voted against proposals which are adopted receive 10 points apiece. Players whose proposals are adopted shall receive a random number of points in the range 1-10 inclusive. Players whose proposals are not adopted shall lose 10 points. History: Initial Mutable Rule 211, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 212 (Mutable) 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 defer to one another, then the numerical method again governs. History: Initial Mutable Rule 212, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 213 (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, as soon as possible, select a Judge as described in the Rules. The Speaker must then distribute the statement to be judged, along with the identity of the Judge, to all players. History: Initial Mutable Rule 213, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 214 (Mutable) If judgement was invoked by a Voter, then the first Judge to be selected to judge that statement shall be the Speaker. If judgement was invoked by the Speaker, the first Judge to be selected shall be a randomly selected Voter. In all cases, if a Judge beyond the first must be selected to judge a statement, it shall be a randomly selected Voter. The Voter thus selected may not be the player most recently selected as Judge for that statement, nor may e be the player who invoked judgement. History: Initial Mutable Rule 214, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 215 (Mutable) After the Speaker has distributed the statement to be judged and the identity of the Judge, the Judge has one week in which to deliver a legal judgement. If the Judge fails to deliver a judgement within this time, e is penalized 10 points and a new Judge is selected. A judgement is delivered by submitting that judgement to the Speaker, who must then distribute that judgement to all players as soon as possible. History: Initial Mutable Rule 215, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 216 (Mutable) A legal judgement is either TRUE, FALSE, or UNDECIDED. The judgement may be accompanied by reasons and arguments, but such reasons and arguments form no part of the judgement itself. If a judgement is accompanied by reasons and arguments, the Speaker must distribute the reasons and arguments along with the judgement. History: Initial Mutable Rule 216, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 217 (Mutable) All judgements must be in accordance with the rules; however, if the rules are silent, inconsistent, or unclear on the statement to be judged, then the Judge shall consider game custom and the spirit of the game before applying other standards. History: Initial Mutable Rule 217, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 218 (Mutable) In addition to duties which may be listed elsewhere in the rules, the Speaker shall have the following duties: -register new players -maintain a list of all players and their current scores, and make such a list available to all players -maintain a complete list of the current rules, and make such a list available to all players -make a random determination whenever such determination is required by the rules. History: Initial Mutable Rule 218, Jun. 30 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 219 (Mutable) If a player believes that the rules are such that further play is impossible, or that the legality of a move cannot be determined with finality, or that a move appears equally legal and illegal, then the player may invoke judgement on a statement to that effect. If the statement is judged TRUE, then the player who invoked judgement shall be declared the winner of that game, and the game ends, with no provision for starting another game. This rule takes precedence over every other rule determining the winner of the game. History: Initial Mutable Rule 219, Jun. 30 1993 ----------------------------------------------------------------------