Rule 901/10
The Magic Potato
Sean Crystal
This rule creates a unique entity known as the Magic Potato. The Magic Potato will be given to a randomly chosen Active player each week. The responsibility of choosing the Player randomly will be left up to the Officer in charge of random things. There will exist only one Magic Potato at any one time. The Player that currently holds the Magic Potato will gain three extra points for each proposal of his that is accepted while he holds the Magic Potato.The first Magic Potato will be given out on the first Monday following the accepting of this Proposal into law.
There also exists the Great Tuba of Ackanomic, a unique entity. Whenever the Magic Potato is transferred from one player to another, the Great Tuba is given to the player who just lost the Magic Potato. The holder of the Great Tuba scores one extra point whenever one of his proposals passes.
Rule 903/5
Gumball
Simon Marty Harriman (Andy Swan)
There is a unique entity called the gumball which can be chewed only on alternate Wednesdays and Thursdays.For the purposes of this rule, alternate Wednesdays and Thursdays are defined as the second and fourth Wednesdays and the first and third Thursdays of each calendar month.
Rule 905/9
The Blue Cross
Calvin N Hobbes (Thierry Joffrain)
1. Each player has a Blue Cross Rank; it is a non-negative integer. At all times, a player's Blue Cross Rank is equal to the number of non-Null proposals he submitted which have been accepted, plus an additional 10 if he has a Blue Cross Bonus. If a player has registered for the game and quit one or more times previous to his most recent registration, proposals he made under his previous registration(s) shall count towards his Blue Cross Rank if they were accepted, even if he wasn't a player when they were accepted.2. Any time a player has more than one Blue Cross Bonus, all but one of his Blue Cross Bonuses are destroyed. Any time a rule requires that a player be given a Blue Cross Bonus, one is created with his name stamped in gold upon it, and it is given to that player. A Blue Cross Bonus is a nameless, nontradeable entity. Ruby Slippers, Gold Stripes, Silver Stripes, and Blue Crosses are nameless, nontradeable entities, and are medals.
3. When a President or Senator has ended a term in office by resigning, or due to his term of office expiring, and he has served at least 6 weeks in that office, then he is given a Blue Cross Bonus if he does not already have one, except in the case that the player resigned from the office of President or Senator while an Impeachment Paper was pending to remove him from that office.
4. a. A player with a Blue Cross Rank of 20 or more qualifies for a Blue Cross.
b. For each 160 points of Blue Cross Rank above 20 that a player has, he qualifies for a Ruby Slipper.
c. For each 40 points of Blue Cross Rank a player with a Blue Cross has above that required for his Blue Cross and all his Ruby Slippers, he qualifies for a Gold Stripe.
d. For each 10 points of Blue Cross Rank a player with a Blue Cross has beyond that required for his Blue Cross and all his Ruby Slippers and Gold Stripes, he qualifies for a silver stripe.5. Any time a player has too many medals for his Blue Cross Rank, as defined by the previous section, then medals are taken from him and destroyed such that he no longer has too many. Any time a player has too few of any of these medals, the President, Proconsul, or Senator may award medals of the appropriate types to that player until he has enough of each type. The Frobozz Magic Medal Company, Ackanomic Division, performs the creation and destruction of these medals as medals are to be awarded or destroyed.
6. A player with at least one Gold Stripe or Ruby Slipper shall have the title "Officer of the Blue Cross." A player with one Ruby Slipper shall have the title "Commander of the Blue Cross".
A player with two Ruby Slippers may wear them on his feet; any two Ruby Slippers so worn are considered to be a spaceship. A player wearing a spaceship may click the two Ruby Slippers together to launch himself to Kansas, provided he obeys any other restrictions in the rules on spaceship launches.
Kansas is a moon of Acka; it is a location not in Acka, nor on either side of Acka. Ruby Slippers magically adjust to fit any feet as needed.
Rule 907/2
Bronze Torch
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
Bronze Torches are awarded as a recognition of merit to those players who have shown us the light through the stickiest of rule interpretation quagmires.Bronze Torches are metallic entities. A Player may have at most one Bronze torch.
Bronze Torches are awarded by the President, the Proconsul, or a Justice. Each time one is to be awarded, it is created for the occasion by the Frobozz Magic Medal Company, Ackanomic Division. They may only be awarded to a player if that player is eligible to receive one.
Once a player has delivered a total of 15 verdicts on CFJs, CFCJs, or as part of (or all of) the Supreme Court, they are eligible for a Bronze Torch. Verdicts which have been overturned do not count towards this total, nor do any verdicts other than True or False. A verdict which is upheld by the Supreme Court counts both for the original Judge and for the Justices of the Court (assuming it is True or False).
Rule 909/11
Steel Flea
Bascule (Matt Black)
Phoebe the Steel Flea lives in a matchbox. Phoebe the Steel Flea looks like a flea, feels like a flea and behaves like a flea most of the time. However Phoebe is a unique entity that was created thousands of years ago by Acka-scientists who had access to advanced nano-technology that has since been lost in the mists of time.Whenever Phoebe's matchbox is missing, the Officer in charge of random things randomly shall determine which lucky voting player has found the matchbox with Phoebe in it. It is a red and blue matchbox, very pretty, if a little battered. Phoebe's matchbox should be found within 3 days of it going missing.
The player who has found Phoebe's matchbox is very lucky, since she is very wise, having been built in an era of knowledge and wonder. In the week following eir marvellous discovery, e should open Phoebe's matchbox and listen to her make a statement of insight and wit. They should share this wisdom with the rest of the players of Ackanomic in a public message, and will gain 6 points for being so generous.
If any other voting player believes that this message is obviously fake and not clever or witty enough for the nanotech Phoebe, he or she may challenge the authenticity of the message by posting to that effect publically. A Hearing is then called, with valid responses of "Phoebe would not say anything so crass" and "Phoebe said much the same thing to me once". If the verdict is the former, then obviously the Player did not accurately report what Phoebe said, and e will lose the 6 points awarded previously, and will be fined another 6 points for selfishly keeping Phoebe's wisdom to emself. Such challenges must be made within 3 days of the wisdom being posted, and may only be made once per report.
If a message was posted within a week of the player finding Phoebe, that player is deemed to have carefully hidden her matchbox at the time of posting the message, and the matchbox is deemed to be missing.
If a message was not posted within a week of the player finding Phoebe, e is deemed to have lost the matchbox and is fined 3 points for being so careless. If this happens, the matchbox is deemed to be missing.
Phoebe's matchbox is a unique entity.
Rule 910/2
The Ackanomicon
Vynd (John McCoy)
This rule takes precedence over all other rules.The Ackanomicon is a powerful book of magic, and the occult, aligned with Chaos. No man knows it's age or author, although many speculate that it predates even the Codex of Kra. It is massive in size, fully 6 inches thick and a foot across, bound in leather and iron. It looks a lot like a Spell Book of Chorg, except meaner.
The Ackanomicon is kept in it's own special room at the Library, called The Vault of the Book, or, sometimes, *that* room. It's not a very popular room, partly because it is well hidden, but largely because, well, people have a tendency to get hurt in *that* room. It is impossible to remove The Ackanomicon from this room, it likes it there.
Any Player may visit The Vault of the Book by going to the Library, and publicly announcing that he is entering The Vault of the Book, in search of forbidden knowledge. No player may visit The Vault of the Book more than once in a calender month, or more than once in any given 14 day span. Don't ask why, you don't want to know.
All players who visit the Vault of the Book will discover that they are irresistably drawn to read The Ackanomicon, which is always open to a random page. No one ever gets past this first page that they read, but even one page of The Ackanomicon can provide one with great insight, or great pain.
Whenever a player visits The Vault of the Book, the Officer in Charge of Random Things will determine which page from the list below The Ackanomicon was open to, by selecting one page at random with (you guessed it) equal probability. Some pages are duplicates, however, or at least discuss the same material. Because of this, some results will be more common than others. Each entry on the list below specifies how many pages of it's type are found in The Ackanomicon, if it does not, then there is assumed to be only one.
Players who read The Ackanomicon are encouraged to post (vague, perhaps) descriptions of the knowledge gleaned from it's text, as well as the effects it had on them.
[This slightly odd set-up is intended to allow keep the really good and really bad effects from being too common, but stil allow the addition of new pages without completely rewriting some probability chart]
The Known Pages of The Ackanomicon:
Arcane Trivia (15 pages): These pages contain many tantilizing but ultimately uneducating bits of information on all manner of things ancient and occult. They have no effect on the reader.
Vile prophecies (5 pages): These are pages describing all manner of terrible events that are to befall the reader in the near future. The reader of one of these pages suffers a loss of 5 points.
Inner workings (5 pages): These pages give glimpses into some of the basic workings of the universe of mortal men, at a price. The reader gains A$50, but loses 5 points.
Arcane Lore (5 pages): These pages describe ceremonies and rites used in the far distant past to gain special powers. The reader gains a random Otzma card. Reading this page is considered a use of a Paranormal Power by the reading player.
Terrorizing pages (3 pages): These pages inspire indescribable terror in all who read them, causing a loss of 15 points.
Ancient artifact (1 page): A page describing the workings of a powerful ancient device. The reader loses A$50, and receives a newly created random Qualifed Gadget, which, if its a mechanical Gadget, breaks when the reader receives it. This page has no effect on a player without sufficient A$.
Mutation (2 pages): The contents of the page warp the players mind. He gains the power of Telepathy, or Telekinesis if he already has Telepathy. If the player has Telepathy and Telekinesis already, then he loses both powers, as well as any entities which have granted such powers.
Dark Domain (2 pages): Reading these pages opens a portal to a terrible realm of darkness and nightmare. The reader is treated as if he was in Gaol for the next 48 hours, except that he may not be released in any fashion before this period is up. The reader has not, however, actually commited a Crime, nor is he actually in Gaol.
Visitation (1 page): This page summons Aliens down to Acka. The Aliens will immediately conduct a raid on the ruleset as if the Magic Potatoe had just been distributed, as described in Rule 1131. This is considered a use of a Paranormal Power by the reading player.
The Secret (1 page): This page contains the great, unutterable Secret. The reader of this page may ammend the rule Beldin's Pants as if he were Beldin's Tailor, any time within the 72 hours immediately after he has read from The Ackanomicon. Doing so, however, will cost the player A$30, he may only do so once.
Long lost treasure (2 pages): These pages decribe the locations of long lost treasure troves. The reader gains A$250.
Doomsday (2 pages): These pages describe the coming apocalypse in excruciating detail. The also compel the reader to act to hasten the end, by forcing him to donate 1/3rd (rounded down) of his A$ to The Round Earth restoration Society.
Forbidden Fruit (1 page): Knowledge no man was meant to know. The reader loses 20 points, and becomes Enlightened.
Catastrophe (1 page): Reading this page unleashes a Tornado into Acka, as described by the Rule Tornado. The reader is considered to be sheltered. Reading this page is considered a use of a Paranormal Power by The Ackanomicon, but the reader must volunteer to be the Krykec for this occurance.
Not so Forbidden Fruit (4 pages): The player has an out of body experience in which he is transported to an primordial jungle where he is worshiped as a god by the natives. Upon waking up, he will find that all he has left to remember it by is an Amber Banana.
Ancient One (1 page): The player warps time and space with a terrifying incantation of power, summoning the Ancient Powers into his presence. The Chartruse Goose is immediately transfered into his possesion, and it's not happy. If the reading player was already in possesion of the Chartruse Goose, then it goes Somewhere Else (and is REALLY not happy).
Rule 911/7
The Great Trombone of Ackanomia
Brinjal (Simon Clarke)
The Great Trombone of Ackanomia is hereby created. It is unique, and will always either be in the possession of one player, or be Somewhere Else. Upon the adoption of this rule, the Great Trombone is Somewhere Else.Whenever the Great Trombone is Somewhere Else, the first player to make a valid public claim will take possession of it. A claim is only valid if the player concerned has had a publically knowable score of exactly 76 points at any time within the past 3 days.
Whenever the score of the player who possesses the Great Trombone exceeds 152 points, they lose possession of the Great Trombone, and it returns to Somewhere Else.
If the player who possesses the Great Trombone leaves the game, they automatically relinquish possession of it, and the Great Trombone is once again said to be Somewhere Else.
The Great Trombone is a unique entity.
Rule 913/4
Parades
Brinjal (Simon Clarke)
When the Tabulator distributes the voting results for a proposal whose number ends with the digits "76", and the proposal was accepted, an Ackanomic Parade shall be held, with the player who made the proposal as the Guest of Honour.The Guest of Honour has seven days from the distribution of the proposal's voting results to publish an interesting description of the parade. Failure to comply with this requirement, if and when proved, will result in ten points being deducted from the score of the Guest of Honour.
All players will take part in the Parade, and will receive one point for so doing.
The player in possession of the Great Trombone of Ackanomia, if such an entity exists, will lead the Parade and receive not one but ten points.
Any player on Vacation will be represented by an identical replica of themselves, provided for the occasion by the Ackanomic Institute of Genetic Replication, if such exists. Otherwise they will be represented by a cardboard cutout on wheels, which will lower the whole tone of the occasion, so any points they would have received as a result of the Parade will be withheld.
Rule 915/8
Prosthetic Foreheads
/dev/joe (Joseph DeVincentis)
There is an endless supply and an endless variety of Prosthetic Foreheads. Prosthetic Foreheads are tradeable entities.Prosthetic Foreheads are unique. No two Prosthetic Foreheads are identical, nor for that matter are any two Prosthetic Foreheads substantially similar. Whenever a player describes a Prosthetic Forehead as a condition of buying it from the Treasury, any player who feels the recently purchased Prosthetic Forehead bears too great a resemblance to a previously existing Prosthetic Forehead may summon a Forehead Tribunal within three days of the offending Prosthetic Forehead's purchase. A single Prosthetic Forehead may be subjected to only one Forehead Tribunal; only the first call for a Forehead Tribunal on any given Prosthetic Forehead shall be considered valid.
A Forehead Tribunal is a Hearing. The valid responses are, "Yes, 'is toppy's a copy." and "No, 'is peak's unique." If the verdict is that "Yes, 'is toppy's a copy.", the offending Prosthetic Forehead is destroyed and the player who described it loses two points. Otherwise, the player who called the Forehead Tribunal forfeits 5 A$ to the Treasury.
Any player may buy a Prosthetic Forehead at any time by paying A$7 to the Treasury, and posting publicly that they are doing so, and declaring the type of Prosthetic Forehead he is buying in this public message. A player may own any number of Prosthetic Foreheads at any time. If a player has a Rock To Wind A String Around (if such an entity exists), she may give it to the treasury instead of paying the A$7 in the above procedure.
A Player who is not already wearing a Prosthetic Forehead may wear any one e owns by announcing publicly that e is doing so and what type of Prosthetic Forehead is involved. A Player who is wearing a Prosthetic Forehead may remove it by announcing the action publicly. After a player removes a Prosthetic Forehead, his real head is sore for 48 hours and she may not wear a Prosthetic Forehead during this time.
Rule 917/4
Rocks, Walls, and Facial Hair
snowgod (Phil Ackley)
There exists a type of entity called A Rock To Wind A String Around.
There exists a type of entity called A Wall Of Trombones.
There exists a type of entity called Santa's Beard.
All of the above entities may be manipulated by vending machines, should such things exist. All of the above entities are Tradeable.
Rule 919/5
Brass Monkey
Techno (Jerome Herrman)
The Brass Monkey is a very large, unique, unownable entity with a low, booming voice.A Streak begins when a proposal is accepted and there is no Streak already underway. The Streak includes the proposal that started it and all the accepted proposals that follow, until the next time a proposal is rejected. The Streak is then broken.
If ten or more proposals are accepted during a single Streak, it is a Chrome Streak. Chrome Streaks are Strange. When a Chrome Streak is broken, the Brass Monkey shall climb to the top of the tallest building in Acka Land and proclaim:
"The makers of the Chrome Streak shall be awarded 5 bonus points!"
With that, each Player shall receive 5 points for each proposal he or she submitted that was accepted during the Streak (including those that were accepted before it was Chrome), up to a maximum of 15 points per Player.
Rule 921/5
Acid Rain Dance
Techno (Jerome Herrman)
The player who most recently submitted a proposal whose number, when having its digits added together, equals exactly 28, may perform the Acid Rain Dance. The player performing the Acid Rain Dance shall post a public description of the dance. Immediately after the public description of the Acid Rain Dance, the Acid Rain shall fall, destroying the Amber Banana Tree(so that it goes Somewhere Else), unless the Amber Banana Tree is protected by the Bronze Umbrella. If the Amber Banana Tree was destroyed, the player who performed the Acid Rain Dance receives the Amber Banana Tree Seed.Only the Amber Banana Tree can be destroyed by Acid Rain unless permitted by other rules.
Rule 923/7
The Amber Banana
Techno (Jerome Herrman)
The Amber Banana Tree(which, in this rule, shall also be referred to as the Tree) is a unique, mimsy, nontradeable entity. Whenever the player who last performed the Acid Rain Dance is in the game(and not undead), the Amber Banana Tree shall be in their possession. It shall go Somewhere Else if that players leaves the game.Any player who has a proposal in the queue whose number, when having its digits added together, equals exactly 21 [ex. prop 777], shall have the right to purchase one Amber Banana from the owner of the Tree, if it is not Somewhere Else. The price for one Amber Banana shall be A$10, payable to the owner of the Tree. Amber Bananas are tradeable entities.
A player who owns an Amber Banana may publicly announce that e is eating the Amber Banana as "cows eat grass". Upon eating the Amber Banana(which destroys it), said player may inform the owner of the Tree how e should vote on a single proposal, which must be in the current queue and whose digits must also sum to 21. (It may be the same proposal as allowed em to buy the Amber Banana in the first place, but it need not be.) This effect takes precedence over any other Rules which may specify how the Tree's owner shall vote on that proposal. A player may only eat one Amber Banana per week.
If the Amber Banana Tree is Somewhere Else, then a player who would otherwise be eligible to purchase an Amber Banana may instead purchase an Amber Banana Tree Seed(also referred to in this rule as the Seed)by paying A$50 to the Ackanomic Institute of Genetic Replication(which had the foresight to preserve one so that the species would not die out), unless such a seed already exists. The Amber Banana Tree Seed is a unique, tradeable entity. At any time, the owner of the Seed may publicly declare that e is planting it. At that point, the Seed is destroyed, and in two weeks time, the Amber Banana Tree will appear in eir possession.
Rule 925/6
The Press
Bascule (Matt Black)
Any player may start a newspaper, by publically declaring that they are doing so. Newspapers must be given names, which must be announced at the same time that the newspaper is created. A small fee of A$20 must be paid to the treasury to cover start-up costs.A player who owns a newspaper is allowed to post messages to an official mailing list with an indication that the message is an article of that newspaper. Such an article is then said to have been published in that newspaper.
A posting that is not sent to one of the official mailing lists is never considered to be a newspaper publication. In addition, no player may publish an article in a newspaper she does not own without the express permission of the newspaper's owner.
A newspaper must publish at least one article during each calendar month, or it will cease to exist. When this happens, the newspaper is said to have gone belly-up.
Newspapers are named, tradeable entities. When a newspaper is created, it belongs to the player who started it. To own more than three newspapers at any one time is a Crime. An owner of a newspaper may close it down by publically announcing that he is doing so. In this case, that newspaper is said to have "gone bust" and no longer exists.
News articles may be published without reference to a specific newspaper. Such articles are said to be the work of the Underground Press, or Samizdat organisations.
Journalistic pseudonyms are permitted.
It is a Crime for a Player to refuse to publish, in a newspaper he or she owns, a correction of an untrue statement that previously appeared in that newspaper, after a public request for such a correction has been made. Simply neglecting to publish such a correction for a period of three days or more after the request shall be taken as refusal to do so.
Rule 929/5
Baaa
this is not a name (Mike Epstein)
The unique entity called the Little Lamb exists. The Little Lamb resides on the common lands of Ackanomia.Any player may take possession of the Little Lamb by publically announcing they are doing so, unless it is currently possessed by a player who has possessed it for less than one week.
Just as cows eat grass, the Little Lamb also eats grass. Therefore, any player who possesses the Little Lamb will be charged A$10 each time e takes possession of the Little Lamb. The fee will be paid to the Orkatass Lawn Care Company and Motor Inn for reseeding the common lands (which is then immediately transferred to the Treasury, as the OLCCaMI is a not-for-profit entity).
But while a player possesses the Little Lamb, e has three times the normal probability of receiving the Magic Potato, and e may purchase a Wool Sweater from the Treasury for A$10.
Any number of Wool Sweaters may exist at one time. They are created by the Orkatass Lamb Products Company when purchased. A player may put on a Wool Sweater if e possesses one. However, players wearing Prosthetic Foreheads may not put on a Wool Sweater, because Wool Sweaters will not fit over Prosthetic Foreheads. Wool sweaters are tradeable, mimsy entities.
Rule 931/3
Garments
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
A class of entity known as a Garment exists. Garments are tradeable, unless the rules for a particular Garment specify otherwise. The owner, and only the owner, of a particular garment may don that garment if he is currently wearing no garment, or remove it if he is currently wearing it. These actions, when legal, are accomplished by publicly announcing them. The owner of a particular garment is said to be wearing it only from such time as he dons it until such time as he removes it or no longer owns it; no player is said to be wearing any garment he does not own. Garments may be worn and unworn, and these actions, with respect to a particular garment, may only be performed by the owner of the Garment. Only those entities explicitly designated by the rules as Garments are Garments.
Rule 933/2
Purple Robe of Justice
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
The Purple Robe of Justice (Robe) has [just] been discovered in the catacombs beneath the Courthouse. It is unique, and quite valuable, and the older it gets, the more valuable it becomes. The Robe is a mimsy, non-Tradeable, Garment.Whoever is wearing the Purple Robe of Justice has their odds of being selected to judge a CFJ trebled. This clause takes precedence over R 212 inasmuch as the random process is affected in the way described above.
If the owner of the Robe is ever penalized some number of points for failing to deliver a verdict on a CFJ, failing to respond to a CFJ, or for having a CFJ overturned, they immediately lose the priceless Robe, and it goes Somewhere Else.
The value of the Robe is price that was last paid for it, plus A$15.
Any player (other than the Robe's owner), may buy the Robe, thus becoming the new owner, regardless of where it is, provided they pay its current value to the Treasury, and all of the following are true:
a) It is not currently being auctioned. b) Its current owner, if a player, has had it at least 1 week. c) Its current owner is not judging a CFJ. d) Its current owner is not a judge-designate for a pending CFJ.
Other rules may designate other ways in which ownership of the Robe may be transferred. This rule defers precedence to those, including the fact that the above conditions need not necessarily be met, unless the other rule specifies such.
A player losing ownership of the Robe never receives monetary compensation for losing it.
Rule 935/6
Processing Chips
Habeous Corpus (Ed Graham)
The Tradeable Entities known as Processing Chips exist and are considered raw material. A Processing Chip is an eight pin dual-in-line package (DIP) with the first two pins bent up at 180 degrees. The back of the DIP is covered with scorching. It resembles a rather large, distinctly ugly bug.When a Proposal is accepted, a Processing Chip is created and given to the author of that Proposal.
Rule 938/0
We Shall Inherit The World!
Calvin N Hobbes (Thierry Joffrain)
The Ambassador must seek all nomics that contain the letters 'h', 'a', 'r' and 'f' in their name. It will then be his job to organize an assault on those nomics until they are captured. The Ambassador will gain 40 points for every such nomic captured. Players assisting the Ambassador will gain 20 points for aiding in the successful capture of a nomic (as acknowledged by the ambassador).A nomic is considered captured if it recognizes our president as their almighty Harf god, the supreme deity.
Rule 939/2
Beldin's Tailor
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
The bearer of the Magic Potato is also Beldin's Tailor. Beldin's Tailor has the privilege of amending the rule entitled "Beldin's Pants" as described in this rule, if and only if they were not the last player to amend that rule via the methods described in this rule.Beldin's Tailor may amend the rule entitled "Beldin's Pants" in any one of the following ways by publically announcing the amendment, provided said amendment is unambiguous:
1) They may replace any one word in the rule with a different word, and as part of this amendment, optionally replace an article which directly precedes the replaced word (if present) with another article. The new word must appear in the Official Dictionary or elsewhere in the rules.
2) They may delete any one word in the rule, and, as part of this amendment, optionally delete an article which directly precedes the deleted word (if one happens to directly precede it).
3) They may add any one word anywhere in the rule, and, as part of this amendment, optionally add one article to directly precede the new word. The new word must appear in the Official Dictionary or elsewhere in the rules.
4) They may add or delete one piece of standard English language punctuation, or change one piece of punctuation to another piece of standard English language punctuation. Square brackets and curly braces are not considered standard English language punctuation for the purposes of the preceding sentence.
For the purposes of the above, the articles are 'a', 'an', and 'the'.
The rule entitled "Beldin's Pants" may not be amended by the Spelling Bee, by Common Sense Report (CSR), or by an effect generated by a CSR. This paragraph has precedence over rules 421 and 342.
Rule 940/10
Beldin's Pants
Malenkai (Randy Hall)
Beldin's Pants are a Garment, initially Somewhere Else. Beldin's Pants may only be removed as described by the Praetor. Beldin's Pants are unique.Each recipient of Beldin's Parka loses 1 trinket every Thursday at noon.
Rule 942/1
The Widget of Yendor
breadbox (Brian Raiter)
The Widget of Yendor exists. It is a unique, Tradeable entity.The Widget of Yendor (hereinafter referred to as simply "the Widget") is in one of two states at any time: the "frobbed" state, or the "tweaked" state. When the Widget is unowned, it is always in the tweaked state.
A player who owns the Widget may change it to the frobbed state by publically stating that they are "frobbing the Widget". They may change it back to the tweaked state by publically stating that they are "tweaking the Widget". (Frobbing the Widget when it is already in the frobbed state has no effect. Likewise, tweaking the Widget when it is already in the tweaked state also has no effect.)
When the Widget is in the frobbed state, any scoring changes that would normally occur to the owner's score fail to have an effect. [In essence, the score of the player who owns the Widget does not change while the Widget is frobbed.]
The Widget will automatically change its state to tweaked if it is in the frobbed state when any of the following are true:
1) the Widget is unowned;
2) the Widget's current state was set by a player other than the current owner [as opposed to an automatic state change];
3) the Widget has been in the frobbed state continuously for seven days;
4) the score of any player is within thirty points of the amount necessary to win.
Furthermore, any attempt to frob the Widget when any of the above conditions are true will have no effect.
Rule 945/0
The Cabinet
Vynd (John McCoy)
The Cabinet is a unique, nontradeable entity. The Cabinet is a very fine piece of furniture, about 5 and one half feet in height, made out of teak. It has a number of drawers, in several different sizes, all of which have well wrought golden handels. It is otherwise much like any other cabinet, with the sole exception that it seems to have an infinte amount of storage space inside it.The purpose of The Cabinet is to advise the President of Ackanomic. The Cabinet is always owned by the current President. When there is no President, The Cabinet is Somewhere Else. Whenever a new player becomes President, The Cabinet immediately comes into his possesion.
No one is exactly sure how The Cabinet is supposed to advise the President. One idea which has gained some popularity is that players should put advice inside The Cabinet for the various Presidents to turn to in times of need. This advice takes the form of trinkets, preferably trinkets whose descriptions or names actually contain advice. No player eccept the current President is allowed to actually place trinkets inside The Cabinet, however, due to long standing custom.
Any President may place no more than three (3) trinkets into The Cabinet durring one term in office. These trinkets may be trinkets that the President himself has created, or trinkets created by other players and given to the President with the express wish that they be placed into The Cabinet. The President is strongly discouraged from pocketing trinkets given to him for such a purpose, he should return them if he does not wish to place them in The Cabinet.
Trinkets inside The Cabinet are owned by The Cabinet, and travel with it whever it goes. If the President wishes to remove a trinket or group of trinkets from The Cabinet, he must first seek approval from the Senate. The President may post a public message requesting permission to remove a trinket (or trinkets) from The Cabinet only once per term. Once such a call has been made, the Senate has one week to vote on the issue. This vote is known as a Confirmation hearing, but is not, in fact, a Hearing. YES votes are in favor of granting permission, NO votes against it, and majority rules. If the Senate fails to complete such a Confirmation hearing in the alloted week, then the Senators will be placed in Comtempt.
