From william@interliant.com Tue Nov 11 22:00:08 1997 Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 11:35:36 -0600 From: william To: Thring@iagu.net Subject: Thring: Game 8, Week 14 - Numbered Rules Rule 100 - (Immutable) <1.2.> [ ] The name of this game of Nomic shall be Thring. In these rules, the words Nomic and Thring shall be taken to mean Thring Nomic, unless it is implied in the wording of the rule that the concept of Nomic as a whole is being referred to. Rule 101 - (Immutable) <2.1.> [ ] At any time in the Game there must be a Speaker. Any person may apply to join the game of Thring as a Voter by sending an appropriate email request to the current Speaker, or eir nominee. The Speaker, or eir nominee, will then determine whether the application is successful. Any successful applicant immediately becomes an eligible Voter and must be added to any appropriate lists or documents. The term "Player" shall refer to any Voter or the Speaker. No current Speaker may also be a Voter. The position of Speaker is considered to be an Official Position if such a concept exists in the game of Thring. All Players must abide by all the Rules then in effect, in the form in which they are then in effect, or suffer the prescribed penalty. In the absence of a prescribed penalty, the Speaker is to decide upon an appropriate penalty, but must, at all times, abide by the Rules. If the Speaker is found guilty of any breach of the Rules, the remaining Players shall, together, decide upon the penalty and are empowered to enact whatever they decide, whilst abiding by the Rules. Rule 102 - (Immutable) <1.3.> [ ] Each Rule shall be either immutable or mutable. This information is to be clearly shown together with the Rule's wording, number and any other defining quantities. The act of changing an immutable Rule into a mutable Rule or vice versa shall be known as transmutation. Rule 103 - (Immutable) <1.4.> [ ] A Proposal shall be an official submission by a Player to the current Speaker. Only legal Proposals shall be considered by the Speaker, and Proposals are the principle means by which the Rule Set is changed. If the Rules ever forbid all Voters from making Proposals, then the Speaker is empowered to make at most 3 emergency Proposals per week until it becomes legal for Voters to make Proposals. Rule 104 - The Memory Of Speakers (Immutable) <2.1.> [ ] The Speaker for the first game of Thring was David Wilson. The Speakers for the second game of Thring were Adrian Corston and then Luke Schubert. The Speaker for the third game of Thring was Luke Schubert. The Speakers for the fourth game of Thring were Anarchy and then Paul Wayper. The Speakers for the fifth game of Thring were Luke Schubert and (temporarily) Paul Wayper. The Speaker for the sixth game of Thring was Anthony. The Speaker for the seventh game of Thring was Anthony. The Speaker for the eighth game of Thring was William Li. This rule will amend itself every time there the Speaker changes in a game of Thring, to a form that includes the changes in a way similar to the form shown above. Rule 105 - (Immutable) <1.4.> [ ] Any Proposal must be one of the following types: enactment amendment repeal transmutation other The action of each of these Proposals, once adopted in the prescribed fashion is: enactment - creates one new Rule to be added to the Rule Set. amendment - changes the wording of one existing Rule in the manner detailed in the Proposal. repeal - removes one Rule, as specified by the Proposal, from the Rule Set. transmutation - changes an immutable Rule into a mutable Rule, or vice versa. other - to be specified by later Rules, defaulting to no effect. Rule 106 - (Immutable) <1.4.> [ ] All Proposals shall be Voted on. They will be adopted if and only if they receive the required number of Votes and Quorum is achieved. Rule 107 - (Immutable) <1.4.> [ ] Proposals must be submitted to the Speaker, or eir nominee, be email. Each Voter must receive a copy of all Proposals at least 4 days before they are Voted on. Proposals must clearly state what type they are, else the Speaker, or eir nominee, shall specify the type before distribution to all Voters. The wording of Proposals is to remain unaltered for enactments and amendments except where the Speaker, or eir nominee, decide minor changes may be made. Any changes must have the permission of the Proposer and may not change the meaning or intention of the Proposal. Rule 108 - When Proposals Take Effect (Immutable) <1.4.> [ ] A newly enacted Proposal takes effect only at the moment of the completion of the Voting on that proposal, when that proposal passes the voting requirements. No Proposal may have any retroactive effect, explicit or otherwise. The wording of the Proposal has no effect until the completion of the above Vote. Rule 109 - (Immutable) <1.5.> [ ] Both Rules and Proposals shall be numbered for reference purposes. New Rules which are enacted shall receive the next successive, integer number after that of the last Rule in the current Rule Set. Proposals shall be numbered with successive integers which carry on from Thring Week to Thring Week and bear no relation to the Rule numbers. If a Rule is amended, or transmuted, its number does not change. Repealing one Rule does not affect the Rule number of any Rule, except the one repealed, which is then removed Rule 110 - Quorum Definition (Immutable) <1.9.> [ ] Quorum is defined as the proportion of Active Voters who have legally cast votes on a given proposal. * Quorum for amending, repealing or otherwise changing an Immutable Rule is 75%. * Quorum for all other proposals is 30%. Rule 111 - (Immutable) <1.3.> [ ] In a conflict between a mutable and an immutable Rule, the immutable Rule takes precedence and the mutable Rule shall be entirely void. The only exception to this is if an immutable Rule explicitly states that it defers to a Rule of group of Rules, in which case this immutable is considered void when such a conflict occurs. Rule 112 - (Immutable) <2.3.> [ ] The game of Thring ends when any Player satisfies the winning condition. Provisions for beginning the next game are to be governed by Rules when such Rules exist, otherwise the winning Player becomes the Speaker and play continues using the same Game State that existed at the end of the previous game. There need not be any winning condition for play to proceed. Rule 113 - (Immutable) <2.4.> [ ] A Player always has the option to forfeit the game rather than continue to play or incur a game penalty. Rule 114 - (Immutable) <1.3.> [ ] There must always be at least one mutable Rule. Rule 115 - (Immutable) <1.4.> [ ] Proposals that affect Rules needed to allow or apply Proposals are as permissible as other Proposals. Even Proposals that amend or repeal their own authority are permissible. No Proposal or type of move is impermissible solely on account of the self-reference or self- application of a Rule. Rule 116 - (Immutable) <1.7.> [ ] Whatever is not prohibited or regulated by a Rule is permitted and unregulated, with the sole exception of changing an Official Document, which is permitted only when a Rule or set of Rules explicitly or implicitly permits it. Official Documents include the Rules, Player's scores, Proposals, Votes cast and voting records maintained by the Speaker, the list of current Players, and any other document so designated by the Rules. The Game State is defined as the state of all Official Documents at any point in time. Rule 117 - (Immutable) <1.8.> [ ] The Thring Week ends at 11:59pm Wednesday, Adelaide time, unless altered by the Speaker. Only the end of the current week may be extended (it cannot be shortened) and each Thring Week must be a minimum of 4 days. After any extension, the end of the following Thring Week defaults to the next Wednesday at 11:59pm which is over 4 days from the end of the extended Thring Week. All Players must be informed of the extension of a Thring Week, by the Speaker. The next Thring Week begins immediately after the previous Thring Week ends. Rule 118 - (Immutable) <1.4.> [ ] No Player may submit more than 3 Proposals per Thring Week. Rule 119 - Non-Proposed Rule Changes (Immutable) <1.3.> [ ] Rules may also be changed by Rules, subject to constraints in the ruleset. Such Rule Changes shall be known as "Non-Proposed Rule Changes". No Non-Proposed Rule Change may change in any way an Immutable Rule. Rule 120 - Points of Order and Judgements (Immutable) <1.10> [ ] If a Player is concerned about scores, rule or proposal numbers, the application of a rule or other matters that e considers to be minor, e may raise a Point of Order. Corrective action should be taken if the Point of Order is resolved in such a way as to indicate this is appropriate. A Player, after raising a Point of Order, may then call for Judgement on a Statement if they are unhappy with the outcome of the Point of Order. Alternatively, if any Player is concerned about the interpretation of a rule or rules or some serious matter, e may directly invoke a Judgement without first raising a Point of Order. A legal Judgement for a Statement is either TRUE, FALSE, or UNDECIDED. If a Judge returns a legal Judgement of TRUE or FALSE on a Statement to be Judged, then that Judgement is considered to decide the matter in question and is binding within the Game of Thring (unless it is later successfully Appealed.) Later Judgements take precedence over earlier ones, in the case that a conflict between Judgements arises. Any Judgement which is a direct interpretation of a particular Rule shall be deemed part of the defining nature of that Rule and shall be appended to the wording of that Rule as an Official Note. All Rules must display any Official Notes together with their wording in all relevant Official Documents. Judgements are decisions that may be Appealed under the terms of The Appealing Rule (Rule 433.) If a Judgement is Appealed a new Judge shall be selected as if no Judgement had been made. Rule 204 - Proposal Distribution (Mutable) <1.4.> [Radioactive ] The Speaker, or eir nominee, is responsible for distributing Proposals to all Voters at least four days before the end of the Thring Week. E is also responsible for assigning numbers to these Proposals before distribution and for assigning Rule numbers as required. When Players submit Proposals, these Proposals may include Comments which are not intended to be entered into the text of the Rules themselves. Any text which is indicated to be a Comment (by, for example, enclosing it in curly braces and labelling it "Comments") shall be distributed with the Proposal as normal, but shall not be entered into the text of any Rules Enacted, Ammended or otherwise effected by this Proposal. Rule 206 - When to Vote (Mutable) <1.9.> [Immortal ] All Votes for a Proposal must be submitted in the Thring Week following the Thring Week in which that Proposal was submitted. Votes submitted in the incorrect Week are deemed illegally cast. Rule 207 - How to Vote (Mutable) <1.9.> [Immortal ] A Vote must be either For, Against, or Pass. Any other Vote is deemed to be an abstention. Each Voter may only make one Vote per Proposal. Votes must be submitted via Email to the Speaker, or eir nominee. No Votes may be revealed by the Speaker, or eir nominee, until the following Thring Week. Any Voter who does not submit a legally cast Vote shall be deemed to have abstained. Rule 209 - The Votes Required Rule (Mutable) <1.9.> [Immortal ] The required number of Votes FOR a Proposal in order for it 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: - more Votes than those cast AGAINST that Proposal, if the Speaker consents; - twice or more Votes than those cast AGAINST that Proposal, if the Speaker does not consent. For proposals which amend, repeal or otherwise modify the state of an Immutable Rule, three times or more Votes than those cast AGAINST that Proposal. For all other Proposals, more Votes than those cast AGAINST that Proposal. The numbers of legally cast Votes FOR a Proposal required for it to pass is the highest number of votes determined under any formula given in this rule. Rule 210 - Vacant Official Positions (Mutable) <3.1.> [Immortal ] If an Official Position is created by the adoption of a Rule, or the Holder of an Official Position relinquishes, for any reason, their Office then the Records and Voting Commissioner (hereafter referred to as the R&VC) must Declare that the Official Position is Vacant as soon as possible. An election for the Position will then take place. The Period of Nominations (for that Position) begins when the Vacancy has been Declared, and extends for one Thring Week. During this time, any currently Active Player may nominate themselves as a Candidate for the Vacant Position. Candidates must nominate themselves by a Declaration of Candidature to the Records and Voting Commissioner. This Declaration of Candidature is an Official Document that must state: - The Candidate's name - The Official Position the Candidate is nominating for. - A Statement of Worthiness that may include, but is not limited to, the reasons why the Candidate should be accepted as the next Holder of the Official Position. At the close of the Period of Nominations, the R&VC shall distribute all legal Declarations of Candidature to all Players. While an Official Position is vacant, the Speaker shall either fulfil its duties, nominate another player to do so (as per Rule 218), or decide that its duties are non-essential and do not have to be fulfilled. Rule 211 - The Voting Period (Mutable) <3.1.> [Immortal ] Following the close of the Period of Nominations for an Official Position, the R&VC shall take one of the following actions: - If no Candidate has nominated for the Official Position, the Speaker shall be the next Holder of that Official Position; unless e has just vacated it, in which case the R&VC shall become the Holder of that Official Position. - If only one Candidate has nominated for the Official Position, e shall become the Holder of that Official Position. - Otherwise, the R&VC shall declare the beginning of the Period of Voting for that Official Position, which lasts one Thring Week. During the Period of Voting, any Active Player except the R&VC may Vote. This is done by sending email to the R&VC, Voting either FOR or AGAINST each Candidate. Any other Vote is treated as abstaining. If an Active Player (excluding the R&VC) abstains from all Votes for an Official Position, e shall lose one point. At the end of the Period of Voting, the R&VC shall reveal how many FOR votes each Candidate received. If one Candidate received the most FOR votes, e shall become the Holder of that Official Position; if there is a tie in Voting, the R&VC shall decide which of the Candidates tied for the most FOR votes shall become the Holder of that Official Position. In any case, the new Holder receives a bonus of two points upon taking up eir Official Position. Rule 212 - Determining Precedence (Mutable) <1.3.> [Immortal ] 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. Rule 213 - Making a Point of Order or Calling for Judgement (Mutable) <1.10> [Immortal ] Points of Order are raised by sending an email message to the Speaker, or eir nominee, detailing the perceived problem. The Speaker, or eir nominee, must then decide what is the correct solution to the problem, either alone or in consulation with any Player or group of Players. They must then communicate their decision to the Player who submitted the Point of Order. If it is of sufficient importance, this information should also be sent to all Players. To invoke a Judgement a Statement for Judgement must be submitted via email to the Bailiff. When Judgement is invoked, the Bailiff, must, as soon as possible, select a Judge as described in the Rules. The Bailiff, must then distribute the Statement to be judged, along with the identity of the Judge, to all Players. No Player may make more than three Calls for Judgement in any one Thring Week. Any more CfJs submitted over this quota are either discarded or kept until next week for redistribution, at the discretion of the Speaker. Rule 214 - Selection of Judges (Mutable) <1.10> [Immortal ] To select a Judge for a CfJ, the Bailiff shall make a random appointment from the list of eligible Players. The appointee may decline by informing the Bailiff that e wishes to do so, in which case the Bailiff shall make another random appointment. If nobody is eligible for appointment, then no further Judges are selected and a Verdict of UNDECIDED is returned. A Player is eligible to be appointed as a Judge for some CfJ if and only if e satisfies all of the following requirements: - e did not make the CfJ, - e is not the Devil's Advocate for the CfJ, - e has not previously been appointed as the Judge for the CfJ, - e is Active. The Bailiff can make eir own random determinations; in this, this Rule takes precedence over Rule 218. Rule 215 - Delivering Judgements (Mutable) <1.10> [Immortal ] After the Bailiff, 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 a Judge does not decline eir assignment and fails to deliver a Judgement within this time, e is penalised 10 points and a new Judge is selected. A Judgement is delivered by submitting that Judgement to the Bailiff, who must then distribute that Judgement to all Players as soon as possible. A Judge is awarded 2 points if e delivers a legal Judgement. Judgements 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 Bailiff must distribute the reasons and arguments along with the Judgement. Rule 217 - Game Spirit (Mutable) <1.3.> [Immortal ] In the Play of Thring, Speaker, or a Judge who has been asked to Judge some Statement, may be asked to decide some issue according to their interpretation of the Rules. All interpretations of the Rules must be in accordance with their text; however, if the Rules are silent, inconsistent, or unclear on some matter, then the interpreter shall consider Game Custom and the Spirit of the Game before applying other standards. In particular, if a Rule seems unclear or contradictory, the interpreter is free to interpret it according to its intent, as understood by the interpreter. Rule 218 - (Mutable) <3.1.> [Immortal ] In addition to duties which may be listed elsewhere in the Rules, the Speaker shall have the following duties: - maintain all Official Documents and make such a list available to all Players - act as initial interpreter of all Rules and be responsible for enforcing them when requested by Players or as the Speaker feels the need - make a random determination whenever such determination is required by the Rules. Maintenance of Official Documents and random determinations may be performed by nominees of the Speaker when the Rules permit. If the Speaker selects a nominee, they must inform all Players of the identity of the nominee and the exact duties which the nominee is to perform as soon as possible after the nominee has agreed to undertake those duties. No Player may be forced to perform any duties for the Speaker unless the Rules so state. This Rule defers to all other Rules determining how a nominee may be selected and what tasks they may perform. Rule 304 - The Share and Enjoy Rule (Immutable) <2.5.> [ ] All Players in Thring have a numeric value associated with them, called points. Players may only gain or lose points through three explicit methods: 1) Grants. A Grant is usually a reward for some behaviour, or choice by the Speaker or another Official Position. 2) Payment. A Payment is usually given in receipt of a service rendered. 3) Trade. A Trade is a transfer of points from one Player or point- holding entity in Thring to another. If a Player's score is more than 90 points higher than the scores of every other Player, then any positive Grant or Trade shall be discounted. All changes to a Player's score that are stated in any Rule are Grants, unless they are explicitly stated as Payments or Trades. If any action would bring a player's score to be less than zero, then that action will instead bring that player's score to zero. All other forms of transferring points to or from a Player or any other point-holding entity is illegal, and the trade shall not take place. At the beginning of any game of Thring, each player shall have 0 points. Any players joining after the start of the game shall begin with a score equal to the average of all the current players' scores (including the Speakers') rounded down to the nearest integer. Any action of a Player which would result in that Player having a negative score at that point in time will instead reduce eir score to zero. If there is doubt as to the score of a Player, anyone may consult the Speaker to determine the score of that Player, including any credits due to em, in order to determine if the action in question would result in a score becoming negative. At the very end of each Thring Week, after the score calculations connected with the results of Voting, all new Grants, Payments and Trades that are known by the Speaker to have been effected are accumulated. It is only at that point that the scores of Players and NPSEs are actually altered. If this alteration makes any Player's score non-integral, it is instead rounded down to the next integer. Rule 305 - The Thring Story (Immutable) <3.3.> [ ] There shall be a Thring Story, jointly written by all players. Each Thring Week, each Player may submit a piece of text to the Storyteller (an Official Position), which shall be clearly marked as a submission to the Thring Story. The Storyteller may, after obtaining permission from the submitter, alter the submission in order for it to fit in with the current story and conform to the normal rules of spelling, syntax and grammar. The Storyteller may not change the meaning or intent of the submission. The Storyteller then chooses, from all the submissions available, eir favourite one; this shall be appended to the current Thring Story. The submission is then discarded from the list of available submissions. The Player that originally submitted the chosen submission gains two points. This procedure is done at the end of the Thring Week, and the Storyteller then distributes the updated Thring Story at the start of the new Thring Week to all players. Submissions that have not been chosen in a Thring Week are not published, but, instead, be kept by the Storyteller for upcoming Thring Weeks. Any submissions being kept will be discarded when another submission is submitted by the same proposer. The characters "

", in submissions for the Thring Story, shall be taken to finish the current paragraph and begin a new one. The characters "~~~" shall likewise be taken to end the current paragraph, insert an appropriate break in the text of the Thring Story, and begin a new paragraph. The Thring Story in existence at the end of this game of Thring shall be carried over into the next game of Nomic/Thring. Rule 326 - of the Wondrous Epithets (Immutable) <3.4.> [ ] Each Player shall have an (official) Epithet - for example, our Noble Speaker may have "the Splendiforous" as an Epithet. The Epithet shall have no effect except that it is listed after a Player's name on the list of Scores - for example, "David Wilson the Splendiforous" - though other effects may be defined by subsequent Rules. Each Player shall submit an Epithet to the Speaker as soon as possible after this Rule is accepted. The Speaker can veto any Epithet which is tasteless, similar to another Player's or otherwise unacceptable, at the Speaker's discretion; if so, no points are lost, but a new Epithet must be submitted. Each Player will gain a point once their Epithet has been accepted by the Speaker, but suffer no penalties for late submissions. Epithets can be changed at any time by resubmitting a new Epithet to the Speaker; no points will be lost or gained in the process. Rule 328 - The Birthnames Bill (Mutable) <1.4.> [Immortal ] Each Proposal shall have a unique name, chosen by the proposer. Failure to provide a name results in loss of one point. Proposals may be referred to by either their name or number. The name of the Proposal forms part of the Proposal itself. Existing Rules may be provided with names by later Proposals. Rule 344 - The "Opposite Proposal Rule" Clarification Rule (Mutable) <1.4.> [Immortal ] Each Thring Week, before distributing the Proposals for that week, the Speaker shall choose one of the Proposals and create its opposite. The wording shall be at the Speaker's discretion but it must be legal and should keep the spirit of being "opposite". It shall be labelled "Opposite Proposal", distributed with the rest of the Proposals, and Voted on as usual. Opposite Proposals are always Philanthropic Gestures. Rule 381 - Freedom of Information Act (Mutable) <1.11> [Immortal ] For the cost of L$5 any Player may make an application to the Speaker to release information on the game of Thring. At the time of the application all Players must be notified as to the contents of the application (but not the result). Whether the information released becomes widely known is at the applicant's discretion. If the Speaker does not have the information the L$5 are still forfeited. Rule 382 - Philanthropic Gestures (Mutable) <1.5.> [Radioactive, weeks old] At the time of making a Proposal any Player may designate that Proposal to be a "philanthropic gesture". If a Proposal is a philanthropic gesture, the Player making the Proposal then cannot gain any points as a direct result of the Vote on that Proposal. The Proposer of a Proposal that has been designated as a Philanthropic Gesture shall lose no points as a direct result of the Voting on that Proposal. This Rule overrides all Rules adjusting Players' scores as a result of Votes on Proposals. The proposing player may choose that any points that would have been gained as a direct result of the Vote on the Proposal may choose that those points, which would have been gained will be donated to the Charity Fund. The player may do this by designating that the proposal to be a "philanthropic gesture (charity)". If the player so designates the proposal, then any points that would have been lost as a direct result of the Vote on the Proposal will not be lost by either the player or the Charity Fund. Rule 423 - The "No Such Thing as a Free Lunch" Bill (Mutable) <1.4.> [Immortal ] All Proposals to transmute a Rule or amend, enact, repeal or otherwise change an Immutable rule are considered to be "Philanthropic Gestures", whether or not they are designated as such. Rule 433 - The Appealing Rule (Mutable) <1.12> [Immortal ] Within one Thring Week of the making of certain decisions, any Player may post an Appeal against that decision, directly to all Players. The Appeal will normally contain the reason(s) why the decision is believed to be faulty. The Appeal does not imply that a decision is necessarily illegal - such problems should be dealt with by the Point of Order and CfJ processes. Subsequently, the Appeal is treated as a Proposal, of type Other, subtype Appeal, and is Voted on in the usual way, with the following exceptions (a) double the normal changes occur to any Players' points or L$ balance, and (b) the Appeal does not count as a Proposal for the purposes of determining how many Proposals may be submitted each Week, since it is not considered to be a submitted Proposal. This Rule takes precedence over any other relevant Rules except where such precedence would invalidate the rest of this Rule. If the Appeal passes, then the decision in question is overturned, any effects of the decision are reversed, and it shall be as if no decision had been made in the first place. Rule 436 - Speaker Slush Fund (Mutable) <2.5.> [Immortal ] At the end of each Thring Week, the Speaker can distribute bonus points to any Players. To award a Player bonus points, the Speaker shall announce the number of points awarded and a reason for the award. Then the bonus points will be added to the Player's score. The Speaker may not distribute more than 5 such points in any Thring Week, and does not have to distribute all of the 5 points. An allocation of Slush Fund points is a decision which may be Appealed under The Appealing Rule (Rule 433.) Rule 466 - Performance Related Pay (Mutable) <2.5.> [Immortal ] At the end of the voting period for a Proposal, the Proposer shall receive 2F + 1P - 2A points, where F is the number of Votes cast FOR the Proposal, P is the number of Votes of type 'PASS' assigned to the Proposal, and A is the number of Votes cast AGAINST it. This transfer of points is treated as a Payment by Rule 304. A Player gains L$2 for every Proposal of eirs which is accepted. Rule 473 - The Electoral Commission and Office of Record Keeping (Mutable) <3.1.> [Immortal ] There shall be a duly elected Official Position of Records and Voting Commissioner (R&VC), which carries with it a salary of two points per Thring Week. If there is no Records and Voting Commissioner, the Speaker shall fulfil the responsibilities. The duties and privileges of the Records and Voting Commissioner are: In the event of a General Election all Votes for Candidates shall be made by submitting them to the R&VC who may not reveal them until the end of the Voting Period. At the end of the Voting Period for the General Election the R&VC shall tally the Votes and distribute the total Votes legally cast FOR and AGAINST each candidate to all Players. In the event of a tie in Voting the R&VC shall issue a requirement to the Speaker to give eir Casting Vote. The R&VC shall then declare the Winning Candidate, who shall assume the duties and privileges of the Official Position immediately. If at least two other players request it, the R&VC shall call a General Election for any particular currently occupied Official Position except that of Speaker. The current Holder of that Official Position may, but is not obliged to, contest the election, and shall continue to perform eir duties until the end of the Election. As part of es function as maintainer of the Offical Positions Officical Document, the Records & Voting Commisioner will only list those Offical Positions which exist through the explicit language of a current rule. Rule 495 - Salaries for Official Positions (Mutable) <3.1.> [Immortal ] The default salary for all Official Positions shall be four points per Thring Week. If it is decided by the Speaker or by a relevant Judgement that a player has not fulfilled the duties of an Official Position that e holds in a Thring Week, e shall not receive eir salary for that Official Position for that Thring Week. Any salary paid to the holder of an Official Position is treated as a Payment by Rule 304. Rule 496 - The Duties of the Bailiff (Mutable) <3.5.> [Immortal ] There shall be a duly elected Official Position of Bailiff. In addition to duties which may be listed elsewhere in the Rules, the Bailiff shall have the following duties: - maintain a list of all past Calls for Judgement and their results, and make such a list available to all Players upon request. Rule 498 - The Duties of the WebMeister (Mutable) <3.5.> [Immortal ] That there be an elected Official Position of WebMeister with the duty of maintaining the Thring presence on the www. The Thring presence must include a home page, a list of players and their scores, the current rules, and the Thring Story. Rule 557 - Thring and InterNomic (Mutable) <3.7.> [Immortal ] Thring shall participate in the game known as "InterNomic". In order to properly participate, there shall be an Official Position of InterNomic Representative (INR). The salary of the INR shall be two points per Thring Week. The INR shall act as the liason of Thring in the game of InterNomic, and is thus empowered to make decisions within InterNomic on behalf of Thring. E is required to consult the players of Thring about every decision which may be controversial and/or directly affect the game of Thring; if it is considered that e hasn't, or that e has made the wrong decision, e may be dismissed if any 3 players submit such a petition to the Speaker, and an election held for the vacant position. The INR also has the responsibility of deciding to withdraw from InterNomic if e feels this is appropriate. If there is no INR, the Speaker may make this decision. The INR is required to regularly report on the progress of InterNomic, especially as it applies to Thring. Rule 567 - Nepotism Decriminalization Act (Mutable) <3.1.> [Immortal ] A holder of an Official Position who intends to resign may nominate a successor. If the successor accepts the position, they gain the title in place of the old holder, immediately without any election taking place, and the mailing list shall be informed of this change. If the successor declines the position, it is declared vacant and an election is held. A Player who holds an Official Position may Transfer the holding of that Position to another Player temporarily if e has that Player's consent so to do. The Transfer is accomplished by both Players announcing it on the Thring mailing list. After the Transfer, the second Player temporarily has all the duties and responsibilities, abilities and privileges that holding the OP entails, apart only from the ability to Transfer. (This includes receiving the salary for this OP if e holds the Position at the time of the Week at which salaries are paid.) The Player who has temporarily Transfered the holding of an OP may later retrieve it with or without the consent of the Player to which the holding was Transfered. This retrieval is also accomplished by the Player announcing it on the Thring mailing list. Rule 568 - Ruleset Contraption (Mutable) <1.4.> [Immortal ] At the end of a game of Thring, the past Speaker, may propose to amalgamate one or more rules. This is performed as an ordinary proposal. An amalgamation of two rules is a process where the text of one rule is moved into the text of another rule. However, the rule to be moved must be clearly a modification or addition to the second rule. An example would be: a rule defining quorum for a specific case could be amalgamated into a rule defining quorum generally. In all cases the rule to be moved must have a higher number than the rule to be added into. The intent of the amalgamation must be to merge rules of like purpose without confusing the ruleset. The amalgamation shall, in effect, repeal the higher numbered rule and amend the lower numbered rule. An Amalgamation proposal is automatically a Philanthropic Gesture. Amalgamation proposals always have a 50% Quorum and a 50% majority vote to pass. Rule 569 - For a Faster Game of Thring (Mutable) <1.4.> [Immortal ] Proposals may be of type 'other' and subtype 'multiple'; they may then be referred to as 'Multiple Proposals'. A Multiple Proposal, if accepted, may create and/or change any number of Mutable Rules as specified in the Proposal. However, it does not create any rules unless explicitly specified otherwise. If a Multiple Proposal affects more than five rules, the proposer of the proposal loses one point for each rule in excess of five that it affects. A Multiple proposal may also change the sub-class of any number of Mutable Rules, as specified in that proposal. NOTES: "CfJ #46 found that this Rule specified that "Multiple Proposals" are actually only a single proposal." "CfJ #47 found that not all sections of a Multiple Proposal need to be legal for the proposal as a whole to be legal." Rule 576 - Limiting Fossilisation (Mutable) <1.3.> [Immortal ] There may never be more than 100 Mutable Rules at any one time. A proposal that, if passed, would cause the total number of Mutable Rules to exceed 100 shall be deemed invalid. Rule 578 - Mortal Rules (Mutable) <1.3.> [Immortal ] Mortal Rules and Immortal Rules arex subclasses of the Mutable Rules. Every newly enacted Rule starts as a Mortal Rule by default, unless some other Rule says otherwise. Each Mortal Rule has an age in Weeks, which starts at zero when the Rule is enacted. If a Mortal Rule does not have an age for some reason, then it shall be given an age of 5 Weeks. At the end of every Week, the age of each Mortal Rule increases by one Week. Also, one of the Mutable Rules which are not currently a member of any sub-class of Rule shall be randomly chosen, and placed into the Mortal sub-class. When a Rule is 7 or 8 Weeks old, the Speaker shall draw the attention of the Players to this fact. When a Mortal Rule becomes 10 Weeks old, it shall be Repealed. The Rule shall be said to have expired, or died of old age. If a Proposal that directly results in the amendment of a Mortal Rule is passed, that rule shall have its subclass changed to Immortal. Rule 1005 - Precedence Changing (Mutable) <1.4.> [Immortal ] A proposal can be given to change the number of an existing rule, by supplying the new number of the rule. If no rule exists with this rule number, the rule number is changed, and any references to that rule in the Rule Set will be changed to reflect the new number if necessary. Any precedence changing proposal needs a 60% majority to pass. Rule 1013 - Anonymity In Discussions (Mutable) <3.8.> [Immortal ] Any Player may send an e-mail explicitly indicated to be an Anonymous Comment to the Speaker. The Speaker should then endeavour to send an e-mail with the same (non-header) content to the entire Thring list, although e need not feel obliged to do this if e does not have enough time or energy. However, the Speaker may not reveal the identity of the original sender of the Anonymous Comment until the Thring Week within which the Anonymous Comment was sent to em has ended. Rule 1014 - Numbat (Mutable) <3.9.> [Immortal ] There shall be a entity known as the Numbat which is not a Player, but nevertheless may score points and has a score associated to it (which shall be listed below players' scores each week). It shall begin with 0 points, and gain 2 points each time a proposal to change an Immutable rule is passed and 1 point each time a Player changes eir Thring Profit Organisation. It shall also gain one point every time its name is mentioned in a proposal. The Numbat is currently the Mascot of PECT. Rule 1015 - The Habits of the Numbat (Mutable) <3.9.> [Immortal ] At the beginning of each Thring Week, the Speaker shall randomly choose one Active Player to be the Guardian of the Numbat ("Guardian") for that week. During that week, the Guardian may move the Numbat to any Thring Questing Ground Clearing connected by a single path to the one it currently resides in. The Numbat need not pass tests. One third of all points gained by the Guardian that week, rounded down, shall be transferred to the Numbat. If the Guardian has lost points overall during the week, one third of this sum (rounded down) shall be transferred from the Numbat to the Guardian. During that Thring Week, the Guardian, and only the Guardian, may designate one of eir three allowed proposals to be a "Numbat Proposal" by informing the Speaker. The fact that a Proposal is a Numbat Proposal shall not be publicly known and the Speaker and Proposer are specifically disallowed from revealing the status of this proposal until voting on the proposal is complete. This rule takes precedence over all rules that regulate the revelation of game information. A Numbat Proposal shall be voted on as if it were an ordinary proposal, but all points gained or lost by the Proposer shall be gained or lost by the Numbat instead. The Numbat will then transfer 5% (rounded down) of its score to the Proposer if the proposal passes, or take 5% (rounded down) of the Proposer's score if it fails. If the Numbat has over 200 points, e may declare a General Election by telling eir Guardian who then tells the R&VC. Rule 1017 - Definition Of Inactivity (Mutable) <2.1.> [Immortal ] All Players in the game of Thring are either Active or Inactive. Players are Active by default when they first join the game. A Player may go Active or Inactive by stating that they are doing so on the Thring list. They may specify the exact time in the future at which they want their status to change: if no time is given, the time of the e-mail distribution is used. If a Voter is Inactive at the end of a Week, but they Voted earlier in that Week before becoming Inactive, then they are considered to be Active for the purposes of calculating the result of the Voting and the scoring for those Votes. Similarly, if they are Active at the end of a Week, but they did not Vote and were Inactive earlier in the Week, they are considered to be Inactive for the same purposes. There is a new type of Thring Proposal [Type: Other, Subtype: Inactivate]. Such a Proposal specifies a Player who is to be made Inactive. The Speaker may not be the subject of the Proposal. If the Player who is the subject of the Proposal Votes AGAINST the Proposal, then they remain Active even if the Proposal passes. Proposals of the Inactivation subtype are always Philanthropic Gestures, and the Speaker will change the Proposal's status to be such before distributing the Proposal. Rule 1021 - Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species (Mutable) <1.3.> [Immortal ] In addition to the existing Mortal subclass of Mutable rules, there may exist other subclasses of rules. A rule can be in at most one subclass at a time. There exists a subtype of proposals of type other, known as subclass-change; a proposal of this subtype, if adopted, may change the subclass of a rule, put a rule in a sub-class, or remove a rule from a sub-class, as specified by that proposal. Rule 1022 - Marie Curie Rules OK (Mutable) <1.3.> [Radioactive ] Radioactive is a valid subclass of mutable rules. No radioactive rule may be amended. There shall be a non-player scoring entity known as "the Neutron Count", whose score is initially set to 0 and increases by the number of radioactive rules currently in the ruleset each week. At the end of each Week, the Speaker shall select a random player; the Neutron Count shall transfer one-quarter of its points to this player. If there are ever more than 10 radioactive rules, the game is said to have reached 'critical mass'; the Neutron Count then doubles at the end of each Week, in addition to any other score changes that may take place. Rule 1024 - Mediocrity (Mutable) <3.9.> [Immortal ] There shall be a game called Mediocrity that is played Weekly, and an Official Position of Mediator to referee this game. The Mediator draws a salary of two points for each Week in which a Mediocrity game is played. The Mediator may not play in the game of Mediocrity. Every Week, any Player may choose a natural number and send it to the Mediator as their entry in that Week's Mediocrity game. Numbers greater than one hundred shall be considered invalid entries. At the end of the week, the Mediator shall work out who has won the game and shall inform all Players of all entries and the winner's identity. If no entries are received for the game of Mediocrity in that Week, then the game is not played in that Week. The winner of a Mediocrity game is calculated as follows. If the number of entries sent in by the end of the Week is even, then the Mediator will consider an extra entry of 0 to have been made in addition to the other entries in the Mediocrity game. The Mediator then selects the median (the middle value of the ordered series) of the entries. The unique Player with that median is the winner of the Mediocrity game; if more than one Player has made the median entry, the Mediator is the winner. The winner receives a number of points equal to that median. Rule 1028 - Make Money Fast!!! (Mutable) <2.8.> [Immortal ] Thring shall have it's own unit of currency, the Lewc. (The name puts the worthy Luke Schubert the Watchful in the same league as all the Marks and Franks in this world.) The prefix abbreviation "L$" may be used to denote amounts of this currency. Thus one Thring Lewc may be written as L$1. Players may own Lewcs and the amount of Lewcs owned by a Player is known as their Balance. A Player's Balance is considered to be part of an Official Document. It is not affected by the end of a Game. When a new Player joins Thring, they will receive a starting Balance of L$10. Similarly all Players will receive a starting Balance of L$10 when this Rule is first enacted. Players may use their Lewcs as they see fit (for example, they may exchange things for Thring goods and services) with the proviso that a Player may not cause their Balance to fall below L$0. By informing the Speaker, a Player may transfer any number of points to an equivalent number of Lewcs, but not vice versa. Rule 1033 - Federalism is Alive (Mutable) <3.7.> [Immortal ] The Internomic Representative must distribute all Internomic Proposals on the mailing list of Thring. E must then hold a Ballot to see if Thring approves of these proposals. The Internomic Representative is the Collector for this Ballot; only Active Players may Vote; the Quorum is 25% of all Active Players. If there are twice (or more) as many votes FOR as AGAINST an Internomic Proposal, Thring shall vote for that Proposal in Internomic. Any Active Player of Thring may make a Proposal for Internomic (PfI) by emailing it to the Internomic Representative. Only one PfI may be made per Player per Week. The Internomic Representative shall then submit this Proposal to Internomic, as an Internomic Proposal. Players receive L$1 if they make a PfI; they receive a further 5 points and L$3 if this Internomic Proposal is accepted. The Internomic Representative is ineligible for both awards, though e may make PfI's. This rule takes precedence over Rule 557. Rule 1040 - The Devil's Advocate (Mutable) <1.10> [Radioactive ] Every time a Call for Judgement is made, the Bailiff shall randomly appoint a Devil's Advocate from the list of eligible active players excluding the judge. The appointed player may decline, in which case the Bailiff shall randomly appoint someone else. The Devil's Advocate should post to the mailing list an argument for ruling the judgment FALSE before the judgment is made. This carries a 3 point reward. Rule 1041 - Hero-ens Of Thring (Mutable) <3.11> [Immortal ] There shall be a Questing Ground, consisting of Clearings and Paths between Clearings. Players are considered to be in one of these Clearings, and may move between them on Paths, subject to the following conditions. The Numbat is also considered to be in one of these Clearings, and may move between them on Paths, at the whim of the Guardian of the Numbat. The Numbat need never complete any Tests, and receives no Rewards. The Numbat may never move to YQE. To move between Clearings, a Player must email the Questmaster and state which Clearing e wishes to move to (hereafter known as "the Target"). A Player can only move to the Target if there is a Path from the Clearing e is currently in to the Target, and if e has not yet moved that Week. If so, when the Player passes the Test for the Target, then e enters it. The Player then receives the Reward associated with the Target. All Rewards are considered to be Payments unless otherwise specified. Alternatively, rather than making eir move for the Week via a Path, a Player may choose any Clearing as eir destination and Clap Eir Hands. The Player is then transported automatically to that Clearing, unless their is currently some other Character in the Clearing. This restriction does not apply if the destination Clearing is "Your Quest Begins." A Player Claps Eir Hands by telling the Questmaster that e wishes to do so and informing the Questmaster of eir destination. All Characters have a "Hit Points" attribute, being a numerical value that is stored within the Questing Ground Official Document. Upon the passing of this Proposal, all Characters shall have their Hit Points set to 20. If a Player's Hit Points ever reach or fall below zero, that Player is killed - e immediately loses ten Thring Points, has eir Hit Points raised to 20 and is moved to YQB. If the Numbat's Hit Points ever reach or fall below zero, it is killed - the Numbat immediately loses ten Thring Points, has its Hit Points raised to 20 and is moved to the Numbat's Lair. If a Player is killed by another Player, the killing Player gains ten Thring Points, and all of eir victim's Lewcs. If a Player kills the Numbat, e gains twenty Thring Points and L$25. A Player may attack any single Character in the same Clearing as em; the victim loses 2HP. If the Numbat finds itself in a Clearing with at least one other Character, the Numbat attacks one of those Players at random; the victim loses 4HP. Characters may only make one attack per Thring Week. Characters may not make attacks in "Your Quest Begins" or any other clearing which specifically states that characters may not attack in it. The Guardian of the Numbat will never be attacked by the Numbat. The Numbat starts play in the "Numbat's Lair" Clearing (currently being proposed as a new clearing - if it doesn't get built by the time these amendments are made, the Numbat starts play in the "Your Quest Begins" Clearing). Each Clearing consists of a Desc (short for description), Test, Reward, and (one-way) Paths leading out from it. There shall be the Official Position of Questmaster, whose duties include the following: * keeping track of which Clearing each Player is on; * judging whether Players fulfil the necessary Tests; * supplying to Players, on request, the Questing Ground; supplying to Players, at the beginning of each Week, the Abbreviated Questing Ground. The Questing Ground consists of all currently defined Clearings and which Clearing each Player is on, and is an Official Document. The Abbreviated Questing Ground (or AQG) consists of the name and Paths of each Clearing, the full details of new Clearings added in the previous Week, the full details of any other Clearings the Questmaster thinks are relevant, and the names, Locations, and Intentions (or Targets) of all Players. (The Intention of a Player is the Clearing which a Player intends to move to; "none" if the Questmaster is not aware of any such intention of that Player.) The AQG is an Official Document, but the full details of Clearings may be added or subtracted by the Questmaster at will. Players may propose new Clearings in the Questing Ground by notifying the Questmaster. The player must supply all the constituents of a Clearing (as listed above) for this proposal to be valid. If the Questmaster decides that the proposed Clearing will benefit the Questing Ground by its inclusion, and does not conflict with any other Clearings (in whatever manner the Questmaster sees fit) then the Questmaster will add the proposed Clearing to the Questing Ground. The Questmaster can then Grant the player who proposed the Clearing between zero and three points. The number of points Granted is to be proportional to the cumulative benefit of the addition of the Clearing to the Questing Ground in the Questmaster's opinion. As guidelines, three points would be given for an outstandingly clever and useful addition, while zero points would be given if the Clearing was mundane and serving only the most trivial expediency. A Player may also propose one or more new Paths by emailing the Questmaster. The Questmaster shall accept or reject each Path individually; if a Path is accepted, then it is added to the appropriate Clearing. There are no bonuses as such for proposing Paths. All decisions made by the Questmaster under the provisions of this Rule may be Appealed under The Appealing Rule (Rule 433.) The Questmaster is free to edit and correct the Description texts of the Clearings as e sees fit, provided that the Player who originally proposed the Clearing does not object. The term "Character" refers to any Player or Non-Player-Scoring Entity present in the Questing Ground. The term "Thring Points" refers to a Player's score in the Game of Thring, and such a phrase is used to avoid confusion with Hit Points. NOTES: "CfJ #48 found that when a Player is transported to a Questing Ground Clearing by Clapping Their Hands, they do not have to take the Test for that Clearing, and neither can they receive the Reward for passing that Test." Rule 1052 - Questing Ribbons (Mutable) <3.11> [Immortal ] There shall be Questing Ribbons. Each Ribbon can only be either of one of the following types: Eternity, Service, Power, Wit; or of a type specified in other Rules. Players can own at most one Questing Ribbon of each Type. Owning a Ribbon has no explicit effect. Questing Ribbons can only be obtained as a Reward for entering certain Clearings, or through trades between Players. To give a Ribbon to another Player, a Player must email the Questmaster and specify the other Player and the type of Ribbon to be traded. A Player may earn a Ribbon as a Reward only if e has not Clapped Eir Hands since eir last visit to the Clearing "Your Quest Begins." The Questmaster is responsible for noting which types of Ribbon each Player owns; this information is an Official Document, and shall be made available to Players once per Week or on request. Rule 1054 - Temporal Continuity Act (Mutable) <1.7.> [Immortal ] All modifications to game entities, even those made in error, may be decided to have become legal and in accordance with the Rules after a period of one Thring Week has elapsed. In particular, erroneous states of player scores and misapplications of rules by holders of Official Positions may be left to stand following the passage of one full Thring Week from the time of their publication on the mailing list, should no correction or challenge to their validity be published before that time. The decision that such retroactive corrections are not allowed may be Appealed under the terms of Rule 433 (The Appealing Rule.) NOTES: In CfJ #49, it was found that the observation (in fact, the existence) of an error in a document published by the Speaker meant that the document published was not an Official Document. In CfJ#50, it was found that the presence of an error in a document published by the Speaker means that the document published could be an Official Document after that error has gone unobserved for more than 1 week. Rule 1057 - All Point-Holding Entities Are Equal (Mutable) <3.12> [Immortal ] The Rules do not specify that only Voters may make Votes. Therefore, non-player scoring entities (NPSEs) may vote on proposals if and only if the circumstances and manner of their voting is well defined in the Rules, and a player informs the Speaker of this vote. Votes cast by NPSEs do not count towards Quorum. Only one vote per proposal may be made by any NPSE. Rule 1059 - The Kangaroo Court Clause (Mutable) <1.10> [Immortal ] A Call For Judgement may not by verdict punish, penalize, or reward the Speaker or a player except where expressly allowed by the rules. Rule 1060 - Official Document Red Tape (Mutable) <1.7.> [Immortal ] The following shall be described by Official Documents. 1. Scores of NPSEs 2. Player's Epithets 3. Player's Activity statuses 4. The list of Official Positions, their holders, and any salaries paid for these Positions 5. Points of Order 6. CfJs, Statements for Judgement, assignments of Judges and the Judgements that they make, assignments of Devil's Advocates and the arguments that they present, and the list of Players who do not wish to make Judgements. 7. The Thring Story, and sentences submitted for the Story. 8. Definitions, moves, and league tables in the Colour-Country game. 9. Entries, declarations of Entry, and Uncoverings in the Treasure Hiding Game. 10. Entries in the Mediocrity Game. 11. The possesion of Useful Items by Players 13. The Rules 14. Player's scores 15. Proposals submitted 16. Votes cast on Proposals and voting records 17. The list of current Players 18. Declarations of Candidature 19. Declarations of Victory 20. TPO memberships 22. The Questing Ground 23. Ownership of Questing Ribbons 24. The Past Winners Official Document 25. Player's Mana These Official Documents are maintained by the Speaker with the exception of 4. maintained by the R&VC. 6. maintained by the Bailiff. 7. maintained by the Storyteller. 8. maintained by the OTCCGSR. 9. maintained by the Hidden Treasurer. 10. maintained by the Mediator. 11. maintained by the Medium 18. maintained by the candidate. 19. maintained by the R&VC. 22. maintained by the Questmaster. 23. maintained by the Questmaster. If a rule creates or describes an official document (OD) not listed as such in the body of rule 1060 (Official Document Red Tape) then the name of that document shall be appended to the OD list in rule 1060, and any pertinent information as to the maintenance page shall be added also to rule 1060. Specifically, if all rules that creates or describes a specific official document (OD) listed in the body of rule 1060 (Official Document Red Tape) have been repealed then the name of that document shall be removed from OD list in rule 1060. Rule 1062 - Parlez-Vous Thring? (Mutable) <1.6.> [Immortal ] Within the Rules and other Official Documents, most words and phrases should be given the interpretation they normally have in the English language. However, some words and phrases may be explicitly redefined within Official Documents to have a special interpretation in the game of Thring. In particular, the capitalisation of a term tends to mean that it is being used with some special Thring-specific interpretation in mind. However, such capitalisation is not a necessity and Thring-specific definitions for such words and phrases should also be used when it seems more natural to do so. Unless otherwise indicated, when a choice is specified to be made at random, the intended meaning is that each possible selection should have an equal probability of being chosen. The Spivak terms "e", "em", "eir", "eirs", and "emself" should be interpreted as gender-neutral third person pronouns which are the singular variants of their plural counterparts "they", "them", "their", "theirs", and "themselves" respectively. If some Thring entity is specified to be an Official Document, then unless otherwise indicated this should be taken to mean that there is an Official Document the contents of which describe the status of the Thring entity in question. Rule 1063 - Thringset Reform Rule (Mutable) <1.3.> [Immortal ] There is an Official Document consisting of a hierarchy of categories and an assignment of a primary category and an optional collection of secondary categories to each Rule in the Rule set. The Speaker should maintain this OD and have the power to change it as appropriate; decisions concerning all changes should be Appealable under Rule 433. New Enactment Proposals should be accompanied by a category to place the Rule in if the Proposal passes; this can be a new category if so desired, in which case its place in the hierarchy should be specified, and other Rules that should have this new category as one of their secondary categories should be suggested. If this information is not provided by the Proposer the Speaker should fill it in as appropriate instead. The Speaker should maintain a complete listing of the Rules sorted by primary category and with each Rule listed by title under any secondary categories to which it may belong, based on the above OD and the Official Rule set, and make it available as e does the Rules OD. Rule 1065 - This Is For Real (Mutable) <1.6.> [Immortal ] Unless otherwise specified, the numerical values associated with Thring entities are real values. It is recognised that dealing with arbitrary real numbers can be impractical. Therefore some lassitude is allowed in the accuracy to which these entities need to be calculated and recorded. Unless otherwise specified, these values need only be calculated and recorded to an accuracy of three decimal points, although greater accuracy is allowed if the calculater or recorder so desires. Rounding should be to the closest rounded value, or to the lower if the score being rounded is midway between the two closest rounded values. For values of entities measured in Lewcs (such as Balances) this requirement is weakened to two decimal points. Rule 1066 - We've Got A Little List (Mutable) <2.1.> [Immortal ] To help the Players communicate there exists an electronic mailing list. References to "the Thring mailing list" and similar phrases in Official Documents are understood to refer to this electronic mailing list. It is every Player's responsibility to try to maintain eir subscription to this list. For the purposes of fulfilling the requirement of sending e-mail to all Players, a Player may assume that every other Player is so subscribed to the mailing list, and therefore on such occasions it suffices to send the e-mail to the mailing list. Similarly, a requirement to send e-mail to the list may be discharged by sending it instead to the individual e-mail addresses of all current Players. Unless they have specified otherwise, any Inactive Player who remains unsubscribed from the mailing list for a period of more than four Thring Weeks is understood to have ceased playing the game of Thring. The Universal Resource Locator of the list is currently . Rule 1069 - The Historian Of Thring (Mutable) <3.15> [Immortal ] There shall exist the official position of Thring Historian. Eir duties shall consist of observing the events of Thring each Thring week and recording the narrative of those events. The Thring Historian shall then post these recordings to the Thring mailing list upon completion. E shall also preserve an archive of present and past histories to be made available to the players and the public either upon request or on the World Wide Web. The salary of the Thring Historian shall be at the discretion of the Speaker, but shall be no less than two points every thring week. Rule 1071 - Join Us, Join Us... (Mutable) <2.1.> [Radioactive, 8 weeks old] Every new Player that joins the Game of Thring may, if they wish, nominate any Active Player besides emself as being "the person who persuaded em to play" - that Player receives ten Points and ten Lewcs. Once this award has been made once, it cannot be made again as a result of the same Player joining again on any future occasions. Every old Player who leaves the Game of Thring may, if they wish, nominate any Active Player besides emself as being "the person who persuaded em to leave" - that Player loses ten Points and ten Lewcs. Once this penalty has been taken once, it cannot be taken again as a result of the same Player leaving again on any future occasions. Rule 1075 - Past Winners (Mutable) <2.3.> [Mortal, 8 weeks old] There shall be an Official Document known as "The Past Winners Official Document", listing the Winners of all previous games of Thring, along with the date at which they won and a brief paragraph (written by the Winner) detailing how they came to Win. Rule 1076 - Repeal Fodder (Mutable) <3.13> [Mortal, 8 weeks old] If this Rule is Repealed, the Player who made the Proposal to Repeal it (or who caused the proposal to be Repealed by some other means) receives twenty points. Rule 1077 - The Word We Cannot Hear (Mutable) <3.13> [Immortal ] At the beginning of every Thring Week, the Speaker picks a word at random from the Ruleset. This Word is known as the "Word We Cannot Hear" for the duration of that Week - any Proposals made which contain the Word We Cannot Hear within their Proposal text (the entirety of the Proposal, excluding the title text) are deemed invalid. If the Word We Cannot Hear has less than four letters, the Speaker should select a replacement immediately. Rule 1078 - Magic: The Gathring (Mutable) <3.17> [Mortal, 7 weeks old] There shall be a property known as Mana, possessed by each of the Players. A Player's Mana is a positive integer number between zero and 999, detailed each Week in the Scores Official Document. If a Player's Mana is less than three digits in length, it should have extra zeroes appended to the start of it to bring it up to three characters, when being listed in a Document. There are three Colours of Mana - Red, Green and Blue. The first digit of a Player's Mana indicates the amount of Red Mana e has, the second indicates Green, the third Blue. At the start of each Week, each Player receives one Mana of each Colour, provided that eir total Mana for that Colour is less than nine. At any time during the Thring Week, a Player may Cast a Spell by declaring such an intention on the Mailing List. Spells can only be cast if they are listed in the table in the "Spell Table" Rule, and if the Casting Player has the required Mana to Cast them. Once a Spell has been Cast, the Casting Player's Mana totals are reduced accordingly. Some Spells require targets to be specified - these must be stated in the Mailing List message in which the Spell is Cast. Rule 1079 - Spell table (Mutable) <3.17> [Mortal, 7 weeks old] The table below lists Spells that can be Cast. The Casting Cost shows the Mana of each Colour required, with "A" indicating "Mana of any Colour" (in such a case, the Casting Player should specify the Mana being used). For example, "1B2A" indicates "One Blue, Two of any Colour". "1RxA" indicates "One Red, x of any Colour", where "x" is a positive integer number of the Casting Player's choosing. Bias (1B) Target Proposal receives an extra Vote of the Caster's choice, this Week. Each Player may cast only one Bias Spell per Week. Charm Numbat (2B1A) Target Player becomes Guardian of the Numbat. Counter Spell (2B) Any Spells targetted at the specified Player for the rest of the current Week have no effect. Enrage Numbat (3G1A) The Numbat immediately claims 'n' points from the Guardian of the Numbat, where 'n' is one fifth of the Guardian's Score. Fireball (1RxA) Target Player loses 5x Points. Irradiate (1R) Target Rule becomes Radioactive. Spirit Link (2G1B) Two target Players are selected - A and B. At the end of the current Thring Week, Player B loses or gains however many points Player A lost or gained during that Week, in addition to eir own score changes. Player A and Player B may not be the same Player. Stream of Life (1GxA) Target Player gains 5x Points. Finger of Death (9R9B9G) Target Player becomes Dead. Raise Dead (9G) Target Player becomes Alive. Rule 1080 - Death (Mutable) <3.21> [Mortal, 7 weeks old] All Players in the Game of Thring are either Alive or Dead. At the start of each new Game and upon Enactment of this Rule, all Players are Alive. When a new Player joins the game, e is Alive. If only one Player is Alive, e is the Winner. If all Players are Dead, all Players become Alive and the Game continues. At the end of each Week, the following checks are made to see if any Players have Died or been Reborn. Death checks are made first, followed by Alive checks. A Player becomes Dead if any of the following conditions are met:- * E has zero points. * E fulfils any criteria for Death specified in other Rules. A Player becomes Alive if any of the following conditions are met:- * E has more Points than all other Players. * E fulfils any criteria for Life specified in other Rules. Rule 1081 - Speaker Veto (Mutable) <1.4.> [Mortal, 7 weeks old] The Speaker may only vote on one proposal per Thring week and then only AGAINST the proposal. Any proposal which the Speaker which the speaker votes against will fail unless votes FOR the proposal are greater than twice the votes AGAINST the proposal (Speaker's vote included.) If the Speaker votes AGAINST a proposal which received more votes FOR than AGAINST, then the proposal may be automatically resubmitted by the proposer with the same proposal number and voted on the week following it orignal rejection. Rule 1082 - Partners in Crime (Mutable) <3.17> [Mortal, 7 weeks old] Each Player who does not currently have a Partner in Crime may select any other Player to be eir Partner in Crime, providing that this Player does not already have a Partner in Crime, and that this Player does not object to being the Player's Partner in Crime. At the end of each Thring Week, if a Player has a Partner in Crime, e gains Points equal to one third of the points gained by eir Partner in Crime that Week (excluding the Points eir Partner gains from this Rule). E also loses Points equal to one third of the points lost by eir Partner in Crime that Week (excluding the Points eir Partner loses from this Rule). A Player may abandon eir Partner in Crime at any time by announcing this fact on the Mailing List. The abandoning does not take effect until the beginning of the next Week, at which point both Partners will cease to have a Partner in Crime allocated to them. Details of Players' Partners in Crime should be listed in the Scores Official Document. Rule 1084 - Free, Open & Fair Trade Rule (Mutable) <2.5.> [Mortal, 6 weeks old] If a rule specifies adherence to this rule, then this rule will apply to the commerce of negotiables within the scope of the referring rule. A transaction in which some negotiable, which shall hence be referred to as the currency and a another negotiable, which shall be referred to as the commodity, is made in adherence to this rule if it is determined to be free open and fair. Free trade in this context is the condition where all who possess the currency being demanded are permitted to offer a quantity of the currency for the commodity being offered. And all who possess the commodity in demand are permitted to offer bids in the currency for possession of the commodity. The only allowable stipulations are by the commodity holder, who may specify an minimum quanity of the currency and by the rule which sets up trade, which may specify minimun lots of either negotiable. Open trade in the context means that offers are made publicly on the mailing list. Fair trade means that the best valid offer must be accepted by the offerer, which therefore means that a non-ambigious method must exist for determining what is the best offer and what is a valid offer. The terms Free, Open, and Fair trade is implicitly referential to this rule. FOF Trade is an acceptable abbreviation for Free, Open and Fair trade. Rule 1085 - Charity (Mutable) <2.7.> [Immortal ] There will exist a Non-Player Scoring Entity which will be called Charity Fund. The sole purpose of this is to store monies and points to give to impoverished Players. The amounts of monies and points which are held by the Charity Fund shall be made public via an Official Document called the Charity Fund Balance Sheet. There shall be a duly elected Official Position of Charity Fund Administrator which carries with it a salary of one (1) point per Thring Week. If there is no Charity Fund Administrator the position does not revert to the Speaker but will remain vacant. During this vacancy, the no donations to or disbursements from the Charity Fund can take place. The duties of the Charity Fund Administrator are: 1. To keep up-to-date, the Charity Fund Balance Sheet (an official document) 2. To determine who the neediest Player(s) are at the end of a Thring week and to give to them a disbursement of points and/or Lewcs from the Charity Fund. This will be done anytime after the Speaker posts the scores of the Players and before the end of the Thring Week. A Player who is neediest with regards to points and one who is neediest with regards to Lewcs shall be determined seperately. 3. Accept donations of Lewcs or points from any Player to the Charity Fund. The manner of the disbursement shall be as follows: The neediest Player shall be the Player with the lowest amount of points or Lewcs. That Player shall be given a Grant of one quarter (0.25) of the points or Lewcs which are currently held by the Charity Fund. If a Player is neediest of points, they will recieve a disbursement of points. If a Playeris neediest of Lewcs, they will recieve a disbursement of Lewcs. Any Player may make a donation (which will be tax-deductable, when and if there are rules defining this) to the Charity Fund by telling the Charity Fund Administrator the amount that they wish to donate (These transfers shall be Grants). The Charity Fund Administrator will notify the Speaker of this Grant so that the appropriate Official Documents can be updated. The donation will be a private matter unless the donator wishes it to be public. If so, the Charity Fund Administrator will make a public statement announcing the donation to the Throng via the email list. Rule 1088 - Speaker's Clerk (Mutable) <3.15> [Mortal, 5 weeks old] "There shall exist the official position of Speaker's Clerk, which shall be simply listed as 'Clerk' in the Roster. Eir duties shall consist of compiling the ruleset and observing the rules which are seven or eight weeks old ('Die Mortal' rules) each Thring week following the publication of the voting result. The Speaker's clerk shall then submit eir draft of the ruleset and the 'Die Moral' rules to the Speaker. The Speaker may correct any errors in the draft, return the draft to the Clerk for further revision, or publish the document. The salary of the Speaker's Clerk shall be zero points per Thring Week if the position is held by the Speaker, 1 point per Thring Week if held by the Records & Voting Comissioner (unless the R&VC is also the Speaker, in which case the salary shall be zero points per Thring Week), or otherwise three points per Thring week." Rule 1089 - Speaker's Bookkeeper (Mutable) <3.15> [Mortal, 5 weeks old] "There shall exist the official position of Speaker's Bookkeeper, which shall be simply listed as 'Bookkeeper' in the Roster. Eir duty shall consist of compiling the Score document each Thring week following the publication of the voting result. Towards this end, the Speaker's Bookkeeper may request or receive any pertinent information fromt the Speaker. The Bookkeeper shall then submit eir draft of the Score document to the Speaker. The Speaker may correct any errors in the draft, return the draft to the Bookkeeper for further revision, or publish the document. The salary of the Speaker's Bookkeeper shall be zero points per Thring Week if the position is held by the Speaker, 1 point per Thring Week if held by the Records & Voting Comissioner (unless the R&VC is also the Speaker, in which case the salary shall be zero points per Thring Week), or otherwise three points per Thring week." Rule 1090 - Speaker's Registrar (Mutable) <3.15> [Immortal ] There shall exist the official position of Speaker's Registrar, which shall be simply listed as 'Registrar' in the Roster. Eir duty shall consist of compiling the Roster each Thring week following the publication of the Score. The Registrar shall then submit eir draft of the Roster document to the Speaker. The Speaker may correct any errors in the draft, return the draft to the Registrar for further revision, or publish the document. The salary of the Speaker's Registrar shall be zero points per Thring Week if the position is held by the Speaker, 1 point per Thring Week if held by the Records & Voting Comissioner (unless the R&VC is also the Speaker, in which case the salary shall be zero points per Thring Week), or otherwise three points per Thring week. Rule 1091 - Positive Feedback (Mutable) <1.3.> [Immortal ] Any Player who by Proposal enacts a Radioactive Rule, or by any other direct means (such as Proposal or Spell-Casting) makes a Rule Radioactive that previously was not Radioactive, receives points in number equal to the Neutron Count. Rule 1092 - Radioactive Decay (Mutable) <1.4.> [Radioactive, weeks old] If at the end of a Week the number of Radioactive Rules exceeds 13; one such rule (selected randomly by the Speaker) shall be changed from Radioactive to Mortal. Its age will be between 0 and 5 weeks, determined randomly by the Speaker. Rule 1093 - A Tidier Ruleset (Mutable) <1.61> [Immortal ] The ASCII edition of the Thring Ruleset shall be reformatted according to the following guidelines. This Rule shall then Repeal itself. * Every line listing a Rule title shall have a single blank line before and after it. * All paragraphs shall have a single blank line between them. * (At the Speaker's discretion:) All lines except Rule titles shall be indented by three spaces.