[s-b] Google cache: the B Nomic Ruleset, as of 26 May 2008

["Geoffrey Spear" <geoffspear@xxxxxxxxx>]

  Foundation
Rule 4E1: The Game of B

The name of this game is B Nomic.
Rule 4E2: Game Objects

The game of B Nomic consists entirely of Game Objects, which may be
known simply as Objects. Anything that exists in the game is an
Object, and anything that is not an Object is not in the game.

Game Objects can only be created, destroyed, or modified if allowed by
the Rules, in a manner explicitly governed by the Rules.
Rule 4E11: Attributes

Game Objects have a set of zero or more Attributes. Each Attribute has
a Value. The Rules define Attributes by specifying:

    * A Name
    * A Scope which defines the set of Objects that have this Attribute
    * A Range which defines the set of allowed Values
    * A Default Value that sets the Value when an Object gains the Attribute

unless otherwise specified in the Rules.

A List Attribute is a game object that is, in all respects, like an
Attribute, with the following differences:

    * The Value of a List Attribute consists of a variable
non-negative number of Articles, included within curly brackets and
separated by commas [[e.g. {Article 1, Article 2, Article 3}]].
Articles, rather than the Value itself, must be members of the Range
of a List Attribute. Unless otherwise specified by a Rule, the default
Value of a List Attribute is {}.

    * There are two Attributes, MinLength and MaxLength, with a scope
of all List Attributes, a range of all non-negative integers, and
default values of 0 and 999, respectively. A List Attribute's
MinLength is the minimum number of Articles the Value of its Instances
can contain, while MaxLength is the maximum.

Positionally, unless otherwise specified, a new Article added to a
List Attribute's Instance's Value is placed at the end (to the right)
of the series of Articles. An Article which ceases to be an Article in
an Instance's Value is removed and, unless otherwise specified, all
values to that come after it (to the right) are shifted one position
to the left.

A Property is an Attribute with a Range of True and False. An Object
with a value of True for a given Property possesses that Property, and
an Object with a value of False for a Property does not possess that
Property. The adjective form of an Property or its negation can be
applied to an Object to unambiguously denote whether the Object
possesses the relevant Property /*e.g., an Active Player is the same
as a Player who possesses the "Active" Property; a Non-Vested Player
does not possess the "Vested" property. */
Rule 4E3: Outsiders

An External Force is anything which exists independently of the game.
That is, it would still exist if the game stopped existing, and would
still exist if the game had never started existing.

An Outsider is a Game Object representing the projection into the Game
of an External Force. As a Game Object, an Outsider is bound by the
Rules. These Rules do not purport to regulate External Forces except
in relation to their interaction with the Game as Outsiders. [[ i.e.,
something that exists outside of the game but is also acknowledged by
the rules as influencing the state of the game, and thus exists within
the game as well, such as a player.]]
Rule 4E6: Fora

A Forum is any External Force that allows Outsiders to communicate.
Each forum may be designated as one of the terms Private, Public, or
Discussion. All Fora are initially Private.
Rule 4E5: Game Documents

Game Documents are Game Objects that consist of text.

In each Game Document, with the exception of this paragraph, text
between a forward slash+asterisk character combination and an
asterisk+forward slash character combination or between double square
brackets (that is, text between "/*" and "*/" or between "[[" and
"]]") shall be deemed Comment Text. Comment Text has no direct effect
on the state of the game, although it can be read.
Rule 4E36: Rules

Rules are Game Documents that define how this game is played. Each
Rule must have a number and may have a name. Rule are numbered from a
set that initially contains all positive integers and zero. When a new
rule is created, the Minister of Law is obligated to assign it the
lowest number available in the set, and then remove that number from
the set. Each rule number shall be prefixed with the notation "4E"
(for Fourth Era) to distinguish it from past rules in previous eras of
B Nomic. Where a Rule, Proposal, Game Action, or other Game Document
refers to a Rule by its number without a prefix, it shall be taken, by
default, to refer to a Rule prefixed with the notation "4E". /* For
example, one can say "Rule 15" to refer to Rule 4E15 */

There exists a ministry known as the Ministry of Law. The Minister of
Law, also known as the Rulekeeper, is responsible for maintaining a
Public Display of the current Rules and Victory Conditions.

The Rulekeeper may, as a Game Action without Objection, change a Rule's Title.
Rule 4E75: Rule Powers and Precedence

There is an Attribute called Power with a Scope of all Rules, a Range
of all rational numbers from 0 to 1 inclusive, and a Default Value of
1/2. The Rulekeeper is responsible for maintaining a Public Display of
the current Powers of Rules.

If two Rules of different Powers contradict each other, the one with a
higher Power takes precedence, unless the one with a higher Power
states otherwise.

If two Rules of the same Power contradict each other and exactly one
says it takes precedence over the other, that one takes precedence. If
two Rules of the same Power contradict each other and exactly one says
the other takes precedence over it, that other one takes precedence.

If two Rules of the same Power contradict each other and the above
paragraph does not state which takes precedence, the one with a lower
number takes precedence.

This Rule takes precedence over all other Rules that determine
precedence of Rules.
Time
Rule 4E14: NTime
Definition

There is a Game Object known as The Clock. The Clock consists of the
following values:

    * A positive integer known as the nweek
    * A positive integer known as the nday
    * A state of being Off or On
    * A nonnegative integer known as the ndelay

Clock Changes

At midnight (00:00:00) Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), if the Clock
is On, then the nday is incremented by 1. Otherwise, the ndelay is
incremented by 1. [[An online UTC clock is available at
http://www.time.gov/.]]

If the nday would be set to a value greater than 12, instead it is set
to 1, the nweek is incremented by 1, and the Clock becomes Off.

At the beginning of each Voting Period, the Clock becomes Off, and
until the Clock next becomes On, the Chairman may as a Game Action
change the clock to be On, provided he has first published to a Public
Forum a Ballot listing any Open Proposals and their text or a link to
said text.

The Clock may be changed from On to Off as a Game Action by the MoM.

If the Clock is Off, there are no Vacant Ministries, and there are no
outstanding ministerial obligations (other than the one described in
this paragraph) the MoM is obligated to turn the Clock On. When the
Clock is turned On, the ndelay is set to zero.
Time

Each time that the Clock nday value changes a new nday begins. /*the
previous nday ends in the moment immediately before the Clock change*/
A period of one nday is the time intervening between two consecutive
changes of the Clock nday value. Each time that the Clock nweek value
changes a new nweek begins. /*the previous nweek ends in the moment
immediately before the Clock change*/ A period of one nweek is the
time intervening between two consecutive changes of the Clock nweek
value.


When the clock turns off, and each time that the Clock ndelay value
changes to a value different from 0 a new ndelay begins. When the
clock turns on, the current ndelay immediately ends. While the clock
is off a period of one ndelay is the time intervening between two
consecutive changes of the Clock ndelay value.
Durations

A duration to the effect of "X ndays", where X is a number, shall be
interpreted to mean that the duration ends at the end of the nday
after X consecutive changes of that value. [[Thus, if it is currently
the middle of nday 2, something happening "in 2 ndays" will occur at
the end of nday 4.]]

A duration to the effect of "X ndelays", where X is a number, shall be
interpreted to mean that the duration ends at the end of the ndelay
after X consecutive changes of that value. The resetting of an ndelay
to 0 from the Clock being turned On does not count as a change for the
purposes of this paragraph.

A duration to the effect of "X nweeks", where X is a number, shall be
interpreted to mean that the duration ends at the end of the nday when
the nday is the same value, but the nweek is increased by X.

A duration to the effect of "X rdays", where X is a number, shall be
interpreted to mean the duration ends after X occurrences of midnight
UTC.
Nyears

A period of 10 nweeks is known as an nyear. Hence, the first 10 nweeks
(1-10 on the Clock) comprise nyear 1, the second (11-20 on the Clock)
comprise nyear 2, and so on.
Starts and ends of nday

All events occurring at the end of an nday occur before all events
occurring at the beginning of the next nday.
The Ministry of Time

There exists a Ministry known as the Ministry of Time. The Minister of
Time, also known as The Doctor, is responsible for maintaining a
Public Display of Game Actions and other changes to the state of the
game scheduled for the future, including the time at which and order
in which these will occur.
Rule 4E31: Calendar

The ndays of the nweek have the following names:
nday 1 = Breakday
nday 2 = Winday
nday 3 = Mulberry
nday 4 = Tango
nday 5 = Corvette
nday 6 = Halfday
nday 7 = Joel
nday 8 = Rushnight
nday 9 = Ballotday
nday 10 = Teucer
nday 11 = Zarpint
nday 12 = Thirnight
nday 13 = Armageddon
Public Holidays

Corvette of the 4th nweek of an nyear is known as "Agoran Silly Hat
Day", in commemoration of the epic Agoran surrender of nyear 14. On
this holiday, it is customary for B to send Agora a mildly offensive
message.

Breakday of the 5th nweek of an nyear is known as "Paranoia-Free Day",
in commemoration of the salutary relegation of all irrational panic to
an upstart foreign nomic. On this holiday, it is customary for Players
of B to flick their Panic Buttons.
Rule 4E9: Eras

The First Era of B Nomic is the time starting with the creation of the
game (approx. 5 Dec 2001, prompted by a five-month lull in A Nomic)
and ending immediately before the start of The Second Era of B Nomic.

The Second Era of B Nomic is the time starting with nweek 85 (approx.
4 Apr 2005, prompted by data loss when the bnomic.org server crashed)
and ending immediately before the start of The Third Era of B Nomic.

The Third Era of B Nomic is the time starting with nweek 112 (approx.
14 Nov 2006, prompted by another five-month lull) and ending
immediately before the start of The Fourth Era of B Nomic

The Fourth Era of B Nomic is the time starting with nweek 135 (10 Dec
2007, prompted by a second State of Emergency in 2 nweeks), and
continuing to the present.
Rule 4E26: The Temporal Prime Directive

No rule or game action may require or force any retroactive changes to
the game state. It is, however, permissible, to create rules or
perform otherwise-legal game actions that simulate retroactive changes
to the game state.
Actions
Rule 4E7: Game Actions

A Game Action is defined as any activity specified by the Rules that
changes the state of the game. To perform a Game Action, an Outsider
must post a message to a Public Forum specifying that he is taking
that action. He must also specify any targets and/or parameters
necessary for that action [[for example, you must specify a proposal
in order to vote against a proposal]]. Unambiguous targets and
parameters specified in Game Actions are valid regardless of
capitalization, punctuation, or exact wording unless explicitly
required by a Rule. He may list multiple actions that he wishes to
take, in which case he takes them in the order he lists them. He may
also state a specific positive integer to perform a particular action
that many times (if legal, of course) sequentially. The Rules also
have the power to cause an Outsider to take Game Actions whether he
posts or not.

Game Actions occur upon reaching the appropriate fora, in the order
they arrived, unless a rule states otherwise. A Game Action that is
caused by a Rule instead of by a Forum Post takes place at the time
specified by the rule.

An Outsider may post a message to a Public Forum specifying that he
will perform a specified Game Action at a specified time in the
future, with reference either to The Clock or to Coordinated Universal
Time (UTC). A Game Action performed in this manner takes place at the
time specified by the Outsider, defaulting to the start of the next
occurrence of any period of time unless otherwise specified by the
Outsider [[ *e.g.* if one writes "I do X on nday 8", X happens at the
start of the next nday 8]]. If multiple Game Actions are set to be
performed in this manner at the same time, they occur in the order
they arrived at the appropriate forum.

Text to the effect that "any player may do X" should be interpreted to
mean that X is a Game Action; but such a declaration implies that only
players may take the Game Action X (unless another declaration permits
other Outsiders to as well).
Rule 4E21: Objecting

The Rules may explicitly require a specific type of action to be
performed "without N objections" where N is a positive natural number.
The phrase "without objection" is synonymous to "without 1 objection"

To perform an action that must be performed without N objections, a
Player must first announce his intention to perform that action.
Having made such an announcement, the Player can perform the action
between 2 and 4 ndays after the nday the intent to perform the action
was announced if, and only if, fewer than N Players object to the
action. A rule may give a different time that must elapse before a
specific action occurs without objection, and in that case, that rule
takes precedence and the Player has two ndays following the required
elapsed time to perform the Action.

Objecting is a Game Action.

A Player may not object to an action he attempted to perform. Neither
may a Player object to an action that another Player who is currently
his Twin attempted to perform.
Rule 4E22: Supporting

The Rules may explicitly require a specific type of action to be
performed "with N supporters" where N is a positive natural number.
The phrase "with support" is synonymous to "with 1 supporter"

To perform an action that must be performed with N supporters, a
Player must first announce his intention to perform that action.
Having made such an announcement, the Player can perform the action
within 2 ndays after at least N Players support the action. If the
action does not receive the required support 2 ndays after the nday
the intent to perform the action was announced, the Player cannot
perform the action under this rule. A rule may give a different time
that must elapse before a specific action fails without support, and
in that case, that Rule takes precedence.

Supporting is a Game Action.

A Player may not support an action he attempted to perform.
Rule 4E12: Transactions

As a Game Action, an Outsider can submit a Transaction. A Transaction
consists of:

    * A clear statement marking the Start of the Transaction, such as
"BEGIN TRANSACTION".
    * A list of Game Actions and assertions about the state of the game.
    * A clear statement marking the End of the Transaction, such as
"END TRANSACTION".

The list is considered in sequence. If it would be legal for the
Outsider to take each Game Action within the Transaction exactly as
specified, and each assertion would be true at the time it occurs
within the list if the Game Actions were so taken, then the
Transaction is said to Succeed. Otherwise, the Transaction is said to
Fail. If it cannot be determined with finality and certainty whether
or not one of a Transaction's assertions is true, or whether one of
its Game Actions is legal, then the Transaction Fails.

The Game Actions in a Transaction that Succeeds occur just as though
the Outsider had taken them individually.

A Transaction that Fails has no effect.
Rule 4E8: Submission

The rules may state that it is legal for Outsiders to Submit certain
document types as a Game Action. To Submit a Game Document, an
Outsider must provide a full description of the Document in the Public
Forum message where they take the Action of Submitting.
Rule 4E4: Joining and Leaving

There exists a ministry known as the Ministry of Society. The Minister
of Society, also known as the Registrar, is responsible for
maintaining a Public Display of the current Players and their
Attributes and Properties, as well as a Public Display of the current
Public and Discussion Fora.

A Player is an Outsider who consents to be governed by the rules,
fulfills all requirements for continued playerhood specified by the
rules, and has become a Player in a manner specified by the rules that
were in effect at the time e became a Player.

Any Human External Force that is not already a Player may request to
join the game by posting a message to a Public Forum containing a
request to become a Player and a uniquely identifying name that e
wishes to be known by.

As a Game Action, any player may Ratify or Reject such a request
within 10 rdays of its being made. A projection of the External Force
into the game becomes a Player as soon as all of the following are
true:

    * At least two rdays have passed since the request was made.
    * The request has been Ratified by at least two Players.
    * Fewer than two players have Rejected the request.

A Player may cease to be a Player by Forfeiting the game; this must be
done in a Public Forum unless there are no working public fora, in
which case he may notify the Player he most recently knew was
Registrar privately instead.

No restrictions may be placed on when a player may forfeit; any player
may forfeit the game at any time (regardless of any timekeeping device
used in the game).

Notwithstanding any requirements that would deny it this status, in
this Rule or any other, The Operantly Conditioned Beast is to be
considered an Outsider and a Player.
Ministries
Rule 4E45: Ministries

A Ministry is a Game Object that can be assigned to at most one
Player. It represents the responsibility of that Player to keep
Players aware of the state of a particular aspect of the game, and may
also represent the power of that Player to affect the gamestate in
ways specified in the Ministry's definition. If a Ministry's defined
powers conflict with any other part of the Rules, the latter takes
precedence.

A Ministry that is not assigned to a player is Vacant.

The terms "post holder", "pot holster", "post holder designate", and
"Minister" refer to the Player in possession of a given Ministry. This
can be abbreviated "PHD".
Rule 4E46: Assigning Ministries

A Player may, as a Game Action, assign a Vacant Ministry to himself.
Rule 4E47: Leaving Ministries

A Minister may Resign from his Ministry via Game Action. At that time,
the Ministry becomes Vacant.

A Minister who loses the Active property immediately vacates any
Ministries he holds upon doing so.
Rule 4E48: Usurping Ministries

There exists an attribute Retainer with a scope of all Ministries, a
range of all integers, and a default value of 50. At the end of each
nweek, the Retainer for each Ministry is reduced by 10. When a Player
takes a Ministry the Retainer for that Ministry is set to the default.
When a Ministry ceases to have a Minister who is a Player the Retainer
for that Ministry is set to 0.

As a Game Action a Player may pay any number of points to increase or
decrease the Retainer of any Ministry by the same number.

As a Game Action a Player may usurp a Ministry whose Retainer is less
than or equal to 0, unless that Player has held that Ministry during
the current or previous nweek or the current Minister (if any) is
their twin.

As a Game Action with 2 Support a Player may usurp a Ministry whose
Retainer is less than or equal to 0.
Rule 4E49: Ministry Rewards

At the end of each nweek, for each Ministry that has been continuously
held by the same minister since the clock was first turned on that
nweek, its Minister earns 25 macks (or 5 macks if the Ministry is a
mini-Ministry).
Rule 4E50: Public Displays

A Public Display is a display of an aspect of the current state of the
game in a form easily accessible to all Players. Good Public Displays
can include the B Nomic wiki or posting on a regular basis to a Public
Forum.

If the rules require a Ministry to maintain a public display, then
that Ministry is obligated to update that public display to reflect
the current gamestate whenever the data related to is is modified.
However, this obligation is fulfilled even if there are accidental
errors and/or omissions in the updated data of the public display.

Any player may challenge a public display that is maintained by a
Ministry as a Game Action by listing any errors he believes to be
present in that public display. The Minister who maintains that
display is obligated to address those errors by either correcting them
or indicating why he believes them to be already correct.

A Player may, as a Game Action with 4 Support and no Objections within
2 rdays, Approve a Public Display. The Public Display in question must
either be provided in full as part of the Game Action or linked to on
a static web page [[e.g. permanent link on the wiki]]. When a Player
successfully Approves a Public Display, the Gamestate is changed to
reflect what it would be if the Approved Public Display were accurate
as of the time the Player attempted to Approve it. Any subsequent
changes (Game Actions or automatically triggered events) that would
normally be reflected in this Public Display are retroactively
simulated.
Rule 4E51: The MetaMin

There exists a Ministry called the Ministry of Ministry, also known as
the MetaMinistry. The Minister of Ministry may be referred to as the
MoM, the MetaMin, or Kurt Gödel.

The MetaMin is responsible for maintaining a Public Display of all
existing Ministries, showing their names, responsibilities, retainers,
and current holders.

The MetaMin is also responsible for tracking and displaying any state
of the game that isn't covered by another Ministry.
Rule 4E53: Ministerial Obligations

A rule or passed proposal can create an obligation for a Ministry to
take some action within its powers. A Minister shall fulfill any
obligations on his Ministry in a Jiffy.

ny Minister who fails to perform an obligation within the allotted
time can be removed from his Ministry by any Player as a Game Action.

Whenever a new Minister takes over a Ministry, the time limit for any
obligations on that Ministry are reset. Therefore a new Minister shall
always have a Jiffy to fulfill any obligations on the Ministry he has
taken over.
Gameplay
Rule 4E17: Points

Any Game Object may have points. Points are Game Objects. The number
of points an object possesses may also be referred to as that object's
"score." An object's score cannot be less than zero.
Rule 4E33: Currency

A "currency owning object", or COO, is a type of game object that can
own currency (also called "money"). All players are currency owning
objects.

The rule or rules defining a new currency will define an attribute the
scope of which is all COOs. The value of this attribute shows how much
of that currency the COO has.

A COO can give currency to another COO by a game action, as follows: e
specifies an amount (which cannot be greater than the value of his
currency attribute, or less than zero) and a currency; that amount is
deducted from eir currency attribute; the receiving COO's currency
attribute is increased by the amount.

If the COO has a non-positive currency attribute for a given currency,
then he cannot give that currency to another COO. If for any reason
the receiving COO's currency attribute cannot go up, or the giving
COO's currency attribute cannot go down, then nothing happens.

Players can, via game action, exchange points for currency. The rule
or rules defining the currency will set the exchange rate. The player
declares how many points he wishes to exchange (which cannot be less
than 0 or more points than he has) and the currency he wishes to
receive. He loses that many points and gains (exchange rate x points)
in the currency. If for any reason the amount of his points cannot go
down or the amount of his chosen currency cannot go up, then nothing
happens.
Rule 4E34: Mackerel

The default currency of this game is mackerel, also known as a mack
(singular) or macks (plural). This can be shortened to a lowercase m.
[[See below.]]

There is an attribute "mackerel": scope is all currency owning
objects; range is non-negative integers; default value is 50. The
value of this attribute should always be expressed starting with a
lowercase m, for example, m50.

The points -> mackerel exchange rate is 5.0 - that is, 1 point may be
exchanged for m5.

At the beginning of each nweek, each player who has the Active
Property gains m25.
Rule 4E35: devices

A "device" is a type of game object.

A "device owner object", or DOO, is a type of game object that may own
devices. All players are device owner objects.

There is an attribute "device owner": scope is all devices; range is
all device owner objects. The default value is defined when the device
is defined. The "owner" of any given device is the value of the device
owner attribute of that device (that is, the owner is the DOO that the
attribute points to).

A device is either "unique" or "non-unique". There cannot be more than
one of each unique device in the game at any given time. When a
non-unique device is defined, the definition must state how many such
devices exist.

A device may have powers. Each power consists of:

    * An Effect: what happens when the power is used; and
    * A Trigger: something that must happen to trigger the effect; and
    * Zero or more Conditions: things that must be true for the effect
to take place; and
    * Zero or more Properties.

The rule or rules defining a device detail the powers associated with it.

If there is any choice to be made about how a device is triggered or
what objects it affects then the owner and only the owner of the
device makes that decision; and must make it when it is triggered. The
rules must explicitly state the nature of the choice. If there is any
other ambiguity in the rules about how a power assigned to a device
works, then that power has no effect.

The owner of a device may transfer ownership to another DOO. If the
owner is a player, then this is done via a game action - the player
declares who/what the new owner is. If the owner is not a player, then
the rules must explicitly state under what circumstances ownership
changes and exactly what happens. In both cases the owner attribute
changes to the new DOO.

The owner of a device may destroy it as a Game Action. When a DOO
ceases to be a DOO, or ceases to exist as a Game Object, all devices
owned by it are destroyed.

A "blueprint" is a type of game object that has no powers, but
specifies a set of Attributes (except for device owner), Properties,
powers, Properties of powers, and default states that can be used to
define a device.

A blueprint is either "unique" or "non-unique". A unique blueprint is
used to define a unique device, and ceases to exist upon definition of
said device. A non-unique blueprint is used to define a non-unique
device, and may be used repeatedly and indefinitely.

Price is an Attribute with a Scope of all blueprints, a Range of
nonnegative rational amounts of currency, and a Default Value of 50
mackerel.

If a Device has the Cursed Property, the Owner of the Device:

    * cannot destroy the device; and
    * cannot transfer ownership of the device unless allowed by a
power of the device.

If a power has the Cooldown Property, that power can only be triggered
if it has not been triggered on that device during the current nweek.

If a power has the RPG Property, the owner of the device can only use
that power of the device if he is not Dead, and, unless that power
specifies otherwise, it has no effect if it targets a Dead Player.

If a power has the Disposable Property, that device ceases to exist
after that power's effects have occurred.
Rule 4E37: The Ministry of Goods

There exists a ministry known as the Ministry of Goods. The Minister
of Goods, also known as the Artisan, is responsible for maintaining a
Public Display of all currently existing devices and their Attributes,
Properties, and current states. In addition, the Artisan must maintain
a Public Display of all currently existing blueprints and their
Attributes, Properties, and default states.

The Artisan may, as a Game Action on behalf of the Ministry of Goods
and without 2 objections within 2 ndays, create a blueprint. The
Ministry of Goods may only create a single blueprint in a given nweek,
and can do so no later than Corvette [[nday 5]] of that nweek.

Any player with sufficient currency may purchase a device from the
Ministry of Goods. Upon purchase, a device is instantly defined based
on a blueprint designated by this player, who becomes the device
owner. The price, as specified by the blueprint in question, is
instantly subtracted from this player's currency.

To purchase a non-unique device, a player announces his intent via a
Public Forum, as a Game Action. The Artisan may, at any time and
without 2 objections within 2 ndays, alter the price of any non-unique
blueprint.

Any unique blueprint is put to auction immediately upon creation. Any
player, including the Artisan, may, as a Game Action, submit a
non-retractable bid via a Public Forum, specifying an amount of
mackerel. All bids must be an amount of macks divisible by A Metric
Bunch. The highest amount of mackerel bid on a blueprint is its price.
Bidding ends at the start of Zarpint [[nday 11]], at which time the
unique device is purchased, if possible, by the highest bidder. A
highest bidder with insufficient mackerel may attempt to collect
sufficient mackerel during 1 additional nday, at the end of which
purchase occurs if possible. If he fails to collect sufficient
mackerel, his Voting Power is set to 0, he loses 25 points, and the
next highest bidder may purchase the unique device 1 nday later. If
neither of the two highest bidders successfully purchases the unique
device, or if such bidders do not exist, the unique blueprint ceases
to exist without device creation.
Rule 4E39: Message Of The nweek

There exists a unique Game Object called the Message Of The nweek,
also known as the motnw. The motnw has one Attribute called the
Message, with a Scope of the motnw Object, a Range of any string of
between 1 and 256 characters inclusive, and a Default Value of "This
space intentionally left blank".

The Registrar, as a Game Action with Support, may change the value of
the motnw Message, but cannot change the value more than once in an
nweek.

The value of the motnw Message Attribute should be prominently posted
on a Public Display. [[the main page of the B Nomic wiki is ideal]]
Rule 4E57: The Field

The Field is a map consisting of a grid of squares arranged into rows
and columns. Each square on The Field is adjacent to the four squares
directly bordering it. Unless otherwise specified in the current Field
Match, The Field is a torus, and squares along the edges are adjacent
to squares along the corresponding edges.

There exists a Ministry known as the Ministry of Play. The Minister of
Play, also known as the Referee, is responsible for maintaining a
Public Display of the Field, all Field Objects, and their attributes
and properties.

A Field Object is a type of Game Object which may occupy one or more
squares on The Field. Each Field Object has an owner, which is
typically a Player. Each Field Object has a Size attribute which
represents how many squares that Field Object occupies on The Field,
and is by default 1 x 1. In addition, each Field Object may have other
properties and attributes assigned to it by it's describing Field
Match.

The Field and each Field Object may have one or more actions attached
to it. Every action has: A Trigger - This is a set of conditions that
must be true for this action to take place. An Effect - This is what
takes place when the conditions in the Trigger are true. Such effects
might be (but are not limited to):

    * Creating, destroying, or modifying a Field Object
    * Placing a Field Object onto a paticular location in the Field
    * Moving a Field Object on the Field.
    * Modifying the ownership, size, or another property or attribute
of a Field Object.

If the effects of an action of The Field or a Field Object would
conflict with the rules, that portion of the effect is null and void.

An Invokable Action is an action of The Field or a Field Object which
has a triggering condition of a Player taking a specific Game Action.
Typically, players can only use Invokable Actions only on Field
Objects they own.
Rule 4E58: Field Matches

A Field Match is a Game Document. The Referee is responsible for
maintaining a Public Display of all Field Matches. A proposal may
create, modify, or destroy a Field Match. In order to be valid, a
Field Match must:

    * Have a name
    * Specify a size for the field in rows & columns.
    * Describe one or more types of Field Objects.
    * Specify any actions for The Field and the described Field
Objects, including at least one Invokable Action.
    * Specify one action whose effect to cause the end of that Field
Match, and possibly declare one or more winners of that Field Match.
    * Specify a means of communication for Invokable Actions (ie: a
private message to the Referee, a public message to the forum)
    * Specify a Trophy to award when the Win by Field Match Victory
Condition is triggered.

If there is not presently one, the Referee may choose one Field Match
to be the Current Field Match as a Game Action. Players are encouraged
not to modify the Current Field Match by proposal unless necessary.
When the Referee selects a Current Field Match, he sets the size of
The Field to what is specified in the Current Field Match, and then
carries out the effects of any actions of The Field which occur when
that Field Match becomes current (in the order they are listed in the
Field Match).

When there is a Current Field Match, an Outsider may make an Invokable
Action related to the Current Field Match by the means specified in
the Current Field Match. When the Referee receives a request to make
an Invokable Action, he is obligated to Turn the Field, but he shall
not Turn the Field more than once per rday.

The Priority List is a Public Display maintained by the Referee. The
Priority List shall contain a list of all Field Objects currently in
existence on The Field. Whenever a new Field Object is created by an
action, the Referee shall add that object to the bottom of the
Priority List. If multiple Field Objects are created at the same time,
the Referee shall add them in random order. If a Field Object is
destroyed, the Referee shall remove it from the Priority List.

When the Referee Turns the Field, he does the following:

1. For each action of The Field (in the order they are listed in the
Current Field Match) if the triggering conditions are true, the
Referee carries out the effects of that action.

2. Starting at the top of the Priority List and evaluating each Field
Object in order, for each action of that Field Object (in the order
actions are listed in the Current Field Match) if the triggering
conditions of that action are true, the Referee carries out the
effects of that action.

3. The Referee updates The Field and the Priority List to reflect
their current state. Note that some actions (such as Invokable
Actions) may be triggered multiple times in the same Turn of the
Field. When such is the case, the Referee carries out the effects of
that action for each time the action is triggered.

If, while Turning the Field, the effects of an action cause the end of
the Current Field Match, that Field Match ceases to be the Current
Field Match, all Field Objects are destroyed, and the Priority List
and Field are cleared.
Rule 4E61: DNA and twins

There is an Attribute "DNA" with a Scope of all Players, a Range of
two-character-strings composed entirely of the uppercase letters A, T,
G, and C, and the digits 5 and 2, and a Default Value of AA.

Once per nweek, as a Game Action, a Player who has not yet Voted on
any currently Pending Proposals may Mutate, changing only one of the
characters that forms his DNA but leaving both characters in the same
order. If he changes from two letters to a letter and a digit, he must
pay m25; if he changes from a letter and a digit to two digits, he
must pay m52.

Players with identical DNA are said to be Twins. In no case shall a
Player be considered to be his own Twin.
Rule 4E16: Victory

Trophies are Game Objects. The number of Trophies held by a player is
known as that player's Win Count. Players may only receive Trophies in
accordance with this rule. Each Trophy has a description, which is a
block of text describing what the Trophy looks like.

Victory Conditions are Game Documents.

Each Victory Condition has four parts:

    * A Trigger: The event that must happen to cause someone to win,
plus any required conditions on the gamestate.
    * Victors: A clause defining which player(s) win.
    * A Cleanup: A set of gamestate changes that happen when this
condition takes effect (presumably that make it so that the condition
is no longer satisfied).
    * A Prize: A description of the Trophy that is awarded to each Victor.

If the events in a Victory Condition's Trigger happen, then that
Condition becomes Fulfilled, unless it already was. When a condition
becomes Fulfilled, its Victors are each awarded a Trophy with the
description given by its Prize, and then its Cleanup happens.

At the end of each nweek, every Fulfilled Victory Condition ceases to
be Fulfilled.

/* In other words, you can't win the same way twice in an nweek. */
Rule 4E40: Threat Awareness

There exists a unique Game Object called the Threat Awareness
Flagpole. There exists an Attribute named the Threat Flag, with a
Scope of the unique Threat Awareness Flagpole, a Range of either "Pink
Ponies", "Polka Dots", "Setting Orange", "Jolly Roger", or "Black
Watch Plaid", and has a Default Value of Pink Ponies.

The Minister of Ministries is responsible for updating the Threat
Flag, as he sees fit, to notify players of the potential dangers to
the state and integrity of the Game. The Minister of Ministries, as a
Game Action, may change the value of the Threat Flag to either Pink
Ponies, Polka Dots, Setting Orange, or Jolly Roger, but shall not
change this value more than once per nday. A statement that says
"hoisting the X flag" is equivalent to saying "setting the Threat Flag
value to X".

The meanings of the Threat Flags, in order of ascending threat, are as follows:

    * Pink Ponies: None (Nothing to see here, move along)
    * Polka Dots: Low (Strange things are afoot at the Circle B)
    * Setting Orange: Moderate (Something is rotten in the state of B)
    * Jolly Roger: High (Find a helmet)
    * Black Watch Plaid: Imminent (Put on the helmet)

If, at any time, there are four or more PEPs who are Paranoid, the
value of the Threat Flag is set to Black Watch Plaid. If, at any time,
there are less than four PEPs who are Paranoid, and the value of the
Threat Flag is Black Watch Plaid, the value of the Threat Flag is set
to Jolly Roger.
Rule 4E74: RPG

There is an attribute "Hit Points", also known as "HP", with a scope
of all Players, a range of all non-negative integers, and a default
value of 10.

There is an attribute called Health, with a scope of the Players, a
Range of {Alive (syn. Living), Dead, Undead}, and a default value of
Alive. If a Player's Hit Points would ver be set to a value less than
or equal to 0, it is instead set to 0 and the Player becomes Dead. An
Alp is a Player who is Alive.

There is an attribute "Maximum Hit Points" with a scope of all
players, a range of all non-negative integers, and a default value of
10. Thrice per nweek (at the end of ndays 4, 8, and 12), any player
who is "Alive" whose hit points are lower than his attribute "Maximum
Hit Points" shall recover 1 hit point up to the value of their
attribute "Maximum Hit Points." If a Player's HP is ever greater than
his Maximum HP, it immediately becomes equal to it.

A Player may not perform any action that directly causes the Hit
Points of another Player who is currently his Twin to be reduced.

At the beginning of each nweek, the Living, Active player who
inflicted the least amount of damage to other players during the
previous nweek gains 100 mackerel. If multiple Living, Active players
share this distinction, the award is split equally between them. Any
remainder from the division is discarded.

Damage (pl. damage) is the loss of one Hit Point. Healing (pl.
healing) is the gain of one Hit Point.

Causing damage to a member of The Horde is a Misdemeanor.
Rule 4E66: Escaping the Grave

There is an Attribute "Killer" with a scope of all Dead and Undead
Players, a range of all Players and "Circumstances", and a default
Value of Circumstances. When a Player becomes Dead, his Killer is set
to the Player who directly caused him to become Dead, if such a Player
exists.

There is an Attribute "Necromancer", with a scope of all Undead
Players, a range of all Players and "None Yet", and a default Value of
"None Yet". When a Player becomes Undead, his Necromancer Value is set
to the Player who caused him to become Undead.

There is a List Attribute "Mojo Collection" with a scope of all Alps,
a range of all Players, a MinLength of 0, a MaxLength of the number of
Players, and a default value of {}. A Player whose Mojo Collection
includes another Player as an Article, the first may be said to have
or possess the other's Mojo (pl. Mojo). No two Articles within a
single Instance of the List Attribute Mojo Collection may be
identical. If a Player ceases to be Alive, his Mojo List Attribute is
set to {}.

An Alp who possesses his own Mojo along with that of a Dead Player and
his Killer may, as a Game Action, Raise the Dead Player, causing him
to become Undead. The Alp then ceases to possess these Mojo.

Upon becoming Undead, a Player loses the Dead Property and his Maximum
Hit Points and Hit Points are set to 5.
Rule 4E67: Beyond the Grave

Whenever an Undead Player causes another Player damage, his
Necromancer gains a corresponding number of Hit Points.

An Undead Player who causes his Killer (unless he is his own Killer)
to become Dead or causes 3 other Players to become Dead becomes Alive.
His Hit Points is set to 1.

Once per rday, a given Undead Player may, as a Game Action, Gnaw a
Living Player, dealing him 2 damage. This increases the Undead
Player's HP by 1.

Once during the first 3 days of an nweek, a given Undead Player may,
as a Game Action, Infect a Living Player, giving him the "Infected"
Property. At the end of an nweek (before automatic nweekly healing),
each Infected Player takes (10 minus damage he caused since becoming
Infected, to a minimum of 0) damage and loses the Infected Property.
Rule 4E68: Socks

Socks are Game Objects. The Company is a Game Object.

There exists an Attribute called "Sock Color" with a Scope of all
Socks, a Range of {Blue, Black, Brown, Burnt Sienna, Beige, Burgundy},
and a Default Value of Blue. There exists an Attribute called
"Sockholder" with a Scope of all Socks, a Range of all Potential
Sockholders, and a Default Value of the Company.

All Players are Potential Sockholders. The Company is a Potential
Sockholder. Nothing is a Potential Sockholder unless so explicitly
specified in the Rules.

A Potential Sockholder who is the Sockholder of a Sock is said to
"hold", "possess", or "own" that Sock. A Sock is said to "belong" to
its Sockholder.

A Player may purchase a Sock from the Company as a Game Action if the
following conditions are met:

    * The Player possesses at least 80 mackerel.
    * The Player has specified a Sock Color for this purchase.
    * The Company owns at least one Sock of that Sock Color.

When a Player purchases a Sock from the Company, the Player's mackerel
is decreased by m80 and one Sock of the specified Sock Color belonging
to the Company has its Sockholder attribute changed to the Player.

A Sock whose Sock Color is [color] may be referred to as "a [color]
Sock", "a Sock of the Color [color]", "a Sock of [color]", or "a piece
of [color] foowear". A Sock's Sock Color may be referred to as its
Color.

A Player may transfer a Sock of a specified Color to another Potential
Sockholder as a Game Action. One Sock of the specified Sock Color
belonging to the Player has its Sockholder attribute changed to the
other Potential Sockholder.
Rule 4E80: Laundress

There exists a ministry known as the Ministry of Laundry. The Minister
of Laundry, also known as the Washerwoman, is responsible for
maintaining a Public Display of all Sock Market activity, including
the color of proposals.
Rule 4E69: Dividends

There exists an Attribute called "Proposal Color" with a Scope of all
Pending or Open Proposals, a Range of {Blue, Black, Brown, Burnt
Sienna, Beige, Burgundy, Blank}, and a Default Value of Blank.

A Player may, as a Game Action, change the Proposal Color of a Pending
Proposal to a value of his choice. No Player may make more than one
such change per nday.

When a Proposal Passes, each Sock whose Sock Color is the same as the
Proposal's Proposal Color increases its Sockholder's mackerel by m10.
Rule 4E71: Operant Conditioning
The Beast

The Operantly Conditioned Beast (aka The Beast or The OCB) is an
Outsider and a Player. The Beast perfoms Game Actions in one of two
ways:

- Any given Player may, once per nweek, as a Game Action with no
objection in two rdays, cause the Beast to take a single Game Action.

- The Beast is also capable of causing certain changes to the state of
the Game, which are specified in Tricks*. Tricks are randomly
performed on a fixed schedule (see below), and no Player may cause the
Beast to perform a Trick as a Game Action.
The Tricks

There is an Attribute "Response" with a scope of all Tricks, a range
of all positive integers, and a default value of 10.

As a Game Action, a Player may Reinforce the last Trick that has been
performed, increasing its Response value by 1.

As a Game Action, a Player may Punish the last Trick that has been
performed, decreasing its Response value by 1.

A Player who has Reinforced or Punished may not perform either of
these Game Actions until the OCB next performs a Trick.

There is an Attribute "Timing" with a scope of all Tricks, a range of
"Anytime" and "Voting", and a default value of "Anytime".

At the start of each nday 1, 5, and 9, the OCB performs a single
Trick, randomly selected from among existing Tricks. The probability
that a specific Trick is selected to be performed is equal to the
proportion of the sum total of all Response values represented by the
Response value of that Trick. When neither a Voting Period nor a
Particular Voting Period are in progress, Tricks with a Timing of
"Voting" are not included in the selection process and may not be
performed.

As a Game Action, with support and without objection, a Player may
Teach the OCB a new Trick, defining the changes to the gamestate that
its performance enacts and, optionally, its Timing.

A Trick whose Response value would become 0 ceases to exist.
The Ranger

There exists a Ministry known as the Ministry of Fauna. The Minister
of Fauna, also known as the Ranger, is responsible for maintaining a
Public Display of the OCB's Attributes and Properties and of all
Tricks as well as their Attributes.

Whenever the OCB is scheduled to perform a Trick according to the
Rules, the Ranger is obliged to select a Trick to be performed, in
accordance with the probabilities above and having previously
announced the mode and modalities of this selection to the Public
Forum. If the Ranger fails to do so within 1 rday, any Player who is
the first to do so may carry out this selection, provided e respects
all associated requirements.
Rule Changes
Rule 4E15: Proposals
The Ministry of Change

There exists a ministry known as the Ministry of Change. The Minister
of Change, also known as the Chairman, is responsible for maintaining
a Public Display of the current Proposals, including whether they have
passed or failed if applicable.

At the end of the nday prior to the beginning of a voting period, the
Minister of Change is obligated to publish a Game Document known as a
ballot. Such a document should list all items to be voted upon during
that voting period.

At the end of a voting period, the Minister of Change is obligated to
publish the results of the voting, including each vote received, the
final outcome for each item being voted upon, and the changes to any
scoring as a result of voting.
Definition

Proposals are Game Documents. Each of the following Attributes has a
Scope of Proposals:

    * Title (Range: all strings; Default: the empty string)
    * Body (Range: all strings; Default: the empty string)
    * Status (Range: Pending, Open, Historical; Default: Pending)
    * Success (Range: Won, Discarded, Lost, Undecided; Default: Undecided)
    * Proposal Number (Range: null + all integers; Default: null)
    * Conflicts (Range: all sets of other proposals; Default: the empty set)
    * Dependencies (Range: all sets of other proposals; Default: the empty set)

If, in a set of two proposals, either lists the other as a Conflict,
those proposals are said to Conflict with each other.

If one proposal lists another on its list of Dependencies, then the
first is said to Depend on the second.

/* Note that a proposal may contain text in addition to its list of
gamestate changes, but this text is generally ignored. It may be
unclear whether or not a particular part of the text is a gamestate
change; determining this is left to the Chairman and the justice
system. */
Submission and Revision

Any player may submit a proposal at any time, or may revise a Pending
proposal he owns by resubmitting it, unless a rule says otherwise. To
submit a proposal, a player need only specify its Body. He may
optionally also specify its Title, Conflicts, and Dependencies; if any
of these are not specified, they default to being empty. He may not
specify a Conflict with a Proposal whose Author is currently his Twin.

The player who submits a proposal is known as the Proposal's Author,
and is said to own that proposal.

When a new proposal is submitted, it is assigned the Status Pending,
the Success state Undecided, and the Proposal Number null. The
Chairman is obligated to assign a new Proposal Number that is greater
than all previously used Proposal Numbers to each proposal with a
number of null.

/* Note that this doesn't include other things called Proposal Numbers
from the distant past; the fact that five years ago there were
proposals numbered in the thousands is irrelevant. */

As a Game Action a Player may withdraw a proposal with a status of
Pending if they are the Author of that Proposal. A Proposal that is
withdrawn has its Status set to Historical and its Success state set
to Lost.
Voting

The Voting Period for a given nweek, or just "Voting", is defined as
the period of time from the beginning of nday 9 of that nweek until
the end of that nweek.

At the beginning of each Voting Period, all Pending proposals become Open.

A Registered Voter is an Outsider that is allowed to vote on Proposals.

A Registered Voter may submit a Vote on an Open proposal at any time.
The Vote must be one of the words FOR, AGAINST, ABSTAIN, or SHELVE;
other words are ignored

Voting AGAINST a Proposal whose Author is currently one's Twin
constitutes a Felony known as Blood Betrayal, for which both the
minimum and maximum punishment is a fine of m100. Committing Blood
Betrayal multiple times in a given nweek cannot result in more than a
single punishment.

The most recent Vote on a proposal by a Registered Voter is called
that Registered Voter's Final Vote on that proposal.
Tallying the votes

A Proposal's Stamina is equal to the number of Registered Voters whose
Final Vote on that Proposal is FOR, plus the number of Registered
Voters whose Final Vote on that Proposal is AGAINST, plus number of
Registered Voters whose Final Vote on that Proposal is SHELVE.

A proposal's Strength is equal to the number of Registered Voters
whose Final Vote on that proposal is FOR minus the number of
Registered Voters whose Final Vote on that proposal is AGAINST or
SHELVE.

When Voting or Particular Voting ends, the following events happen, in order:

    * Each Open proposal with a Stamina less than or equal to A
Quiggle becomes Discarded.
    * Each Open proposal with positive Strength becomes Won; each Open
proposal with negative Strength that would have positive Strength if
SHELVE votes were counted as FOR votes is Discarded; and all other
proposals become Lost.
    * Dependency Culling occurs (see below).
    * Conflict Culling occurs (see below).
    * Dependency Culling occurs again.
    * All Open proposals that are Won Pass, in order by Proposal Number.
    * All Open proposals become Historical

When a proposal Passes, the game is changed according to the
instructions in its Body.

Proposals that do not Pass and are not Discarded are said to have Failed.

A proposal that is Shelved in two consecutive nweeks is considered
both Lost and Failed and shall not appear on a later ballot.
Dependency Culling

When Dependency Culling occurs, every Open proposal is processed in
ascending order by Proposal Number. When a proposal is processed in
this manner, if it Depends on a proposal that is Lost or Discarded,
then it becomes Lost itself. This process is repeated as long as there
is any Open proposal that Depends on a Lost proposal and is not Lost
itself.
Conflict Culling

When Conflict Culling occurs, every Open proposal is processed in
descending order of Strength, and of Proposal Number when Strength is
equal. When a proposal is processed in this manner, if it is Won, then
every proposal that Conflicts with it becomes Lost.
Rule 4E20: Players May Vote

All Players are Registered Voters.
Rule 4E19: Scoring

Whenever a Proposal becomes Historical,

    * Each Player whose Final Vote on the Proposal was not ABSTAIN
gains 1 point.

    * If the Proposal Passed, its Author gains 1 point for each Player
whose Final Vote on the proposal was FOR.

    * If the Proposal was ever Won, its Author gains 1 point for each
Player whose Final Vote on the proposal was FOR.

    * If the Proposal Failed and was never Won, then its Author loses 3 points.

Rule 4E28: Active Players

The group of Players that do not currently possess the Active property
may be called "The Horde".

At the beginning of each nweek, the players that voted in the previous
nweek gain the "Vested" property, the players that failed to vote in
the previous nweek lose the "Vested" property.

When any Player performs a Game Action /*including registering as a
Player */, he gains the Active property. Any Player can, as a Game
Action, remove the Active property of another Player who has not
performed a Game Action in the current or previous nweek.
Rule 4E77: Tweaks

A Tweak is a Game Document describing changes to be made to the rules
and/or game state of B Nomic. A Player may submit a single Tweak per
nweek. A submitted Tweak cannot be revised after it has been
submitted.

As a Game Action without Objection, a Player can Activate a Tweak he
submitted during the current or previous nweek, provided he has not
previously attempted to Activate the same Tweak. When a Tweak is
Activated, the changes it describes take effect.
Justice
Rule 4E18: Judgment
the Oracle

There exists a ministry known as the Ministry of Questions. The
Minister of Questions, also known as the Oracle, is responsible for
maintaining a Public Display of the current Consultations. There
exists an Object called the staff of ZOT. The Oracle holds the staff
of ZOT.
Consultations

Any External Force may as a Game Action submit a Consultation.

Consultations are Game Documents that contain a Question that is to be
Answered. The Question must be posed in such a form as to permit a yes
or no reply. Consultations may also contain:

    * Reasoning, meaning text that clarifies the intent of the Consultation.
    * the name of a Player that is to be considered as the Unbeliever
for that Consultation.

That player submitting the consultation will be known as Supplicant
regarding that consultation.

Consultations are given a Consultation Number by the Oracle when
assigned to a Priest. For each new Consultation, the Consultation
number is usually equal to 1 or, if such Number is already in use, to
the greatest existing Consultation Number incremented by one. The
Oracle may arbitrarily override the normal assignment of Consultation
numbers, and choose a number of his liking for a new Consultation.

A Consultation is in one of the states of Waiting, ZOTTED and
Pondered. A Consultation is initially Waiting.

Whenever there exists a Consultation which has no priest assigned, the
Oracle is obligated to either assign a priest to that Consultation or
ZOT it.
ZOTTING

Upon submission of a Consultation the Oracle shall as a Game Action
select a Priest for that Consultation. Alternatively the Oracle may
wield the staff of ZOT and cause the Consultation to be ZOTTED, if in
his insight he considers the contained Question to be malformed,
ambiguous, irrelevant or otherwise unworthy. ZOTTED consultations have
no further effect.

The Oracle may also ZOT a Waiting Consultation if has not been
Answered yet and its assigned Priest requests him to do so. In this
case the Oracle is required to grant the request or immediately
reassign the Consultation to a new Priest instead.

If a Consultation is ZOTTED by the Oracle before he assigns it to a
Priest, the Oracle is not required to record the Consultation in the
Public Display.
Selecting a Priest

An Active Player, as a Game Action, may gain the Ordained Property.
Any Player, as a Game Action, may remove their Ordained Property. Any
Player that loses the Active Property also loses the Ordained
Property.

Whenever a Priest is to be selected for a Consultation, the Oracle
shall select one between the eligible Players. All Ordained Players,
except the Supplicant, the Unbeliever if the Consultation names one,
the Oracle and Players that have already been selected as Priests for
that Consultation, are eligible for selection as Priests. If no Player
is eligible, the Oracle is automatically selected as Priest.
The Answer

The selected Priest shall find inspiration in his knowledge of the
Rules and, as a Game Action, Answer his assigned Consultation YES, NO,
or , in cases where neither of these two answers can potentially be
logically correct, PARADOX, causing it to become Answered. The Priest
may also submit his own Reasoning, explaining how his mystical
interpretation of the Rules has guided him in his Answer. If he deems
it necessary the Priest may also submit as a game action an
Oracularity detailing changes needed to correct the state of the game.

If a Consultation remains Answered for four full Ndays (or Ndelays if
the clock is off), it becomes Pondered.

For the purposes of answering Consultations the words "True",
"Affirmative" and "Correct" are to be considered synonymous with
"Yes", the words "False", "Negative" and "Incorrect" are to be
considered synonymous with "No", and the words "Maybe", "Undecidable"
and "Göd Knows" are to be considered synonymous with "Paradox".
Automatic Reassignment

Any Priest, who is not the Oracle and has not answered a Consultation
he has been assigned to within a Jiffy, ceases to be the Priest for
any Consultations he is assigned to and loses the Ordained Property.
If a Player loses the Ordained Property in this manner, he cannot
regain the Ordained Property until the next nweek.
Overriding Consultations

When a Priest submits an answer to a consultation, within three ndays
(or ndelays if the clock is off) since its submission, any player
except the Priest, Unbeliever, and the Supplicant may, as a Game
Action, make a Claim regarding the Answer and the Oracularity (if one
exists). Such Claims will ultimately state that the player believes
the answer (and Oracularity) to be Consistent or Inconsistent. A
Player may not Claim an answer submitted by a Priest who is currently
his Twin to be Inconsistent. If a Player submits multiple Claims, only
the last one submitted shall be counted.

A Jiffy after the Answer has been submitted the Oracle shall tally any
such Claims. If there exist more Claims of Inconsistency than claims
of Consistency, the consultation ceases to be Answered and becomes
Waiting. The Oracle shall then assign a new Priest to the
Consultation. The previous Priest's answer and Oracularity (if any) is
discarded.
Oracularities

As part of their answer a Priest may submit an Oracularity. An
Oracularity is a Game Document which includes a list of changes to the
rules and gamestate of B Nomic. By nature, an Oracularity is a
transaction and is implied to be enclosed in "BEGIN TRANSACTION" and
"END TRANSACTION" clauses.

If the answered question is in relation to an ambiguity in the rules,
the Oracularity should address that ambiguity by including changes to
the rules in question to clarify.

When a Consultation becomes Pondered then any Oracularity submitted
with the answer is followed and the gamestate and rule changes it
calls for take effect.
Rule 4E54: Criminal Offenses

The rules may make certain Game Actions or gamestates involving a
Player as Crimes by defining them as one of the subcategories of
Crimes--Felonies or Misdemeanors.

An Offense is a single instance of a Player being so involved in a Crime.

A Player is Guilty of an Offense if a Jury has Decided so. If a Player
is Guilty of an Offense, and his Punishment has not been Assigned for
that Offense, the Judge is obligated to Assign the Punishment, which
must be greater than or equal in severity to the Minimum Punishment
for the Crime and less than or equal in severity to the Maximum
Punishment for the Crime.

Any Player can, with 4 Support, declare a Punishment to be UNFAIR and
reduce it to the Minimum Punishment for the Crime in question.

When not otherwise specified, the Minimum Punishment for a Misdemeanor
shall be a fine of m1 and the Maximum Punishment a fine of m50.

When not otherwise specified, the Minimum Punishment for a Felony
shall be a fine of m25 and the Maximum Punishment a fine of m500.

A fine consists of the amount of the fine being deducted from the
Guilty Player's mackerel.
Rule 4E72: Since We're not Using the Word...

A Quorum is a Game Document, which may be submitted at any time. It consists of

    * An Accusation, which is a Crime
    * An Example, which is an Offense of the Accusation that occured
no more than one nweek before the time of submission of the Quorum
    * An Offender, which is the Player allegedly involved in the
Example criminally
    * A Tidbit, which is the word "cheese," the word "CREAMPUFF," or
the numeral "3"

Reasoning clarifying the intent of the Quorum may also be submitted.
Rule 4E73: The Judge

There exists a Ministry called the Ministry of Judging. The Minister
of Judging, also known as the Judge, is responsible for maintaining a
Public Display of all Quorums and their outcomes.

When a Quorum is submitted, the Judge becomes obligated to randomly
select a Jury. To select a Jury, the Judge follows the following
procedure (or an equivalent one):

(1) Assign all Active Players a priority of 1. Assign the Judge a
priority of 1/2. Assign the Offender and the Player who submitted the
Quorum a priority of 0. Assign all members of The Horde a priority of
0. (2) If there are at least three Players with a priority of 1,
select a random group of three of them to be the Jury and exit the
procedure. (3) If any Players have nonintegral priority, round each
Player's priority up to the nearest integer and repeat step 2. (4)
Place all Active Players on the Jury.

Each member of the Jury shall deliver an answer to the Public Forum.
If a majority of the members of the Jury deliver answers of "GUILTY",
the Jury Decides the Offender to be Guilty.

When the Judge Assigns a Punishment, he applies the Punishment to the
Guilty Player.
Rule 4E55: Murder

Murder is a felony that is committed when an Alive Player
intentionally causes another Alive Player to become Dead.

The range of punishments for Murder includes a fine appropriate for a
Felony, or, alternatively, the Death Penalty, which consists of
setting the Hit Points of the Guilty Player to 0.
Rule 4E64: Manslaughter

Manslaughter is a Misdemeanor that consists of unintentionally causing
another Player's Hit Points to become nonpositive.
Rule 4E78: Assault and Battery

Assault is a Misdemeanor committed by a Player who attempts to cause a
reduction in the Hit Points of another Player.

Battery is a Felony committed by a Player who causes a reduction in
the Hit Points of another Player.
Rule 4E56: Shall I?

Taking a Game Action which the rules state a Player "shall not" take
is a Misdemeanor.

Failing to take, within a Jiffy, a Game Action which the rules state a
Player "shall" take is a Misdemeanor.
Rule 4E59: Stop that!

Mildly spamming one of the mailing lists or the wiki is Misdemeanor.

Severely spamming one of the mailing lists or the wiki is a Felony.

/* You can make the case to the Priest as to whether what you're doing
counts as spamming, and as to how severe it is. */
Rule 4E60: Contempt of Court

If a player submits 5 Consultations in the same nweek that are all
ZOTTED, that player is Held in Contempt of Court.

Being Held in Contempt of Court is a Misdemeanor. The minimum penalty
for being Held in Contempt of Court is a fine of 10m. The maximum
penalty for being Held in Contempt of Court is a fine of 60m, plus a
limit of at most one proposal during the following nweek.


Stuff that doesn't really fit anywhere else
Rule 4E23: Foreign Relations

There exists a ministry known as the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
The Minister of Foreign Relations, also known as the Ambassador, is
responsible for maintaining a Public Display of the status of B
Nomic's relationships with other Nomics and for relaying messages from
B Nomic to other Nomics.

Where an external Nomic's rules make it possible for B Nomic to
perform some action, the Ambassador may use that Nomic's mechanisms of
action to cause B Nomic to perform that action with 2 supporters and
without objection, unless the Rules of B Nomic provide for a different
threshold of support for a particular action.
Rule 4E30: Official Quantities

For all game purposes the following phrases are defined to mean the
indicated numbers.

    * A Few = 4
    * A Jiffy = 4 rdays
    * A Handful = 6
    * An nDozen = 11
    * A Thirnight = 12
    * A Confused Baker's Dozen = 14
    * A Bunch = 24
    * A Metric Bunch = 25
    * A Lot = 63
    * A Bucketful = 96
    * A Metric Bucketful = 100
    * A Heck of a Lot = 365
    * A Hell of a Lot = 366
    * A Truckload = 960
    * A Metric Truckload = 1000
    * A Zillion = 100 000 000
    * A Bajillion = 100 000 000 000 000
    * An Insane Number = The number of players in the game
    * A Quiggle = Half the number of Vested Players
    * A Quorum = See Quiggle

Rule 4E27: Disambiguation

No text in any Rule shall be interpreted as a specific Player's name,
unless that rule explicitly states that said text shall be interpreted
as a specific Player's name.
Rule 4E38: Pronouns

All personal pronouns shall be taken to refer to entities of any
gender or of no gender regardless of the purported gender of the words
used. Language intended to apply only to members of a specific gender
must explicitly say that it does so.
Rule 4E32: Tidiness Lists

If the Rules contain errors of spelling, inconsistent capitalization,
or other trivial errors, any Player may as a Game Action and without
objection correct these errors by submitting a Tidiness List.

A Tidiness List is a Game Document that lists spelling errors in the
rules, and the proposed corrections. The time limit on objections for
tidiness lists is set to five ndays.

/* for practical purposes it is allowed to actually go on and make the
changes to the wiki at the same time as posting the Tidiness List, but
please mark your changes clearly so that they may be reverted easily
*/

If the corrections in a Tidiness List take place the Player that
submitted the Tidiness List gains one point for every three errors
corrected. Tidiness Lists correcting less than three errors give no
points.
Rule 4E70: Contracts

A Player, as a Game Action, may create a Game Document known as a
Contract. Upon doing so that player becomes bound by that Contract.
Players who are bound by a contract are known as parties to that
Contract. A Contract may be changed only as the text of that Contract
allows.

As a Game Action any Player may voluntarily become bound to a Contract
unless the text of that contract would prohibit such an action. A
Player may not become bound by a contract by any other means. A
Contract may provide a means by which a Player may cease to be bound
by that Contract. A Player may not cease to be bound by a contract by
any other means.

A Player may submit a Consultation indicating that a specified Player
who is bound by a specified Contract has failed (through either action
or inaction) to fulfill the obligations and/or requirements bestowed
on them by that Contract. If the Priest of the Consultation finds that
specified Player did indeed violate the Contract in question, they
shall submit an Oracularity which endeavors to equitably rectify the
breach.

There exists a Ministry known as the Ministry of Business. The
Ministry of Business, also known as the Arbiter, is responsible for
maintaining a Public Display of all Contracts and their current text
and parties.

If, at any time, a contract has less than one party, it ceases to be a
Game Document.
Rule 4E79: Incorporation

A Corporation is an entity defined by a Contract declaring itself to
be a set of Articles of Incorporation. These Articles must, at a
minimum, give the Corporation a name and define at least one Officer.
Officers of a Corporation shall collectively ensure that the
Corporation fulfills the obligations specified in its Articles. An
Officer can act on behalf of a Corporation by sending a message to the
Public Forum explicitly stating that the Actions described in the
message are being performed by the Corporation.

A Corporation is a Currency Owning Object, a Potential Sockholder, and
a Device Owning Object.
Rule 4E76: Living up to our Name

Having recently come out of a slump, B is just now getting moving
again. It has always and will always have recently come out of a
slump. It will always be just now getting moving again.
Emergencies
Rule 4E0: In Case of Emergency

For the purposes of this rule, the term "Potential Emergency
Participant" (or PEP) shall mean each of the current players of the
game as defined by other rules. However, if who the current players
are in the game is unclear, uncertain, or ambiguous, or if there are
less than four such players, then it shall instead mean who the
players were before such uncertainty or drop in player count.

Each PEP has a Mental State, which is exactly one of Calm (default) or
Paranoid. Mental States can only change as explicitly described by
this rule.

A PEP can set his Mental State by posting a message to a Public Forum
(or any forum that was a Public Forum within the past month) stating
that he does so, and specifying his new Mental State.

If at least four PEPs are Paranoid, B Nomic becomes in a State Of
Emergency. When this occurs, the following Procedure happens:

1. Game time is stopped. Whatever means used in the Game to track time
is stopped as of the beginning of the Emergency. Pending events and
deadlines relative to Game time, with the exception of those specified
in this rule, are postponed until Game time resumes. Pending events
and deadlines with absolute dates and times do not occur.

2. The PEP who most recently held the Minister of Ministries becomes
the Emergency Coordinator. If this Emergency Coordinator does not
exist, or it is unclear which PEP it is, or if he does not possess the
Active property, then the PEP that first attempts to organize running
this Procedure becomes the Emergency Coordinator.

3. The Emergency Coordinator designates a means for PEPs to
communicate as the Emergency Forum and makes a reasonable effort to
notify other PEPs about the Forum's existence. The Emergency Forum
must be reasonably accessible to all PEPs.

4. The Emergency Coordinator makes a statement to the Emergency Forum
that he is initializing the Pause. The Procedure tracks time spent
using the Pause. When the Emergency Coordinator initializes the Pause
it is zero. Thereafter, until the completion of the Procedure, the
Pause is increased by one each day at 00:00:00 UTC. Once per day, the
Emergency Coordinator may announce to the Emergency forum their
intention to increment the pause. If no PEP voices objection to this
action on the Emergency Forum within 24 hours, then the value of the
Pause is incremented by one.

5. At any time before the value of the pause is 5, each PEP may submit
a Refresh Proposal, aimed at either resuming or ending the Game, and
may revise or withdraw his own Refresh Proposal, via the Emergency
Forum. A Refresh Proposal consists of a list of changes which may
affect any aspect of the Game or the state of the Game, including, but
not limited to: rules, scores or other player attributes, the valid
list of players, current holders of any Ministries, the legitimacy
and/or actuality of any action taken in the context of the Game, etc.

6. When the value of the Pause is 5, the Emergency Coordinator gathers
all submitted Refresh Proposals into a first-round Ballot.

7. Each PEP casts a single vote to select one of the Refresh Proposals
in the Ballot by announcing his vote via the Emergency Forum.

8. When the value of the Pause is 6, the Emergency Coordinator counts
all submitted votes and announces to the Emergency Forum the number of
votes received by each Refresh Proposal. If a Refresh Proposal
received more than half the votes, it is selected and the Procedure
skips to step 15; otherwise the Procedure continues to Step 9.

9. A second-round Ballot is formed of those Refresh Proposals that
received at least two votes in the first round. If there are less than
two Refresh Proposals that received at least two votes in the first
round, then all Refresh Proposals that received one vote are also
included in the second-round Ballot. If there are less than two
Refresh Proposals that received at least one vote in the first round,
then all Refresh Proposals are included in the second-round Ballot.

10. Each PEP casts a single vote to select one of the Refresh
Proposals in the Ballot by announcing his vote via the Emergency
Forum.

11. When the value of the Pause is 7, the Emergency Coordinator counts
all submitted votes and announces to the Emergency Forum the number of
votes received by each Refresh Proposal. If a Refresh Proposal
received more than half the votes, it is selected and the Procedure
skips to step 15; otherwise the Procedure continues to Step 12.

12. An *n*th-round Ballot is formed, where *n* is the number of voting
rounds that have previously taken place in the current Emergency plus
one. The Ballot includes only the two Refresh Proposals that received
the largest number of votes in the previous round. If any Refresh
Proposals are tied for the second largest number of votes in the
previous round, they are included in the Ballot as well.

13. Each PEP casts a single vote to select one of the Refresh
Proposals in the Ballot by announcing his vote via the Emergency
Forum.

14. When the value of the Pause is 5 + *n*, the Emergency Coordinator
counts all submitted votes and announces to the Emergency Forum the
number of votes received by each Refresh Proposal. If a Refresh
Proposal received more than half the votes, it is selected and the
Procedure skips to step 15; otherwise the Procedure returns to Step
12.

15. All changes listed in the selected Refresh Proposal occur,
implemented by the Emergency Coordinator as needed. All PEPs become
Calm.

If, at any point during the procedure, there are less than four
Paranoid PEPs, the procedure stops and B Nomic stops being in a State
of Emergency, and normal Game time resumes.

At the beginning of Mulberry, nday 3, any PEPs who are Paranoid become
Calm if, and only if, the value of the Threat Flag is Pink Ponies.
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