GN: Gamemaster's Notes appear in italics and are prefixed with "GN:". They are not a part of the text of the rules.
GN: The initial set of rules was modified by Mitchell Cieminski from http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/nomic.htm
GN: Have an idea? Put it here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KIsVeRCEAzDlEWu_DgskXZf4GM408_bVH0rEPlk6rro/edit
Olinomic is a game of nomic, wherin persons, acting in accordance with the rules, communicate their game actions and results of these actions on the olinomic mailing list. All players must always abide by all the rules then in effect, in the form in which they are then in effect. The game may be won, but the game never ends.
A player shall be considered any member of the olinomic mailing list that announces their intent to play to the Gamemaster. People who have lost player status according to the rules may rejoin the game in this manner.
Initially rules in the 100's are immutable and rules in the 200's are mutable. Rules subsequently enacted or transmuted (that is, changed from immutable to mutable or vice versa) may be immutable or mutable regardless of their numbers, and rules in the Initial Set may be transmuted regardless of their numbers.
A rule-change is any of the following: (1) the enactment, repeal, or amendment of a mutable rule; (2) the enactment, repeal, or amendment of an amendment of a mutable rule; or (3) the transmutation of an immutable rule into a mutable rule or vice versa.
All rule-changes proposed in the proper way shall be voted on. They will be adopted if and only if they receive the required number of votes.
Every player is an eligible voter. Every eligible voter must participate in every vote on rule-changes.
All proposed rule-changes shall be sent to the olinomic mailing list before they are voted on. If they are adopted, they shall guide play in the form in which they were voted on.
No rule-change may take effect earlier than the moment of the completion of the vote that adopted it, even if its wording explicitly states otherwise. No rule-change may have retroactive application.
Each proposed rule-change shall be given a number for reference. The numbers shall begin with 301, and each rule-change proposed in the proper way shall receive the next successive integer, whether or not the proposal is adopted.
If a rule is repealed and reenacted, it receives the number of the proposal to reenact it. If a rule is amended or transmuted, it receives the number of the proposal to amend or transmute it. If an amendment is amended or repealed, the entire rule of which it is a part receives the number of the proposal to amend or repeal the amendment.
All rules which change numbers automatically have "This Rule was previously known as Rule " and the previous rule number appended to them.
Rule-changes that transmute immutable rules into mutable rules may be adopted if and only if the vote is unanimous among the eligible voters. Transmutation shall not be implied, but must be stated explicitly in a proposal to take effect.
In a conflict between a mutable and an immutable rule, the immutable rule takes precedence and the mutable rule shall be entirely void. For the purposes of this rule a proposal to transmute an immutable rule does not "conflict" with that immutable rule.
If a rule-change as proposed is unclear, ambiguous, paradoxical, or destructive of play, or if it arguably consists of two or more rule-changes compounded or is an amendment that makes no difference, or if it is otherwise of questionable value, then the other players may suggest amendments or argue against the proposal before the vote. A reasonable time must be allowed for this debate. The proponent decides the final form in which the proposal is to be voted on and, unless the Judge has been asked to do so, also decides the time to end debate and vote before the end of the turn.
The state of affairs that constitutes winning may not be altered from achieving n points to any other state of affairs. The magnitude of n and the means of earning points may be changed, and rules that establish a winner when play cannot continue may be enacted and (while they are mutable) be amended or repealed.
A player always has the option to forfeit the game rather than continue to play or incur a game penalty. No penalty worse than losing, in the judgment of the player to incur it, may be imposed. If a player forfeits, they lose their player status.
There must always be at least one mutable rule. The adoption of rule-changes must never become completely impermissible.
Rule-changes that affect rules needed to allow or apply rule-changes are as permissible as other rule-changes. Even rule-changes that amend or repeal their own authority are permissible. No rule-change or type of move is impermissible solely on account of the self-reference or self-application of a rule.
Whatever is not prohibited or regulated by a rule is permitted and unregulated, with the sole exception of changing the rules, which is permitted only when a rule or set of rules explicitly or implicitly permits it.
At no time may there be more than 30 mutable rules.
This Rule was previously known as Rule 209
Players shall alternate in alphabetical order by surname, taking one whole turn apiece. Turns may not be skipped or passed, and parts of turns may not be omitted. All players begin with zero points.
If and when rule-changes can be adopted without unanimity, the players who vote against winning proposals shall receive 10 points each.
An adopted rule-change takes full effect at the moment of the completion of the vote that adopted it.
When a proposed rule-change is defeated, the player who proposed it loses 10 points.
Each player always has exactly one vote.
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 to defer to one another, then the numerical method again governs.
If the rules are changed so that further play is impossible, or if the legality of a move cannot be determined with finality, or if by the Judge's best reasoning, not overruled, a move appears equally legal and illegal, then the first player unable to complete a turn is the winner. After winning in this way, that player (and any other people that the winner recruits) must decide how to fix the loophole and change the rules by fiat so that gameplay can continue. If they refuse this duty, the duty falls to the Gamemaster.
This rule takes precedence over every other rule determining the winner.
There is a Gamemaster. The Gamemaster's solemn duty is to make sure the game runs smoothly. The Gamemaster
- keeps a record of all current players and their scores and strikes players from the record when they lose their player status
- counts votes on each rule-change and collects ballots in a manner of their choosing
- keeps an up-to-date rules list online
- informs players that they have violated a rule and of any penalties associated with that violation
- declares new turns to all players in a timely manner, including whose turn it currently is
The Gamemaster may
- extend a turn for any reason
- deputise another player to act as Gamemaster for some number of turns (The Gamemaster wins all disagreements between them and their deputy)
- vote on any matter, and cast the tie-breaking vote on any matter (doing so does not violate the one-vote rule)
- pause the game indefinitely or resume it from a pause
The Gamemaster cannot lose their player status. Actions of the Gamemaster can be overturned by Judgement or unanimous vote of all other players.
In the event that a Gamemaster is unreachable but needs to do something for the game to proceed, the turn is extended by one day and the current Judge becomes deputy Gamemaster for that day, as described above.
The Gamemaster is currently Mitchell Cieminski. If the Gamemaster resigns from office, they can amend this rule only to appoint a new Gamemaster. Otherwise, new Gamemasters are determined by amending this rule in the usual way.
All rules must have a Title to be enacted. The Title of a rule is a part of that rule.
A committee will be formed to determine identifiers in place of Titles for all rules that exist at the time of this rule's enactment (that is, rules with ordinal numbers lower than 301 at the time of enactment). These special identifiers are known as Historical Names and will appear in quotes identifying them as such (to avoid confusion, no Titles may be entirely enclosed in quotation marks). A rule's Historical Name is not considered a part of that rule and therefore does not bind a player's actions, but may still be used by Judges to decide Judgement.
Once a Historical Name has been established, it can become a Title, and therefore a part of the rule, by means of amendment. A rule with a Historical Name can also be honored by keeping its Historical Name indefinitely, even if the rule is amended. Therefore, only rules that once had ordinal numbers lower than 301 can have Historical Names. A rule's Historical Name cannot be changed to a different Historical Name, but can be changed to a Title of the same or different wording by means of amendment.
The winner is the first player to posses a number of (positive) points that is greater than or equal to nineteen-twentieths raised to the power of the ordinal number of the proposed rule-change minus the number of the last rule-change enacted before a player won (or 301 if no player has yet won), multiplied by 200. This yields a victory point limit that begins at 200 and exponentially decays as the game progresses with a half-life of approximately fourteen turns. Note that this value is rational and will not be rounded to an integer.
The victory point limit updates immediately upon the start of a turn, meaning that if the new value of this limit is less than or equal to the number of (positive) points any player already has, said player will win immediately. In the event that multiple players cross the victory point limit simultaneously in this manner, all such players will enter a rock-paper-scissors tournament, the exact rules and details of which are determined by the Gamemaster. The winner of said tournament wins. Everyone who participated in said tournament then also wins. Thus, the winner of the tournament of winners has won twice as much.
This Rule was previously known as Rule 208
All dates and units of time are to be measured from the inertial reference frame of an observer at rest on Earth’s surface at mean sea level at 0°00'00.0"N, 0°00'00.0"E, about 306 nautical miles off the coast of Ghana.
Whenever a rule mentions a specific time of day without containing enough information to specify a single unambiguous time zone, that time shall be interpreted to be in "Olin Time". "Olin Time" is defined as Eastern Time (UTC -0400).
Whenever a rule mentions a whole-day-delineated period of time ("day", "week", "fortnight", "month", "semester", "quarter", "year", "decade", "century", "millenium", "eon", "aeon", etc), that period shall be the requisite number of days, times 86,400 seconds per day. Game Days (and other units) may have discontinuities when expressed Olin Time - for example, if the Game has been paused by the Gamemaster.
Players who had a zero or negative score when another player Won are said to have "Lost" the Game. Whenever one or more players Wins or Loses the Game, all players' points reset to zero.
Any player who Lost the most recent round is properly styled "The Defeated". If a player also Lost the prior round, he or she is instead styled "The Misguided". If that player also Lost the round before that (for a total of three Losses in a row), he or she is instead styled "The Vanquished".
Any player who Won the most recent round is properly styled "The Winner". If a player also Won the prior round, he or she is instead styled "The Victorious". If that player also Won the round before that (for a total of three Wins in a row), he or she is instead styled "The Champion".
Any player who neither Won nor Lost the most recent round is properly styled "The Participant".
No player other than they who takes the current turn may propose a rule-change.
GN: this rule was proposed by a player whose turn it wasn't, and was passed by a vote that happened before it was proposed.
If players disagree about the legality of a move or the interpretation or application of a rule, then the High Court of Olinomic will act as Judge and decide the question. Disagreement for the purposes of this rule may be created by the insistence of any player. This process is called invoking Judgment.
While acting as Judge, The Judge is properly styled "Their Esteemed Honor" and hold the item The Gavel Of Justices.
When Judgment has been invoked, the turn does not end without the consent of a majority of the other players or until Judgement has been decided.
The Judge's Judgment may be overruled only by a unanimous vote of the other players taken before the next turn is begun. If a Judge's Judgment is overruled, or if the Judge decides to defer Judgement, then The High Court of Olinomic becomes the new Judge for the question.
Unless a Judge is overruled or defers Judgement, one Judge settles all questions arising from the game until the next turn is begun, including questions as to their own legitimacy and jurisdiction as Judge.
New Judges are not bound by the decisions of old Judges. New Judges may, however, settle only those questions on which the players currently disagree and that affect the completion of the turn in which Judgment was invoked. All decisions by Judges shall be in accordance with all the rules then in effect; but when the rules are silent, inconsistent, or unclear on the point at issue, then the Judge shall consider game-custom and the spirit of the game before applying other standards.
This Rule was previously known as Rule 212
Any player may be Expelled the mechanisms of this rule. When a player is Expelled, they immediately lose their player status. If it was the now-Expelled player's turn, the turn immediately is complete and ends, and the next turn begins.
A player may be Expelled by the mechanism(s) described in any rule that contains in its title the hashtag #expulsionmechanism. If and only if there is no such rule, the following #expulsionmechanism may Expell a player: "A player is Expelled by a unanimous Vote To Expell of all players. If a player does not vote in a Vote To Expell within 10 game days of such a vote being initiated, the Vote To Expell will be counted without that player's vote."
For interpretive purposes, this rule takes precedence over all rules regarding loss of player status and turn timing, though players can still lose player status by other means as described in the rules.
One turn consists of three parts in this order
- The player whose turn it is proposes one rule-change (the proposal can be amended until the initiation of an adoption mechanism and can not be re-amended until the end of that adoption mechanism or the end of part 2, whichever comes first).
- The rule-change undergoes at least one process to determine if it is adopted. This part of the turn ends immediately when a rule-change is adopted or, after at least one such process, when the player whose turn it is or the Judge decides that this part of the turn is over.
- The Gamemaster awards (C + 10 - R) points, where C is the ordinal number of the proposal and R is the number of the last rule-change enacted before a player won, to the player whose turn it is, if the rule was adopted.
This Rule was previously known as Rule 202
Turns will begin when their start is announced by the Gamemaster. Turns should generally not last more than two game days, but a turn does not end until all its parts have taken place, or when a rule, in the opinion of a Judge, specifies that the turn has ended. Players should therefore act in a Spirit of Timeliness when performing game actions.
If a turn ends less than 12 game hours after it begins, the Gamemaster (or a majority of players) may award one or more players the Trophy of Timeliness to recognize their contribution to the game of Olinomic. This Trophy can be destroyed by declaration to the mailing list in exchange for one point. Each player can only posses one Trophy of Timeliness at a time, and may not transfer it to any other player. Any player who possesses a Trophy of Timeliness is properly styled "The Timely."
This Rule was previously known as Rule 214
This Rule was previously known as Rule 304
Any player who has had a turn that lasted more than one year can, at a time of their choosing, make a claim to the Gamemaster for a functional watch. Instead, the Gamemaster will immediately award that player one Broken Watch. The player is thereafter properly styled "The Inexorably Late." Each player may only ever receive one Broken Watch in response to a claim, and this is the only way a Broken Watch may be awarded. Upon being awarded that Broken Watch, the Player will set it once to a time of their choosing that it will display in perpetuity. This time is expressed in a 24-hour format, consisting of four digits (the first two between 00 and 23 inclusive, the last two between 00 and 59, inclusive), and cannot be 00:00.
Any player who properly possesses a Broken Watch may not do anything with it except give it to another player or this: once on each of their turns, they may look wistfully at it, regret its broken state, and ask the Gamemaster for the current time. The Gamemaster will then award the player with the Watch eight (8) points for their attempt to be timely, visit this link and report the time returned. If the Gamemaster is the player who asked the time, then the duty of checking the time will fall to the player who comes after the Gamemaster in order of play.
If the Watch displays the time the time-checker reports, the player with the Watch will be styled as "Temporarily Temporally Gifted," and all other players immediately receive the number of points as the time expressed on the watch as a four digit base-10 integer, divided evenly among them (for example, if the time displayed is 15:45, and there are five players in addition to player who asked the time, each of those players will receive 309 points). If, however, the Watch does not display the time the time-checker reports, the player who possesses the Watch can no longer be trusted with their essential time-keeping duties; if they are currently styled as "Temporarily Temporally Gifted," they will no longer be styled as such, and they must give the Watch to another player of their choosing.
When a rule passes by unanimous approval, it is said to have Fallen Out Of The Sky During Stormy Weather. When a rule Falls Out Of The Sky During Stormy Weather, its proposer is styled "The First Lemming" and loses a number of points equivalent to 9.8*number of players who voted for the proposal (gravity hurts when lemmings are falling on top of you). However, if the leader was already styled as "The First Lemming," they instead become “The Trendsetter.” Each time a Trendsetter is able to unanimously pass a proposal, they gain a number of points equivalent to 5*number of players who voted for the proposal. They remain "The Trendsetter" until they have been styled "A Blind Follower".
When a rule Falls Out Of The Sky During Stormy Weather, any players styled “A Blind Follower” cease to be styled as such, and the last player to vote is styled "A Blind Follower". If, on subsequent rule change proposals, the players who have already cast their votes have voted the same way, any player styled "A Blind Follower" must match their votes. If a Blind Follower votes first, they may vote whatever way they so desire.
Henceforth, Claire Kincaid shall be properly styled “The Bear”. Between the hours of 0000 and 0730, The Bear will be hibernating, and any player who emails the olinomic list shall wake The Bear and draw its ire. This player shall then be properly styled “The Waker of the Bear” and shall lose a number of points equal to the Bear’s irritation on a scale from .01 (not irritated) to .50 (fuck off) * (1000 - the time stamp of the email). Players will thus be penalized more for waking the bear in the late evening rather than the semi-early morning.
If an irritation level above 0.2 is chosen, The Bear will then take one item of The Bear’s choice that The Waker possesses. The Bear will then possess that item instead. If The Bear cannot take an item from The Waker or decides that it is particularly hungry for human flesh, it will instead take one of The Waker’s four limbs. The Bear will then have a Mangled Limb, and that limb cannot be taken by The Bear again unless The Waker grows another one. The Waker, upon losing a limb, will also lose one quarter of the normal maximum move distance defined by any mechanic describing movement in space. For example, if a particular hypothetical mechanic normally allows players to change their distance from a portal to The Netherworld by up to one hundred units each turn, then a player that has lost two limbs will only be able to move up to fifty units each turn, while a player that has lost all four limbs will not be able to change their distance from the portal at all.
Once The Bear has taken all it is entitled to, The Waker will cease to by styled as such and will instead be granted one of the following styles based on which, if any, limbs they still have left:
- "One-Armed Jo" if they have one arm and two legs,
- "One-Legged Jo" if they have two arms and one leg,
- "Elpless and Armless Jo" if they have no arms and two legs,
- "Legolas Jo" if they have two arms and no legs,
- "Hopper Jo" if they have no arms and one leg,
- "Anakin-at-the-End-of-III Jo" if they have one arm and no legs,
- "The Limbless (Jo)" if they have no arms and no legs, or
- "The Lucky Bastard (Jo)" if they have two arms and two legs.
This Rule was previously known as Rule 325
A Duel is a public conflict between players that results in points being transferred from one player to another.
A Duel is initiated when a player (the Challenger) Challenges another player (the Challenged). This is done at any time via a public proclamation, which details a grievance against the Challenged, the number of points they propose to Duel over, and the nature of the contest they propose a determine the Duel's outcome. The magnitude of the number of points over which to Duel must not exceed the magnitude of either the Challenger's or the Challenged's current scores.
Either the Challenged or the Challenger can Forfeit a Duel any time after the Contest has begun and before it has completed, by proclamation to the mailing list. The Forfeiter automatically loses the Contest, and the points are transferred to the contestant that did not forfeit, as if the Contest had completed normally. The Forfeiter is properly styled “The Chicken.” A Duel can also be Cancelled before the final point transfer occurs if it is infeasible, illegal, or unnecessary in the opinion of the Judge, or if both the Challenger and Challenged agree to Cancel it. No point transfer occurs when a Duel is Cancelled.
Upon receiving a Challenge, the Challenged player must either accept or refuse. If they refuse, they are properly styled "The Shamed." If they accept, the Duel begins, and the Challenger and the Challenged will participate in the contest stated in the Challenge.
Once the contest has been completed, the Duel is over. The loser of the contest will transfer the number of points specified in the Challenge to the winner, conserving the total number of points in the game. The winner is properly styled "The Sharp," and the loser is properly styled "The Deceased." If the Challenger and the Challenged disagree on the outcome of the Duel, a Judge who is neither of the players has the final word.
The Challenge must be constructed in such a way that the outcome creates one winner and one loser, one being the Challenged and the other the Challenger.
When a player earns a style through mechanisms in this rule, they lose any styles previously earned through mechanisms in this rule.
This Rule was previously known as Rule 314
This Rule was previously known as Rule 319
There are at least the following four adoption mechanisms for rules. Rules can only be adopted by mechanisms described by this rule or by any rule with the hashtag #adoptionmechanism in its title.
Regular Adoption
The Player who proposed the present rule-change may request a vote by Regular Adoption at an appropriate time and not during another adoption mechanism. Then, a vote of all eligible voters will be taken. A rule-change is adopted by Regular Adoption if the number of votes in favor of it is greater than half the total number of votes and not divisible by four.
Null Adoption
At an appropriate time, at least two days after the start of the present turn, and not during another adoption mechanism, if a Judge's opinion requests a Null Adoption, a vote on the initial rule-change proposal without regard to any proposed amendments will occur. In a Null Adoption vote, every eligible voter is immediately considered to have cast their vote for "null," and the rule-change is not adopted.
Expedited Adoption
The Player who proposed the present rule-change may request a vote by Expedited Adoption exactly once on that turn, at an appropriate time and not during another adoption mechanism. The rule-change is adopted if every eligible voter votes in favor of Expedited Adoption of the rule-change within one game hour of it being requested. At the end of that hour, any Player who has not yet voted is considered to have cast their vote for "null," and the rule-change is not adopted. When a rule-change is adopted by Expedited Adoption, all Players who voted in the Expedited Adoption vote automatically receive an Expeditor Badge. Any player who possesses an Expeditor Badge is properly styled "The Expedient."
Adoption Adoption
At an appropriate time, if no email has been sent to the Olinomic mailing list in at least three days, and not during another adoption mechanism, any Player other than the one who proposed the present rule-change may request a vote by Adoption Adoption. Then, a vote of all eligible voters will be taken, and the Player who proposed the present rule-change will be considered to have voted for "null." A rule-change is adopted by Adoption Adoption if the number of votes in favor of it is equal to the total number of votes minus one. The Player who requested a vote by Adoption Adoption is then properly styled "The Loving Adoptive Parent" until another Player requests a vote by Adoption Adoption.
This Rule was previously known as Rule 203
This Rule was previously known as Rule 305
This Rule was previously known as Rule 307
GN: Rule 203 had the Historical Name "Majority Rules (Eventually)"
GN: Rule 307 had the title "Fours Suck"
Should a player’s turn begin, and should 17 days, 2 hours, and 36 minutes pass before they propose a new rule, propose the removal of a rule, propose a rule modification, or take some other action within Olinomic, and should any other player send a message containing the phrase “Untimely Manner” after that time but before they have taken some action within Olinomic during their current turn, be it proclaimed:
- The player whose turn is underway is properly styled “The Unbearably Late”
- The score of the player whose turn is underway shall be reduced by 6 points
- For each additional 24 hours since the start of the player’s turn, the first player to send a message containing the phrase “Untimely Manner” shall be entitled to transfer up to one (1) point from the player whose turn is underway to themselves, conserving the point total in the game
There is a High Court of Olinomic, consisting of all players who
- have previously served as Judge AND
- who appoint themselves to The Court.
The High Court of Olinomic is always a legally valid Judge, and it will make decisions of Judgement when no other entity can, may, or will, or if a turn's valid Judge explicitly defers Judgement to it. The High Court of Olinomic has supreme judicial power, and this very rule has supreme power over rules related to Judgement. If for some reason no player meets all of the above membership criteria, the Gamemaster will appoint one player to the Court who is themself not subject to those criteria. All members of The Court are properly styled "Justice of Olinomic".
The Court decides its own procedures for governance and delivering its decisions, but once it has been asked to serve as Judge, it must deliver a decision. If The Court does not decide within 7 days of it being asked to decide Judgement, the Chief Justice will flip a coin and interpret its meaning as the final decision of The Court.
When the player who's surname is last in alphabetical order, as defined in Rule 201, 'Point of Order,' has completed their turn, the process for selecting a new 'Chief Justice of Olinomic' is initiated. The current Chief Justice is stripped of that title, and is not an eligible candidate in this round of voting. All other Justices must declare by email to the list whether they would like to run for the office; any who declare in the affirmative join the current round's Candidate Pool.
Once every Justice has declared whether they are part of the Candidate Pool, the current Gamemaster is responsible for orchestrating an election of that pool in the manner in which the citizens of the Republic of Ireland elect their representatives to Parliament. If the Republic of Ireland ceases to exist, the High Court of Olinomic also ceases to exist. Every player must have the opportunity to vote in this election. The winner is henceforth styled 'The Chief Justice of Olinomic.'
GN: The following section is all defunct and removed rules. They're given the number of the rule-change that removed them from play. They're still here in case I ever get around to making a repo of just rule-changes.
Players may not conspire or consult on the making of future rule-changes unless they are teammates.
This Rule was previously known as Rule 210.
If any player ("The Accuser") asserts or alleges that some Set of players ("The Accused": potentially including The Accuser) are team-mates, then any member of The Accused may elect to receive a Burn Notice. This player is immediately penalized 5 points and is properly styled "Michael Weston" until the round is ended by any player Winning or Losing.
A Burn Notice formally and unchallengably nullifies any alleged teammateship between the player who elected to receive the Burn Notice and the other members of The Accused for the remainder of the current round. The other members of The Accused may still be accused of being teammates with each other or other players, but not as part of a team that includes the player who elected to receive the Burn Notice.
This Rule was previously known as Rule 216.