I would like to point out that the rules give no official credence to this document.  That is, this document is not the rules.  If I fall behind a couple of days, or go on vacation, or go insane and start making stuff up, the current status of the ruleset might vary significantly from what you see below.  While I believe the ruleset to be correct as of the date below, I repeat, this document is not the rules.

-- The Governor

Navigation Links to rules beginning with the first word:

GNomic time rules proposals players
tabulator winning justice Gnomes  

Current Ruleset (updated 27 June 2000):


GNomic.name (Steadiness: 1)
The name of this game is GNomic.
Proposed by (unnumbered) (Zagarna II), Adopted 20 June 2000.


time.week (Steadiness: 0.751)
A calendar week shall end at noon on Sunday, Greenwich Mean Time, and a new calendar week shall then begin.
Proposed by marsh.27 (The Governor), Adopted 27 June 2000.


rules (Steadiness: 1)
This ruleset shall govern the game of Gnomic.  The rules may not be changed except as specified therein.
Proposed by marsh.5 (The Governor), Adopted 8 June 2000.


rules.numbers (Steadiness: 1)

Proposed by (unnumbered) (Thomas), Adopted 7 June 2000.
Amended by marsh.8 (The Governor), on 20 June 2000.


rules.priority.first (Steadiness: 0.75)
If two or more rules conflict, the rule(s) with larger steadiness values shall have priority over the rule(s) with smaller steadiness values.
Proposed by marsh.19 (The Governor), Adopted 27 June 2000.


rules.priority.second (Steadiness: 0.5)
If two rules of equal steadiness conflict, or if a rule should conflict with itself, a player may Call For Justice on the question of which rule or part of a rule shall have priority.  A legally made ruling of the Chief Justice under this rule, shall be binding upon the ruleset, and any official ruleset shall be annotated with the priority findings of the Chief Justice.
Proposed by marsh.19 (The Governor), Adopted 27 June 2000.


rules.steadiness (Steadiness: 1)
Every rule is associated with a value named its steadiness, which must be a rational number between 0 and 1 inclusive. Unless another value is specified, a rule's steadiness shall be equal to 1.
Proposed by hirsch.5 (Thomas), Adopted 20 June 2000.


rules.spelling (Steadiness: 1)
If a spelling error is discovered in the current ruleset, it may be corrected if the correction does not change the proposals meaning and targets. The amendment shall be reported to all players.
Proposed by hirsch.2 (Thomas), Adopted 10 June 2000.


rules.comments (Steadiness: 1)
Rules can contain comments. A comment starts with the character '[' and ends with the character ']'. A comment in a rule is non-binding for gameplay purposes. Comments may be used by a Chief Justice when issuing rulings to settle rule disputes.
Proposed by jeff.4 (Jeff Weston), Adopted 28 June 2000.


proposals (Steadiness: 0.75)
A player may make a proposal under this rule by publishing it to all players.  Such proposal shall include any combination of one or more of the following:

Proposed by marsh.5 (The Governor), Adopted 8 June 2000.
Amended by marsh.20 (The Governor), on 27 June 2000.


proposals.conflicts (Steadiness: 0.50)
No more than one active proposal is allowed to modify a particular rule. If a rule is proposed to be modified by any active proposal, no proposals may be made that modify that same rule until the first proposal either succeeds or fails.
This rule has no effect on any proposals that are already active when it is enacted.
Proposed by jeff.2 (Jeff Weston), Adopted 27 June 2000.


proposals.numbers (Steadiness: 1)
Each proposal shall have a unique identifier.  This identifier shall consist of two words separated by a dot (period).  The first word shall be unique to each player, and shall be the same on all proposals made by any one player.  Both words shall consist only of lower- and upper-case roman letters and arabic digits.
Proposed by marsh.6 (The Governor), Adopted 8 June 2000.


proposals.steadiness (Steadiness: 1)
Every proposal is associated with a value named its steadiness, which must be a rational number between 0 and 1 inclusive. This value is the maximum of the following: the steadiness of all rules amended by the proposal. the steadiness of all rules repealed by the proposal. the future steadiness of all rules created by the proposal. other steadiness values defined by any element changed by the proposal. 0.5.
Proposed by hirsch.5 (Thomas), Adopted 20 June 2000.


proposals.voting (Steadiness: 1)
Upon receipt of a proposal, a player may vote on its passage by communicating such vote to the Tabulator, or, if there is no Tabulator, to all players.
Proposed by marsh.5 (The Governor), Adopted 8 June 2000.


proposals.voting.options (Steadiness: 1)
A proposal vote shall be one of the following: SUPPORT, OPPOSE, or ABSTAIN. Capitilization of the vote choice does not matter for purposes of this rule.
Proposed by marsh.5 (The Governor), Adopted 8 June 2000.
Amended by jeff.6 (Jeff Weston), Adopted 28 June 2000.


proposals.voting.passive.abstention (Steadiness: 1)
If an official voting period is specified, any player casting no vote on a proposal within such period shall be considered to have cast a vote of ABSTAIN.  This may be referred to as passively abstaining, or passive abstention.
Proposed by marsh.5 (The Governor), Adopted 8 June 2000.
Amended by hirsch.3 (Thomas), Adopted 10 June 2000. -- Successor rule to proposals.voting.abstention.passive.


proposals.voting.passive.support (Steadiness: 1)
The creator of a proposal automagically votes SUPPORT for his own proposals, unless he specifies another vote.
Proposed by hirsch.3 (Thomas), Adopted 10 June 2000.


proposals.passage (Steadiness: 1)
A proposal is adopted, if enough players voted for the proposal, at least two players voted SUPPORT and the number of players voting SUPPORT divided by the number of players not voting ABSTAIN is greater than or equal to the proposal's steadiness. The change proposed shall then be made, unless such change is forbidden by the rules.
In the context of this rule, enough players have voted either if all players cast one vote or if the proposal may not be defeated even if all remaining players cast OPPOSE.
Proposed by marsh.5 (The Governor), Adopted 8 June 2000.
Amended by hirsch.5 (Thomas), Adopted 20 June 2000.
Amended by hirsch.7 (Thomas), Adopted 27 June 2000.


proposals.failing (Steadiness: 1)
A proposal fails, if all players casted a vote on this proposal and it did not pass. A proposal also fails if even when all remaining votes to cast would be SUPPORT it will not pass.
Proposed by hirsch.9 (Thomas), Adopted 27 June 2000.


proposals.withdrawing (Steadiness: 0.50)
Anytime before a proposal has succeeded or failed, the proposal author may elect to withdraw their proposal. Such a withdrawal is made by communicating it to all the players. This has the effect of causing the proposal to immediately fail, regardless of whatever votes it had already received.
Proposed by jeff.3 (Jeff Weston), Adopted 27 June 2000.
Amended under rules.spelling by The Governor on 27 June 2000.
Amended by
jeff.5 (Jeff Weston), Adopted 28 June 2000.


players.list (Steadiness: 1)
the players of the game are:

Initial Rule; Amended several times by action of the rules.


players.listmaintenance (Steadiness: 1)
A player is declared "missing" if he does not make any game-relevant action during 7 consecutive days.  A player's name and Email address shall be added to rule "players.list" if he communicates his intent to join the game to all players listed in the rule.  A player's name and Email address shall be removed from rule "players.list" if he communicates his intent to leave the game to all players listed in the rule.
Proposed by (unnumbered) (unknown), Adopted prior to 5 June 2000.
Amended by marsh.7 (The Governor) on 8 June 2000.
Amended by rg.1 (RG) on 10 June 2000. -- Successor rule to players.quitting.
Amended under rules.spelling by The Governor on 10 June 2000. -- Successor rule to players.listmaintenence.
Amended by hirsch.4 (Thomas) on 20 June 2000.


players.missing (Steadiness: 1)
Players may be declared as 'missing'. Missing players are marked in the players List as such and do not have to participate in the regular gameplay. For the purpose of rules which require an action of players, missing players are considered as non-players. A player may declare himself as no longer missing at any time.
Proposed by hirsch.4 (Thomas), Adopted 20 June 2000.


tabulator (Steadiness: 1)
The Tabulator shall count all votes cast on each proposal.  When the outcome is assured, or when any prescribed voting period has ended, the Tabulator shall publish the results of the vote to all players.  Should a proposal be reported by the Tabulator as being adopted, it shall have effect immediately after such publication.
Proposed by marsh.2 (The Governor), Adopted 7 June 2000.


winning.list (Steadiness: 1)
The winning list is a list of players or people having played GNomic. It is initially empty. Once a player wins the game, his name is added to the winning list, together with the time and reason of his win. The game does not end, when a player is a winner. A player may win GNomic multiple times.
Proposed by (unnumbered) (Thomas), Adopted 8 June 2000.


justice.chief.selection (Steadiness: 1)
At the beginning of each calendar week, a new player shall become Chief Justice.  The Chief Justice shall have been a player for a minimum of two weeks.  Within this restriction, the player chosen shall be the player for whom the longest time has elapsed since he has been Chief Justice.  A player who has never been Chief Justice shall always be chosen if he is not otherwise restricted.  If, through action of this rule, two players appear equally qualified to be chosen Chief Justice, the Chief Justice shall be the qualified player whose Email address is first alphabetically, sorting first upon Email domain, and second on Email name.
Proposed by marsh.16 (The Governor), Adopted 27 June 2000.
Amended by
marsh.27 (The Governor), on 27 June 2000.


justice.callfor (Steadiness: 1)
When a dispute arises as to the interpretation of the rules, or the correctness or legality of any action, finding, or determination within the context of this game is in question, a player may submit a Call For Justice to the Chief Justice.  Such a problem shall, as nearly as possible, describe the question to be decided by the Chief Justice.
Proposed by marsh.10 (The Governor), Adopted 20 June 2000.


justice.callfor.limitations (Steadiness: 1)
The Chief Justice may not submit a Call For Justice.
Proposed by marsh.10 (The Governor), Adopted 20 June 2000.


justice.callfor.numbers (Steadiness: 1)
Immediately upon receipt of a Call For Justice, the Chief Justice shall assign it a unique identifier.   This identifier shall consist of two words separated by a dot (period).  The first word shall be unique to any particular Chief Justice, and shall be the same on all Calls For Justice made to that Justice.  Both words shall consist only of one or more lower- or upper-case roman letters, or arabic digits.  The identifier so assigned may be referred to as a "Call For Justice Number", a "CFJ Number", or a "CFJ#".
Proposed by marsh.10 (The Governor), Adopted 20 June 2000.


justice.callfor.procedure (Steadiness: 1)
Immediately upon receipt of a Call For Justice, the Chief Justice shall publish it to all players together with the identifier assigned by rule "justice.callfor.numbers".  Nothing in this rule shall prevent the Chief Justice from including his ruling in the same publication.
Proposed by marsh.10 (The Governor), Adopted 20 June 2000.


justice.rulings (Steadiness: 1)
Upon receipt of a Call For Justice, the Chief Justice shall issue a ruling by publishing it to all players.  Such publication shall refer to the identifier assigned to the Call For Justice by rule "justice.callfor.numbers", and may, at the Chief Justice's option, include the Call For Justice itself.
Proposed by marsh.11 (The Governor), Adopted 20 June 2000.


justice.rulings.standards (Steadiness: 1)
All rulings shall be made in accordance to the rules. If the rules are silent, inconsistent, or unclear, the Chief Justice shall consider game custom and the spirit of the game before applying other standards.
Proposed by marsh.12 (The Governor), Adopted 20 June 2000.


justice.rulings.limitations (Steadiness: 1)
A ruling issued by a Chief Justice shall be limited in scope to answering the question posed by the Call For Justice.  However, nothing in this rule shall prevent the Chief Justice from including with his ruling any comments or arguments supporting his ruling.
Proposed by marsh.13 (The Governor), Adopted 20 June 2000.


Gnomes (Steadiness: 0.6)
Gnomes are beings. They live in GnHomes. A Gnome who has got no GnHome is going to Migrate.
Proposed by (unnumbered) (Thomas), Adopted 8 June 2000.
Amended by marsh.22 (The Governor), on 27 June 2000. -- Successor rule to winning.score.
Amended by
hirsch.12 (Thomas), on 28 June 2000.


Gnomes.creation (Steadiness: 0.5)
Making a Gnome is a Task that requires four Gnomeweeks.
Proposed by hirsch.13 (Thomas), on 28 June 2000.


Gnomes.mantainance.Mines (Steadiness: 1)
Gnomes live in Mines under the earth. Mines may be owned by players.  Mines may not be traded by players. Every specific Mine has a name, chosen when that Mine is originally created.  In order to possess Gnomes a player must own a Mine for the Gnomes to live in. Every Mine may hold 400 Gnomes.  Initially, there are no Mines in GNomic.
Proposed by (unnumbered) (Zagarna II), Adopted 20 June 2000.


Gnomes.Mines.creation (Steadiness: 0.5)
If a player does not own a Mine, he may create one Mine in his possesion by specifying its name, as well as 10 GnHomes in its proximity, populated by 10 Gnomes.
Proposed by hirsch.10 (Thomas), Adopted 28 June 2000.


Gnomes.Mines.depth (Steadiness: 0.51)
A Mine's depth may be measured in rope lengths.  Upon creation, a Mine's depth is 0.
Proposed by marsh.28 (The Governor), Adopted 27 June 2000.


Gnomes.Mines.depth.extension (Steadiness: 0.51)
During one calendar week, five Gnomes may increase the depth of

one Mine by one rope length if the Gnomes are not otherwise employed.
Proposed by marsh.28 (The Governor), Adopted 27 June 2000.


Gnomes.Mines.production (Steadiness: 0.51)
A Mine's production value is a number from the following set: { . . . 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . }.  Upon creation, a Mine's production value is 1.
Proposed by marsh.29 (The Governor), Adopted 27 June 2000.


Gnomes.Mines.production.increase (Steadiness: 0.51)
During one calendar week, one hundred Gnomes expending one hundred Ingots may increase the production value of a mine to the next higher value, if the Gnomes are not otherwise employed.  Any Ingots so expended, are destroyed.
Proposed by marsh.29 (The Governor), Adopted 27 June 2000.


Gnomes.Mines.livingcondition (Steadiness: 0.5)
Every Mine is associated with a value L called its Living Condition. L is calculated as follows: Take the number of free GnHomes in a mine.. Subtract the depth of the mine in rope lengths.
Proposed by hirsch.16 (Thomas), Adopted 28 June 2000.


Gnomes.GnHomes (Steadiness: 0.6)
A GnHome is a place where a Gnome lives. GnHomes are situated in direct proximity to Mines and considered to belong to their Mines. Every Gnome in a mine will occupy a GnHome in the same mine. Only one Gnome may live in one GnHome.
Proposed by hirsch.12 (Thomas), Adopted 28 June 2000.


Gnomes.GnHomes.creation (Steadiness: 0.5)
Making a GnHome is a Task that requires two Gnomeweeks. This GnHome will belong to the Mine where the Gnomes belong to.
Proposed by hirsch.12 (Thomas), Adopted 28 June 2000.


Gnomes.Ingots (Steadiness: 0.51)
An Ingot is a unit of a metal which is found only in Mines.  At the time this rule is adopted, no Ingots shall exist.
Proposed by marsh.30 (The Governor), Adopted 27 June 2000.


Gnomes.Ingots.production (Steadiness: 0.51)
During one calendar week, ten Gnomes may produce a number of Ingots equivalent to the Mine's production value for each two rope lengths of depth of that Mine, if the Gnomes are not otherwise employed.  Any fractional Ingots left after application of this rule are destroyed; the ore processing machines are remarkably inefficient.  [Gnomes/10 * depth/2 * PValue = Ingots.]
Proposed by marsh.30 (The Governor), Adopted 27 June 2000.


Gnomes.accountinggnome (Steadiness: 0.51)
The Accounting Gnome shall maintain an accurate record of all Gnomes, Mines, and Ingots, their owners, how all Gnomes are currently being employed, and the production values and depths of all Mines.  He shall make such record available to any player upon request.
Proposed by marsh.31 (The Governor), Adopted 27 June 2000.


Gnomes.employment (Steadiness: 0.51)
A player may choose how to employ any or all of his Gnomes by notifying the Accounting Gnome of any change.  The change shall occur at the beginning of the next calendar week.
Proposed by marsh.32 (The Governor), Adopted 27 June 2000.


Gnomes.migration.immigration (Steadiness: 0.5)
Every week, one Gnome is coming from the legendary World Beyond GNomic and Migrates.
Proposed by hirsch.14 (Thomas), Adopted 28 June 2000.


Gnomes.migration.intragnomical (Steadiness: 0.5)
Every four weeks, one Gnome from each Mine having more than five Gnomes is going to Migrate.
Proposed by hirsch.14 (Thomas), Adopted 28 June 2000.