PodNomic

PodNomic is a game of Nomic played though the medium of an ongoing Podcast.

Core Rules

Ruleset and Gamestate

This is the Ruleset for PodNomic; all players shall obey it. The Gamestate is defined as any information which the Ruleset regulates the alteration of.

The ruleset consists of three sections: the core rules, which govern the game as a persistent whole, the schedule, which governs the timing of events in the game, and the mutable rules, which cover specific rules of gameplay. In general, the core rules and the schedule are considered to be more persistent and harder to amend, while the mutable rules are intended to be more transactional.

The Ruleset and Gamestate can only be altered in manners specified by the Ruleset.

If the Ruleset does not properly reflect all legal changes that have been made to it, any player may update it to do so.

Core rule amendments

Any votable matter that would change the core rules can be enacted if more than 66% of the players have voted FOR it. This rule supersedes the provision for enactment set out in the rule Resolution, but is superseded by the schedule rule Schedule Protection.

Players

The game has two roles: players and observers. Any person may become a player by announcing their intent to do so in the #new-player channel of the PodNomic discord server. If a player wishes to become an observer, or vice-versa, they may do so after making an announcement in the same channel to that effect. If a player has undertaken no game actions for at least 7 days, any player may make them an observer. After someone has been made an observer, they cannot become a player again until five days have passed.

When an observer becomes a player, if they had been a player in the same round, their personal gamestate retains the last legally endowed values it had, if they are still valid. Otherwise (including if a value is invalid, does not exist, or the player has not been a player during this game), the player is given the default value for new players, if such a value exists.

The Host

At any time, the game has one player who is the Host. The Host is responsible for producing and publishing the Podcast according to the schedule set out in the schedule rules.

Official Entries and Votable Matters

An official entry is any communication whose content or format is determined by the ruleset. A Votable Matter is an official entry which players may cast Votes on, which must seek to make changes to the ruleset or gamestate.

Votable Matters are made by submitting them to the #votable-matters channel on the PodNomic discord server. A Votable Matter must be submitted with the following elements: a title, an audio clip in which the text of the Votable Matter is read aloud, and an accurate plain-text transcript of the text that was read aloud in the audio clip.

Votable Matters have statuses, as follows. A Votable Matter may have only one status; when it gains a status it looses the one it previously had. A non-Votable Matter cannot have any of these statuses.

• When a Votable Matter is submitted, until the next Production Cutoff as defined in the schedule rules, the Votable Matter is a Draft. During this time it may be freely edited or amended, so long as the audio clip and the text transcript consistently reflect the same text.
• Between the first Production Cutoff after it was posted and the publishing of the next episode of the Podcast, a Votable Matter is a Bill and cannot be edited or voted upon.
• After a Votable Matter has been broadcast as part of an episode of the Podcast, and until the subsequent Production Cutoff, it is a Proposal, and may not be edited but may be voted upon.
• Between the first Production Cutoff to take place after it became a Proposal and the publishing of the next episode of the Podcast, a Votable Matter is an Act and it cannot be edited or voted upon.
• After a Votable Matter has had its vote tallies read on an episode of the Podcast it ceases to be a Votable Matter and may be neither edited nor reacted to (beyond marking it as resolved, as per the rule Resolution).

Votes

When a Votable Matter is a Proposal, each player may cast one vote on it by making a response to the official entry that comprises that Votable Matter, indicating FOR or AGAINST.

When a player casts a vote AGAINST their own Proposal, this renders the Proposal Withdrawn. Withdrawing a Proposal cannot be reversed; once cast, such a vote cannot be changed.

Resolution

Votable Matters are resolved on the episode of the Podcast immediately following the episode of the Podcast in which they were initially broadcast, by means of the Host reading aloud their title, the final votes cast on that Votable Matter, and confirming the outcome. Any player may then enacted the resolution by marking them as resolved (using the :resolved: react) and updating the ruleset or gamestate as directed. Votable matters must be resolved based on the following criteria:

A votable matter can be enacted if it has more votes FOR than AGAINST. (Proposals which have been Withdrawn can never be enacted.)

A votable matter can be failed if it cannot otherwise be enacted.

Proposals must be resolved in chronological order, from oldest to newest.

This rule is superseded where appropriate by the rules Core Rule Amendments and Schedule Protection.

Schedule Rules

Schedule Protection

The Schedule Rules govern the production schedule for the Podcast and define the practical steps that must be taken to fulfil the requirements of the ruleset. Players may not attempt to alter the Schedule Rules in ways that would have the effect of making the Podcast impossible or unduly onerous to produce; players are required to vote AGAINST any Votable Matter whose impact would be to either alter the Schedule Rules in ways that would be contrary to the physical or mental wellbeing of the Host, or which would undermine of weaken the provision of this rule. This rule takes precedence over all other rules in the ruleset.

The Schedule Rules may not be amended without the Host's assent. Any Votable Matter that would amend the Schedule Rules, or which would have the effect of amending the Schedule Rules, may not be enacted unless the Host has voted FOR it. The Host may freely revert any game action that they feel has increased the burden upon them to the point at which it makes the commitment to continue being the Host unmanageable.

Production Schedule

Throughout the rules, the term 'Podcast' refers to PodNomic. An episode of the Podcast is a single instance of that Podcast. Each episode must have a number, which increases consecutively episode by episode, and a date upon which it is to be released.

Episodes of the Podcast must be produced such that they are released at noon UTC on the Tuesday and Friday of each week.

Each Episode of the Podcast has a Production Cutoff. The Production Cutoff of an episode is noon UTC one day before its release (i.e. Monday and Thursday each week).

Podcast Content

Each episode of the Podcast must begin with the following script:

"Hello and welcome to this edition of PodNomic, a game of nomic played through the medium of an ongoing Podcast. This is episode x, for broadcast on y"

- where x is the episode number and y is the date.

Each episode of the Podcast must broadcast the audio clip of each Bill, in the order in which they were posted. Each Bill should be announced with its title and the name of its author.

Each episode of the podcast should list all Acts, in the order in which they were initially posted, with their titles, the names of their authors, a tally of the votes cast upon them, and whether they were enacted or failed.

Each episode of the Podcast should end with the following script:

"That's it for this episode of PodNomic. See you next time."

Beyond these restrictions, the Host is free to order the content of each episode of the Podcast as they see fit.