Fascist Game 8
Rules Section 1: Government

Rules may be followed by a proposal number in parentheses indicating that the given rule was created, amended, or applied at that proposal. THS makes no guarantee that the listed values represent the most recent time a rule came into play. Rules that are considered part of the original ruleset are marked with (*). Rules that by their nature are constantly used are marked (now).

The Rules of Section 1: Government

1. Each player will either be a Citizen (of Atlantis) or a (Near Azores) Pirate; these two types of players are considered Opponents. Each player is initially a Citizen. (*)
2. All players are bound by the rules currently in effect. (*)
3. Any Citizen may propose a new rule or change to an existing rule by notifying The Humble Scribe via email or the World Wide Web; similarly, any Pirate may propose any new rule or to save any rule; or, any change to an existing rule which refers specifically to a Pirate or pirates. (*)
4. The Citizens are ruled by the Imperious Emperor, the Pirates by the Pirate King, who must always be a Pirate.The corresponding Ruler will judge each proposal submitted and act on it as s/he sees fit. These judgements do not have to occur in numerical order -- a given proposal may be postponed if decisions have been received for later ones. THS may renumber proposals to reflect the decision order. (*)
5. Laws relating to the management of the Municipality of Atlantis are hereby placed under the jurisdiction of a new title holder, the Mayor of Atlantis. The Mayor is elected at every 60 proposals, with the voting period lasting for 10 Proposals before each multiple of 60 (i.e. first voting period is from 110-120). Nominations may be received at any time before the voting period begins. To be eligible to be elected as Mayor, you must be a Citizen of at least Fourth Mate class. To vote for Mayor, you must be a Citizen. Nominations and votes shall be sent to THS. TIE is impartial and hence cannot nominate or vote. The votes for Mayor will be counted and decided by the First Past the Post system. TIE will, aptly enough, break ties. Citizens who have been nominated for mayor shall not be debarred from voting because of this nomination, as the right to stand for Mayor and the right to vote are not mutually exclusive.

   The Mayor decides all proposals relating purely to the Municipality of Atlantis for the 60 proposals after their election. In return they receive a salary of 20 pieces of eight for every proposal they decide. TIE may overrule the Mayor, but must then sack the Mayor, leaving the position vacant until the next election, and pay the Mayor 500 pieces of eight as a golden parachute. Proposals concerning the Municipality of Atlantis made at any time there is no Mayor will be decided by TIE; and no player may ever decide on a proposal s/he submitted.

6. Any Pirate can kidnap one of the extremely prolific Mayor's children (he always manages to have one for each Pirate), although he may only do this once per Mayor. Kidnapping is accomplished via a force of no more than 6 Buccaneers defeating 4-6 bodyguards in the Municipality of Atlantis. The bodyguards fight as normal citizens. The child must be kept onship, either taking up a Personnel space, or in the Brig, in which case the child has the usual chance of taking over the ship. If the child does take over the ship, it will immediately sail to Atlantis, and the Pirate loses all worldly goods, rank and infamy, and must start again as if he was a new Player. Any Citizen defeating a Pirate in battle regains the Child automatically.

   Any Pirate with a Mayor's Child holds tremendous influence over the Mayor's legislative decisions, as detailed below. To facilitate this, the kidnapping Pirate must send his wishes to THS, who will post them. Whenever the Mayor sends any decision to THS which does not agree with any of the prior kidnapping Pirate desires (should there be any), s/he suffers the following effects:

   1. The Mayor will suffer from a severe heartache, and will retire for a period of 20 proposals. All decisions he should make will be delayed until after that period is over, and he may not propose anything himself during that period.
   2. This absence will be frowned upon by the general public, causing the Mayor to lose one step in rank (unless Rule 2.6 applies).
   3. All Pirates with children do those children in, and so can no longer threaten the Mayor.
   4. If the Mayor loses a child or children this way for the second time, he will retire from his post, and TIE takes over his function until a new Mayor has been chosen. Also his period of retirement (see point 1) will take 30 instead of 20 proposals.
7. If TIE or TPK is on the Isle of Dead, that ruler may continue to decide on propoals as usual, but rules created by these decisions are not recorded into the ruleset (and hence do not take effect) until that ruler is off the Isle of the Dead. Note that this does not (and of course cannot) affect that ruler's ability to issue decrees as per rule 2.
8. For every decision rendered by the Emperor a die will be rolled. If the number divined is 1 thru and including 4, the Oracle will pass on the Emperor's will. [This is of course only necessary if TIE is on the isle of the dead, cf. the previous rule. -- THS] If the number be 5 or 6, then the Oracle will consult with the Mayor of Atlantis for guidance. [I.e., the Mayor will decide on the proposal in the Emperor's stead.] At the time of the Emperor's return, the Mayor of Atlantis (current and former) can be called into account by any citizen who had a proposal rejected via this mechanism. If the Emperor finds fault with the Mayor, punishment will be swift and strong. Of course this would be the Emperor's discretion, but the minimum penalty for the erring Mayor should be a loss of 2 ranks, and all acts of bravery stricken from the record.
9. The Humble Scribe may not change the meaning of any proposal s/he receives. (*)
10. The Humble Scribe is under no obligation to post more than one unjudged proposal at a time from any individual player. (*)
11. TIE may, at any time, modify or remove any existing rule or enact new rules; TPK may do the same so long as the rule in question specifically refers to a Pirate or pirates. This is a separate activity from acting on proposals as provided for in Rule 1.4, above. (Capitalized Pirate refers to Pirate players; lowercase pirate refers to other piratical features of the game.) (*)
12. When several rules apply at the same time and have different consequences, then the rule in the lowest numbered category, or the one with the lowest number if they are in the same category, is applied first. Other rules may then be applied so long as they do not conflict directly with a rule that has already been applied. (*)
13. The Humble Scribe must publish via the World Wide Web all appropriate game information, including a method to send messages to The Humble Scribe. (*)
14. In addition to Proposals and Sailing orders, players may submit a "Plea for Guidance." Such a Plea consists of a question concerning a point of law or the state of the realm too confounding for that player to unravel for him/herself. TIE or TPK as appropriate then rules on this matter, and his Word becomes Law. To discourage frivolous demands on TIE/TPK's time and judgement, Pleas which in his opinion are unworthy of consideration shall result in a demotion of one level of rank for the submitting player. By the same token, TIE/TPK may reward Pleas which help call attention to particularly pressing and worthwhile issues with a promotion. Pleas count in periods of time reckoned in Proposals, and THS is not required to post more than one Plea from a given player at a time, although a given Plea may ask for guidance on more than one point.
15. Besides a proposal and a plea for guidance players also can submit a plea for mercy. A plea for mercy is a proposal that will not be judged by the power(TIE or TPK) the player is currently under but by the other one. A plea for mercy must be properly humble and begging. It is considered an act of cowardice and so followed with a one step decrease in bravery. Citizens cannot go lower than bold, Pirates however are utterly selfish and therefore can go below bold. Bold is preceded by shy, chicken, coward and paranoid. A Plea for Mercy, if accepted, will also automatically cause the player to change sides without losing the 2 levels of bravery (but still causing all the other effects). If rejected, one level of bravery is still lost.
16. Jobs, like Historian of Battles (see rule 5.1) or Imperial Cartographer (see rule 4.1), should be filled by volunteers, although TIE will choose among multiple volunteers for an individual job, preferring ones who can provide WWW pages over those who can't.
17. Any Rule that has not been enacted, amended or applied for a period of 100 Proposals, shall be removed from the Ruleset. This Rule cannot befall on Rules that were part of the original Ruleset, and will not be effective until proposal 140 has been decided upon. A player may propose to 'save' a Rule. If such a Proposal is accepted this will count as a zero-amendment, and so the Rule will be safe from deletion by this Rule for another 100 Proposals. (147)
18. Any player who causes a Rule to be repealed, via any means, shall be paid 100 Pieces of Eight per Rule which is repealed. Furthermore, players who submit a Proposal which is Accepted that simplifies and replaces multiple previously existing Rules shall also earn 100 Pieces of Eight for each Rule which is thus simplified. (170)
19. Any player who falsely requests a rule to be repealed as per Rule 1.17 above will be penalized with a 1 rank demotion and a 100 Po8 fine. (The fine is levied only if the player currently has any Po8, and can not make a player's wealth go negative.) (150)
20. Each section of the rules will contain those rules dealing with one aspect of the game. If a new Rule is proposed, the proposer may mention the section it is to be placed in. If no section is given, this is up to THS. New sections can be created, old ones removed, or rules placed in another section, by proposal, or by decision from TIE or THS.
21. If, during a Mayor's current term, the Mayor feels himself incapable of serving his post for whatever reason (like being dead or feeling wimpy), then Pirates can take over the office. Any Pirate in Atlantis who wishes to claim the office of Mayor should send a bribe to Nameless Town Officials (by emailing Minister of Trade and with cc: to THS) stating the amount of the bribe. The Pirate must possess enough Po8 to cover the bribe, which is deducted from his/her current total. If the bribe is larger than 450 Po8 and bigger than every bribe used since a citizen last held the office of Mayor, the Pirate becomes Pirate Mayor, possibly ousting a previous office holder. Otherwise, the bribe is simply forfeited. Bribes, being secret, shall not have their amounts publicized. The Pirate Mayor is automatically replaced by the next elected citizen Mayor when the next regular term of office begins. A Pirate Mayor has all the rights of the existing Mayor and no extra restrictions due to the fact that he is a Pirate (such as those that beset you, oh Pirate King).