The Republic of Mylantium is a play-by-email game in which players act the part of special interest groups trying to manipulate a government into serving their ends. The "playing board" (such as it is), player stats, and rules are contained on the web-pages at this site. Players negotiate with each other by email or IM and transmit orders and instructions to the GM, who keeps the boards and stats updated. The game itself is not time-intensive, but because it centers on long-distance negotiations between participants, players are asked to keep in regular internet contact.

The rules are laid out on a number of web-pages, each with its own distinct subject. The Constitution lays out the rules on how elections are held and legislation is passed. Politics describes how players gain their electoral and financial resources and how those resources can be changed by game play; it also describes how Independent Votes, Approval Ratings, and Revolutions work. Economics describes financial rules in more detail; Legislation describes how laws are formulated and voted on in Congress; Warfare describes how war crises are handled (in the unlikely event that they occur). Events describes how random events can crop up in the game. Winning the Game describes what conditions a player must meet in order to win the game. There is also a page describing a sample 2-week turn in the game. This page describes the basic structure of the game and how it is to be conducted over the Internet.

The Players
Players each represent a special interest group, called a Faction. There are eight factions in the game:

• Plutocrats: The merchant, commercial classes: bankers, stock-traders, financiers. Their activities are closely tied to trade, so they draw their strength from ports.
• Robber Barons: The industrialists and manufacturers. Their strength is in the cities of the Republic, where the manufacturing base is.
• Grangers: Rural citizens who make their living in agriculture and related industries.
• Snake Handlers: Members of the dominant religious group.
• Rednecks: The conservative voters of the Territory of Avalon. They are regionalistic and mostly look out for the interests of their Territory.
• Brass Hats: The officers, soldiers and contractors who depend upon a strong military.
• Proles: The working classes concentrated in cities and ports.
• Bureaucrats: The professional, white-collar classes who adminster large government bureucracies and agencies.

Each player has a special source of electoral strength. The Plutocrat, for instance, possesses 2 votes for every port in play, while the Prole gets 1 vote per port and 2 votes per city. To see the electoral and financial bases for each Faction, click on that Faction's web-page at one of the above links.

Players directly control seats in the Congress, seats in the Supreme Court and the Presidency. However, votes in the general election are mediated by political parties. In order to participate in the democratic process and receive seats in the government, Factions must align with either the Federalist Party or the Whig Party. These parties, however, are simply alliances of Factions. They have no ideology or platform except what the Factions aligned with them chose for them.

The Object of the Game
The object is to have the most Victory Points at the end of the game; alternately, to successfully mount a Revolution that overthrows the government.

Game Turns
Each Game Turn is conducted over a 14-day period: from the 1st of the month through the 14th; and from the 16th through the 29th. Each Turn is divided into three Rounds: An Election Round, a Legislative Round, and a Business Round. The Election Round consists of politicking and voting on the composition of a new Congress (and, at the beginning of each month, a new President). The Legislative Round consists of politicking and voting to pass Legislation. The Business Round consists of collecting and spending money to make changes to the game's infrastructure (by building new cities and temples, for example) or conducting wars. To see the exact dates when votes are held and orders to the GM are due, click on the Calendar.

Game Set-up
The game requires a minimum of five players, but the more the merrier. In the five-player game, players can be the Plutocrat, Robber Baron, Granger, Snake-Handler or Redneck; for each additional player add, in order: the Brass Hat, Prole, and Bureaucrat. New players may join the game at any point without disrupting play, and they receive at the start the average (rounded to the nearest whole number) of the other Factions' Victory Points. At the time the game is set up, the GM determines how each beginning player is assigned a Faction, and the Factions align with one or the other of the two parties.

The First Turn
After the set-up, the first Elections and Legislative Round are conducted, as described in Articles One and Two of the Constitution. As no offices or congressional seats have been apportioned, those elements do not figure in the first election, and all Senate seats are contested. During this first election, the Approval Rating is split 50-50 between the parties. After the first election, the Approval Rating is set at 60% and the first Legislative Round is held. Note that the first order of business is to fill the empty memberships on the Supreme Court (see Event: Supreme Court vacancy).

The Election Round
As outlined in the Constitution, the first election is a primary election. Each Faction is aligned with a party, and each Faction has a Candidate whom they can put forward in that primary as that Party's nominee for President. (If that Candidate becomes the nominee and wins the General Election, the Faction who put forward that Candidate controls the Presidency). Each Candidate has a Charisma Rating that also contributes votes in an election. In a series of ballots, Factions cast their votes for one of the nominees; the Candidates automatically cast their Charisma votes for themselves. To be nominated by a party, a Candidate must win a majority of all the votes cast on a ballot.

If no eligible candidate receives a majority vote on the first primary ballot, the candidate with the least number of votes is dropped. This dropping procedure continues until a Candidate receives a majority of the votes cast. To expedite voting, each Faction in a primary will list all the eligible candidates in order of preference and email it to the GM. The GM will tally the votes, dropping candidates and moving down the preference lists until a candidate receives a majority of the votes.

Example: The Factions aligned with Federalist Party are the Plutocrats, Robber Barons, Brass Hats and Rednecks. The Plutocrats have as their Candidate George Ming-Kaiser (charisma: 7). The Robber Barons put forward Adlai Undershorts III (charisma: 6); the Brass Hats put forward Jason K. Rotweiller (charisma: 9); and the Rednecks put forward John F. Brainpan (charisma: 13). The Plutocrats have 10 votes; Robber Barons have 13; Brass Hats 3; and Rednecks 12. They each send in the following ballots:

• Plutocrats: Ming-Kaiser, Brainpan, Rotweiller, Undershorts
• Robber Barons: Undershorts, Rotweiller, Ming-Kaiser, Brainpan
• Brass Hats: Rotweiller, Ming-Kaiser, Undershorts, Brainpan
• Redneck: Brainpan, Rotweiller, Ming-Kaiser, Undershorts

On each ballot, the candidate receives Faction votes plus his own charisma. Thus, on the first ballot the voting would be: Ming-Kaiser 17 (that is, 10 Plutocrat votes + 7 charisma), Undershorts 19, Rotweiller 12, and Brainpan 25. With no majority, the GM drops Rotweiller, and the Brass-Hat's 3 votes but not Rotweiller's charisma goes to Ming-Kaiser. Second ballot results, then: Ming-Kaiser 20, Undershorts 19, and Brainpan 25. Again, there is no majority, so the GM drops the candidate with the least votes (Undershorts) and gives the Robber Baron's 13 votes to Ming-Kaiser (since Rotweiller's already been dropped). The third ballot produces a majority for Ming-Kaiser of 33 to Brainpan's 25. The GM declares Ming-Kaiser the nominee of the Federalist Party.

The General Election is a straight party-line vote: Each Faction simply sends in a ballot telling whether they vote for the Federalist or the Whig party. The GM then determines and announces the composition of the Presidency, Chamber and Senate in line with Article Two of the Constitution.

On the General Election ballot, each Faction also sends in a "randomizer"—a number between 1 and 9—for use in generating an Event.

The Legislative Round: Supreme Court
At the beginning of a Legislative Session, after the Offices have been set but before Legislation has been proposed, the GM determines whether a vacancy has occured on the Supreme Court. (On the first turn, there are automatically 5 vacancies that need filling.) See Events: Supreme Court on how this random event is determined.

The Legislative Round: Crises
After Legislation has been proposed, but before the President, Speaker and Chancellor have determined which Legislation shall be considered, the GM determines if a Crisis! has occured (see Events: Crisis! on how this random event is determined). Crises of the appropriate kind may result in automatic legislation that must be acted upon during the Legislative Round (see Article Two of the Constitution on how this works).

The Legislative Round: Legislation
On the government's Legislation page, players can find the text of all the possible legislative items in the game. During each Legislative Round, a player may propose one and only one such item, filling in the details (level of taxation, for instance) as he sees fit. He then posts it on the Floor Speeches board. From the legislation proposed, the President, Speaker and Chancellor choose three pieces for action. The Speaker and the Chancellor also schedule the days on which votes for the Legislation will be held. On or before those dates, votes for or against Legislation will be sent to the GM for tallying.

The Business Round
After the end of a Legislative Round, the GM adjusts the financial statements of each Faction, as set forth by the rules on the Faction boards and modified by any taxes that are in effect and any monopolies that have been distributed.

Next, the President takes care of the Budget, collecting taxes and paying out subsidies, pensions, and so forth.

Finally, players may spend their Treasury money buying Victory Points or making improvements to the Territories by adding cities, ports, or temples.

At the end of a Business Phase, the GM determines whether a Faction's Candidate has retired from public life; if so, he gives that Faction a new one (see Events: Losing a Candidate).

Finally, after all such business has been conducted, the GM adjusts the Revolutionary Fervor and Approval Ratings, as set out on the Politics page. He also adjusts Victory Points.

For a specific and detailed example of a Game Turn, go to the Sample Page.

Modifying Rules
Any rule embodied in the Constitution or reflected in newly-enacted Legislation may be altered by amending the Constitution (in accordance with Article Six of the Constitution itself), or by passing new Legislation. No other rule, on this page or any other Rule page, may be altered during the game. Any disagreements about the interpretation of the Constitution or Legislation can and must be settled by the Supreme Court. No other rule in the game falls under the Court’s jurisdiction, and disputes about their interpretation and application can only be made by the GM (after consulting with the players if he wishes).