Rules

Making new rulebooks

Rules occurring at given times

When play begins
         start of rulebook (consider the scene changing rules)
         the rule above was listed as 'first' so precedes this one, which wasn't (let current node be the chat node after no quip chosen; ...) [E1]
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) (say "You suspect your wife Susanna of adultery. So you have convinced everyone that you are gone on a trip to Toulouse, and you have hidden yourself in the big trunk in your marital bedroom. Let's wait and see what happens."; ...)
Every turn
         start of rulebook (if the player is in the trunk for exactly eight turns begin; ...)
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) (if the player is in the trunk for exactly 14 turns begin; ...)
        (if the player is in the trunk for exactly 15 turns begin; ...)
When play ends

Rules taking place when scenes begin and end can be found in the Scenes index.

Rules governing actions

Before
         start of rulebook opening the trunk
         the arrow points from a more specific rule to a more general one, as decided by Law III.3.2 - Action/What/Thing Acted On pieing something
        peeking
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) photographing

Reaching inside
         start of rulebook can't reach inside rooms rule
         these rules were both listed as 'last' in this rulebook, and since each was made 'last' in turn, they appear in order of listing can't reach inside closed containers rule
        outcome  allow access - a success
        outcome  deny access - a failure
Reaching outside
         start of rulebook can't reach outside closed containers rule
        outcome  allow access - a success
        outcome  deny access - a failure
Visibility
        can't act in the dark rule
        outcome  there is sufficient light - a failure
        outcome  there is insufficient light - a success

Instead of
         start of rulebook attacking the count when the player has the axe
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) attacking cherubino when the player has the axe
        attacking susanna when the player has the axe
        going up when the player is in the trunk
         the arrow points from a more specific rule to a more general one, as decided by Law III.3.2 - Action/What/Thing Acted On attacking something when the player has the pie
        throwing the pie at something
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) putting the pie on something
         the arrow points from a more specific rule to a more general one, as decided by Law III.3.1 - Action/What/Second Thing Acted On examining the keyhole
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) eating the pie
        pieing cherubino
        pieing the count
        pieing susanna
        photographing the count
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) photographing cherubino
        photographing susanna
        opening the trunk
        examining the mystery man
         the arrow points from a more specific rule to a more general one, as decided by Law III.3.2 - Action/What/Thing Acted On giving text for no quip chosen   [E1]
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) examining the player
        giving text for sc_inv_1
        finding responses to sc_inv_1
        giving link to sc_inv_2
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) giving text for sc_inv_2
        giving link to sc_inv_3
        giving text for sc_inv_3
        finding responses to sc_inv_3
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) giving link to sc_inv_4
        giving text for sc_inv_4
        giving link to sc_inv_5
        giving text for sc_inv_5
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) finding responses to sc_inv_5
        giving link to sc_inv_6
        giving text for sc_inv_6
        giving link to sc_inv_7
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) giving text for sc_inv_7
        giving link to sc_inv_8
        giving text for sc_inv_8
        giving text for sc_peek_1
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) finding responses to sc_peek_1
        giving link to sc_peek_2
        giving text for sc_peek_2
        giving link to sc_peek_3
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) giving text for sc_peek_3
        finding responses to sc_peek_3
        giving link to sc_peek_4
        giving text for sc_peek_4
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) giving link to sc_peek_5
        giving text for sc_peek_5
        finding responses to sc_peek_5
        giving link to sc_peek_6
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) giving text for sc_peek_6
        giving link to sc_peek_7
        giving text for sc_peek_7
        photographing the player
         the arrow points from a more specific rule to a more general one, as decided by Law III.3.2 - Action/What/Thing Acted On dropping something
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) pieing something
         the arrow points from a more specific rule to a more general one, as decided by Law III.3.2 - Action/What/Thing Acted On taking inventory for the first time
        exiting when the player is in the trunk
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) jumping when the player is in the trunk
         the arrow points from a more specific rule to a more general one, as decided by Law I - Number of aspects constrained peeking
        default outcome is failure

After
default outcome is success

Does the player mean
         start of rulebook taking something which is carried by the player  very unlikely to mean taking what's already carried rule
        outcome  it is very likely - a success
        outcome  it is likely - a success
        outcome  it is possible - a success
        outcome  it is unlikely - a success
        outcome  it is very unlikely - a success
Persuasion
        outcome  persuasion succeeds - a success
        outcome  persuasion fails - a failure
Unsuccessful attempt by
        default outcome is success

Rules for checking, carrying out and reporting on actions can be found in the Actions index. Summary of action rules

Before, for and after activities

Printing the name
     start of rulebook before     a thing (called the item being printed)  make named things mentioned rule
    for         standard name printing rule
        default outcome is success
Listing contents
    for         standard contents listing rule
        default outcome is success
Grouping together
Constructing the status line
Listing nondescript items
Deciding the scope
Supplying a missing noun
     start of rulebook for         while an actor smelling  ambient odour rule
     these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) for         while an actor listening  ambient sound rule
    for         while an actor going  block vaguely going rule
        default outcome is success
Supplying a missing second noun
Reading a command
Deciding whether all includes
Printing the player's obituary
     start of rulebook for         print obituary headline rule
     these rules were both listed as 'last' in this rulebook, and since each was made 'last' in turn, they appear in order of listing for         print final score rule
    for         display final status line rule
        default outcome is success
Amusing a victorious player
Printing the banner text
     start of rulebook after       (say "This work is licensed under the GNU Public License, version 3. [line break]Please type ABOUT for important information.")
Printing the plural name
Deciding the concealed possessions
Printing a refusal to act in the dark
Printing the announcement of darkness
Printing the name of a dark room
Printing the description of a dark room
Printing room description details
Printing a parser error
Implicitly taking
Starting the virtual machine
Clarifying the parser's choice
Asking which do you mean
Writing a paragraph about

What are activities? How to make new activities

Procedural rules

Procedural

Two internally-used rulebooks

Action-processing rules
         start of rulebook before rules
         the rule above was listed as 'first' so precedes this one, which wasn't basic accessibility rule
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) carrying requirements rule
         the rule below was listed as 'last' so comes after the rule above, which wasn't instead rules
         these rules were both listed as 'last' in this rulebook, and since each was made 'last' in turn, they appear in order of listing non-player character action rule
        action-specific rules
        (rule succeeds)
Turn sequence rules
         start of rulebook (consider the scene changing rules)
         these rules were both listed as 'first' in this rulebook, and since each was made 'first' in turn, they appear in reverse order of listing (consider the every turn rules)
         the rule above was listed as 'first' so precedes this one, which wasn't reset parser disambiguation rule
         these rules are equally ranked, so their order is determined by which was defined first (or by explicit 'listed in' sentences) timed events rule
        advance time rule
        update chronological records rule
         the rule below was listed as 'last' so comes after the rule above, which wasn't (consider the scene changing rules)
         these rules were both listed as 'last' in this rulebook, and since each was made 'last' in turn, they appear in order of listing adjust light rule
        note object acquisitions rule

[E1]. Defined in Simple Chat by Mark Tilford