Nomic is a game in which changing the rules is a move. In that respect it differs from almost every other game. The primary activity of Nomic is proposing changes in the rules, debating the wisdom of changing them in that way, voting on the changes, deciding what can and cannot be done afterwards, and doing it. Even this core of the game, of course, can be changed. — Peter Suber, The Paradox of Self-Amendment
Nomic was designed by Philosopher of Law Peter Suber, and published in Douglas Hofstadter's "Metamagical Themas" column in the June 1984 edition of Scientific American. While the purpose of Nomic is unclear, the winning condition, which is laid out in rule 208, is to achieve 100 positive points (200 positive points if playing via mail or computer). These rules also lay out how to earn and lose points.
The initial rule set is just one way to play Nomic, which may be adapted to the environment that it is introduced to. As such, there is no consensus for what the true initial rule set should be, however most variations do look similar to the one made by Peter Suber.
See Also: The initial rules as made by Peter Suber