The problem here of course is how selective to be about rules to let into this protected level

Couldn't this be determined experimentally? Ignore the last hundred years or so, or however much might influence our conclusion based on modern politics. Find a list of the people who had a large counterfactual impact on history. Which rules lead to desirable results?

For example, the trial of Socrates made him a martyr, significantly advancing his ideas. That's a couple points for "die for the principle of the matter" as an ethical injunction. After Alexander the great died, anti-Macedonian sentiment in Athens caused Aristotle to flee, saying "I will not allow the Athenians to sin twice against philosophy". Given this, perhaps Socrates's sacrifice didn't achieve as much as one might think, and we should update a bit in the opposite direction. Then again, Aristotle died a year later, having accomplished nothing noteworthy in that time.