The Rules v2.1

[Amorphous]

Yep, yep! Partly because I thought having them here as well as an article would be useful, and partly so I can test out if I've formatted them correctly before I go for article submission. Incorrectly formatted articles are so yesterday.


St Andrews Assassins' Guild Rules - Version 2.1
Frank O'Hanlon's September '07 edit.


Overview:
'Assassins' is a real-life roleplaying game with a strong emphasis on creativity, not violence. Each player is given three targets whom they must 'execute' by any legal means available to them, while at the same time trying to avoid execution by the three players for whom they are a target. The last assassin left standing wins!

It is inclusive of all people who live, work, study, etc. within the town of St Andrews and intended particularly for students attending the university, but open to all who agree to follow the rules below.

Breaches of the rules may lead to a place on the Wanted List, and deliberate breaches may mean disqualification. They may also lead to trouble with the authorities. If a rule is breached, the Umpire is at liberty to effect what s/he believes the likely result had that rule been obeyed.

This game depends on players being honest for it to work. Anyone knowingly giving false or misleading information to the Umpire will face severe penalties.


Part One: General Information
Signing up:

All players must officially sign up to play. This means e-mailing the Umpire (saintassassins @ gmail . com) the following information:
* their contact email address (must be checked regularly)
* their full/used name
* their chosen pseudonym (for communication purposes)
* their year of study and useful profession (i.e. if you've a job, if you're a pupil, if you're a poet with nothing to do all day etc)
* a small photo showing a profile view of theirself (i.e. the matriculation photo accessible from your online details via the student portal. Ideally another should be supplied if you are radically different from this)
* their residence information (street, hall, room, etc.)
* any notable information. Easily irritated housemates, noted allergies of players and/or players' housemates, hours of employment (as assassins are not valid targets whilst at work). Where necessary this information will be passed on to other players to prevent accidental exposure to potentially dangerous allergens. Other relevant information includes whether the player has a room-mate, if their room is out of bounds, whether they live in another town etc.
* certify that they have read the rules and conditions, and that they agree to them. In the event of a rule breach, ignorance of the rules is not a valid excuse.

Commencement of play:

The game will begin when the Umpire (or other organiser) sends an e-mail out to all players with the real names (and rough address, subject of study [or other similar details] and any other pertinent details such as allergies) of their three initial targets. Additionally there will be a complete listing of all assassins in the Guild of St Andrews in this game. A list of pseudonyms will also be supplied.

Rule Editor's Note: this is a major change from the earlier editions where there was more secrecy. This is to promote real-life skullduggery and reduce the impact of players simply piecing together bits of information in a somewhat random and uncontrolled manner. Rather everyone is given a more open starting place such that actual surprise and assassination is more important than spying, evading police-sniper teams long enough and avoiding people on pure chance. If everyone starts knowing everyone, we should hopefully have a bit more action. Further, pseudonyms and anonymity of who is tracking you not as important this time around.

A note on absence during the game:
- if for some reason a player is intending to leave the St Andrews area during the week for a period of more than twenty-four hours, they must inform the Umpire of this absence. It is not necessary to inform the Umpire about absence during the weekend.
- this information may be passed on to other players where deemed necessary, though details such as where and why shall, of course, be kept private.
- in most cases the player's Incompetence Period (see: Incompetent Players) will continue to count down during their absence. In special circumstances (e.g. hospital visit, especially if an emergency or requiring an overnight stay) it will be paused, though what construes 'special circumstances' is at the Umpire's discretion.
- in the case of an extended absence due to special circumstances (e.g. family emergency which requires returning home) players may ask for or be offered an Honourable Discharge (see 'Leaving The Game' below).

Legal Kills:

The following groups of people are legitimate targets:
- the three targets assigned to the player (well detailed in each email, once a target is killed another will be dispatched to those concerned as soon as possible)
- the three assassins targeting the player. These will not be made known to the player by the Umpire, but in the event that the player finds out who one of their assassins is they may perform a pre-emptive self-defence kill. Accidentally killing another assassin who turns out, coincidentally, to have been assigned the player as a target is NOT a legal kill.
- anyone involved in making or having just made an attempt upon the player
- anyone openly carrying a weapon or setting a trap. The object in question must be clearly visible as an Assassins weapon. Players who were previously holding weapons but have since concealed them are not licit targets
- Wanted Players and Incompetent Players (see below)

Code of Conduct:

Players should exercise common sense at all times. Inconveniencing the public, disturbing the peace, causing a mess or nuisance and causing undue distress to non-players will not be tolerated and may irk the authorities.

Players should not do anything likely to cause anyone (including themselves) injury.

Both security forces and the public are easily alarmed at present, therefore players should avoid behaviour that may cause them to be mistaken for a stalker, burglar, murderer, idiot or terrorist: not wearing a balaclava or other suspicious clothing; avoiding bearing weapons or fighting in public; remembering that toy guns can look real in the dark or on CCTV; where possible, not lurking suspiciously.

Players may not impersonate, in voice, image, communication, etc. authority figures including the following:
- Wardens, Subwardens or Resident Assistants
- Residence Managers, cleaners and porters
- members of staff and sabbatical officers of the Students' Association
- Fife Constabulary or other emergency services
- non-player game organisers
On the offchance that a player genuinely is one of the above, they may not abuse their authority in order to make a kill.

Players may not behave, at any time, in a manner that would break the law or University regulations. This includes, but is not limited to:
- tampering with fire alarms/equipment
- breaking and entry
- destruction of property
- theft
- bodily harm
- physical or mental intimidation
- behaviour unbecoming of a member of the Students' Association.

A further note on fire alarms: university fire alarms can sometimes be activated by steam or aerosols. For this reason, indoor use of aerosol weapons is absolutely banned and extreme caution should be exercised by players at all times. Accidental triggering of fire alarms will be taken very seriously by the authorities and at very worst could result in expulsion from hall, expulsion from the university, or criminal charges.

Reporting:

Players MUST report ANY assassins-related incident that they have been involved in: killing someone, being killed by someone, making an attempt on someone or having an attempt made upon themselves. These reports should be made to the Umpire as soon as possible by e-mail and include at least the following information, where known:
- names of both parties involved
- nature of the incident
- weapon used and approximate time and place
- how public the event was and so forth (e.g. any other useful information)

These reports will then be extended, embellished, dramatised etc. and posted on The Sinner Assassins Message Board.

If players are unsure about what happened in an incident they may call "parlé" to establish who was hit and who, if anyone, is dead. Players should first try and resolve disputed kills between themselves, as reaching their own compromise is most likely to leave both parties happy. Where a compromise cannot be reached, the Umpire will decide. Players in parlé are out of bounds. Abuse of parlé will not be tolerated.

Leaving The Game: Honourable and Dishonourable Discharge

In special circumstances, for example in the event of a family death or some other serious personal event, players may ask for or be offered an Honourable Discharge from the game. In real-life terms this has the effect of immediately becoming a non-player in order to deal with more important matters. In game terms, the player's character decides to renounce their murderous ways and leave town to live a life of peace and harmony and improving the life of their fellow man (or a variation thereof).

If a player is disqualified or leaves the game for a 'bad' reason (e.g. "I just can't be bothered") then they may be given a Dishonourable Discharge. This can take many forms, from '[x] was abducted by aliens and is now being experimented on in the shadow of Mars' to '[x] was captured by police while performing a heist in China and will most likely never see the light of day again' to '[x] was suddenly stung by a billion bees, then run over by an elephant while dragging himself to hospital, after which he was pushed off a 100ft cliff by a sheep where he then fell into the mouth of a shark which was immediately devoured, mercilessly, by seven more of its shark brethren'. Ideally the violence of the story should be roughly proportional to the circumstances.

Both Honourable and Dishonourable Discharges, once performed, are irreversible due to the difficulty of trying to insert an assassin back into an established system.


Part Two: Places
Places in St Andrews can be categorised as belonging to one of the following three zones.

Safe Zones: Areas in which no-one may kill or be killed. All other zones become a Safe Zone in the event of an emergency, such as evacuation of a University building due to fire alarm. Players must follow normal emergency procedure during this time. The Safe Zone period ceases when a relevant authority figure declares the building/area safe to re-enter.

Other Safe Zones include:
- the interior of University academic settings such as, but not limited to, the library, lecture theatres (whether or not a lecture is in progress), tutorial classrooms, laboratories, computer rooms, and the Sports Hall.
- places of worship and places of traditional interest. These include, but are not limited to, the Castle, the Ruins, and all churches.
- places of business such as restaurants, hairdressers, shops, supermarkets, B.E.S.S, the post-office, the cinema, Hall dining rooms, etc. Equally, anyone working in these settings can not be harmed. Bars are not Safe Zones (see Mess Free Zones, below).
- the immediate vicinity of a shop till or an ATM/cash machine. This includes a queue for one.
- buses, cars, bicycles, trains and other means of transport where an attack could cause nuisance or injury.
- society meetings, sports games and practices, study-groups, etc. are all out of bounds. Likewise players who may be transporting equipment to and from such events are out-of-bounds. This does not include impromptu 'kickabouts'.

Temporary Safe Zones: It is possible for assassins to petition the Umpire (and via them other game officials) for a TSZ to be set up. This is, essentially, to allow for more high profile or significant multi-assassin activities to go off without a hitch and to prevent assassins from totally taking over student life. To this end it is recommended that only parties or other events where around four to five (or more) assassins will be attending should be brought to the umpire for consideration. If these events are not brought to the attention of the Umpire it is highly unlikely that they will be declared safe (as Umpires, like all those in power, love a little bloodbath). If too many of these arise, there will be less leniency on the part of the Umpire in awarding TSZ status. These are ideally rare events and should not be common. Finally, a TSZ must be set up and publicly announced four hours before it commences, so inform the Umpire early (they have lives too).

Mess Free Zones: A mess free zone is any non-safe indoor zone (or other area where projectile weapons are likely to cause disruption, entry/exit-points to buildings, very busy streets etc. In such places it is entirely forbidden to use projectile weapons (such as guns, missile launchers, exploding-flying-sheep etc). This explicitly includes water-based, foam-based and similar weapons. To be absolutely clear: only contact melee weapons may be used in Mess Free Zones. A final note is that 'poisons & bombs' may still be placed and dispersed indoors as outlined below, but mess must be nonexistent.

Rule Editor's Note: This is simply to promote stabbings and professional (if archaic) assassin kills. Guns and whatnots should be for outside (impressive) use. Conversely, bombs-in-bedrooms (or 'sonic' bombs, I recommend considering RC Daleks: hint, hint) are still fun for assassinations but are highly likely to cause collateral damage. You have been warned! Knives, clubs, vicious-monkey-attacks are all welcome. Disputes over how many times a chimp must be shot with a water pistol in the foot or how likely someone was to have been hit under a hail of 'bangs' running sideways along the Whey Pat's bar are not welcome (though will still be handled impartially).

Scribe's Note: Also, bang-kills make for really boring stories. There are only so many synonyms for 'shot'.

Free Zones: Mostly outdoor areas. Anything goes, providing that it is within the other rules.


Part Three: People
Assassin: Anyone still playing the game.

Dead Assassin: Fairly self-explanatory. Dead Assassins are still bound by the rules of the game until it finishes and may not bear arms or anything that may be mistaken for arms. Dead Assassins may choose to join the Hit Squad (see below) or become non-players.
Uttering the phrase "I am dead" or phrases of similar meaning within earshot of another Assassin or Heavies qualifies a player as dead. Players therefore may not lie about their status.

Accomplices: Assassins may, if they wish, make use of accomplices in their attempts. Any person with at least basic knowledge of the Assassins Game acting to the advantage of an assassin on their instruction, with their consent or by prior understanding is considered an accomplice.
Accomplices are considered Non-Players (see below) and as such cannot kill anyone nor can they bear weapons to be used by them or anything that could be construed as such. Furthermore, killing an accomplice carries the full penalty of killing a Non-Player.
An assassin cannot be an accomplice to another assassin, however assassins may choose to collaborate and share information. This is done at their risk - should the deal go south or one party give false or misleading information, the Umpire will not intervene!

Non-Players: Anyone not involved in the game, including dead assassins who have chosen not to join the Hit Squad. Killing a Non-Player will lead to a place on the Wanted List (see below), but excessive and deliberate murder of Non-Players may lead to disqualification/dishonourable discharge. The Umpire accepts that sometimes accidents do happen!

Wanted Players: Any player deemed in breach of the rules may be placed on the Wanted List. Wanted Players can be hunted by any assassin, the game organisers or the Hit Squad. The Wanted List will be published on The Sinner Assassins Message Board in addition to being circulated around all players. In special circumstances Wanted Players may have the opportunity to perform Community Services to have themselves removed from the Wanted List - the terms of this community service are variable and will be set by the Umpire (e.g. kill two other Wanted Players).

Incompetent Players: To encourage active participation, each player has a time limit (or 'competence period') in which to make attempts on their targets. Initially this will be one week; if a full week goes past without a player making any attempts, the player will be declared Incompetent. As the game continues competence periods may decrease and the conditions required to remain competent may become stricter. Killing another Assassin by any means will always ensure competence, but Heavies do not count.
Incompetent Players are legal targets for all other Players, including the Hit Squad. The Umpire will specify conditions for Incompetents who wish to clear the list; normally two valid attempts or one successful assassination.

Incompetents who remain on the list for a long period of time without making sufficient attempts at redemption may be removed/given Dishonourable Discharge.

The Hit Squad Heavy: Dead Assassins may request to be reincarnated as a member of the Hit Squad (individually referred to as an Heavy). This group of players exists solely to hunt down and kill Wanted and Incompetent Players. Heavies are still governed by all relevant rules and may only act as accomplices to other Hit Squad Heavies. They are governed by the Squad Leader, an immortal (but not unkillable) game organiser who may assign or prioritise targets as he or she deems necessary.

Heavies may be killed by assassins only if in the process of making an attempt on the assassin's life. The Heavy remains dead until the following three things have all occurred:
- the Heavy e-mails a report and
- the Heavy asks the Umpire to be reinstated
- the Umpire announces the reinstatement on The Sinner Assassin's Message Board and/or circular assassins e-mail

Reinstatement is at the discretion of the Umpire, not a guarantee. Unsavoury tactics by the Hit Squad Heavies will not be tolerated. Discuss tactics with the game organisers, kills may be reversed if out of order. In this regard heavies are obliged to put far higher emphasis on preventing innocent deaths (which includes refraining from targetting Wanted/Incompetent players when there is a very significant risk to innocents).

Rule Editor's Note: This change reinforces the role of the Heavies as hired thugs and failed assassins, not as 'second-chance-super-assassin-teams' (though the word mercenary seems appropriate). As such thugs will be used to harrass wanted/incompetent players than to absolutely eliminate assassins (we assign extra assassins in that case... see how assassins are allowed to go after the wanted list?).

The Umpire: In the instance of these rules, 'the Umpire' may in fact refer to a group of organisers. The Umpire is immortal (but killable when they engage wanted players, though it counts for little and are resurrected as soon as they announce it via email or on the Sinner) and in charge of the game from beginning to end, compiling reports, overseeing the assigning of targets and upholding the rules. The Umpire's decision in all matters is final. The Umpire is contactable via the email used by the guild.


Part Four: Weapons
Guns:

Guns include water pistols, rubber bands (and rubber band guns), Nerf guns, spud guns and cap guns etc.
BB guns, paintball guns, and realistic-looking guns are not allowed at any time. Breach of this rule will result in instant disqualification.

Care and common sense must be used with water pistols.

Guns and other projectile weapons may not be used in Mess Free Zones.

Hits must be definite, but do not cause injury. This may mean confirming the kill with the victim after making it (see the "Parle" endpoint in the Reporting section).

Bang Kills (An important addendum): Bang kills are only permitted in Free Zones with guns and similar weapons. You must be immensely and indisputably close to your target and say, very loudly, "BANG" without firing your weapon. "Bang" is used regardless of what you're actually using (comedy crossbow, for instance...). Common sense must be applied.

Melee weapons:

Examples of melee weapons are clubs made out of cardboard, safes/refrigerators/pianos made of Styrofoam or empty cardboard boxes, and toilet roll nunchakus. With the exception of large Styrofoam and cardboard weapons and knives/swords, a player can withstand 3 melee blows before death.

Knives made of foam, rubber or cardboard, plastic knives with retractable blades, pens and pencils may all be used as knives. Similar, larger objects may be used as swords. Anything which is not very obviously a knife/sword should be labelled "knife"/"sword". Care should be used when attacking people with pencils or anything else vaguely pointy. Players should be extra-careful when throwing knives (which are projectiles for the purposes of Mess Free Zones, so no throwing therein!) and note that arbitrary objects cannot be turned into weapons simply by writing "knife" or "sword" on them; this may only be done to vaguely appropriately-shaped objects.

Metal objects (including cutlery) cannot be used as knives.

Stuffed animals may be used as attack animals as long as they are labelled "ATTACK ANIMAL", "KILLER RABBIT", etc. Players should be creative with using them, but contact the Umpire beforehand if wishing to try something unconventional.

Indirect Weapons:

Contact poison may be represented by talc, jam, oil, etc. These can be delivered through letters, poison-tipped paper airplanes (properly labelled), etc. Poison letters must carry a disclaimer stating the nature of the game, and the substance contained in the envelope:
This is a letter for the mock assassination game run by the University of St Andrews Assassins' Guild. The substance contained within is [insert name of substance] and is completely harmless. Queries should be addressed to the Umpire, who can be contacted at saintassassins @ gmail.com .
Failure to do so will nullify the kill attempt and cause the assassin to be placed on the Wanted List.

Strongly flavoured substances added to a victim's food or drink can also be used as poison but EXTRA CARE MUST BE TAKEN NOT TO USE SUBSTANCES WHICH A VICTIM MAY HAVE AN ALLERGY TO. Also players must not attempt to poison a drink in a public place such as a pub, bar or the Union as onlookers may misinterpret it as drink-spiking and inform the authorities. Poisoning is only considered successful if the victim notices a taste difference.

No poisoning doorknobs, banisters, public toilet seats, etc. This falls under the rule against causing messes.

Musical greetings cards (ready-made cards only) can be sent to targets. If such a card starts to play and the victim is touching it (even if wearing gloves), they are deemed to be so "excited" by the vibrations of the tinny, annoying melody that they become insane and commit suicide. Cards should contain a disclaimer similar to that for poisons.

Powdered contact poison (talc, flour, etc.) MUST NOT be sent through the Royal Mail. Cards, letters, parcels, etc. sent through the mail service (University or Royal) or handed to porters which have leaked their contact poison are deemed to have killed innocent victims. Careless Talc Costs Lives!
Assassins should be very careful sending special letters in any form to shared pidgeonholes so that they do not inconvenience innocent people.

Miscellaneous Weapons:

Assassins may use weapons not listed here, however they must first contact the Umpire to register novel weapons so that the Umpire may decide whether it is fair and safe. Kills made using unlicensed weapons will be disallowed.

Generally a weapon has a good chance of being licensed if it is completely harmless in real life and more difficult to utilise than the weapons listed above. Examples of previously-licensed novelty weapons include poisoned umbrellas, double-decker buses, poisoned lipstick, Hands Of Destruction and a bird-flu-stricken bird. A mention should be issued on behalf of animatronic Daleks and Cybermen, hint hint.

Licensed weapons, unlike before, will only be valid when the Umpire has dispersed the license 'notification' within the game (e.g. with an official email to all parties).