Pocket Rules

These rules provide most of what you need to know to play Assassins. Further details and edge cases are elaborated on in the main rules, sections of which are linked frequently here for reference.

The Micro Introduction

READ ME FIRST!!! This section lays out what's in these pocket rules.

• Three Targets, Three Assassins: You have three targets and three hunters. You have your targets' names, addresses (or lecture timetables), and additional notes and your hunters have the same about you. This information is taken from the sign-up form.
• Assassinating Targets: You can use many creative ways to assassinate other players. Commonly, players use pens labelled 'knife' and nerf guns but you can be more creative! You can check the the weapons rules for ideas, or email the umpires!
• Reporting Your Assassinations: When you assassinate a target (or try to), report this to the umpires at assassins-umpire@srcf.net with some details on how the assassination went. You can include a fun description too, if you want, which we'll post on the website!
• Incompetence: Incompetent players are those that have been inactive in the game for too long. They become a target for all other assassins (including police assassins, see below), and their sign-up information (name, address [or lecture timetable], additional notes) will be published on the website on the incompetents list
• Wanted List: Players that make minor rules infractions, such as killing a player they didn't have as a target, will be made Wanted. Like incompetent players, they'll be a target for all players. They go off the Wanted list after a few days or after getting a kill or two.
• Open Season: Toward the end of the game, all live players will become targets for each other. The "Open Season" page will have the targeting information of the remaining live players, and their point totals. You need to finish in the top 4-6 players to be invited to the final duel with a chance of winning!
• Police Players: Players can sign up as "police" assassins. This is a casual role for a more relaxed game. Police assassins have no hunters and may target players on the Wanted and Incompetents list.
• Out of Bounds Areas: Some places are out of bounds where it is against the rules to play assassins. Doing so will at the very least make you Wanted, but may result in your removal from the game. A longer list is below, but this includes lecture theatres, formal hall, nightclubs, serveries and servery queues, supervisions, society meetings, and places of worship. You can't use projectile weapons in some areas, like informal hall, shops, and pubs.
• Exercise Common Sense: Please be considerate about those around you, both in the game and not, and generally use common sense. If a player's notes ask have a request, please respect it as these have been vetted by the umpires. If a college official asks you to do something, respect their wishes. Take care not to disrupt those not in the game. We have a zero-tolerance policy against rule-breakers and causing disruption outside of the game. Please read the code of conduct below.

Signing Up:

Near the start of the game, the Umpire(s) will email everyone on the mailing list with a link to a Google Form that lets you sign up for the game. Here you put certain information about yourself: the exact details can be found in this section of the main rules.

How to Play:

As an Assassin, you are given 3 targets who are also Assassins, and tasked with hunting them down and killing them using harmless weaponry. Each time one of your targets dies, a new one is assigned to you. At the same time, you are given as a target to three Assassins who you must evade. The last one standing is the winner.

At the same time, Assassins who have made minor rules infractions (Wanted players) and Assassins who have been inactive for too long (Incompetent players), are hunted down by the rest of the Guild, including the 'Police force'. The Police are special players who are not being hunted, nor can they be killed permanently, and are given no other targets. You can either sign up to play as Police, or become a member after you die in the main game. As a member of the Police, you cannot win the main game, but can indulge in stress-free murdery fun with the assistance of other players.

Code of Conduct:

The Code of Conduct is the most important section of the rules. In short:

• You must be friendly to others that you meet. Respect personal safety and personal boundaries. Don't take pictures of people without their consent.
• Remember that this is only a game. Assassins is not about real violence. Don't be violent or nasty to anyone. If you've just been backstabbed or had a dispute not go your way, that's not a valid excuse.
• Assassins should avoid inconveniencing others or causing trouble. Do not kill anyone who is not involved in the society or who does not wish to participate in this term's game. Players are not allowed to impersonate, lie to, overly involve, or be confrontational with authority figures (most commonly porters; in any confrontation with them, you should apologise, do as they say, and leave). You should not do anything to give onlookers serious cause for concern. Don't get mistaken for a real criminal/terrorist. Exercise common sense at all times.
• We use "Timeout" to stop all play in order to resolve serious rules issues of any type. If you hear this call, stop what you are doing until whatever caused the call has been dealt with and play has been resumed.
• We use the "No Force Rule" to ensure we don't get hurt in fights. Hear or make this call as a reminder that the game should not involve contests of strength, which can lead to injuries. For example, if someone is holding a door shut and calls out "No Force Rule", you cannot force it open.
• Please note that breaches of the Code of Conduct (including ignoring a "Timeout") can lead to becoming Wanted or even disqualification from the game (for egregious and/or dangerous behaviour).

Targets:

The following are licit targets licit targets for any Player:

• The 3 people they were given as targets
• The 3 people given them as targets
• Anyone on the Wanted or Incompetence lists
• Anyone acting as an Accomplice to a licit target (a non-player who is helping another Assassin)
• Any player openly carrying an Assassins weapon (bearing).
• Players during minigames - including those not signed up to the game who have joined a minigame for fun with a friend.

If an Assassin kills an illicit target (a Player who was not a licit target at that point) they will be put on the Wanted List but the target will still die. If a member of the Police kills an illicit target, then the target will not die.

Killing People:

We take harmless objects and put labels on them to mark them as something 'dangerous'. Examples include pens labelled 'knife', teddy bears labelled 'rabid polar bear', and paper planes labelled 'kamikaze'. We also allow most Nerf guns and waterguns, though projectile weapons have restrictions on where they can be used. Water weapons are restricted to certain areas, and in one's signup email, one can specify that one's room is either 'No Water', 'Water with Care' (small water weapons used carefully), or 'Full Water'. For a full list of allowed weapons and where they can be used, see the Weapons Rules (a shorter document, separate from the main rules). However, if you have any weapon you aren't sure about, contact the umpire(s) for clarity.

If a person is hit on the head or torso, they are dead. If a person is hit on a limb, they lose that limb for the the next 30 minutes. Dead players are subject to different rules to living players: they can no longer participate in the game (including passing information), but are encouraged to join the Police force if they wish.

Reporting:

If anything game-related happens to you, email the Umpire(s) and tell them what happened, even if it's just that you went to a target's door, knocked, but found them not in. You can also include a more humorous description of events that will be put up on the site news. You will be asked to choose a pseudonym for these reports to be under. You start out with one pseudonym but can acquire more by killing people. More detailed information about reports, including an example, is available here.

Out of Bounds:

The following paragraph is a list of areas you are not allowed to kill someone for reasons of safety, security and sanity. It is not exhaustive but simply designed to give you a good idea. The full out of bounds list is here: for the most part, this is common sense, but it is worth familiarising yourself with this list.

• May Balls, June Events, and any other formal, ticketed end of year celebration
• Lecture theatres. Practical labs. Computer rooms.
• Meetings with academic staff (this includes supervisions).
• Libraries, hospitals, museums, government buildings, banks, theatres, cinemas, concert halls.
• Restaurants which require you to wait to be seated. Formal hall.
• Servery for informal hall
• Official places of worship.
• Anyone in uniform. Anyone working a real job.
• Anyone in a motorised vehicle.
• All of London (this one rarely comes into play).
• Organised sports activities. Society meetings.
• Clearly marked sociological experiment locations.
• Anyone engaged in an activity which would be dangerous if it did not have their full attention (e.g. hot pans, sharp knives, juggling fire sticks).
• Nightclubs

Examples of places you can kill people:

• Their room.
• Their accommodation corridor.
• In the street.
• Outside their lecture room (the building is in bounds, the room is not).
• In their college (informal) dining hall.

Some places are not Out of Bounds, but projectiles cannot be used in those places, in order to avoid disruption. These include informal dining areas, shops and pubs.

Accomplices:

If you recruit a non-player's help for the game they become your Accomplice. They cannot wield weapons but may be able to help in other ways. If your Accomplice is killed, you are put on the Wanted list and the Accomplice cannot act as an accomplice to anyone until they respawn in 4 hours. It's expected that you explain this to them.

The Wanted and Incompetence List:

If you break the rules in a minor way, you will be put on the Wanted list and become a fully licit target for any other player - this includes the police force. You redeem yourself by either surviving a certain number of days, or making a certain number of licit kills (the Umpire(s) will tell you which). Breaking the rules in a major way will see you disqualified and potentially banned from the Guild.

If you fail to participate in the game for a certain amount of time, you will be put on the Incompetence List and also become a licit target for everyone. You redeem yourself by licitly killing other surviving Players (or attempting at least twice) and emailing the report to the Umpire(s). People on the Incompetence List for a long enough time will eventually be removed from the game.

End-Game:

Towards the end of the game, the Umpire(s) will often announce 'Open Season', when all surviving Players become licit targets to each other. After a certain amount of time (usually a week), the top few survivors are invited to a final organised Duel until only one remains.

The winner is given the title of 'MA' (Master Assassin), or 'PhD' (Paranoia-Hardened Deathmaster) for a two-time winner. Other silly and fun awards are also given out to people who did something worthy of note over the course of the game. You can send in any nominations you like. Take a look at our awards page for a better idea.

Now let's go out there and kill some people!