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.

• MAY WEEK 2024: All Full Players are valid targets in May Week 2024. All those who sign up as 'Full Players' will have their targeting information published and are vulnerable to attack!
• 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!
• 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:

Full Players begin the game with 1 point and aim to be top of their assigned Mafia by the end of the week. Points are earned by 'killing' other players and playing minigames (full list of games here).

Casual Players can still make it to the final duel against full players by earning points in minigames. Casual players can also join Full Playing friends out hunting and can chase after TRAITORS. Information about these is available in the May Week Rules

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 for any Player:

• Any player signed up to the main game - openly bearing or not!
• Anyone acting as an Accomplice to a licit target (a non-player who is helping another Assassin)
• 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 Traitor List but the target will still 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, whether or not they know this, 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.

Traitor List:

If you break the rules in a minor way, you will be put on the Traitor List and become a fully licit target for any other player - this includes your own mafia. 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.

End-Game:

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!