Rules for this game of assassin. This is a work in progress and subject to change without notice.
Links:
FB group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=94389365352
Short Version
The game is going to start the week of May 4. If you want in I need your info before the afternoon on Thurs. Apr 30.
Lots of people get a water gun and sign up. Everybody who is playing gets the name and info of another player, who they have to "kill" by shooting them with the water gun. When you kill your target, you get a new target. The game continues until there is only one person left, or, the scheduled time elapses. Infamy and possibly prizes await the people who kill the most and survive the longest.
Detailed rules follow below.
Registration Info
4/30, 3pm: Registration is closed, I'll send out an email with details on where to pick up your gun and target and the start of play later today.
To get in on this, send me (Russell) the required info (see below) as soon as possible. Once I know how much interest there is, I will put together info packets and then distribute them to players along with a basic water pistol and set the official start and end dates.
Entry fee is 20 RMB(this is only to cover the cost of guns and a prize pool), to be paid at the time of packet and gun pickup. If one does not pick up their packet and gun, something else will be worked out on a case by case basis.
Recent Updates:
2009-05-04: Clarifications made in section about notification of and confirmation of kills as well as how to get new target information.
2009-04-21: Rules have been updated and re-uploaded for the S/S 2009 season. Expect minor changes between now and when this actually starts.
Table of Contents
1 - Introduction
This document outlines the structure of the Assassins game I’m running, it does not address the crux of this or any such event: having fun. While I cannot mandate that people have fun, I certainly hope they do. I know things can get pretty heated and competitive in the course of this kind of game but please keep in mind that the primary goal is to have a good time.
2 - Eligibility
In order to play this game, you’ve got to be in Beijing, and you’ve got to plan on spending most of the time during the course of the game in Beijing.
Since Beijing is a pretty huge place, I might have to exclude you if you spend all your time really, really, far away (subjectively decided by me). Sorry Shunyi suburbanites, maybe you can run your own game out there.
Finally, you’ll have to be willing to give up some personal information with the understanding that it’s going to be given to other individuals in the course of the game.
3 - Dates
I'm aiming for possibly as early as April 27, 2009 as the start, though possibly as late as early May.
The game will run about a month, until the end of May, or, when there's only one person left standing. If at the end of a couple weeks there are still too many people, maybe there will be a week of sudden death or something.
4 - Organization
4.1 - Director
The person running the game is called the Director. All official instructions come only from the Director. For this game, the Director is Russell Stadler.
4.2 - Players
Players will be required to submit the following information to sign up for play:
- Name
- Home Address
- Work Address
- Phone Number (preferably mobile)
- Email Address
- A Photo of Yourself
- (optional) Your Alias
If you do not provide an alias, an alias will be provided for you.
To clarify; the alias is the name that will be used in dispatches and other in-game communications to refer to a player. This way less information will be revealed during the course of the game as events unfold.
Update 4/23: If you haven't already sent me your info, you can now submit everything except the photo using this form.
4.3 - Official Communication
The primary means of communication will be emails from the Director. The volume will be restricted to no more than three dispatches in a given day. Generally there will be at least one dispatch per day with updates on the game status, death announcements and rules updates (if necessary).
5 - Kills
Each Assassin will have a Target they need to kill. Kills are made by getting the Target wet.
I would encourage the use of a water gun (in this case meaning a device designed for propelling water through the air), though such a device need not necessarily look like a traditional gun. Options such as water balloons are also a viable choice.
Be conscious of the fact that we're playing in a place with an obviously heightened consciousness of security. Don't go running around with something that actually looks like a real gun, and try to exercise common sense when playing.
Bear in mind that the Director can judge weapons as Stupid and thus invalidate kills. Don’t do Stupid things like touching somebody with wet fingertips or anything like that. Also, water only: clean, normal, potable water.
Don’t be a public nuisance or get random other people wet. Think assassin, not carpet bomber, no collateral damage please. Let’s also try to keep the property damage to a minimum.
5.1 - Safe Zones
Safe Zones are places of sanctuary. If a Target has any portion of their body within a Safe Zone, they cannot be killed. Safe Zones are two-dimensional and safety is conferred by contact with the Safe Zone – extending your hand over the Safe Zone is not enough to claim invulnerability. In cases where no portion of the Target’s body is touching the ground or floor, if whatever object they are on is in a Safe Zone, so are they. If the Target is airborne, their landing site will be used to determine their status.
Safe Zones include:
- The Target's residence (their apartment or house or whatever)
- The Target's place of work
- this extends to the entire building, and does not apply to people who are self employed or work at home.
- Stairwells
- Elevators with people other than the Assassin and Target in them
- Places of worship
- Bathrooms
- Areas that would otherwise be totally inappropriate. This is necessarily subjective, but mainly don't disrupt anything in a reckless way. For example, don't drench people at a wedding or at their niece's birthday party. Use your judgment and hopefully this will not be the source of any disputes.
This list can be added to and subtracted from during the course of the game.
Forcibly removing people from safe zones is NOT permitted.
Update May 04, 2009:
Q: are we allowed to attack our target in our own safe zone? such as our apt, office? thanks.
A: As long as the safe zone is not a safe zone for them, then yes.
For example, you wouldn't be able to shoot your roommate at home because it's their home too. Similarly for your coworkers, your workplace is safe for both of you. But for some other friend of yours who neither lives nor works with you, they are not safe in the same places you are.
5.2 - Self Defense
If the Target should detect imminent danger from their Assassin, they may shoot their Assassin in self-defense. If the Target should successfully manage to shoot the Assassin before being killed, the Target is protected from assassination for 1 hour. The Assassin is NOT obligated to self-identify as the assassin for that specific Target.
"Imminent danger" should in this case mean that the Assassin has their weapon in hand and is directing it at their Target, or having some other persuasive reason to think that they are about to try to kill.
In the case of Self Defense, there are no Safe Zones for the Assassin. Furthermore should the Target miss and a shoot out ensues, the Target forfeits rights to sanctuary in Safe Zones until the conclusion of the encounter.
5.3 - Notification
After a kill occurs the Assassin should e-mail or SMS the Director, notifying them of the kill. This notification should include the location and time of kill.
The Target should notify the Director as soon as possible as well. If twelve hours pass from the time of the Director's receipt of the Killer's notification without the kill being disputed, the kill will be valid by default.
If additional details are provided regarding the kill they will be incorporated into the regular game dispatches. Such details might include the weather, setting, deceitful (former) friends, intrigue, suspense, and so forth.
5.4 - Disputes
If the Target should dispute the kill, both Target and Assassin will be required to make their case to the Director. After the Director has conferred with both parties a decision will be made, and that decision is final.
5.5 - Confirmation
Once the kill is confirmed, the Director will notify the Assassin of their new target.
Targets do NOT automatically pass from the deceased to their killer.
May 4, 2009, 13:11 - Clarification: "When you kill somebody, they don't just tell you who they were going after. Instead, they just confirm to me that they are dead, and you also tell me that you killed them. Once I've got that straightened out, I give you a new target."
5.6 - Post-mortem
Remember, dead men tell no tales. Do not blab vital details to others once you’re dead.
6 - Winning
6.1 - Survivor
The last player standing is the Survivor and logical winner of this game. Should multiple players remain alive at the close of play, the Survivor award will be shared evenly among them.
6.2 - Body Counter
The Body Counter winner is the player who accumulates the most kills during the course of the game. As above, multiple players can share in this designation.
7 - Prizes
Prize pool will be determined based on number of participating players and announced in the first week of play.
Half of the accumulated prize pool will be awarded to the last surviving eligible survivor(s), the other half to the best eligible Body Counter. If this should be the same person, then the entire prize will be awarded accordingly.