The Assassins' Guild: Lent 2009 Weaponry Rules
The Assassins' Guild: Lent 2009 Weaponry Rules
The following gives an outline of the various weapons which can be used against enemies. It is not an exhaustive list and players are encouraged to use their imagination; however, any weapon not on this list must be shown to the umpire and approved before its use on the field. In general, all weapons must be completely safe (for both people and property), defensible so as not to unbalance the Game and materially and tangibly do something, to indicate to the victim that he/she has been killed. All non-obvious weapons must be clearly labelled: if you were carrying a real knife, you wouldn't be able to convince your target that it was a pencil by holding your thumb over the label, so don't do that either.
Messy weapons and water weapons should be used sensibly; they should be carefully aimed and not used to excess. Don't use messy or water weapons against people carrying something expensive or wearing formal clothes. Any kills achieved in this manner may be annulled and the players responsible disciplined.
Weapons should be specific to the victim; killing bystanders is to be avoided even when the effect is harmless.
Police should take extra care not to use any weapon that may endanger innocent civilians. Kills made by police using illegal methods will be invalidated and the officers in question disciplined appropriately by the Chief of Police or the Umpire.
Except where noted below, most weapons will kill the target instantly if they strike any part of the head or torso. Limb hits now also kill, regardless of the position of the hit, but hands are deemed to be part of a held weapon. Blocking hits with held weapons is allowed (note that a unwielded weapon attached to your body does not block.
Wooden rubber band guns, Nerf weapons, pea-shooters, toy pig catapults and rubber bands fired from the fingers all count as guns and are projectile weapons. Other similar weapons may also be allowed, but you must contact the Umpire before using one so it can be approved. A direct hit is required; projectiles rebounding off walls, etc. do not count.
BB guns and pellet guns are NOT allowed so don't even bother asking. You should not use any weapon that looks at all realistic. "Firewheel" rubber band guns are not allowed. Try to avoid head shots with all projectile weapons.
Cap guns or other toy guns which produce a noise without actually firing anything may be used to kill people from less than a metre with a clear shot. In the case of cap guns, the cap must go off for the shot to count.
If you are found to be using a realistic-looking gun you will be made Wanted or removed from the game. No matter how safe it is, the law is quite strict on this matter, and the Guild has no desire to see its members arrested.
If you are using a gun, water pistol, water gun, or a banana clearly labelled "GUN", and are pointing it at the head or torso of your target, which you can clearly see and are sufficiently close that you would be able to touch the target, you may say, "Bang!" rather than actually firing your weapon to claim the kill. You cannot do this if your gun is out of ammunition, is jammed or is otherwise unusable (although if you only discover later that the gun is not working then the kill stands). This is intended to stop you causing unnecessary harm to a target from close range and to avoid public nuisance, a waste of ammunition or the risk of a misfire. It is intended to be used on occassions when you are surprising your intended victim and not as a piece of combat. It is the duty of the attacker to ensure that they are demonstrably fulfilling the above conditions when they say the word, "Bang!". However, keep in mind that the Game does not involve the use of physical force. You may NOT make bang-kills with water weapons if the water status of an area would not allow you to fire the gun. You may not make a bang-kill through a wall, door or other substantial medium.
Almost any water pistol or water gun may be used as a weapon. However for this game, no CPS (constant pressure system) weapons or other high volume water weapons are allowed. If you are unsure as to what is suitable, then contact the Umpire.
Players may decide as to what extent they wish to allow water-based weapons to be used in their own rooms; this information should be supplied to the Umpire at the start of the game. The default state is no water.
In-bounds areas have restrictions placed on what sort of weaponry may be used in them, and are divided into three categories:
Note that water weapons inappropriate for the water status of the area may not be fired into or out of that area.
All areas should be considered No Water unless specified otherwise.
The following areas are Water with Care:
The following areas are Full Water:
If small water pistols are used, it is a good idea to confirm the kill immediately with the victim who might not have noticed the hit if wearing thick clothing. This avoids arguments later, when the water has evaporated. For reference, a hit (with any water weapons) is any noticeable wetness on a person.
Bottles of water etc. may be used to represent flame-throwers. These should only be used outdoors in warm weather. Shaken-up bottles of lemonade or similar should not be used as the drink becomes sticky and unpleasant as it dries.
Represented by a cardboard poster tube or a newspaper rolled up and stuck with Sellotape. Either should be clearly labelled "Cosh". The effect of a cosh is to leave the attacked assassin stunned for 5 minutes, during which they are not allowed to move away from or to fight back against their attacker.
Knives made of foam, rubber or cardboard, plastic knives with retractable blades, pens with lids (not metal) and without a metal barrel or sharp ends, may be used as knives. Anything which is not very obviously a knife should be labelled "KNIFE". Please do not use anything very pointy, and be careful with anything slightly pointy. Be extra-careful when throwing knives.
Arbitrary objects may not be turned into weapons simply by writing "KNIFE" on them; this may only be done to vaguely knife-shaped objects. No metal objects including cutlery knives may ever be used as knives. Bananas labelled "GUN" may be used to bang-kill.
Plastic or cardboard swords may be used as swords; cardboard ones must be labelled "SWORD". Toy lightsabers may also be used. Rolled-up newspapers or cardboard poster tubes are coshes, not swords.
Latex LARP swords and knives (or other LARP weapons, not including LARP bows or crossbows) may be used if they are labelled very clearly, and you bring them to the Umpire so that he can check that they are safe, and that you can pull your blows correctly.
In the interests of safety, with all melee weapons, you should be careful to avoid attacks of a stabbing nature (particularly with LARP weapons) and should never aim for the head. Remember that this is a game of subtlety rather than combat.
Fluffy animals may be used as attack animals as long as they are labelled "KNIFE", "ATTACK ANIMAL", "KILLER RABBIT", etc. These work just like knives. Ideally all attack animals should be presented to the Umpire first as he likes to see what embarrassing fluffy animals Players keep in their rooms. Be creative with ways to use them, but if you wish to try something unconventional, then check with the Umpire beforehand.
Confetti in bags made from tissue paper or water bombs may be used. Use common sense with all of these. They will kill if they strike any part of the head or body. If they hit a wall and splash your head or body appreciably (i.e.. if you're wettish) you are dead. If you are only slightly splashed, you survive. Water bombs are for use only in Full Water areas.
An empty (large) box or sizeable lump of expanded polystyrene may be labelled 'safe', 'fridge', 'anvil' or similar, and then dropped. It can kill if it falls at least a metre before impact. An anvil that falls a foot or more stuns the target as if it were a cosh blow to the head. A beach ball or balloon at least the size of a football may be labelled as a boulder and then rolled, dropped or thrown as a weapon (not kicked, however - that would break your leg) - any impact with significant speed may kill, including from rebounds (although most other weapons do not count on the rebound).
Represented by Vaseline, jam, mustard, toothpaste or similar gooey substances, or by powder such as talc. This will kill immediately after contact with the skin even if it is wiped off. This sort of contact poison is deemed to be no longer effective if it has dried enough that the victim does not notice it (be honest, please). Gloves or anything else which prevents the poison from coming into contact with the skin will protect you.
As contact poison is dangerous to anyone else who might touch the surface in question, you may not apply it to a surface in a public place unless you have a reasonable belief that a legal target for you will be the next person to touch that surface, and you should not use contact poison on another player's doorhandle. Flouting this rule will lead to being placed on the wanted list, and possibly disqualification from the game.
Cards, letters and parcels may contain contact poison. Special letters should usually be signed, eg. A. Sassin and must always have a disclaimer reading something like:
This is a letter for the mock assassination game run by the Cambridge University Assassins' Guild. The substance contained within is [insert name of substance] and is completely harmless. Queries should be addressed to this term's Umpire, Luke Bennett of Jesus College (assassins@srcf.ucam.org).
Do not ever, ever send a poisoned letter through the Royal Mail, or the ICMS (Inter-Colligiate Mail Service) or any form of university (incl. CUSU) mail service. Special letters should be hand-delivered. Also, always write a disclaimer on the letter. Not doing so may also result in sanctions. Also, please don't mention any real poisons on a letter, as that is a bit silly, and is liable to cause a scare.
It is possible to use many other weapons not in this list. However, you must contact the Umpire to register any other weapon first so that the umpire can decide whether it is fair and safe. Any kills you make with an unlicensed weapon may be disallowed. Examples of previously-licensed novelty weapons include poisoned umbrellas (such as that used to kill Georgi Markov), double-decker buses and poisoned lipstick. In general you can probably license anything that is completely harmless, and more difficult to kill with than the items in this list.
None of the following weapons will be allowed:
This list is not exhaustive; any weapon not explicitly allowed must be personally checked by the Umpire before being used in the Game.
The history of this set of rules is fairly short:
