Cloak & Dagger The Assassins' Guild: Michaelmas 2016 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:

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 you are expected not to do so in the game either.

Messy weapons and water weapons should be used sensibly; they should be carefully aimed and not deliberately 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. Killing bystanders may result in a points bounty being placed on your head, or more serious sanctions being upheld against the player by the umpire.

Except where noted below, most weapons will kill the target instantly if they strike any part of the head or torso. If a limb is hit then it should be declared openly that it is "injured" and so it can no longer be used for the duration of the encounter for any game-related purpose, including to fire, reload or hold a weapon, to block a projectile, to open a door or window or to run away (although if you have to run away you may use your wounded arm/s to carry your weapons with you rather than leave them behind, as long as you don't use such weapons again in the encounter). Any assassin who continues to use a limb with the knowledge that it has been injured will find that any associated kills are invalidated and possibly that the exertion is deemed to have caused death from blood-loss. Limbs also respawn after 30 minutes, if the encounter is still ongoing. Again, you must declare this openly.

If fire is obstructed by an injured limb or an weapon being carried by an injured limb, the players should act as thought it were not there. i.e. if the shot would have hit the torso or head, the person is dead etc.

Likewise, if fire is obstructed by objects such as bags, the players should act as though the object was not there. The only exception to this is if fire hits a weapon held by a non-injured arm of the defending player. If that occurs, the assassin is not injured.

Modification of weaponry is discouraged - if you wish to use a modified weapon you should present it to the Umpire for approval.Modifications in this case refers to altering the function of a weapon, not its appearance.

A. Direct Weapons:

A.1 Projectile Weapons

Projectile weapons are split into Non Water Gun and water weapons. There is also the possibility to 'bang kill' your opponent. None of the following weapons may be used in 'No Projectile' zones (see main rules).


NB: If you are found to be using a realistic-looking gun you will be heavily penalised 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.

A.1.1 Non-water weapons

Most 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. You should not use any weapon that looks at all realistic. "Firewheel" rubber band guns are not allowed. Nothing from the Nerf Rival line is allowed. Try to avoid head shots with all projectile weapons.

A.1.2 Water weapons

Almost any water pistol or water gun may be used as a weapon.

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.

Storm Force 2
A Storm Force 2, the largest allowable water with care weapon

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 wetness roughly the area of a 5p piece in the case of Water with Care weapons and a 50p piece in the case of all larger weapons

Bottles of water etc. may be used to represent flame-throwers. These must be clearly labelled, and 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.

A.1.3 Point-blank shots aka Bang-kills

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 within 1 metre of touching with your weapon, you may say, "Bang!" rather than actually firing your weapon to claim the kill.

Anything else shaped roughly like a gun and labelled 'GUN' can also be used for a Bang-kill, for instance a hair-dryer. If you are unsure whether a certain weapon is allowed, feel free to contact the Umpire.

Bang kills are intended to be a way to avoid causing unnecessary harm to a target from close range, or public nuisance, a waste of ammunition or the risk of a misfire. They are, however frequently frequently mis-understood. The following list of criteria must all be met for the bang-kill to be valid:

You may not make a bang-kill through a wall, door or other substantial medium.

Cap guns or other toy guns which produce a noise without actually firing anything may be used for bang kills ; the cap must go off for the shot to count.

A.2 Melee weapons

A.2.1 Knives

Knives made of foam, rubber or cardboard, prop knives with retractable blades (plastic only), pens with lids on (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". You should not use force when using knives - as long as the victim can feel that they have been stabbed, this qualifies as a kill. Please do not use anything very pointy, and be careful with anything slightly pointy. Pens must have their lids over the nib at all times. Be extra-careful when throwing knives. Knives may only be thrown one at a time.

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 may ever be used as knives. No cutlery of any kind, or actual knives of any kind may be used as knives.

A.2.2 Coshes and clubs

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 depends upon the location of the hit:-

HeadUnconscious for 5 minutes.
BodyImmobilised but conscious for 5 minutes.
Arm or LegThe limb is immobilised for 5 minutes.

Unconsious assassins may not take part in the game until they recover, including warning or informing other assassins. They may not leave the immediate area without forswearing any involvement in the immediate events. Coshing an innocent will still result in a bounty on you (or worse), as will coshing an illicit target who is killed (in any way by anyone) before the effect wears off. An unconcious assassin may be coshed again to keep them under should there be genuine tactical advantage for doing so, and with the caveat above regarding being able to leave so long as they do not use this for their own game advantage.

A.2.3 Swords

Plastic or cardboard swords may be used as swords; cardboard ones must be labelled "SWORD". Toy lightsabres 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. Swords may not be thrown. Remember that this is a game of subtlety rather than combat.

A.2.4 Killer Attack Animals

Fluffy animals may be used as attack animals as long as they are labelled "ATTACK ANIMAL", "KILLER RABBIT", etc. These work just like knives. All attack animals should be presented for inspection first (mostly becuase the umpire likes to see what embarrassing fluffy animals Players keep in their rooms).

The Umpire also condones the use of socks stuffed with polystyrene or other socks to be used as attack animals, so long as they are labelled and have googly eyes attached to them. Be creative with ways to use them, but if you wish to try something unconventional, then check with the Umpire beforehand.

A.2.5 Costumes

Players may wear a costume and become a weapon themselves. The costume must be of something that could kill a human in real life (or an attack animal, as described above). The costume must be decent (i.e. have taken some effort to make) and must include a clearly visible label saying "killer [whatever you've dressed up as]". Players wishing to use costume weapons must apply to the Umpire with a picture of themselves in their clearly labelled costume. The Umpire will then judge whether the costume is sufficient.

Any player using such a costume counts as a contact weapon: the touch of a finger may be used to kill a player. Note that a player counts as bearing for the entire duration of them wearing the costume weapon.

A.2.6 Origami

Origami versions of the above, especially attack animals, are allowed, provided they were built using only paper. Origami constructions may be used as both melee and ranged weapons, but may not be thrown in no-projectile zones. Users are encouraged to submit photographs of the weapon.

A.3 Throwables

All thrown weapons are deemed as projectile weapons and so should not be thrown in the non-projectile areas. Throwables may only be thrown one at a time.

A.3.1 Grenades

Confetti in bags made from tissue paper or water balloons 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. Being splashed on the arms or legs will disable the limbs in question as normal. Water balloons are for use only in Full Water areas.

A.3.2 Boulders and safes

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).

A.3.3 Other Throwables

Many other items that can be used as throwables. So long as they are safe and unlikely to cause injury then they may be thrown. Such throwables must be also labelled as the weapon they represent, and in general should be checked with the umpire first.

For instance, you may choose to use paper aeroplanes labelled 'kamikaze', stress balls labelled 'moon' and so on. Tennis balls, due to their relative hard shell are only permitted to be thrown uing an underhand throw, to prevent injuries and broken glasses.

Snowballs (provided they do not contain ice or rocks) may also be thrown as weapons. Snowballs are a full water weapon and should only be used in the appropriate areas.

B. Miscellany:

B.1 Other weapons

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. Be prepared to present the weapon for the umpire to inspect in person in order to get it licensed. 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), and cardboard double-decker buses. In general you can probably license anything that is completely harmless, and more difficult to kill with than the items in this list.

Creativity is encouraged. The Umpire may award bonus competence and/or chocolate to those making kills with interesting weaponry

B.2 Disallowed weapons:

None of the following weapons will be allowed under any circumstances. Please don't even ask:

  • Body armour
  • Poison gas
  • BB guns, air pistols or any kind of "real" weapon
  • Rubber pellet guns
  • Thrown CDs or playing cards
  • Any form of "bomb" or other "explosive" device
  • Paintball guns.
  • Xploderz water pellet gun
  • Wipeout gun
  • "Firewheel" Rubber Band Guns
  • Items in the Nerf "Rival" range
  • Indirect Weapons - including poison. This also includes traps, turrets or any method of killing which does not require the Assassin to be present when it kills.
  • Bouncy grenades
  • Any nerf gun which has been modified in such a way as to make it more dangerous. Modified guns must be licenced by the Umpire before they can be used, generally aesthetic modifications will be permitted.
  • Any realistic looking weapons which could cause alarm to the public and the real police.
  • Any weapons involving the neck - e.g. 'fake garottes' of any kind.

Shields are banned. This includes any extensions onto guns that could be used as a shield. The default shield for the Shield Blaster range should be removed before using this weapon.

This list is not exhaustive; any weapon not explicitly allowed must be personally checked by the Umpire before being used in the Game.

History

The history of these rules may be found here.

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