The Assassins' Guild - About Eliminate!

This page is an introduction to Eliminate!, a game being run in the first part of Easter term 2005 by Adam Biltcliffe for the Cambridge University Assassins' Guild.

What is Eliminate!?

Eliminate! is a new Assassins game intended to get back to the roots of the game, with less emphasis on teamwork and intrigue than in the main Michaelmas and Lent games. If you like the idea of being a lone killer, working on your own initiative and without knowledge of who you can trust, this game is for you.

How is this going to work?

The Eliminate! rules have been modified considerably from the usual rules of the Assassins game. Most of these changes are intended to shift the focus back to trying to kill your own targets and to make it harder for people to make alliances. For example, in Eliminate!, you only have one target at a time. If that target is someone you've promised not to kill, your only option is to betray them, or hope they die before your attempt deadline arrives.

It's possible that some sufficiently resourceful players could still find ways to advantage themselves by working together in a limited way. However, this is somewhat against the spirit of Eliminate!, and players are encouraged not to do so.

I can't play this! There are too many assassins in my house/lectures/bed!

While this isn't a game about working together, it's true that many keen assassins know one another too well and see one another too regularly to have a hope of surviving if their friends were really out to get them. However, it's ok to agree to make certain areas or times off-limits (for example, agreeing not to kill one another in your shared house) — just remember that at some point you might need to kill them, and you don't want to have made it too difficult for yourself.

How are the Eliminate! rules different?

• Players will only have one target at any time.
• Players will be required to submit a photo of themselves along with their player details, which will be passed to their assassins.
• Players are required to make an attempt on their target every four days, or be removed from the game for incompetence. You will not get competence for anything other than making an attempt on your target, including killing assassins who come after you.
• The game will last for three weeks. If, after that time, more than one player is left alive, whoever has the greatest number of kills will be the winner.
• All indirect methods of attack have been removed from the game. The only means of killing your target require your actual physical presence.
• The weapons rules have been simplified to remove the sections on limb injuries and unconsciousness. If you are shot, stabbed, etc. anywhere on your body, you are dead.
• Players can legitimately claim to be dead, and so will have to be suspicious of everyone.
• The news will only contain reports of deaths, and will not mention anyone's real name, in order to prevent players from knowing who they can trust at all.
• Accomplices will not be allowed.
• There will be no criminals or police force. If you do something illegal without reasonable excuse, you will be removed from the game. Shooting a player who is not your target or assassin and is not bearing weapons will not make them dead, but you will be removed anyway.
• Players will only receive one pseudonym each. While you are alive, kills you make will be reported on the website under your pseudonym; you cannot choose to use your real name.
• If you need to be out of bounds in any non-obvious situation, such as carrying large items around for society purposes, you must tell the Umpire, and all relevant details will be passed to your assassin.
• Dead players may not do anything to influence the game at all. Anything achieved as a result of the actions of a dead player will be annulled.

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