Applications Open

The Raffles Assassins Guild is proud to present the first ever game of Assassins in Raffles Junior College. For newcomers to the game, please do take the time to read through the rules before signing up.

For those who've played Assassins in RI, consider reading through the rules as well to refamiliarize yourself with the game as well as to note some significant changes to the original rules (in particular, direct weaponry is now confined to melee weapons only).

Applications are to be sent to ranathalion(at)gmail(dot)com, together with the information specified at the end of the Rules page. The game will begin as and when we have enough players.

Contact me if you have any questions.

-Ryan D, (Gamemaster)

Rules: Weaponry

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, the GM may make any kills carried out with an unauthorized weapon invalid, so do come and check before using your latest creation in the heat of battle. 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 should be used sensibly; they should be carefully aimed and not used to excess. Don't use messy weapons against people carrying something expensive or wearing formal clothes as they might get annoyed.

Weapons should be specific to the victim — killing bystanders is to be avoided even when the effect is harmless.

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 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 the GM will probably be lenient should you use an injured limb to take 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 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.

DIRECT WEAPONS

Knives and other melee weapons
Knives made of foam, rubber or cardboard, plastic knives with retractable blades, ice-cream sticks, pens and pencils may all be used as knives. All knives should be clearly labelled "KNIFE". Please be careful when attacking people with pencils and anything else vaguely pointy. Knives should not be thrown.

Arbitary 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.

Plastic or cardboard swords and toy lightsabers may be used as swords provided they are clearly labelled "SWORD". Actual fencing weapons should NOT be used as swords.

In the interests of safety, with all melee weapons, you should be careful to avoid attacks of a stabbing nature 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. Ideally all attack animals should be presented to the GM first as he likes to see what embarrassing fluffy animals players own. Be creative with ways to use them, but if you wish to try something unconventional, then check with the GM beforehand.

INDIRECT WEAPONS

Contact poison
Represented by hair gel, jam, mustard, toothpaste, Vaseline or similar gooey substances, or by powder such as talcum powder. 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. You may not poison any door handles. That's worth repeating: contact poisoning a door handle will make you Wanted. In general, it is suggested you limit contact poison to things that only your target is likely to touch. Also, poisoning hard-to-clean or valuable personal belongings such as pencilboxes, wallets or bags is not allowed. Ask the GM for further clarification.

Paper planes with contact poison on the tip may be used as poisoned darts if they are appropriately labelled. Please take care not to use any substance likely to cause allergic reactions as a contact poison - the GM will inform you if your target has such allergies, but err on the side of caution in all cases.

Poisoned food or drink
Strongly-flavoured (edible!) substances added to a victim's food or drink count as poison and will kill the victim as soon as they notice the taste. If the poison is dilute enough not to be tasted it will not work. Note that experiments to establish the required dose may well end up killing the guinea pig. Be careful not to use as poison any substances which may cause allergic reactions, especially nut extracts.

Food which normally tastes strong or spicy does not count as poison on its own. Similarly, buying your victim catered food from the RI dining hall does not count as poisoning.

Special letters
Cards and letters may contain contact poison. Poisoned letters should usually be signed, and must always have a disclaimer reading something like:

This is a letter for the mock assassination game run by the Raffles Assassins Guild. The substance contained within is [insert name of substance] and is completely harmless. Queries should be addressed to the Gamemaster for this season, Ryan D of 07S03N.

Anyone failing to replace the text '[insert name of substance here]' with the actual name of the substance in question will be made Wanted for extreme stupidity.

Alternatively, you may send "exciting" musical greetings cards (use ready-made cards only, please — not cards you have made or modified yourself) to your targets. If such a card starts to play and you are touching it (even if you are wearing gloves), you are deemed to be so "excited" by the vibrations of the tinny, annoying melody that you become insane and commit suicide. Cards should contain a disclaimer such as:

This is an "exciting" card for the mock assassination game run by the Raffles Assassins Guild. Queries should be addressed to the Gamemaster for this season, Ryan D of 07S03N.

If the card is also poisoned, then you should include the relevant part of the poison disclaimer too. Please try to ensure that "exciting" cards are not opened during lectures or lessons.

For obvious reasons, powdered contact poison (talcum powder, flour, etc.) MUST NOT be sent through the post.

MISCELLANY

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. Any kills you make with an unlicensed weapon may be disallowed.

Shields
There are no shields in this game, and clothing, bags and weaponry will not block incoming attacks. This means that if you are hit in the back while carrying a bag, and the attack would have hit your body had you not been wearing it, you are dead. Weapons may likewise not block attacks and so hits to your weapon may count as having hit your arm or body as appropropriate if they would otherwise have done so. Assassins should be fair, however, and ensure that victims of attacks actually notice these attacks. There is nothing more infuriating than being informed that you are dead because someone stabbed your bag when you weren't looking.

Disallowed weapons

None of the following weapons will be allowed:

• Body armour
• Shields or tanks
• Poison gas
• Air rifles or any kind of "real" weapon
• Rubber pellet guns
• Thrown CDs or playing cards
• Any form of "bomb" or other "explosive" device
• Paintball guns
• Water guns
  

Rules: General

INTRODUCTION
Assassins is a game of mock assassination for a large number of players. Each person has to try to survive the attempts of others to kill them whilst eliminating their own targets. The last person to be left alive is, not surprisingly, declared the winner. These rules are adapted from those of the Cambridge Guild of Assassins, which can be found here.

HOW TO PLAY
The game, in brief:

• Sign up for the game, per the instructions at the end of this page.
  
• When the game starts, you will be SMSed the name of your target. Try to kill them using any legal means at your disposal. There will also be one other person after you.
• Whenever you make an attempt on another player's life, successful or not, SMS the Gamemaster with a report. If someone attempts to kill you, report that to the GM as well.
• If your target is eliminated, the GM will send you a replacement target.
• If you die, report this to the GM. The game is now over for you.
• If you are the last remaining assassin - congratulations! You are declared the winner.

The weapons rules describes the various weaponry you may use to eliminate the other assassins.

LEGAL TARGETS
The following are legal targets for any player:

• The target you have been assigned to by the GM.
• The person assigned to kill you (you will not be told who he or she is, but should you find out you may attempt to defend yourself by pre-emptively killing them first).
• Anyone involved in making an attempt on you.
  
• Anyone openly bearing a weapon or setting a trap. The object in question must be clearly visible to you as an Assassins weapon. Players who were previously holding a weapon but have since concealed them are not legal targets.
  
• Anyone on the Wanted List.

GENERAL CONDUCT

• Exercise common sense at all times. Players are entirely responsible for their behaviour. Avoid inconveniencing other people, especially staff members and the general public.
• The game depends on people being honest for it to work. Please inform the Gamemaster if you have been killed.
  
• Assassins is a game about subtlety, not physical strength or violence. There is no excuse whatsoever for pushing people around or forcing them out of your way. Most specifically, if someone is holding a door open or shut, you should not attempt to move that door, and you should never do anything likely to cause anyone (including yourself) injury.
• Don't be stupid. Avoid behaviour that might cause the authorities to mistake you for a stalker, burglar, murderer or terrorist.
  
• For obvious reasons, you are not allowed to impersonate authority figures, such as teachers, police, et cetera. Neither are you allowed to impersonate the Gamemaster. Note that it is fine, however, to impersonate student councillors, CT reps, and other student positions.
• You are at perfect liberty to deny you are an assassin. However, you are not allowed to claim that you are a dead assassin and hence harmless. Also, you may not lie about the vital status of other assassins who are immediately present.
• Most of all, remember that this is just a game. Do your best, but have fun. Please be friendly to other players you meet during the game, even if they may be trying to kill you.

OUT-OF-BOUNDS AREAS
There are some places and circumstances which, for reasons of safety and sanity, are considered out-of-bounds. No one may kill anyone or be killed when they are out-of-bounds, which include the following:

• Lecture theatres are out-of-bounds, whether or not a lecture is in progress.
• Classrooms are out-of-bounds during lessons.
  
• Laboratories (including computer labs) are out-of-bounds.
• The library and the staff offices are out-of-bounds.
• Assemblies are out-of-bounds.
• Toilets are in-bounds with the following conditions:
• Gender boundaries are to be observed.
  
• Players are not to force open toilet cubicles in order to make an attempt.
  
• Anyone in the middle of having their CCAs is out-of-bounds.
• To allow players to lead a comfortable social life, anywhere outside the RJC campus is out-of-bounds.

If you are not sure whether a given time or place is out-of-bounds of not, please contact the GM. Similarly, if there is something mentioned on this list you think should be out-of-bounds, ask the GM to consider it.

NON-PLAYERS AND ACCOMPLICES
Players may, if they wish, make use of non-player accomplices on their attempts. Any person with at least a basic knowledge of the Assassins Game acting to the advantage of a player on their instruction, with their consent or prior understanding is considered an accomplice. Players should not induce one of the authority figures mentioned under the conduct rules to be an accomplice.

Non-player accomplices cannot kill anyone. They may not openly bear weapons nor anything that could be construed as such. Kills in which armed non-players are used as decoys will be annulled. Players are entirely responsible for the safety of their accomplices, and will be held responsible should their accomplices be killed.

Note that if a player instructs, or by deliberate omission permits a non-assassin to put themselves in way of danger on their behalf (e.g. by opening post on their behalf or exiting a room first to ascertain the presence of their attackers), that person will be deemed an accomplice.

Players should avoid killing non-players wherever possible. The usual penalty for killing non-players is to be put on the Wanted List, but excessive and deliberate murder of non-players may lead to a disqualification.

DEAD PLAYERS
If you die, you remain bound by the rules until the conclusion of the game. In particular, you should refrain from bearing weapons, from announcing the fact that you are dead unless directly questioned face-to-face, and from involving yourself in any Assassins activity. Once your death has been posted on the Assassins website, you may consider yourself a non-player with regards to the rules on accomplices.

A dead player may not make known, nor by deliberate omission cause to be known, any information they acquired as a direct consequence of playing the game; most importantly their targets or information concerning the identity of their killer. The only exceptions to this are that they must pass such information on to the GM in their death report and that they may, at their own discretion, reveal their target to their killer, although here they have the option to mislead. Whilst still alive, you are at liberty to pass information onto other players as much and as misleadingly as you so desire.

REPORTING
Whenever a player is involved in any Assassins-related incident, such as attempting to kill another player, or another player making an attempt on them, they must inform the GM as soon as possible.

During the course of the game, reports of events will be published on the website. Reports are encouraged to be dramatic and creative and sometimes misleading (although they may never contain outright lies). However, if a player's report is sufficiently outlandish to make it unclear what actually happened, please explain the raw facts seperately to the GM, as he likes to know what is going on.

If players are unsure what happened during an attack, they may call a "discussion phase" to clarify who has been hit and who, if anybody, is dead. Once a player has made a bona fide call for a discussion phase to sort out the facts of the incident, so long as such a call is not a direct interruption of the event, neither player may kill another party, nor be killed by another participant in the incident that caused the discussion phase. They should take care not to expose themselves to other passing players.

Assassins are strongly encouraged to reach a decision about the facts of an incident at the scene. However, do not be afraid to disagree over the outcome of the incident or the way in which the rules have been applied to events. If there is a strong element of uncertainty as to what the outcome should be, you should make a report to the GM as soon as possible and should avoid directly involving yourself in Assassins proceedings (such as killing anyone) until you have received clarification. The GM will try to be understanding as far as it is possible.

PSEUDONYMS
Each assassin starts the game with one pseudonym, which they may use in news reports to disguise their true identity. Reports can be made under an assassin's pseudonym, or under their real name. If you do not specify a preference, your initial pseudonym will be used.

Kills made in public places with unsubtle weapons may result in the incident being reported under a Player's real name, with no option to use a pseudonym. As a rule of thumb, having six uninvolved onlookers or more would constitute a public kill.

THE WANTED LIST
Assassins who break the rules in minor ways, for instance by killing an illegal target, will be placed on the Wanted List and they become legal targets for everyone else in the game.

A Player is considered Wanted and a legal target for all Players from the moment their name appears on the Wanted List, until it is removed due to their death or redemption.

THE GAMEMASTER
The Gamemaster for this first season of Assassins is Ryan D of 07S03N and he may be contacted by e-mailing ranathalion(at)gmail(dot)com.

The primary method of contacting the GM is through SMS. Players will be given his number upon signing up for the game.

Any queries about the game can be e-mailed to the GM. Players should try to resolve any queries before they become a matter of life or death.

The Umpire is immortal. Players attempting to test this proposition may be placed on the Wanted List.

SIGNING UP FOR THE GAME
The game is open to all students of Raffles Junior College. In order to sign up for Assassins, one should provide the following information to the Gamemaster:

• Full name, indicating the name you are usually known by.
• CT group.
• Email address.
• Handphone number.
• An initial pseudonym, which will be used in news reports to disguise your true identity.
• Anything else your assassins should be informed of, such as allergy to a substance that might be used as a poison.
  

Note that by signing up to play you are agreeing to report any Assassins-related events which you are involved in for the period during which you remain alive, including your death. You are also giving permission for other players to make attempts to 'kill' you, acting in good faith and utilising such methods as described elsewhere in the Rules.

You play the game of Assassins entirely at your own risk. Neither the GM nor any other member of the Guild, past or present, can accept any liability for personal injury, loss of, or damage to, property or other loss incurred during the game. Nothing contained in these Rules should be taken as encouragement or permission to break the law.