Rules of Engagement
1 INTRODUCTION
The VU Assassins’ Guild 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 while eliminating their own targets. The last person to be left alive is, not surprisingly, declared the winner.
If you have any questions about these rules once you have read them thoroughly, please ask for clarification from the Umpire as he will be only too happy to provide it.
1.1 SIGNING UP
The game shall be open to people who live for much of the time on campus, although others may be considered at the umpire's discretion. Everyone who wishes to play should provide the Umpire with:
1.2 CONDUCT1.1.1) Full name, indicating the name you are usually known by.
1.1.2) Full email address (@valpo.edu is preferred).
1.1.3) Your official address (i.e. dorm and room number) and, if different, the address at which you will be living (i.e. sleeping and spending a reasonable amount of time at) for the duration of the game. In the game this will be given to your assassins, as most colleges will not give out room numbers of students. If you have a real-life psychopath trying to kill you, explain to the Umpire and you will be excused, although anyone with a real-life psychopath trying to kill them who wants to play Assassins needs to get their head examined. Should you become wanted (see below), your official room address will be made publicly available on the website along with your name.
1.1.4) The extent to which water based weaponry is allowed in your room (see note at bottom of rules). You may also let the umpire know of anything specific in your room which could be damaged by water; this information will be given to your assassins.
1.1.5) An initial pseudonym, which will be used in news reports to disguise your true identity.
1.1.6) Anything else which your assassins should be informed of, such as an allergy to a substance which might be used as a poison, or that you live in a shared room and assassins should be wary of killing your roommate. Anyone found to have supplied false or misleading details to the Umpire will be disqualified, but I'm sure it's not necessary to say that.
1.1.7) Note that by signing up to play you are agreeing to report any assassins-related events which you are involved in, up to and including your own death. You are agreeing for your name and reports of your Assassins activities to be made available on the guild website both now and in the future. You are also giving permission for other players to try to 'kill' you by the legal methods described in these rules, and to enter your room without warning should you leave the door unlocked or the window open.
1.1.8) If you do not live in University housing (ie: off campus) you must submit a list of all of your classes, in addition to where you live. It is often near impossible for assassins to kill targets who live off campus; this is to level the playing field.
2 HOW TO PLAY The game in brief:1.2.1) For any deliberate breach of the rules a player may be identified as a legitimate target for all other players ("put on the wanted list") or, in serious cases, disqualified from playing.
1.2.2) The spirit of the rules is more important than the actual rules themselves. Rules are made to be bent here and there. On the other hand, the umpire will not be bound by the rules if he feels that someone is attempting to exploit a loophole. If in doubt, email the umpire with your question.
1.2.3) Exercise common sense. Players are entirely responsible for their behavior. Avoid inconveniencing other people, especially campus authorities, RA's and the general public. In particular, do not knock on your target's door at unreasonable hours.
1.2.4) This game depends on players being honest for it to work. Please inform the Umpire if you have been killed. Honor among murderers and all that...
1.2.5) You must expect other players to have nefarious intentions at any time during the game. Do not involve (or cause to become involved) college authorities or other non-players to eject or intimidate those attempting to kill you or others. If you feel players are behaving unreasonably, contact the Umpire.
1.2.6) This is not a game about 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 closed you should not attempt to push it open, and you should never do anything likely to cause anyone injury.
1.2.7) Most of all, remember that it's a game. Do your best, but have fun. Don't turn yourself into a paranoid wreck. Get out there and enjoy yourself.
2.1 LEGAL TARGETS You may legally try to kill any of the following types of player:2.0.1) Before the game starts, send an email to the Umpire as described above informing him that you wish to take part in the game (see section 1.1).
2.0.2) When the game starts, you will be sent an email with the name of your target. Your task is to attempt to kill him or her.
2.0.3) Whenever you make an attempt on another player's life, whether or not you succeed, email the Umpire with a report. If someone tries to kill you, report that to the Umpire as well.
2.0.4) When you kill your target, you will take the target of the person you have just killed. Please, no lying about who your target was when you are killed!
2.0.5) If (or, more likely, when) you die, send a report of this to the Umpire. The game is now over for you, although you may rejoin it as a police officer (see later).
2.0.6) If you do not die, congratulations! You have won the game.
2.0.7) The weapons rules on the website describe the weaponry you may use to eliminate other assassins. Please read these rules carefully before using any weapon. If a weapon is not covered by these rules, it must be cleared with the Umpire before use.
2.2 RULES OF ENGAGEMENT You may use all manner of ruses to ensnare your target. However, there are some things you are not allowed to do:2.1.1) The target you have been assigned by the Umpire (obviously).
2.1.2) The assassin who has been assigned you as their target; you will not be told who this is, but should you discover their identity, you may attempt to preemptively defend yourself by killing them first.
2.1.3) Anyone who is clearly holding a weapon. (You cannot legally attack someone who was holding a weapon a few seconds ago but has now hidden it again.)
2.1.4) Anyone who is in the process of trying to kill you. (So, if two assassins come to your door, you may kill both of them, even if only one had you as a target. Of course, if they weren't really assassins, you're in trouble. Also, this only applies to people trying to kill you - assassins trying to kill other people are not legal targets unless they are bearing weapons.)
2.1.5) Anyone on the Wanted List (see below).
2.1.6) Anyone on the Incompetent List (see below).
2.1.7) Note that it is, of course, possible to attack people who do not fall into any of the categories above. Should you do so, you will be made wanted for killing (or attempting to kill) innocent victims.
2.3 OUT OF BOUNDS AREAS AND SITUATIONS There are some places and circumstances which, for reasons of sanity, are considered out-of-bounds. No-one may kill anyone or be killed when they are out of bounds. Out-of-bounds areas include the following:2.2.1) You are not allowed to impersonate authority figures such as roommates, RA's, TA’s, RLC's, President Harre or the (real) police. This is so that players can take part in the game without aggravating their roommates by refusing to let them into their room. You should also not take advantage of roommates unlocking the door to your target's room to break in and kill them or leave a trap. Note that it is fine to impersonate friends!
2.2.2) You are not allowed to impersonate the Umpire, for the same reason. If someone knocks on your door claiming to be the Umpire (or, for that matter, a roommate or an RA), you may safely let them in. You are also not allowed to impersonate the Umpire indirectly by, for example, forging email messages.
2.2.3) Note that these are not exhaustive lists, and the Umpire reserves the right to disallow a kill made by what they deem to be an unethical impersonation of an authority figure.
2.2.4) You may enter a target's room through an unlocked door or an open window only. If the door is locked you may not make any kind of attack including firing shots through keyholes, or any other gap in, under or over the door (exception: you may post special letters under the door, since this does not distract the occupant).
2.2.5) You are perfectly at liberty to deny that you are an assassin. However, you are not allowed to claim that you are a dead assassin and hence harmless. You may also not lie about the vital status of other assassins who are immediately present.
Computer labs are in bounds, but subject to the following restrictions:2.3.1) Classrooms are out of bounds, whether or not a class is in progress.
2.3.2) Labs are always out of bounds.
2.3.3) Hospitals are out of bounds.
2.3.4) Churches, chapels, synagogues, prayer labyrinths, mosques, temples, stupas or any other official place of worship. This also includes the Fellowship House first floor lounge during morning and evening prayer. The Umpire will not allow any player's room to be considered an official place of worship, no matter how inventive their excuse.
2.3.5) Official sporting events are out of bounds, particularly if an assassin is on a sports team. Weekday matches held by the Valparaiso University Ultimate Ultimate Frisbee club are considered official sporting events (most likely because Jon can’t stand the thought of not being able to play Frisbee, and he revised the rules).
2.3.6) Any Ball, Event, garden party or similar. Regular college events are in bounds.
2.3.7) Seminars, supervisions, meetings with professors and tutors, etc.
2.3.8) Anyone working at a campus or off-campus job or at a campus event is off limits. Note that this includes RA’s and TA’s when acting in their official capacities (i.e. asking a TA for computer help or asking the RA to unlock your room because you locked your keys inside). People who are working are also not allowed to assassinate others while they are at their job.
2.3.9) The WVUR radio station is out of bounds.
2.3.10) Anyone working in a theatre, whether as cast, crew or front of house staff is out of bounds during productions, rehearsals, get-ins and get-outs.
2.3.11) 4th floor of the library is OUT of bounds.
2.3.12) Any official organizational meetings are out of bounds. These can be held in people's rooms and still be considered out of bounds.
2.3.13) Note that the burden of determining the in-bounds status of their target’s meetings or location is on the Assassin doing the stalking (not the one being targeted). If someone is killed during/at an out-of-bounds event/location the kill will be disallowed (and the target will now know who is out to kill them).
2.4 Accomplices and Non-Players2.3.14) Entirely out of bounds between 9am and 5.30pm.
2.3.15) Use only weapons which cannot possibly damage equipment. Guns are not allowed except to make “bang” kills unless the weapon is cleared with the Umpire for computer lab use.
2.3.16) Avoid annoying other users. Do not use noisy weapons such as cap guns. If you ignore either of these rules the kill may be disallowed at the Umpire's discretion.
2.3.17) A computer room is, in general, defined as a place where the public (or any clearly-defined group, e.g. members of a college) are permitted to use computers. Players' private rooms do not count. Also, the computer clusters on the second and third floors of the library do not count as computer labs as they are not separated from the surrounding library environs and are thus open for killing at any time. Only the computers on the first floor of the library count as a lab and are subject to the time restrictions. Players should not abuse out of bounds areas. You may not take a suspicious letter into an out of bounds area and open it in safety. It is of course perfectly acceptable, if cowardly, to hide on the terrace until your assassin gets bored. If you are not sure whether a given time or place is out of bounds or not, please contact the Umpire. Similarly, if there is something not mentioned on this list you think should be out of bounds, ask the Umpire to consider it.
3 Reporting2.4.1) Non-players may, if you wish, act as accomplices on your kill attempts.
2.4.2) Such accomplices cannot attack or kill anyone, and also may not break the rules of the game that bind the assassin they are working with (i.e. they cannot break into a room, impersonate an RA, etc).
2.4.3) You are responsible for the safety of your accomplices, and should they be killed you will be held responsible, which means that you will probably become wanted.
2.4.4) You should not allow your accomplices to be seen bearing weapons at any time; particularly, you should not use armed accomplices as decoys, and should you do so the kill may be disallowed.
2.4.5) Players are discouraged from acting as accomplices to other players, although this is not against the rules. Please note that player-accomplices are not allowed to actually make kills which they would not normally be allowed to, although self defense against such accomplices is permissible.
2.4.6) Accomplices to an illegal assassination attempt will be made wanted along with the actual rule-breaker.
2.4.7) You should not use non-players to avoid exposing yourself to danger (i.e. getting them to open your mail or door for you). Should you do so, you will be made wanted. This particularly applies to those cowardly and craven assassins who always ask their roommates to open their doors whenever someone knocks.
2.4.8) The killing of a non-Player, in general, will result in you being made wanted. It is possible for a non-Player to die due to unforeseeable circumstances. In such a case, you will be let off if in the Umpire’s sole opinion you are determined to have acted responsibly. (Note: This exception only applies to those cases where the killer is a) acting in self defense; or b) unsuspectingly exposing an innocent to an attempt on their own life)
2.4.8.a) The killing of non-players is permisible under if the Umpire creates bonus objectives outside the normal parameters of the game that allow for this.
2.4.9) You may be made wanted for carelessly endangering innocents, even if none are killed.
3.1 Pseudonyms3.0.1) Whenever you are involved in any assassins-related incident (i.e. such as successfully or unsuccessfully trying to kill another player or innocent, being attacked or killed or witnessing a killing), you should inform the Umpire as soon as possible.
3.0.2) Reports of the game's events will be published on the website during the game. Reports are encouraged to be dramatic and creative and may also be intentionally misleading (although outright lying is frowned upon). However, if your report is sufficiently outlandish to make it unclear what actually happened, please explain the raw facts separately to the Umpire in your email, as he/she likes to know what is going on.
3.0.3) If you cannot be sure what happened in an attack, you may call a "discussion phase" with the other assassins involved in order to clarify who was hit, who is dead, etc. If that is unsuccessful, the involved parties may appeal to the Umpire for binding arbitration.
3.0.4) Players engaging in such discussion or awaiting arbitration cannot kill or be killed by each other or other assassins. They are off limits until a decision is reached. Please try to avoid exposing yourself to any assassins during this time in order to avoid complications.
3.0.5) Assassins who have engaged in such discussion/arbitration may not make further attempts on each other until sunrise of the day following the resolution of the dispute.
3.0.6) In general, all players involved should submit a report of every incident; this way the Umpire can correlate the reports and so ensure that the news is updated as quickly as possible.
3.2 Public Killings3.1.1) Obviously, you will wish to avoid other assassins finding out that you are playing the game and what you have been doing. For this reason each player is allowed to select a pseudonym at the start of the game.
3.1.2) Whenever you make a report, you may choose whether to have it appear under your real name or your pseudonym. If you do not specify, the Umpire will assume that you intend to use your pseudonym.
3.1.3) For every two assassins you kill legally, you can earn an extra pseudonym. If you wish to take advantage of this, email the Umpire telling him that you wish to register a new pseudonym and what it is.
3.1.4) When reporting, you may choose any of your pseudonyms to report under instead of your real name.
3.1.5) You will not be awarded extra pseudonyms for kills you make while wanted, but wanted criminals who succeed in redeeming themselves may be given a new pseudonym to help with their rehabilitation, at the Umpire's discretion.
3.1.6) Note that if you are made wanted, all of your pseudonyms will be listed on the Wanted List along with your real name.
4 Dead Players3.2.1) If you kill someone in an unsubtle manner in a public place, you may be unable to avoid being noticed. For this reason, any kills made in public areas or areas like college dining halls may result in your not being allowed to report the event under a pseudonym.
3.2.2) As a rule of thumb, there need to be at least half a dozen uninvolved people in a position to clearly see you make the kill - the intent is mainly to discourage assassins from having shootouts in crowded areas.
3.2.3) Kills made with subtle weapons like knives will not result in your kill being witnessed in this way. Again, this is subject to the Umpire’s discretion.
5 Wanted Criminals4.0.1) Dead players should refrain from trying to influence the game in any way. This includes trading information about the game with live players, acting as accomplices, pointing assassins or targets out to players or otherwise intentionally doing anything likely to influence the course of game events.
4.0.2) In particular, the dead must not discuss the incident in which they died with anyone.
4.0.3) Players may not get dead players to open doors for them or check their mail in the same way that they may not get non-players to do so.
4.0.4) If you have been killed, you should not announce this to anyone until you are sure that the information could not be used to track down your killer; preferably, you should wait until the report of your death is on the website.
4.0.5) Dead players may, of course, rejoin the game as police (see section 7)
5.1 Redemption5.0.1) Any players who break the rules, such as by killing or endangering innocent victims, may be declared to be "wanted".
5.0.2) The names of all wanted criminals will be put up on the website along with their addresses and pseudonyms.
5.0.3) Anyone on the wanted list is a valid target for anyone else in the game, including the police.
5.0.4) It should be noted, however, that being on the wanted list is not an excuse to act irresponsibly. You may find it amusing to shoot hundreds of non-players and make a public nuisance of yourself, but rest assured that nobody else does. The Umpire will not hesitate to eject you from the game if you are seen to be bringing the Guild into disrepute.
6 Competence5.1.1) It may be possible, at the Umpire's discretion, for wanted criminals to redeem themselves through services to society such as the elimination of other criminals.
5.1.2) The Umpire (possibly in conjunction with the Chief of Police) will decide what conditions, if any, are appropriate.
5.1.3) Note that players who become wanted intentionally by, for example, murdering other players are very unlikely to ever be redeemed.
7 The Police Force6.0.1) To encourage participation in the game, there is a time limit for making attempts on your target, called the "competence period".
6.0.2) Initially the competence period will be a normal work week, that is, 5 days. If you do not make an attempt within 5 days of the start of the game, you will be designated incompetent. After each attempt, you have a further work week in which to make another attempt.
6.0.3) To be considered having made an attempt, you must have either seen the target, but been unable to make the kill, or have staked out the area where you expect to find them for at least 10 minutes (this is a valid attempt even if no sighting is made).
6.0.4) If you become incompetant, you will be put on the Incompetant List. This is like the Wanted List without the glamour; incompetant players are legal targets for all players and police.
6.0.5) The Umpire will specify conditions for players to be removed from the Incompetant List; this will probably involve making two credible attempts on your targets, possibly of a specified type.
6.0.6) Initially all attempts will count for competence. As the game progresses, certain types of attempt may cease to count for competence: you may still make them, but you will become incompetant if you do not make any others. Poisoned letters will probably cease to count for competence a few weeks into the game; other indirect attempts may cease to count shortly after that.
6.0.7) You will always be deemed competent for killing another player, even if it is done using a method which would not otherwise count or if it was in self defense. Results are more important than style.
6.0.8) As the game progresses, the competence period may decrease. The Umpire will alert all players to such changes.
8 The Umpire7.0.1) Players who have been killed may, if they wish, be reincarnated as a member of the "police force". This is a special group of players who exist solely to hunt down and kill criminals and incompetents.
7.0.2) If you have died and would like to join the police, tell the Umpire. A list of all police (including real names and addresses) will appear on the game website.
7.0.3) Police are not allowed to use any indirect weaponry.
7.0.4) Police cannot kill anyone who is not a legal target for them - should they attempt to do so the victim will not die.
7.0.5) Police may attack and kill players bearing weapons in pre-emptive self-defense, but attacking innocents or other illegal targets will result in their being made wanted just like anyone else.
7.0.6) Police should not collaborate with assassins except to co-operate in the elimination of criminals and incompetents. Those who are found to be helping assassins with any other goals will be made wanted for corruption.
7.0.7) Police who arrange to "collaborate" with other assassins and then shoot them for bearing weapons may have such kills disallowed at the Umpire's discretion.
7.0.8) Police who fail to make attempts on criminals and incompetents when there are any around for them to kill may be designated incompetent and made a legal target for all players.
7.0.9) Note that even wanted or incompetent police cannot kill people who are not legal targets for them, although they can still kill in self defense.
7.0.10) The Umpire reserves the right to resurrect Police officers after a period of at least 72 hours from their most recent death as a Police Officer.
7.0.11) According to ancient lore, upon extremely rare occassions a heroic figure on the police force may prove to be so valiant and daring that the Umpire will alow him to rejoin the game as an assassin. This will only happen to police officers who obtain multiple kills.
9 Administrivia8.0.1) The Umpire's contact information is given by clicking on the “Contact Us” link to the left.
8.0.2) No-one may be killed in the Umpire's room or immediately outside it, although the precise extent of this protection is yet to be determined. However, players are discouraged from running into the Umpire's home in order to escape an attacker. Should you burst into the Umpire's room gibbering about attacking assassins, he/she will laugh and call you a pansy (and throw you out).
8.0.3) Any queries about the game can be emailed to the Umpire, or you can visit (but you should probably try to arrange the meeting beforehand, since even the Umpire goes to classes occasionally).
8.0.4) Try to resolve any queries before they become a matter of life or death (yours or anyone else's).
8.0.5) Attempting to take items from the Umpire's mailbox or break into his computer account is strictly forbidden. Impersonating the Umpire is also forbidden. This includes messing with this website.
8.0.6) Player-Umpire communications may be made public at the end of the game for everyone's enlightenment and amusement. If you do not wish a certain communication to be made public, please tell the Umpire.
8.0.7) The Umpire is immortal. Players attempting to test this proposition will be made wanted.
9.1 Website9.0.1) It is the responsibility of players to read their e-mail and read the news to see whether they have been put on the wanted or incompetent list.
9.0.2) Players are deemed to know that they are wanted/incompetent/police as soon as these details are published on the website.
9.0.3) They are not wanted/police before this, and you cannot kill someone just because you believe that they are about to become wanted.
10 Comments9.1.1) The game website is at http://student.valpo.edu/cleitz/vuag/index. (You are probably reading these rules there now.)
9.1.2) During the game, the news will be published on the website along with any updates to the rules, news of upcoming special events or social events, etc. It is the responsibility of individual players to keep themselves up to date with anything on the website which concerns them.
9.1.3) To avoid waste of bandwidth (and the Umpire’s time), game news will not be distributed by email except in (relative) emergencies.
11 History The history of the rules as of yet is fairly brief.10.0.1) The Umpire's Rule is law.
10.0.2) There will be no right of appeal against a disqualification.
10.0.3) Official complaints about a person's behavior will almost certainly result in disqualification.
10.0.4) Involvement of the (real) police will definitely cause you to be disqualified.
10.0.5) Individual Players may not speak for the Assassins’ Guild as a whole, and as such may not use our rules as an excuse for their behavior.
- The most recent update of Cambridge rules: Martin O'Leary (mewo2) poked at things a bit in Michaelmas 2004
- Shamelessly copied and pasted into the first attempt at an Assassins' Guild in Valpo by Jon Hallemeier and Kristin Huang
- Heavily revised and modified by Andrew Schlueter (with player input) for the Spring 2005 Game.
- A tiny bit revised by Benjamin Gaulke for Season IV: A Time to Kill.
- Sections 2.4.8.a, 12-Scoring, and 13-Awards added by Umpire Jeremiah Dost for Season V. Website moved from http://www.theubiquitouswookiee.com/vuag to http://student.valpo.edu/cleitz/vuag/index and layout changed as well.
13 Awards12.1) Kills shall be awarded points based on the weapons used for the kill and the number of multi-kills within in a game.
12.2) The point values based on kill by weapon are as follows:Guns = 10
Self-explanatory. See Weapons A.1Thrown = 15
Typical melee weapons that kill their targets from range. See Weapons A.3Point blank shots = 20
See Weapons A.1.1Short melee = 20
Knifes and the like. Weapons that will bring you within arm reach of your victim. See Weapons A.3Attack animal = 25
Self-explanatory. See Weapons A.3Long melee = 25
Swords, polearms, etc. Weapons that will keep your victim out of reach, but are not thrown. See Weapons A.3Clubs = 35
Self-explanatory. See Weapons A.4Garottes = 40
Weapons of estrangulation. See Weapons A.6Area of Effect = 45
Weapons that give "splash" damage, i.e. grenades and flamethrowers. See Weapons A.4. Note, the reason these weapons garner such a high point value is that they put innocents in significant danger. If the umpire feels that the blast radius of said device was not sufficient, he or she may reduce the point value at hiS or her discretion.Large dropped objects = 45
Self-explanatory. See Weapons A.5Indirect weapons = 50
Contact poisons, killer post-cards, etc. See Weapons B
12.3) The assassin shall receive points as long as the target is killed, however a penalty of 10 pts. will be incurred if innocents are harmed in the attempt.
12.4) Multi-kills are defined as multiple kills within a 6-hour timeframe. For instance, if the assassin kills their target, and then kills their next target within the next 6-hours, they receive bonus points. They then have 6 hours to kill their next target in order to receive a similar bonus. If they fail to kill their next target within the 6-hour timeframe, then they will not receive a bonus. The bonus is at the discretion of the Umpire, but must remain the same for the entirity of a season.
12.5) The Umpire may assign bonus objectives which will be worth extra points to be determined upon assignment.
12.6) The Umpire will deside the value of any kill that is accomplished using a method not falling under the above general point categories.
Note on water based weapons: Locations can be labeled with one of three designations for the extent to which water based weapons are allowed in that location. The three levels are:The following shall be awarded at the end of a season: Last-One-Standing (awarded to the last one standing, of course) High Score (awarded to the assassin with the highest score) Honorable Mention (awarded to whoever the Umpire thinks deserves it) Better luck next time! (awarded to the first to die)
- NO WATER: Water weapons of any type are not allowed at that location.
- WATER WITH CARE: Only small water guns (those of the NON-pressurized variety) will be allowed at that location. All other water based weapons must be cleared with the Umpire prior to use in a “water with care” area (this includes weapons being used in self defense).
- FULL WATER: Anything goes.