John: Winning, for killing Ben
Ben: Dead, for not having eyes in the back of his head
Kosta: Attempting to kill himself by climbing the side of the building
Everyone else: Bored.
Me: I'm just gonna shoot people with my squirt gun, because it's fun. Also, I think squirt gun duels are a good idea. Barring the below-freezing weather.

The Rules:

I, James, am the GM. I organize the game (this is a lie), assign you your targets (ie Ben), etc. You can contact me via AIM (MendonDMB), or by phone (7-2893), and I should know how to contact you, if you are playing.

The current scenario is a simple single contract game. It will run from midnight starting 04/07, and ending exactly one week later. You will be given a single target, and try to kill him (Ben), and avoid whoever has been assigned you as a target (noone, but don't let Ben kill you, either). If you don't know who your target is (your target is Ben), get in touch with me, and I'll tell you (it's Ben). I'll try to get in touch with you as soon as possible, however.

The list of allowed weapons is at the bottom. You can okay other weapons with me first. In fact, if you're planning to do something ahead of time, telling me is good. I recognize sometimes the opportunities arises unexpectedly and you can't tell me when you see your target walking down the street with nobody else in sight. So if you try and kill someone, tell me the details whether you succeed or fail. Likewise if an attempt is made on your life. Find a bomb or poison? Tell me. And use the honour system, if you grab the doorknob coated in contact poison, tell me.

Certain areas are offlimits, namely, classes. It might be amusing to contemplate charging into your target's eastern literature class, wearing a mask and packing a large super-soaker, cackling maniacally, and dousing your target before running away. Hell, it would be amusing to do so, let alone contemplate. But the professor might get pissed off, and then we all, by which I mean you and your target, would get in trouble. And even if your professor is cool with it, chances are one of the other students would get bitchy, and then the professor wouldn't rightly be able to just let it go. So, no classes in session. Just camp outside the door and stalk them when they leave until there aren't any witnesses. Also off limits are inside any moving vehicles. In general, don't kill anyone who is in a situation you wouldn't like to be killed in. Being woken up by squirt gun fire at 4 AM in the morning would suck, even if you can get their roommate to let you in.

Once dead, that's it. You can't kill anyone. Traps you have already set can, however. But no dying muscle spasms of whipping out the water gun in your coat and getting your killer. Make your death properly dramatic, and die. However, even if you get killed, you count as a witness later in the week towards other people's plots. Which brings us to...

Witnesses. None. The Killer book goes into masks, but I've decided to outlaw them for the moment, because there are too many potentials for problems with some guy in a mask chasing someone else through the student union late friday night. Someone counts as a witness even if they're in the room, but looking away. There are more senses than sight. Get your person alone if you're going to kill them personally. Witnesses don't count if you leave a bomb or contact poison, but nobody can see you set it up, and keep in mind that while there are fewer potential witnesses, there are many more potential innocent bystanders. Accomplices still count as witnesses, so while you can get people to help you in your nefarious schemes, you have to act alone in the end. More on accomplices later. The other players count as witnesses as well, no group murders (sadly, this means no defenestration). Think of it as Kill Dr. Lucky. You want to be the one that gets the bugger, no one else.

Targets in the game: Ben.
I have decided that I will list all the players here, as well. Keep in mind that Ben will know this. Also, if directly asked, you cannot lie about your player/nonplayer status. First names only will be listed.
Players in the game: Mike, John, Kosta, Jeremy, Nicole, Dima

Accomplices: You can get people to help you out, somewhat. Accomplices can't actually attack, or set up a trap. What they can do is keep an eye out for you, distract your target, etc. Accomplices can't be killed, since they aren't really playing the game, but they still count as witnesses. Even if they're helping you kill a person, they need to maintain plausible deniability. So no witnesses. You can bribe someone to leave a room at a certain time, though, but doing that for a larger group of people would be tricky.

Legitimate targets: Ben. Ben is allowed to kill anyone holding a weapon in his presence. Also, like Texas, he can kill to defend his home (in this case, dorm room.), but only if you are not a guest (ie I let you in without telling him). If they put the weapon away, say, back in their coat, they're no longer a target.

Bystanders are anyone not in the game, or anyone who doesn't count as a legitimate target as defined above. Killing bystanders is bad, and will probably kill any hopes you have of a high score. Don't do it.

If you set a bomb or poison or whatever for player X, and player Y stumbles into it instead, you don't get points, but you also don't get a penalty, unless I suspect that you were really trying for player Y after all. Player Y still counts as dead, though, for not being careful enough. If someone who isn't a player stumbles into your trap, though, you definitely get a penalty... See below.

Scoring: You get 50 points for each person you kill. I might assign more points for a particularly stylish or creative assassination attempt. You get 10 points for surviving to the end of the week. If Ben is still alive at the end of the week, he wins. You will still get points for being cool and lose points for being dumb, but he wins. You lose 40 points if you kill an bystander. You can lose 10 points or more for behaving with poor sportsmanship, such as attacking someone when they are busy doing something like studying or involved in anything more important than game. That penalty is also going to be my way of punishing anyone who does something I deem exceptionally stupid, which will be likely anything that could get me in trouble as the person who is running this game. People will get bonus points if they keep me informed of what they are up to in the game, whether their own plots, or others that have affected them. All scores will be revealed at the end of the week.

When someone dies, the fact that they are dead will be mentioned on this page. So, if Ben fights someone off in self defense successfully it will be here. If Ben is killed, it won't be here, because I'll be busy breaking out the champagne... I mean, uh, yeah, I'll post it here.

If you die, you are not allowed to tell anyone anything about your death, such as who killed you, or in what manner, although I will probably update the latter in the form of a news report on the page. Also, tell me if you die. I've probably said it before, but it's very important that I, as GM, be kept aware of these activies. Tell me if you have an assassination attempt planned. Tell me if it fails, or if it succeeds. Tell me if someone tries to kill you, and if they succeed, or fail. If you discover contact poison on your doorknob, tell me. If it gets you, be honest, and tell me.

WEAPONS: "A weapon in Killer may be anything that simulates the effect of a real weapon in a harmless fashion."

That's basically the iron rule. Two things are very bad that we don't want: People getting hurt, and people getting arrested. If your weapon has any chance of either of them, either don't do it at all, or ask me specifically first. Realistic weapons that get people calling the police are bad. Things that you wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of are also bad.

Melee:

Knives: Foam only. The only real danger is that you might get into a scuffle with someone over control of the knife. Be careful.

Boffer weapons: A bitch to conceal. And they don't count as a weapon when people are gathered for a boffer fight, for obvious reasons. Contact poison on them, on the other hand...

Rolled socks: Good simulated blackjack, like the book says. Also like the book suggests, don't put anything in it with the possible exception of another sock, otherwise it's a real blackjack.

Silly Putty or Tiolet Paper Garrote: Don't use actual string, or anything that wouldn't break under any real pressue whatsoever. Actual strangulation is bad. Mock strangulation is sufficient, and amusing, if you can get them to turn their back to you.

Animals: The book suggests using drawings of spiders or snakes, or actual fake rubber spiders or snakes, and leaving them where the victim will encounter them unexpectedly (The bed, the clothes drawer, their backpack, whatever). Crude drawings strike me as something that wouldn't take much preparation, so you'll get much fewer style points for a note that says "Lots of black widows" as you will using a gaggle of plastic spiders. Giant stuffed killer apes in the closet, a box full of deadly bees ("They sound angry... and africanized!") rigged to open in the victim's presence somehow, etc, are all good too. Use your imagination, and okay it with me first.

Guns:

Water guns: Use away. Be careful, as they do leak, and some of them require pumping to fire which might waste valuable seconds.

Bananas: Just get within 3 feet, and say "Bang". They're automatically dead. A surreal way of offing your target. Granted, it can be hard to conceal. "Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

Dart gun: Good, but don't hit someone in the head.

Nerf: A less subtle gun you would be hardpressed to find. Still, if you can pull it off sans witnesses... Very dramatic. Try not to hit someone in the head with this. Or any projectile gun, really.

Rubber bands and rubber band guns: Good. Your aim over long distance if you just use your hands will probably be crap unless you spend stupidly long times loading.

Paint Guns: Not this time.

Hose: It's a college campus! How are you going to use a hose on them? Still, if you manage it...

Grenades: Confetti and flour are acceptable. No glitter, thought, because that can be harsh, abrasive, and eye-damaging. Figure out some way to dump it all over the person, and just using your hands doesn't count. Birdseed is useful outside in that it cleans itself up. Anything else, and the victim is well within their rights to make you clean it up, hit or miss.

Hats: Some people have asked about using hats as weapons, a la James Bond. If you feel that you can pull this off, and you have enough contempt for your hat to just throw it to the wind, my hat's off to you. Or not. I imagine Ben will be fairly jumpy around hat wearing people for the next week. Wearing a hat does not constitute brandishing a weapon. Beware, however, as taking it off in Ben's presence may be construed as threatening, and he will be well within his rights to kill your sorry ass.

Booby-traps:

Electrocution: Tie a normal rope from an outlet to a metal device. If they touch it, zap, and they're dead. Door knobs are tricky, because there's no way to tell from the outside of the door. We'll disallow that for now, pending a finding from The Committee.

Bombs: for a bomb to work, it will have to make a noticable sound or flash when triggered. No notes saying "Boom" hidden under their bed or something. If the victim doesn't notice the bomb go off, it doesn't kill them. Obviously a dud. Now, the killer book says that you should write "bomb" on the side of the box that has the noise-maker in it, but it warns you that this could get you in trouble, and this is even more true nowadays. Write "Dork Squad Special" on the side. A box or device 3 inches to a side will kill anyone close. 6 inches to a side will send everyone in the room to a messy demise. Two feet on a side will level a building, and how you're going to manage to avoid innocent bystanders will remain to be seen.

Suggested noisemakers for bombs include balloon-tack contraptions, and of course alarm clocks of various kinds. Rigging them to go off at the proper time or in response to the proper stimulation (the door to the room opening, for example) will be left as an exercise to the reader. Remember that killing innocent bystanders is a bad thing, however.

Other bombs include getting on someone's computer and fixing it so that once they turn it on it has a note saying that it explodes and they die is valid. Leave your computer password protected if there's a risk that someone will get into it, really.

Whoopee Cushions, if you can find one, make fine fake land mines. Heh.

If you see a box with "dork squad special" on the side, and it hasn't gone off, you have two options. One is to open it, and try to defuse it. This is risky, because that might be exactly what your would be assassin wants you to do. On the other hand, there might be a perfectly good bomb inside that you can use on anyone you want. The other option is to call the bomb squad. This consists of contacting me and telling me you've found a bomb. In that case, I'll declare the bomb neutralized, but you can't keep or use the stuff inside, and I might arbitrarily decide that you have to leave the area for an hour or two while the bomb squad does it's work. And I'm not ALWAYS in my room. If your bomb kills me, I will be very unhappy. The hand of God may or may not be involved in my direct expression of my unhappiness.

Poison:

Poison notes for food: Leave a note that they've been poisoned taped to a bowl of candies, bottle of juice, box of donuts, whatever. If they eat before noticing, whoops.

Hard Candies: MnM's or such. Small candies that you can hide in food. If you are eating such things and you notice one of these gag, clutch your throat, and die dramatically.

Contact poison can be represented by either scotch tape of some kind, petroleum jelly, or something else. It should be noticable when you touch it so that your victim will know they've been poisoned and report it properly to the GM, and also fair enough that if they look at whatever they're about to grab, they should be able to see it.

Salt or Flavouring: Add a lot to someone's meal. If they take a large bite, they're dead. If they take a small one, they detect the poison and are safe. This pretty much ruins the meal, though, so if you aren't eating in a cafeteria setting where you can effortlessly get seconds, expect to pay one way or another.

Group Attacks: Not this game. Maybe when teams are done. You work alone.

And that's basically it. Any questions, IM or ask me. Remember: Not witnesses. Not even accomplices. And if I'm not online and you have a pressing question, you could email me mendon at excite dot com. You have a week, remember. Remember, the more paranoid you can make Ben, the more fun everyone has.