The Rules

1. Preamble

1.1. These rules have been formulated in accordance with Durham Constabulary, Durham Students’ Union, and the society’s constitution. These rules govern the conduct of players in the game, not people in the world. The society, the executive committee, and these rules do not, have not, and will never encourage, condone, or tolerate:

• Any violations of law.
• Any actions which put any people in harm’s way including climbing trees and jumping fences.
• Any actions which put property at risk.
• Any actions which would reflect poorly on our society.

1.2. We rely on an overarching policy of COMMON SENSE. The society and its executive committee do NOT accept any responsibility for the actions of individual members. The exec reserves the right to remove any member deemed to be disruptive from the society at any time, without a membership refund, and to refuse re-admission to such people.

1.3 By participating in the games of the society you are giving permission that, for gameplay related purposes, members of the society are allowed to enter your place of residence without your permission via the main entrance, if it is left unlocked. If you have any concerns see 3.9 or contact the Guild.

2. Context

2.1. THE SPIRIT OF THE RULES IS ALWAYS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE LETTER OF THE RULES.

2.2. The executive committee (henceforth ‘the Guild’) are the democratically elected representatives of the society, and as such, should be trusted in their interpretations and decisions. The Guild may rewrite or edit these rules at any time.

2.3. The Guild will always judge events in accordance with the rules presented here, regardless of the personal views of Guild members. The Guild reserves the right to make any alterations it deems necessary to the state of ongoing games.

2.4. The Guild implicitly trusts all players to act with maturity and honesty in all aspects of our games, with particular regard to truthfully recognising hits against oneself in combat.

2.5. The Guild expects all players to respect the rules and decisions they make. The Guild’s decision is always final. Players should never appeal situations in which they had no direct involvement.

2.6. The Guild are always accessible by email at [email protected], and will happily clarify any queries you may have. All players are encouraged to send any questions to this address, and can expect a rapid response during ongoing games.

3. Bounds

3.1. All players are considered to be one of four ‘colours’ at all times. This determines which actions they can perform and, equally, which actions can be performed on them. By default, a player’s colour is the same as that of the area they are in. For accessibility purposes, each colour also has an associated shape.

3.2. Here follows the colour of all situations in the game, and a general list of what may and may not occur to players of that colour. The colour of each kill method is specified on the kill methods page. In the event of a situation having more than one colour, the more restrictive colour takes precedence. For example, if a GREEN society event is being held in an ORANGE area, players are considered to be GREEN to each other. The Guild can declare situations to have a more restrictive colour than specified here.

RED (◆)

All kill methods may be used without restriction.

• Everywhere not specifically mentioned as being one of the other colours.

ORANGE (▲)

No kill methods which cause inconvenience or annoyance to non-members may be used. Any equipment used should be cleaned up as quickly as possible. Noise should be kept at reasonable levels. Equipment should not be openly carried unless in use. Players should take care when moving quickly through such areas.

• The engineering and physics blocks.
• Dunelm House, the students’ union building.

YELLOW (■)

No kill methods which would be noticed by non-members may be used. Equipment must not be openly carried. Players may not move faster than a walk when actively engaged with the game.

If two players notice each other’s presence while one is YELLOW, they become Spotted to each other until they have both left the area and properly parted ways. Players should try to make it clear when they have spotted each other, and may not choose to disregard other players for the purposes of this rule. Yellow deployables may still be planted, and will take effect as normal. If a player witnesses another player attempting to use any deployable when Spotted to them, they may tell them to ‘stop that’ which prevents that player from using deployables until they have properly parted ways. This may not be invoked pre-emptively.

• All shops, cafes and restaurants. This includes covered shopping malls such as The Gates, shops which do not serve food and commercial establishments such as cinemas, the outdoor market.
• Dining halls, canteens, and cafes on university property. The ChemCafe and Calman Cafe extends up to every set of doors in that same room.
• Bars, pubs, and other licensed premises. This includes any room that contains an open bar and/or one that is secured after a bar shuts. This includes the the undercroft in Trevelyan College.
• The area outside the barriers of the Bill Bryson Library.
• The interior of the buildings of Collingwood College.
• The Palatine Centre.
• Durham Train Station, excluding platforms (which are GREEN).
• The entirety of the Materials Chemistry building.

GREEN (●)

No kill methods whatsoever may be used. Barring extremely unusual circumstances, it is impossible to be killed while green. If two players notice each other’s presence while one is green, they remain green to each other until they have both left the area and properly parted ways.

• Any room in use for academic commitments such as lectures, tutorials, practicals, workshops, seminars, supervisions, meetings, postgraduate offices and work areas.
• Any official university, students’ union, college, external organisation, or society social, meeting, event, ball, or similar.
• Any room used for student welfare, including welfare offices, Nightline, churches and college chapels.
• The chemistry block. This area is demarcated by the double doors outside CG98, and the far double doors at the top of the stairwell from the chemistry ‘greenhouse’, and the doors at the bottom of the stairs to the maths department.
• Computer rooms, the Techno Cafe, and other IT centres.
• Libraries and reading rooms, excluding the area before the barriers in the main library.
• Any moving vehicles or vehicles with their engine running, including bikes, cars, trains, and kangaroo boots.
• The occupants of any vehicle are GREEN to each other.
• The rooms of students of Collingwood College.
• Any player currently involved in activities related to employment, whether voluntary or paid, is considered GREEN.
• The platforms of Durham Train Station, defined as any areas that lie beyond the ticket barriers.
• Anywhere outside of the circle shown below:

3.3. A ‘society event’ is one which is announced to and/or generally understood to take place by members of a society. Society events can, on some occasions, legitimately render players green in red areas. Some less obvious examples of society events are:

• Leaving a location after a meeting and proceeding to the pub.
• A society member leaving a location with an ongoing society event, to fetch equipment vital to the running of that event.
• An exec member being summoned to deal with an emergency regarding their society.

3.4. We strongly discourage any player from taking actions which could adversely impact other societies or otherwise distract them from their pursuits. Conversely, The Guild takes a dim view of players attempting to exploit these rules to negate their own deaths. The essence of a society event is that, if play were not restricted there, the flow of the event and/or functionality of the society concerned would be impeded by the fear and/or actions of the players present.

3.5. After any green event with no clear finishing time ends, every player present is green to every other player present until they have parted ways. This also applies if a player leaves such an event prematurely. This does not prevent them being attacked by players not at the event as they leave (though remember 3.4).

3.6. If one or more players share an exact address – if they live out in the same house, or are room mates in college, those players are considered to be Spotted to one another, meaning they can use deployables such as electric chair, poison and hot potato. This applies whenever the players are in the relevant address, and after they have left they must have properly parted ways before this condition ends.

3.7. If a player is at their listed address, and one or more players desire entry to that address, residents of that address (whether players or non-players) may invite them inside. This invitation must be explicit (e.g. “You are invited in”). The visiting player is considered to have refused the invitation unless they explicitly accept it. If the visiting players agree, they are considered to be residents of that address until they leave (see 3.6). Attacking players are not obliged to accept the invitation, and may strike as normal if they gain legal access to the address without accepting the invitation.

3.8. If a player has been in a residence for 1 hour, and has undertaken activities unrelated to making a kill attempt with another player who could be considered a valid target, then they can be considered to have accepted an invite into that residence.

3.9. Players may contact the Guild to request that their house be considered GREEN for the duration of the longgame – citing suitable justification. The Guild will discuss suitable disadvantages to mitigate any benefits caused by this.

3.10. Players may apply to the Guild to have their house be GREEN for a limited amount of time (no more than 24 hours) for the purpose of an event such as a house party. They must contact the Guild no less than 24 hours in advance of the event.

3.11. If a player is resident in a GREEN zone for over 24 hours (not necessarily continuously) such as a player living in a Collingwood room or someone who’s requested the Guild declare their house GREEN, they must accept any challenge to a duel from any player providing they are either inside or at an open entrance of the residence.

3.12. A ceasefire will be in effect for our society’s events, starting at least one hour before the event starts, and ending at midday the following day in the case of bar crawls and events which run until late, or one hour after the termination of the event in the case of widegames, and other events, unless the Guild specifies otherwise.

3.13. If there is ever any confusion regarding which colour a player is, assume they are the most restrictive of all possible colours.

4. Targeting

4.1. Some games will assign players a restrictive number of targets. Every player is always entitled, and actively encouraged, to attack any player they have been assigned as a target, and any player who has been assigned them as a target. Players should never attack non-players for any reason. Players may, at their discretion, attack other players who are making “serious aggressive motions” towards them.

4.2. A serious aggressive motion is any action taken by another player which you deem to endanger your survival in the game. Some clear examples of serious aggressive motions a player can make towards you are:

• Having a weapon drawn in your vicinity.
• Moving rapidly and/or directly towards you.
• Loitering outside your address or any location you are known to frequent.
• Informing anyone that they have been assigned you as a target.
• Sabotaging your equipment.

4.3. Conversely, there are steps a player can take to avoid confusion and reduce the risk of being killed accidentally. A player should not be attacked for performing ‘serious aggressive motions’ if they are not visibly armed, hold their hands in the air, and/or make no sudden movements. The Guild takes a dim view of players attempting to exploit the concept of serious aggressive motions to perform kills.

4.4. Players will NEVER be penalised for making kills in self-defence.

4.5. If you are killed by a player acting in self defence, then you cannot make another kill attempt on that player until 6am the next day, unless they become (or remain) a valid in-game target to you. This does not apply if they make a serious aggressive motion towards you.

5. Accomplices

5.1. Players are not permitted to use non-player accomplices to directly assist in a kill attempt. Intelligence gathering, spreading of misinformation, planning, coordination and so forth is fine, but they cannot help with actual kill attempts in any way, although they may observe them.

5.2. Players may indirectly assist their player friends in kill attempts as above, providing none of the assisting players have each other as valid targets (see 6). Players killed while assisting their friends die as normal.

6. Collusion

6.1. Collusion occurs whenever two or more players, who are not considered by the current game to be on the same team, come to some agreement for mutual gain in-game. Collusion gives players an unfair advantage, and is against the spirit of the game. It is strictly forbidden for any living players to collude, cooperate, or make agreements with each other. Doing so may result in disciplinary action being taken by The Guild, including removing the players from the game.

6.2. No-kill agreements are made whenever two or more players agree not to attack each other for mutual gain and this is frowned upon by the Guild. To keep the game flowing smoothly and fairly, The Guild will typically call a duel between any players it suspects to have made a no kill agreement. There is provision for players who wish to agree not to kill each other for limited amounts of time to increase overall enjoyment rather than achieve mutual gain which can be found under section 7 – Binding Agreements.

6.3. Players who share an address may not make no kill agreements or collude. They may, however, all defend their address as normal against an intruding player, so long as that player is possibly targeting them.

7. Binding Agreements

7.1. Binding Agreements are a mechanic by which players can enter into commitments with other players to increase their overall enjoyment of our games. For example, players living in close proximity who do not meet the requirements to be Spotted to each other as listed above, such as livers-in sharing a corridor, may form a binding agreement to be GREEN, YELLOW, or Spotted to each other in a set area for the duration of the game.

7.2. There is no formal process for registering a binding agreement. So long as it is apparent to both players that they are both agreeing to the same binding agreement, no additional action is required. Once formed, binding agreements are as effective on the players who make them as the rules of the game itself.

7.3. The rules of the game, including provisions against collusion, take precedence over binding agreements. Binding agreements restrict the actions players may take, and do not create new actions or alter the effects of existing actions.

7.4. The rendering of players Spotted by inviting in to a residence (3.7) or GREEN by scheduling a duel (9.6) are shorthand binding agreements.

8. Defences

8.1. Players may take cover behind any free standing, stationary object. The material, thickness, and so forth of the object do not matter so long as it physically blocks the live ammunition. Try to avoid prolonged or heavy use of parked cars, bins or anything that might be considered a nuisance to others.

8.2. Players may attempt to block or deflect live non-explosive ammunition using equipment held in their hands, unless otherwise specified (such as against explosives). The Guild frowns upon using equipment that is not a shield to block ammunition with no attempt to use that equipment for its in game use.

8.3. Any held items which are not equipment, and any carried or worn items, such as bags, files, coats and umbrellas, cause their carrier to be affected by anything that affects them. Most typically, the carrier dies if such items are struck by something that would cause a kill. This also applies to hair, baggy clothing, and so forth.

8.4. Players may attempt to evade or dodge incoming fire and weapons of all types unless specifically prevented from doing so.

8.5. Players may not use non-players as human shields of any sort, including manoeuvring around specific people to obstruct shots. Players may use crowds and general groups of people to cover an approach or escape attempt.

8.6. Live equipment continues to be live until it comes to rest or hits a person – rebounds off walls, floors, ceilings, etc, are all valid.

9. Duelling

9.1. Duelling is an honourable alternative to protracted conflict and a possible method for settling trivial in-game disputes. Any player may challenge any other player to a duel, regardless of targets. The challenged player is under no obligation whatsoever to agree to such a duel, and suffers no adverse effects from declining the offer (unless they are explicitly rule-bound to accept, such as by 3.11).

9.2. Both players must agree on a reasonable time and place. The player making the challenge has the choice of which weapons will be used. Both players must use as similar weapons as possible. Both players must agree on a third party ‘referee’ who will mediate the duel. The Guild will provide referees on request.

9.3. Any player deemed by the referee to have acted dishonourably and/or broken the rules of the duel may be reported to The Guild. Dishonourable acts include ambushing a duellist at or en route to the duel, using weapons not agreed on in a duel, and attempting to flee a duel in progress. Duelling is a noble art, and The Guild takes a dim view of players attempting to exploit duels.

9.4. The Guild may also call a duel between two players for whatever reason. In this case, the time, location, which weapons to use, and referee will be determined by The Guild.

9.5. The standard format for a duel is as follows. The duellists will stand back to back with their duelling weapons fully prepared. The referee will count slowly and steadily from one to three, and on each count both duellists will take one large stride away from each other. The referee will then declare ‘turn and fire’, ‘go’, or similar, at which point the duellists may move around and fire freely.

9.6. When players explicitly agree to duel each other they become GREEN to each other until the duel occurs. Players should try to confirm time, location and weapons with each other as soon as possible after agreeing to a duel. The Guild frowns upon players exploiting this for any in game advantage.

9.7. If a specific time has been agreed on for a duel, if a player who previously agreed to the duel does not attend the duel within 10 minutes of this time then the participants of the duel are considered red to each other. The players who had previously agreed to the duel may rearrange the duel, but are not obliged to accept the duel as in 9.1. Failure to conduct a previously agreed duel without good reason is frowned upon by The Guild.

9.8. Duels may not be interfered with or interrupted by other players. Duellists and referees are green to all players for the duration of the duel plus time taken to collect the ammunition/weapons used in the duel.

10. Suicide

10.1. A careless player who inadvertently performs an action which would kill themselves or a teammate does not actually kill that player, unless the kill is witnessed, called, and reported by an opposing player.

10.2. No positive effect in-game, from the point of view of the dying player, may ever be gained from one’s death. If a positive in-game effect would be gained by a player committing a suicidal action, that effect does not occur.

10.3. A player may surrender at any time by loudly, clearly, and intentionally saying ‘I Surrender’ to an opposing player. This immediately kills the surrendering player, and, if the surrendering player was considered a valid target of the player they surrendered to, counts as a kill for that player. The Guild strongly recommends players make use of this if they encounter another player in a non-green situation in which they are unwilling or unable to play the game.

11. Banned Items

As an explicit reiteration of common sense, the following items MAY NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BE USED IN OUR GAMES:

• Guns that fire ball bearings, paintballs or other hard ammunition.
• Cap guns.
• Fireworks.
• Messy weapons, including but not limited to paint guns, ooze guns, flour bombs, gunk/gunge traps, silly string, party poppers, and thrown fruit.
• Any item which resembles an item it would be illegal for you to possess (typically realistic guns).
• Flashbangs, smoke, stinger and paint grenades.
• Aerosols, air fresheners, and other sprays.
• Slimy or sticky substances applied to surfaces.
• Substances that interfere with food (typically strong spices).
• Letters and parcels containing talcum powder, dye, spinners, buzzers, and so on.
• Any object left in a location for an extended period of time, which might be mistaken for a bomb.
• Any object which conceals the wearer’s face, such as masks and balaclavas. The sole exception to this is areas which mandate the use of face masks to protect against COVID-19, in which an ordinary face mask may be used.
• Cutlery.

12. Killing and Dying

12.1. Immediately after you make a kill, you should confirm your real name and any other pertinent game state information to your victim, who should in turn confirm their real name and other game information to you. If any equipment was used or discarded in the course of the combat, such as darts or grenades, all players involved should help collect the equipment and return it to its owner.

12.2. As soon as possible after a player makes a kill, they should report it to The Guild using the game engine, including all relevant information and, ideally, reporting what occurred in as much detail as possible. The Guild often distributes awards on the basis of information from kill reports.

12.3. If you have been killed, your killer may ask you to refrain from communicating or relaying information or details of your death to any subset of players for up to twenty four hours. This is most important during Guild raids and team games. You should not actively seek to contact other players because you have died, but should tell any players who contact you about game matters “I am dead”, and as such unable to discuss such things.

12.4. All players must respond promptly and without ambiguity when asked about their own status- that is, that they are an assassin, whether they are alive or dead, and any other pertinent information. Players may not misrepresent any non-private game state information for any reason. Dead players may not attempt to confuse or spook live players in any way. The Guild frown upon using modern communication (such as Facebook) to query gamestate information from other players, as to gain an in-game advantage, and the passing of information from one player to another to another through use of screenshots.

13. Disagreements

13.1. In the event that players disagree regarding what just occurred- typically regarding whether or not a kill attempt just made was successful- they are strongly encouraged to attempt to reach an agreement then and there.

13.2. If an agreement cannot be reached, the players should attempt to come to a decision on how to proceed. A duel may be called, the disputed combat may be replayed, all players involved may decide to walk away and not threaten each other for some length of time, or any other (preferably binding) arrangement all players involved agree on.

13.3. If it is still impossible to reach agreement, all players should report of their interpretation of events to The Guild via email as soon as possible. The Guild will then rule on what occurred and bring the game state into line with this.

14. Game Engine

14.1 The game engine is used to track all details of games not tracked directly by The Guild. The current game engine is Bureau. It can be found here.

14.2 In the unusual event that the game engine is reporting your status incorrectly or has not updated your status for more than a few days, the concerned player should contact The Guild with details of the problem.

15. Bounty Hunting

15.1. Any player may contact The Guild and place a bounty on the head of any player in an ongoing game. It is possible to add conditions to this such as Kill Bob with Vogon Poetry. Bounty rewards can be anything, but silly items, foodstuffs and beverages are encouraged. The person placing the bounty may ask the Guild to hide their identity.

15.2. Details of the bounty will be circulated to all players. Any player may attempt to claim a bounty regardless of whether the bounty target is an in-game target. Rule 4.5 applies here however.

15.3. Bounties must be placed in good spirit. The Guild may reject bounties at its discretion.

15.4. The first player to meet all the conditions of a bounty may claim the reward from the Guild. Failure to pay a bounty you have placed is severely frowned upon by the Guild.