I. THE WATERFIGHTING ITSELF
Our events are for now quite a simple lobe of toy gun fighting: water only, on one of open grass, urban or woodland.
1) Our Events/Rounds can be Full Water or Water With Care. Full Water means guns over 1 foot long. No Water With Care guns fire large shots (unlike the CPS guns, all of which are significantly over 1 foot long. Water With Care means No WaterBalloons; WaterBalloons are only for fighting on open grass, so that the rubbery mess is, and is arguably to be, picked up at the end.
2) You die instantly if shot anywhere on your body except when stated otherwise below.
3) A watergun hit is wetness roughly the total area of a 5p piece for ordinary waterguns, or of a 50p piece for CPS's or anything else that has an output 4 or more times larger than a WWC gun. If the type of gun is in dispute in this sense, there will be a quick test shot and a decision as to the 5p or 50p amount of water.
4) The hands and feet don't count, nor do hits solely on hand-held guns.
5) While you can block shots with hand-held waterguns that have not been substantially adulterated so as to increase their usefulness in this way, this only counts if the water doesn't just get deflected onto another part of you. Note: blocking water with substantially unadulterated weapons tends not to work.
6) Optional Limb-Hits Wound Rule. In rounds for which this has been called out, one has to make do with what limbs have not been shot off, other than for safety and security purposes (people shot in both legs whilst crossing the road can walk onto the pavement but then do have to crawl around till they are dead. A person with missing limbs can, as ever, give themselves out as dead if they prefer, it's just that occasionally participants with multiple limbs missing do get kills and win rounds, but we do understand if you don't want to get your dress dirty, aggravate a recent real-life injury or feel it's ended your realistic chances.
7) You can surprise-kill by pointing the watergun and saying "ping" from within a metre, unless it's been leading to undue amount of disputes.
8) Only shots you fired before you died count. It is possible for killing shots to still be in the air as one dies. People shooting back at their killer after the human reaction time will not have claims of killing them back taken seriously unless there is more evidence (e.g. that they dodged the initial shot but not subsequent ones, or the rarer more complicated case of playing on when one is shot by someone who's not realized they're dead yet)
9) People are encouraged not to field leaky guns, or to ensure such leaks don't flow onto their clothes. Ditto dealing with sweat. If there's such as drizzle, everyone needs to land heavier shots. However, all such cases are fairly rare or compensable in various ways know to organizers, making Watermark Owzat? an effective ruling system as well as an inherently fair one rather than an assertive/loud person favouring one.
10) Clean water only.
11) Although with water it is rare, ricochets off objects don't count.
II. FOR, ESPECIALLY, URBAN ROUNDS (STILL TRUE BUT OFTEN LESS RELEVANT ELSEWHERE)
12) You can't claim to be dead in a round, or officiating, unless it's true.
13) You can both passively and actively deny being a participant, until you are shot, at which point you must admit you are a participant. You can't go round shooting genuine bystanders. Remember a 'bystander' can't shoot you out of a round without making it clear they're not a bystander. As such, the way to defend against fake bystanders is to politely stay away from bystanders, see through disguises etc. We adjudicate that it is people who can't take being shot at by newer, shyer people who use this style that have the *attitude problem*, not the practicioners of this style. For this is how anyone can make an impact without guns, athleticism or a tonne of fighting experience. And shooting actual bystanders is wrong regardless of whether occasionally one is in fact a participant. One's route through this 'security obstacle and inclusiveness of participants combo' is by, firstly, not transgressing the serious rules by shooting bystanders. Secondly, often not dying to such attacks by being politely passively cautious toward bystanders. Thirdly, by acknowledging the good play of the occasional participant who does pull off a fake bystander kill on you. We remind people that laying ambushes round corners *also* results in bystanders being shot unless one gets one's attitude and priorities right, as does fighting with bystanders in the line of fire behind one's dodging opponent.
Notes: it is hard to pretend to be a bystander on open grass. People are welcome to join any of our battles by attacking as a lone wolf ambusher, provided that they have read our rules. Elsewise, wait till the next round to get a team.
14) Accomplices are allowed (non-combatent helpers). However, they can be shot at as much as players, and will be gently encouraged to become participants and thus be able to shoot back. They are bound to abide by the same rules as participants, and must `belong' to one or more participants, who will be held in part responsible for bringing this person along if owt goes wrong. If they are, or become a participant, such responsibility dissolves.
15) We consider openly bearing arms on college property other than the private room of a consenting person to have noting to do with us. These are for street ambushes and for Duels, Events etc.
16) Concealment: If you have such and you go into a College, you put them in your backpack, in an opaque carrier bag or up your coat (whether wearing it or as a bundle in your arms. You are strongly encouraged to hoard opaque carrier bags and keep some in your handbag, backpack, coat pocket etc as very portable cover for emergencies, as well as usually keeping your gun in such a bag. You are also strongly encouraged to not use two or three foot long water guns in urban games unless you have the means and discipline to hide such awkward things when and where prudent.
III. HONESTY AND DISPUTED EVENTS.
[By far the most important form of honesty is not lying to the Organizer or to any of Our People's Safer Space Custodians as regards any event involving serious rules breaches.]
17) Honesty also comes up when an uncertain event occurs: who shot who first and so on. This involves discussions on the spot, under the call "Discussion Phase" (unless meriting "SafeOut" or "CallOut"). See some other sec for the in-game technicalities of this as they really don't matter. What really matters is this. Discussions about these in Assassins are about establishing a shared truth and not about always insisting oneself is right. Due to people moving around faster than most of our safe toy bullets fly, and only noticing some things, it is entirely possible for different people to give entirely honest accounts which don't match up. Thus disagreements are common, even in the absense of gamesmanship, and thus in no way by themselves imply gamesmanship. What is entirely unacceptable is any use of loudness, strength of personality or refusal to ask for or listen to others' opinion. People feeling they're being out-louded etc are to know they have explicit right to take the uncertain event to the Organizer, especially if they couldn't voice their own opinion at all. People who feel there's been gamesmanship are welcome to tell the Organizer too. Though in Friendly Assassins we largely don't care who killed who first - that's not a necessary part of being Friendly. Most of our Frumpire's rulings will be: "duel for it!" "you've had too many disputes of late so you lose this time!" (especially to people suspected of gamesmanship) or "you didn't give them their fair say, so you lose regardless of whether your facts might be more correct, because this is a *friendly* game".
Comment 1) Here we do not favour assertiveness and loudness over who is right and who has demonstrated rightful skills. If calling out 'I shot you' were to suffice to eliminate people (as it does in cetain other places), it unduly favours the assertive and the loud. Instead, with us, all people are welcome to *ask* "Did I hit you?" And, if they say "No", people can reply "I wish to check if there's water on you." And quickly carry out such a check whilst neither is a licit target for anyone else, so neither checking nor being checked result in people being unceremoniously shot (unlike in certain other places). The spirit of that is the benevolent form of `Owzat!' from Cricket; the water marks count as 'Camera Umpire' decisions (and occasionally Organizer Officials will rule people out, but, until the water mark is found, or an official gives one out, a person who does not think they have been hit is entitled to continue fighting). This system is properly inclusive of new and shy people, and is far better suited to water than to bands or foam darts, and is one big reason why for now we are water-only.
Comment 2) If a participant's kill, or conduct in a dispute, are in violation of the serious rules, who killed who is irrelevant. The infringer is given out as dead, and, in serious cases, play will be stopped by "CallOut" until an on-the-spot decision is made by the Safer Space Custodians as to whether that person can continue. As well as kills obtained via disrespecting bystanders, use of seriously out of bounds areas or with unsafe/realistic weaponry, this certainly applies to anyone screaming abuse or using/threatening actual violence during a dispute.
18) The Optional Duel Ruel. Occasionally participants can mutually agree to duel over a disputed outcome. This applies to rarer situations than who has been shot as told by water residue, e.g. to who shot who first. (2 people shooting each other, not two people shooting a third person at the same time. In the latter case, our default is that you can share the kill as a full kill each provided that there was no noticeable difference in whose shot landed first, this is very clear from 1/2 second difference onward) Because such duels can be lengthy, this is most suited to when they're the last two alive, and should elsewise be set up to be quick affairs with equal weapons (eg on very small pieces of ground, and certainly face-to-face rather than hiding). Other combatents note: seeing 2 people fighting each other with mini-weapons whilst their guns sit on the floor beside them is obviously a duel and not to be interrupted. It may also help if duellists keep on saying 'duel' or put their team headbands round their arm so as to not be interrupted by other participants. This duelling rule will not always be in use, for some days we may well wish for many quick rounds. If a battle's last two participants are in a duel that looks to last any length of time, the other participants are entitled to start the next round or to pair up for their own quick duels on adjacent but non-obstructing grouns, or accepting these may end in a draw when the actual duel. They may also act as unbiased corner judges for the duel.
IV. OTHER RULES OPTIONS 19) The Organizers may well call these out, and Participants are welcome to suggest them. The main point of these is ensuring everyone does well at least sometimes. They include walking-only, equal-weapons, staying in sight, extra preparation time, pairs where both die when one is shot, and compensatory handicaps to even out the field (the more experienced the participant, the lesser the gun, and/or the strongest participants having to walk, hop or start at great disadvantage: such as surrounded, cornered or totally aligned against the wind. In some games people will have multiple lives, and then more experienced participants could start with less. Finally, it could be equal weapons with amount of water given to each in opposite order of experience or of success so far that day. We wish for any such changes between rounds to be brief and understandable by all -- a single clear sentence. This system known to be strong enough to accommodate well people with actual broken limbs and the Disabled.