Assassins

Assassins is a game which combines resourcefulness, creativity, stealth and just a tiny bit of paranoia, resulting in a game where people are given a target who is from Iota Phi, and have to eliminate their target. The object of this game is to be the last one standing. Other awards are given to to people in the game as well. There are variations to the game depending on who is running it. The host of the game is often known affectionately as God, or the Don. Sometimes, grandiose obituaries are written for fallen players.

Christopher Takemori introduced Assassins to Iota Phi in Spring 2003, having played the game with his friends at home.

Sample Rules

Here are sample rules taken from the Spring 2010 Assassins game:

Entering the Game

All players must register with the host by a given time. You must pay the host a $1 entrance fee. This fee goes toward prizes for the winners. There will be prizes for Best Assassin, Bloodiest Assassin, Best Weapon, Best Kill and Worst Assassin. You must pay to play. You must have your real address (the host should be able to look it up on Google Maps) listed on the roster to play. You must live in Davis to play. You must have already been tracked for at least one event this term to play.

Weapons and Killing

1. There are very strict restrictions on weapons. If you use an illegal weapon, you will be removed from the game. And possibly punished by a blanket party through by the God Squad.
2. Your weapon must look like a weapon. We are doing a ninja-themed Assassins game, so that means bladed weapons only. No guns! Throwing knives and ninja stars are acceptable, though. Nun-chucks and whips/flails are also allowed. (They must still match the size requirements of other weapons.)
3. Your weapon must be at least 6 inches long and 2 inches wide, and CANNOT be more than 1 inch thick. There is no max length or width. Parts of your weapon can be narrower than 2 inches, as long as some part of it is at least two inches.
4. It must be constructed from both cardboard and duct tape, and nothing but cardboard and duct tape. However, your weapon does not need to be completely covered in duct tape, as long as it is somehow used in the construction. No other fillers are allowed to increase the strength or weight of your weapon. (No plastic, pennies, etc. for safety reasons!) You cannot use paper instead of cardboard or other kinds of tape. Decorating your weapon is allowed - you can color it, even put fobby phone dangles on an Asian meat cleaver. (Yes, it's been done.)
5. You can have as many weapons as you want, but any dropped weapons can be used against you.
6. All weapons are considered poisoned, and one touch to any part of the body is considered instant death. (You simply have to touch your weapon to your target.) Blades can pass through clothing, but not through backpacks or similar items. You can not move shields of any type (including books, backpacks, people) to block or deflect attacks, but you can block attacks with your own weapons, dodge attacks, or hide behind things that were already there.

Targets

1. The Iota Phi website will assign you a random codename, codeword, and target. Memorize your codeword! You must give your codeword to you killer immediately upon being killed so they can get credit for it. Upon killing your target or your killer, enter their codeword into the website for credit and a new target.
2. Targets are randomly chosen by the website, but assassins with more kills have a slightly better chance of not getting targeted.
3. Because targets are randomly assigned, there could be zero-all other killers coming after you. There could also be zero-all other killers going after your target. Check your target regularly to make sure someone else has not killed it first.

Safe Zones

1. You are safe:
   1. At service and going to and from service - defined as the moment you step out of your house to go to service until you enter the building of your choice after getting dropped off from service
   2. At any other APO events - defined as the location and times listed on the website calendar - there is no buffer for these other events, so as soon as you leave the location, you can be killed. If the event ends at 8 p.m. on the calendar, you can be killed at 8:01, even if the event is still in progress!
   3. On campus - defined as everything in the green area on this map EXCEPT dorms, which are treated like private residences
   4. Inside a moving car - defined as when the engine is running. However, buses are not safe, except for the bus driver.
   5. At work
2. Private residences are semi-safe. You cannot sneak into someone's house without permission and kill him or her. This applies to any fenced off area, such as a backyard or a balcony. However, you can throw a weapon into a residence to make a kill.
3. You cannot kill while you are safe. For example, if a target comes into your work, you are not allowed to kill it, even if you are on break

Things Not to Do

1. Do not be stupid, do not do anything that would hurt yourself or others, and do not break the law.
2. Do not help other players make a kill. No scouting out locations, no flushing out targets, no harassing players that are not your target, etc. (Driving another assassin is acceptable, as some assassins need help outside of times when Unitrans runs, but you must stay in the car and not participate in any way to the actual kill.) If you do, the host will remove both you and the person you are helping from the game. This rule also applies to dead assassins and any other third parties.
3. Do not harass other brothers (players or non-players). Harassment can come in many forms, but the most common is threatening people who are not your target. Harassment cases will be judged by severity and may be punished by a verbal warning, a visit from God Squad, and/or being struck down by lightning!
4. Do not damage or steal possessions or kidnap third parties in order to extort a kill.

End of Game

The game will run until there is one assassin left alive or night before banquet. If the game proceeds to the night before banquet, there is no winner, and the prize money will be donated to the chapter.

Killing Methods

You can use a number of different methods to take out your target. Harmless hand-made weapons are used to represent different assassination weapons:

• Water gun (Handgun)
• Supersoaker (Rifle)
• Water balloons (Grenades)
• Cardboard knife (Knife)
• Paper stars (Ninja stars)
• Cardboard sword (Swords)
• Cans tied under a car (Car bombs)
• Hot sauce or salt in highly detectable amounts (Poisons)

Results

Term	Number of Participants	Host(s)	Last One Standing	Most Kills
Spring 2003	~50	Christopher Takemori, Drew Mayen	Michelle Jaromay	Phu Phan (7)
Fall 2003	~70	Christopher Takemori, Rosina Tao	Oz Ibal	Ronald Lew (5)
Spring 2004	~80	Aaron Lipton, Michelle Chow	Jackson Thach	Jackson Thach (12)
Fall 2004	n/a	Dinh Luong	Clint Stevenson	n/a
Spring 2005	120	Christopher Takemori	Paul Lee	Paul Lee
Spring 2006	n/a	Haley Ko	n/a	n/a
Spring 2007	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Spring 2009	~90	Jhonatan Paredes	n/a	Jon Kong (28)
Spring 2010	n/a	Dinh Luong	Christine Lin	Christine Lin (9)
Spring 2011	~60	Aaron Manley	WE'LL NEVER KNOW	Haley Wong (7)

Trivia

• In Spring 2007 (Mayen Term), Assassins took place one week after the 2007 shooting massacre at Virginia Tech. Due to the elevated panic this caused at universities across the nation, socks were utilized as the killing weapons in order to avoid trouble with the UC Davis campus.