Convention Assassins

Basic Overview

— Requirements for joining the Assassins Guild Program —

If you want to join the Assassins Guild and go through the Annual Guild Training Program (this game), you must respect and follow the requirements below to be part of this game.- You must be 16 years of age or older to partake in the killing of your fellow Assassins in the Assassination Training side of our game.
^{You must be willing to touch and be touched by people that you may or may not know}
- Junior Assassins (any players under 16) will be allowed to partake in the spy skill honing sections of the game, you'll be able to assist other Assassins Guild Trainees in a variety of ways. You may even be assigned special missions only available to Junior Assassins.
^{All ages of players are allowed to play this side without the killing part if you do not wish to touch or be touched by people you may or may not know.}^
- Be respectful of all convention staff, dealers, and game masters participating in this event. They are super awesome for making this game work the way it does. It would be so very different without them. So please be mindful of their time and if they are exceptionally busy at the time, let them do their thing and if it is going to take longer than you have - please let them finish by coming back to them later.
- Following the rules of the game even if it means coming to get clarifications when needed.
- Being respect of all other Assassins, the Assassin Leader (Bunny), and all of her Assassin's Assistants.Aside from all that, above all we would like you to have fun!

If you want to contact the head Assassin, Bunny, or her assistants to ask any questions or make any suggestions – or to collaborate on tasks for the future, prize support, or anything else:
Email - [email protected]
Reach out via Bluesky at:
conassassinmaster.bsky.social

• Email
• Bluesky

Official Event Rules

Welcome to all new and returning GameStorm Assassins Guild Members to your annual guild training!

For those new to Assassins and considering joining our guild - it's a convention wide exploration game that aims to mix elements of ARGs with the classic game Killer, a scavenger hunt, quests, and myriad classic assassin/spy skills. We hope to test your wits and your reflexes throughout the event.It is great to have you here to join the guild or renew your guild membership for another year!When you arrive at the Assassins Guild Headquarters (our table) - where you will find a happy Assassins Assistants (staff) working during the main convention show hours after the start up event on Thursday evening (especially before, during, and in-between daily check-ins the rest of the weekend) -you sign up to be involved in the whole "training program" (game) or just one side of the "training", you can always join the skill training while waiting for any scheduled check-in time (including the Thursday Start Up event) to join in Assassination Training specifically.
_{All times for events for this year's GameStorm are already available to be signed up for, are listed below, will be listed in the physical schedule at the convention, and and will be available as a tiny flyer you can take with you at the convention (small enough it can even fit in a badge holder!}^{Assassins Assistants will be available at the table most of the convention. If you cannot find someone there and it is urgent, please reach out to us through one of the contact methods mentioned on this site. Otherwise, please come back by the table again when you get a chance. Thursday is the least time with us at the table, but Assassins Assistants will be around most of the rest of Friday-Sunday after 10am and until at least 7:30pm.}

The 2 Types of Training & Objectives

Your annual training is broken down into 2 main categories of training and objectives:
• Assassination training
- Killing your fellow assassins guild members/trainees in rounds throughout the event using our main weapon - sticky notes!
- Assassination training targeting other players is able to be joined by any badged GameStorm member 16 years of age or older during any check-in event.
- Assassination training can only be signed up for during the scheduled check-in times because you get assigned 1 target at a time, so there have to be enough other players to assign to the whole group so that you're able to assassinate your target and be targeted for assassination yourself.
• Skill Training
- Broken down into tasks, puzzles, and quests to help hone your skills over the course of the convention. These will be spread out convention wide, variable in amounts of time taken to complete them and times available so that you can do them around whatever content you're otherwise hoping to attend/participate in, and meant to test you all in different ways.
- Skill Training which is all ages and can be joined at any time during the convention after the initial start up event on Thursday evening opens the game to play up until the Sunday Turn In event ends the game play loop for the year.
^{Rules on both sides of the game are listed below in their own sectionsThere are prizes for each individual side of the Assassins training game you can still have fun and potentially win some fun prizes either way, there are also rewards for being a Well Rounded Assassin and having accomplishments from both sides.}When you sign up to be an assassin - you'll be asked if you're joining Assassination Training, Skill Training, or both! (Junior Assassins - i.e. all players under 16 - will be automatically limited to the Skills Training track for the year.) You'll given a small set of necessary supplies for your annual Assassins Guild training! This includes:
• Your badge ribbon for playing the game! The sign that you're an assassin regardless of side you're training at the time.
• The first set Skills Training Task List with all currently available to you tasks and quest assignments.
- More unlock over the weekend with additional plots, tasks, and puzzles so come back by the Guild HQ during the weekend when you have a chance and there might be more waiting for you! Assassins Assistants can also hold onto finished work for your points for you, throughout the convention. So feel free to drop stuff off with your name you go by and your badge number so we can track it for you.
• Your temporary Assassin Training ID that is your secret identity for that round of play that will expire when the round ends for the next check-in.
- You get a new temporary ID every round.
- This will get attached to your badge right before the end of the check-in.
- If you get assassinated you can always join back in at another check-in.
• The temporary Assassin Training Target ID that is the ID of another player in that round. It's identical to the player IDs that get attached to your badges, but marked so there's no confusion about it being the Target version.
- Hunting this target will also expire when the round ends for the next check-in as that target will no longer be a viable player in the game when all the new IDs get distributed.
• Your official weapons of assassination - sticky notes!
- The sticky notes will be color-coded for that round of play. Each round is a different color sticky note so we can track who joined the game when. (More are always available though!)
^{Obviously, those opting into only one training or the other will only get the relevant supplies.
Junior Assassins will only get their appropriate supplies as well.
There is a special supply just for Junior Assassins.}You can always come by the Guild HQ when there's an Assassins Assistant there for questions, updates, clarification, or to turn in anything you've completed.
The turn in event on Sunday is the last chance to turn in anything remaining before the prize ceremony.
The start time of the turn in event on Sunday is also the end of the game so no assassination attempts after that time will be valid as game play ends at 11am.
The Prize Ceremony takes place at 3pm, so please turn in anything remaining to the Guild HQ before 1pm so we can make sure your work is appropriately tallied for potential prizes!

Assassination Training Rules
_{Welcome to Assassination training protocols}

Your Assassin Training ID designates who you are and will be attached to your badge for the round and where it is to stay until that round is over and it is returned back to the Guild HQ (or if you have to miss a check in, at your next convenience please.)
The Target ID given to you will kept secret as it is designating which Assassin Training ID you need to be looking for on other players while enjoying the convention during that round of play. So until you are assassinated or that round ends, there is a player searching for you while you explore and there's a player out there somewhere for you to assassinate.
If you assassinate your target, you get their Target ID they were searching for and can continue assassinating until the round ends. If you end up with your own Assassin Training ID as a Target ID - unfortunately since there are only so many as there are players in a given round, let us know at the Guild HQ and we'll see if we can give you another thing to do since there won't be a target to exchange it for.The new round starting at check-in time will always be a fresh start for everyone. Anyone returning for another round, assassinated or not, or joining for the first time will get their Assassin Training ID and Target ID.
The Assassin Training ID don't have to be revealed during the check-in, you can discreet about it when we attach it to your badge and keep your badge flipped or covered until the check-in ends, when everyone can all walk-away, but it has to be visible the rest of the round after that point.Again, please make sure you keep your Assassin Training ID visible while in the areas of play. It should be attached to your badge for the whole round and try to avoid it being hidden or flipped while exploring the convention. If someone asks to see which one you are because your badge flipped over while you were walking during a round, please politely flip your badge to be facing the right way again. Thank you.Assassination training happens in hours between until the next check-ins. 5 rounds total:
• Thursday evening' start up event to Friday morning's check-in
• Friday morning's check-in to Friday evening's check-in
• Friday evening's check-in to Saturday morning's check-in
• Saturday morning's check-in to Saturday evening's check-in
• Saturday evening's check-in to Sunday morning's turn in eventAssassination training is round the clock during those times, so if you see your assigned target walking in the hallway at midnight outside of Board Gaming - that's still fair game. However, there are some special rules around where and when your targets are off limits:
_{Where they are off limits}
• In a "session of intense gaming"
^{e.g. participating in scheduled content - they are actively in TTRPG session, in the middle of a board game in the games library, playing Blood On The Clocktower ran by our Guest of Honor this year, playing a video game in gaming, in character in a LARP, etc
This does not include if they are in a LARP right now but taking a break out of character for some reason or another such as left the room to go to the bathroom, playing a board game or TTRPG and got up to stretch/get a drink of water, etc.}
• In the bathroom
^{Yes, you're reading that right. No, a kill at a urinal does not count. Just wait until your back in the hallway (with washed hands. Please.)
There is also a no killing zone 10 feet around the bathrooms, only exception is if your target is “camping” in that zone. (In other words, if your target is just standing there watching you and waiting for you to walk away for 3+ minutes.)}
• Talking to any Assassins Staff about the rules or game mechanics
^{Asking rules questions of us at our table is always safe. A player cannot just camp at the table to stay safe the whole time though. As soon as their discussion is over, they are in game again.}
• Outside of main convention areas
^{e.g. the ends of the hotel room wings past the last of the content rooms, on floors where there are no content rooms, entering/exiting their own hotel rooms, Taco Bell, the grocery store, etc. - if it's not convention event space, you're not in our little pocket of reality anymore. Nobody should be followed to their hotel rooms or disturbed while they are out to get a bite of eat. You're allowed piece of mind when you're outside of the convention.}
_{When they are off limits}
• Game will pause 10 minutes before a check-in and will be paused for 20 minutes after check-in time is over so that you can disperse throughout the convention again before being assassinated.
• After 11am on Sunday. The start of the final turn in is the end of the Assassination training.

_{The Weapon of Convention Assassins}

Sticky notes are what you use to assassinate your target in our world.Once we've provided you your sticky notes - you're welcome to write your cause of death onto your sticky notes at any point before making your assassination attempt with it. It has to be written at the time of the "death" or it does not count. To be very clear: sticky notes must have the cause of death written on them or it does not count as a successful assassination.
When you successfully assassinate someone, you'll be keeping that sticky note and attaching it to the target ID of who you assassinated that round to turn back in to Guild HQ later to get credit for that kill. Please write your badge number on the back as well at any point before turning them in. (Whether you pre-write that as soon as you get them or at the table while turning them in, that's fine.)_{If you run out of sticky notes, you're welcome to get more during each check in or any time the Guild HQ is staffed. You can also turn in kills at any time the table is staffed during the convention. We'd love if you could write down who you killed on the back of the sticky note as well when turning in successful kills (their name, badge number, or the Target ID they were are all valid identifiers for this purpose.)}^{Have fun with your ways of assassinating people because you will be turning in all used assassinations so it can be counted towards a variety of prizes including categories like Most Creative that will be handed out at the end of the convention, as well as possible other prizes.}

_{How To Assassinate Someone}

Sticky notes can be used in many ways:
• Touched to your target.
- It doesn't have to be fully stuck to them as long as it makes clear contact then it is a successful assassination.
- These are the main form of assassination attempted in the game. The sticky note can say almost anything on it. They've been anywhere between a 4 paragraph long one on a sting of sticky notes all stuck together to just the word "Stab" before, some are just a simple death and some even have little sound effects penciled into the margins over the years. This is where any player is welcome to do how they see fit within our rule structure.
• Object Assassinations are sometimes opted for and available but have extra rules and are risky because they are more likely to be defended against or fail for a variety of reasons.
- They can be placed on a drink or food container that your target is using.
-Not in the food or drink itself or on the part of the containers that go into people's mouths - think the side of a Taco Bell cup or bag of chips, not the straw or the chips themselves. On a take out container or pizza box, but not on the takeout or pizza. We want to have creative fun here, not ruin anybody's meals or drinks.
- Object Assassinations should be relevant to how you're assassinating them in some way or another. Whether it's just a drawing of a vial of poison or the word "POISON", or the pizza box is now a bomb or full of venomous snakes, or whatever. It doesn't have to be "perfectly" related, it could even be that "as -target- stops for their drink, an anvil falls on them."
- An object they are interacting with or that they are going to be interacting with also can work if it's not food/beverage related. An couple examples from past years have been on their phones they had on the table in front of them that they had looked away from, on their backpack that was sitting on the floor next to their chair, the door they were heading towards.
- *These Object Assassinations are tricky because you have to be present for them and be able to talk to them when they interact with the sticky note(s) involved.
- An example for things like doors and how they work would be one time an assassin knew that their target was heading into specific room at a specific time and so they put a sticky note on the door as well as one on the wall they were leaning on about a couple feet away. When their target walked up to the door and started reading the sticky note, they tapped the one next to them while getting their target's attention. It turned out that the one on the door was describing a lever controlled pit trap with a monofilament net half way down the fall, with spikes at the bottom. The one next to them that they touched while talking to their target that was reading their note just said "LEVER" on it. It was very inventive and it had everything we needed to count as a kill. The target was next to and interacting with their assassin, the target if they had seen the other assassin standing right there and the sticky notes could have called their 'Attacking' out and had a chance to Defend (rules for that below), the target was reading the sticky note when the Attacking assassin said they got them. It was creative. Everyone had fun.
• Sent to them as what we call a BOOM maneuver.
- BOOMs are only useable if given to other people who are not Assassins players to deliver; however, your sticky note that is being used must say that it is some kind of explosive assassination or BOOM (bomb, TNT, bouncing betty, hand grenade, etc.) written on it and there must be some form of interaction between the Boom and the target before the target is handed the assassination note (e.g. the person acting as the BOOM shakes targets hand, high fives the target, hugs target (with their consent), gently bumps into the target, pokes them, or greets them and then simply just skips straight to handing the target the sticky note in the case of young children or situations where touching is not appropriate then the greeting and being acknowledged by the target player is the interaction.) Then the explosive sticky note is handed to the target to read and the acting BOOM must point to the assassin who sent the BOOM over. At that point their active Target ID can be passed to the person who just assassinated them successfully and the sticky note can returned to them to turn back in for the credit.
- BOOM assassinations are the only assassinations that can be done by another person and not the acting assassin assigned to that target ID.
- BOOM assassinations are the only allowed when the assassin assigned to that target ID is present and within line of sight, and able to be directly pointed to by the non-player acting as the BOOM without walking the target anywhere else. BOOMs won't count if the assassin is not present and available during them.
• BOOM assassinations can use any consenting person who is not playing Assassins, including children under the age of 16 years old. It is the only time children are allowed to participate in the Assassins Training side of our game and only with their adult's express permission. It is only allowed because the child is walking up to the target while being watched by an adult, with no touching (especially surprise touching) the child is necessary.
^{If you successfully kill your target with your sticky note, please turn those in to us the next time you stop by so that we can keep track of them for you and there's no risk of them getting lost or damaged before we tally the prizes at the end of the weekend.}

_{How to Defend Yourself Against Assassination Attempts}

This is what to do should you find yourself with the assassin trying to pull off an assassination attempt is targeting you. If you see them approaching you, address them. "Hey", "stop", "I've spotted you", "it's time to d-d-d-d-d-duel", a "Stop" hand up in their direction. Whatever feels right to you and that you feel like you have time for. We ask all assassins to please be respectful to each other no matter the situation - but there's also an assumption here that when one assassin is approaching another assassin, they can both see the Assassin Training IDs on each other, that being like "STOP" out of nowhere is just going to happen sometimes.Once you've acknowledged the attacking assassin is there and you can call them out on being there to assassinate you, it's time to duel! We word it this way because it can be a little hard when its your friend, family member, etc. to know if they are there to assassinate you or because they know you. Part of the fun of this game for many players over the years is wondering who amongst the people they know at the convention might be out to get them at some point or another during the course of Assassins. There's been much time spent over the years laughing with families playing together over the fun ways they play into the paranoia and have a good time with it. That being said, a friendly greeting to each other with no other follow-up initiated doesn't retroactively count as you initializing defending yourself after you've been surprise touched with a sticky note by your teenage daughter. So we encourage all defending players to communicate and be intentional about it if they are trying to stop an assassination attempt on them.
All Assassins guild staff/Assassins Assistants are happy to help referee as best we can especially by way of rules clarifications when needed as well.Dueling is done by playing rock-paper-scissors against each other. The results play out as follows:
• If the attacking assassin - wins, then attacking assassin has successfully assassinated their target!
• If there is a tie, the target effectively given their attacking assassin the slip. The attacking assassin must leave target player alone for 20 minutes.)
• If the attacking assassin loses, the target managed to beat the attacking assassin in the duel and escape. The attacking assassin must leave their target alone for 40 minutes.
Congratulations, defending assassin! Hopefully you live to assassinate someone else before the the assassin hunting you down loops back to get you. Also, remember if the person who was targeting you gets assassinated then someone new might be after you later in that round so it won't always be the face you've already seen!Happy hunting and being hunted, assassins!!

Skills Training Rules
_{Welcome to Skills training task protocols}

This section of Assassins tends to be the most straight forward but let's talk about it.Assassins do so much more than just killing their targets. They are a sneaky, smart, creative, problem solving bunch who have to use their skills to get their jobs done. They need to have a lay of the land, know what is available to them, what distractions are available, who to work with, what tools are best for which jobs.The Skills Training side of Assassins tries to encourage this those types of things in our players. It rewards you learning the lay of the land for the convention, learning about what is available where and when, finding objects, intercepting coded messages, deciphering clues, solving puzzles, finding Task Givers and tasks for them, going on quests, crafting new things, thinking on your feet, and hopefully having a good time trying new things.There will be something that will either take you to or teach you about each section of the convention and what they have to offer. There will be things on your list that will ask you to try many different kinds of activities. There will be objects, signs, puzzles, and more hidden around the convention - sometimes in plain sight and sometimes even in dealers' booths.We don't post the lists of tasks online/in advance - the only way to do this part is by showing up and getting your missions from the Guild HQ but they can be gotten at any time once the game starts and we even leave extras of the starting page on the table when there's no guild staff there in case you find the HQ in the middle of the night or in the early morning.

Special Rules & Final Notes

The most important rule of them all is to make sure to have fun! This is a game intended for entertainment. You are not really supposed to hurt anyone during this game and that includes yourself. If there is something you cannot do or are uncomfortable doing, that's ok! It is not an all or nothing game.
Do what you can, when you can, everything is intended to be flexible enough that you should be able to it around whatever else you love at the convention for both sides of the game. Also, if it is something you are uncomfortable with - please tell us and we'll both make a note of that for the future of task structuring but also see if we have an equal point value alternative for you to do so you're not inherently at a disadvantage just because of your own boundaries.We give out prizes for both sides of the game and for many different categories.All prizes are handed out on Sunday for the end of Assassins, so be sure to show up for the wrap-up event Sunday afternoon to claim any prizes you have won.If you have any questions during game play come find Bunny or one of her Assassin's Assistants staffing the Assassin’s Guild Headquarters (the table it is ran from.) They will do their best to answer any question you have or fix any dispute about the game.

See you next at:

GameStorm 2026

Special Thanks

Thank you to GameStorm - the convention that we're a limb of - for letting us do this year over year as a way to help people navigate the convention, learn about all the different parts of the convention and maybe some things they never knew about it before, learn or flex some skills they normally might not ever get to use, have some fun, spend their time between other content with us and with each other, and even win some prizes along the way.Thank you to all the groups that currently or have previously supported us through word of mouth, prize support, and being task holders/quest givers/NPCs for our game over the years.Thank you to each and everyone one of you who plays our game and who has shared themselves, their friends, and their families with us over the years.Assassins Guild Master Bunny and all her Assassins guild staff over her years running this have always had a blast doing with together with each of you, and are so grateful we always get to continue to make it better for you all year after year. She's been working on Assassins at GameStorm for 15 years roughly now and it's always been truly a joy from the years we've had 10 players to the years we've had 50+ players.