House Rules
House Rules are variations on the basic rules of elimination designed to make the game more or less challenging, or to fit it to the needs and talents of your specific group. There are several standard variations. Feel free to develop your own.
Alternate Weapon Sets
The choice of weapon is normally left to the players, usually consisting of a main weapon, favoring their particular style of play (Crossbow for Snipers, RotoTrack or Chainblazer for the Heavy Weapons fan) and a backup sidearm (almost always a Sharpshooter or Lock and Load). What would happen if this element of choice were taken away, or otherwise drastically altered? The game would take on a whole new feel. That is what alternate weapon sets are all about. Perhaps limiting players to "approved" guns, or even only a single gun is your thing, or mandating that every player be randomly assigned a gun to use. When you start to impliment this, player skill becomes that much more important.
Modded Weapons Allowed
With this variation, players are allowed to modify and customize their weapons in order to increase the power or accuracy. Common mods include stretching the spring, hot gluing parts to seal them, or removing extranious pieces. More information can be found on the Mods page.
For the truly adventureous, weapons created from scratch may be allowed. My sword, Joyeuse, is such a weapon. Again, more information can be found on the mods page.
Non-NERF Weapons
This variation seemingly has minimal impact, however allowing non-Nerf weapons into play can give a skilled player a fantastic advantage. There are not a lot of quality "off brand" weapons worth looking at, but the ones that are make for fearsome competition. The two most notible are the LightStorm series (by TrendMasters) and the AirZooka.
The AirZooka is exactly what it sounds like. Comprised of a long tube and powered by air pressurized by pumping, I have seen the AirZooka fire it's football sized missle (no joke) well over 150 feet. While a bit more effective for taking out fortifications in a full on Nerf war, an accomplished sharpshooting Assassin can put this monster to good use, especially from an elevated firing point.
The LaserStorm LS 1,2, and 3 each have their own uses, but all have the distinction of being among the most powerful and accurate guns I have ever used. They excell further in that they hold an air charge well, are extremely light, fire fast, and (if you order one from the company) they all will take up to a 50 shot clip. You read that right. 50. They don't fire the foam darts, but little plastic rubber tipped darts, and the advantage of having 49 more shots then your opponent without having to reload is almost unfair....almost.
The LS1, at least in Non Nerf games, quickly replaced even my modded Lock and Load as my prefered sidearm. It is accurate, less then a pound, eazy to handle, fires fast (can empty it's 5 shot clip in about 2.5 seconds or the 50 shot clip in easily less then 10), and the clip can be easily ejected one handed with the flick of a wrist and replaced quickly. And all of this without any modification. For a 6 dollar gun that looks remarkably like a SOCOM (bonus points for Metal Gear fans) and is a monster out of the box.
Continuing in the Metal Gear vein, the FAMAS looking LS2 holds a 10 shot clip, and is only slightly bigger then the LS1 but sacrifices some of it's power and accuracy. More of a 2-handed weapon then the LS1, with a 50 shot clip this thing is easily a contender for the choice weapon for troopers or more Rambo-esque Assassins.
The LS3 is, for lack of a better description, a God among weapons. The rate at which it burns through its 25 or the 50 shot clip makes it as fast as the RotoTrack or Chainblazer without the pesky jamming, and a practiced gunner can acheive Lock and Load accuracy with it and not have to worry about reloading every shot. This is the dream gun of Heavy Weapons Specialists either as a backup weapon or even as a mainstay. While Heavy Weapons ambushes are harder to execute in the Assassin environment, if properly set up a 50 dart barrage means certain death for any target.
Angel Of Death
This rule is a good contingency plan if you have slow, stubborn players, or those who prefer to hide rather then face the enemy. The Angel of Death is a player who is exactly that: someone with some skill who has already been eliminated or someone predetermined (last game's winner perhaps) who is essentailly an unkillible Assassin. Unleashed at a certain time, either after a certain amount of time or when a certain number of players are out, or if you are really malicious, from the start, the Angel of Death hunts players indescriminantly, killing at will. Shooting the Angel has no effect and the only way to escape is to make it to a safe zone. This element is guarenteed to cull the player population substantially. Note that a witness is still required.
At the discression of the Judges, more conditions may be applied to the Angel to either limit or further empower him or her. For example, the Angel may be limited to using a certain weapon or perhaps a sword, or may be granted the abaility to ignore certain safe zones.
Melee Weapons
Melee weapons can add a whole new level of strategy to Assassin. Speaking from experiance, my Joyeuse proved to be a winning advantage against many opponents, both targets and Assassins. The principal is simple. Most Nerf weapons hold only a few darts, some as many as 25 or so, but most only 1 or 2, and Nerf weapons aren't exactly known for ease of loading, and in the time it takes an opponent to make a shot, reload, recock, and get off another shot, assuming he or she even has ammo, you can easily close to striking distance with your weapon and finish of the opponent. Sometimes judges require multiple blows to be landed for it to count as a kill, sometimes not, it is up to you. The point is, however, that you will be a lot more cautious about taking shots if you know that the moment you run out you are going to be hacked to bits.