% The code here has been modified so that it will latex without the Template.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{doublespace}    % for setting default linespacing
\setstretch{1.2}
\newcommand\gamename{Blazing Cattle}
\newcommand\Rcontrol{[control room]}

\topmargin       -0.5in
\textheight      +9.0in
\oddsidemargin   0in
\evensidemargin  \oddsidemargin
\textwidth       +6.5in

\setlength{\parindent}{0in}

\begin{document}

\begin{center} \Huge Rules for \gamename \end{center}

\begin{center}
Written and GMed by {\bf Laura Baldwin, Nick Bozard, and Grant Gould} \\
\copyright MIT Assassins' Guild and above GM team
\end{center}

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

{\bf Blazing Cattle} uses the Standard Rules.  If you are not familiar with
Guild standard rules, please {\em read that.}  They're available in
{\tt /mit/jemorris/Rules} and at {\tt http://web.mit.edu/jemorris/Rules}.

You need not read all of the Combat Systems appendix; we use only the
{\em MA/MD/HP} system.

This document covers only material that augments or overrides the
Standard Rules. In particular we override the sections on {\em Ranged
Combat (9.7)}, {\em Weapons (9.8)}, {\em Athena and Phones (13.1)},
and {\em Pickpocketing} (13.2).  Wherever there is a conflict between
these rules and the Standard Rules, this document takes precedence.
We the GMs are the final arbiter of rules, and we reserve the right to
violate their letter to preserve their spirit.

\section*{Character Packet}

{\bf The Box:} Not really part of your character packet, but a box of
folders where the GMs will put things for you and you can leave notes
for the GMs. It's outside \Rcontrol, the control room.

{\bf Badge Numbers:} The first digit of a badge number is the
character's apparent age in decades (``3'' is approximately 30-39),
the second digit is their buffness. Average buffness is 5. (9 is
unheard of and 0 is impressively puny).

{\bf Memory Packets:}  Memory packets come in both sorts (``folded and
stapled'', and ``stuffed into little envelopes''.  Some packets may
instruct you to keep the packet with a particular item, or to give it
to someone else under particular circumstances.  Please try to keep
track of these correctly.  

In addition to the standard things, your character packet contains a
packet of clue cards and may or may not contain disad cards.

{\bf Clue Cards and Clue Items:} These are cards which contain
identifying information and are left at crime scenes to leave clues to
help the authorities figure out who did it, and are not in game until
activated by the Clue Card mechanic (see details below). If you start
getting low on them, leave the GMs a note and we'll put a new set for
you in the Box, to replenish you when you run completely out. 

{\bf Disad Cards:} These are anti-ability cards which tell you about
any psychological or physical limitations you have. You must always
abide by the text on your disad cards, but you should never have to
show them to anyone. The sorts of things you may see in disads are
things like ``Physical Limitation, Terrible Shot: Your first two shots
on a particular target always miss (tell the player you missed if you
hit him),'' or ``Psychological Limitation, Happy: You're always happy,
regardless of what's going on.'' Some of these may be sort of vague;
use your good judgment.

\section*{Game Area and Time}

Game takes place at the following time, and you are expected to be in
game for the majority of this time. There are no scheduled dinner
breaks on Saturday and Sunday; take a dinner break whenever you feel
like it, but don't try to be gone more than about an hour. Game action
may not take place outside of these hours. You may never use email,
zephyr, or phones while in game, not even to set up meetings.

\begin{tabular}{ll}

Friday, April 13&8:00pm-12midnight\\
Saturday, April 14&2:00pm-12midnight\\
Sunday, April 15&2:00pm-9pm, immediately followed by wrap-up\\

\end{tabular}

Players should arrive in 4-270 by 7:45 on Friday, or earlier if you
have questions.

The GMs will be available during game hours and before the start of
each game day to answer questions.  You can also reach the GMs by
sending email to {\tt midwest-gms@mit.edu}.

The first floor and up of main campus (buildings 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 4, 8,
6, and 2) are Cooperstown and the nearby fields.  All other buildings
and all basements are {\bf not} in regular gamespace, and as such you
shouldn't go into them unless directed to, as per the Standard Rules.


\section*{Items}

There are lots of items around, some with attached dime packets. You
shouldn't open these packets unless you know you can or are told to do
so. The exception to this is container items such as crates and
bags. These items also have attached packets, but anyone may open them
unless they're locked (see the section on locks for details).  It
should be clear whether an item is a container or something else;
containers will specify a capacity in dots of bulkiness.

You may happen across beeping items over the course of the game.
These items may be anything from explosives to computers to toys.  If
you hear beeping, immediately call a halt. One person should remember
where he was and attempt to locate the beeping if it is not
obvious. Once the item has been found, the person nearest to the item
should open packet A if he is within double-ZOC, packet B if not. If
there is only one packet attached, he should open that. The contents
of the packet take effect, and game resumes.

\subsection*{Cameras}

There are cameras in game. Anybody is capable of using a camera, but
some people are better at photography than others. 

Using a camera requires having a roll of film paperclipped to the
camera. Rolls of film generally have 10 exposures; the item card will
say if it has a different amount. Unless noted on the items
themselves, any camera can hold any roll of film. 

Cameras aren't nearly as useful as they would be in real life. For
one, you can't take pictures of things you can't see (kludge). That's
right, no whipping your camera around a corner to take a
picture. Also, the actual picture-taking mechanic takes more time than
real photography would take, so while catching people in compromising
positions and taking their pictures is possible, it's not something we
advocate trying to do vast quantities of.

To take a picture:

\begin{enumerate}

\item Hold up the camera (with attached roll of film) like you're
taking a picture, point it at whatever you're taking a picture of,
and say ``click.''

\item The envelope attached to the roll of film has a series of
numbers on it for each of the exposures. Mark off the lowest number.

\item Write a {\em brief} description of the contents of the picture
and place it in the envelope attached to the roll of film. Examples of
good things to write are ``a cow'' or ``Grant and Laura shooting each
other.'' Leave out the details like the pattern of spots on the cow or
the kinds of guns that Laura and Grant had.  If you're in a rush (say,
trying to avoid getting killed) and don't have the time to write the
description that very minute, you have five minutes to get somewhere
safe and write it. If you don't do it by then, you lose the
picture. Eit. Also, when naming people in your pictures, you may use
character names, player names, or badge numbers. It'll get sorted out
in the end.

\end{enumerate}

Nobody may look into the roll of film envelope to see what's
inside. You may, of course, destroy the roll of film and everything
inside. To get actual pictures, you'll have to get your film developed
somehow\ldots{}.


\section*{Starting Fires}

Setting something on fire requires an item card for something such as
kerosene, gasoline, or lighter fluid. One item card is enough for one
cow. If you're trying to set something else on fire, see a GM.

\section*{Locks}

Some doors and containers may be locked. You may not open them unless
you have the key, or you know otherwise.  Which keys open which locks
will be indicated either on the lock (``opened by key 5112'') or the
key (``opens lock 1523''). When you close a lockable item, it returns
to its locked state.

\section*{Colored Dots}
Colored dots indicate pickpocketing, or something similar.  If you
find a colored dot on you, then you realize that you've been scoped
out to be pickpocketed by someone; you can remove the dot (which
indicates that you're moving your stuff around).  If you see someone
placing a sticker, they're bumping into someone.  If you see someone
removing a sticker, they're picking their pocket (or doing something
similar). 

\section*{Places}

There are some game locations with associated greensheets that explain
how to do the mechanic at that location. Please do not take these
greensheets.  You may talk about the mechanics with other players
unless the greensheet says otherwise.

\section*{Go Directly to Jail}

Cooperstown has a well-staffed, albeit small jail.  Anyone may visit
the jail and speak to the inmates, but the metal detector on the door
prevents you from bringing any guns inside. The Sheriff and the Deputy
both have the power to incarcerate and release people. However, to be
able to hold you longer than 24 hours, the authorities must have
sufficient evidence against you. They must present this evidence to
the GMs, who will determine whether or not the person gets released.

If you want someone out of jail quicker than that, you can always
break them out by taking out the guards via martial combat. There is a
greensheet at the jail that explains in greater detail how to do it.

\section*{Hurting People and Getting Hurt}

Whenever you are at zero hitpoints you are unconscious and are usually
not dying. See the section on guns for the exceptions. You can never
go below zero hit points. You also can't go above your max unless
whatever mechanic it is explicitly says you can.

\subsection*{Martial Combat}

We use the MA/MD/HP system as per the Standard Rules.  Melee weapons
affect your MA/MD/M$\Delta$.  All melee weapons have item cards, and
the item card should say how your stats are affected by having that
weapon drawn (not just in your pocket). Some standard melee weapons
and their usual effects are:


\begin{tabular}{|l|l|}\hline
{\bf Melee Weapon}&{\bf Effect}\\\hline
Club&$+1$MA\\
Knife&$+2$MA\\
Cattle Prod&$+3$MA\\
\hline
\end{tabular}

Anyone may use any club-like item as a club, but you must have an item
card for it. (e.g.~Frying pans and beer bottles are okay; pebbles and
mashed potatoes are not).  Use common sense. If you use a breakable
object as a club, destroy the item after you use it once.

\subsection*{Guns, Guns, Guns!}

There are two kinds of guns: pistols and shotguns. Pistols are
physrepped by disc guns, and shotguns are are physrepped by dart
guns. Shotguns are not concealable; please keep them in plain
view. You must have an item card to have a gun. Some gun item cards
may have different names and descriptions (e.g.~``standard pistol''
versus ``shiny silver revolver,'' but the physrep listed on the item
card tells you what sort of gun it is and what damage it does.

Guns always take you down. When shot with one, you immediately drop to
zero HP and fall unconscious. If the gun was a pistol (disc gun), you
wake up in ten minutes and are at 1HP.  If the gun was a shotgun (dart
gun), you bleed to death in ten minutes if not first aided. Additional
shots have no effect.

The other ranged weapons you may encounter are foam pellets, which
represent offensive magic spells (or something that looks like
them). These will almost always have the same effect as a dart gun
(unconscious at 0HP and will bleed to death in ten minutes). At any
rate, they will {\em always} knock you unconscious, so if you're hit
with one, fall unconscious and assume the default effect until the
player specifically tells you otherwise.  Such special cases are
fairly rare, so you shouldn't have to worry about it too much.
Someone with a pellet in their hand looks as menacing as someone with
a gun.

\subsection*{Healing and First Aid}

HP regenerate at a rate of 1HP per hour. Some people may have
abilities or items that heal you more quickly. Only people with first
aid can stop someone from bleeding to death.

\section*{Clues}

As mentioned before, you have a set of clue cards which are left at
the scenes of crimes.  Some of these cards are quite incriminating,
others not. The number of cards left is determined by the type of
crime.

\begin{itemize}

\item {\bf Really Major Crimes:} The only really major crime is
murder. When you kill someone, leave 2 clue cards at the scene.

\item {\bf Major Crimes:} Major crimes include knocking someone
unconsciousness and property damage. If you do any of these, or
anything you think falls into this category, leave 1 clue card at the
scene.

\end{itemize}

You only should leave a number of clue cards equal to the worst crime
at the scene. Thus, if Nick knocked out the guards and Jerry killed the
inmates, Nick should leave clues for a major crime, and Jerry should
leave clues for a really major crime.

To decide which clue cards to leave behind, shuffle the cards, draw
the appropriate number at random, and those are the ones you're stuck
with. You have no choice as to which particular clues you leave at a
particular scene. However, don't leave the clues just yet\ldots{}.

Clues may or may not be items. Some of your clue cards say things like
``K42,'' while others say ``one clue item.'' After selecting your clue
cards, replace any that say ``one clue item'' with a random item card
from your ``clue items'' packet, destroy the clue card, and leave that
item card. These items are not in game until they are left at a scene
by this mechanic. If you need to leave one of these items and don't
have one, leave a non-item clue instead. If you don't have enough clue
cards, leave as many as you can and see a GM to get more. You should
completely use up one packet of clues before moving on to another. If
you're in a rush because people are about to come around the corner
and find you hovering over the dead body, just drop some clues without
thinking. If you're in such a rush that you don't have time to drop
any, get a GM or ghost to take some to the scene after the fact. We
don't want you to get eited for being around the scene doing this
mechanic.

Note that if multiple people are participating in a crime, {\em
everyone} leaves the requisite number of clue cards. So if Laura
recruits Grant to help her kill Nick, four cards total get left
jumbled together at the scene instead of the two that Laura alone
would have left.

Items left at a scene may be picked up by characters; non-item clues
may not be taken unless you have an ability that lets you do so.
However, nobody involved with a particular scene may pick up items
dropped there. (In the above example, Grant and Laura may not pick up
any of the clue dropped there). Though if you're wandering with people
and later pass things you dropped, you don't have to pretend that you
can't see the clues.  Don't use this ability to clean up after
yourself.  If you move a body around, keep the associated clue cards
with it. 


\section*{Headbands}

Headbands indicate non-human appearances. Colors and their meanings
are as follows:

\begin{tabular}{|l|l|}\hline

{\bf Color}&{\bf Meaning}\\\hline
Yellow&Dog\\
Black&Cow\\
Red&Cow on Fire\\
Green&Something Terrible. Ask.\\
White&Observer/Ghost\\
\hline
\end{tabular}


\end{document}


