You are thrown into the maze with only your gun and your armor between you and death. Between you and immense fortune lies only the other competitors, and their guns and armor. You must navigate the maze, exterminating Targets, the hapless unarmed white-collar criminals who are good for extra points, on your way to tracking down the other hunters. The goal is simple: if you are the last competitor alive, you win. If you have the most points when time runs out, you win. If you die, you lose.

The game uses a streamlined version of the combat rules for Battlelords of the 23rd Century. I have eliminated a number of combat factors and rules from Battlelords in order to speed up play slightly. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding this game, please email me (brotherbock@byov.com).

I have left out many specifics, such as exact bonuses from high attributes and weapon to-hit numbers, simply because that's a whole lot of crap to type up here, and too much would make this game too complicated. These bonuses and stats WILL be in play, but I will take care of all that.

NOTE: Do not complain about a rule simply because it was a factor in your death. Would you approve of the rule if someone else had have died? If you'd still object, then feel free to comment.

The GM reserves the right to inflict various nastiness on the players, such as announcing the point leader's position if things are getting boring, or if one character has survived too many games.

I suggest printing the map out, to make it easier to keep track of the game. If it does not fit on one page, change the margins to (Top: 0.75" Bottom :0.5" Left and Right: 1"), and change the font to Times or Times New Roman, at 28 point. Cell width (Under the Table menu) should be 0.48, with 0.15 space between columns.

I will allow players to play non-humans. However, you must pay some of your starting points to purchase another race. This is because most other races are physically superior to humans, and therefore are at an advantage. The advantage to playing a human? More points for bigger guns and the skills to use them.

Note that the Python races are abnormally expensive. This is because their greatest detriment, a profound lack of intelligence, is not a factor in this game.

All judgments by the game master are final. Do NOT whine. If you sincerely feel that something is amiss (i.e. I told you that you were killed by a grenade in square E4, and last round you had moved to G7), by all means let me know. But do not email me to say that you "should have been able to dodge that laser."

Movement is accomplished by moving from one whole square into another whole square. You may not be in two squares at once, nor may you be on the line between two squares. Diagonal movement IS NOT possible. Only one player may occupy any square at any time. Jumping walls IS NOT possible, although items may be thrown over walls. Other players are not "items." You may move your full movement, then perform an action, or perform an action, then move your full movement. You may NOT move half, shoot, move half, or move two fifths, take a grumpy, then move three fifths, or any other nonsense.

The game master will roll initiative for each player every round, and will move players according to their wishes in the initiative order.

Every round, the point total for all characters will be posted on the web AND given to every player, along with a summary of actions. Location will not be given out publicly.

Each player will also receive a private email, detailing their actions performed that round, and any other data that might immediately affect them. This is to insure that I did not overlook any specified actions, or to explain why certain actions were not possible or occurred differently than what was expected.

All players will then have 24 hours to respond with their next action. Failure to respond will result in a forfeit of your action, although existing parameters (see below) will continue to operate. If all players respond before the deadline, we may be able to get that round over with sooner, in which case I will send the next update out as soon as is possible (do not expect more than one round a day, however).

Weekends will be "commercial breaks," as most people (including me) either don't have time for this kind of nonsense over the weekend, or are away from email. All players will therefore have 72 hours (until the following Monday) to respond to any updates sent on a Friday.

In the interest of speed, I will not include or explain most combat modifiers to the players, such as any negatives involved for shooting at someone who is halfway behind a wall. Instead, I will, if it is not apparent, and it is possible to do so, classify every possible action as Easy, Fair, Normal, Difficult, or Hard, to denote possible modifiers that may apply.

As this is play-by-email, constant interaction with the GM is not realistic. Therefore, there are a number of parameters available for you to use. Parameters are "modes of operation" that can be used by the GM to help define your actions.

EXAMPLE: While moving from E4 to D4, you round the corner to find Targ standing in square D4. As two players cannot occupy the same square, your movement stops at D5. You are now directly in front of Targ, who hacks you into little bitty pieces.

Had you been under the "Stop When Spot Enemy" parameter, your movement would have halted at D6, when Targ first became visible to you. As he has a sword, and cannot hit you from two squares away, you are safe (for the moment). Had you been operating under the "Shoot on Sight" parameter as well, you could light up Targ like a briefcase Christmas tree (and hope you kill him before his initiative).

• Fire if Fired on:s You will automatically return fire if attacked (if you have not performed an action previously in the round).
• Run if Fired on: You will flee if attacked (if you have not moved previously in the round). You will flee in the direction of your intended travel, for the distance you indicated in your email. If this is not possible, you will flee in the opposite direction from your attacker.
• Shoot on Sight: Operating under this parameter means that you will automatically attack the first enemy you see in any given round. If two enemies become visible, the default target is the nearest enemy. Note that if you have performed an action previously in the round, this parameter defaults to Stop When Spot Enemy.
• Stop When Spot Enemy: You stop all movement at the first sight of an enemy. You do not necessarily shoot at the target.

NOTE: This is not as stupid as it sounds. If you spot Targ, and shoot him immediately, his Fire if Fire on parameter may kick in. If you just stop, his action may move him out of the area (unless he's under Shoot on Sight).

• Don't Shoot Anything: For those of you who prefer a more contemplative life, this parameter will ensure that you do not attack anything at all unless specifically stated in your email.
• Exclude Targets: Targets are excluded from affecting any parameters you are operating under, i.e. they will not trigger your Shoot on Sight or Stop When Spot Enemy. However, if your stated action does not include firing on the Targets (as you did not know he was around the corner), you will not fire on him this round.
• Kill Target With Hand Weapon: If you are carrying a hand weapon (as in a dagger or sword) it is probably better to use it to kill the Targets (the white collar criminals), instead of shooting them. This way, the shot doesn't attract attention to you, and you don't have to waste ammunition on the Targets.

It is entirely possible to be operating under more than one parameter, such as Fire if Fired on and Stop When Spot Enemy (allowing you to let the enemy go if he wishes, but letting you return fire if he doesn't). Obvious contradictions are not allowed (Shoot on Sight and Don't Shoot Anything).

If you come up with a plausible addition to the list of parameters, it will become available to all players.

Note that parameters are included to speed up playability and provide for a more realistic game; they will, however, take away some control over your character, namely the specifics of your actions. You tell me that you want to shoot the first target you see. If you see an unarmed Targets shortly before you see Phil the Phentari, you will have already shot the Target, and Phil will have lucked out. It's up to you whether you wish to use parameters or not. They are not mandatory for anyone.

All weapons listed will be given a range in map squares. Most should more than cover the board, but some will not (Flamethrowers, for example). Hand Weapons may only be used on an enemy in an adjoining square, diagonals included. The exception to this rule is the Eridani, who may attack from two squares away.

There is a limit of three weapons that any character may carry into the maze. Five grenades count as one weapon, as do two daggers.

Unless otherwise stated in the weapon description (see Flamethrowers), a player is considered to have unlimited ammo for all weapons (NOT grenades). You will, however, have to reload when your gun runs out of ammo (capacity listed under Ammo in the weapon tables). Reloading may be done either in place of moving, or in place of an action. For example, you may stay where you are, reload, then shoot, or move away and reload the weapon. You may want to keep track of your own ammo so you can plan ahead. I will keep track of ammo as well, but I will not warn you when you are about to run out.

For you gun-mongers who go around toting a personal arsenal, this entry on your character sheet lets me know which weapon you will use to attack, if none is stated in your email. If no weapon is stated, and you have no preferred weapon listed, I will choose a weapon from your list alphabetically (no shit).

Furthermore, there is a blank for Preferred Hand Weapon. Filling in this blank with the name of a hand weapon means that you will automatically use this weapon if a target is in an adjoining square (or two squares away for Eridani). In other words, you will shoot Targ if he is three squares away, but you will knife him if he is next to you. DO NOT fill in this blank if you do not want to automatically use a hand weapon in close quarters.

NOTE: A -20% penalty will be applied when firing ANY NON-PISTOL at a target in an adjacent square.

The Preferred Grenade blank is treated as the Preferred Weapon blank.

All contestants are fitted with neural collars, which allow the game referees complete control over the participants' nervous systems. Whenever a hunter (not a Target) is killed, all contestants are frozen, while a clean up crew removes the body. All weaponry is taken as well. Therefore, no looting of dead bodies is possible. However, there may be times that a contestant drops a weapon (arm gets chopped off, whatever). If this is the case, the weapon may be picked up by anyone.

No matter what square you occupy, you have 360 degrees of vision. For instance, if you are in F7, you are able to see to D5, H5, and E8, all at the same time. This rule assumes that you are moving your field of vision. You can specify that you are looking one particular direction. For instance, from D7 you can specify that you are looking down the hall to D15. This will give you a bonus should any targets appear in that field of vision. This doen NOT mean that you cannot see to your right, into A7, it just means that your attention is elsewhere. You will suffer a negative to attack in a direction you are not looking, and anybody sneaking up on you from that direction will find it easier to surprise you. However, anyone sneaking into an area you are looking at will be in defecation mode (say goodnight, Gracie).

Successfully sneaking up on someone can be devastating. You get your attack, which is one level easier for difficulty, and they do not get to return fire, even if operating under an appropriate parameter. Watch your back, soldier.

The maze also contains a random number of mined squares throughout the Arena. The function is simple: the first person to step on that square sets the mine off.

The mine will be set off only if a player moves specifically to that square, or if travel over that square is inevitable. For instance, Targ moves from H3 to E4, and a mine is located in G4. It is not set off, as he may have rounded the corner by way of H5, not G4. However, he does set of the mine in E5, as he necessarily traveled over that square.

The winner of each game, and any surviving players if the game ran to the time limit, receive a cash prize equal to the points they scored during the game. (Cash is spent exactly as points are for weapons and armor).

Winnings can be used to buy equipment, skill levels, and even higher attributes, for the next game.

Players gather points by shooting other players, and the hapless Targets running around the Arena (white collar criminals who are given the chance to enter the Arena...if they survive, they're set free).

• Finish off another player: +50
• Dying a Noble Death: +20 (Willed to player's next character. All noble deaths are judged to be so by the GM.)
• Still breathing when time runs out: +20
• Executing a Target: +10
• Extremely brutal or merciless action: +10
• Witty statement: +10 (Must be in conjunction with an action, and will be announced to all players. Judged witty or not by the GM)
• Blatant disregard for personal safety: +10
• Inflicting a head wound: +10 (must do body point damage)
• Issuing a challenge which includes your location: +5 per player challenged.
• Misc. Macho Action: +5
• Successful hand attack: +5
• Inflicting a chest wound: +5
• Successful use of grenades: +5 per target
• Successfully shooting a player: +2 per shot
• Bad Cliché: +1 (see witty statement above)
• Excessive caution: -3
• Misc. Cowardly Action: -5