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1999 #1848
Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2000 10:30:21 -0500
From: Walter Smith
Subject: re: Imperial Murder Rate
Leonard Erickson wrote:
>Check Sheckley's book(s) "The Victim" (= 7th, 12th, something
>like that). There are apparently two versions (with different numbers
>as well as a movie.
>
>The basic idea as far as "murder" is concerned is someplace where it's
>*legal* for a group of people to hold a "game" that involves trying to
>kill each other.
This book/movie was one of the inspirational materials for Steve Jackson Games' live-action RPG Killer.
A good bit from the book, IIRC: A hunter tries to run down a target in a car. She runs across the street and opens fire, killing the hunter. A nearby police officer comes up and checks their game documents, declares it a legal murder, then writes her a ticket for jaywalking. "But he was trying to kill me!", she protests. "Well, had he succeeded, I'd be writing him a ticket for reckless driving."
ObTrav: A society can have one or more "wrong" things be legal, and still have a very high law level. The once-over by the IISS might not see this, though - the place might be a police state, the Scout doing the survey might just see the armed populace shooting each other with some frequency and call it law level 0. It so happens that 80% of the population is Military, Police, or "Noble Citizen" status, and they have an unusual code duello.
Walt Smith
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#1848
Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2000 07:58:05 -0800
From: "Wayne Ewart"
Subject: Rules of the Hunt
> Check Sheckley's book(s) "The Victim" (= 7th, 12th, something
> like that). There are apparently two versions (with different numbers
> as well as a movie.
That would be the series "The 10th Victim", "Victim Prime", and "Hunter Victim".
Inside the cover of the book you find:
The Rules of the Hunt
- The Hunt is open to anyone 18 years of age or older, regardless of race, religion, or sex.
- Once you join, you're in for all Hunts, five as Victim, five as Hunter.
- Hunters receive the name, address, and photograph of their victim.
- Victims are only notified that a Hunter is after them.
- All kills must be performed in person, ie., by the Hunter or Victim him/herself, no proxies.
- There are severe penalties for killing the wrong person.
- A Tens winner is awarded almost unlimited civil, financial, political, and sexual rights.
- (I added this rule for MTU) The Hunter/Victim can only leave the world as a Tens winner or in a bag.
ObTrav: I've used this in one of my early CT games as follows:
The PC's land on a world (In MTU any of the Sword Worlds) were the Hunt is THE sport to watch/play and (as per "the 10th Victim") the Hunt can happen anywhere on the world. They interrupt a Hunter/Victim match (we all know that PCs think anyone with a gun is after them) and kill the Hunter/Victim or both. After a short trial, each of the PC's are forced to enter the Hunt as Victims for all ten matches. WEG
Wayne
wewart@home.com
icq22113294
http://www.members.home.net/wewart/wewart/traveller/
Give a man fire and he is warm for the night.
Set a man on fire and he is warm all his life.
- - Terry Pratchett