Medic

From Ludocity
Medic
Green Cross.png
Designer: Nick Howard
Year: unknown
Players: 10+
Stuff required: Nerf guns or similar for all players. A pack of cards. A clearly visible badge for the medics to wear, such as a vest, or even a sheet of paper stuck to the back of a tshirt.
Crew required: 1+ to explain the rules and to distribute items.

1 Surgeon-General to moderate the game.

Preparation: Making the organ and rule cards.
Time required: 10 minutes to explain rules and distribute items. 5 minutes to stagger player dispersal. 30 minutes+ to play game
Place required: Park – location should be large enough to make strategy possible.
Activities: Running, chasing, shooting.
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This is an untested game. Its rules are written, but it hasn't been tested out yet.
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This game is made available under an Attribution-Noncommercial Creative Commons licence. (What does this mean?)

A ridiculous game of guerilla surgery.

Preparation

A pack of cards should be doctored to become organ cards - this can be as simple as writing 'heart', 'lung', 'liver' etc on the cards with a marker pen. It's a good idea also to hand out a copy of the rules for players to check, but these should also be explained before the game begins - they are hopefully clear enough to avoid too many disputes. Just in case, a crew member should be cast as the Surgeon-General, to moderate the game.

Playing Instructions

It's a hard time to be a freelance surgeon, and you've been forced to become a bit more proactive in finding patients. You might say that you're running out of patience because you're running out of patients.

At the beginning of the game you receive a nerf gun (or similar), two organ cards, and a t-shirt or similarly clear indicator that you are a medic. You must fight to be the last surgeon standing with all your organs intact.

To take an organ card from another player, first shoot them. This might be difficult, as everyone is trying to do the same to you, so watch out. When a player is shot, they must kneel down to show that they are injured, during which time they cannot be fired upon again. The player who fired upon them then 'performs surgery' by taking one of their organ cards. The downed player is then allowed to stand up and move away. When a player loses all their cards, they are out of the game and must remove their medic badge/marker.

The last player standing, who will be holding all the organ cards, is the winner.

Rules

  • Players can only remove their medic badge/marker once they have run out of organs and are effectively out of the game.
  • A kneeling player cannot be fired upon.
  • A player performing surgery can be fired upon, at which point his patient is free to go without losing a card.
  • A player cannot fire upon their last patient or surgeon.
  • Fallen darts should be picked up by the person who fired them.

Endgame

As in normal play there will eventually be only two players left, neither of whom can fire upon each other (last patient/surgeon rule), the game moves into the 'Medical Emergency' stage when only two players remain. This can be announced by the players who have previously been knocked out of the game, who will be able to tell how many players are still operating. In this stage, any operation removes all of a player's organ cards.

At the organiser's discretion, this stage can be brought forward to three, four or more players remaining, depending upon the size of the group.

Use of the Red Cross

It's tempting to use the Red Cross to distinguish between the players. However, that's forbidden under the Geneva Conventions, so a green cross or similar alternative is recommended instead.[1]