When you're organizing senior assassin, you'll find dozens of Google Site rulebooks with PDFs attached. They look official. They are also frustrating to use. Half your players never download them, the other half can't read a tiny PDF on a phone, and the moment you need to change a rule, you're re-emailing a new version to everyone and hoping they delete the old one.

Why PDFs fail as a rulebook for a phone-based game

Senior assassin happens on phones. Players check the board on phones. They text targets on phones. They argue about elimination rules over text. But PDFs were designed for paper. On a phone screen, a PDF is either unreadably small or requires constant zooming and panning. You can't search it easily. You can't link to a specific section. You can't update it without remaking the file and hoping everyone opens the new version instead of the old one.

The core problem: your players will not read a PDF. They'll skim it, miss a rule, and argue about it three weeks in. Then you'll send a new PDF. Then someone will read the old one and argue about a different rule. This cycle burns everybody's time and makes you look disorganized.

What a rulebook actually needs to do

A rulebook is a reference tool, not a novel. Players need to check one thing, like 'Do safe zones count on weekends?', and get the answer in five seconds. They need to share rules with a new player without downloading anything. Organizers need to fix typos, clarify ambiguous rules, and add emergency tweaks without resending files to everyone.

The best format is something every player already has: a link. Put your rules on a web page. It's readable on phones. It's searchable. It updates instantly. You don't need a server or technical skills. Most schools have a Google Site or a free hosting option already. Your players can bookmark it, share it over text, and it always reflects the current rules.

• Readable on every device without downloading
• Searchable, players find their answer in 10 seconds
• Updates instantly when you change a rule
• Shareable by link without file attachments
• Printable if you want a paper backup

The printable format that works online and on paper

If you insist on a printable version, you don't need a PDF. Use a simple web page with clean CSS. It prints to PDF automatically and reads perfectly on phones. Most importantly, you control it. The same link works both ways. Print it on day one. Change a rule on day forty. The printed copy is instantly outdated, but the link is live.

Structure your page with clear headings, short paragraphs, and lots of white space. Use a readable sans-serif font (or whatever your school's site uses). Avoid columns and sidebars, they break on mobile. If you want a table of contents, make it clickable links that jump to sections. Test it on your phone first. If you have to zoom to read it, it's not ready.

How to set up your rules in a shareable format

Start with our rules template. Fill in the blanks for your game: when it starts, when safe zones are active, what counts as an elimination, how fast new players can join, whether there's a purge day. Publish it. You get a short shareable link your players can text to friends or post in the class group chat.

If you don't want to use our tool, copy the same approach on your school's Google Site or any free web host. Write your rules in a simple document. Format it for readability. Publish it to a link everyone can see. Done. This takes fifteen minutes and will save you hours of clarification texts.

• Use a web-based tool or Google Site to host your rules
• Fill in the specific rules for your game
• Publish to a single, stable link
• Share the link everywhere: class group chat, school email, social media

The rules students actually care about

Don't write a rulebook that covers everything. Write one that covers the arguments. Every school's game differs slightly. The core disputes are always the same: Are safe zones active all day or just certain hours? Can you hide in a car? What if the target is asleep? Does the game continue over spring break? How fast do new players join? When does it end?

These six questions matter. Most other details don't. Write clear answers to these six, then add one more section for special rules you added. You're done. Anything longer and your players won't read it, and you'll be explaining the rules by text anyway.

You'll also want to link to the specific rules your players keep misunderstanding. Are you unclear about what counts as an elimination? Spell it out with exact wording. Worried about safe zones? List them by name and context. These detailed guides can live separately from your core rulebook. Your rules template is the quick reference, not the encyclopedia.

What to change mid-season and what to leave alone

You will find rule ambiguities after the game starts. A safe zone wasn't specific enough. An elimination happened that nobody predicted. A new situation came up. Fix it immediately and update your rules page. Tell the players the rule changed. That's normal. It's better to fix it at day five than let a bad rule fester for weeks.

Do not change the rules that affect competitive outcome. If you said safe zones are active 24/7, don't suddenly make them 6am-10pm on day thirty because a player complained. You'll destroy trust in the rulebook and in you as an organizer. If a rule is broken, fix it fast and tell everyone. If a rule is just inconvenient for someone, leave it alone.

When a printed backup actually helps

Print your rules on day one and post them on the school bulletin board, or have a paper copy available in the library or at the organizer's house. This solves one real problem: a player whose phone died or who doesn't have internet access can still read the rules. It also makes your game feel official to parents and teachers. A printed set of rules looks like you're running this seriously.

But the printed copy is not your master. Your website is. Print it once, then leave it. Update the website every time a rule changes. Your players will check the link, and the link will be right. The printed version will be outdated, and that's fine. It's a backup, not the source of truth.

• Print rules once at the start of the season for players without internet access
• Post the printed copy somewhere public: bulletin board, library, or organizer's house
• Keep the web version as your master copy
• Update the website every time a rule changes, not the printed copy

One tool that replaces the PDF hassle entirely

If you want to skip all of this and have a rules page built for senior assassin, we run one at seniorsassassins.com. Fill in your game's rules, publish it, and you get a shareable link. It's free, no signup, and it updates instantly when you change a rule. Your players can bookmark it, share it, print it, or check it on their phone.

The target chain generator is the same idea: upload your player list once, and it builds the secret elimination chain. No more copying names into a spreadsheet and worrying you'll fat-finger an email address. The game organizer knows the chain, the players only see their own target. Everything is encrypted, nothing is tracked. It's the anti-GPS-app version of how senior assassin should work.