It's a situation I'm sure everyone here is familiar with. You've got your buddies over to play some Reach, but someone is getting left out. Maybe you've got a girlfriend who has to go do her own thing while you and your friends are playing. Maybe you've got a kid brother who wants to play too, but he isn't very good. What do you do? You don't want to be mean and tell them that they can't play, but if they join in, they're just going to get stomped and not have very much fun, and you're going to feel guilty for killing them. This gametype is the solution: Catherinenaut Named for the original holder of the role, Catherinenaut is an FFA Slayer gametype that shakes up normal Slayer play, allows unskilled players to have a notable impact on the game, and creates a frenetic, unpredictable atmosphere that is fun for all skill levels. For those new to Halo and other FPSes, it can also serve as a good tutorial for general Halo and FPS skills while still being entertaining. So how does it work? Well, it essentially divides the game into two types of players, the Spartans and the Elites, which need to be set up using the "Preferred Species" option. The best ratio is 3-4 Spartans for every Elite. The Spartans are the skilled players, and they have their usual loadouts and run around playing Slayer like normal. The Elites, the new players, are the Catherinenauts, who spawn with more powerful weapons and have a few honor rules attached to them. Rules: 1. Catherinenauts are not invulnerable, but Spartans may not kill them. If a Spartan does kill a Catherinenaut, he must announce it and then go kill himself to erase the point. (Preferably in the most spectacular method possible.) 2. If a Catherinenaut dies, Spartans may not pick up her weapons. 3. If a Spartan ends the game by killing a Catherinenaut, then the Catherinenaut wins regardless of the scores. The Catherinenauts have five loadouts that they can choose depending on their relative skill: The Sprint and Jet Pack loadouts are for players completely new to the game. They spawn with a hammer and a golf club, along with their name's AA. Next, the Gladiator and Air Assault loadouts are for players who are getting bored with hammers (or are getting too destructive to the Spartans). They spawn with sprint and jet pack, respectively, along with a Plasma Rifle and a Sniper Rifle. The Plasma Rifle allows them to learn the Halo staple of shoot->melee, since it rips through shields but does little damage to health. The snipe allows them to get better at precision aiming. Finally, the Sharpshooter loadout is identical to the Gladiator, but spawns with a DMR instead of a sniper rifle. So what does this result in? Well, for the Spartans, it means that their Slayer game is completely shaken up. For starters, you can't trust your radar fully anymore, since that red dot around the corner that you plan to shotgun might be a Catherinenaut. More importantly, though, it adds a sense of panic to the game at times, since your DMR fight with another Spartan might suddenly be interrupted by an Elite rampaging towards you with a hammer. But since the Catherinenauts aren't very good, it's still possible to get away, and instead of that situation being "welp, I'm dead, this sucks," it turns into, "okay, if I go here I can lose her... OH **** OH **** SHE'S STILL ON MY TAIL, RUN!" I can guarantee that any Catherinenaut game will be filled with panicked shouting, and let's face it, that makes for the best games. In addition, the Catherinenauts' presence also adds some interesting tactics to the Spartans' arsenal. Since killing them is illegal, a Spartan can use a Catherinenaut as a human shield of sorts against an opponent with rockets. Or a Spartan being chased by a Catherinenaut can try to "pass her off" to a nearby player by getting her to focus her attention on the new guy. Meanwhile, the Catherinenauts get to have fun by hammering and punching the crap out of everyone else, while learning the controls and FPS movement basics in the process. So the next time you've got some buddies over, call your girlfriend over too, load up this gametype, and have her join in. I guarantee it'll be fun for everyone. And if nothing else, it means your girlfriend's playing video games. Let's be honest, that's what all of us really want in the end, isn't it?