The possibility of a lawsuit convinced three University of Pennsylvania sophomores to cancel a team "assassin" game they planned in October, one of them said yesterday.

The students "had to fold the game because the University said we might run into legal problems" if any students were injured, said Michael E. Levy, a sophomore at Penn's Wharton School who helped organize the game.

More than 200 students had signed up to participate in the game, in which each student, part of a 20-member team, would have been assigned to "kill" a member of an opposing squad by dousing him with water.

The university initially objected to the game because of the $500 prize the winning team would have received.

"By University by-laws, no one is allowed to make a personal profit," said Levy. "We were charging $5 per entrant and we had a profit of $1200 when we folded."

After the entrance fees were returned to the would-be players, students still wanted to play the game, which has become popular on campuses nationwide, Levy said.

But then Penn's Associate Director of Student Life Francine F. Walker told the organizers they might face legal action should a participant get hurt.

The game had been played on the Penn campus before, but only when organized by members of recognized student groups, who were legally protected by the university, Walker said.

"What if somebody decided to be cute and put something other than water in the gun and squirted it in someone's eye?" she said.