Deadland Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction and Purpose of the Game
• Components
• Town Boards
• Survivor Markers
• Virus Cards
• Event Cards
• Game Set Up
• Turn Sequence
  • Daily Infection Trial
  • Movement
  • Using / Exchanging Objects
  • Event
  • Discarding Excess Objects/Tokens
• Life as a Zombie
• End of the Game
  • The Game Can End in Two Ways
• Effects Due to the Infection Level
• Event Card Types
• Objects, Event Symbols and Effects
• Zombie Attacks
• Role Cards

Introduction and Purpose of the Game

You are among the few survivors of the town of Dearland, which has recently been struck by a devastating epidemic which has turned almost all the inhabitants into terrifying zombies. Your goal is to stay alive until the repeated attempts to call for help via radio are finally successful. Unfortunately, surviving will not be easy, and it is unlikely that everyone will be successful: some of you could fall victim to the infection and be incurably zombified, becoming one of the living dead. In this case your goal will change, and to win you will have to attempt to turn all the other survivors into zombies.

Components

• 6 Town Boards
• 116 Event Cards
• 6 Survivor Markers (with bases)
• 6 Zombie Markers (with bases)
• 8 Role Cards
• 70 Virus Cards
• 25 Munitions Tokens
• 25 Rations Tokens
• 25 Resistance Tokens
• 6 Player Support Cards (3 per type)
• 1 Radio Contact Marker
• 1 Survival Manual (these rules)

Town Boards

The six Town Boards represent the areas which the town of Dearland is divided into. The coloured side is for when the town is still in possession of resources useful to the survivors, while the reverse, in black and white, is used when that location now no longer has any Event cards (it has thus been completely overrun by zombies).

At the beginning of the game, position them as shown in figure 1.0 (Setup), with the coloured side facing up.

The Base board, where you must place the survivors at the beginning of the game, also has a Radio Contacts counter.

The Radio Contacts token is initially located on the first square of the counter (see figure 1.0).

Each time a Radio Contact card is drawn from the Virus deck, the Radio Contact marker must be moved forward one square.

Survivor Markers

Each player begins the game by choosing one of these markers and positioning the corresponding character on one of the bases; if the character should become a zombie, the marker on the base must be replaced with the corresponding zombie version of that character (just refer to the colour).

Virus Cards

The Virus Cards represent the infection levels of the epidemic. Each card has the following information:

Infection Level: this is a number between 1 and 8, which indicates the current level of infection of the character with that card at the top of their infection deck (further information provided later in the manual). The maximum level is 8: if a character reaches this level, they will immediately turn into a zombie.

Effects: these symbols indicate the consequences of adding this card to your infection deck. They are given in vertical order on the left-hand side of the card.

Impediments: these are bloodstained symbols. They indicate the objects which you are not able to use when this card is at the top of your infection deck. Only the impediments listed on the card at the top of the deck should be referred to. When the top card is an Illness card, no impediment will be present.

Every player keeps an Infection deck in front of them, made up of Virus cards with a progressively increasing infection level, placed one on top of the next so that only the one with the highest number is visible.

The Virus deck also includes four Illness cards. An Illness card counts as a negative joker, that is a Virus card whose infection level can be any number with the exception of 8 when it has to be added to an Infection deck. In any case, you can never have more than two Illness cards in your Infection deck: if you should draw a third, you can discard it without further consequences.

The Virus deck also includes two Radio Contact cards. Each time one of these cards is drawn, the end of the game gets nearer, as explained further ahead.

When the second Radio Contact card is drawn, reshuffle the discarded Virus Cards into the remaining deck to create a new Virus deck.

Event Cards

These cards depict useful objects, or a group of zombies ready to attack. There are five categories of Event card, which can be distinguished by the symbol on the reverse:

• Base (20 cards)
• General Store (20 cards)
• Hospital (20 cards)
• Police Station (20 cards)
• Roads (36 cards)

Game Set Up

1. Place the six Town Boards at the centre of the table, as shown in figure 1.0.
2. Shuffle the various decks of Event Cards separately, and place each deck on the relative space on the corresponding board.
3. The Road Event Cards must be shuffled together, then divided into two decks of 18 cards each, which must be placed on one of the Roads Boards.
4. Shuffle the Virus Cards and place the deck face down in the centre of the table, leaving space for discards.
5. Shuffle the Role Cards and place the deck face down near the game box.
6. Each player chooses a Survivor marker and places it on the Base board. Return any unused Survivor markers to the box.

Turn Sequence

"Svolgimento" is the Italian heading printed in the source over this section (the original sheet is bilingual); its English meaning is "procedure".

Each player takes turns, starting with the most "combative" player and proceeding clockwise, until one of the end of game conditions is satisfied (see End of the Game later in these instructions).

Player turns are divided into the following phases:

1. Daily Infection Trial
2. Movement
3. Using/Exchanging objects
4. Event
5. Discarding excess objects/tokens

During the game, you will keep a deck of Virus cards in front of you (figure 2.0). The card at the top of the deck determines your current Infection Level (at the beginning of the game, when there are no cards in your deck, your level is zero).

Daily Infection Trial

At the start of your turn, you must perform a new Infection Trial, in other words draw one or more cards from the Virus Deck, depending on your current infection level, as specified below:

Infection level	Number of cards
0-2	2
3-5	3
6-7	4

Draw one card at a time: If a card carries the number immediately following that of your infection level, add it to the top of the deck (this automatically increases your infection level), otherwise discard it. At the beginning of the game, when your infection deck is empty, the first card you must add is number one.

Note: in this start-of-turn trial, you must never add more than one card to your infection deck; if you have already added one and still have to draw more cards, do so but discard them directly into the discard pile.

Each time you draw a card from the Virus deck, you could draw one of the two Radio Contact cards. When the first one is drawn, proceed as follows:

1. Temporarily set the card aside in a clearly visible point on the table, so that it is easy to remember it.
2. Move the marker on the Radio Contact counter forward one square; if the marker reaches the last square (which varies according to the number of players), the game ends immediately (see End of the Game).
3. Continue drawing cards until you reach the number required for your current Infection level.

When you also draw the second Radio Contact card, proceed initially as specified in steps 1 and 2, then make a new Virus deck by shuffling together the remaining cards, the discards and the two Radio Contact cards. Then, continue with step 3.

Example: Andrew has an Infection level of 4. He must draw three cards for his daily Infection Trial. The first is a 6, which he discards. Unfortunately for him, the next is a 5: Andrew adds it to the top of his Infection deck. The third card he draws is a 6: although this is the next number, Andrew has already added one card to his deck this turn, and so he discards it without further consequences. Andrew now has an Infection level of 5. Therefore, at the beginning of his next turn he will still draw three cards, but each time he suffers a Zombie attack, he and the other survivors who are in the same area as him will draw an additional card (see Effects Due to Infection Level).

The Daily Infection Trials performed on the Base board are performed by drawing one fewer card, down to a minimum of one, unless there are more than two players on the board and no board in play has been turned over.

Movement

In this phase you can decide to move your Survivor marker from one area of the city to another. You can perform a single movement from the area where you are located to another immediately connected to it. The connections between the boards are shown in Fig. 3.0 (Transport Connections; the figure is a graphic and is not reproduced here):

From the Base board you can reach only the two Roads, and these represent intermediate areas leading to the outer zones, which are not directly connected together.

Remember that unless you turn into a zombie, you are not required to move from the board where you are currently located.

Using / Exchanging Objects

This is the phase when you can use the objects in your possession. Furthermore, if another survivor is currently on the same board as you, you can give them one or more of your objects, munitions or rations. Remember, however, that there is a limit to the number of objects/tokens which a survivor can transport, as explained later.

Event

Draw an Event Card from the top of the deck of the board where you are located and immediately apply its effects:

If munitions or rations are shown on the card, take the number indicated and keep them in front of you. In addition, if the card depicts an object, keep it in front of you: you will be able to use it from your next turn onwards. It is not possible to possess two identical object cards: if you should draw an object that you already possess, you will be forced to discard it.

If it is a zombie attack card (zombie symbol with a number from 2 to 5 to the left), all players sharing your board must perform an Infection Trial, proceeding in turn order starting from you. This will follow the same rules for the Daily Infection Trial, with two exceptions: the number of cards to draw is that indicated on the Event card; moreover, the limitation for the Daily Infection Trial does not apply, meaning that a player can also be required to add two or more cards to their infection deck, if they should draw the correct numbers.

After applying the effect of the card, place it in a discard pile next to the board it has been drawn from.

Discarding Excess Objects/Tokens

A survivor can transport a maximum of six tokens (munitions and rations), and possess up to three objects. If you should find yourself with more tokens or objects than is permissible in this phase, you must discard enough to bring you back within the limit. The limit of six tokens applies to the total number of munitions and rations held; for example, you may decide to keep three munitions tokens and three rations tokens, or else six munitions and no rations.

Life as a Zombie

If your Infection level reaches 8, you immediately turn into a Zombie. If this should happen to you, don't despair – your game isn't over yet! First of all, discard all the cards in your Infection deck; then discard all the objects and tokens you hold, and replace your survivor marker with the zombie marker of the same colour, putting it back in the same area in which the transformation took place; finally, take five Resistance tokens. Your goal now becomes to infect all the other survivors! If, however, you should lose all your Resistance tokens, you will be definitively defeated.

Your turn follows the same phases as the other living players, with the following exceptions:

• Daily Infection Trial: draw two cards from the Virus deck. If you draw an Illness card, then immediately pick a Resistance token back up, but remember that you can only hold a maximum of five. Put all cards drawn in the discard pile without applying their effects, with the exception of any Radio Contact cards, which will have the normal effect on the Radio Contact marker.
• Movement: as a Zombie, you are required to move to an area connected to the one where you are now. Unless at least one of the boards in play has been turned over, zombie players cannot move to the Base board. (The source marks this rule with a no-entry symbol showing a zombie.)
• Using/Exchanging Objects: if you are a Zombie, skip this phase.
• Event: draw an Event card. If it is an Infected Area card, apply its effects as normal. If the symbol shown here to the side is on the bottom left of the card (the source shows this as a hand symbol, reproduced here as a symbol on the card's bottom-left), take another Resistance token (up to a maximum of five). In other cases, discard the card without applying any effects.
• Zombie Infection Trial: all non-zombified survivors who find themselves on the same board as you must undergo an Infection Trial; this follows the same rules as the Zombie Attack Infection Trial, with one important exception: the number of Virus cards they must draw is equal to the number of Resistance tokens you hold.
• N.B. This trial only takes place during your turn, after your movement. If a player enters a board where there is a zombie present, they do not have to undergo any Infection Trial.

If, during the course of the game, one of the survivors wounds you with a weapon, you could lose Resistance tokens. If you have no more Resistance tokens, then you are dead and out of the game.

End of the Game

Yesterday I was at the hospital, in search of dressings and medications. It was an uneventful search, I pushed on to the fourth floor of the building and did not encounter any infectees. There was a working television in one of the rooms; I went up to it, and saw a message on the screen: "The army has set up a centre for survivors. Notify us of your position on frequency 102.80"

So, the outside world does still exist! A fragment of that world, like I remember it, is calling us! After returning to base, I reported this to the others, who like me had come back from their hunt. Our goal is now clear: we have to find an operational radio transmitter and contact the survivors' centre set up by the army. I don't know if I will manage to be saved, but if I don't make it, this is my message for the benefit of those who may read it: "The infectees are more numerous than us, and are driven by their hunger for meat; if you get bitten, you have only two choices: kill yourself, or become like them. Our only hope is to reach the survivors' centre set up by the army. Good luck, everyone …"

The Game Can End in Two Ways

If the marker on the Radio Contact counter reaches the square specified for the number of players in your game, the game ends immediately. All survivors who have not become zombies win. Congratulations, you have managed to avoid a terrible plague!

If all survivors turn into zombies, the game ends and all players win, with the exception of the last player to become a zombie – they are the only player to lose. Zombie players who run out of Resistance tokens during the game also lose.

The number of Radio Contacts which must be reached on the counter on the Base board is shown here at the side:

Players	Radio Contacts
2-player game	7 Radio contacts
3-player game	9 Radio contacts
4-player game	11 Radio contacts
5-player game	12 Radio contacts
6-player game	14 Radio contacts

Effects Due to the Infection Level

When a player increases their Infection level, that is they add a new Virus card to their deck, some effects can occur; these are listed below:

• Level 1: When a player adds the first card to their Infection deck, they draw a Role card at random, look at it and keep it face down in front of them. This card indicates any further actions which they can perform, or changes their conditions for victory (see Role Cards).
• Level 2: The player immediately turns over an Event card in the zone where they are located and discards it, without applying its effects. For two-player games, an Event card is discarded from each zone.
• Level 3: The player's daily Infection Trial increases to three cards.
• Level 4: The player must immediately discard one of the objects in their possession (if any).
• Level 5: Players occupying the same board as a player with an Infection level of 5 (including that player) always draw an extra Virus card when undergoing a Zombie attack. If multiple players have this penalty and are located on the same board, this penalty does not accumulate.
• Levels 6 and 7: The player can transport a maximum of four tokens and two objects. The daily Infection Trial also increases to four cards.
• Level 8: The player turns into a zombie. If the transformation occurs during their turn, this finishes immediately.

These effects are shown on each Virus card (with the exception of the Illness and Radio Contact cards) with icons in vertical order down the left-hand side.

When an Illness card is added to an Infection deck, the players are exposed to the effects described at the top even if no effect symbol is shown on it.

Event Card Types

An Event Card represents a situation which occurs to the survivors or an object which the survivor can keep and use at a later time. If the card shows the Munitions or Rations symbol at the bottom right, the player takes the number of tokens shown. Moreover, if the card has a weapon or object symbol in the centre (e.g. Pistol or Stolen Resources card), the player keeps it in front of them. In any case, it is not possible to possess two identical object cards: if the player draws an object that they already hold, they must discard it immediately.

Remember: using an object is reserved for phase three of the turn; this means that it is not possible to use, or to pass to another player, an object which has just been drawn.

• Rations: Discard this card and take the number of Rations tokens indicated on it. At the start of your turn, you can play and discard a single Rations token to decrease by one the number of Virus cards which you must draw in the daily Infection Trial.
• Munitions: You can use a Munitions token with a Pistol or Shotgun to damage a zombified person occupying the same board as you, or to decrease by one the number of cards which you must draw in the event of Infection Trials caused by Zombie attacks (read the Pistol or Shotgun description for more details). Note: you cannot use Munitions if you do not hold a Pistol or Shotgun.

Objects, Event Symbols and Effects

• Pistol (object): Allows you to use a Munitions token before turning over Virus cards following a Zombie attack. In this case, all players present in the area, including you, turn over one Virus card fewer during the Infection Trial. Alternatively, you can use a single munition per turn to remove a Resistance token from a Zombie character as soon as they finish their movement on the same board as you.
• Shotgun (object): If an Infection Trial is in progress following a Zombie attack and you or another player on the same board are about to add a Virus card to your infection deck, you may decide to use the Shotgun: play and discard three munitions in order to be able to discard the Virus card which has just been drawn. You can use the shotgun only once per turn. You can also play and discard up to two Munitions in order to remove the same number of Resistance tokens from a Zombie character as soon as they finish their movement on the same board as you.
• Infected Area: All survivors present on the board where this card has been drawn are at risk of infection. In turn order, starting with the player who drew this card, everyone checks whether there is a card with the number following their own infection level in the discards from the Virus deck; if there is, they add it to the top of their deck. Moreover, if Zombie characters are present on the board, each gets a Resistance token back (up to the maximum of five). If it is a Zombie player who receives this card, its effect is applied regardless.
• Hatchet (object): You can use this when a "One Zombie" Event Card is turned over on your board: play and discard the Hatchet to avoid all survivors present in the area performing that Infection Trial. You can also play and discard it to remove one Resistance token from a Zombie character as soon as they finish their movement on the same board as you.
• Chainsaw (object): You can use this when a "Group of Zombies" Event Card is turned over on your board: play and discard the Chainsaw to avoid all survivors present on the board performing that Infection Trial. You can also play and discard it to remove up to two Resistance tokens from a Zombie character as soon as they finish their movement on the same board as you.

Zombie Attacks

• One Zombie (zombie attack): All survivors present on the board are subjected to an attack by one Zombie: each undergoes an Infection Trial in turn order by drawing two Virus cards.
• Group of Zombies (zombie attack): As for One Zombie, but three or four cards must be drawn, as shown on the card.
• Horde of Zombies (zombie attack): As for One Zombie, but five cards must be drawn.

N.B.: Some zombie attack cards carry the symbol of an object (e.g. Hatchet or Chainsaw), reminding you that it is possible to use that object to see off the attack [sic: the source reads "attach"] and avoid its effects.

When the Event cards assigned to a board finish, that area remains empty. Put all the discarded Event cards back in the box and turn the board over.

Any survivors (not Zombies, therefore) passing through it must undergo an Infection Trial instead of drawing an Event card, by drawing the number of Virus cards shown by the bloodstain present on the left-hand side of the area.

Role Cards

The symbols describing the characteristics of each Role card are explained on page 10 of the source (see below).

A player obtains a Role card as soon as their infection level reaches 1.

The Role cards must be kept covered when drawn and kept face down by the player holding them until they decide to or are required to activate the power shown (or when that power can no longer be activated, for example following elimination of the player, being turned into a zombie etc.).

• Infectee: You can turn this card over and turn yourself into a Zombie whenever a Virus card is about to end up on your Infection deck. If, however, you end the game as a living player (Survivor), you can win only if you possess a Medications object at the moment the game ends.
• Traitor: You can turn this card over during your turn when you are on a board together with at least one other player. Take all the objects and tokens from one of these players (your choice). No player can pass you tokens or objects until this card is turned over. If, however, you end the game as a living player (Survivor), you can win only if you possess at least two objects at the end of the game.
• Looter: You can turn this card over when you are about to draw an Event card. You can then draw five Event cards from the deck of the corresponding board instead of one and choose which one to apply, discarding the rest. From now on, while this role is active, each time you draw an Event card, you must draw an additional one and discard it without applying its effects. If you discard an Infected Area card in this way, you must shuffle it back into the deck.
• Survivor: You can turn this card over at any point after at least one of the other players has become a Zombie. While this role is active, you can take one card fewer during all Infection Trials (with a minimum of one card). If you end the game as a living player (Survivor), you can win only if you possess a Rations token at the moment the game ends.
• Contagious: You can turn this card over when you are about to add a new Virus card to your Infection level: discard that card instead of adding it to your Infection deck. While this role is active, each time you move to a board with one or more other players on, apply an Infected Area effect to one of them, unless each of them discards a Munitions token.