Everything Lost
Everything Lost Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Contents
- 1. Quick Overview
- 2. Setting Up the Game
- 3. Player Board and Decks
- 4. Dice and Actions
- 5. Fighting Zombies, XP, Getting Bit and Weapons
- 6. Healthcare and Mob Skills
- 7. Ranged Attacks
- 8. Survivors
- 9. Leveling Up
- 10. Skills, Special Actions and Nicknames
- 11. Mob Attack, Side Missions, Going Back, and More
- 12. End of Mission
- 13. Variant
- 14. Gameplay Example
- Chapters: Mission Choices and Setup
- Actions Reference
Contents
24 building, 21 rubble, 22 zombie, 5 double sided mission, 11 weapon, 1 stick, 8 side mission cards, 1 player board, player sheets, 5 brown, 5 white, 1 black, 1 red dice, 1 pawn, 10 chips, 2 cubes.
1. Quick Overview
Dice
To survive, the most important thing is to spend your time and energy wisely. That's where the dice come in. They drive this game. There are 4 different colors.
- 5 white dice: These are the player's dice. They represent the time and energy you put into different actions. Sometimes you are asked to pay dice. This means you just put the requested amount of dice into the holding box on the player sheet. Sometimes you need to roll your dice to see if you succeed.
- 5 brown dice: These are the zombie dice. Every die represents one zombie. You only use the brown dice in a fight with zombies. You've got to defeat every single one of them to earn experience (XP).
- 1 red die: When you fight, you use your white dice. But you add the red die for free. This way you can never go into a fight without dice, even if you spend all your white ones.
- 1 black die: Some things need to be checked and don't cost you energy or time. For those things you roll the black die. Do you have enough willpower to do it? Depending on the current threat, do zombies attack when you walk through town? Etc. The black die may also represent a survivor helping you.
Building Cards
As you wander through town, you will see a lot of interesting buildings. Why not.. break in?
You can recognize building cards by the 6 different types of buildings on the lower left. In the upper left you see what you think is in there. Imagine you look inside through the dirty glass… You think there is food in there... Only one way to find out. You can break in and search for useful things. But watch it. Danger can be anywhere. Sometimes you meet survivors who ask you for help.
It's possible to clear a building and claim it for yourself.
Building cards are also used as move cards. When you move, you flip the card and read the lower part to see where the roads lead and how much the threat increases.
Rubble Cards
Everywhere you look, there is rubble. Useless at first sight, but… is it? Maybe you can find some building materials which you can use to barricade a building for protection. Other survivors wander through the rubble too. They may want to join you, or just help. There are a lot of opportunities as you wander through the streets.
Rubble cards are also used as rest cards. You want to rest when you've spent all of your 5 white dice. You immediately get them back. Flip the card, and read the lower left and right part.
Weapons
Never leave home without a weapon. You've got more weapons than you'd think!
When you leave your home for the first time, you only have a tool, which you grabbed from the toolbox at home. They all have a disadvantage. You probably want to find real weapons quick. Go search for it! There are a lot of buildings which have them. When you find one, you can take the corresponding weapons card. And if you get really skilled, you can learn to upgrade them into something really nice. Really.. undeadly.
Zombie Cards
After you left your home, you will soon discover there's something wrong with a lot of your fellow citizens. Talking to them doesn't bring you anywhere. You've got to fight.
The mob of zombies grows steadily. Zombie cards are placed adjacent to the zombie deck. When the mob is big enough it will even attack your home.
Every time you move, you trigger something and threat increases… You check (threat check) if zombies saw you. This is the moment some of them may attack. Sometimes threat is so high, the complete mob attacks! In a lot of cases, it means you're doomed.
Mission Cards
There are four chapters in this rulebook which tell you the main story. In each chapter you choose 1 of 2 or 3 missions to play. There are a lot of problems in town. You choose which to solve. Then you go on to the next chapter. The mission card tells you everything you need to know for the mission you chose.
Side Mission Cards
You are not the only one who has problems right now. Sometimes you meet civilians who ask you to help. You can go on a side mission to earn rewards. Remember, it is always a risk to not follow your main path.
Player Board
This is you. You play as you. Imagine this really happened. In your own town… well, it did.
The player board tells you all about your stats. Your health, willpower, experience (XP) and threat. On the left you keep the building and rubble decks, on the top the zombie deck. All rubble and building cards on the right are the active cards, which are in your current zone.
You can also keep track of your building materials, bandages, antidote and food. On the upper right is the home status. If the marker is at 0, you're dead.
Player Sheet
It's hard to get used to your new life. But you will soon get to know the new version of your town and learn a lot in this world of survival. On the player sheet you draw your map and keep track of your skills and new learned actions. At the end of the mission, you write down the stats you need for the next mission.
2. Setting Up the Game
Place the player board in front of you. Choose if you want to play the normal or the nightmare side. (The name explains itself…) Take 4 black chips. For now, place them on the bottom spaces of the 4 tracks on the left side. Take 5 black chips. Place 1 on the bitten spot. Place the other 4 on the bottom spaces of the 4 tracks on the right, covering the pictures. Place the 5 white dice in front of you. Place the other dice within reach. Take a player sheet (pencil and eraser too) and place it between you and the player board. Place the building cards with the '6 buildings' side up on the upper left side of the board (where it says 'buildings deck'). Shuffle the rubble cards and place them on the corresponding space on the lower left of the player board, 'rubble' side up. Now take the top card of both decks and put them on the corresponding spaces on the right side of the board. Do not flip them. Shuffle the side mission cards into a closed deck and put them nearby. Put the weapon cards and mission cards within reach on the side for now. Remove all level 2-5 zombie cards from the zombie deck. Put them in the box for now. Shuffle the zombie deck and place it above the bitten space of the board, where it says 'zombies'. Zombie side down. Put a cube on the 3rd space of the home status track.
Prepare to Go Out
Take your pencil and look at the player sheet. Give your town a name. You start at level 1. This shows you how experienced you are in this apocalyptic world. Mark level 1. At 'sector' you write: N-E (north-east). This is the zone in which the first mission starts. It is the north-east part of town. Choose the first skill of one of the five specialities to start with and mark its box. If it's your first game, it is recommended to start with scavenger: This means you may add an extra building card to the buildings on the right. Put it next to the one already there.
Now read chapter 1. You can find it in the back of this manual. Afterwards, turn back here.
You now know the story. Did you choose one of the available missions? Put the corresponding mission card in front of you.
Your home is in the exact center of town. The 4 missions you will play are in the sectors surrounding it (north-east, south-east, south-west and north-west). Mission 1 is played in the north-east sector, mission 2 in the south-east sector, and so on. For every mission you will need a new player sheet.
The 1st mission is in sector N-E. That's why you draw your home in zone A1 in the bottom left corner on your player sheet. Regardless of the mission you chose, you always draw a junction with 4 roads exiting the zone in the home zone. It doesn't matter how you draw the things you draw. You can do it as detailed as you like and make it a real piece of art, or just plain and simple. Now, you may put your pawn on the home zone.
Note: At the beginning of mission 2 you draw your home in zone A4.
Note: Some players prefer to play without a pawn. It is up to you.
3. Player Board and Decks
There are many tracks on the player board:
- XP stands for experience. Whenever the marker on this track crosses the 'next level border', it resets automatically to 0 and you gain a level on your player sheet. (You also gain a skill.) Note that you need more experience for every next level you try to reach. Example: You have 2 xp. You gain 1 xp. The marker crosses the 'level 2 border'. You reset the xp track and mark 'level 2' on your player sheet.
- Threat shows you how dangerous it is to wander the streets. The higher the threat, the stronger and more aggressive the zombies are. There is a difference between threat and threat level. When the marker wants to move higher than 7, all zombies will attack! More about this mob attack and threat (level) later.
- Willpower (wp) shows your determination or morale. When you are really determined and motivated, you are more likely to see opportunities. Adrenaline rushes through you and you will continue your mission, even when almost all of your health left your body.
- Health shows you how much life is left in you. When the marker moves to the top, it stops at 6. If another event wants to move it further, you gain 1 willpower per space the marker would have moved. Same at the bottom, but now you will lose willpower.
When willpower and health are both at 1, and either willpower or health decreases, you die.
There is a black chip on the bitten spot. When you are bitten, you remove it.
The 4 black markers on the tracks on the right show your amount of antidote, bandages, building materials and food. You can only have the amount the tracks allow you to have.
When the home status track reaches 0, you die: The zombie mob entered your home.
Now look back at chapter 1: mission setup. Adjust your tracks on the player board.
Decks, Cards and Actions
It is really easy to see which actions you can perform. All cards on the right side of the board are the active cards. These are the buildings and rubble in your current zone. You can perform the actions which are printed on these cards. Actions have a specific symbol in front of them. You can do all actions without a lock, regardless of the color. More about unlocking actions and colors later.
If the action is written in transparent text, you can only do it when this card is flipped. The action in white, which is printed above it with a bent arrow, makes the card flip.
Example: This building is in your zone. You need food and decide to give it a try. You need a 4 or higher (4+). You roll a 5. You succeed to 'break in'. You put the die in the holding box on your player board and flip the card. Now the scavenge action is available, which is a free action. Although you really like the chainsaw, you decide to take the food.
Makes sense, right? The decks on the left of the player board show actions too, but they aren't in play yet. They are on the inactive side of the board.
Example: the following actions are available to you: Break in, move, opportunity and rest. You may scavenge when you succeed breaking in. There are more available actions, but you have to learn them first, because of the locks hanging on them.
Leaving the House
Every time you enter a new zone on the map of your player sheet, you draw the buildings which are there. When you start your mission, you do this too. You draw the buildings which are on the right side of your board in the building space. Note that if you started your game with the scavenging skill, you actually have 2 buildings to draw. In the example, you drew a DIY shop and a police station. More about this later.
What Building Is It?
Every time you put down a new building card, you may want to know what it is. Is it a shop, a hospital? Maybe a church? For each building card you may roll the black die. Then look at the lower left of the card to see which building it is. Then draw it on your sheet.
Remember you don't put the black die in the holding box. It is just used to check things.
You leave your home...
4. Dice and Actions
White Dice
Everything you do will cost you energy. Your energy is represented by your 5 white dice. Most actions will make you roll dice, some will make you pay them without rolling. Every time you have used them, you place them in the dice holding box on the player board. When you don't have any dice left, you need to rest to get them back. If you have seen enough in your current zone, you want to move to the next zone. There is no particular order in which a game turn takes place. Just do what you need to do.
Black Die
The black die is used to generate random numbers. Whenever you are asked to roll it, you know it won't cost you any dice. For example: To see if you are attacked by zombies you do a threat check. You roll the black die. Note that the black die will never end up in the holding box.
Red Die
The red die is a bonus die you use during fights only. It is your safety die which makes sure you never end up in a fight without any dice. Note that the red die will never end up in the holding box.
Actions and Dice
There are 8 standard actions, which you can do right from the start. As mentioned before, you can only perform them when they are printed on a card. For your convenience, the actions are printed on the back of this manual too.
Whenever you need to roll dice, you may choose any number of dice to roll. Afterwards you may choose one of the dice results. When the action is done, you put the dice in the holding box.
Instead of rolling dice, you may choose to pay 3 white dice to the holding box for an automatic success. Unfortunately you can't do this during fights.
Note: You can only roll once per action per card, unless otherwise stated. For example, you can't try to break in the same building twice.
Note: The result of a die can never be higher than 6 or lower than 1. For example, a 6 with a +1 will stay a 6.
Actions
Break In (roll #+)
In the upper left corner of each building card you can read what useful things you may find in it. Remember, you are not sure. You are just guessing by looking through the dirty window.
To break in, you need to roll the given number or higher. For example, a building needs a 4+. If you roll a 4 or higher, you may flip the card. Mark the building on your map with your own success/fail symbol, so you know you've tried, and if it was a success or not.
Example: There is a police station in your zone. There is a chance you will find a weapon there. You need one. To break into the police station you need a 4+. You choose to roll 2 dice. You roll a 2 and a 4. You succeed, because you always need only one success. You flip the card…
Scavenge (Free)
This is a free action: You usually do this right after a successful 'break in' action. You don't need to roll or pay dice. This action can only be found on the back of a building card. Choose 1 of the 2 available things to loot. If this is a weapon, you may search for the corresponding card in the weapons deck and place it in front of you. Else, you earn the advantages shown. Adjust your corresponding markers. But beware, there could be something undead in a building..
Strip (pay dice)
This action can be found on rubble cards. Pay 1 die and put it in the holding box to get 1 building materials. Adjust your building materials track afterwards. Mark the building on the map as stripped. You can use building materials for example for the special action 'barricade', or to repair your home at the end of the mission. Sometimes you need to collect it during certain missions.
Opportunity (roll wp-)
This action can be found on every rubble card. When you are 'looking for opportunities' you check your willpower. Roll dice. You need to roll the value of your willpower (wp) or lower to succeed. When you do, you may flip the card and read the opportunity text on the upper right. Mark the map, to show you searched the rubble here. If you read the hint below 'opportunity', you must be able to have an idea of what you can find here. But beware, there could be something undead between the rubble.. (If so, roll the black die to see what happens..)
Fight (roll selected dice)
You do this automatically when you are attacked by zombies. You take a zombie card from the mob and flip it. (More about the mob and fighting later.)
Move
- Threat check
- Take card: draw map + increase threat
- Move pawn
- Refresh buildings and rubble cards
1. Threat check. If you decide to move to the next zone on the map, you do a threat check first. Roll the black die. If the result is equal to or lower than your current threat value (see threat track), you encounter some zombies and need to fight. More about fighting later. If the result is higher, you don't.
2. Take card: draw map + increase threat. After the threat check (and possibly the fight) you decide where you want to move. You can only move to adjacent zones within the map (not diagonally). A road from the current zone must lead there. Note that every move action on the building cards says: (deck). So, take a building card from the top of the buildings deck. Flip it and read the bottom left part. Extend the road from the current zone into the new zone you enter. The arrows on the card show you in which direction you must draw the roads in the new zone. For example, a card may show one road running to the east and one to the north (and south).
Moving also increases the threat. Adjust the threat marker. For example, if the card shows +2, your threat increases by 2. Discard the card into the buildings deck discard pile (left of the buildings deck).
3. Move pawn. Now move your pawn into the new zone.
4. Refresh buildings and rubble cards. Finally, remove all building and rubble cards and discard them, left of their decks. Replace building and rubble cards by new ones. Determine which building it is, by rolling the black die. Now draw these buildings with your pencil in the new zone. Note that this rolling is just for theme. You may choose one yourself if you like.
There is a way to move offroad: Pay three dice, to move into any of the 4 directions. Eventually, you could also learn the navigate skill, which will only make you pay 1 die.
Moving through zones you have already been. When you move to a zone you have already been, you do not encounter any zombies, but the threat still rises. So you don't roll the black die for a threat check. Because the new zone is already known to you, you don't need to draw anything with your pencil. But you still flip a building card to check how much threat rises. After that, place your pawn in the next zone. Discard the card into the buildings deck discard pile.
Note that moving into known zones can be very dangerous! Threat rises, and the risk of an all-out mob attack increases! You are disturbing the already alerted zombies.
Rest
- Take back all white dice from the holding box.
- Take a rubble card — Rest: read lower left.
- Event: read lower right.
To do actions, you spend dice. When you are out of dice, you need to rest. When you do the rest action, you take back all your white dice from the holding box. After that, you take a card from the rubble deck, flip it and read the text in the white box at the bottom. Do what you're asked to do. In most cases it also lets you increase the mob (mob +1 or mob +2). More about this later. On the lower right is a dilemma. Choose one outcome. You can only choose an option if you can fully fulfill the demands (see example). If you still don't know which to choose, pick the worst outcome.
You do not need to spend all your dice to be able to rest.
Example 1: You have 1 building materials and 1 food. Because you do not have enough building materials, you can only choose the second option.
Example 2: You have 1 building materials and no food. Although you have no food and not enough building materials, you must choose option 1. You lose the only building materials you have.
Clear/Claim
Whenever you broke into a building, you are allowed to clear and claim it. You can only do this when there is no other claimed building in your current zone, and the 8 zones surrounding it.
To clear the building you need to have at least 1 building materials. Thematically, you enter the door on the bottom right: Flip the next building card from the deck. Look at the space on the left of the door. This represents the room behind the door you just opened. Here you can find things, or just lose time (mob or threat increases). Then you open the next door: Take the next building card… until you find the word: CLEARED! with the 'claim' action on it. Pay 1 building materials to claim it. Mark on the map to show you that you are the rightful owner. Discard all building cards to the building cards discard pile.
Note: You may quit clearing the building any time. When a mob attack happens, your attempt is aborted and you fight the mob.
Every claimed building offers you the possibility to have an extra survivor. For every claimed building, you may have 1 extra survivor in your team. When you happen to pass a claimed building, you may rest there. When you rest in it you take back your 5 dice from the holding box. Then decrease threat by 2 and increase your health by 1. You don't take a rubble card to read the events on it. You are safe for the night. In every claimed building you can rest once per mission. Mark it, to show you rested here.
Note: Your home is seen as a claimed building, but it is reserved for you only.
The Zombie Deck and the Mob
The zombie deck represents the zombies in the city. The mob is formed by the zombie cards adjacent to the deck. Every time the mob increases (usually when you rest) a card is taken from the deck and placed facedown adjacent to the deck, starting on the left side. After that, the cards are placed clockwise surrounding the deck. When there are 5 zombies in the mob, there is no room for more cards. The mob has become too big; they've started attacking your home. Instead of placing a card, the home status track decreases by 1.
Home Status
When your home status is 0, you lose the mission. It isn't possible to repair your home during a mission. You can only repair it afterwards by using building materials. This happens during the end of mission phase.
5. Fighting Zombies, XP, Getting Bit and Weapons
Fighting
When you need to fight, you take any zombie card from the mob (not the deck). Fighting happens when your threat check roll (right before movement) is equal to or lower than your current threat. When you end up in a fight:
- If you have a ranged weapon and some bullets: Shoot! (More about 'ranged' later.)
- Take a look at your melee weapon to determine bonuses/penalties.
- First determine the threat level: add your current level to the current threat.
- Determine the number of zombies: Look behind the right threat level (Tlvl) on the zombie card (nr). This is the number of zombies you encounter. For each zombie take 1 brown die.
- Determine the number of white dice: How many of your available white dice are you willing to use during the fight? Take those in front of you. Add the red die.
- Determine the toughness of your opponents.
- Fight!
- After the fight: Threat decreases, gain XP.
Important: Your standard toughness is always 5. Remember that.
A fight consists of 3 rolls. During these 3 rolls you do not lose your red and white dice. You always roll the amount you chose at the start of the fight. You try to defeat as many brown dice (zombies) as you can. After the fight, you put the selected white dice in the holding box.
You roll the brown and white dice together. Place the brown dice at the bottom of the player board. Place all 5s and 6s at 'hit'. Place all 1-4s at 'down'.
You need to get these brown dice into 'eliminated'. Every hit will move the zombie 1 space to the right. Look at your red/white dice. Every red/white die with a value of the zombies' toughness or higher is a possible hit. Put aside dice which are lower than the zombie toughness. If the possible 'hit dice' are equal or higher than a zombie die, it moves the zombie die one space to the right. If it enters the eliminated area, it dies, and isn't rolled during the next roll. If it enters the 'down' space, nothing happens. Brown dice which are in the hit space will decrease your health by the number which is on the zombie card.
Example: You use a crowbar as a weapon. Because of this weapon, you have to discard one of your selected dice. You select 4, discard 1 and roll the 3 white dice left along with the red one, against 4 zombies with toughness 4. You roll a 1, 3, 5, and 6. The zombies roll a 2, 4, 5 and 5. First you place the zombies at the edge of the board. The 2 and 4 zombies try to hit you but miss. They are down… you put them in the down zone. You place both 5s in the 'hit' zone. They are about to hit you…
You take your 1 and 3 and put them aside now. You tried to hit those creatures twice but missed. You take your 6 and use it on one of the 5s. You blocked the hit! Put your 6 aside and move the zombie 5 to the 'down' zone. Now you have one die left, which is the red 5. You could block the other 5, to prevent it from hitting you. Which would mean you won't take any damage, but wouldn't kill any zombie. But you could also use it to kill a zombie which is already down… This could also be the 5 you just put there. You decide to do this and move a zombie die from 'down' to 'eliminated'. You decrease your health by 1, because of the zombie still in the 'hit' zone.
Now you take back the red/white dice. You take the 3 brown dice (because you killed a zombie, you leave its die in 'eliminated') and roll them together again for 2 more attacks.
Re-rolls During Hand-to-Hand Fights
They are not that smart. You can distract those undead guys by throwing things at them. You may pay 1 antidote, bandages, building materials or food to do a re-roll of any number of zombie dice or your own dice. Important: You can't re-roll dice that caused a bite.
Bitten During a Fight
Most zombies will bite when they roll a double six. When you were already bitten and your bite wasn't covered with bandages you die immediately. If not, place both sixes in the bite spot. They are locked there until the end of the fight. You can't get bitten again during the same fight. More about bites later.
Important: The bitten dice can't be targeted. They count as eliminated when determining XP.
Threat Decreases
After the fight, threat decreases by the small number which is printed on the threat track. For example, when the current threat is 6, threat decreases by 2.
Experience Points (XP) and Mob Skills
You roll 3 times. When you killed all zombies (eliminated all brown dice), you look at the zombie card to see how much experience (xp) you have earned. Then, adjust your xp track. If you didn't kill them all, a few of the zombies escaped back into the mob, making them stronger… Tilt the zombie card 90 degrees and put it close to the mob. A new skill is added to the mob. From now on, all zombies gain this skill.
Note: Whenever the mob already has the same skill, don't add another.
Note: Mob skills only become active during fights.
Bitten!
When you are bitten, you remove the marker from the bitten spot.
- Whenever you are bitten again, you die.
- Whenever you are bitten, but there is a white bandages marker on the bitten spot, you remove the white bandages marker.
Weapons
During scavenging you may find a weapon. When this happens, take the corresponding weapon card in front of you. You can carry a maximum of 2 weapons at a time. There are ranged and melee weapons. Before a fight, decide which are your active weapons. You can pick 1 melee and 1 ranged weapon. At the start of the game you can only activate level 1 weapons. When you upgrade your 'soldier' skill, you can also use higher level weapons.
Whenever you have no melee weapons, you may take the 'stick'. You pick it up from the ground. You need to use something!
6. Healthcare and Mob Skills
Bandages
Any time you are bitten, except during a fight, you can decrease your bandages track by 1, to cover the bitten spot with the white bandages marker.
Any time, except during a fight, you can decrease the bandages track by 1, to increase your health by 1.
When you are bitten and a zombie bites you a second time, you die. Too late for new bandages!
Low Health
When health is low, you are taking a big risk. Not only because you're about to die, but resting often won't help either. Too wounded. Sometimes you discover you have been bitten without even noticing…
Check for Bites
When your health is low, an event may ask you to 'check for bites'. Flip a rubble card. When there is a zombie at the bottom of the card in the middle of the white area, you have been bitten. Discard the card afterwards into the rubble discard pile.
Antidote
You can use the antidote to cure a bite. Unfortunately, you can only use it in between missions. You have got to know this medicine really makes you sick. You got to be at home and sleep through it for a few days... Move the antidote marker down to put the chip back on the bite spot. When your wound is covered with bandages, remove them as well.
7. Ranged Attacks
When you own a ranged weapon, you may perform a ranged attack just before the fight starts. Imagine the zombies running towards you and you try to take them down before you end up in hand-to-hand combat. If you have a ranged weapon, you may shoot at zombies before the actual fight starts:
- Look for bullets: All visible bullet symbols on the active cards count as bullets.
- Shoot the zombies: roll the black die as often as you have bullets. Every hit that equals or surpasses the zombies' toughness is a kill.
- Determine zombies in fight: After the shooting, normal fighting starts. Zombies which are killed do not participate in the fight. Subtract the number of kills from the total number of zombies that participate in the fight. These zombies survived the shooting and go into hand-to-hand combat with you.
- Pick white dice: You choose the number of white dice for the fight and start normal combat.
Example: You are under attack by runners! They have a toughness of 4. Luckily you have a pistol. You find 2 bullets. You roll the black die. It's a 3. The toughness of the runner is 4, so it's a miss. Second bullet. It's a 6. That's a hit! You have taken 1 down. That's 1 less zombie to fight in hand-to-hand combat. Which starts right now...
8. Survivors
There is room for more people in your team! But no more than the number of buildings you have claimed during all missions you played, including the current one.
Some rubble cards make you discover new survivors! You can try to make them join you if the number of buildings allows you to. But you must have 1 building for each survivor. Your home doesn't count here, since it's reserved for you.
To convince the free runner you need to roll a 5+ or give him 1 food. Again, you may choose how many dice you use. But you can only ask every survivor once. If you leave (to rest, for example) you can't get back to the survivors. They left.
If you convinced him/her to join, choose one of the faces on your sheet which you think is his/hers and give him/her a name. Write down which color the survivor has (green/blue/red). Also write down the special ability and loyalty value. A joined survivor is always with you during your adventures.
Example: You discovered a freerunner and an ex-marine. You only have one free claimed building, so there is only room for 1. You decide to go for the free runner. You don't have food, so you roll 2 dice. A 2 and a 4. Unlucky. You place the 2 white dice in the holding box. You decide to talk to the ex-marine. Maybe he wants to join. You happen to have a shotgun, which is level 3. You can't use it yourself, so you give it to the ex-marine. He joins! You discard the shotgun and write down his stats on your sheet: Fight + sniper both get +1.
You are allowed to do any available action, regardless of the color. If a survivor has joined, he may help you with actions of the same color as his own. So when a survivor has the blue color, he may help looking for an 'opportunity', but he can't participate in a fight. Per action only 1 survivor may help you. If you want a survivor to help you, you may roll the black die to do an action matching the survivor's color. You may add the black die to your total of white dice. When the action is yellow or green, you are even allowed to use it on its own.
Red survivors help you fighting, but can't fight on their own. Add the black die to the chosen white dice for the hand-to-hand fight. You may roll it like any other white die until the end of the fight.
Every single survivor may help you once per zone.
Example: You have a green survivor named John. There is a supermarket in your zone. You decide to break in. You let him do it on his own. You roll the black die. You roll a 6. He succeeds.
Special Ability
Survivors can help with all actions of their color. But they also have a special ability, which gives them certain bonuses.
Example: The free runner can help with climbing (green). On top of that, his special ability gives him the opportunity to flip an extra zombie card.
Eating
There is only a small chance survivors will die during missions. They will always look for safety and stay in your vicinity. But you need to feed them, or they will leave. More about that later.
Loyalty
Survivors may decide to leave you when an event says loyalty test. Every survivor has a loyalty value. For each survivor you roll the black die. When you roll equal or lower, the survivor stays. When you roll higher he leaves. Erase the survivor on your sheet.
9. Leveling Up
The XP track shows you when you level up:
- When you are level 1, and the marker passes the level 2 line, immediately level up to level 2. Reset XP to 0.
- When you are level 2, and the marker passes the level 3 line, immediately level up to level 3. Reset XP to 0.
- When you are level 3, and the marker passes the level 4 line, immediately level up to level 4. Reset XP to 0.
- When you are level 4, and the marker 'pushes' against the 5 line, immediately level up to level 6 [sic — presumably level 5]. Reset XP to 0.
- When you are level 5, and the marker 'pushes' against the 6 line, immediately level up to level 6. Reset XP to 0.
When you are at level 6, you can't level up anymore, but you still gain xp and gain a skill. Reset the track when the marker wants to go beyond the top.
Mark the next level on your player sheet. When you level up, your XP always resets to 0.
Example: You are at level 2. You only need 1 more XP to level up. You defeat a bunch of zombies and earn 2 XP! You move the XP marker 1 up, level up and reset the XP to 0. Note that 1 XP is lost.
You may choose a new skill now. There are 5 types, each with 2 different levels (with checkboxes in front of them). When you choose a particular skill type, you must always choose the left one first, before you can check the right one. Mark it with your pencil.
New Zombies
When you level up, immediately shuffle the corresponding level zombies into the zombies deck, including the zombie cards already placed. If some of them were flipped to the zombie side (this can happen due to a 'climb' action), shuffle them zombie side up. Afterwards, place the same amount of zombies in the mob again (adjacent to the zombie deck).
10. Skills, Special Actions and Nicknames
There are many different skills to unlock:
- Scavenger — 1st: add 1 building card to the buildings side of the board (permanent total of 2). 2nd: add 2 building cards to the buildings side of the board (permanent total of 3).
- Burglar — 1st: +1 on your break in roll. 2nd: +2 on your break in roll (your player sheet says +1, but this should be +2).
- Leader — 1st: All loyalty values of survivors get +1. 2nd: All survivors are loyal to you. No need for loyalty tests (they may still leave if you don't feed them!).
- Soldier — 1st: You may use level 1 and 2 weapons. 2nd: You may use level 1, 2 and 3 weapons.
- Scout — 1st: add 1 rubble card to the rubble side of the board (permanent total of 2). 2nd: add 2 rubble cards to the rubble side of the board (permanent total of 3).
Note that within each skill type, you must unlock the first skill before you can unlock the second.
Unlocking Special Actions
When you've unlocked 2 adjacent skills from different skill types, you also unlock a new action. It is printed in between the 2 skills. For example, when you have unlocked the 1st scavenger and burglar skill, you automatically unlock the barricade action. Special actions can also be unlocked by achieving mission goals. Just like skills, you need to unlock them, starting from the left.
Special Actions
- Ambush (roll to kill): This action can be used instead of a ranged attack: Right before a hand-to-hand fight, roll your selected dice (don't roll the brown dice). Every 5 or 6 kills a zombie. If you roll at least one 1, you lose 1 health. After this, the normal fight starts.
- Barricade (pay 1 building materials): This action can only be found on the back of building cards. Pay 1 building materials to barricade the building you entered. Mark it on the map as barricaded. When you leave a zone with a barricaded building, and you end up in a fight, your toughness is 6 until end of fight. Also, when a mob attack occurs, and you are in a zone with a barricaded building, you only roll half of the zombie dice (rounded up) you normally would roll.
- Craft (pay die + building materials): Pay 1 die and 1 building materials to upgrade your weapon. You may now flip your weapon card.
- Climb (pay die): When your health is 3+, pay one die to flip 1 zombie card in the mob. Note that you can choose your zombie card when involved in a fight.
- Escape (free action): Escape before or during a fight. Roll the black die: 1-2: fail: fight. 3: Success, but add the zombie card as a mob skill. 4-5-6: success. If successful, put the zombie (zombie side up) on top of the zombie deck.
- Navigate (pay die): Pay 1 die, to move into any illegal direction (still not diagonally).
Nicknames
Whenever you've managed to unlock 2 special actions in the same row, you are allowed to unlock a nickname. You can only achieve this by doing specific side missions. When you've earned yourself a nickname, people in town respect you. For example, if your name is Frank, then it would be like: Frank, Builder of Strongholds. Or Frank "shadow attack" Johnson. Actually, a nickname is like a title. But that would sound too fancy these days. You can only have 1 nickname. You also earn a new skill:
- Builder of strongholds: You can barricade any building, even when the 'barricade' action is not present.
- Freerunning hitman: Unlock the 'escape' action. You may use the 'climb' action any time it says 'climb' or 'escape' on a card, or use the 'escape' action whenever it says 'climb'. Even if you didn't learn 'escape' yet.
- Shadow attack: All of your sixes during a fight are considered a critical hit. Zombie dice you hit with it go directly into 'eliminated'.
- Scout of the apocalypse: Every time you 'navigate', your threat decreases by 1.
11. Mob Attack, Side Missions, Going Back, and More
Mob Attack!
When the threat marker is already at the top, and it wants to move up again, all zombies in the mob will attack you! It happens so fast, you can't even use ranged attacks!
Important: During a mob attack your toughness falls back to 0: This means every unblocked zombie die is a hit. Zombie toughness and damage are equal to your current level. Mob skills don't apply during a mob attack.
- Count the number of zombie cards in the mob. Take that amount of brown dice. If this number is lower than your current level, then take an amount of dice equal to your level, but 5 dice max.
- Roll the brown dice together with the white dice you select. Roll only once.
- Try to block as many dice as you can, like you do in a fight. All unblocked dice hit you.
- If you survived the attack, discard all zombie cards from the mob. Discard all mob skills as well.
- Reset the threat track to the bottom of the track.
Example: A mob attack occurs! You have 5 health. There are 3 zombies in the mob, but your current level is 4. You take 4 brown dice. You did not see this one coming: You only have 3 white dice left. You decide to roll them all, together with the 4 brown dice. The zombies roll: 2, 2, 4, 5. You roll 3, 3 and 4. You can block the 2, 2 and 4. But you aren't able to block that 5 zombie, coming from behind… You lose 4 health. You survive.. You discard all zombies in the mob and remove the mob skills. You reset the threat track to 2.
Search Track
Some missions use a search track when you have to search for something. At the beginning of the mission place a marker at the bottom of the track. Whenever you may search, you roll the black die. When you roll a 6+, you succeed. The mission sheet tells you what happens. If you don't succeed, move the marker one up. Next time you search, you need to roll a 4+. Etc.
Going Back Home
When you have fulfilled your goals, you go home. Travel back. When you enter your home zone, pay 1 white die to enter your home. Your mission ends.
Side Missions
In some buildings you find zombies. When you defeated them (by rolling a black die and executing the result) survivors living in the building ask you to do a side mission. Take a side mission card and flip it. Keep the card. It's up to you to decide if you want to do it. There are 2 missions on it. The building card tells you which one is the active one, a or b. Turn the card so that you can read the correct mission. Mark the spot on the map where the survivor is, and if necessary the places you need to go. Whenever you fulfilled the demands, write it on your player sheet (bottom left), and check the box. Claim the reward and discard the card.
Depleted Decks
Whenever a deck is depleted, reshuffle the discarded cards into a new deck.
Rules Questions
In this game there can be certain situations you don't know the rule for. Remember it is not always important to know the exact rule. Just think of what thematically makes sense in this specific situation.
12. End of Mission
End of a Mission Phase
When you die during a mission, you need to replay the mission. Your survival points do not count for the final score.
You win the mission when you have fulfilled the bold printed goals on the mission cards. When you did not succeed in fulfilling these mandatory goals, you lose the mission and need to play again. Although you can still follow the rules below, to see how well you did, your points do not count to the final score.
First, let's settle in:
- If your mission goals asked you to collect something, remove it now (except if it's food).
- If your mission goals promised you a reward (not points), take it now.
- If you have the antidote and you were bitten: cure the bite and remove the antidote. If the wound was covered with bandages, remove them as well.
- Use your bandages to cure your health (1 bandages cures 1 health).
- Use your building materials to repair your home (1 bm repairs 1 spot on the track).
- Feed your survivors and yourself. 1 food per 2 survivors. (You need 2 food to feed 3 or 4, etc.)
- Unfed survivors will leave. If you can't even feed yourself: next mission -2 on health.
- If you have food left, add it to your willpower track.
Now, let's take a look at what you've achieved (survival points):
- When you are not bitten: 3 survival points
- Antidote, bandages, building materials, food (×1)
- Willpower, health (×2)
- Home status (×3)
- Level (×5)
- Number of survivors, other than you (×5)
- Claimed buildings (×2)
- If you have a nickname: 5 survival points
- Number of successful side missions (×3)
- Mission points (×1)
Add all survival points together to see what's your final score. Write it on your missions sheet. Write your score on your player sheet, along with your weapons, home status, buildings, if you were bitten or not, xp and survival points. You use this information for your next mission.
Did You Do Well?
Well, when you're dead, regardless of the survival points, you didn't. When you're still up and running, you probably did. You can find out here:
| Score | Rank |
|---|---|
| 0-80 | Couch potato |
| 81-100 | Zombie series binge-watcher |
| 101-120 | Scavenger |
| 121-135 | Crafty survivalist |
| 136-150 | Zombie stalker |
| 151+ | King of the apocalypse |
Overall Score
To determine your overall ranking after 4 missions, search for your best mission score of this campaign. Add all scores from the missions after this. Determine the average score.
Example: Mission 1A: 103, Mission 2C: 153, Mission 3A: 136, Mission 4B: 146. Your best score was in mission 2, so: 153 + 136 + 146 = 435 / 3 = 145. That's a good score!
Note that this system makes the later missions more important. Every new 'record' you set deletes previous lower results.
Next Mission
When you are ready, you may read the next chapter and set up the next mission. Use the stats on the player sheet of your previous mission to ready your new player sheet and adjust tracks. Read the new chapter, choose a mission and adjust the markers on your player board according to the mission setup. If not mentioned, antidote, bandages, building materials and food reset to 0. Don't forget to add bonuses earned from the previous mission, if necessary. You can find these at the bottom of the previous chapter.
The 2nd mission is in sector S-E. Note that your home zone is in zone A4 now.
Whenever you finish the 4th mission, you have survived the apocalypse and win the game. You can always start again and choose a different path. Good luck!
Errata / Clarification
- Machete card (weapon): This weapon card says it is ranged. Well, it isn't. It is melee.
- Wrench card (weapon): At the bottom it should say: After each fight without health loss: wp +1.
- On some cards it says: Supplies +1: This should be 'food +1'.
- Weapon handling: One of the cards says: upgrade your weapon handling. This is your 'soldier skill'.
13. Variant
Standalone Game
You can play any mission standalone. Choose your starting level (ranging 1 to 4) and unlock any skills (following normal 'unlocking rules') according to this table.
| Start at | Normal | Hard | Expert |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | unlock 1 skill | unlock 0 skills | unlock 0 skills |
| Level 2 | unlock 2 skills | unlock 1 skill | unlock 0 skills |
| Level 3 | unlock 4 skills | unlock 2 skills | unlock 1 skill |
| Level 4 | unlock 6 skills | unlock 4 skills | unlock 3 skills |
Remember you can also choose the nightmare side of the board to make it even harder.
14. Gameplay Example
You just entered a new zone. There are 2 buildings instead of 1, because you developed the first scavenger skill at the start of the game. You drew both buildings on your player sheet. You decide to break in. The DIY shop is your target. You need a 4+. You decide to roll 2 dice. You roll a 2 and a 5. Success! The 5 will do it. You place the used dice in the holding box and flip the DIY shop. Now you can scavenge. There is a book (wp +1) and food (food +1). Because you are low on willpower, you decide to take the book. You adjust the willpower marker and mark the DIY shop on your map to show it has been scavenged successfully.
There are a lot of different actions to do, but you aren't skilled enough to do most of them. You look at the rubble card and read the text on the top right, below 'opportunity'. It says: 'Can we use it?' It seems there might be something useful between the rubble! Maybe there is some food or building materials. You need those. You decide to look for an opportunity in the rubble. You need to roll equal to or lower than your willpower value. Since your willpower is 2, your chances aren't very high. You decide not to roll, but pay 3 dice to the holding box instead. The action automatically succeeds. You flip the card and read the opportunity text. Yes! You found food! You adjust the food track.
You don't have any dice left. You must rest to get them back. You take your dice back and take a rubble card from the deck and read the text in the white box at the bottom. The first line says: bitten, but no bandages: death. Luckily you aren't bitten. So you are still alive. Then it says: mob +2. The mob grows. You add 2 zombie cards to the mob. Now you read the dilemma on the right: "No! Thieves stole your food during the night!" You have 2 options. You can SEARCH for them or ACCEPT it. You decide to search for them. Which makes the mob grow (+1), but will only make you lose 1 food, instead of 2.
You discard the rubble card. You decide you have seen enough in this zone. You want to move to another zone. You need to do a threat check first. Your threat is 3. You roll the black die. On a 3 or lower, you encounter zombies. It's a 2. You pick one of the zombie cards next to the zombie deck, flip it and lay it in front of you. You have a pistol so you prepare a ranged attack. Because your threat level is 4 (threat 3 + level 1) you fight 3 crowd with toughness 4. You find 2 bullets on the cards in play. You shoot twice. You roll the black die. You need a 4 or higher, because of the toughness. First a 2, which is a miss. One more shot to go… You roll again. It's a 6! One down.
Now the hand-to-hand fighting starts. Since you shot one zombie, you only fight 2 zombies now. You have a bat as a weapon, which makes you re-roll all your 1s. You take 2 brown dice and start the fight. You take the red die and add one white die. You roll them together with the brown dice. You roll a 4 and a 1. Because of your bat, you may re-roll the 1. It's a 6! The zombies roll a 2 and a 6. You place the zombie 2 in 'down' and the zombie 6 in 'hit'. With your 4 you take out the zombie 2. You place it in eliminated. With your 6 you defend the zombie 6. You place it in 'down'. Now you roll again. You take the only zombie die that's left and roll it together with your 2 dice. You roll a 6 and a 5. The zombie die ends up as a 5. You place the zombie die in 'hit'. With the 6 you defend and place the zombie die into down. With the 5 you give it a final blow and place it in eliminated. The zombies are beaten. You place both of your dice in the holding box and discard the zombie card. You earn 1 XP and adjust your XP track. Since you crossed the level 2 border, you level up! You reset the xp track to 0, and cross out level 2 on the level track. You choose a new skill: breaking in: +1. Since you already have unlocked the first scavenger skill you also unlock a new action: Barricade. You add the level 2 zombies to the mob deck.
Finally you can make your move into the next zone. You want to move north. You take a buildings card, flip it and take a look at the white part in the bottom left. In the next one, you have to draw a road to the north, east and south there. Then increase the threat according to the card. Next, you discard the rubble and building cards on the right side of the board and replace them with new ones. You draw the new buildings in the new zone and place your pawn on it.
Chapters: Mission Choices and Setup
The four chapters at the back of the manual tell the campaign story (story text omitted here). Each ends with a choice of missions, the mission setup, and the success bonus carried into the next mission.
Chapter 1 (Sector N-E)
- Find yourself some food — play mission 1A. Success bonus for mission 2: willpower +1, home status -1 (but at least 1).
- Repair your home — play mission 1B. Success bonus for mission 2: willpower -1, home status +1.
Mission 1 setup: XP: 0, threat: 2, wp: 5, health: 5, home status: 2, bandages: 1.
Special setup rules: Take the weapons marked with 'tool'. Shuffle them and pick 2 at random. Choose 1. Leave rubble cards 'who goes there' out of the game. (You won't meet other survivors during the first missions.)
Chapter 2 (Sector S-E)
- Survival in the mall — play mission 2A. Success bonus mission 3: WP +1, food +1.
- Protect the weak — play mission 2B. Success bonus mission 3: health +1, bandages +1.
- Neutralize infestations — play mission 2C. Success bonus mission 3: WP +2.
Mission 2 setup: threat: 2, wp: 5, health: 5, bandages: 1.
Special setup rules: Draw your home in zone A4. Shuffle the left out rubble cards back in the deck.
Chapter 3
- Frank's gang — play mission 3A. Success bonus mission 4: upgrade leadership skill.
- Fix the water supply — play mission 3B. Success bonus mission 4: health +1, wp +1.
- Brute force — play mission 3C. Success bonus mission 4: food +2.
Mission 3 setup: threat: 3, wp: 4, health: 5, bandages: 1.
Chapter 4
- Stop the mob — play mission 4A.
- Save the crowd — play mission 4B.
Mission 4 setup: threat: 2, wp: 3, health: 5, mob: 0, bandages: 1.
Actions Reference
- Fight (roll selected dice): This action isn't printed on any of the cards. You do this automatically when you are attacked by zombies. You take any zombie card from the mob (see manual for fighting rules).
- Move (free action): Do a threat check to see if you need to fight, take a buildings card: draw map and increase threat. After that, move your pawn into the new zone. Refresh building and rubble cards.
- Opportunity (roll wp-): When you are looking for opportunities you check your willpower. Roll dice. You need to roll the value of your willpower (wp) or lower to succeed. When you do, you may flip the card and read the opportunity text on the upper right.
- Rest (take back dice): Take back all your white dice from the holding box. After that, you take a card from the rubble deck, flip it and read the text in the white box at the bottom. Choose one of the outcomes of the dilemma. You don't need to have spent all of your dice to rest.
- Break in (roll selected dice) + scavenge (free): You scavenge right after you successfully broke into a building. Choose 1 of the 2 available things to loot. If this is a weapon, you may search for the corresponding card in the weapon deck and place it in front of you. Else, you earn the advantages shown.
- Strip (pay die): When you strip, you collect building materials. Pay 1 die to gain 1 building materials.
- Clear & claim (pay 1 building materials): To clear the building, flip building cards from the deck, until you find 'cleared'. Pay 1 building materials to claim it. You can stop trying at any time.