Exodus: A Z War One Game
Exodus: A Z War One Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Exodus
About
Exodus is a stand alone game for 1-5 players that combines intense tactical combat, resource management and an engaging comic book narrative.
The Comic Book Campaign
The Exodus campaign, which can be played either solo, or 2 player co-operative, sees players taking on the roles of two war veterans, stranded on an island ravaged by a rapidly mutating super virus. Their perilous journey will take them from infested towns and harbors, to the corridors of an abandoned cargo ship and even out onto the open water, where untold horrors lurk.
Comic book "cut scenes" link the increasingly challenging missions for an immersive and breathtakingly cinematic experience. Players work to complete story-centric objectives across a variety of locations, while constantly scouring the environment for resources.
Quick Play Mode
All of the Exodus comic book campaign missions can be played as stand alone "quick play" missions, simply choose perks, set up the game & play.
Director Mode
Director Mode is a game variation which allows an extra player to take on the roll of "the director". Through the use of director cards, this player can stack the odds against the heroes, manipulating spawning, pacing & enemy behaviour to suit their own evil design. A director can even be added to the campaign, but only if you're feeling brave!
How to Play (Campaign)
The Exodus comic book campaign is designed to be played solo, or as a 2 player co-operative. Players take control of one or both of the hero characters, whilst the enemy "infected" have a set of automated rules which govern their movement & behaviour. Both heroes must always be used, so solo players must play with 2 heroes. Each comic book chapter concludes with a mission that takes place on the game board.
At various points throughout the campaign players are given the opportunity to "level up" their heroes using perk cards which can dramatically improve their performance.
Walls
Each tile is made up of "Rooms" and open "Corridor" sections, with each room's perimeter marked by a white line or "Wall". These walls block both movement and visibility. Any hero wishing to enter a room must do so through the room's door.
Doors
Every room in the game has one, or sometimes multiple gaps in it's walls (white line), these are doorways. When the board is set up for a game, place a door on it's plastic stand on every doorway on the board. Sometimes doors are locked and require a coloured keycard to be opened, this will be detailed on the mission page.
Dice
We use two 8 sided dice to determine various aspect of Exodus game play; we refer to these as "D8" for short.
Cards & Counters
We use 5 different types of cards: Equipment Cards, Search Cards, Infected Cards, Item Cards & Director Cards, along with a wide variety of different counters, which are used to mark items, objective locations etc. on the board.
Counters: Spawn Point, Searched, Active Room, Alert!, Objective, Crate, Kill Points, Key, Valve, Fuel Can, Director Control, Flame Marker.
The Board
The Exodus board is made up of multiple double sided "tiles", which can be arranged into many possible map layouts. Each chapter of the campaign uses a different map layout, this is detailed on the mission page, along with item locations, enemy positions and the conditions our heroes must fulfil in order to complete the mission.
Squares
Each Tile is divided into squares which are used to regulate movement and range. Only one hero may occupy a single square and heroes may not move through squares occupied by other heroes or enemy units. Some squares on the board contain various objects, from tables & beds, to vehicles & crates. None of these items have an effect on movement or line of sight and are for aesthetic purposes only (even in cases where a square is completely obscured by a vehicle or other large item, simply move/aim as if the square is still visible).
Hero & Tracker Boards
Each hero has their own board, which details their skills, attributes & starting equipment set; this is also used to show active equipment & any search cards the hero may be carrying. The tracker board is used to track various pieces of information throughout the game, from ammunition & power perk usage to turn order & infection stage.
How to Play (Campaign), continued
Save Tickets
Save tickets are used to record players progress through the campaign. They are used to either "pause" progress (for players wishing to return to their campaign in a later session), or to log an official "save point" which can be returned to at any point. Players may only log 3 official saves throughout the campaign, so choosing the correct time to save is imperative to success.
The save ticket has the following sections: End of Mission / Ticket Number (1), with pause and save slots (2); Perks / Infection (3); an equipment section (4); and a search cards section (5).
- If players wish to log an official save at the end of the mission write the number of the mission they have just finished in the first available save slot (1). The next time they save, write it in the next slot (2), and the last time in the final slot (3). At any point in the campaign, either when a mission is failed or players have chosen to retire, they can return to their last save point.
- If players wish to simply record their progress to resume their game later write the number of the mission they have just finished in the pause slot. Paused games can only be resumed, players may not return to a pause point in the same manner as an official save.
- In this section record the hero names, if they are infected, the stage of infection they finished the last mission on & also any perk cards they have selected over the course of the campaign.
- In this section players should record any equipment cards they are carrying, along with the amounts of ammunition left in their weapons. It does not matter which cards each hero is carrying as both equipment & search cards can be freely exchanged in the pre game lobby before the next mission begins.
- In this section players should record the search cards they are carrying.
The Pre-Game Lobby
Before beginning the next mission of the campaign, players have access to the pre-game lobby. In the pre-game lobby players may do the following:
Level up - If the next mission has a "level up" option, players may choose a new perk card for each of their heroes.
Reload - Players may use ammunition search cards in the same manner as in live play to reload their weapons.
Craft - Players may use search cards they are holding in the same manner as in live play to craft equipment.
Exchange - Players may freely exchange search & equipment cards.
Starting the Game
Once you have set up the board according to the map on the mission page (photo), you are ready to begin. Exodus games are played through a series of turns, with each turn broken down into four phases:
Phase 1 - Hero Move: During this phase any heroes wishing to carry out actions detailed in the action point list may do so.
Phase 2 - Infected Move: During this phase all eligible infected units on the board will move and/or attack following the automatic rules for their specific unit type.
Phase 3 - Infected Spawn: Spawning for each mission is dictated by the spawning section of the mission page. Units which spawn will move & attack on the turn that they spawn, in the same manner as the previous phase.
Phase 4 - End Phase: This is used to tidy the board of any expired counters, stand up any knocked down infected units & in the event of a hero being infected, advance their infection to the next stage.
(Mission map legend: Hero Start Point, Spawn Point, Zombie, Objective, Crate, Locked Doors.)
The Hero Move
During the hero move players may move & fight etc. with all of their heroes. The order that the heroes move is decided by the players and can be different every turn. Each hero must complete their move before the next hero starts theirs, so in tricky situations be sure to plan your turn order carefully. Players do not need to move their hero if they do not want to.
Actions
At the beginning of their turn each hero has 4 action points (AP). These AP are used to spend on actions shown on the table on the right (we will go into more detail on these later). Each action has an AP "cost" which represents the time the action will take to complete.
Each action must be completed one at a time and completed before moving on to the next action. When a hero either wishes to stop using, or has ran out of action points, the next hero's turn begins. Once all heroes have done this, the hero turn is over. Unused AP cannot be carried over to the next turn.
| Action | AP |
|---|---|
| Move (1 Square) | 1 |
| Sprint (3 Squares) | 2 |
| Crawl (1 Square) | 2 |
| Dive (2 Squares) | 1 |
| Stand Up | 2 |
| Open / Close Door | 1 |
| Knock Activation | 1 |
| Quick Fire / Melee | 1 |
| Move & Quick Fire | 1 |
| Move & Melee | 1 |
| Reload | 2 |
| Move & Reload | 2 |
Free Actions (0 AP): Drop Prone, Place Item, Switch Active Weapon, Exchange Inventory.
Movement
The board is divided into squares which heroes use to move around. Moving 1 square costs 1 action point and this can be done in any direction, horizontal, vertical or diagonal, as long as the move does not pass over a wall, corner or doorway.
Mike may move in any direction but not through or diagonally across walls. Moving diagonally through doorways is also an illegal move.
Heroes may also carry out a sprint action for 2 action points. The sprint action allows the hero to move 3 squares for just 2 action points (the 3 squares do not need to be in a straight line). Heroes may not pass through or finish on a square containing another hero or infected unit. Heroes may not finish their turn on a square containing an enemy spawn point.
Attacking
In order for a hero to use a weapon, the weapon's card must be face up on the equipment space of their hero board. All other equipment cards the hero is carrying should be kept face down underneath the active weapon card. Changing your active weapon is a free action but you may only do it once per turn. Heroes may only attack infected units, never other heroes.
(Illustrations: hero board with no active weapon / with active weapon.)
Ballistic (Ranged) Attacks
Quick firing a weapon costs 1 action point. You can quick fire in any direction, as long as the target is within your line of sight (LOS). Line of sight is determined by tracing a line from the centre of your hero's square to the centre of the target's square. If the line passes through a square containing another hero, infected unit, closed door or wall, the line of sight is blocked & the attack cannot be made. If players are unsure that line of sight is clear, assume no line of sight exists. Note that a ballistic attack can be made diagonally over a wall or doorway.
(Diagram caption: Kira is unable to shoot at any of the squares containing crosses. She is unable to hit one zombie as the shot is blocked by another infected unit. One zombie is blocked by another hero character. One zombie cannot be hit as Kira's line of sight is blocked by a wall. Cross colours: LOS blocked by wall / door / hero / enemy.)
To make a quick fire attack, simply nominate your target, rotate the ammunition dial on the relevant part of the tracker board & then roll a D8 dice. The result of this roll is referenced against the quick fire chart on the left hand side of your active weapon card, with the result being either a miss, a knockdown or a kill. In the case of a miss, nothing happens. For a knockdown result, place the target figure prone (lie it down) on the square it is on. If the roll is a kill, remove the target unit from play.
Example: Kira has a clear line of sight and elects to shoot at the zombie. She uses a quick fire attack for 1 AP. Her active weapon is the .50 pistol, so 1 bullet is deducted using the dial. She rolls a D8 dice & the result is a 7. We check the left "quick fire" side of the active weapon card and see that a 5 or higher results in a kill (.50 Pistol quick fire: 1-3 Miss, 4 Knockdown, 5-8 Kill). The zombie is removed from play & Kira continues her turn with 3 action points remaining.
You can also combine a quick fire action with moving 1 square for no additional AP cost. The quick fire action can take place either before or after the 1 square of movement.
Example: Kira has no clear line of sight at the beginning of her turn. She chooses to use a "Move & Quick fire" action for 1 AP. After she moves, the target is nominated, the ammunition is deducted from her tracker & a D8 is rolled for the shot.
If you are shooting then moving as one action, you should still move the piece before you make the quick fire roll, as the move must still be made regardless of the outcome on the dice.
Example: Kira has a clear line of sight at the beginning of her turn. She uses a "Move & Quick fire" action for 1 AP. She nominates her target, then moves. After she moves, the ammunition is deducted from her tracker & a D8 is rolled to determine the result of the quick fire.
Aimed Fire
Aimed firing a weapon costs 2 action points & cannot be combined with movement. As with quick firing you can make an aimed fire attack in any direction, as long as the target is within your line of sight. Nominate your target, subtract the ammunition from the ammunition dial & roll a D8 dice. The result of this roll is referenced against the aimed fire chart on the right hand side of your active weapon card.
Example: Kira has a clear line of sight and elects to shoot at the zombie. She uses an aimed fire attack for 2 AP. Her active weapon is the .50 pistol, so 1 bullet is subtracted from her ammo. She rolls a 4. We check the "aimed fire" (right) side of the weapon card and see that a 3 or higher results in a kill (.50 Pistol aimed fire: 1 Miss, 2 Knockdown, 3-8 Kill). The zombie is removed from play and Kira continues her turn with 2 action points remaining.
Reloading
Reloading costs 2 action points and can be combined with moving 1 square for no additional AP cost. The weapon you are reloading must be your active weapon, simply select the correct ammunition card from your search deck, add the relevant number of rounds to the ammunition dial & discard the card. Note that if the card you use has more units of ammunition than are needed for a fully loaded weapon, the additional rounds are wasted.
Melee Attacks
Melee attacks cost 1 action point. You can melee attack any target on an adjacent square, in any direction, providing that it is not blocked by a wall, closed door, or diagonally across a corner or doorway. Note that whilst melee attacks cannot be made diagonally over doorways and corners, it is still possible in these situations, to use ballistic attacks.
Diagram notes: one zombie cannot be hit as it is blocked by a closed door; one cannot be hit as it is across a doorway; one cannot be hit as it is blocked by a wall; one cannot be hit as it is across a corner. Kira cannot melee attack a zombie that is out of range. Kira can melee attack the other adjacent zombies.
To make a melee attack, first make sure you have a melee weapon set as your active weapon. Nominate your target & roll a D8 dice. The result of this roll is referenced against your active weapon card, with the result being either a "miss", a "knockdown" or a "kill". In the case of a miss, nothing happens. For a knockdown result, place the target figure prone (lie it down) on the square it is on. If the roll is a kill, remove the target unit from play. Melee weapons do not use ammunition but must always be discarded due to "wear and tear" at the end of the mission.
Example: Kira has a zombie on an unobstructed adjacent square and elects to melee attack for 1 AP. She rolls a D8 dice and the result is a 7. We check the active weapon card (Spiker; Range: Melee; Special: Discard at Chapter End; 1-4 Miss, 5 Knockdown, 6-8 Kill) and see that a 6 or higher is a kill. The zombie is removed & Kira continues her turn with 3 action points remaining.
You can also combine a melee attack action with moving 1 square. The melee attack action can take place either before or after the 1 square of movement.
Example: Kira is out of range to melee at the beginning of her turn. She chooses to use a "Move & Melee" action for 1 AP. After she moves, the target is selected & a D8 is rolled to determine the result of the melee attack.
If you are meleeing then moving as one action, you should still move the piece before you make the melee roll, as the move must still be made regardless of the outcome on the dice.
Example: Kira is in range to melee at the start of her turn. She chooses to use a "Move & Melee" action for 1 AP. She selects the target then moves. After she moves, a D8 is rolled to determine the result of the melee attack.
If a hero has either a ballistic weapon active or no active weapon they can still perform an "unarmed melee" using the "unarmed melee" table on their hero board.
Knockdowns & Executions
If an infected unit is knocked down by either a ballistic or melee attack, they are placed prone (laid down on their back) on the same square they were hit on. Prone infected can do nothing during the infected turn. During the end phase, all prone infected units stand back up (remaining on the same square & facing the closest hero), they do nothing else until the next infected turn.
Prone infected can be attacked in exactly the same way as when standing, with the exception that a "knockdown" result will have no effect.
If a hero is on an adjacent square to a prone infected they can use an execution action for 2 action points. The execution action requires an active weapon (either ballistic or melee). No dice roll is needed for an execution, but if you are using a ballistic weapon, you still need to subtract the relevant ammunition on your tracker board (you cannot perform an unarmed execution without the "kerb stomp" perk).
While standing on an adjacent square, simply announce that you are executing the prone infected and remove the figure from play. The same rules apply to executions as regular attacks. A melee execution cannot be through a wall or diagonally over a doorway / corner & a ballistic execution requires a clear line of sight.
Alert!
The alert action costs 2 AP and, if used, must be the last action that a hero carries out during their turn. A hero on alert is able to make attacks during the infected move. Unlike regular quick fire or melee attacks, which can be made in any direction, alert attacks are directional and can only take place in the hero's forward line of sight. A hero wishing to go on alert must place an alert token on an adjacent square, with the tip of the alert "triangle" pointing in the direction they wish to cover. The alert token must be placed on a horizontal or vertical square, never on a diagonal.
The alert token shows the direction that Mike is facing. All of the squares shaded in yellow are all eligible for attack. Unshaded squares are behind him and cannot be hit. Note that normal rules for line of sight still apply within the eligible area.
Every time an infected unit moves 1 square within the targetable area of a hero on alert with a ballistic weapon, the hero may make a quick fire attack. Whilst ever the hero has a clear line of sight at moving targets they can continue to fire until either they are taken down, or their active weapon runs out of ammunition.
Example: Mike uses his last 2 AP to set an alert with his pistol pointing in the direction of the alert token. The top zombie steps into his line of sight so he quick fires. He deducts a bullet and rolls a D8. He rolls an 8, the zombie is killed and removed from play. The second zombie moves forward 1 square. Mike quick fires again. This time he rolls a 3 which is a miss. The zombie moves again. Mike has one final quick shot before the zombie attempts to grab him. He rolls a 5 & the zombie is knocked down. This ends the zombie's move. Mike used 3 bullets during the turn. In the end phase, the zombie stands back up but can do nothing else. Mike's alert token is removed.
If two or more heroes are on alert and have line of sight to the same target, players may choose the firing order and wait to see the previous hero's result before choosing wether or not to fire.
A hero wishing to use an alert action with a melee weapon places the token in the same manner as the ballistic weapon. Any infected stepping into the targetable area can be melee attacked.
The alert token shows the direction that Mike is facing. All of the squares shaded in yellow are all eligible for attack. Unshaded squares are behind him and cannot be hit. Note that normal rules for melee attacks still apply, so attacks cannot be made diagonally through doorways or across corners.
Using alert with a melee weapon is a risky move, as the hero only has one attempt to kill or knock down the infected unit before a grab test is taken (more on grab tests later). All alert tokens are removed from play during the end phase of the turn.
Assassinations
If a hero can reach the square directly behind an infected unit, without ever standing in/moving through the target unit's forward line of sight during the turn, any quick fire or melee action is an automatic kill (no dice roll is required). As with an execution action, this cannot be an unarmed melee (unless the hero has the "snap" perk) & use of a ballistic weapon for the assassination will still use the relevant amount of ammunition.
Any quick attacks made from the marked square, without stepping into the zombie's forward line of sight (shaded red) are automatic kills. Example: Mike uses a "move and quick fire" action for 1 AP. He steps onto the square directly behind the zombie, deducts a bullet & removes the zombie from play. No dice roll is needed.
Doors
At the beginning of a game of Exodus the board is divided into active and closed areas. Every "corridor" section (corridor section can mean corridor, road, path or other open area) is active, whilst every "room" area (areas surrounded by white walls and doors) is closed.
When a door to a room is opened the area becomes active and remains so for the rest of the game.
Opening a door costs 1 action point and can only be done from the square directly in front of it (you cannot open doors on the diagonal). When the door to a room is opened an "active" token is placed and a "room spawn" is rolled. The room spawn tells us if the area is occupied by any infected units and how far away from the door they are. The room spawn differs from chapter to chapter, with the spawn chart for each chapter being detailed on the mission page.
| Room Spawn (D8) | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 1 | No spawn |
| 2 | No spawn |
| 3 | No spawn |
| 4 | 1 Zombie (3) |
| 5 | 1 Zombie (2) |
| 6 | 1 Zombie (1*) |
| 7 | 2 Zombies (3) |
| 8 | 2 Zombies (2) |
*Square adjacent to the hero.
Example: As soon as the door is opened we roll a D8 dice (using the room spawn chart above). This roll tells us if there are any infected units on the room and if so, how many. We roll a 7 which means that there are 2 zombies in the room and they are 3 squares away. The hero may place the zombies on any squares they wish, as long as they are the correct number of squares away. If the room is too small to place an enemy unit as far away as the table dictates, you should place it as far away as it is possible to do so.
Once the infected units have been placed (facing the door which has just been opened), the hero continues their turn with any remaining action points they have. The spawned infected units will move in the infected move.
Tip! It is always best to open a door with your first action point of the turn. That way, your hero still has 3 action points remaining to deal with any enemies spawning in the room.
Doors can also be closed for 1 AP, either from inside or outside of a room, but the hero must still be on one of the squares directly in front of the door (never diagonal).
Locked Doors
Locked doors can only be opened by a hero carrying the appropriate colour coded key. Once one of the locked doors to a room has been opened all doors to that room are considered to be unlocked for the duration of the mission.
Knock Activation
If a hero wishes to activate a room without opening the door the knock activation action can be used. The knock activation action can only be done from the square directly in front of the door, as with the opening/closing action. Simply declare that you are activating the room, place an "active" token and roll a "room spawn" as if the door has been opened.
Searching
The search action costs 4 AP, so in order to search the hero needs to already be in the room at the beginning of their turn. To search a room, simply declare that you are searching and draw a card from the search deck. You can search from any square in the room, as long as the room contains no infected units at the time. If a hero is wounded or infected, they are allowed to carry out a search for less than 4 action points. For example a hero with a stage 4 infection would still be allowed to search a room using their maximum 3 AP allowance. Once a search card has been drawn turn over the active token to show the "search" side. This shows that the room is still active, but has been searched and cannot be searched again.
Crates
Crates are a safer and quicker means for a hero to obtain search cards. To break a crate, simply pass through the square containing the crate token using any move or sprint action, pull a search card from the search deck & remove the crate token from play.
Tasks
The task action is usually used to complete mission objectives. The action costs 4 AP so, as with searching, the hero needs to already be in the room (or on the designated square) at the beginning of their turn. As with searching, a wounded player can still carry out a task using their maximum action point allowance.
Crafting
The craft action costs 4 action points (although as with searching, wounded heroes may craft with their maximum available AP). Crafting a piece of equipment requires one of each of the search cards detailed on the bottom of the equipment card. Simply declare that you are crafting, discard all of the relevant search cards and add the equipment card to the hero's equipment deck.
Example: Craft a Molotov using the 2 search cards shown in the bottom bar (Rags & Alcohol). Rags can be used to craft either Med Packs or Molotovs. Alcohol can be used to craft either Med Packs or Molotovs. (Molotov card: Range: 6; Type: Single Use; 1-3 Miss, 4-8 Kill.)
Stairs
Some Exodus missions require that the board be split into multiple levels or "floors". The stairway squares function in exactly the same way as corridor squares, in that they can be moved across in any direction and do not block line of sight. Maps which are split into multiple floors always have stairways in the same relative position. These stairway squares have a small symbol which is colour coded to the stairway on the corresponding floor.
Squares with symbols of the same colour are considered to be adjacent. Line of sight extends between floors but only on the coloured stairway squares, so a hero standing on the top of a stairway can attack (ballistic or melee) enemy units on the adjacent stairway squares and enemies may also grab heroes from this position.
Diagram caption: Kira is unable to shoot at any of the squares containing crosses. She is unable to hit one zombie as the shot is blocked by the floor. Another zombie cannot be hit as Kira's line of sight is blocked by a wall. These zombies are both possible targets.
Open Water Squares
Many of the Exodus mission layouts are separated into corridors, rooms & open water. Open water squares are displayed on the board using dotted white lines. Heroes may not move through open water squares without use of the rib.
Transition Squares
Transition squares are a means for heroes to step onto & off of the rib in order to navigate open water squares.
The Rib
Heroes can only "step onto" the rib from a transition square. The adjacent rib can be facing in any direction. Once onboard they can continue to use their action points to drive the rib using the actions table below.
| Rib action | AP |
|---|---|
| Move (1 Square) Straight or Diagonally | 1 AP |
| Turn (90 Degrees) | 1 AP |
| Reverse Move (1 Square) Straight or Diagonally | 2 AP |
| Reverse Turn (90 Degrees) | 2 AP |
| Full Throttle (3 Squares) Straight or Diagonally | 2 AP |
The move action (1AP) will move the rib 1 square forwards either straight or diagonally. The turn action (1AP) will rotate the rib 90 degrees forwards to the left or right. The reverse action (2AP) will move the rib 1 square backwards either straight or diagonally. The reverse turn action (2AP) will rotate the rib 90 degrees backwards to the left or right.
The Rib can carry up to 3 heroes, with the hero driving the rib being placed furthest to the back (near the motor). You can freely swap which hero is driving at the beginning of the hero move. When calculating line of sight for any hero shooting from the rib use the centre of the rib. Other heroes onboard do not block line of sight.
In addition to the above driving actions, heroes onboard the rib (driving or passengers) may use the following actions:
Change Weapon, Craft, Exchange Inventory, Quick Fire, Aimed Fire, Reload & Alert!
Water Obstacles
Water obstacles are marked in the water sections of the board with a black line similar to walls on land sections. Unlike walls and doorways water obstacles can be moved across diagonally and do not block line of sight.
Example: Mike uses a "turn" action for 1AP, squeezing the rib between the water obstacle lines. He then uses a "full throttle" action for 2AP to move forwards and diagonally 3 squares, avoiding the obstacles. He then uses a "move" action for his last 1 AP to move 1 square and dock with the fishing boat. In his next turn Mike can step (move or sprint) from the rib onto the transition square and board the fishing boat.
Open Water Line of Sight
Non-open water squares are considered "Elevated squares" these are the land and boat (not including the rib) squares the heroes generally move around on. For Line of sight purposes they are considered all to be at the same elevation as each other and higher than open water squares.
As open water squares are significantly lower than elevated squares, line of sight only exists between open water squares and the closest elevated square to them (eg. you cannot shoot from an elevated square, through another elevated square in the open water and you cannot shoot from an open water square, through an elevated square to hit a target on another elevated square).
When firing from an elevated square, across water to another elevated square, line of sight is calculated normally. When firing from an open water square to another open water square, elevated squares will block line of sight.
Diagram caption: Kira is unable to shoot at any of the squares containing crosses. She is unable to hit some squares as line of sight is blocked by a wall. She is unable to hit others as line of sight is blocked by elevated regular squares. She is unable to hit others as her line of sight is blocked by both elevated squares and a wall. These reavers are all targetable.
NPC
NPCs are controlled by any player in the same manner as heroes but they have a limited set of actions:
Move, Sprint, Stand Up, Open/Close Door, Drop Prone, Place Item.
Infected will treat NPCs exactly the same as heroes, moving towards them & attacking. If an NPC is taken down by infected the infected units are placed on their NPC card. If an NPC fails a bite test they are automatically killed and the mission is failed.
NPCs may not carry equipment or search cards but they can carry 1 item in the same manner as a hero.
The Infected Move
During the infected move players move all of the infected units on the board. Infected units are moved in the order of how close they are to a hero, with the closest moving first and the furthest away moving last.
Infected units begin each turn in one of two states: "Walking" or "Charging". Walking units cannot "see" or "smell" any heroes, whereas a charging unit has either a clear line of sight to a hero or has a hero within it's smell range.
Infected line of sight works in exactly the same way as a hero's (by tracing a line from the centre of the infected's square to the centre of the hero's square) with the exception that infected line of sight is not blocked by other units.
Smell range is calculated by counting squares in any direction (including diagonally across corners and doorways). Smell is blocked only by walls & closed doors.
Infected card example (Zombie): Grab Test: 1-4 Taken Down, 5-8 Safe (no knockdown result). Bite Test: 1-4 Bitten, 5-8 Safe. Walk: 2, Smell: 4, Charge: 4, Kill Points: 1. The Zombie class infected walks 2 squares, charges 4 squares and has a smell range of 4 squares. Zombies require 1 successful kill roll to be eliminated.
Walking Infected
Each turn, every infected unit on the board will move it's "walk" allowance towards the closest hero. They will always take the shortest route possible, but they will only move through activated areas of the board (corridor sections & rooms which have already been activated). If 2 or more heroes are equidistant from the infected, each hero must roll a dice, with the lowest roll being the infected's chosen target.
When determining the distance from the zombie to the hero count the squares for the fastest route possible using only active areas of the board including diagonals over doorways and corners. Closed doors also have no influence on this number. In this case the zombie is 5 squares away from Kira and 7 squares away from Mike so it would move it's "walk" allowance (2 squares) towards Kira.
If there are multiple routes which are the same distance, the player may choose which route the infected takes (in director games the director makes this decision). Where possible, every infected unit must always move it's full walk allowance. If an infected unit's walk allowance can reach a square closer to the closest hero, it will always do so. The only time that a walking infected will not use it's full allowance is if it's path is completely blocked by other units (prone or standing) making it impossible to advance it's position.
As with heroes, infected may move onto any adjacent square, including diagonals, unless the diagonal passes through a wall, door way, corner, or is blocked by another figure (standing or prone). Infected will open doors (at the cost of 1 of their movement points) but only to rooms which are already activated.
Example: Three zombies spawn on A. The first one moves 2 squares toward Mike by the shortest route. Both of the orange squares are 5 squares away from Mike so the player can move the zombie to either one of these. The second zombie has to move to the other available orange square. The third does not have space to move within 5 squares of Mike as the spaces are occupied. The player may choose to move this zombie to the right, or leave it on the spawn point as both are 6 squares away.
Charging Infected
Infected will charge when they either "see", or "smell" a hero. If an infected unit begins it's turn with, or at any point during it's movement, gains a clear line of sight to a hero character, it will charge. If, either at the beginning of it's turn or during movement an infected passes within it's smell range of a hero character, it will smell the hero & charge.
A charging infected moves it's "charge" allowance (subtract any movement the unit has already made if it begins its charge mid-turn). Charging infected always prioritise a hero they can see or smell, even if this hero is not the closest. This allows you to "herd" charging infected away from closer, undetected heroes.
If an infected can see or smell 2 or more heroes at the same time it will charge at the nearest one. If 2 or more heroes are equidistant from the infected, each player must roll a dice with the lowest roll being the infected's chosen target.
Examples of charging: The zombie moves its 2 square movement allowance towards Mike. Note that the fastest route to Mike is through the room, but the area is not active so the zombie cannot use it. Its second square of movement puts it within line of sight of Mike so it charges. It's charge allowance is 4 so we subtract the 2 squares it's already moved and move it's remaining 2 squares towards Mike. In a second example, the zombie moves its 2 squares towards Mike and the zombie's second square of movement puts it within its 4 square smell range, so the zombie charges its remaining 2 squares of movement towards Mike.
Charging infected will move through squares containing other infected units (either stood up or prone), providing that they have enough movement to reach the square after the one containing the other infected unit. Alert fire from a hero is resolved once the infected reaches the unoccupied square, as you cannot knock down an enemy on an occupied square. (For example a zombie moves 2 squares towards a hero on alert, the first square of movement contains a prone enemy unit. We move the zombie 2 squares and then the hero is allowed up to 2 quick fire attacks. If the zombie is knocked down with the first attack, it is still placed prone on the second square.)
Example: The closest zombie's first square of move puts it within smell range of Mike so it charges. The player may move the charging zombie to any of the red squares as they are all 2 squares away from Mike. The second zombie's first square of move puts it within smell range of Mike so it charges. The player may move the charging zombie to any of the 2 remaining red squares as they are all 2 squares away from Mike. The last zombie can move to either of the 2 orange spaces as they are both 3 squares away.
Grabbing & Biting
Infected units walk/charge towards the nearest hero until they reach a square from which they can grab. It does not cost the infected any of it's movement points to make a grab attempt. As with a hero making a melee attack, infected can grab from any adjacent square, horizontal, vertical or diagonal, as long as the grab does not pass over a wall, corner or doorway. When an infected unit reaches one of these squares the hero must immediately take a grab test.
| Grab Test (Zombie, D8) | Result |
|---|---|
| 1-4 | Taken Down |
| - | Knockdown |
| 5-8 | Safe |
| Bite Test (Zombie, D8) | Result |
|---|---|
| 1-4 | Bitten |
| 5-8 | Safe |
If the hero rolls a number corresponding to the "safe" outcome, the infected unit's turn is over. Move on to the next closest infected's move. If the result is "taken down", place the hero prone on the square they are stood on, remove the infected unit from the board and place it on their hero board (as both the infected & the hero are occupying the same square). In this position, the hero is said to be "locked in a grapple".
When a hero is taken down, they must immediately take a "bite test". A roll resulting in a "safe" outcome ends the infected unit's turn.
A "bitten" result (as the name suggests) means that the hero has been bitten and is now infected. Rotate the infection dial to the first stage marker on the hero's tracker board, then move onto the next infected unit's move.
Infection dial stages (action points available):
| Stage | AP |
|---|---|
| Stage 1 | 4 AP |
| Stage 2 | 4 AP |
| Stage 3 | 4 AP |
| Stage 4 | 3 AP |
| Stage 5 | 2 AP |
Grab tests & bite tests vary in difficulty, depending on the class of infected. The table shown above is for a zombie. If an infected unit reaches a grab position on a prone hero, no grab test is made. Simply remove the unit from the board, place it on the prone figure's hero board & take a bite test.
Every time a bite test is failed rotate the infection dial to the next stage marker. There is no limit to the amount of infected units which can be locked in a grapple with a hero.
At the beginning of the infected move, roll a bite test for every infected unit currently on a hero board.
Example: All 3 Zombies are charging as they are within 4 squares of Mike. The closest zombie moves forward 1 square and tries to grab him. Mike passes his grab test so the first zombie's turn is over. The next zombie moves 3 squares (passing though the first one) finishing in a grab position. This time the grab test is failed so Mike is placed prone and the zombie is placed on his hero board. A bite test is taken which Mike also fails. His infection dial is moved to the stage 1 position. The third zombie moves 3 squares (passing though the first one) finishing in a grab position. This time no grab test is taken, the zombie is placed onto Mike's hero card & another bite test is taken. The test is failed and his infection dial is moved onto stage 2.
Grappling Infected
A hero locked in a grapple with one or more infected has 4 available actions: change weapon, quick fire, melee & sweep.
Changing weapon, quick firing or using a melee attack in a grapple are done in much the same way as when standing. Roll on the table for the active weapon (for ballistic weapons mark off ammo). A "kill" result will remove an infected from play (and from your hero board).
A "knockdown" result has no effect in a grapple position. Only infected units locked in the grapple may be attacked.
The sweep action costs 2 AP and requires no dice roll. Simply remove one infected target from the grapple (your hero board) and place in a prone position on any unoccupied adjacent square. As with a knocked down infected, it will do nothing in the infected turn and then stand back up in the end phase.
Heroes may attack (either ballistic or melee) infected units locked in a grapple with other heroes, but in order to do this they must be on an adjacent square. Heroes may also use the execution action from this position. Once there are no longer any infected units locked in a grapple the hero is now just prone and other actions are available.
Prone Heroes
Prone heroes have the following available actions: Crawl, Stand Up, Change Weapon, Place Item, Exchange Inventory, Quick Fire, Aimed Fire, Reload & Alert!
Crawling works exactly the same as moving, although unlike movement, it cannot be combined with attacks. When using the crawl action the hero stays prone; a hero wishing to return to their feet can use the stand up action for 2 action points.
Quick fire, aimed fire & alert! work in exactly the same manner from the ground as they do standing.
Prone units (hero or infected) do not block line of sight.
Diving & Dropping Prone
The dive action allows a hero to move 2 squares in a straight line (vertical horizontal or diagonal) for 1 Action point, finishing in a prone position.
The drop prone action is a free action and is used to give a clear line of sight to another hero.
Facing & Grab Zones
Although free to move in any direction, infected units must always be facing one of the horizontal or vertical flat edges of the square they are standing on, they may never face diagonally.
Infected units will always face the direction of their next square of movement. In the end phase, prone infected will always stand up facing the closest hero.
Every infected unit has a "grab zone" which is made up of the 5 adjacent squares within its forward line of sight. The grab zone is blocked by walls, doorways and corners, just like melee attacks. Any hero wishing to move from a square within the infected's grab zone to another square within it's grab zone must take a grab test. If the test is failed, the hero is immediately taken down. If the hero has AP remaining they may still use it; the infected will not try to bite the hero until the infected move.
Example: Mike begins his turn in a zombie's grab zone. If he moves to another square within the grab zone he would have to make a grab test. Moving out of a grab zone does not require a grab test. From this position the zombie's grab zone is blocked on 2 diagonal squares by the doorway.
A hero wishing to use a move & quick fire or move & melee action within a grab zone must move their hero before rolling the attack as normal. An unsuccessful attack will result in a grab test. If the infected is killed, no roll is needed.
Example: Mike begins his turn inside a zombie's grab zone. He uses a move and melee action for 1 AP. He moves to another square within the zombie's grab zone and attacks it. He rolls a 2 which is a "miss". Mike must now take a grab test as his attack failed.
Stairs (Infected)
Infected move up and down stairways in the same manner as heroes. Infected units, on a floor that does not contain any heroes, will always move towards the closest stairway (not the closest hero). If there are heroes on both floors, infected will move towards the closest hero, regardless of which floor they are on.
Whilst line of sight only exists between the corresponding stairway squares, infected smell range should still be counted in the usual way (including diagonally over corners & walls) between floors.
An infected unit standing on a stairway square, can grab a hero standing on a corresponding stairway square of another floor.
Example: The zombie charges it's 4 square allowance, finishing on the lower stairway square. As the lower & upper stairway squares are considered to be adjacent Kira will now need to take a grab test. If Kira is not taken down in her turn she will be able to melee/shoot the zombie between floors. A second example: the zombie on the lower floor's smell range is calculated including diagonally over the wall AND between the 2 floors meaning that Kira is within it's smell range.
Open Water (Infected)
Infected units, with the exception of the reaver, are not allowed to use open water squares. If infected units are unable to reach any hero targets due to their path being blocked by open water, they will move towards the transition square closest to a hero. If an infected unit reaches a transition square (or gets as close to it as possible if the square is blocked) it will wait there until a hero target becomes available or until a hero moves closer to a different transition square.
Infected will not react (charge) if they see/smell heroes they are unable to reach due to their path being blocked by water & will always prioritise heroes they are able to reach.
Example: Technically this zombie has a clear LOS to Mike on the fishing boat, & Mike is also the closer hero, however, as the zombie has no way to reach him, it will move it's "walk" speed towards Kira as she is a viable target but not within its see/smell range.
Infected units standing on a transition square which is adjacent to an occupied rib will attempt to grab the heroes on the rib. If there are multiple heroes aboard the rib, roll a dice for each of them with the lowest result being the infected unit's chosen target.
Crates (Infected)
Infected units treat crates in the same manner as other infected units. They will not move through a square containing a crate if they are in a "walking" state, however, "charging" infected will pass through squares containing crates if their movement allows them to reach an unoccupied square.
The Infected Spawn
Once all infected units have moved and attacked, we make the turn's spawn roll. Spawning varies from chapter to chapter with the table & spawn points for each being detailed on the chapter's mission page. Below is an example of a spawn chart. On this chart 1 dice is rolled to reveal which spawn point is used & the class & quantity of infected we need to spawn.
| Turn Spawn (D8) | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 1 | 3 Zombies (A) |
| 2 | 3 Zombies (B) |
| 3 | 3 Zombies (C) |
| 4 | 4 Zombies (A) |
| 5 | 4 Zombies (B) |
| 6 | 4 Zombies (C) |
| 7 | 1 Roamer |
| 8 | 1 Roamer |
Spawned units "step onto" the board from an invisible square off the board, so their first square of movement is always the square containing the spawn point. Spawned units move and attack on the turn that they spawn in exactly the same manner as during the infected move.
Example: We make the spawn roll, rolling a 4 we check the turn spawn chart and see that this means we should spawn 4 zombies on spawn point A. As the spawn point is within line of sight of Mike the spawning zombies immediately charge. The first 2 zombies move their full 4 square allowance. The second 2 zombies charge just 3 squares as they do not have enough movement left to pass through the other units. If there are no heroes within line of sight or smell range the zombies just move 2 squares. The last zombie can only move 1 square onto the spawn point.
Pushing Forward
In some situations it is possible for more units to spawn than can fit on the board. If this happens the units already on the board are "pushed forward" to make room for the new units.
Example: The turn spawn indicates that 3 zombies should spawn from point A. The first zombie moves its 2 square "walk" allowance towards the closest hero. The second zombie cannot move its full 2 squares as the path is blocked by the first zombie. The third zombie "pushes forward" the other 2 zombies so that it has space to spawn.
Roamers
A roamer is a single zombie, which is placed on the closest possible active square that a hero has no line of sight to. The square must be on an active area of the board (either a corridor square, or a room which has been activated).
Roamers do not move or attack on the turn they spawn; simply place the roamer & move on to the next phase. If 2 or more heroes are the same distance from a roamer eligible square, each hero must roll a D8. The lowest rolling hero will get the roamer.
Example: The red areas of the board are not active, so roamers cannot be placed here. The unshaded areas are all within line of sight of the heroes. The orange areas are active areas of board (including active rooms) which heroes cannot see, so the roamer is placed on the closest orange square possible.
Drop Offs
If the turn spawn indicates that more miniatures should be placed than are available, simply spawn the maximum available. If there are no miniatures left to spawn then place nothing. In the case of roamer or room spawns, units already in play (starting with those furthest away from the heroes) are removed (dropped off) and placed in the roamer or room spawn position. This ensures that the more immediate threat can always be spawned.
The End Phase
The end phase is broken down into 3 stages:
1. Infection Advance. Any heroes which have been bitten must rotate their infection dial to the next square (note that this is the next square, not necessarily the next stage marker.) If the rotation of the dial does reach the next bite marker the infection worsens to the next stage.
A hero with stage 4 infection has only 3AP each turn. A hero with a stage 5 infection only has 2 AP per turn. A hero dies when their infection dial reaches the death marker.
During a campaign, if a hero dies, the mission is failed and the players must restart using one of their save tickets, if no save tickets have been used the campaign must be restarted from the beginning.
In the end phase infected heroes move their dial to the next square, this means that a hero bitten just once will bleed out and die in 15 turns if left untreated.
2. Counters Removed. All alert tokens are removed from play.
3. Stand Up. Any knocked down infected are returned to their feet (on the same square, facing the closest hero).
Weapons & Equipment
Starting Equipment
At the beginning of the campaign, each hero starts with the equipment set detailed on their hero card (eg. Kira starts the campaign with Armour, a pistol containing 17 rounds & a .50 cal pistol with 8 rounds). Note that each tracker board has 2 pistols, .50 & a shotgun on it as it is possible, by exchanging equipment, for one hero to be carrying all of the weapons.
Dual Wielding Pistols
Pistols such as the .50 caliber and the standard pistol can be dual wielded at the same target (you can hold one in each hand). To dual wield place both the guns face up on the active weapon section of the hero board. Each time you make an attack you can choose to fire with either one, or both of your pistols, even on alert.
Whist dual wielding you cannot make aimed attacks with 2 guns simultaneously, although you can take an aimed shot with either one of the active weapons on it's own. If you are shooting both guns at once, roll 2 dice, a "kill" roll on either of the dice will eliminate a standard zombie target. Multiple "kill" rolls score multiple kill points against larger infected. If you are using 2 different guns at the same time, use 1 blue dice and 1 white dice with the blue dice representing the more powerful of the 2 weapons.
Semi Auto Weapons
Semi automatic weapons such as the Pistol & .50 Pistol can use quick fire and aimed fire attacks. When using aimed fire with a semi auto weapon, any follow up quick shots on the same target retain the aim bonus, even when combined with movement. Eg. when making an aimed attack (2 AP) followed by 2 quick attacks (1 AP each) on the same target, all 3 shots would use the aimed chart on the weapon card. Changing targets cancels the aim bonus.
(.50 Caliber Pistol: 8 rounds. Pistol: 17 rounds. Shotgun: 8 rounds.)
Single Shot Weapons
Single shot weapons can use quick fire and aimed fire although, unlike a semi auto weapon, quick shots following an aimed attack do not retain the bonus. The Shotgun is a single shot weapon, it's range is limited to 6 squares.
Area Effect Weapons
Area effect weapons such as the nail bomb or molotov can damage multiple targets at once. Area effect weapons cannot be thrown if there is another hero in the blast area. Area effect weapons are single use, so the card should be returned to the equipment card deck after use. Throwing a molotov or nail bomb is done with a "quick fire" attack, and must be your active weapon at the time it is used.
Other units (fried or foe) do not block line of sight when throwing a molotov or nail bomb, this means that you can throw directly into the middle of a group of enemies.
The explosive area of effect includes squares diagonally over walls and open doorways (like other ballistic attacks) & also stairway squares on a corresponding floor (the squares usually considered to be adjacent).
Example: Mike sets molotov as his active weapon. He can throw a molotov with a quick fire attack up to 6 squares. He targets the centre square. He then rolls an attack on the zombie on the target square and also on each of the zombies in the blast area.
Melee Weapons
Melee weapons are used in close combat & do not use ammunition. Melee weapons should always be discarded (returned to the equipment deck) at the end of a mission. (Examples: Shiv, Spiker.)
Med Packs
Med packs are single use equipment. Using a Med Pack removes the infection from your hero. It does not need to be your active weapon and it is a free action, so can be used at any point in the hero move (even in a grapple). To use a med pack, simply return the infection dial to the safe position & return the card to the equipment deck.
RAC Armour
R.A.C. Armour can only be used by Kira. It does not ever need to be her active weapon. While ever it is in her equipment deck, she receives a +1 bonus to bite tests.
Items
Items are tokens placed on the game board and also detailed in the map key of the mission page. To pick up an item, a hero either steps onto or moves through the square containing the item token. A hero can only carry 1 item at a time, simply place the item token on the carry space of their hero board. Item cards are purely reference cards, heroes do not add these to their search or equipment deck.
The hero board also shows an unarmed melee table (D8): 1-6 Miss, 7 Knockdown, 8 Kill, together with a Free Actions list.
Items can be placed on an adjacent square (this is a free action), alternatively, items can be thrown in the same manner as molotovs or nail bombs using a quick fire action. An item thrown to a square containing another hero will be automatically "caught" if the hero has an empty carry space available.
Fuel Cans
The fuel can item will explode with a single ballistic kill roll. Other units (friend or foe) do not block line of sight when targeting a fuel can token.
Exchanging & Hand Offs
Heroes can freely exchange items, equipment & search cards with each other. It is a free action and can be done any time a hero is standing on an adjacent square. Heroes may also "hand off" a single card or item during a move or sprint action.
Heroes may not exchange a weapon that they have used that turn. A hero locked in a grapple may not exchange gear. Make sure that any weapons are transferred with the correct amount of ammunition subtracted.
Infected Units
Zombies
"The rank and file undead, slow moving and easily dispatched (providing you have the bullets), these shambling unfortunates rely on either surprise or sheer weight of numbers to bring down their prey."
Zombies follow the basic rules for infected movement & attacking.
Newborns
"These freshly infected souls are faster & more dangerous than their older zombie relatives. With a spring in their step and a hunger for flesh, newborns will give any would-be hero a "run" for their money."
Newborns follow the basic rules for infected movement & attacking.
Reavers
"Tough on land, terrifying in the water, Reavers use a crafty "dive" mechanic to avoid taking damage during their approach. When it comes to dealing with these amphibious nightmares, you're going to need a damn sight more than a bigger boat."
Reavers can move through both regular squares and open water squares. A reaver in open water is represented on the board by the reaver "fin" miniature, where as on land, the "full body" miniature is used.
Reavers will always move towards the closest hero regardless of them being on land or open water. If a reaver reaches a transition square it's move is over (unless it is in a grab position, in which case it would make a grab attempt). In the next infected move, the reaver will move using rules appropriate to it's new environment.
- On land reavers follow the basic rules for infected movement & attacking
- A hero locked in a grapple with a reaver is required to take 2 bite tests.
- Reavers have 2 kill points which means they require 2 kill rolls to be removed from play. Use the kill point markers to track how much damage has been sustained.
- Knockdown results on land or in open water, have no effect on a reaver, although a hero with the "double tap" perk can still upgrade this result to a kill.
- The Sweep action has no effect on a reaver.
- In open water reavers will always move their "charge" speed (6 squares).
A reaver reaching any square adjacent to an occupied rib will attempt to grab one of the heroes onboard, if there are multiple heroes onboard each of them must roll a D8, with the lowest result being the reaver's target. A hero onboard the rib failing a grab test is pulled into the water and instantly killed, no bite tests are required.
Reaction - "Dive": At the beginning of it's move, a reaver in open water which has sustained 1 kill point will "dive" to avoid taking further damage. Remove the fin miniature from play but leave the kill point marker on the board to show the reaver's position. Move the marker as if it is the reaver, if the marker reaches a grab position or a transition square place the relevant miniature back on the board & where applicable make a grab test. If the marker does not reach one of these positions leave the miniature off the board until the following infected move, when it will resurface. A reaver represented by a kill marker cannot be attacked by a hero.
Sirens
"The beautiful ladies of the deep, these regenerating behemoths can absorb an ungodly amount of punishment so keep your distance, or risk joining the ranks of their semi-digested slaves!"
- Sirens follow the basic rules for infected movement & attacking.
- A hero locked in a grapple with a siren is required to take 3 bite tests.
- Sirens have 5 kill points which means they require 5 kill rolls to be removed from play. Use the kill point markers to track how much damage has been sustained.
- Knockdown results have no effect on a siren, although a hero with the "double tap" perk can still upgrade this result to a kill.
- The Sweep action has no effect on a siren.
Reaction - "Regenerate": At the beginning of it's move, a siren which has taken damage will automatically recover one of its kill points. (eg. if a siren has a marker indicating it has sustained 3 kill points, change this to show 2 before the siren begins it's move).
A Siren which has been hit by (taken damage from) a flame weapon such as a molotov or fuel can will no longer be able to regenerate. Place a flame marker next to the effected siren to show this on the board.
Seekers
"The Siren's grotesque offspring, these nimble infected hunt down unsuspecting humans using their finely tuned sense of smell, dragging them kicking and screaming back to mother's gaping maw!"
Seekers always charge towards the closest hero regardless of line of sight, smell, etc. Upon reaching a grab position the hero must take a grab test as normal. If a hero is locked in a grapple with a seeker, rather than taking a bite test, they must take a "drag" test. The result of the drag test will indicate whether the hero is dragged 2 or 3 squares towards the closest siren.
When a hero is dragged, move the prone hero following normal movement rules by the shortest route towards the closest siren. A dragged hero will pass through squares containing other units as long as it's movement can reach an unoccupied square, if a hero is already locked in a grapple with 1 or more infected units all of the units are left on the hero board and dragged along with the hero.
- As Seekers are always charging they will pass through squares containing other units as long as their movement can reach an unoccupied square.
- Knockdown results have no effect on a seeker, although a hero with the "double tap" perk can still upgrade this result to a kill.
- Seekers do not block hero line of sight.
- The Sweep action has no effect on a seeker.
When spawning a seeker (a seeker/roamer result on the turn spawn chart), place it on the square directly in front of (or as close as possible to) the siren furthest from the heroes, as with a roamer it will do nothing until the next infected move.
You should only spawn a number of seekers equal to the amount of sirens currently in play (eg. if there are 2 sirens & 2 seekers already on the board you should spawn a roamer rather than another seeker).
If all of the sirens are killed all seekers remaining on the board should immediately be removed from play.
Perks
During the campaign, some missions display a "level up" symbol in the top right corner of the mission sheet. The level up symbol means that before the mission starts, players may choose a perk card for each of their heroes.
Each hero has a rating of either red, amber or green for each of the 4 perk classes: Agility, Ballistic, Melee, Survival.
The heroes rating indicates which perk cards they are able to select (eg. Mike is rated red for agility so he is not able to select amber or green agility perk cards, where as Kira is rated amber, so she is able to select red & amber agility perks).
Once a hero has selected a perk card this perk will be theirs for the duration of the campaign.
Power Perks
The most powerful perks in each class are the power perks. Power perks are limited to 3 uses each mission and are tracked using the tracker board. Power perk usage is fully restored at the beginning of the next mission.
You may only use 1 power perk each turn, but this is combined with your hero's existing perk set (eg. a hero with the 'double tap' ballistic perk (semi automatic knockdown results can be upgraded to kills for the cost of an extra bullet) using the 'dead eye' power perk (aimed fire for 1AP) would be able to fire 4 aimed shots for 4 AP and convert any knockdowns to kills using extra ammunition.
Finishing a Mission
Upon completion of a campaign mission any melee equipment cards should be discarded & the search cards discarded during the game should be placed face up underneath the face down current search deck (when the face up discarded cards are reached during a game the entire search deck should be shuffled and placed face down to continue).
Players now have 3 options available to them: Continue, pause or save
Continuing
If players do not wish to pause or save they can proceed straight onto the next mission. Prior to the next mission starting they may access the pre-game lobby where they can freely exchange equipment, reload weapons, craft equipment and, if the next mission allows it, level up their heroes with perk cards.
Pausing
If players wish to pause their campaign to return to it in a later session they should write the number of the mission they just completed in the "pause" slot of a save ticket & then detail all of the equipment and search cards they are carrying, ammunition remaining in weapons, selected perk cards & current infection stages.
The pause save ticket may only be used once to resume the campaign.
Saving
If players wish to save their campaign they should write the number of the mission they just completed in the first save space (1) & then detail all of the equipment and search cards they are carrying, ammunition remaining in weapons, selected perk cards & current infection stages.
The second time a save is used players should do the same as above but using the second save space (2), the last time they are able to save they should fill in the last space (3). Only 3 saves are available for the whole campaign, so choose your save times wisely.
Players may return to their last save point at any point during the campaign, either when a mission is failed, or layers simply decide to retire & try again.
How to Play (Quick Play)
Quick Play Missions
To play a quick play mission simply set up the board according to the mission page and choose perk cards for your heroes. The number of perk cards available for the mission is shown in the bottom right of the mission page.
Dead Heroes
In quick play games, the death of a hero does not end the mission. During the end phase of the turn the hero dies and then is stood back up (on the square they are on) & any infected which are locked in a grapple with the dead hero are placed on adjacent (or as close as possible) squares. From the next infected move onwards, dead heroes will follow the infected movement rules, hunting down and attacking their former friends.
As the dead hero is freshly infected they are faster and stronger so use the stats from the "Newborn" infected card.
How to Play (Director's Cut)
The Directors Cut
Director games allow an extra player to take on the roll of the evil "Director". You can add a director to any quick play or campaign game, simply set up the game as normal, shuffle the director's card deck and deal the director the number of cards sown in the bottom right of the mission page (only the director may see the director cards).
The Infected Move
Infected movement in director games works exactly the same way as campaign, but with the director moving the infected units. Infected units must move in the same way as campaign (eg. moving towards heroes by the shortest route possible) however, if several squares are equidistant, the director may choose which one the unit moves onto. If 2 or more heroes are equidistant to an infected unit, the director chooses which hero the infected moves towards (no dice roll is needed).
Director Cards
Director cards are used to manage the flow of the game and hopefully (for the director), make the task at hand an impossible one for the heroes.
The director may play 1 director card per turn. The details of what these cards do, and when in the turn they can be played is detailed on the cards themselves. When a card has been played it is discarded.
Roamers
If a spawn roll results in a "roamer" outcome, the roamer is placed on any eligible square of the director's choosing (this does not have to be the closest square to a hero, but it must still be on an active part of the board which is not within a hero's line of sight).
Room Spawns
Room spawns in director games are rolled as normal, but with the director placing the infected unit rather than the players doing it (they must still be placed at the distance indicated on the spawn roll, but the director decides exactly where on that row they are positioned).
Direct Control
When the "direct control" director card is played a token is placed underneath the chosen infected unit's base for the duration of the game. Units under direct control no longer follow the automatic behaviour of their unit type and can be moved freely around any active parts of the board by the director (they may not open doors to activate new areas of board). Directly controlled infected may always move at their "charge" speed.
Dead Heroes
If you are playing a quick play game, any dead "newborn" heroes are always under direct control of the director.
Drop Offs
At the beginning of the spawn phase (before any cards are played or spawn rolls are made) the director can choose to remove infected units from play. Removing units from play then makes them available for spawning in another location.
Hints & Tips
Exodus is without doubt a difficult game and one which offers a great deal of tactical scope, much of which will become apparent as you play through the campaign. However, to get you started in the right direction we have a few helpful tips:
Speed - Ammunition & power perks are limited but Infected spawning is not. What this amounts to is essentially an informal time limit, so move as quickly as possible at all times. The faster you can complete your objectives the less time your precious resources have to last.
Fighting without fighting - There's no prize in Exodus for racking up a massive kill tally, and anything you do kill will likely re-spawn anyway, so learn to use infected behaviour to your advantage. Close doors to block smell range, bait and herd infected into preferential positions, and don't be afraid to turn tail & run when the situation demands it.
Aimed Fire - Much of the decision making in Exodus comes down to a "pace versus precision" choice & nothing demonstrates this more than the "aimed fire" action. Whenever possible use aimed fire to make more effective use of your limited ammunition.
Melee Attacks - Incredibly useful as a means of taking out infected without wasting ammunition. Failed attacks do leave enemies dangerously close and heroes are easily overwhelmed, so think about thinning out the numbers at range before stepping in to melee.
Exchanging Equipment - Remember, only "special" equipment and loot items cannot be exchanged between heroes. When ammunition gets low consider giving remaining weapons to the hero that can do the most damage with them.
Executions & Assassinations - Automatic kills are always an efficient use of ammunition so keep an eye open for (and learn to set up) opportunities when they can be implemented.
Perks - It's tempting to immediately spend any XP gained, however, many of the more useful perks require 2 or more mission's worth of XP to be purchased.
Persevere - Exodus is a difficult game so don't expect to blast through every mission on your first attempt. Some missions (we're looking at you Chapter 4) seem overbearingly tough & will take multiple attempts to beat. Discuss what went wrong, formulate a new plan of attack and jump back in.