Off the Dead: Chapitre 1 – Morts à Venice Beach Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Components
• Description of the Cards
  • Survivors
  • Zombies
  • Zombified Survivors
  • Rubble
    • Items / Weapon
    • Items / Equipment
  • Reference Cards
• Setup (4 Players)
  • 1. The Horde
  • 2. The Casting
  • 3. The Rubble
  • 4. Final Adjustments
  • 5. Who Starts?
• Description of a Turn
• 1. First Action of the Survivor
  • A. Search the Rubble
    • Unique Items
    • The Surprise Wave
    • Out of Stock (Rupture de stock)
  • B. Throw an Item
    • Neighborhood
  • C. Attack a Zombie
    • Range
    • Resolving an Attack
  • D. Explore a Location
  • Reveal a Card
• The Corridors
• 2. Action of the Zombies
  • A. Zombie Bite
  • B. Zombie Movement
  • C. Zombie Wave
• 3. Second Action of the Survivor
• 4. End of Turn
  • A. Infection
    • Death of a Survivor
  • B. Purchase
  • C. Change of Location
• Start of a New Turn
• End of the Game
  • Winning
  • Losing
• Last Rules Points
  • Using a Weapon Item
  • Using an Equipment Item
  • Using a Survivor's Special Ability
• The Symbols
  • Zombie Events
    • List of Events
  • Trophies and Survivors' One-Liners
    • Trophy Limitations
    • Delivering a One-Liner
• Setups for 1, 2 or 3 Players
  • 1 Player
  • 2 Players
  • 3 Players
• Adjusting the Difficulty

Goal of the Game

Exterminate the Horde of zombies while losing as few survivors as possible.

Components

• 5 Survivor cards
• 5 Zombified Survivor cards
• 36 Zombie cards
• 36 Rubble (Décombres) cards
• 5 Reference cards
• 4 Infection tokens
• 1 rulebook
• 1 six-sided die

Description of the Cards

Survivors

Besides a magnificent illustration, a Survivor card shows: a symbol, a range, a strength, an infection level, and a special ability. The back of a Survivor card is identical but without the special ability text.

Zombies

On the front of Zombie cards you can see the illustration of a zombie in all its splendor, with a symbol at top left (see Symbols) and a number at bottom left indicating its strength (from 2 to 6, for the moment...). On the other side, the back, each card bears a direction arrow that indicates the direction in which the card moves.

Zombified Survivors

The Zombified Survivor cards are almost the same as zombie cards, except that their strength is 7. They only enter the game when one of the survivors dies.

Rubble

The Rubble cards hide items that our friendly survivors will use to finish off the Horde. They are organized in two families:

Items / Weapon

A weapon card shows: range, power, effect (optional) and remaining ammunition (optional).

• Ammunition (optional): Some weapons require ammunition. In that case, symbols are visible on each side of the card. Their quantity represents the number of possible uses. By rotating the card 90 degrees you indicate the remaining ammunition. The ammunition symbol varies by weapon. For example, to be reloaded the Colt Anaconda requires bullet-type ammunition and the Chainsaw requires gasoline-type ammunition.
• Effects (optional): Some weapons offer an additional effect, such as the Axe.

Items / Equipment

If an item is not a weapon, well... it is equipment. Its effect is explained by the text at the bottom of the card.

Reference Cards

These cards are meant to relieve your poor little brains. They summarize the survivors' one-liners (répliques) and the zombie events.

Setup (4 Players)

We will set up a game for 4 players. A diagram is available in the center of the booklet. The rules are described for 4 players. For a different number of players, refer to the section: Setups for 1, 2 or 3 Players.

The rules written on the cards always take precedence over the rules described here.

1. The Horde

The Horde is the central point of the play area. During the game, zombies will come out of it and move in one of the four possible directions toward one of the survivors.

Shuffle the zombies without the zombified survivors and stack them face down in the center of your play area to form the Horde.

When you shuffle zombies, make sure to also rotate the cards, to avoid a survivor disappearing under too large a flood of zombies.

Horde (4 players):

Zombie strength	Total	Of each symbol (skull / hand / biohazard)
Zombie 2	9	3 / 3 / 3
Zombie 3	12	4 / 4 / 4
Zombie 4	6	2 / 2 / 2
Zombie 5	5	2 / 2 / 1
Zombie 6	4	1 / 1 / 2

2. The Casting

Choose a survivor. At random, by graphical affinity, by drawing straws or by arm wrestling, it is up to you... The only constraint is that you must have three different symbols in the team you form.

Place your survivor in front of you so that it is 3 cards away from the Horde (see The Corridors). Make sure you have the side with the text describing your survivor's special ability. The remaining Survivor cards are set aside and will not be used during the game.

3. The Rubble

Shuffle the Rubble cards, then distribute them face down, if possible in 9 identical piles. We recommend arranging them in 3 rows and 3 columns to save space, but do as you like. It is completely the same to us.

Rubble (4 players):

• 5 x Adrenaline
• 3 x Barricade
• 4 x Jerrycan
• 4 x Magazine (Chargeur)
• 3 x Toy (Jouet)
• 3 x Scope (Viseur)
• 3 x Axe (Hache)
• 3 x MP5
• 2 x Surprise Wave (Vague Surprise)
• 2 x Chainsaw (Tronçonneuse)
• 4 x Colt Anaconda

4. Final Adjustments

Keep the Infection tokens within reach but do not put them on the infection levels for the moment.

Determine the location of the Graveyard (Cimetière); this is where you will stack cards used or removed from the game.

Take the zombie events card, and each take a survivors' one-liners card. You are ready to face the Horde, but...

5. Who Starts?

To determine who starts, cut the Horde (without a bladed weapon). The survivor indicated by the direction arrow starts the butchery!

Description of a Turn

A GAME TURN IS MADE UP OF 4 PHASES:

1. FIRST ACTION of the Survivor
2. ACTION of the Zombies
3. SECOND ACTION of the Survivor
4. END OF TURN

1. First Action of the Survivor

The player whose turn it is may choose a single action among the following:

• A. SEARCH the rubble
• B. THROW an item to a neighbor
• C. ATTACK a zombie
• D. EXPLORE a location

A. Search the Rubble

As in a game of pairs, choose and flip, one after the other, two face-up cards in the rubble. These two cards can be the top card of two different piles or the first two cards of the same pile.

• If the two revealed items are identical, you may take one of them and put the other back face down on top of any pile.
• If they are different, you must put them back face down on top of any pile. It is possible to put both cards back on the same pile.

Weapon items requiring ammunition, discovered in the rubble, are loaded to the maximum.

Unique Items

When you flip a Unique item (not available in the base game), it is not necessary to have a pair to take the card. At the start of the game, shuffle up to 2 Unique cards into the rubble.

The Surprise Wave

Zombies being creatures almost as sneaky as insurers, they can surprise you during your search. This ability is represented by Surprise Wave cards.

When you flip a Surprise Wave card among the two cards you chose, if the other card is not a second Surprise Wave, immediately put this card back face down on one of the piles. Then resolve the Surprise Wave(s) as follows:

• Roll a die, divide the result by two and round up.
• Move that number of face-down cards from the Horde to the 1st zone of the survivors designated by the direction arrows (if one of them is a living dead or if its corridor already contains 5 zombies, redirect and move the card(s) to the 1st zone of one of the adjacent living survivors of your choice).
• Discard the Surprise Wave to the Graveyard.

Out of Stock (Rupture de stock)

If a card asks you to bring out a zombie (Surprise Wave, event, effect, special ability...) and the Horde is empty, ignore it.

B. Throw an Item

Having two weapons is good, but giving one to a comrade who has none while 3 zombies advance on him is better! That is why you can throw an item to one of your companions in misfortune.

Choose an item and simply give it. But beware, you can only throw an item to your neighbor on the right or on the left, as explained in the next paragraph.

Neighborhood

Each survivor has a neighbor on the right and on the left. Certain things can only be done with them:

• An item can only be thrown to one of your neighbors.
• A special ability can only be used on yourself or one of your neighbors.

Your neighbors remain your neighbors even if they "die". That is, the neighbor of your neighbor does not become yours when he dies.

C. Attack a Zombie

There are two ways to attack:

• BARE-HANDED
• WITH A WEAPON

If your survivor has a weapon, he can use it to attack a zombie present in his corridor. However, he can also do it bare-handed (though we advise you to use gloves (not provided)).

In both cases, your target must be within your range, as explained in the next paragraph.

Range

The range symbol on survivors or weapons indicates the zone(s) of your corridor that you can reach with your weapon or bare-handed.

• With one range symbol, you can only target zombies present in your melee zone.
• With another, you can target zombies in your melee zone and your 2nd zone.
• With the last, you can target any opponent in your corridor.

Resolving an Attack

1. Choose what you will attack with (bare hands, Chainsaw, Axe...). If it is an ammunition weapon, make sure it still has enough.
2. If the weapon requires ammunition, count down the ammunition by rotating the card 90 degrees.
3. Choose an accessible target (that is, within your range). Reveal it by turning it face up and check whether an event occurs (see Symbols).
4. Roll a die and add to the result either the strength of your survivor (bare-handed) or the power of the weapon (with a weapon). Then, if applicable, any other effect.

If the total is equal to or greater than the strength of the zombie, it is struck down; take it as a trophy.

If the total is lower, your action did not have enough effect on your opponent.

D. Explore a Location

The EXPLORE a location action is not used in the base game; it will be used later.

Reveal a Card

The term "reveal" designates the action of flipping a card from its back side to its front side. For Zombie cards, for example, this means flipping them from the side with the Off the Dead logo to the one with the illustration.

The Corridors

The distance of 3 cards to be respected between the Horde and each survivor constitutes what is called the corridor. Each corridor is divided into 3 zones named respectively 1st zone, 2nd zone and melee zone (closest to the survivor).

• A zone may contain several zombies.
• A corridor cannot contain more than 5 zombies.

2. Action of the Zombies

It is the Horde's turn to act; apply the following 3 phases in succession:

• A. ZOMBIE BITE
• B. ZOMBIE MOVEMENT
• C. ZOMBIE WAVE

A. Zombie Bite

All the zombies that are in your melee zone bite you. For each bite:

• If you are not yet infected: Congratulations! Now you are! Place an infection token at the bottom of your infection level.
• If you are already infected: Increase your infection level by moving your infection token up by 1.
• If your infection token reaches the top of your infection level, you succumb to the infection. Refer then to the paragraph: Death of a Survivor.

B. Zombie Movement

The player whose turn it is advances by one zone toward him the zombies of his corridor that are not in his melee zone. Those that arrive in his melee zone are automatically revealed.

C. Zombie Wave

Move, if possible, the first card of the Horde, face down, into the 1st zone of the corridor of the survivor toward whom its direction arrow points.

If the designated survivor is "dead" or if his corridor already contains 5 zombies, redirect and move the card into the 1st zone of one of the adjacent surviving survivors of your choice (whose corridor contains fewer than 5 zombies).

If only one survivor remains or if all the corridors contain at least 5 zombies, the limit of 5 no longer applies.

3. Second Action of the Survivor

The survivor can then perform a second action. Repeat the phase: 1. First Action of the Survivor. This action may be different from or identical to the first.

4. End of Turn

The end of turn is divided into 3 phases:

• A. INFECTION
• B. PURCHASE
• C. CHANGE OF LOCATION

A. Infection

If the player whose turn it is is infected (that is, if an Infection token is placed on his infection level), he increases his infection level by moving the infection token up by 1.

Your infection level also increases on the turn when you are bitten.

If the infection level reaches its maximum, your survivor succumbs to the infection. Apply the following paragraph:

Death of a Survivor

You are dead! Well, almost... Living dead more precisely:

• Discard to the Graveyard: your items, your survivor and your trophies.
• Take your Zombified Survivor card, shuffle it with the zombies of your corridor and place the whole thing face down underneath the Horde.

B. Purchase

The PURCHASE phase is not used in the base game; it will be used later.

C. Change of Location

The CHANGE OF LOCATION phase is not used in the base game; it will be used later.

Start of a New Turn

When the player has finished resolving all his phases and their consequences, his turn ends. It is the turn of the player to his left to play; a new game turn begins. Resume at phase: 1. First Action of the Survivor.

End of the Game

Winning

The players win the game when they have managed to defeat all the zombies, even if only one of them survived. At the end of the game, you can evaluate the quality of your victory by accumulating points for each of the following:

Victory points
Healthy survivor	50 pts
Infected survivor	20 pts
Unused special ability	15 pts
Remaining trophy	10 pts
Each remaining ammunition	5 pts

Losing

The players lose the game when they have all been transformed into zombies.

Last Rules Points

Using a Weapon Item

Using a weapon item can only be done during your turn, only on your survivor, the zombies of your corridor or the Horde.

Procedure: Refer to the procedure described previously in the paragraph: C. Attack a Zombie.

Using an Equipment Item

Using an equipment item:

• Can only be done during your turn, only on your survivor, the zombies of your corridor or the Horde.
• Does not count as an action.
• Takes priority over all other effects in progress.

Procedure: Apply the instructions of the item's explanatory text then discard it to the Graveyard.

Example 1: You did not manage to get rid of a strength 4 zombie (the one that quenches thirst). It is about to bite you. You can use the equipment item Toy just before it bites you, which has the effect of sending it back under the Horde, cancelling the bite at the same time.

Example 2: Three zombies are about to advance into your melee zone. Just before they move, you can use the equipment item Barricade to slow their progress.

Using a Survivor's Special Ability

• Can be done at any time.
• Does not count as an action.
• Takes priority over all other effects in progress.
• Is subject to the neighborhood as described previously in the paragraph: Neighborhood.

Procedure: Apply the effects of the text and flip your Survivor card. Special abilities can only be used once per game.

The Symbols

As your keen eye has no doubt noticed, the Zombie, Zombified Survivor and Survivor cards have one, or even two, symbols at top left: a skull, a hand, or a biohazard sign. These symbols are used during two distinct phases:

Zombie Events

Each time a zombie is revealed (whether when it arrives in the melee zone, when you aim at it with a weapon, through a special ability or an item), compare its symbol(s) with the one(s) on the survivor who is acting (so if you act on another survivor's zombie, it is your symbol that is compared):

If the survivor's symbol is identical to one of the symbols of the revealed zombie, an event occurs. Roll a die and apply the corresponding result in the list of events:

List of Events

"Shit, he saw me!": Redirect the 1st card of the Horde toward you. If it is already oriented toward you, move it into the 1st zone of your corridor. Change your perfume next time!

"Where did they come from?": Move the first 2 cards of the Horde into the 1st zone of each of the survivors pointed to by their direction arrows. (If one of them is a living dead or if its corridor already contains 5 zombies, redirect and then move the card(s) into the 1st zone of one of the adjacent living survivors of your choice.)

"He's coming straight at me!": The revealed zombie makes a prodigious leap. Place it, if possible, directly in your melee zone. If it is already there, it jumps on the spot and just looks ridiculous. IMPORTANT: If this zombie is not already in the melee zone and if it is targeted by an attack that targets a zone and not the zombie itself (like the jerrycan), it dodges it. Bad luck, you came across a ninja zombie!

"It's going south!": Discard, if possible, one of your items (weapon, equipment...) to the Graveyard. If the item you must get rid of is also the one that helped cause this event, it fails and has no effect.

"But you're going to die, yeah!": Tilt the revealed zombie. The first time it should die, only straighten the card. The second time, take it normally as a trophy. Clench your buttocks, it will go fine.

6 or more "Mommy!...": You chose a bad moment for an acute anxiety attack. The current action has no effect and your survivor can no longer take any action until the end of the turn. Of course, if the action has a cost (using ammunition, a jerrycan...), the cost is lost. You shouldn't have panicked!

As you can see, the events are never beneficial, that's life! (or death). But before complaining that it's too unfair:

Trophies and Survivors' One-Liners

When you kill zombies, you keep them as trophies in exchange for which you will be able to deliver one-liners (répliques). The list of available one-liners is on the reference card: Survivors' One-Liners.

Trophy Limitations

• You cannot throw trophies to your neighbors.
• Each player cannot have more than 5 trophies, but may discard one or more of his trophies at any time.

Delivering a One-Liner

• Can only be done during your turn.
• Does not count as an action.
• Takes priority over all other effects in progress.

Procedure: Say the text of the one-liner aloud and discard to the Graveyard the necessary quantity of trophy cards with identical symbols. Then apply the descriptive text of the one-liner.

Example: Kevin says the one-liner "You're going to feel it go through!" and puts 2 cards with the same symbol on the Graveyard. This allows him to add 1 to his die roll to get rid of a zombie.

Surplus symbols can be used for other one-liners, otherwise they are lost.

Example: You have 2 trophies, one with a skull, the other with a skull and a hand. You can deliver the one-liner "Try again!" for the value of the 2 skulls, as well as a "Go look over there if I'm there!" thanks to the hand.

• For the one-liner "Shit, he saw me!": Redirect the 1st card of the Horde toward you. If it is already oriented toward you or in the opposite direction, move it into the 1st zone of your corridor.

Tip: "Go look over there if I'm there!" can turn out to be a major ally...

Setups for 1, 2 or 3 Players

1 Player

So as not to lose track of the game phases, you can use one of the tokens to mark the current phase on the "Game Turn" aid.

Special procedures:

• At the start, the 1st card of the Horde must point neither toward the survivor nor in the opposite direction.
• A "surprise wave" brings out 1 zombie on a die result of 1 to 3 and 2 zombies on a result of 4 to 6.
• During phase 2 "Zombie Wave":
  • Zombies that point in the direction opposite the player are considered as zombies pointing toward the player.
  • A zombie that points to the left or right of the player does not come out but, instead, is redirected toward the player. (It will therefore come out the next turn.)
• When a zombie comes out of the Horde:
  • If the "next card" also points toward the player (or its opposite), it also comes out (2 zombies thus end up in the player's 1st zone).
  • If the card following the "next card" also points toward the player (or its opposite), it also comes out (3 zombies thus end up in the player's 1st zone).
• The Rubble is organized in 7 piles and not 9 (see the 2-player diagram).

Horde (1 player):

Zombie strength	Total	Of each symbol (skull / hand / biohazard)
Zombie 2	4	1 / 2 / 1
Zombie 3	5	1 / 2 / 2
Zombie 4	4	1 / 1 / 2
Zombie 5	3	(the printed table shows these together with the Zombie 6)
Zombie 6	1

Rubble (1 player):

• 3 x Magazine (Chargeur)
• 2 x Axe (Hache)
• 4 x Adrenaline
• 2 x MP5
• 3 x Toy (Jouet)
• 3 x Jerrycan
• 2 x Surprise Wave
• 3 x Colt Anaconda
• 3 x Barricade
• 2 x Chainsaw (Tronçonneuse)

2 Players

Variants: There are 2 variants. The first uses the 4-player rules by assigning 2 survivors to each of the players. The second is explained below.

Special procedures:

• The 2 players must choose a character with a different symbol.
• The players are neighbors.
• During the "Zombie Wave" phase:
  • If 2 survivors remain: A zombie whose arrow points in a direction where there is no survivor must be redirected 90 degrees clockwise.
  • If only one survivor remains: A zombie whose arrow points in a direction where there is no survivor must be redirected toward the remaining survivor.
• Then, in both cases: If the indicated corridor is empty, the zombie comes out immediately into the 1st zone of that corridor (otherwise it will come out the next turn).
• A "surprise wave" brings out 1 zombie on a die result of 1 to 3 and 2 zombies on a result of 4 to 6.
• During a "Surprise Wave" or the event "Where did they come from?": A zombie whose arrow points in a direction where there is no survivor must be redirected 90 degrees clockwise until it points toward a survivor, and comes out in the 1st zone indicated.
• The Rubble is organized in 7 piles.

Horde (2 players):

Zombie strength	Total	Of each symbol (skull / hand / biohazard)	Plus
Zombie 2	7	2 / 2 / 2	+ 1 of your choice
Zombie 3	8	2 / 2 / 2	+ 2 of your choice
Zombie 4	4	1 / 1 / 1	+ 1 of your choice
Zombie 5	3	1 / 1 / 1
Zombie 6	2	(at least 3 different symbols)

Rubble (2 players): The same as for 1 player, with the 2 Scopes (Viseur) in addition.

3 Players

Tip: This game mode is more difficult. If you are a beginner in 3-player mode, reduce the difficulty level.

Special procedures:

• At the start the players are all neighbors.
• A zombie that points in an impossible direction must be redirected, at the players' choice, toward a valid corridor.

Adjusting the Difficulty

After playing a few games of Off The Dead you may find the game too easy or too hard. No problem, the difficulty of the game is adjustable.

Level	Name	Rules
1	Noob	Ignore your infection phase and distribute the Colt Anacondas (within the limit of available stock, with a maximum of one per player).
2	Fingers in the nose	Ignore your infection phase and distribute Axes instead of the Colt Anacondas.
3	Walk in the Park (Promenade de Santé)	Ignore your infection phase. The other rules remain unchanged.
4	Normal	This is the default mode of Off The Dead. Follow the normal rules without changing anything.
5	Hard	Before starting to play, bring out, in the corridor(s), the first 4 zombies of the Horde.
6	Tense (Tendu du slip)	As in Hard + Surprise Waves automatically bring out 3 zombies without rolling the die.
7	Ballsy (Couillu)	As in Tense + When you make a pair, instead of putting one of the two cards back in the rubble, discard it to the Graveyard.