Posthuman
Posthuman Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Goal
- General Setup
- Stat Values and Abilities
- The Map
- Playing the Game
- Combat
- Experience Points (XP)
- Turning Mutant
- Tests
- Bonuses
- Re-rolls
- Followers
- Knocked Out (KO'd)
- Game End and Winning
- Variants
- Rules Summary
- Symbol Summary
- Credits
- Rulebook Errata (v02.01, 29/5/2016)
- Card Errata
- Rules FAQ
- Card Related FAQs
Goal
As a human survivor, your goal is to reach a community of friendly humans living in a fortified town (The Fortress) that you have heard rumors about.
If, during the game, you turn mutant, your goal becomes that of stopping the humans from reaching The Fortress by turning all human players into mutants or by driving them to despair so that they give up their journey.
General Setup
For a game of 2 or more players, remove cards from the starting items deck with a player number icon higher than the number of people playing. Also look through the events deck and remove the card named The Fortress. This card is used only in the solo game. If you are playing solo, refer to the Solo Game section (pg. 10) for solo play set-up.
Shuffle each pile of cards and the terrain tiles. Lay them out in the indicated areas around and on the Central board.
Players create their own map by placing terrain tiles, beginning with the starting tile. Take a starting tile and place it in front of you with the not-foraged symbol face up, and place 1 posthuman meeple of your colour on it. Then place the second posthuman meeple of the same colour on the starting position of the journey track.
Players may choose to either all play as pre-made characters, or they all create custom characters. If you choose to play with pre-made characters, follow the setup below. If you would like to create your own character, skip to the Setup with Custom Characters (pg. 2).
Setup with Pre-Made Characters
Roll a die to see who chooses their character first and then, moving clockwise, select a card from the deck of character cards. Then set your character sheet up as follows:
- Place stat tokens into their slots according to the stat values of your character.
- For Health and Morale setup, refer to section Health & Morale (pg. 3).
- Place a hunger marker in the rightmost slot of the hunger track.
- Pre-made characters come with pre-assigned skills and equipment as specified by the character card. Take them from the skills and starting items decks respectively. Some characters require you to randomly draw additional skills.
Draw the number specified by the character card. The character card also specifies how much food and ammo your character starts with. Take them and place them beside your character sheet.
Place your character's starting items to the right of your character sheet - this is your inventory. Select 1 melee weapon and 1 ranged weapon from your inventory and place them on the left of your character sheet - these are your active weapons. You may swap them around with other items in your inventory any time before the first die in a combat is rolled.
Equipment and weapons in your inventory, as well as active weapons, take up space in your backpack. Place the number of inventory markers specified on each card onto the backpack slots.
Setup with Custom Characters
Each player has 10 development points to spend on character stats.
There are 5 modifiable stats: strength, speed, mind, melee and shooting. Each of them will greatly influence what your character will be able to do, so if you are advised to familiarise yourself with them before going ahead with making your character. See Stat Values and Abilities (pg. 3).
All stats start at 2. Below is a list of the development point cost of increasing stats from 2 to:
- 3: costs 2 dev points,
- 4: costs 3 dev points,
- 5: costs 5 dev points.
An example setup using all 10 development points (cost shown on the top right of each token): Mind 2 (0 points), Speed 4 (3 points), Strength 3 (2 points), Melee 5 (5 points), Shooting 2 (0 points).
After all players have spent their development points, set your character sheet up as follows:
- Place stat tokens into their slots.
- For Health and Morale setup, refer to section Health & Morale below (pg. 3).
- Place a hunger marker in the rightmost slot of the hunger track.
Draw and keep the number of skills as specified by your mind stat (see table below). Place them beside your character sheet.
- Mind 2: Draw 2 skills and keep 1.
- Mind 3: Draw 3 skills and keep 2.
- Mind 4: Draw 4 skills and keep 3.
- Mind 5: Draw 5 skills and keep 3.
If you draw duplicates of the same skill, discard 1 and draw another skill to replace it.
Each player receives 1 Flare card from the equipment deck and 7 food which may be used to buy additional equipment and weapons from the starting items deck. Set up starting item cards as follows:
- Remove any cards that are intended for use with higher player counts.
- Lay out all equipment cards face up so that they are visible to all players.
The player with the highest speed purchases first and play proceeds in order of speed. Ties are resolved using the mind stat. If there is still a tie, roll a die.
On your turn, you may purchase 1 of the available items, or pass. The cost, in food, to buy an item is indicated on the top right corner of the cards, with the following icon: a food can. After everyone has bought items they may exchange any number of food tokens for 2 ammo each. (You may exchange at a rate of 1 food to 2 ammo.)
You may not pick multiple copies of the same item; however, you can buy any amount of ammo.
If you did not purchase any melee weapon, you automatically take the Lead Pipe card for free.
Take your food and ammo and place them beside your character sheet.
Place your character's starting items to the right of your character sheet - this is your inventory. Select up to 1 melee weapon and 1 ranged weapon from your inventory and place them on the left of your character sheet - these are your active weapons. You may swap them around with other items in your inventory any time before the first die in a combat is rolled.
Equipment, unused weapons, and active weapons all take up space in your backpack. Place the number of inventory markers specified on each card onto the backpack slots.
Health and Morale
Starting health is equal to your strength +3. Place a health marker to set your starting health, and, if it is less than 8, place a limit marker to the right of the health marker to set your health limit. (e.g. Strength 2 gives a Health Stat bar limited to max 6 [3 Strength+3].)
During play, for each wound you suffer, move the health marker left by 1. When regaining health, move the health marker right accordingly but never beyond the health limit. You are KO'd when your health reaches 0. See Knocked Out (pg. 10).
Starting morale is equal to your mind +3. Place a morale marker to mark your starting morale, and, if it is less than 8, place a limit marker to the right of the morale marker to set your morale limit. (e.g. Mind 2 gives a Morale Stat bar limited to max 5 [2 Mind+3].)
During play, for each morale you lose, move the morale marker left by 1. When regaining morale, move the morale marker right accordingly but never beyond the morale limit. You are KO'd when your morale reaches 0. See Knocked Out (pg. 10).
The limit markers represent your health and morale limits. They only move when you permanently increase these stats. See Experience Points (pg. 8).
Stat Values and Abilities
Stats describe your character's aptitudes. Certain stat values give you special abilities. As a human, you may increase your stats during the game by using Experience Points (pg. 8).
Strength
Strength represents how tough you are. It influences your health and the number of wounds (drop symbol) you cause in melee combat. Remember that your starting and maximum health is equal to your strength +3 and will increase when your strength increases.
If your strength is higher than 3, you get the following bonuses:
- Strength 4: +1 wound in melee
- Strength 5: +2 wounds in melee
Speed
Speed represents how quick you are to act and react. It influences your ability to shoot before your opponents during combat, and your ability to evade encounters.
If your speed is higher than 3, you get the following bonuses:
- Speed 4: swap up to 1 melee die (orange) with a defence die (green) in melee combat
- Speed 5: swap up to 2 melee dice with up to 2 defence dice in melee combat
Mind
Mind represents your mental fortitude, overall knowledge, and wit. It influences your morale. Remember that your starting and maximum morale is equal to your mind + 3 and will increase when your mind increases. Moreover, it influences the number of skills your character starts with and gives you re-rolls in combat encounters. It is also used to avoid challenging situations in a variety of encounters.
If your mind is higher than 3, you get the following bonuses:
- Mind 4: re-roll any 1 die in shooting or melee rounds once during a combat encounter
- Mind 5: re-roll any 2 dice in shooting or melee rounds once during a combat encounter
Note that these Re-rolls (pg. 9) can only be used during combat encounters, not other encounters or mutant player actions (unless a card specifically states otherwise).
Melee
Melee represents your ability in close combat. It influences how many melee dice you roll in combat.
If your melee is equal to 5 you may count Warrior results as successful attacks in melee combat.
See section on Melee combat (pg. 7) for further information.
Shooting
Shooting represents your ability at ranged combat. It influences how many shooting dice you roll in combat.
If your shooting is equal to 5 you may count a skill shot as a successful hit in shooting rounds.
See section on Shooting combat (pg. 7) for further information.
The Map
Terrain Tiles
The game-world is represented by square terrain tiles, which have the following features:
- The terrain type which indicates what type of supplies is most likely to be found there.
- Up to 4 exits which indicate different directions a player can move to.
- Up to 3 sequential zones which indicate the number of turns it will take the player to complete the tile and the sequence in which they are traversed.
- The number of supply cards that will be drawn when the tile is completed.
Zones (circle icons) in a tile are sequential, marked by arrows. The first zone is the left-most one in the series of zones connected by arrows. Each zone contains a number of figures that indicate the number of encounters that need to be resolved to complete that zone. Each completed zone counts as 1 journey point that advances the player by one along the journey track on the central board. When 1 or more human players reach the last section of the journey track, the game ends.
Black zones are considered dead zones and do not yield journey points (pg. 6) when their encounters are completed. Light blue zones are safe houses. Players in a safe house do not need to spend food to be considered fed.
Connecting Tiles
When laying down tiles, it is necessary that 1 exit on each of the new tiles matches an exit on your current tile. Not all exits on the new tiles must match with exits on other neighbouring tiles. Only tiles with matching exits are considered connected.
Special Tiles
The game includes a number of special tiles. These have an image of a specific location instead of a general terrain. These include special rules that are applied once the tile is completed. Special tiles can be foraged if they have a supply icon on them, otherwise they cannot be foraged. Only special tiles with supply icons on them yield supply cards when completed. Special tiles have a corresponding terrain type indicated by the terrain type symbol.
Completed Tiles and Supply Cards
Once all zones on a tile are completed, players draw the number of supply cards shown on the tile and immediately add the rewards corresponding to the terrain type they are currently on. Ammo and food are placed on the player's character sheet, while equipment and weapon cards are added to the player's hand. See Inventory (pg. 6). Players may only ever take supplies from each tile once when it is completed. They also place a tile completed marker on it, foragable side up. This tile may now be foraged once using a forage action. See Forage (pg. 5)
Once a tile has been completed and a marker placed on it, the tile counts as having a single zone with a single encounter.
Playing the Game
Starting Player
Roll a die to determine the starting player. At the start of each turn, they will be responsible for drawing an event card and reading it out.
Players take their turns in a clockwise order.
Turn Order
Each turn consists of 5 phases to be resolved in the following order:
- Event Resolution Starting player only.
- Eating All players simultaneously.
- Declare Action All players choose 1 action. Human players reveal them simultaneously. Mutant players reveal their action when it comes into play.
- Trade All players on the same terrain.
- Action (1 of the following per player):
- Camp All players simultaneously.
- Forage Players in clockwise order.
- Scout Players in clockwise order.
- Move Players in clockwise order (some mutant actions may be activated here).
- Mutant Player Action
Event Resolution
At the start of each turn, the starting player draws an event card and reads it out.
There are 2 types of events: regular and seasonal. Regular events generally last 1 turn, while seasonal events can either last 1 turn, or stay in play until another seasonal event is drawn. Either way new seasonal events always replace seasonal events in play. Resolve their effects as described on the card.
Eating
Each turn, players who are not in a safe house have to discard 1 food to be considered fed.
You may choose not to eat, even if you have food - in this case, you have to move the hunger marker on your hunger track one space to the left and resolve the effects shown below it. Be careful - hunger may cause a loss of morale, health, and even death.
When you choose to eat, move the hunger marker on your hunger track one space to the right for every food consumed (you may eat more than 1 food). Resolve effects as described above. If you need to move the hunger marker to the left and there are no spaces to move to, you are knocked out. See Knocked Out (pg. 10).
For example, Alice has gone unfed 2 turns in a row and thus has moved 2 squares to the left. Next turn, (Option A) if she chooses to eat 1 food, she will move the marker 1 space to the right and lose 1 morale. (Option B) If she chooses to eat 2 food, she will move 2 spaces to the right and therefore not lose any morale. On the other hand, if Alice chooses not to eat for a third turn, (Option C) she will move her hunger marker 1 space to the left and lose a total of 1 health and 2 morale.
Declare Action
All players select an action and place it face down on the table. Human players choose between Camp, Forage, Scout and Move, whilst mutant players may select 1 action card from their hand. Then, human players reveal their actions and resolve them in the order described in the Turn Order section and listed on the cards.
Mutant players do not reveal their actions until they come into play as indicated on the card.
Mutant players can choose to not play an action card or forfeit their chosen action card to perform 1 of the default actions listed on their mutant player card. See Mutant Player Action (pg. 6).
Note that most mutant actions have requirements for them to be activated (for example, they can only be used on players on a specific terrain type). The mutant players must thus try to figure out what the human players will do, in order for their actions to be effective.
Trade
Terrain types: Rural, Urban, Mountain, Wilderness.
Players on terrain tiles with matching terrain type symbols may trade any items (equipment, weapons, etc.), food and ammo with each other. Followers may not be traded.
Players may use their starting Flare or other items or skills that allow them to break the matching tile rule. Trading is done simultaneously and players may haggle and compete over items at leisure. Both items in play and in the players' hands may be traded. However, items received from a trade must be put into the inventory and not in the player's hand. See Inventory section (pg. 6).
Action
Camp
Camping allows you to restore health and sometimes morale, as well as use certain skills and equipment.
While camping, you gain 2 health. If you are in a safe house (light blue zones), you can choose to gain either an additional 1 health or 1 morale. Moreover, you do not need to pay 1 food to be considered fed. Cards that require you to pay food still need to be paid for.
Safe houses include tiles such as an Inhabited Village, a Mountain campsite, and a Church - each granting an additional 1 health when camping there.
While camping you may offer to use skills or equipment (that have relevant abilities) on other players, out of generosity or in exchange for items, food, ammo, future favours, and so on (note that trading still occurs only in the trade phase). Other players don't need to be camping; however, they need to agree for you to be able to affect them (unless the card states otherwise, for example cards with a VS symbol). Furthermore, players need to be on terrain tiles with matching terrain type symbols in order to use skills or equipment on other players.
Forage
Only completed tiles can be foraged and each tile can only be foraged once. After you have completed a tile and collected the supplies from it (in a previous move action), you may choose to take a forage action to draw 1 supply card (irrespective of the number of supply icons on the terrain tile) from the same terrain type you are on and as long as the terrain tile includes at least 1 supply icon. Tiles without supply icons cannot be foraged. Flip over the tile completed marker to mark the tile as foraged.
Scout
To scout, draw a number of terrain tiles equal to the number of vacant exits on your current tile. (Without an adjacent tile). You cannot scout if there are no vacant exits on your current tile. You may look at the drawn tiles and place them down onto your map so that each exit on your current tile connects to an exit on the new tile(s). See Connecting Tiles (pg. 4).
Move
You can do 1 of the following:
- If you are on a completed tile, you may do as follows:
- Draw a new tile, place it onto your map so that it connects to the tile you are currently on, and move into its first zone. You may choose not to move to the new tile, in which case you stay on your current tile and your turn ends.
- Move into an adjacent, uncompleted tile which has been connected during a previous move or scout action.
- Move from 1 completed tile to an adjacent completed tile.
- Move from the current zone to the next zone on the same tile.
Once you enter a new tile, you may not go back until you have completed all of the zones on that tile. If you are KO'd (see Knocked Out (pg. 10)) on a tile, that tile does not count as completed and you have to start from the first zone if you enter it again.
You can only move across Connected Tiles (pg. 4).
Whenever you enter a new zone, you must resolve a number of encounters equal to the number of figures in the zone. See Encounters (pg. 6) and Terrain Tiles (pg. 4). After completing the encounters on 1 zone, your turn ends.
Mutant Player Action
Mutant players who did not have their action activated in any of the previous phases now take their turn. Each mutant may play one mutant action per turn. This can be a previously chosen mutant action card or a default action. See Turning Mutant (pg. 9).
Inventory
When you draw or trade an item card (be it equipment or weapon), you have to place that card in your hand, which is limited to 3 items. Cards can be traded away directly from your hand. If you receive a card through a trade, you have to immediately put it in play. However, you must always put an item into play by placing it face up next to your character sheet for it to be activated, even if the item is discarded after use. Once a card is put in play, it is considered as being part of your inventory and you cannot take it back into your hand.
You may put cards into play at any time outside of combat, even after revealing encounters, but you may not play any after any dice have been rolled in a combat. Each item has a size value shown on the right side of the card (highlighted boxes). To put a card into play, place the relevant amount of inventory markers in your backpack. You can never have more inventory markers than backpack space.
Before putting an item into play, you may discard cards from your inventory to make space for the ones you would like to play. Cards from the starting items deck are removed from the game when discarded, other cards go to their respective discard piles.
Encounters
You must draw a number of encounter cards indicated by the number of figures on the zone you are moving to. These can be combat encounters that take you straight to the battle or narrative encounters that require you to make a decision and/or a test. If the zone triggers more than a single encounter, draw and resolve each encounter before drawing subsequent ones.
A mutant combat encounter card shows: Enemy stats (Speed, Health, Melee Skill, Range for shooting, Number of Dice for shooting); a wound-drop icon indicating the number of wounds inflicted on the player from successful melee attacks (add wounds from skill icons and any other bonuses); a scar icon indicating that you should take a scar card if this encounter wounds you; the number and type of minions, if any; and rewards, if any, kept only if the encounter is successful (keep as XP if the card has the XP icon).
Encounters are separated into 3 piles: level 1, 2 and 3. Initially all players draw encounters from the level 1 pile. In order to move up on the journey track, you need to draw encounters from the level indicated on the next position on the journey track. Thus, in order to enter the level 2 section of the track, you need to draw level 2 encounters. However, you may opt to not advance on the journey track and draw encounters from your current position (in this case, level 1).
Once you enter a new section, you may not draw from the previous one.
Journey Points
Players take 1 journey point for each zone they complete, provided that the level of the encounter they completed matches the journey point level they are moving to. A zone is complete when all encounters on it have been resolved. An encounter is resolved if the player is not KO'd at the end of it (even if they fail a related test, for example) unless the encounter card or any other related card states otherwise.
Players do not gain journey points when travelling through dead zones. These include mountain tiles and tiles with a tile completed marker on them. See Completed Tiles (pg. 4).
Fight or Evade
After a combat encounter is revealed, players may choose to either fight or evade it.
Players may evade once per encounter drawn – and can only evade combat encounters (i.e. encounters with enemies that have stats on them).
In order to evade their opponents, players roll a six sided die and add their speed value to the roll, including modifiers for skills and equipment. The same is done for the enemy or group of enemies, using the speed of the fastest enemy in the case of a group.
If the player rolls higher than the enemy, the encounter is evaded and placed in a discard pile. A new encounter card is drawn immediately and cannot be evaded (unless a skill or equipment card states otherwise).
If the player's roll equal to or less than the enemy, combat starts immediately. All enemies capable of shooting do so immediately, but being caught while fleeing, the player cannot shoot. Combat then moves into the melee phase with the player rolling only 1 melee die in the first round of melee combat.
Weapons
Unless indicated otherwise on the card, you may keep up to 1 melee weapon and 1 ranged weapon on the left of your character sheet - these are your active weapons and will be used in combat. You may swap them around with other items in your inventory any time before the first die in a combat is rolled.
If a card allows you to use multiple melee weapons in combat, the total number of hands on the used weapons may not exceed 2. The number of hands is shown on the hand icon on the card.
Combat
If you choose to fight or you failed to evade, combat begins. Combat is made up of a shooting phase with a single shooting round, followed by up to 3 melee rounds.
Shooting
You may either choose to shoot, thus spending your ammo, or hold your fire.
Every ranged weapon card indicates how much ammo needs to be discarded to be able to shoot. Before shooting, check your and your enemy's speed - whoever has the highest speed shoots first. If the speed is equal, shooting occurs simultaneously.
A shooting round simulates a whole firefight, not just a single shot. The player decides which enemy or enemies they will shoot at, unless the enemies have special targeting rules.
Your character's shooting stat gives you a number of shooting dice, as described below:
- Shooting 2 - 1 dice
- Shooting 3 - 2 dice
- Shooting 4 - 3 dice
- Shooting 5 - 3 dice + Skill shot
Add the number of shooting dice specified on the weapon card and roll them all together. Refer to the table below to figure out what the symbols on the dice mean:
Shooting Dice
| Symbol | Effect |
|---|---|
| Hit (close range) | Cause 1 wound with this die. |
| Hit (range 2) | Cause 1 wound with this die if the weapon has a range of 2 or more. |
| Hit (range 3) | Cause 1 wound with this die if the weapon has a range of 3 or more. |
| Special (?) | Special! - see the weapon card to determine the effect of this result. |
| Skill Shot | Count as a hit if you have shooting stat 5 or the appropriate class of weapon expert skill. If you have both, you cause 2 wounds. |
| Miss | Miss - this shot misses. |
After rolling the dice, resolve the outcome on each opponent individually. If there is more than 1 enemy, see Shooting Multiple Enemies (pg. 7). Every hit scores 1 wound.
Special results work differently to normal hits. The number of special (?) results assigned to each target individually will deal hits as specified by your weapon card.
If your enemies are killed before they can shoot due to having lower speed, they do not shoot back. The same applies to you. If both you and your enemies have equal speed, you shoot at each other at the same time and results are applied simultaneously. If your opponents have been wounded but are still alive (wounds suffered are less than health), place wound markers on their respective cards to keep track of each wound they have suffered.
For example, Kate's character has a shooting of 4, giving her 3 shooting dice. She is shooting a Kalt-A4 Assault Rifle (at a cost of 2 ammo), which gives her an additional 2 shooting dice. She rolls the 5 dice resulting in 1 miss, 1 close-range hit and 3 special results. The close-range hit scores 1 hit and the Kalt A4 scores 4 hits on 3 special results. Thus, she scores a total of 5 hits causing 5 wounds in her shooting round.
Note that defence dice are not used to avoid shooting wounds - they only apply in melee combat, unless a specific skill or item allows it.
Shooting Multiple Enemies
You may shoot multiple enemies by splitting your shooting dice pool. Choose the enemies you want to shoot and decide a number of dice to apply to each before rolling dice. Roll these dice separately, and apply their effects individually. If a target is killed, leftover hits may not be re-assigned.
Melee
After the shooting round, you enter melee combat. Melee combat is simultaneous and lasts 3 rounds (unless you or all opponents die before that).
A combat round proceeds in the following order:
- Compare melee stat levels.
- Roll dice and resolve blocks.
- Compare successful attacks and deal wounds.
If both you and at least 1 opponent are still standing at the end of a round, start a new melee combat round (maximum of 3 rounds). If both sides are still standing at the end of round 3, the combat ends.
When you kill an enemy, keep that card as XP beside your character sheet. Any enemies that are not killed by the end of round 3 are discarded. See Experience Points (pg. 8).
Compare melee levels
In melee combat, both sides roll a base number of 3 melee dice. If both combatants have an equal melee stat, both roll 3 melee dice. If 1 combatant has a higher melee stat than the other, they add 1 melee die to their roll. If the opponent you are facing is in a group, they may gain an additional melee die. See Fighting Multiple Enemies (pg. 8).
If your character has a speed of 4, you may choose to swap 1 melee die for 1 defence die, whilst if your character has a speed of 5, you may choose to swap up to 2 melee dice for up to 2 defence dice. You may swap dice before each of the 3 melee rounds, meaning you may use different dice configurations depending on the situation.
Roll and resolve dice
Both sides roll all their dice simultaneously and refer to the table below to figure out what the symbols on the dice mean:
Melee Dice
| Symbol | Effect |
|---|---|
| Miss | Miss - the die is discarded. |
| Warrior | Counts as 1 attack if you have melee 5. |
| Block | Removes any die that yields 1 attack from your opponent. |
| Attack | 1 Attack |
| Critical Attack | 1 Attack with an additional wound. |
| Special | Special - refer to the weapon card to determine result. |
Defence Dice
| Symbol | Effect |
|---|---|
| Miss | Miss - the die is discarded. |
| Block | Removes any die that yields 1 attack from your opponent. Additionally, it is not affected by some enemy and weapon effects. |
| Attack | 1 Attack |
| Special | Special - refer to the weapon card to determine result. |
Resolve dice as follows:
- Remove all misses.
- For each block present on melee and defence dice, remove 1 attack die from the opponent. You may remove any 1 melee or defence die result aside from another block result rolled. In the case of enemies, they remove critical attacks first, then any attacks and then specials.
Compare Attacks and Deal Wounds
- Compare the number of modified attack results remaining. The combat round can have 1 of 4 outcomes:
- If you have more attack results remaining than your opponent, you deal wounds to her and she does nothing.
- If your opponent has more attack results remaining than you, the opponent deals wounds to you and you do nothing.
- If you both have an equal number of attack results remaining, you both deal wounds to each other simultaneously.
- If neither of you have any attack results remaining, nothing happens.
Some cards modify a melee die result into another one. For example, a character with melee 5 modifies a Warrior result into an Attack while a character with any other melee stat modifies a Warrior into a Miss. Similarly all melee weapons modify a Special result into another one. A Knife modifies a Special into an Attack while a Lead Pipe modifies a Special into a Miss.
- The wounds you deal are equal to: the number of wounds on your weapon + any bonuses from your strength stat + number of critical attacks + any wounds resulting from special results on your remaining dice.
- The wounds you suffer when losing a combat encounter are equal to: the number of wounds on the enemy card + number of critical attacks + any wounds resulting from special results on your opponent's remaining dice.
If your opponents have been wounded but are still alive (wounds suffered are less than health), place wound markers on their respective cards to keep track of each wound they have suffered. If both sides still stand, roll melee dice again and repeat the process. After 3 melee rounds the encounter ends and the remaining opponents are discarded.
Special results have varying results depending on the weapon being used. Some special results cause an attack, while others don't give an attack but give extra wounds instead. The latter do not count when adding attack results and only take effect if you get to deal wounds. Unless special results have an attack icon on their cards, they do not contribute to the number of attack results scored in that round.
Fist as melee weapon: 0 wounds; special results and blocks both resolve as misses.
Another form of special result on melee weapons is the knockdown. If a side that wins or draws the round includes at least 1 knockdown that has not been blocked, the opponent's complement of defence dice is reduced by 1 (regardless of the number of knockdowns for the next combat round).
If either side in a combat does not have a weapon, they may use their fists.
Fighting Multiple Enemies
When you face multiple enemies, you must resolve 1 round of combat with each of the enemies separately, in the order of your choice to complete the combat round.
When comparing melee levels, you must compare the size of your party with the size of the opposing party. The default size of your party is 1, but this can be increased by cards with the melee ally ability. The size of the opposing party is always equal to the number of enemies you are facing when rolling melee dice. If the size of the opposing party is larger than your party's, your opponent gains 1 melee die. If you outnumber enemies, you do not gain an additional melee die. Check for outnumbering enemies before you roll melee dice. If you kill enough enemies to reduce their numbers to equal to or less than your party size before any single roll, your enemies do not gain an additional melee die.
If any combat effects come into play (such as knockdown), they remain active until the end of that melee round and thus affect all engagements in that round.
For example, David is fighting a group of Netboy Trappers, and he is caught in the Netboy's net. This reduces David's melee roll to 2 melee dice when facing both the Netboy and the Netboy's minion in the first round of melee. David decides to face the Netboy first. Since the Netboy is accompanied by a minion he rolls 4 melee dice against David's 2. When each of the enemies are fought once, the melee round is over and David is back to his 3 melee dice in the second round of melee combat.
Winning Combat
To win a combat, you must have at least 1 health and 1 morale left and all enemies must be defeated (reduced to 0 health).
If by the end of the third melee round any enemies still stand, they flee and are discarded to their respective discard piles. This does not count as winning combat. However, the encounter is still considered resolved for journey points purposes.
Experience Points (XP)
During the game, your character will improve by gaining XP from combat and narrative encounters. Each enemy that you defeat in combat grants you the XP written on the bottom right-hand corner of the card. Some narrative encounters grant 1 XP if the card says so.
When a card grants you XP, take it and keep it beside your character sheet until you spend the XP by discarding the cards into their respective discard piles. If you run out of a deck of encounter or minion cards replace the stored cards with XP counters.
You may spend XP to gain the following benefits any time outside combat:
3 XP: Draw 2 skill cards from the skill deck, keep 1 and discard the other one.
6 XP: Permanently increase a single stat (strength, speed, mind, melee or shooting) by 1. If you increase mind, move the limit marker and the morale marker on your morale track 1 space to the right. The same applies for strength and health.
Turning Mutant
While playing Posthuman you will encounter many situations where you will be required to take scar cards. Many of these scars will come from combat with mutant enemies. If you take any amount of wounds from melee combat with mutants encounters, you draw 1 scar card, and place it face down beside your character sheet. Wounds from shooting combat do not cause a scar unless indicated otherwise. You only take 1 scar card from melee combat for each combat encounter. If knocked out during a combat, the respective scar cards are taken in addition to this. See Knocked Out (pg. 10). You may, however, get scars from narrative encounters or from specific enemy abilities which do not count towards that limit.
You may look at the scars at any time, and the number of scar cards you have needs to be visible to the other players.
There are 2 kinds of scar cards: mutation scar cards and blank scar cards. Blank scar cards have the text: "Just a scar" written on them. These have no effect on your character and do not count towards the number of mutation scars you have. They are still placed face down with the rest of the scars, so other players don't know how many of your scar cards are mutation scars. Mutation scar cards have a symbol signifying a stat change on the top half of the card, and they may have a weapon and/or ability on the bottom half of the card. Many abilities directly affect 1 of the mutant action cards. As soon as you receive your 3rd or 4th mutation scar, you may either choose to suppress the mutation and remain human, or else give in to the mutations and turn mutant, declaring you are doing so. If you receive 5 or more scars you must turn immediately.
A mutation scar card shows a stat alteration once mutated (e.g. add 1 strength), the wound caused when used as a weapon, and additional abilities and/or use as weapon (e.g. "Horns - Roll an additional attack die in a Charge! action").
To turn mutant, follow these steps:
- Remove all cards except scars and discard them to their respective discard piles.
- Discard scar cards without mutations on them and lay others face up in front of you.
- Modify your stats as indicated on the scar cards. A "+" on a stat symbol increases that stat by 1, while a "-" symbol decreases it by 1. No stat can increase above 5 or decrease below 1.
- Draw 3 mutant action cards, taking modifiers into account. See Mutant Action Cards (pg. 9).
- Miss the rest of this turn.
If the scar cards deck is exhausted, remove empty scar cards from the discard pile and return them to the game box, then shuffle the remaining cards and draw from that deck.
Two-player game rule
In a two-player game, players may not turn mutant voluntarily. They may only turn when they reach 5 or more mutations.
Mutant Action Cards
A mutant action card shows: the action phase during which this action may be performed; the terrain on which the action may be performed; and action instructions (e.g. "Attack! Pick a player on the indicated terrain type. Resolve 1 round of melee combat against them. You may use a single weapon from your mutations. They may shoot at you as normal. If they cause wounds equal to your strength or more the attack is over. If you inflict wounds, opponent also takes a scar card.").
Mutant players draw mutation cards up to their hand limit. The base hand limit is 3, but this may be modified by the scar abilities. Mutant action cards are chosen in the Declare Action Phase and played in the Mutant Player Action Phase in clockwise order, unless the card specifies otherwise. If you haven't played a mutant action or the mutant action you had chosen is no longer playable (see below), or you would prefer to not play that action, you may choose to not play it. In which case you may discard it and perform one of the default mutant actions listed on your mutant player card instead.
Mutant players may discuss with each other which actions to play and on whom. Some mutant action cards target a player directly. These are cards with a terrain type symbol on them. In the case of these cards, the target player needs to be on a terrain tile which matches one of the terrain type symbols on the mutant action card. The same type of action cannot be played on the same human player more than once in a turn. Players on the starting tile cannot be attacked. If a mutant action results in wounds for the player, they only take scar cards if the mutant weapon used or mutant action card states as much.
In case of actions that are played in reaction to human actions, the mutant player sitting closest to a human player plays first.
At the end of the Mutant Player Action phase, mutant players replenish their hands back up to their maximum. If they are already at their maximum they may discard a card and draw a new one.
Tests
Some cards will require you to test against one of your stats (e.g. "Roll a speed test"). Roll a single six-sided die and compare it to the stat being tested. You must roll equal to or below the value of your stat to pass the test.
Bonuses
Several cards give bonuses to die-rolls and stats. These are cumulative unless the card specifically says otherwise. You can still use cards that would take you above your maximum health or morale, however you don't increase the stats any further than that maximum.
Re-rolls
In Posthuman you may only re-roll the same die result once. If an event or card states that the player's positive results need to be re-rolled, this takes precedence over voluntary re-rolls of negative dice.
For example, the "Watched" event card states that you must "re-roll successful mind tests". You roll a mind test and you pass it, so you must re-roll it as the card states. If the re-roll is a fail, you may not play any cards that would allow you to re-roll again it because it has already been re-rolled once.
Followers
Some encounter cards allow you to draw a follower card. Some cards that yield a follower card require the player to discard one food in order to draw the follower. These cards have a follower icon on them. When you draw a follower, you must place it face down beside your character sheet. To activate your follower and benefit from the effects, flip the card face up. When you get KO'd, all active followers are discarded. You may not de-activate a follower once activated.
Knocked Out (KO'd)
The Posthuman world is a dangerous one. Various situations could lead you to losing all of your health or morale, or passing out from hunger.
Health problems: When your health reaches 0, you are knocked out (KO'd). Take 2 scars, discard any active followers, and move your character to the starting tile. Gain 1 food and 1 health and move the hunger marker to the rightmost space. You may exchange any remaining morale for health.
Despair: When your morale reaches 0, you have lost the will to go on and are KO'd. Take 2 scars, discard any active followers, and move your character to the starting tile. Gain 1 food and 1 morale and move the hunger marker to the rightmost space. You may exchange any remaining health for morale.
Hunger: When you must move your hunger marker to the left and there is no space to move to, you pass out from hunger. Take 2 scars, discard active followers, and move to the starting tile. Gain 1 food and set both morale and health to 1, then move the hunger marker ot the rightmost space.
You can camp in the starting tile and heal, or rush off and risk getting KO'd again. If your health and morale are both at their maximum values, you cannot take a Camp action there.
If you exhaust both your health and morale simultaneously, you start off with 1 each.
If a player is down to 0 health or morale due to an encounter, the encounter and zone does not count as being resolved and no XP or journey points are gained from that encounter and zone respectively.
Game End and Winning
The game can end in 2 ways:
- When a human player reaches the fortress by gaining the 10th journey point, thus winning the game, or
- When all players have been turned into mutants.
If one of the players completes the final zone on the journey track and they are the only player on that zone until the end of the turn, they are declared a winner. If there are several players on the last zone of the journey track by the end of the turn, consult the chart below to break ties:
Followers: +2 points per follower (active or face down).
Hunger: 1 point per each empty slot to the right of your hunger marker.
Experience: +2 points per increased stat, +1 point per skill gained from XP (not starting skills), + 1 point for every 3 unspent XP.
Scars: 1 point per scar card with a mutation on it.
If 2 or more players are still tied, then the one with the most tiles in play (completed or not) wins.
If all players are mutants, the collective mutant hive-mind has succeeded. Mutants do not pursue the petty feeling of individual success. Evolution is with us. Long live The Evolved!
Variants
Solo Game
Setup
- Find the The Fortress event card and set it aside.
- Remove the following cards:
- Starting items: All cards with a player number icon of 2+ or higher.
- Events: Togetherness, Trader Caravan, Guide, Great Explorer
- Skills: 2x Thief, 2x Raider, Travelling Storyteller, Psychologist
- Equipment: Camo Tent.
- Draw 2 event cards face down from the events deck and shuffle The Fortress event card into them.
- Shuffle the rest of the events and place them on top of the other 3 you just shuffled
- Select whether you would like to use a pre-made character or a custom character and follow the rest of setup from the respective sections.
- You win the game if you reach 10 journey points before the end of the turn in which you draw the The Fortress event card. If you draw that card, you must gain the 10th journey point by the end of turn or else you lose the game. If you suffer 5 scar cards with mutations on them and are forced to turn mutant, you also lose the game.
It is crucial to remember to draw event cards on every turn, as they act as a time-limit.
Note that some event cards have specific rules for solo play indicated at the bottom of the event card. In these cases ignore the main text of the card. While playing, also ignore any card effects that refer to other players.
Short Game
The full version of the game should be played until 10 journey points, however, you can play a shorter version by following these rules:
Short Game Setup
- Place your posthuman meeple on the last zone of level 1 on the journey track. You will start the game from here. You may choose to go straight to level 2 encounters or remain on your current spot to improve your character.
- Draw 2 scar cards.
- Draw a total of 3 cards from the weapons deck and equipment deck in the distribution of your choice. If you draw more than 1 weapon card, choose 1 and discard the rest. You may keep all equipment cards drawn. You may either place these cards in hand or put them in play immediately.
- Draw 3 level 1 encounters and set them aside as XP.
Proceed with the game as normal.
Speed-play
This is not really a variant but a suggestion for speeding up 4+ player games. During the movement phase, all players who have played the Move action draw any tiles and encounters together (without necessarily following the turn order). The players then split up in pairs and resolve each of their encounters simultaneously, dice availability allowing (this, of course, works better with an extra set of dice).
Rules Summary
Character Creation
Stats
10 points to spend on stats.
All stats start at position 2 which is free. Cost of stats on stat markers.
Skills
Mind 2: Draw 2 skills and keep 1. Mind 3: Draw 3 skills and keep 2. Mind 4: Draw 4 skills and keep 3. Mind 5: Draw 5 skills and keep 3.
Inventory
Take 1 flare from starting items deck and 7 food. Buy weapons or items. Buy ammo (cost: 1 food for every 2 ammo).
Markers
Green Cube – Health marker; place on health track at strength+3. Yellow Cube – Morale marker; place on morale track at mind+3. Grey Cubes – Limit markers; place 1 space to the right of max health and max morale. Neutral Cubes – Inventory markers; fill slots according to equipment and weapon. Orange Cube – Hunger marker; place in rightmost slot. Red Cubes – Wound markers; place on combat encounter cards when opponent gets wounded.
Game Sequence
- Event Resolution Starting player only.
- Eating All players simultaneously.
- Declare Action All players choose 1 action. Human players reveal them simultaneously. Mutant players reveal their action when it comes into play.
- Trade All players on the same terrain.
- Action (1 of the following per player):
- Camp — All players simultaneously.
- Forage — Players in clockwise order.
- Scout — Players in clockwise order.
- Move — Players in clockwise order (some mutant actions may be activated here).
- Mutant Player Action
Combat
1) Evade
Draw encounter card then choose fight or evade.
Compare (die roll + speed + modifiers) of player and fastest enemy.
If player total is higher discard encounter and draw another. (No evade is possible this time).
If same or lower player forgoes shooting round and rolls only 1 die on his first melee round.
2) Shooting
There is only 1 round of shooting.
Declare shooting and weapon.
Compare player and enemy speed. Highest speed shoots first. If opponent is still alive and has a ranged weapon, then they shoot next.
If equal, shooting occurs simultaneously and both inflict wounds.
Deduct ammo according to weapon card.
Declare target.
Roll number of dice given by shooting stat plus number of dice on weapon.
Number of hits with range less than or equal to weapon range inflict wounds. Special results consult weapon card for more info.
Skill shot only counts as a hit if you have shooting 5 or the appropriate class of weapon expert skill. If you have both, each skill shot counts as 2 hits.
Multiple targets – assign dice to each enemy target before rolling.
3) Melee
Compare melee stats.
Highest rolls 4 melee dice, lowest rolls 3 melee dice. If equal, both roll 3 melee dice.
Add dice given by other cards, if any. If one side outnumbers the other, they roll an additional die.
Choose whether to roll any defence dice instead of melee dice.
Roll dice and resolve winning side by comparing die results:
- Remove all misses.
- For each block, remove 1 attack die from the opponent.
- In the case of enemies, they remove critical attacks first, then any attacks and then specials.
Side with most remaining attacks deals wounds, or both in case of a tie.
If damage is from a mutant combat encounter – take a scar card. Only 1 per combat.
Repeat if at least 1 combatant on each side is still alive up to 3 rounds.
Keep cards with the XP icon as XP if enemy is defeated.
Mutating
With 3 or 4 mutation scar cards, player may turn. (Except in a 2 player game)
On 5th scar card with mutations player must turn.
Turning:
- Remove skills and equipment.
- Discard empty scar cards and turn mutations face up.
- Modify stats according to scar cards.
- Draw 3 mutant action cards.
- Miss the rest of current turn.
Mutant Actions
Player action phase: Select mutant action for this round and place card face down.
Mutant action phase: Play 1 mutant action card, if possible, in the relevant phase (usually 4 or 5).
Same type of action cannot be played by other mutants on the same player in the same turn.
Replenish mutant action cards up to max (usually 3).
Knocked out
When Health reaches 0: Take 2 scar cards. Discard active followers. Move to the starting tile. Gain 1 food and 1 health. You may exchange any remaining morale for health.
When Morale reaches 0: Take 2 scar cards. Discard active followers. Move to the starting tile. Gain 1 food and 1 morale. You may exchange any remaining health for morale.
If you exhaust both health and morale simultaneously, you start off with 1 in each.
Game end
The game ends when a human player reaches the fortress OR when all the players have turned into mutants. If there are several players on the last zone of the journey track by the end of the turn, consult the chart below to break ties:
Followers: +2 points per follower (face up or down).
Hunger: 1 point per empty slot to the right of the hunger marker.
Experience: +2 points per increased stat value, +1 point per skill increase, +1 per 3 XP points.
Scars: 1 per scar card with a mutation on it.
If two or more players are still tied, then the one with the most tiles in play (completed or not).
If all players are mutants, the collective mutant hive-mind has succeeded.
Symbol Summary
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Orange circle | Mind stat |
| Chevron | Speed stat |
| Fist | Strength stat |
| Megaphone (red) | Melee stat |
| Target | Shooting stat |
| Heart | Health |
| Starburst | Morale |
| Flag | Experience points (XP) |
| Tent | Camping |
| Binoculars | Scouting |
| Paw print | Foraging |
| Compass | Movement/Exploration |
| Eye | Mutant Action |
| Blue square | Shooting die |
| Green square | Defence die |
| Orange square | Melee die |
| Dice | Regular six-sided die (D6) |
| Wheat | Rural terrain |
| Buildings | Urban terrain |
| Triangle/mountain | Mountainous terrain |
| Trees | Wilderness terrain |
| Compass card | Terrain card |
| Can | Food |
| Bullet | Ammunition |
| Can / gas can icons | Equipment cards |
| Pistol / rifle icons | Weapon cards |
| Gear | Skill cards |
| Crate | Supply Cards |
| Ammo with slash | Do not spend ammunition |
| Paw / crossed-out paw | Can forage / Cannot forage |
| Scar icons | Gain / Lose a scar card |
| Two small squares | Amount of inventory slots used |
| Shield | Block |
| X | Miss |
| Megaphone (black) | Attack |
| Warrior icon | Warrior: counts as an attack if melee stat is 5 |
| Fist with drop | Critical attack (attack + wound) |
| Curved arrow | Knockdown attack |
| Question mark | Special (see weapon or encounter card) |
| Target with dot | Skill Shot: counts as a hit if Shooting stat is 5 |
| Range 1 icon | Range 1 / On die: 1 wound if weapon range one or more |
| Range 2 icon | Range 2 / On die: 1 wound if weapon range 2 or more |
| Range 3 icon | Range 3 / On die: 1 wound if weapon range three or more |
| Black diamond | Shooting Hit & Wound |
| Drop (black) | Wound |
| Drop (orange) | Only melee wound |
| Drop (blue) | Only shooting wound |
| Hand icon | Indicates whether melee weapon is one-handed or two-handed |
| Figure with "+1" (orange) | Add 1 minion (human) to combat |
| Figure with "+1" (green) | Add 1 minion (mutant) to combat |
| Purple figure | Follower |
| Purple figure with food icon | Follower. If encounter is successful, pay one food to take a follower card |
| Figure duo | Melee ally |
| Orange circle (zone) | Encounter zone |
| Light blue circle (zone) | Safe house |
| Dark grey circle | Dead zone (Gives no journey points) |
| White circle | Seasonal event |
| VS badge | Targeted players need not give consent |
| Figure with number badge | Player number icon. Minimum number of players in game for which this card is suitable. Remove card if fewer players in current game |
| Figure with "1" in circle | Use in Solo game only |
Credits
Game Design: Gordon Calleja
Art Direction / Graphic Design: Mark Casha
Art: Arjuna Susini, Fabrizio Calì, Chris Jensen (Sea Puppy), Nel Pace (Widdershins), Jake Mifsud
Game Development: Mighty Box, David Chircop
Pre-production: Fabrizio Calì
Production Liaison: David Chircop, Marvin Zammit
Kickstarter campaign additional help: Sean Brown, Thom Cuscheri
Published by: Mighty Box, Mr. B Games (www.mrbgames.com)
Thanks to our playtesters: Andrew Porsella Flores, Anne Hamarsnes, Annelise Abela, Ashley Davis, Bernard Mallia, Chris Cortis, Chris Shepard, Chris Taylor, Claire Bonello, Daniel Croucher, Darrell Adkins, Denver Games Central Group, Eleni Papadopoulou, Fran Borg, Francesca Gail Grech, Francois Zammit, Gary Hili, Glenn Sultana, Hassan Lopez, James Cauchi, Jan De Volder, Jean-Luc Portelli, Jenny Cefai, Johnathan Harrington, Jonathan McBee, Karim Lopez, Mark Abdilla, Matilda Sjölin, Matthew Cumbo, Maxine Calleja Urry, Michael Diedrich, Nick Attard, Nigel Grech, Philip Leone Ganado, Phillip Drizen, Pippin Barr, Raffaella Zammit, Rilla Khaled, Rosanne Borg, Ryan Falzon, Samantha Mallia, Scott Dmers, Sean Brown, Sheps Games Group, Stefano Gualeni, Tyron Lloyd Baron.
...and special thanks to all our amazing Kickstarter backers!
Rulebook Errata (v02.01, 29/5/2016)
Supply Cards (Page 4)
After this sentence: "Players may only ever take supplies from each tile once when it is completed."
Add: If the supply deck is empty when a player would draw from it, reshuffle all used and discarded supplies to form a new deck, then draw from that.
Completed Tiles (Page 4)
"They also place a tile completed marker on it, forageable side up. This tile may now be foraged once using a forage action"
Should read: They also place a tile completed marker on it, forageable side up. This tile may now be foraged once using a forage action. Note that if the last zone of the tile is a safe house you do not move the posthuman meeple off that zone and onto the completed tile marker. The character on the safe house zone gains the benefits for it until they move off the zone. If they enter the tile again they move onto the completed marker. Completed markers do not count as safe houses.
Action – Camp (Page 5)
"While camping you gain 2 health. If you are in a safe house (light blue zones), you can choose to gain either an additional 1 health or 1 morale. Moreover, you do not need to pay 1 food to be considered fed."
Should read: While camping you gain 2 health. If you are in a safe house (light blue zones), you do not need to eat and can choose to gain either an additional 1 health or 1 morale.
Add to the Camp section: If your health and morale are both at maximum, you may not camp in your starting tile.
Inventory (Page 6)
"When you draw or trade an item card (be it equipment or weapon), you have to place that card in your hand, which is limited to 3 items. Cards can be traded away directly from your hand. If you receive a card through a trade, you have to immediately put it in play."
Should read: When you draw an item card (be it equipment or weapon), you have to place that card in your hand, which is limited to 3 items. Cards can be traded away directly from your hand. If you receive a card through a trade, you have to immediately put it in play.
Shooting (Page 7)
"Skill shot – count as a hit if you have"
should read: Skill shot – count as a hit if combatant has.
Melee (Page 8)
"Warrior – counts as 1 attack if you have the warrior ability."
Should read: Warrior – count as 1 attack if combatant (enemy or player) has a melee stat of 5.
Discarding food and ammo tokens (Page 9)
"Remove all cards except scars and discard them to their respective discard piles"
This sentence should read: Remove all cards and tokens (food & ammo) except scars and discard them to their respective discard piles. Remove your Posthuman meeples from the terrain tile and journey track.
"If you receive 5 or more scars you must turn immediately."
Should read: If you receive 5 or more mutation scars you must turn immediately. 'Just a scar' cards do not count towards this total.
Solo Game (page 10)
The following card names should change in the solo section:
- "Raider" should be "raiding"
- "Thief" should be "looting"
- "Travelling Storyteller" should be "Storytelling"
"Remove the following cards" shouldn't include "Togetherness" or "Trader Caravan"
Winning (Page 10) & Rules Summary (Page 11)
"Hunger: 1 point per each empty slot to the right of your hunger marker…" / "Scars: 1 point per scar card with a mutation on it"
Should read: Hunger: -1 point per each empty slot to the right of your hunger marker… / Scars: -1 point per scar card with a mutation on it
Melee (Page 11)
"If one side outnumbers the other, they roll an additional die."
Should read: "if enemies outnumber the player, they roll an additional die."
Card Errata
Cards: All weapon cards that have a special result icon — Should have both a special and a green special icon.
Cards: All characters starting with pistol — Card reads: "pistol" as starting item. Should read "Kalt 9mm".
Card: Gamer character card — Skill reads "Stealthy". Should read "Stealth".
Card: Runner character card — Skill reads "Athlete". Should read "Athletics".
Card: Footwork — Card states you may re-roll a miss. You may re-roll both misses.
Rules FAQ
Are special tiles abilities used only one time or can you come back to them? Special tiles abilities remain in effect until you leave the zone. Once you do, the zone on the tile completed counter is the only one that remains active.
Are safehouses used only once? Like special tile zones, safehouses remain in effect until you leave the zone. Once you do, the zone on the tile completed counter is the only one that remains active.
If you get a free forage (as in the Dark Days event, for example) and you're not on the last zone of a tile, does this mean that you get a supply card immediately? Do you use up the single forage for that tile? You can only do a legally allowed free action. If you are not on a completed tile you cannot perform the forage action as per the normal foraging rules. If you are on a completed tile you use up the one forage action allowed on that tile and flip over the completed tile counter as you would on a normal forage action.
When on a completed tile counter do you need to take an encounter to do a forage or scout action for example? No you only take encounter cards when moving into a zone, not when standing on it.
Do enemies shoot the player even if the player forgoes their shooting round? Yes enemies always shoot at the player. If the player doesn't want to waste ammo for a shot it's up to them.
Are Mutant Action Cards discarded once they are put in play? Once a mutant action is on the table face down, they are either played then discarded, or they may be discarded un-played in favour of a default mutant action. This means that if the mutant player placed a face down action in front of them that is no longer applicable because their intended target changed terrain type, for example, they may discard the chosen action and play a default one instead.
Do enemies with Melee 5 count Warrior as an attack in the same way players do? Yes.
Do cards using "you" refer to both human and mutant players? If a card is on a mutant action or scar card the "you" refers to mutant players, otherwise it refers to human players.
With events cards that are collected by one player such as Protector and Killer Instinct, do they need to be discarded immediately or can they be kept? The player can keep them and play them when indicated.
Does the player that gains the Guide event card benefit need to discard the food or ammo immediately or can they keep the card and do it later? No they must discard the food or ammo immediately to gain the extra journey point.
What do I do with my map tiles, meeple, XP, weapons and items when I turn mutant? They are all removed from the game. You do not have a presence on the journey track or a map. Your location is simulated by the terrain type icon on the mutant action cards when it is pertinent. You do not keep any items or weapons.
Are my mutant weapons equipped one at a time like the human players? Or do I simply choose which I use for any given action? You simply choose which one to use for any given action.
Card Related FAQs
Mutant Action cards "Charge": "If they have a defence die, they may negate 1 wound per defence die rolled." This means that if the attacked player has evade dice available they may roll them to negate 1 wound per defence die rolled.
Do players need to eat during a Hurricane event? Yes, players need to eat normally during a hurricane event.
Is a mutant player still considered a player for the purposes of resolving the "Togetherness" event card? No, "Togetherness" only applies to human players.
If I have 4 scar cards and then receive multiple scar cards during combat, do I take all scars and then turn mutant, or stop immediately upon receiving the 5th card and resolve the turning mutant rules? You stop immediately upon receiving the 5th card and resolve the turning mutant rules (as per page 9).
When playing solo with a premade character, can I use equipment and weapons listed on the character card that have a minimum player requirement on the card? Yes. The minimum player requirement only comes into effect when creating characters so in the case of premade characters you give them whatever equipment is listed on the card regardless of any minimum player requirements.
Can a weapon have multiple different pieces of equipment mounted on it? Can a weapon have the same equipment mounted on it twice? Each weapon can have only one piece of equipment attached to it.
Do traded weapons retain their mounted equipment or can they be removed? Traded weapons retain their mounted equipment. These cannot be removed and become part of the weapon.
If I am camping in a safe house, do I still resolve the negative effects of hunger (morale and health loss) even though I don't need to eat? You always suffer the effects of hunger indicated on the hunger track. So if you're on a -1 morale slot on the hunger track you suffer -1 morale regardless of your being in a safe house or not. The difference with being in a safehouse is that you do not move further down the hunger track if you don't eat that turn. Of course you can always eat 1 food to bump your position up on the hunger track.
Does the Gunscope equipment card affect the number of shooting dice only for the weapon, or the total number of shooting dice that the player rolls? For example, will a Kalt 9mm suffer any negative effect from this card? The Gunscope only reduces the number of shooting dice you roll for the weapon, and can never reduce a weapon to less than 1 shooting die, so a Kalt 9mm for example would still give a player one blue die to roll in addition to any from their shooting skill stat.
Do Events that require me to compare something (e.g. tiles revealed on my map or progress on the journey track) against another player still get resolved if there are no other human players in the game? No, these events are discarded without effect if there is only one human player left in the game.