Z-G Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Basic Rules
• Exceptions
• Tactics
• Errata
• Rules Precedence
• Wordkey

Basic Rules

1. SETUP: Z-G is for 2-4 players, each with their own InterAction Figure™ and matching cards. Play anywhere. Anything and everything is terrain — build it out of books and boxes.

2. START: Pick any 3 cards from your deck. Place them, face down, on the table. This is your hand. Shuffle the remaining cards, which compose your deck.

3. IMPULSE: Find the Impulse (blue) number on each of your 3 ACTION CARDS. Arrange these numbers from highest to lowest (e.g., 7-5-3) and call out the resulting 3-digit number. Do not reveal your cards. The player with the highest overall Impulse poses their figure any way they like, anywhere in the arena. Then the next-highest places their figure, and so on. No figure may start more than 7 cards from the nearest foe. If a tie occurs, each player draws a random card from their deck and compares the Impulse number; highest number goes first.

   • The first player begins their turn.

4. MOVE: First player picks (but does not reveal) 1 action card, then moves their figure a distance, measured in card lengths, up to the number of that card's Move score. To plot your move, lay out a row of cards on the table (connect the arrows) so that the first card touches both of your figure's feet. Move your figure along this path, then place your figure on the last move card and pose it any way you like, so long as both feet touch it.

   • Once you lay a card, you can't start over. That's your move.
   • You may use Move to climb up and down any surface as normal, card by card. Just lay the cards out, up and over.

5. ATTACK: After you move, you may attack a foe, if you're in range to do so. If your action card has Ø Range, you must be able to touch your foe's figure with your attacking weapon. Read the name of your card's attack, but don't show the card to your foe. Then secretly choose which end you want to attack with. Place your card face down, with your attacking end facing the foe. Your foe then draws the top card from their deck, keeping it face down. The foe may examine their card unless you're making a sneak attack (see Tactics). This card is your TARGET CARD. Your foe then SPINS the card such that a random end is placed toward you (after the spin, you may request a half turn). Flip over your cards and compare the ends by aligning the 2 cards so each of your 3 colored dots faces each of your foe's dots. Then count the number of dots that match up by color, if any. This action is called a TEST. Whenever one of the pairs of dots has the same color, it's called a MATCH.

Exceptions

These are the core exceptions to the Basic 10 card deck.

1. CHARACTER CARD: This card represents you. It is not zGear and is not part of your deck — keep it to the side, in your control panel (see MODE CARDS). Use its special powerup once per turn, or sacrifice it to save a zGear card. A character card is used in basic play; advanced games use a Mode deck instead.

2. RANGED ATTACKS: Weapons with a Range number, such as guns, may attack foes at a distance. Lay out a number of cards, in a straight line, up to your Range score. If you reach your foe, you can attack them. You can't start over if they are out of range; you must target some foe along that line of cards. You measure range and zone attacks from the muzzle of the gun or the edge of the weapon. If a zGear card has a Range number of Ø, it is considered a hand-to-hand (HtH) weapon, and the weapon itself must touch the foe's figure for an attack to occur. Tip: Ignore height when measuring range; lay the cards flat.

3. LINE OF SIGHT: To attack a foe, the foe must be within line of sight. If, from your figure's vantage point (the head), you can't see any part of your foe, the foe is considered to be out of your line of sight, and you can't attack them. Line of sight is not an exact science; compromise and conventions of play are key to play. Tip: Put your eye behind the head of your figure and call out what you see. Facing is unimportant; you're an action hero!

4. COVER: If your foe is partially concealed by a barrier — for example, their figure is crouched behind a wall or lurking around a corner — whatever gear can't be seen by your figure (from the head) can't be targeted. If that zGear card is drawn as a target card, the attack fails. Your own zGear can't provide cover for your own zGear. Tip: Agree on what zGear has cover before making a test. In general, if you can't see 2 colors on the zGear, it's covered.

5. TERRAIN: After you start play, no player can move, add, or remove terrain — however, you can blow it up!! Just measure its two longest dimensions in card lengths (its "Mass") and that's how many strikes it takes to pull it off the arena. For the purpose of targeting terrain ONLY, draw a card from your own deck. If you play on a table, decide if the edge is a WALL (figures can't be forced off table) or a FALL (fall off and you're out of the game).

Tactics

Rules options you can use to change the odds.

1. HIGH GROUND: When making a ranged attack, if your entire figure is above your foe's head, your attack is augmented (+1 armor piercing). When making a hand-to-hand attack, if your figure is over your foe's knee, your attack is augmented. Bonus: You can jump down on your foe from above to get +1 armor piercing on HtH attacks.

2. SNEAK ATTACK: You don't have to announce the name of your card's attack (and your foe can't examine the target card) if:

   • You are the player with the highest Impulse and this is your first attack.
   • You're attacking from cover.
   • You were out of line of sight when you began your pulse.

   Note: If you attack a foe with the same zGear card you used last turn [round?], the attack can't be a sneak attack.

3. JUMPS: You may Jump from ledge to ledge. As long as you start and end on solid ground and use a single Z-G card (or multiple cards, each with Z-G), you can cross over chasms.

4. FALLING: If you drop down rather than crawl down a slope of more than 1 card in height, and your don't have a card with Z-G in your hand, you are knocked down (see below). If you land on a foe, make a free attack with your last action card, but only to determine knockback (see below).

5. KNOCKDOWN: You score a knockdown if you knock back your foe:

   • Into another figure at least 1 card away;
   • Into a barrier over 1 card away;
   • Off a ledge at least 1 card length high (see Falling).

Errata

• Scan is an Extra, not a Replace, powerup. It may be played in addition to, not in place of, an attack.
• The Reaction Armor Frontgear card should have the Knockback powerup printed on it.

Rules Precedence

RULE OF PRIME: If you and a foe can't agree on a rule, then call for a test — both of you choose a card and pick an end. Match? - You decide. No Match? - Foe decides. (Or find a zMarshal!!)

RULE OF NULL: Unless another rule or a card directly contradicts a Basic Rule, the Basic Rule always stands.

Wordkey

Action Card: The card currently in play.

Blaze: The white symbol inside the dot; determines whether a match becomes a strike.

Character: The deck of cards and zGear parts that defines your unique character. "Give 'em a name."

Control Panel: The active Mode cards that are face up in front of you.

Deck: All your zGear cards not in hand or the slag heap. If a foe has no cards in their deck, that foe must draw target cards from their hand.

End: The two shorter sides of a zGear card.

Mode Deck: All the Mode cards your character has that are not yet in the control panel.

Slag: To remove a card from play. Your slag heap holds all your slagged cards and zGear.

Target: To attack a particular card.

Target Card: A card from your foe's deck (or hand) that you are trying to strike.

Targetlock: To score 1 strike and thereby gain the opportunity to target the same card with a new attack.

Test: To make an attack by matching up dot sets.

zGear: Your equipment, represented by both a plastic part and a matching card.