Zpocalypse: Zmaster Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Objective
• Zombie Spawn Tokens
• Components Breakdown
  • Zmaster Rage Board
  • Nightly Goal Cards
  • Zmaster Scenario Cards
  • Upgrade Cards
  • Mutation Cards
  • Doom Cards
  • Zmaster Zombie Miniatures
• Setup
  • Main ZM Scenario
• Phases
  • Phase 1: Scavenge
  • Phase 2: Feed and Fortify
  • Phase 3: Something's Happening
  • Phase 4: Combat
• Combat
  • Changes and Additions to the Combat Rules
  • Placing Mutated Zombies
  • How the Zmaster Earns Rage
  • Victory Points and Mutated Zombies
  • Zombie Spawn Token
  • Reading the Combat Cards and Mutated Zombies
  • Mutated Zombie Examples
  • Combat Example: Spitter & Stinky
  • Combat Example: Big Boss & Exploding!
• Doom Card Examples
• Upgrade Card Examples
• Card Text Note

Components

• 1 Zmaster Manual (this book)
• 1 Zmaster Rage Board
• 12 Larger-sized Cards consisting of:
  • 8 Nightly Goal Cards
  • 4 Scenario Cards
• 56 Poker-sized Cards consisting of:
  • 9 Zombie Upgrade Cards
  • 10 Zombie Mutation Cards
  • 10 Combat Cards
  • 13 Cliche Cards
  • 14 Freak Out Cards
• 5 Zombie Miniature Variants:
  • 2 Big Boss Zombies (Black Class)
  • 4 Armored Zombies (Black Class)
  • 8 Fat Zombies (Orange Class)
  • 8 Female Zombies (Purple Class)
  • 8 Skin and Bones Zombies (Grey Class)
• 4 Zombie Spawn Tokens

Objective

The Zmaster's objective is to kill off every single Survivor. In order to get the job done, the ZM plays Mutation, Doom, and Upgrade cards. The ZM's job is to make the life of a Survivor a living hell!

Zombie Spawn Tokens

Zmaster includes four new tokens, called Zombie Spawn Tokens. The Spawn Token gives the Zmaster a variety of choices such as banking Rage, fielding additional zombies, etc. (see page 4.)

Components Breakdown

Zmaster Rage Board

The Zmaster Rage Board is similar to the Squad Boards used by the other players. The primary purpose of the Rage Board is to track the Rage of the Zmaster, which acts as a currency for many of the Zmaster's abilities. The Rage Board also details the various ways the Zmaster may gain Rage.

The Rage Board carries a phase summary:

Phase 1: Scavenge

• Draw a ZM Nightly Goal card.
• Choose 1 Upgrade card to level up.
• Choose 1 Mutated card per color class to activate.
• After players have placed their scavenging tiles and replace any standard zombies with Mutated zombies of your choice, spending the appropriate Rage.

Phase 2: Feed & Fortify

• Draw Doom Cards equal to the number of Squads + ZM.
• Place the number equal to the current Day of Spawn Tokens, on any tile which contains zombies.

Phase 3: Something's Happening

• Draw and read the Something's Happening card out loud.
• Perform steps as indicated on Squad boards. However the ZM may choose where to place each new tile!
• Replace any standard zombie with Mutated zombies of your choice, spending the appropriate Rage.

Phase 4: Combat

• End of turn you may discard & draw 1 Doom card.
• Gain 1 Rage for every Squad action using firearms.
• Gain 1 Rage for every 1 or 2 rolled when attacking Squads.
• Gain 1 Rage for every player-built fortification destroyed.
• Gain 1 Rage if all zombie attacks are completely negated this round by Squad Defense Rolls.

Nightly Goal Cards

Much like the other players, the Zmaster gets his own deck of Goal Cards to try and complete each Night. Meeting these goals is rewarded by free Doom cards, additional Rage, Upgrades, and extra zombies!

The manual shows one example Nightly Goal card, Ladies' Night:

• Goal: Play and use ONLY female zombie miniatures during the Combat Phase.
• Goal Reward: Your all-female zombie assemblage is formidable. Reduce all Survivor attacks by one die.
• Challenge: Of course a female zombie is really female? Aren't all zombies mindless, non-living, non-gendered bags of pus? Don't you feel empowered? Good, let's kill those sexist jerks! Kill a Survivor with only female zombie miniatures.
• Challenge Reward: Rock on sister! Gain 4 Rage.

Zmaster Scenario Cards

As in Zpocalypse, Zmaster features a deck of Scenario Cards that are unique to the Zmaster expansion. These cards can change the circumstances of each game while retaining the fundamental mechanics.

The Main ZM Scenario is described in the Setup section below.

Upgrade Cards

The Upgrade Deck alters the characteristics of the zombies in Zpocalypse. It is split into three different decks: Contagion, Awareness and Movement. Each deck consists of several levels. All of these cards are kept face up: the card sitting on top of each deck is the active level. During the Scavenge Phase the Zmaster may raise one of these categories by one level. There are other ways for the Zmaster to raise these levels, so watch out!

The upgrade card examples are listed under Upgrade Card Examples at the end of this rulebook.

Mutation Cards

The Mutation Deck is a set of cards that define the Mutated zombies introduced in Zmaster. There are two variants of each color, excluding black which has 3 (grey, purple, orange, and black); only one card from each color may be in play at any time, denoted by which card is placed on top of each deck of the zombie variants. The Zmaster chooses which Mutated zombie is active that Day during the Scavenging Phase.

Doom Cards

The Doom Deck is arguably the most devastating new mechanic introduced in this expansion. Doom Cards are split into three categories: Combat, Cliche, and Freak Out. Each category tends to have different effects, however none of them are good for the Survivors. The Zmaster starts with a hand of Doom Cards equal to the number of players at the table (i.e. four players + one Zmaster = five card hand limit). The Zmaster may never exceed this limit, although the ZM may discard and draw one Doom card per Combat round, at the end of his turn.

Each Doom card has a Rage cost shown in the upper right corner.

Zmaster Zombie Miniatures

Zmaster introduces five new miniatures, each representing different zombie mutations.

Setup

Zmaster (ZM) adds several new decks of cards to the setup area of Zpocalypse. Setup Zpocalypse as stated in it's rule book. In addition to the usual setup, the Zmaster will have his own control area. Lay out all the Mutation cards and Upgrade Cards. The Upgrade cards should have the default card on top. All the cards should be within sight of all players, as they will be referenced by both the Zmaster and other players throughout the game. Set the Rage Board to 5 Rage unless stated otherwise on the Zmaster Scenario card. Draw 1 Zmaster Nightly Goal card. Now you are ready to play!

The setup diagram is numbered as follows:

1. Main ZM Scenario card
2. Zpocalypse Setup
3. Zmaster Goal Card deck
4. Grey Mutation
5. Purple Mutation
6. Orange Mutation
7. Black Mutation
8. Awareness Upgrade Cards
9. Contagion Upgrade Cards
10. Movement Upgrade Cards
11. Doom Card deck
12. Doom Cards During Phase 2: Feed & Fortify
13. Rage Board
14. Zmaster Nightly Goal Card at play

Remove the following cards from Zpocalypse: Something's Happening cards: "Is it over?" and "Fire!"

Main ZM Scenario

The Main ZM Scenario card gives the following setup and objective:

There seems to be a change in the horde. Is it possible that their attacks are being orchestrated? Where is this extra effort coming from? How do they know where we are? Something sinister is afoot... it's the Zmaster!

Setup:

• Each player starts with: 2 (purple icon), 2 (blue icon), 2 (grey icon, weapons only), and 1 (green icon).
• Choose any Base Tile Set to start the game with.
• Zmaster starts with: 5 Rage and one Doom Card for each player present, including the ZMaster.

Objective:

• Each player must complete all 4 Phases of the game (Scavenge, Feed & Fortify, Something's Happening and Combat) which equals one Day in the Zpocalypse. See who can get the most Victory Points by the end of the second Day. (You can play up to four Days.)
• Zmaster: KILL EVERYTHING!

Editor's note: the Main ZM Scenario card prints the starting items as coloured icons (purple, blue, grey, green) and the manual does not name them, so they are left as icons.

Phases

Each Day follows the four phases of Zpocalypse, with the Zmaster's changes described in each phase below.

Phase 1: Scavenge

The Upgrade deck contains three separate paths the ZM may boost (Movement, Contagion, and Awareness.) Choose one path and raise its level by 1. The Mutations deck contains four different classes (grey, purple, orange, and black) of Mutated zombies. The ZM must choose one Mutated zombie from each class to activate; once chosen they can not be changed until the following day. Once the Survivors have placed their standard zombies drawn from Scavenging the ZM may alter them, per tile, with Mutated zombies (see the example on the following page.) The ZM must also draw one random Nightly Goal card.

Phase 2: Feed and Fortify

On the first Day, shuffle the Doom cards and draw 1 card per player, including the ZM. Thus, 4 Squads and 1 ZM means the ZM gets 5 cards. This is his hand limit for the game. All Doom cards have different effects which can be used against the Survivors. Each Doom card has a Rage cost associated with it shown in the top right corner. The Zmaster also places Zombie Spawn Tokens on the Scavenging tiles after the players have fed and fortified. The number of Spawn Tokens the Zmaster places is equal to the current Day. Spawn Tokens generate a double zombie each round, at the end of the Zmaster's turn. The Zmaster may spend Rage to augment the number and type of zombies being placed. Spawn Tokens may be destroyed by squads during the Combat Phase; they are targeted in the same way as zombies, and require two successes in one round to destroy. When destroyed, the Spawn Token yields 2 Victory Points.

Phase 3: Something's Happening

Now is the ZM's turn to shine! Draw a random Something's Happening card and read it aloud, making sure all Survivors hear. Then he must draw one tile per Survivor and place them wherever he likes. This is different from Zpocalypse where the Survivors place the tiles. Make sure to place the listed amount of zombies from the Something's Happening card on each tile. The ZM may then trade out standard zombies for Mutated zombies. He may also spend Rage to upgrade or add Mutated zombies. Be aware that Rage cannot be gained from unused zombies!

Phase 4: Combat

Take note of each Mutated zombie in play; they all have various debuffs, attacks, and hit points. Once all Survivors have moved, it is the ZM's turn to move the zombies and attack. The zombies in play still move using the Zpocalypse rules (unless the current Awareness level says otherwise.) Use the appropriate Doom cards and punish the Survivors with your zombies!

Combat

Changes and Additions to the Combat Rules

• The ZM must PERSONALLY move all zombies during the Combat Phase. Survivors don't touch them!
• Note that if the ZM doesn't have direct control over the zombies they will follow the normal Zpocalypse rule set.
• The ZM must roll the zombie attack dice; after all, he's the one controlling the zombies trying to eat the brains of the Survivors!

Counter-Attack: If a Survivor lands a successful Counter-Attack against a Mutated zombie and it is not killed, the zombie's HP will regenerate to max at the end of the Z-Master's turn.

Explosives: Grenades or any other type of explosive count as 4 successes against all Mutated zombies in the target square, rather than an automatic kill.

Traps: A trap will auto yield (stop) any Mutated zombie with hit points greater than 2 as well as kill any Mutated zombie with 2 hit points or less.

Placing Mutated Zombies

Since each standard zombie equals 1 Rage, the Zmaster has Rage which can be used to place Mutated zombies. The Zmaster may also use banked up Rage to purchase additional Mutated zombies for that specific tile.

Example, from the manual: The Survivors placed 2 double standard zombies on a Scavenge tile, which gives the Zmaster 4 Rage in total. The tile is then modified by the ZM with a mix of zombies: 4 Rage from standard zombies, with 1 spent from the Rage wheel. The Zmaster traded out the 2 double zombies for Fatty Mutated zombies, since they cost the same amount of Rage. He also spent one additional Rage to field the standard single zombie.

How the Zmaster Earns Rage

• Gain 1 Rage for every Squad action using firearms.
• Gain 1 Rage for every 1 or 2 rolled when attacking Squads.
• Gain 1 Rage for every player-built fortification destroyed.
• Gain 1 Rage if all zombie attacks are completely negated this round by Squad Defense Rolls.

Victory Points and Mutated Zombies

Each Mutated zombie has an associated Rage cost in the upper right hand corner. Whenever a Mutated zombie is killed each point the zombie is worth is counted as a victory point. The Big Boss to the left is worth 5 points. If two squads work together and kill the Big Boss they will share the Victory Points. With each successful attack a Squad lands they will acquire that many Victory Points once the zombie is destroyed. So if the red Squad lands 3 successful attacks and the blue Squad lands the remaining 2, the red Squad will earn 3 Victory Points while the blue Squad would acquire 2 Victory Points.

Special rules that apply to this particular zombie are printed on its card.

Zombie Spawn Token

During Phase 2 the Zmaster can place Spawn Tokens equal to the Day's number on any tile which contains zombies after the players have fed and fortified. During Phase 4 the Zmaster may produce a double zombie adjacent to the token after his turn. The ZM may also produce Mutated zombies spending the appropriate Rage. Hey may also choose to bank 2 Rage instead of producing the default double zombie. (Printed as "Hey".) The Spawn Token is worth 2 hit points and yields 2 Victory Points when destroyed by a Squad.

Reading the Combat Cards and Mutated Zombies

• Hearts (HP): These hearts represent the amount of successes the Survivors must roll in order to take him out (in one round). If the players do not roll enough successes in one round, it is as though the zombie took zero damage!
• Attack dice: These dice represent the total dice he will roll when attacking a player.
• Special rules: These are the special rules that apply to this particular zombie.
• Rage cost: This is the Rage cost to use this particular card. Pay this when playing the card from the ZM's hand.
• Timing and effect (Doom cards): The black text reveals at what point this card can be played. The purple text summarizes the card's effects.

Mutated Zombie Examples

Big Boss (Black class)

• HP: 5 hearts.
• Attack: 5 dice.
• Rage cost: 5 (upper right corner).
• Free Action: Destroy an adjacent fortification gaining 1 Rage.
• Immune to Special Weapon Traits.
• Cannot be deployed during Day One!
• It's as if someone mixed a terminator with an undead killing machine.

Armored (Black class)

• HP: 3 hearts. Attack: 3 dice.
• This was a law enforcement officer covered in riot gear. It appears one of his fingers was bitten.
• Needs 2 successful Defense Rolls to hold back his attack.
• Nothing works, he just keeps coming!
• Cannot be deployed during Day One!

Fatty (Orange class)

• Reduce Squad's firearm attack roll by one when attacking this zombie due to its gooey flesh.
• The remaining text of this card is not legible in the manual's printed card image.

Exploding! (Orange class)

• HP: 2 hearts. Attack: 2 dice. Rage cost: 4 (upper right corner).
• Explodes for four dice of damage to adjacent Survivors when killed (does not affect zombies.)
• Each double means one Survivor is infected and immediately rises as a zombie.
• Cannot be deployed during Day One!

Spitter (Purple class)

• HP: 1 hit point. Attack: 4 dice.
• Can attack from 4 squares away, but has no chance of biting unless one square away.

Stinky (Grey class)

• Your gag reflex makes hitting them harder. Squad's total melee attacks are reduced by one (does not stack.)
• What's that SMELL?
• Attack: 1 die.

Editor's note: several Mutated zombie cards are shown only as small thumbnails in the manual; only the text legible at print resolution is reproduced above.

Combat Example: Spitter & Stinky

Both Red and Blue Squads have stumbled upon one Spitter (purple class) and two Stinky (grey class) zombies. The Spitter is an extremely lethal zombie with a range of 4 squares and 4 attack dice, but only 1 Hit Point. The two Stinky zombies produce a wretched cloud of gas which reduces all adjacent Squads' melee attacks by 1 die (does not stack.) This can reduce a Squad's attack to zero dice rolled! The Spitter and two Stinky zombies would attack Blue with 6 dice, 4 from the Spitter and 1 from each Stinky. The Spitter could not attack Red since the No Access symbol blocks LOS. Blue had better run!

Combat Example: Big Boss & Exploding!

The Survivors have the Big Boss (black class) and Exploding! (orange class) zombie cornered. In order to kill a Big Boss, each squad must work together to take him down. The Big Boss has 5 hearts in total. The Squads must score 5 successes on their attack rolls against the Big Boss within one round. If they fail to take him down in one round, the Big Boss's Hit Points will be completely replenished for the following round.

If the Squads manage to slay the Exploding! zombie they will have a big mess on their hands. Once the Exploding! dies, he bursts into a giant cloud of toxic bodily fluids damaging all Squads adjacent to him. Both Blue and Red take damage from the juicy blast, but Green and Yellow are out of range. The Big Boss does NOT take damage from the toxic juices, as he is already infected.

In this Upgrade Card example all zombies will move towards a player provided they are in LOS and within 5 squares, except Black and Orange class zombies, which are under direct control of the Zmaster!

Doom Card Examples

The manual shows these sample Doom cards. Each Doom card shows its Rage cost in the upper right corner.

The Claws That Catch (Combat card, Rage cost 2)

• Timing: Play this card before you roll an attack. Show this card to the defending player so they know that your attack will ignore any armor!
• Use during the Zmaster's turn.
• Damage roll ignores armor.

Shooting Rampage! (Freak Out card, Rage cost 8)

• Timing: Interrupt a player's action.
• Squad must have a firearm.
• Make a [die icon] Check:
  • Pass: The 2 closest zombies worth 4 or less in total are killed.
  • Fail: During the confusion half the Survivors in the Squad are killed. Round down the number if there is an odd number of Survivors.
• Try to kill half of the Survivors.

Upgrade Card Examples

Upgrade cards are kept face up in three decks: Contagion, Awareness and Movement. The card on top of each deck is the active level, shown with its level number. The manual shows these sample cards:

Awareness

• Brainless (Awareness lv. 1): Zombies have an awareness of 4 squares, and will gravitate towards Survivors on the board within this range. Otherwise, they move directly towards the closest Bunker Entrance. Black class zombies move at the will of the Zmaster. Remains in play until upgraded.
• Adept (Awareness lv. 2): These zombies have an awareness of 5 squares and will gravitate towards Survivors on the board within this range. Otherwise, they move directly towards the closest Bunker Entrance. Increase zombie Awareness to 5 squares! Black and Orange class zombies move at the will of the Zmaster. Remains in play until upgraded.
• Masterful (Awareness lv. 3): Zombies are now under complete control of the Zmaster. The Zmaster can move them in any direction as long as the number of steps during this Day are observed. (The rest of this card is not legible at print resolution.)

Contagion

• Weak (Contagion lv. 1): Delivery: Infection spreads from wounds contaminated with zombie saliva. Symptoms: The victim will develop a headache, fever, chills and other flu-like symptoms. Survivors [Survivor icon] are turned into [icon] on double [icon]'s when attacked. Remains in play until upgraded. (Some icons on this card are not legible at print resolution.)
• Powerful (Contagion lv. 2): Survivors must make a check when any zombie rolls a single on its attack. If they fail, the Survivor has been bitten and "recruited" for the Zmaster's team. Remains in play until upgraded. (The full effect text is not legible at print resolution.)

Movement

• Walkers (Movement lv. 1): Shamblers: Zombies' movement [movement icon] matches what is listed on the Something's Happening Card. Remains in play until upgraded.
• Sprinters (Movement lv. 3): Zombies move an additional +2 [movement icon] per turn. This movement bonus stacks on top of the [movement icon] stated on the Something's Happening Card currently in play. Remains in play until the end of the game.

Card Text Note

The manual prints full text only for the sample cards above. The remaining Zmaster cards (Nightly Goal cards, Scenario cards, Upgrade cards, Mutation cards, and the Combat, Cliche and Freak Out Doom cards) are not reproduced in full in the manual, and some sample cards are only partly legible at print resolution. Those cards' printed text is not included here.

If the Squads manage to slay the Exploding! zombie they will have a big mess on their hands. Once the Exploding! dies, he bursts into a giant cloud of toxic bodily fluids damaging all Squads adjacent to him. Both Blue and Red take damage from the juicy blast, but Green and Yellow are out of range. The Big Boss does NOT take damage from the toxic juices, as he is already infected.