ATZ OK

Oh Shit, Zombies! is a zombie survival board game. It differentiates itself from the rest of the genre in the following ways:

• Rather than being solely combat focused, it’s a building game. The player that sits back and patiently builds up strong fortifications should always win over the player that makes a mindless rush early on.
• Each player controls a team of characters, led by a token representing themself.
• Combat is resolved in a coordinated fashion rather than a dice-fest, although cards can sometimes have and effect on the outcome.
• The map (an small shopping mall) can be exploited of its resources, such as guns and material for barricades.
• The players can alter the map by building barricades to keep out the zombies, as well as each other.

Roles:

• There are 5 types of unit tokens: zombies, and 4 humans representing different roles.
• The most basic role is the Pawn, they represent a scared human who is not useful for much, but can still help out when needed (and you’ll need it). They cannot attack.
• The Gunner is a long range combat specialist. They can kill zombies, but need ammunition to do so. They can attack anything in LOS within 6 squares.
• The Fighter represents an athletic type, capable of weilding a crowbar or hammer. They have no ranged attack, but don’t require ammo and get an additional attack for every action spent.
• The Leader represents you in the game. They are a powerful unit, capable of acting as either a fighter or gunner. But be careful with them; if they die, you suffer a severe reduction in action points (see Rolling).

Victory:

• Humans win by staying alive for 10 rounds (measured by advancing a token on the rescue countdown), at which point the military arrives to rescue the survivors. If there are multiple surviving players, the winner is the one with the most points.
• Points are calculated by counting the player’s dudes, and multiplying by 10, then adding their zombie kills to that.
• Team zombie wins by killing every single human before the end of 10 turns. This means that the first player to be eliminated still has a chance to win.

Setup:

• Shuffle the deck, and place the cards half under the edge of the map by the store in the quantities indicated.
• Determine who goes first any way you want.
• The first player chooses a store to start in, then the rest may choose in clockwise order. You may start in any of the supply closets, marked by a cross.
• The last player (the player to the right of the first player) starts as zombie master.
• Each player starts with:
  • 1 leader
  • 1 gunner
  • 1 fighter
  • 2 pawns
  • 6 ammo tokens
• 6 zombies per player are placed between the escalators in the center of the board.
• The first player takes his turn, then play proceeds clockwise.

Turn Sequence:

1. Roll: Roll 5 dice (3 if you have no leader)
2. Actions: Spend your rolls in any order
3. Discard: Discard down to 4 cards
4. Zombies: Zombie movement, and chart advancement

Rolling:

• At the beginning of each turn, you roll 5 dice. These represent your actions for the turn.
• If you do not have a leader, you may only roll 3 dice.

Movement:

• Any of your die rolls may be used for movement.
• If you wish to use one, remove it from your roll box to move a single dude up to that many spaces.
• Dudes may move diagonally, but must spend 2 movement points to do so.

Combat:

• If given the opportunity, all roles but pawns may attempt an attack.
• Attacking requires spending 1 die. The value of the roll has no effect unless it’s a 6, which enables the use of combo cards.
• Fighters may attack twice per die spent, but only at the same time (you cannot save your second attack until after a later action).
• Attacks are to the death, there are no dice or hit points.
• If a zombie ever succeeds in an attack, the losing dude is replaced with a zombie.
• An attacker may choose to play an action card when initiating combat. If he choses not to, the defender may do so.
• There are certain “combo” cards, that allow special attack or defense abilities if you play a second card with it. The second card does not have any effect, except to enable the combo.

Scavenging:

• All roles can be assigned to scavenging duty.
• Scavenging requires spending 1 die. The value of the roll has no effect unless it’s a 6, which provides an extra card.
• By doing so, you get to pull one card from that store’s pile.
• Some larger stores have more cards than the smaller stores, but usually have more entrances as well, making them harder to defend.
• Scavenge cards one at a time, any events drawn must be played immediately before moving on. Events are often annoying or very bad, so be prepared.
• At the end of your turn, you must discard down to 4 cards.

Barricades:

• Certain cards will give you the ability to build barricades. These can only be built between two squares where a door or window is present.
• Barricading requires spending 1 die. The value of the roll has no effect unless it’s a 6, which provides an extra barricade.
• A barricade can be built with as many tokens as you have the cards for, and can be added on top of an existing barricade
• Your dude must be directly in front of a door to barricade it (you may not barricade diagonally).
• Once per turn, you may discard a card to build 1 barricade.
• Barricades do not block LOS. This means that zombies may bloodlust through them, and gunners may shoot through them.

Destruction:

• Destruction requires spending 1 die. The value of the roll has no effect unless it’s a 6, which destroys an extra barricade.
• Windows may be destroyed as if they were barricades. Mark this with a flipped over barricade token.
• Walls may be destroyed as well, but only with a card that provides the ability. This still requires an action.

The Zombies:

• The last player starts out as the zombie master.
• As the game progresses, more and more zombies will notice the human presense, and find their way into the mall.
• After every player’s turn, they roll a die, and a number of zombies are added according to the turn progression chart to the area indicated by the roll.
• Zombie movement then occurs, according to the following rules:
  • Any zombie not within 6 squares and LOS of a human dude or with a continuous connection to such a zombie leaves bloodlust.
  • Any zombie adjacent to a bloodlusting zombie will bloodlust and follow it, regardless of LOS to the player. They will not spread bloodlust to the zombies adjacent to them.
  • Zombies within 6 squares and LOS of a dude get bloodlust and must move towards that dude. If they can bloodlust towards multiple dudes, they must go to the closest (in a tie, the player moving them can decide).
  • Zombies may not move diagonally, since it would require 2 movement points. If a card increases zombie movement, they may spend 2 movement points to do so.
• If it’s the zombie master’s turn, do the following:
  • Roll 1 die, you must move that many zombies that are not bloodlusted.
  • If any zombies were moved into bloodlust range, immediately mark them as bloodlusted.
  • Any zombies that are adjacent to a human dude must attack him.
  • Check survivor census, if any player has fewer dudes than the zombie master, control is transferred to them (this could result in zombies attacking more or less than once per round).

Cards:

• Items (35):
  • Wood Scraps - Add 2 to a barricade being built (x5)
  • Clip - Get 3 ammo tokens (x5)
  • Handgun - Turn any pawn into a gunner permanently (x4)
  • Cricket Bat - Turn any pawn into a fighter permanently (x4)
  • Ammo Stash - Roll a die, get that many ammo tokens (x3)
  • Nail Gun - Attack or defend with any dude as a gunner (uses no ammo), or Add 2 to a barricade being built (x3)
  • Chainsaw - Attack or defend with any dude as a fighter, or tear down up to 2 barricades or a wall (x3)
  • Skateboard - Roll an extra action die; It must be used for movement (x3)
  • Sheet Metal - Add 4 to a barricade being built (x2)
  • Crowbar - Tear down up to 3 barricades or a wall (x1)
  • Shopping Cart - Instead of moving normally, you may move one dude as far as possible in any direction (straight or diagonal), until he hits a wall, dude, or barricade (x1)
  • Flamethrower - Destroy an entire barricade or wall OR use when attacking to attack a dude within 6 spaces and LOS; If successful, all dudes adjacent to the defender are destroyed as well (including your own) (x1)
• Actions (25):
  • Block - Cancel an attack by a Fighter or Zombie (x5)
  • Lunge - Cancel a defensive action (x5)
  • Dodge - Cancel an attack by a Gunner or Zombie (x5)
  • Gunner Combo - With 6: Extra attack; With Lunge: 3 Extra atacks; With Dodge: Kills attacker (x4)
  • Fighter Combo - With 6: Kills an extra dude adjacent to defender; With Block: Kills attacker; With Lunge: Roll an extra action die, must be used for movement by attacker (x4)
  • Pawn Combo - With 6: Can attack adjacent; With Block: Kills attacker; With Dodge: Swap roles with attacker (x2)
• Events (20):
  • Oh Shit, Zombies! - Roll a die; Fill the store with that many zombies, surrounding your dude (x10)
  • Survivor - Place a pawn next to your dude, joining your team (x4)
  • Rampage - Roll 3 additional action dice (x2)
  • Oops - All barricades in this store are destroyed (x2)
  • Rage Virus - Every zombie movement phase, zombies will attack; After zombie movement, roll a die; If it’s a 6, discard this card (x2)

• Cards to add later
  • Ventilation Duct - Move 1 dude to any store on the map.
  • Fire Extinguisher - No zombies adjacent to your dudes may attack this turn.
  • Diversion/Distraction/Muzak - No zombies may move this turn.
  • (barricades) - Add more barricade cards, and make them work independent of the barricade action.
  • (Rage Virus) - Make the extra attack only happen or a roll of 5, extra move on 4, still destroy on a roll of 6.

This page is copyright 2006 Ben Sarsgard, and is NOT published under the Creative Commons license!