Zombicide Chronicles RPG - Core Book (OEF) (2022!05!20) [PDF]

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CHRONICLES

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: LOPED BY RI, AN D D E VE arco MUNA M I, G G A WRITTEN M co ar M I , N IS OBB o PEDRO Nicola DEG , and Matte NEPITELLO signed Francesco E games de e ZOMBICID LULLIEN, th e on st ti ed ap as B ON , Jean-B IT U G ël I ha by Rap David PRET OULT, and ead), Nicolas RA FABRETI (L N: Marcela IO T C , U A D D U O PR l FUK NHA , Raque , Thiago ARA ebecca HO R T, R A L U O G e q RIZWAN , m fi er ha lh S Gui on LURIE, ar A , E IT LE Isadora th TAN and Kenne OPMENT: , AL D E VE L IGNATELLI ADDITION Umberto P , IO G G U B R A S! Michele G EED GAME udio, and N UITON , FM Game St G d ar ON , RÃES, Edou A IM U G remy MASS io ART: G LANZA , Je ia LI, rg EL io B G I, IM B R A IO, Ilaria PA Saeed JAL IZ R O y an AUT, D Eric NOUH as ROCHA re nd A N (Lead), d an c BROUILLO ar M : N , IG S DE de CASTRO GRAPHIC ead), Fabio (L L A B I M R O A Louise C Júlia FERR EGER, and Julien DEJA AN D R AD E , ING: Paulo D A E R F O PRO son KOEPP BET, and Ja Her vé DAU AUT hieu HARL CTOR: Mat E IR D T R A ETI R: David PR reserved. PUBLISHE d, all rights Global Limite ed N uc O M od C pr 21 © 20 ay be re is product m e Games tin llo ui G . No part of th on of ific permissi trademarks without spec es logo are am ON , G M e C s, tin le llo ic and the Gui bicide Chron om Z of d. ks Lt ress trademar Guillotine P e registered ar go ee lo N od O sm and the CM ported by A l Limited. Im rtier Villaroy CMON Globa Auriol – Qua e lin ue cq Ja e France. ru – , Group: 18 urt Cedex 41 Guyanco 0 Games 78 9 um 11 vi 0 4 de – BP rted by Es po im d aterbrook an W Distributed UK: Unit 6 – ee od nents sm A as ctual compo Ltd, trading 2UD – UK. A 34 U . G na – hi n C in Road – Alto own. Made om those sh may vary fr

TABLE OF CONTENTS #1 INTRODUCTION 5 WELCOME TO ZOMBICIDE: CHRONICLES................................. 6 The World of Zombicide......................................6 The Players ........................................................... 8 The Gamemaster ..................................................9 Structure of the Game.........................................9 So what do we do? ............................................. 10

WHERE TO START........................ 12

#3 PLAYING THE GAME

MAIN RULES................................44 Actions..................................................................44 Dice Pools............................................................ 45 Dice Results......................................................... 45 Dice Pool Modifiers............................................46

MISSION PHASE ADDITIONAL RULES.......................................... 48 Gaining Stress to Force a Success.................48 Rolling Trouble....................................................48

Survivor Identity Sheets................................... 12

Adrenaline Gain..................................................48

Dice......................................................................... 13

Recovery.............................................................. 49

Adrenaline Dials.................................................. 13

#2 SURVIVORS 15 SURVIVOR ARCHETYPES............. 16 SURVIVOR CREATION.................. 29 The Survivor Identity Sheet............................ 30

SURVIVOR PROLOGUES............... 33 SURVIVAL GUIDE......................... 37 Attributes and Proficiencies............................ 37 Actions.................................................................. 38 Stress ...................................................................40 Hit Points.............................................................40 Adrenaline...........................................................40 Skills......................................................................40

SESSION Z.................................... 41 Starting Equipment............................................ 41 Your First Shelter................................................ 41 Your First Mission............................................... 41

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COMBAT....................................... 50 Combat Sequence..............................................50 Survivor Phase.................................................... 51 Zombie Phase..................................................... 53 Damage................................................................54

GEAR........................................... 55 Inventory.............................................................. 55 Tools...................................................................... 55 Weapon Stats...................................................... 55 Additional Weapon Traits................................. 56 Protection............................................................ 56 Melee Weapons List.......................................... 57 Ranged Weapons List.......................................58

SKILLS......................................... 59 Skills by Rank...................................................... 59 Skill Descriptions................................................60

LEVELING UP............................... 63 Advancements.................................................... 63

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#5 THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE 107 #4 RUNNING THE GAME

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THE GAMEMASTER...................... 66 How do I Learn to be a GM?............................66

SPECIAL ACTIONS....................... 67 Prolonged Actions............................................. 67

THE CITY....................................108 City Map............................................................. 108 Threat Level...................................................... 109

Crossing the City................................................110 The Districts......................................................... 111

1. DOWNTOWN..............................112

Searching.............................................................68

First look.............................................................. 112

Making Camp........................................................ 71

Locations.............................................................. 112

NO PAIN, NO GAIN....................... 72

2. OLD TOWN...............................117

Trouble.................................................................. 72

First look.............................................................. 117

Conditions............................................................ 73

Locations.............................................................. 117

Other Sources of Damage................................74

ZOMBICIDE!................................. 76 Staging a Zombicide..........................................76 Action!................................................................... 78

ZOMBIPEDIA................................ 79 Everyday Zombies............................................. 79 Zombie Hordes................................................... 82

3. FUN ZONE.............................. 123 First look............................................................. 123 Locations............................................................. 123

4. UNIVERSITY DISTRICT..........130 First look.............................................................130 Locations.............................................................130

5. THE HEART OF THE CITY...... 135

Mutated Zombies............................................... 83

First look.............................................................135

Zombie Animals..................................................86

Locations.............................................................135

Customizing the Dead.......................................88

NON-PLAYER SURVIVORS........... 89 The Others...........................................................89 Fighting the Living.............................................. 91

6. THE SLUMS............................144 First look............................................................ 144 Locations............................................................ 144

EXTRA: THE UNDERCITY...........149

Extended Example of Combat with NPS...... 92

First look.............................................................149

NPS Groups......................................................... 93

Locations.............................................................149

THE MISSION PHASE................... 95 Phase Structure................................................. 95 Experience Awards............................................ 95 Mission Types...................................................... 96

THE SHELTER PHASE.................. 98 Phase Structure.................................................98 Rumors............................................................... 100

7. SUBURBIA..............................152 First look.............................................................152 Locations.............................................................152

8. UPTOWN.................................158 First look.............................................................158 Locations.............................................................158

9. INDUSTRIAL PARK.................164

Creating a Shelter..............................................101

First look.............................................................164

Defending the Shelter......................................105

Locations.............................................................164

SURVIVOR IDENTITY SHEET...... 169 SHELTER SHEET......................... 170 INDEX..........................................171

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Welcome to Zombicide: Chronicles . . 6 Where to Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

#01 INTRODUCTION

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WELCOME TO S E L IC N O R H C : E ID IC B M O Z Science! In the pursuit of ever greater levels of productivity, man has twisted both plants and animals to his own ends. In doing so, we have inadvertently changed ourselves... Now, shambling killing machines roam the ruins of our world. If you are reading this, you probably know about the Zombicide board game, and have an idea of what you will find in this volume. If you don’t, we'll tell you all about it. Buckle down and gear up, you're in for a wild ride. Zombicide: Chronicles is a roleplaying game about a Zombie apocalypse (surprise!), but this isn’t your father’s, or grandmother’s, nightmare about the undead. It is a game where you play a tough, gun-toting, chainsawwielding, Zombie-killing machine, someone who, instead of succumbing to the craziness that engulfed the world, decided to effin’ embrace it.

You might not be the perfect neighbor anymore, or the best partner for a night out, as all this putting animated corpses out of their misery is taking its toll on you, but you are still alive and plan on staying that way. You are a Survivor.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE The world as you know it is the world of yesterday. The world of today is a nightmare landscape of shuffling feet and grabbing hands, mouths agape and bloodshot eyes. It is an empty, deserted world where the sounds of nature and technology have been progressively replaced by the constant moaning of the dead and the screams of those who haven’t got the message yet that you must fight to stay alive.

How Did We Get Here? Nobody knows yet what it was that made the dead come back to life. You heard all sorts of conspiracy theories, from blaming GMOs, Big Pharma, chemical and biological warfare, or a pandemic. Some say it’s part of the plan of the Almighty and that the End Times are finally upon us. But all these theories have two things in common: they’re crazy and they don’t help. At all. So, the question isn’t really how did you get here, but rather how do you get OUT. You certainly don’t stand a chance if you continue arguing on the whys while the dead shamble all over the place. Walkers, runners, even crawlers, the streets are crowded with dead guys of all shapes and sizes.

Are you familiar with tabletop roleplaying games? I bet you are. If you are not, read this section carefully, especially the part on Players and the Gamemaster.

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City of the Dead When it happened, you were in every day of your previous life. lived outside the City, anyway. and you still are, hiding together somewhere in a high-rise condo.

the City, just like Not many people You were there, in a basement, or

The city districts, your favorite neighborhoods, your restaurants and theaters, they are all still there, apart from those areas that went up in flames in the first days. But now, what you see outside your comfy little refuge is not the place you once knew. Now, all there is left are supply caches, ammo dumps, and places you need to scout for medicine, water, or food.

SURVIVORS

Yes, I'm talking about the Abominations...

INTRODUCTION

And while the majority of them still resemble what they were before, some changed so much that you could not believe they were ever human.

There must be others like you out there. You were not the toughest SOBs, but you made it. So, others must have too, and you can find them. Mechanics who can fix things, doctors who can fix you, fighters who can fix them with a well aimed blow. You might get along well and build a larger community. Maybe start over.

PLAYING THE GAME

And the dead. The dead are everywhere.

Maybe.

Armed to the teeth with everything you can pack, strap, or wield, you scout the streets of the dilapidated city, slipping between undead-infested buildings, ducking behind rubble, and scavenging for anything that might keep you alive just a little bit longer.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

In Zombicide: Chronicles, you take the role of Survivors, a handful of individuals who, out of thousands, possess abilities that allowed them to make it against everything they have faced. At least, so far. You are the cream of the crop, true die-hards, or maybe just poor bastards who got luckier than the rest.

RUNNING THE GAME

Survivors

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T HE PLAYERS

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In a game of Zombicide: Chronicles, the players control the fate of their Survivors, deciding what the characters think and feel, and especially what they choose to do about it.

It is each player's responsibility to interpret their chosen Survivor as if they themselves were plunged into a world infested by the undead, and were equipped to confront the threat. But if it wasn’t clear already, the stories told in Zombicide: Chronicles are not dreary tales about people slowly driven to madness by living in an Undead world. The Survivors of Zombicide: Chronicles embrace their madness and use it as a weapon to shoot, smash, splatter, and otherwise eliminate countless Zombies, and they do it while skating on rollerblades.

RULES FOR THE PLAYERS • Rule #1: Visualize what the GM says - In a roleplaying game, the GM is your eyes and ears, but you must turn your brain on to envision all those descriptions into a scene you can interact with. If you don’t get it, or if you think something important is missing from a scene, ask questions to the GM or make suggestions to fill the blanks!

• Rule #4: Find Your Own Survivor’s Voice - Zombicide is all about the Survivors, their looks and their quirks. Visualize your own Survivors and give them distinctive traits for the other players and the GM to remember. If you think you’re overdoing it, keep only the essential to avoid monologues.

• Rule #2: Describe the Actions of your Survivor - Always tell the GM and the other players what your Survivor is doing, or, better, what you are doing. Be specific when you describe what you do and how you do it, without making unnecessary references to the rules of the game.

• Rule #5: Keep it Crazy, Keep it Fun - Wallow in the spirit of Zombicide: Chronicles! Death and decay are bleak, but Survivors have the right attitude and weapons aplenty to dial it up a notch. So, it’s time to Team Up and Gear Up!

• Rule #3: Act as a group as much as possible Cooperative play will enhance your chances of survival. The game is a conversation between you, the other players, and the GM, and everyone needs a share of the spotlight.

The rules of Zombicide: Chronicles allow you to jump headfirst into the world of Zombicide in a matter of minutes. Just grab a ready-to-play Survivor and start playing, or spend five minutes to customize one to your liking.

RULES FOR THE GAMEMASTER • Rule #1: You are the Eyes and Ears of the Survivors - The capability of the GM in bringing the world of Zombicide to (un)life is the main way for the Survivors to visualize what’s going on. That, and their imagination, of course. Your main goal is to feed that imagination constantly with your descriptions. • Rule #2: You are not the Enemy - While you will often confront the players with desperate odds, your role is to create interesting situations for them to get into trouble, not to punish them. Use the entire arsenal of Zombicide: Chronicles to evoke the right mood and suspense, not to butcher them. • Rule #3: Know your players - Zombicide: Chronicles doesn’t offer wild continents to explore or great mysteries to solve. The game tells the story of the Survivors. The better you know your players' expectations and goals, the easier it will be for you to add more chapters to their story. • Rule #4: Zombicide: Chronicles is a collaborative effort - The game is not your sole responsibility! Never forget that you are here to have fun as much as the other players.

INTRODUCTION

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SURVIVORS

Zombie hunting is all well and good, but there is more to Zombicide: Chronicles than just fighting endless hordes of Zombies. As players of the board game know, one of the most satisfying ways to enjoy the game is to play a series of linked missions.

Typically, a game session of Zombicide: Chronicles starts with the Survivors in their shelter, considering their current situation and making plans on what to do about it. Maybe their refuge isn’t safe anymore and they need to find a new one, or water and food have become scarce, or maybe a new horde has entered a nearby area. When the Survivors agree on a course of action, they leave their shelter to go on a mission.

• Rule #5: Keep it Crazy, Keep it Fun - Yeah, that’s what we said to the players, too. But in your case, it’s even more important. Whenever you can, infuse your scenes with the wicked humor of Zombicide. Hordes of Walkers risk becoming boring unless you add the occasional undead cosplayer, Santa Claus, or even a celebrity to the bunch. • Rule #6: The Zombicide world is at your disposal - Zombicide: Chronicles is fully compatible with the Zombicide board game. Using the board game components, such as tiles and miniatures, is a great way of improving the player's experience. While it may seem daunting at first, the task of the Gamemaster is an extremely satisfying experience. The rules for Zombicide: Chronicles make it easy to set up a gaming session with little or no preparation.

PLAYING THE GAME

STRUCTURE OF THE GAME

Shelter Phase and Mission Phase

RUNNING THE GAME

If you are going to be the GM, you will play as a referee and a storyteller. You will challenge the other players with the many dangers of the world of Zombicide, generously giving them a moment of respite once in a while.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

One player in every group is the exception, as one person won’t play a single individual, but will instead assume the role of the Gamemaster (GM for short), the person in charge of managing the world of Zombicide itself, and describing it to the other players.

Gameplay in Zombicide: Chronicles works very much like that, with the added bonus that you get to see what happens between missions. Zombicide: Chronicles is a full-immersion experience in the world of Zombicide, allowing a full exploration of different themes, in addition to those of survival and fighting the dead.

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THE GAMEMASTER

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10 In game terms, this is represented by two distinct stages of gameplay: the Shelter Phase and the Mission Phase. • During the Shelter Phase, a number of checks are performed to assess the availability of resources such as water, ammo, or medicine. Additionally, the Survivors gather news about what’s happening in the city and start planning their next steps. In this phase, the Survivors are not exposed to an immediate threat and have more time to get things done. To reflect this, the rules are simpler, as they ignore all the trappings required to heighten the tension at the table. • The Mission Phase starts as soon as the Survivors leave their refuge and enter the danger zone. A more detailed pace of gameplay kicks into gear and a set of additional rules are taken into account, as things like Stress, Adrenaline, and Trouble start to play their part. When the Survivors have achieved - or failed! - what they set out to do, the mission is over and the next game session will begin again with a Shelter Phase.

SO WHAT DO WE DO? The motto of Zombicide the board game is team up, gear up, level up, take’em down! This simple mantra also summarises well what you will do while playing Zombicide: Chronicles.

Team Up In a world in the grip of the dead, the biggest chance the living have is staying together. For when your chainsaw is buzzin’, you need someone to tell you that a Zombie is creeping up behind you to dig its nails into your back! Find and rescue others. One of the main reasons to go out and risk becoming Zombie chow is to find other Survivors. If you want to build a solid community, you need to find its building blocks: people.

Alternating the two distinct phases of gameplay allows the players of Zombicide: Chronicles to experience the passage of time and to see their characters develop.

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See pages 95 and 98 for more details on the two modes of play.

Gear Up

Take’em Down!

Every task needs the right tools, and combat is no exception. Never carry just one weapon!

At the end of the day, only one thing matters if you want to continue breathing: destroy all the Zombies you encounter! The horde is growing in number every minute.

Always look to get more stuff. Weapons jam and break, ammo runs out, more powerful opponents need more powerful weapons, vehicles need fuel, as do molotov cocktails. And you need to eat and drink sometimes.

Level Up

Get your daily Zombicide. Plan and execute good strategies, reducing your chance of suffering any casualties. For every one of you that falls, another one of them rises.

RUNNING THE GAME

PLAYING THE GAME

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

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Survival of the fittest. If you want to stop this outbreak from becoming an Extinction Level event, you'd better show Mother Nature that humanity deserves its place on the planet.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

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Train constantly and learn from the best. A well-trained individual with a knife has a better chance of survival than a well-equipped novice.

WHERE TO START

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We decided to take shelter at our neighbor's house, which was much safer. We just had to cross the street. But they were already there... Zombicide: Chronicles requires a number of tools to play, a handful of physical components that help the players feel part of the gaming world. These tools include the Survivor’s Identity Sheet and two different sets of dice, among other things.

SKILLS

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BIO

NAME:

level:

weapons Traits

Occupation: HABIT: LOOKS:

SURVIVOR IDENTITY SHEETS Survivors in the game are described using numerical ratings and descriptive terms defining each character based on their physical, mental, and personality traits, and on the extent of their knowledge and capabilities. All players in a game of Zombicide: Chronicles get a Survivor ID Sheet summarizing their abilities, just like every Survivor in a game of Zombicide the board game has its own Identity Card.

ACTIONS

BRAINS

Grit

Athletics

STUNT

SNEAK

ENDURE

Attitude

APPEAL

CONVINCE

HEARTEN

Background

CONTACTS

SECURITY

EDUCATION

Combat

FIGHT

SHOOT

COOL

Perception

SPOT

EVALUATE

SCOUT

Survival

SCAVENGE

TINKER

HEAL

Stress

hit points CONDITION

S:

A blank identity sheet can be found on page 169, and a PDF version can be downloaded from www.CMON.com.

Muscle

CHRO NICLE S

GEAR

Hoard

To resolve most Actions undertaken by the Survivors, players require two sets of six differently-coloured, custom 6-sided dice. Regardless of their color, dice in both sets feature pips and up to two special icons, a Molotov and a Zombie Head.

Sometimes, especially with tables, you may be asked to roll 1 regular 6-sided die (D6), or 2 regular 6-sided dice together (D66). Rolling a D66 means rolling two D6, where one die indicates the tens digits and the second the ones digit. This yields 36 different results.

CUSTOM DICE? If you would like to have more dice at the table, you can use any number of your own regular 6-sided dice. Just be sure to have two sets in different colors, and remember that a 6 corresponds to a Molotov and a 1 is a Zombie Head.

Your Survivor abilities are fueled by Adrenaline points. To keep track of them, just mark the level you attained on the Adrenaline bar on your ID Sheet. With the Adrenaline Dial, this becomes even easier! Just advance the hand on the dial a number of steps equal to the number of Adrenaline points gained.

RUNNING THE GAME

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ADRENALINE DIALS

Six Adrenaline Dials are included in the Gamemaster Starter Kit, along with the GM Screen.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

DICE

SURVIVORS

D6 and D66

PLAYING THE GAME

When a Survivor attempts a task implying some risk of failure, the acting player assembles a number of dice. Then, the dice pool is rolled and the results inspected: • Each Molotov is a success. • Each Zombie Head is a failure. • Each numerical value is a failure, unless forced into a success by gaining Stress (see page 48).

INTRODUCTION

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14 Survivor Archetypes . . . . . . . . . . 16 Survivor Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Survivor Prologues . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Survival Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Session Z. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

#02 SURVIVORS

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S E P Y T E H C R A R O IV V R U S The sun’ s kiss on my bloodied face never felt so good. If anyone had asked, I would never have bet on any of us living through this crazy night. And yet, we survived. The following pages present 12 Survivor archetypes. If you want to jump right into the world of Zombicide, just go to www.CMON.com and download a ready-to-play Survivor.

ZOMBICIDE: CHRONICLES HITS TABLETOP

Otherwise, choose a template and use it as the starting point to create your own Zombicide Survivor - go to page 29 for the rules on Survivor Creation. All the information provided by the templates can be used as presented, or you can customize them changing their name or gender, or adapting their background to suit your taste.

AMADO

BMX RIDER

The Chronicles Survivors Set offers miniatures and ID cards for all 12 standard Zombicide Chronicles Survivors. Use the miniatures to improve your roleplaying experience, or join in the zombie-killing experience of the Zombicide board game with your favorite RPG character!

Amado was a boy like most. He used to go to school, listen to music, and go to the mall, but his shtick was definitely biking. He rode his BMX bike everywhere he went. He even used it in his food delivery job. In fact, he was out for a delivery when he saw a blood-dripping fat guy biting his client waiting on the curb. Amado stared for a few seconds in shock, but then managed to escape by pedaling like crazy. He will never leave his bicycle now. Maybe he can even reinforce it with metal plates without overloading it too much...

 Favored Proficiency: Athletics  Favored Attribute: Brains  Starting Skills: Slippery

Fast

Sprint

Jump

SURVIVORS

n

Choose this archetype if you want to play a Survivor who has traded the everyday challenges of living on the streets with those of the world of Zombicide without blinking. Before, you had junkies or cops. Today, it’s the walking dead.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

RUNNING THE GAME

PLAYING THE GAME

“ You try a Bunn y Ho p w hen yo u have f our runners on your tail... ”

INTRODUCTION

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ly ‘zombies ’ "Once, the on e computers h t e r e w w e n Ik d with my I compromise ojan horses..." viruses and tr

BEN

HACKER AND BOXER In his life, Ben managed to do two things: learn to code like a hacker from the movies and become an accomplished boxer. He spent countless hours in front of his computer, making up for the mental strain by sweating in the gym. Only Ben could draw a parallel between those two activities. To him, hacking into a secure network was just like finding an opening in the defensive tactics of an opponent. Just enter the right move and watch them go down! Ben hasn’t had many opportunities to hack into anything nowadays, but his footwork has certainly saved him from hitting the canvas more than once.

 Favored Proficiency: Background  Favored Attribute: Muscle  Starting Skills: Break-in

Hit and Run

Combat Reflexes

Super Strength

Choose this archetype if you want to play a Survivor who hasn’t really adapted to the changes brought on by the plague yet, but whose inner strength has overcome all difficulties so far. One day, you’ll find an occasion to show what you are really made of.

INTRODUCTION

“ I think the windshield wipers are not enough to clean that off... ”

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Erin was already looking forward to her retirement. Every day, she dreamt of her little house on the lake, of the pleasant walks she would take with Donna, and of all the board games they would play in the evening, even if she would miss the shouts of the kids she took to school everyday. Unfortunately, the plague came and her dreams shattered. She always knew that by driving her bus she could save many lives.

PLAYING THE GAME

BUS DRIVER

SURVIVORS

ERIN

Lifesaver

Dreadnought

Steady Hand

Shove

Choose this archetype if you want to play someone whose dreams have been destroyed by the plague, but who isn't going to let that stop them. You won't let those walking carcasses tell you that you wasted your life.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

RUNNING THE GAME

1  Favored Proficiencies: Perception  Favored Attribute: Brains  Starting Skills:

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before t a h t k n thi d “ And to I feare g n i h t me, the they ca s tairs! ” s a w t s the mo

GLENN

RESOURCEFUL FOREMAN Glenn is a charming forty-year-old who used to be a construction site supervisor, but suffered an accident at work and lost the use of his legs. Glenn was too ingenious to let his disability discourage him though, and he kept honing his DIY skills at home. Give him a pile of junk and the right tools and he will build just about anything! Glenn was at his local hardware store when the plague began. He emerged from it with a fully-motorized, pimped-out, zombie-killing wheelchair.

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 Favored Proficiencies: Survival  Favored Attribute: Brains  Starting Skills:

Choose this archetype if you want to play someone who sees the world of Zombicide as a new start, a clean slate putting everyone on the same level. In your previous life, you felt like you were missing something. Now, everyone is missing something.

“ Their eyes are not dead , I tell you... I know how the eyes of dead things look. Believe me! ”

SURVIVORS

HELLEN BUTCHER

Hold your Nose

Precision

Dual Expert

Bloodlust

Choose this archetype if you want to play a focused Survivor, someone whose dedication to something won’t let anything shake them, least of all a horde of shambling horrors. Some say you’re weird, even crazy. You only do what you have to.

RUNNING THE GAME THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

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PLAYING THE GAME

When she turned eighteen, Hellen chose to take over her family’s butcher’s shop that her grandfather opened 60 years ago. Then it was her father’s turn to stand behind the counter. Papa hated working there, though, and he let Hellen have the shop for herself as soon as she suggested the idea. Hellen was surprised. How could someone not feel love for the shining blades and the precision cuts revealing the secret anatomy of dead animals? Unfortunately, Hellen doesn’t see much unspoilt meat anymore, but she certainly uses her knives a lot.

 Favored Proficiencies: Attitude  Favored Attribute: Muscle  Starting Skills:

INTRODUCTION

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ed the door without “ Once, someone open to grab me. clothes on and tried eir nose or Now, people without th to do the same... ” their entire face try

KIKI

POSTWOMAN Kiki lived a simple life, but she was really happy. She liked to stop and chat with people every time she delivered a letter. It wasn’t long before she was friends with everyone and knew the city as if it were her own neighborhood. And then, in the evening, she loved to swing by the local nightclub to drink a couple of cocktails and dance the night away. Whoever met her at the club could not believe the transformation. The plague took her job and many of her dancing partners, but it could not take away her memories.

 Favored Proficiencies: Perception  Favored Attribute: Grit  Starting Skills: Scavenger

Sidestep

Lucky

Brother in Arms

Choose this archetype if you want to play a Survivor who is so full of hope and serene that even the apocalypse couldn't rob them of their good spirits. Carpe diem, seize the day… and especially do not let them seize you!

“ On the count of three, clench your teeth. I ’ ll m ake it quick. ”

SURVIVORS

LATEESHA

 Favored Proficiencies: Background  Favored Attribute: Grit  Starting Skills: Field Medic

Reaper

Improvised Weapon

Mindfulness

Choose this archetype if you want to play a Survivor whose previous life gave them a level of self-discipline that in one way or another prepared them for the worst. You could handle dozens of troublesome patients or customers every week. What can a bunch of mumbling cadavers do?

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

RUNNING THE GAME

PLAYING THE GAME

$

DOCTOR

"Always help the needy." Lateesha kept repeating this to herself. She studied and practiced hard, and in a few years, she found herself heading to the emergency ward of the hospital. But then came that patient, the one who died and then woke up in the morgue. When she answered the call and got downstairs, she saw blood everywhere and that thing gnawing on the arm of a hospital guard. Always help the needy... Lateesha didn’t have a weapon, but fortunately there are many ways to use a crutch.

INTRODUCTION

23

24

can “ Wanna bet that I rds hit that runner 80 ya l away with a curvebal es? ” right between the ey

MARK

BASEBALL PLAYER After years of intensive training and playing, Mark had finally made it. He was the best pitcher of his favored team and a power-hitter too! But fame, money, glory, and all that stuff doesn't last forever, especially if you think that partying all night, every night, is part of your reward for playing well. Mark’s future as a player in the league was already slipping away from his grasp when the streets filled with the dead. Who could have predicted that throwing things at a long range with precision could become a useful skill set?

Choose this archetype if you want to play someone who has found their range of abilities made surprisingly useful by the infection. Let’s see who’s going to call you an arrogant, stupid jock now.

 Favored Proficiencies: Athletics  Favored Attribute: Muscle  Starting Skills: Longshot

Ambidextrous

Slugger

Improvised Weapon

It was meant to be a simple, part-time job at the hardware store to pay for college, but it became his life. Preston was happy, though, for his boss and his colleagues never had a problem with the fact that his boyfriend passed by every evening to pick him up (how could they after all? Jeff’s so good-looking!). So, it was very easy to forget the college and its bullies. And just when Preston thought he found peace, here came these filthy monsters, threatening to destroy everything. He would never allow it. Now, he is stronger than ever!

 Favored Proficiencies: Survival  Favored Attribute: Grit  Starting Skills: Low Profile

Taunt

Barbarian

Choose this archetype if you want to play someone who has found something important in their past lives and that doesn’t want to see it slip away. Society couldn’t bring you down. Just see those undead monsters try.

INTRODUCTION

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

RUNNING THE GAME

Tough

SURVIVORS

CLERK

PLAYING THE GAME

PRESTON

;

hat ’ s w here “ Run to aisle 4. T ng fuel. I'm we keep the campi glass bottles. ” going to get some

25

26 een killing "The difference betw mbie? Men a man and killing a zo later." star t to smell a lit tle

RENO

VETERAN

Reno was a US Marine and found it hard to adjust to the life of a civilian. “Once a Marine, always a Marine!” they say, and how can you deny that? How can you NOT miss the thrill of battle and the rush of adrenaline you feel only when your life is threatened? Since he got discharged, Reno started keeping an eye on the petty criminals prowling the streets of his neighborhood. If only they would pull a gun on him! When the outbreak came, those same gangsters stopped trying to rob people and tried to eat them instead. They were only the first who found out that Reno didn’t forget his training after all.

 Favored Proficiencies: Combat  Favored Attribute: Muscle  Starting Skills: Tactician

Blitz

Point Blank

Bullseye

4 Choose this archetype if you want to play someone who felt out of place in the world and now feels just at home in the apocalypse.

Shamsia was born in Afghanistan, but soon the war chased her away from there. She found a new home in the streets of the City and she started to mark the walls, telling her story and painting her dreams, signing her work as ‘Sham’. She grew up to become a successful artist, recognised in the artist circles, but she never forgot where she really belongs: the streets. She had just agreed to open a personal gallery when hordes of hungry Zombies replaced the usual crowd of art enthusiasts. Sham didn’t notice the difference.

 Favored Proficiencies: Attitude  Favored Attribute: Grit  Starting Skills: Born Leader

Dreadnought

Is That All You’ve Got?

Regeneration

Choose this archetype if you want to play a Survivor whose iron will allowed them to succeed in life against all odds. You’re tough as nails, tougher than the hardened skull of an Abomination.

INTRODUCTION SURVIVORS

GRAFFITI ARTIST

PLAYING THE GAME

SHAMSIA “SHAM”

RUNNING THE GAME

"My life has taught me that the world is s full of predators. Thi hasn ’ t changed."

27

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

a

28 clean in “ You have to cut it ly way to half. That ’ s the on se again . ” be sure it won ’ t ri

YUKA KENDOKA The smell of the dojo, meditation, blisters on your hands, men, do–, kote, tsuki. This was Yuka’s idea of a perfect life. She was fast. She was focused. She used to beat every opponent. But the modern world doesn’t allow you to live by an outdated warrior code, and Yuka worked a day job as an ‘office lady’, serving tea and running errands. Yuka was succumbing to depression when all hell broke loose. The hands that used to wield the shinai every day now grip a razor-sharp katana.

 Favored Proficiencies: Combat  Favored Attribute: Brains  Starting Skills: Destiny

Bloodlust

Swordmaster

Reaper

Choose this archetype if you want to play someone who is still looking for their right place in the world. It’s a spiritual quest, but in the meantime, you keep yourself busy with physically cutting Zombies to shreds.

L

The world is at war against a hungry horde of zombies born from our own hubris. While most people chose to flee and became prey, we chose to stand and become predators.

CREATING A NEW SURVIVOR Choose a Survivor archetype as your starting point. Then, proceed to the following:

INTRODUCTION

SURVIVOR CREATION

29

To start playing, you can download one of the available ready-to-play Survivors, or you can select an archetype to use as a starting point and create your own. The process to create a new Survivor is presented here in short and detailed further on the following pages. Each player must have a blank Survivor’s Identity Sheet to annotate.

3. Skills: Copy your chosen Survivor archetype's 4 Starting Skills. 4. Favored Actions: Underline 4 Actions, choosing them as you see fit from those listed under your chosen Survivor’s Favored Attribute and Proficiency. 5. Attributes: Prioritize your Survivor's main characteristics: Muscle, Brains, and Grit, allocating a score of 1 to one of them, 2 to another, and a score of 3 to the last. 6. Proficiencies: Attribute the following ratings as you see fit, distributing the following 6 scores among the Proficiencies of your Survivor: two Proficiencies at 3, three at 2, and one at 1.

PLAYING THE GAME

To play Zombicide: Chronicles, you need your alter-ego, an identity in the world of Zombicide. Your Survivor is your main interface with the fictional world and with the other players. It's your starting point to create a story where you and your friends are the main cast.

2. Level: All Survivors start at Level 0, so you can leave this blank for the moment.

SURVIVORS

1. Bio: Fill in your Personal details. Choose your Survivor’s name and Occupation, or adopt those of the chosen Survivor. Add the details concerning Habits and Looks.

7. Derived Stats: Find your Survivor’s Stress and Hit Points scores:

b. Your Hit Points total is equal to the sum of Grit and Muscle Copy the two final ratings following the indication on the Identity Sheet.

RUNNING THE GAME

a. Your Stress rating is equal to the sum of Brains and Grit, then multiplied by 2

Elle

9. Prologue: Adopt the biographical notes of your chosen Survivor or create your own. For example, using the Survivor Prologues tables, starting on page 33. Enter any detail in the blank space of your ID Sheet.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

8. Gear: Use the three boxes on your ID Sheet to record what you carry with you on a Mission. You will fill up these slots during Session Z (see page 41).

30

T HE SURVIVOR IDENTITY SHEET The Survivor Identity Sheet is a handy tool that each player fills out at the beginning of the game, updating it as the game progresses and the Survivor evolves.

If you choose something that is too complicated or long, like Archibald Harrison or Bartholomew the Second, others will probably start referring to you based on you former occupation or main defining characteristic: "the cop", "the cable guy", "the headbanger", and so on. So, choose a shorter name, or get used to it.

Occupation Start by making a copy of the sheet found at the end of this book, or downloading it from www.CMON.com. Then, follow the guidelines described below. The following paragraphs are numbered to reference the entries in the Creating a New Survivor insert on the previous page.

1. Bio Write the name of your Survivor here. This is your name in the world of Zombicide. Also, fill in your Survivor's job (or main hobby!) they had before the infection started, along with their habits and a description of their looks.

Name All characters in Zombicide: Chronicles were ordinary people before the dead started to rise, so their names are usually perfectly ordinary (Amy, Doug, Phil, etc.). Family names are not generally used. No one wants to be reminded that they used to have a family. Be sure to pick a name you can live with.

At the beginning of their story, Survivors are very much defined by what they were in the past. The former cop still puts her uniform on every day. The clerk shaves and wears a tie every morning. Even the goth girl still puts her makeup on before anyone can see her. They do this because they find solace in the small things that remind them of their lives before the outbreak, when the whole world wasn’t out there to get them and eat their brains. In a way, your Survivor’s former way of life is a tangible expression of their humanity, a value that you will see slowly waste away. Day after day, Zombicide after Zombicide, they will lose touch with that part of themselves that belongs to a past that will never return, and they will evolve. So, for the moment, a former occupation is still what best defines your Survivor, your rock to hold on unto and stay sane in a world gone mad.

Habit It’s hard to get used to a Zombie apocalypse. It seems that not even the infection can easily make you forget your routines, like smoking a cigarette after a good meal, eating a specific type of snack, or practicing Yoga for fifteen minutes when the sun goes down. At the start of the game, you get to choose your habits. That good, relatively bad, or really bad habit that you can’t do without. After all, what’s more likely to kill you nowadays, an addiction or the horde out there?

Looks The appearance of your Survivor is fundamental, as it should be a representation of what you intend your character to be. Take a look at the illustrations of the Survivor archetypes and see how they play up the distinctive features of the characters they represent. Then, when you are done assigning values to the various characteristics of your own character, consider your Survivor’s Attributes and Proficiencies and try to visualize a living, breathing person. When you think you've got it right, present your character to the GM and to the other players, translating whatever you feel is important about your Survivor into a recognizable trait. Write down a description of your character’s looks in the box on the Identity Sheet.

INTRODUCTION

Your Survivor can be of any age or gender, from a feisty kid of 12 to an octogenarian lady. Kids get smart fast around here, and our elders learn soon that there’s no one around to leave them a seat on the bus. So grandpa, you better get used to standing, walking, and running. Those mumbling cadavers won’t get off your lawn unless you make them.

For example, you might choose Reno and make them Rebecca instead, because you like the idea of playing a female veteran.

SURVIVORS

A good way to customize an archetype in a simple but radical way is to change their gender.

Changing the gender of a Survivor might seem trivial, but it provides a completely different angle to how you interpret your Survivor, not to mention how you see them.

2. Level One day, the Survivors who do not get killed will eventually adapt to their new world and they will swap their role as prey with their predators. In game terms, they level up and acquire new abilities. They will evolve, gaining Experience, to one day become ultimate Survivors, Zombie-killing machines always ready for another Zombicide.

PLAYING THE GAME

Contrasts are generally fun and in the vein of Zombicide, but be careful not to overdo it. A nun dispensing her blessing to a horde of Zombies using Molotov cocktails is a bit borderline, but is more interesting than a plain guy with a rifle. But a skateboarding, chainsaw-wielding, grenade-tossing priest is probably too much. Then again, your mileage may vary!

Does it really matter how old you are? A better question would be: how long are you going to last?

3. Skills Everyone who survived the outbreak so far did so also thanks to their peculiar talents that allowed them to make it.

RUNNING THE GAME

It could be anything. A real job, like cop, teacher, or clerk. A hobby or sport, like skating or parkour, or even a passion for a type of music or fashion trend. Choose something you think will be fun and engaging to play out and that follows the general description.

GENDER AND AGE

Each Survivor archetype features a set of four Skills, one for each level on their Adrenaline bar. Copy the name and gameplay effects of these special talents in the corresponding spaces on your Identity Sheet. These are the starting Skills of your new Survivor. In time, you will get to choose new abilities as your Survivor gets better and better in the art of Zombicide. Skills and their effects are detailed starting on page 59.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Customising Your Survivor’s Occupation Each Survivor archetype comes with a short bio defining what they did before the outbreak. Feel free to choose a different occupation, possibly taking cue from the archetype offered for each character.

31

32 4. Favored Actions

7. Derived Stats

The 4 Actions you underlined during this step marked them as Favored. Favored Actions designate those abilities your Survivor finds naturally easy to use. • In game terms, a Favored Action lets you roll an additional die (see page 46).

The Attributes of your Survivor determine two fundamental scores: a character’s Stress and Hit Points. • During play, your Survivor accumulates Stress points by forcing successes on dice rolls. Be sure to keep track of your current Stress and your maximum Stress. You can never exceed your maximum Stress level. • Hit Points (HPs) are lost during combat or as a result of accidents. Be sure to keep track of your current Hit Points and your maximum Hit Points. You can never exceed your maximum HPs.

5 and 6. Attributes and Proficiencies The capability of your Survivor to endure the trials of living in an undead world is represented in the game by a number of numerical values: Attributes and Proficiencies. • The three Attributes: Muscle, Brains, and Grit, represent respectively the physical, mental, and temperamental profile of your Survivor. In numerical terms, their value ranges from 1 to 3 (but can go beyond that when leveling up). • The six Proficiencies: Attitude, Athletics, Perception, Survival, Combat, and Background represent different manifestations of a Survivor’s expertise. In numerical terms, each Proficiency starts with a value ranging from 1 to 3 (but can reach a maximum of 6 as a Survivor levels up). As you can see by having a look at the Identity Sheet, attributes are arranged so that if you cross-reference an Attribute with a Proficiency, you find one of 18 different Actions. Whenever your Survivor attempts something, first locate the Action that is most appropriate to the attempted action. Then, add together the numerical values of the corresponding Attribute and Proficiency to find the number of dice to roll (see page 45 for more about Action dice pools).

During Steps 5 and 6 of Survivor Creation, you assign numerical ratings to each Attribute and Proficiency. Doing this, you also determine the scores of each of the 18 Actions (see Survival Guide for details).

8. Gear The amount of stuff you can carry is represented in the game by 3 inventory slots on you ID Sheet. • The ready slot shows what you have in hand, ready to be used. The holster slot indicates something you can draw quickly. The backpack slot is used to indicate what you carry around in a rucksack or duffel bag. A good idea is to use the Zombicide board game cards to represent your gear! Your starting equipment, as far as weapons and other useful items are concerned, is decided jointly with your fellow players when the time to assemble the team comes (see Session Z, page 41).

9. Prologue Your character is almost ready, but they probably lack an important element: a backstory. Knowing something about what happened before the game starts is a good way to give depth to your character. To do this quickly, you can use the tables starting on page 33. The GM is encouraged to use the resulting information in the game to create story hooks and in general to provide the Survivors with a deeper level of personal investment.

We were with some friends when the first siren began to wail, quickly followed by countless others. In less than an hour, everything changed. The television and the radio announced horrible news.

)

11-13

14-16

You were on vacation abroad and everyone was talking about it there.

21-23

A friend working with the government told you about it, but you didn’t believe them.

24-26

You were sent anonymous email messages by what seemed like conspiracy theorists.

31-33

Friends started talking about it as a joke.

34-36

On TV or online.

41-43

The plague came to you directly, banging on your door.

44-46

A crazy person on the streets mentioned it as a sign of the imminent end of the world.

51-53

A relative of yours died and rumours about them coming back to life started circulating.

54-56

You recognised a pattern in the news about civil warfare in faraway countries.

61-63

You started to study Zombies to develop a game and gathered some evidence.

64-66

Outbreak? What outbreak!?

PLAYING THE GAME

A. When you first heard of the outbreak. B. Your first experience as a witness. C. Your first Zombicide. D. What happened to your significant others. E. What you took with you. F. What you left behind. G. How you met the other Survivors.

You discovered the infection the first time you saw a Zombie. Maybe you had no access to the media during the first days of the outbreak.

RUNNING THE GAME

Use the back of your ID Sheet to record the various results.

SURVIVORS

FIRST HEARD A . WHEN YOU K O F TH E O UTB R E A

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

The following tables are merely suggestions meant to be used to quickly enrich the backstory of your Survivor. For each table, roll a D66 and check the corresponding entry.

INTRODUCTION

SURVIVOR PROLOGUES

33

34

e

B. YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE AS A WITNESS 11-13

At work when a workmate had a stroke and rose before the ambulance arrived.

14-16

You were on vacation at the lake when drowned people emerged among the bathers.

21-23

You fled the clinic where you were hospitalised when the dead started leaving the morgue.

C. YOUR FIRST ZOMBICIDE (YOUR BAPTISM OF FIRE) 11-13

You may be ashamed about it, but you’re secretly still a Z-Virgin.

14-16

24-26

While out walking your dog, you were the first to see the recent dead leave the local cemetery.

They were your friends, once. Then, they died and came back as Zombies. You couldn’t let them roam free.

21-23

31-33

You ran into someone with your car and when you stopped, you saw that what you hit was a rotten, walking corpse.

You thought you couldn’t pull the trigger. That is, until a cop tried to bite you.

24-26

34-36

You were shopping at the mall when the crowd started screaming about a possible terrorist attack. At least you were able to grab lots of supplies.

You briefly joined a group of soldiers when they arrived in your area to get everyone out of there.

31-33

The home of your significant other (see table D) was overrun and you had to do your worst to free them.

34-36

You helped "clean" your neighborhood when you realised that the cops were not coming.

41-43

You killed your first horde when you had to leave your home area because it was overrun.

44-46

You and some friends went on a Zombie-killing spree, betting on who would kill the most.

51-53

You were attending the best rock gig ever when you saw arms and legs fly out of the mosh pit, not necessarily attached to their owners.

You found out that you like fighting. It was scary at first, but now you’ve grown to like it.

54-56

It was an accident! You didn’t mean to kill the guy! What a relief when you saw he wasn’t alive after all.

61-63

You killed someone. Then, you saw the corpse getting up and it tried to attack you.

61-63

You blacked out and woke up next to a pile of maimed Zombies. You are not entirely sure about what happened.

64-66

It’s your darkest secret.

64-66

You certainly know how to improvise with a frying pan.

41-43

44-46

51-53

54-56

You investigated the apartment of a neighbor when your dog didn’t stop barking upon passing in front of their yard. When you opened their front door, it almost cost you an arm. The police literally torched a house on your street where a bunch of harmless hippies lived together. You saw two burning people slowly walk out of the building and attack the cops. Someone you cared for didn't answer your calls. When you paid them a visit, they tried to attack you.

35

21-23

You lost them in the chaos and you still hope to find them.

24-26

They were doomed and you had to kill them.

31-33

You decided to split up and vowed to find each other again later.

34-36

They are fellow Survivors (choose one or two).

41-43

One of them is alive, somewhere, and has a way of keeping in touch with you.

44-46

They lived in a different town and you haven’t heard from them since.

51-53

You made a mistake and this led to their demise.

54-56

You think you know where they are and you want to meet them again.

61-63

You never had a single soul to love.

64-66

You left them behind of your own free will.

SURVIVORS

They believed you were dead (you like to think) and left you behind.

E. WHAT YOU TOOK WITH YO

U

11-13

The clothes you wear at work (your uniform).

14-16

Your cell phone (hoping to be able to charge it at some point).

21-23

Your personal diary.

24-26

A religious symbol.

31-33

Your favorite music.

34-36

A hard drive full of movies.

41-43

Bottles of hand sanitizer.

44-46

Your favorite board game.

51-53

A guide about outdoor survival.

54-56

Your best pair of boots.

61-63

Pictures of your significant others.

64-66

A beloved pet (a dog, a hamster, or other small animal).

PLAYING THE GAME

14-16

RUNNING THE GAME

They're all gone. You are alone.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

11-13

INTRODUCTION

D. WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS (CHOOSE BETWEEN PARENTS, CHILDREN, LOVER, ETC.)

36

F. WHAT YOU LEFT BEHIND (AND REGRET LOSING) 11-13

The keys to your bunker.

14-16

Your collection of board games.

21-23

Your survival kit.

24-26

Your favorite book.

31-33

Your great-grandfather's gold watch.

34-36

Your cache of your favorite snack.

41-43

Your secret lover.

44-46

The keys to your brand new car.

51-53

Your best friend.

54-56

Your dog.

61-63

Your neighborhood (it went up in flames).

64-66

Your lucky charm.

G. HOW YOU MET THE OTHER SURVIVORS 11-13

Upon leaving your hometown when it was overrun.

14-16

When the others saved you from certain death.

21-23

You were trapped by Zombies in some hospital/mall/prison.

24-26

You were trying to loot the same place.

31-33

You were captured by the others, but then you gained their trust.

34-36

You were friends since the world before (choose one or two Survivors).

41-43

You survived together.

44-46

You followed the others for a while and then they accepted you.

51-53

You were neighbors and banded together.

54-56

You were friends from work.

61-63

You got in touch online and decided to team up.

64-66

You basically fell on them...

a

failed

Zombicide

SURVIVAL GUIDE

INTRODUCTION

While Survivors are exceptional individuals beyond any doubt, they come from all walks of life. Before the end of the world as we knew it, it was impossible to guess what a horde of shambling monstrosities would have drawn out from the faceless clerk at a bank, or from your boring neighbor who always threatened to call the cops when the music was too loud.

• Brains. A high Brains rating generally indicates a superior intellect and a clear mind, the signs of a quick thinker. All activities profiting from a sense for logic and the capability for a quick assessment of a situation are tied to the Brains stat. • Grit. Grit measures a Survivor’s force of personality and their capability for energy, emotion, and enthusiasm. A character with a high Grit score can be disciplined, strong-willed, and hard to demoralise.

SURVIVORS

We are survivors and we fight against death itself with every weapon available.

37

But when all hell finally broke loose, something inside a number of those anonymous nobodies flared up, turning them into relentless fighters who would not let the Zombies get them, no matter the cost.

All numerical ratings indicate a number of dice.

Attributes Muscle, Brains, and Grit describe a Survivor’s fundamental physical, mental, and emotional capabilities. In addition to being combined with Proficiencies when a Survivor is taking an action, Attributes are used to determine a character’s Stress and Hit Points scores and to determine their recovery capabilities. • Muscle. A Survivor with a high Muscle score can be broad and tough or lean and agile. Every aspect of a character that relies on their fitness or capability for physical action is represented in Zombicide: Chronicles as Muscle.

Proficiencies The six Proficiencies of a character and their ratings identify the strengths and weaknesses of a Survivor. Ben is certainly apt at Survival, but what about his Attitude capabilities? Yuka is Combat ready, but is her Perception good enough to spot a crawler silently approaching? • Athletics. The capability of a Survivor to perform actions that test their physical strength, coordination, and resistance, like driving a car, climbing, moving silently, or marching for days on end. • Attitude. The strength of a Survivor’s personality, their capability to impress, persuade, and even cheer up others. A high Attitude score expresses true charisma and charm. • Background. It is a measure of the previous experiences accumulated by the Survivor as a result of their former occupation or upbringing. It represents factual knowledge and expertise as well as formal training and the extent of their social circle.

RUNNING THE GAME

In Zombicide: Chronicles, the most important stats in the game are a Survivor’s Attributes and Proficiencies, numerical ratings that are used to evaluate the Survivors’ capabilities in different fields.

Kim

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

ATTRIBUTES AND PROFICIENCIES

PLAYING THE GAME

They became Survivors and they plan to remain as such for a long time coming.

38 • Combat. When everything else fails, a good Combat rating always comes handy, be it to wield that chainsaw properly, to shoot straight and conserve ammo, or to keep your head down when everything is blowing up around you. • Perception. Perception measures the potential of a Survivor to notice something out of the ordinary, to explore an area quickly without missing details that could get you killed, or to figure out a complex situation. • Survival. A high rating in Survival can often make the difference between life and death, as it helps to quickly separate the good stuff from the ever-present junk, clear that machine gun jam that is letting those walkers come too close, or save you from bleeding out on the curb.

ACTIONS When a roll should be made to decide the performance of a Survivor in a task, the GM decides the most appropriate Action and the player creates a dice pool by adding up the scores of the corresponding Attribute and Proficiency. For ease of reference, we group the Action descriptions by the Proficiency they correspond to.

Athletics Actions • Stunt (Muscle). You roll Stunt when you are profiting from your physical preparedness to accomplish something, be it breaking down a door, climbing the face of a ruined building, or driving your car around moving dead bodies. If you have only a few dice, you risk twisting an ankle when rushing down the stairs. With a lot of dice in your pool, you can survive bungee jumping with a stiff rope. • Sneak (Brains). Use Sneak to crawl your way out of view, let the darkness be your ally, and push open that squeaky door as if it was thoroughly greased. At lower scores, you have enough finesse to perform simple card tricks. At higher scores, you will backstab Brutes even before they can smell your flesh. • Endure (Grit). If Zombies didn’t kill you, neither will wind or rain. Roll Endure to resist the effects of being exposed to harsh weather, or extreme fatigue and pain. With a few dice, you’ll find it hard to go out even when it’s just raining. If you roll a lot of dice, you’ll have a chance to shrug off the pain inflicted by severe burns.

Attitude Actions • Appeal (Muscle). You roll Appeal when you want others to like you. Maybe you play upon their needs and expectations, or you just rely on your animal magnetism. With a few dice, you can get some people to laugh at your jokes. With a lot of dice, you can be so charming that you will have to tell people to stop following you after you talked to them once. • Convince (Brains). During the apocalypse, no one does anything for nothing. You can Convince them that you are deserving of help or that what you ask is in their best interest. With a few dice, you may try to have the last bite of their snack. With more dice in your pool, you can talk your way out of the worst situations. • Hearten (Grit). Once, your friends called you when they needed advice or just a shoulder to lean on. Now, you roll Hearten when you must lift someone from their misery, rally your fellow Survivors, or when you try to tell them that the horde of Zombies outside is not really that dangerous. At lower scores, you can dispense some words of wisdom. When you roll more dice, you can spark some hope in the darkest hour.

Background Actions • Security (Muscle). Security covers all those shady talents like lock-picking, pickpocketing, and other ways to overcome problems connected to security measures. For example, roll Security to break into a closed apartment, or to elude a still functioning intrusion alarm. If you have a few dice, you probably know a lot about the art, but you didn’t practice much. Meanwhile, a lot of dice in your pool may indicate that your job often required night shifts. • Education (Brains). Remember those boring books at the library and those workshops on dissecting frogs? Not so useless now, eh? You roll Education whenever you need to tap into your knowledge and find something useful for the situation at hand. With a few dice in the pool, you may successfully remember how to tie a rope. With a lot of dice in your pool, you can jot down the best formula to make things go boom! • Contacts (Grit). Gone are the days where social networks and cellphones cut distances and enabled home delivery. Roll Contacts when you need to find the right person for a job.

N

• Cool (Grit). Don’t panic. Things are already bad. Please don’t make them worse. When you absolutely need to stay calm or you are facing unfathomable horrors, roll Cool. At lower scores, you can reload your weapon under fire without shaking too much. At higher scores, you keep your composure in front of hordes of Runners coming to get you.

Survival Actions • Scavenge (Muscle). The world has changed, at times for the better. For example, money is only good to light your cigar. Everything is free. Just grab it! As long as you know where to look, you’ll be fine. At lower scores, you may find enough food to survive another day. At higher scores, you will lay your hands on plenty of resources for all your fellow Survivors. • Tinker (Brains). Stuff breaks, firearms jam, and you’re pretty sure the warranty has expired. With Tinker, you can repair items and barricades, and even pimp your weapons for maximum effect. At lower scores, you may be able to unjam basic handguns. At higher scores, you may even craft your own weapons of mass destruction.

SURVIVORS

• Fight (Muscle). It’s showtime! You Fight when you attack in close combat, brawling bare-handed or tearing down every last Walker with your roaring chainsaw. With a few dice, you are barely able to take down a couple Zombies in a row. With a higher score, you can confront Abominations and probably live to tell the tale. • Shoot (Brains). Lock ‘n load! Most of the time, you don’t want to get up close and personal with Zombies. In Zombicide: Chronicles, you'll get to Shoot at them with lots of different guns. At lower levels, unloading a full magazine will get you a couple bullets in your target. At higher scores, you unleash an alarming amount of firepower from afar.

PLAYING THE GAME

Combat Actions

• Evaluate (Brains). Thinking with a cool head can be hard when you’re busy taking out Zombies. You roll Evaluate when common sense isn’t enough and you need to assess a complex situation or draw a conclusion about what someone is thinking. At lower scores, you may sense hostility, anger, or fear. At higher scores, your capability for deduction rivals that of a professional sleuth. • Scout (Grit). Taking one for the team, you go Scouting the area. Whether your mission is to find where those Walkers are coming from or search for a nice spot to make a new shelter, it’s just you exploring the unknown. If you have just a few dice, you may not want to be alone, ever. With a lot of dice, your chest would be adorned with countless explorer's medals!

RUNNING THE GAME

Maybe you knew a guy who might still be alive and get you what you want, be it information or resources. At lower scores, you may still grasp some gossip from people from your area. With higher scores, everyone used to wave at you and stop by for a quick chat.

INTRODUCTION

39

• Spot (Muscle). Sometimes, the capability to identify a Runner Zombie hiding in a pile of corpses can make the difference between life and death. You roll Spot when you’re looking for something that is hard to find. With a few dice, you will barely figure out where the shots came from. With a lot of dice, even a tiny critter is identifiable blocks away.

• Heal (Grit). Heal measures your ability to treat injuries and conditions on others and yourself. It will be useful, you can be sure of that. At lower scores, you are able to dress wounds and tell a laxative apart from an antibiotic. At higher scores, you can perform amputations and treat the most exotic ailments with the perfect mixture of herbs and drugs.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Perception Actions

40

STRESS (Brains + Grit) x2 When the going gets tough, the tough get going! Stress measures your capability to push yourself beyond your limits so you can get things done. • As the game progresses, you can stress yourself to turn a failure into a success or to improve an already successful result (see page 48). Of course, everyone has a limit, and you should always keep in mind what’s yours. From time to time, catch a break and lower your current Stress and always try to get a few hours of sleep, like a good soldier.

TUNING THE DIFFICULTY Zombicide: Chronicles aims to provide you with a gaming experience that allows your characters to accomplish great feats. However, you can choose to set different Stress scores for the Survivors and increase or decrease the overall difficulty of the game. Simply lower or raise the amount of Stress points at their disposal, limiting their score to just the sum of Brains and Grit or giving them plenty of points to spend by raising it to (Brains + Grit) x3. • A lower Stress score makes for a grittier game, a playing mode that will keep the Survivors on the edge at all times, forcing them to manage their resources as best they can. A higher Stress score allows for over-the-top performances and less tension.

HIT POINTS (Grit + Muscle) I’m sure you know it already… when you lose Hit Points (HP), it means you got hurt! I hope that’s not a bite mark there on your arm... • During the game, you lose Hit Points when fighting or by doing stupid things like climbing some rickety stairs and falling down (see page 74). You do not suffer negative consequences from accumulated damage (after all, you’re tough) until you reach zero HPs or less. When you do, you are knocked out and risk becoming food for dead people if no one helps you out.

ADRENALINE A lot of people perform better under pressure, and those who don’t like to say so anyway because it’s cool. Adrenaline gauges the good effects of being hard-pressed. • Your Adrenaline rises as you succeed in doing what you are trying to do, like for example killing Zombies and achieving significant objectives that advance the completion of a Mission (for more details on how to gain Adrenaline, see page 48). You keep track of Adrenaline using the bar printed on top of your ID Sheet. The bar is divided into 4 intensity sections: Blue, Yellow, Orange, and Red. When you reach new sections of the Adrenaline track, you also unlock the Skills assigned to each section on your ID Sheet. You can use them freely from now on, that's when the real fun begins.

SKILLS Skills in Zombicide: Chronicles are special abilities representing qualities that allow a Survivor to do what must be done: kill and avoid being killed. • The Survivors see their capabilities improve dramatically over the course of a gaming session as they unlock new Skills every time the Adrenaline bar reaches a new intensity section. Skills and their effects are detailed in Chapter 3, page 59.

MOOD To avoid facing issues when the game is already ongoing, it is better to set some time aside during Session Z to discuss with your players the style of play you’d like to adopt. Is this going to be a gritty game about hard-bitten Survivors, or is it going to be more cartoony? Zombicide: Chronicles is written as a fun and dynamic game that aims to preserve the lighthearted tone of the board game, but you and your players might have different ideas on what ‘fun and dynamic’ means. So, to avoid imposing your own vision on the others, you should talk this out. Some players like horror and gore. Others prefer to go lightly on matters of death and dismemberment, even if fictional. Some like dense plots full of mystery. Others get a kick out of furious combat. Just make sure you are all on the same page.

Then, when you’re all set and ready to go, you can embark in your first mission!

STARTING EQUIPMENT

Once everyone has determined their belongings, the items can be distributed among the Survivors as the players see fit. Alternatively, each player may choose 1 object as their iconic equipment, based on the chosen Survivor’s description, with the approval of the GM. For example, a player playing Amado may ask the GM for a BMX bike, while another playing a military veteran might ask for a set of combat fatigues.

INTRODUCTION

Shelter creation is a team endeavor, so everyone is invited to contribute. Use the Shelter sheet found on page 169 to keep track of the various characteristics of your Shelter. They will come in handy! • When you’re done, go to page 98, the Shelter Phase, and make a Supply Check roll to kickstart the Survivors to the harsh reality of the post-outbreak world.

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Each Survivor now gets to choose 1 starting weapon among the following: Baseball Bat, Crowbar, Fire Axe, and Pistol (feel free to use the Zombicide board game Starting Equipment cards). Then, they all get to add 1 item to a team inventory. • To do this, each player must roll once on the Search Category Table on page 69. Then, based on the result, roll on the corresponding table.

A Shelter is a precious commodity, but it’s volatile. It can be spoilt or destroyed by Zombies or rival Survivors. If you lose your Shelter, you are in serious trouble and you must find a new one as soon as you can. Possibly a better, more defensible one. • To create your first Shelter, go to page 101 and follow the instructions you’ll find there.

PLAYING THE GAME

While players choose for themselves what they want their characters to be, there are a number of decisions that should be taken as a group when you’re all gathered to start playing for the first time. • We call this the Session Zero, or Session Z for short. During Session Z, you will determine your starting equipment and the characteristics of the first shelter you share with the others.

Your Shelter is your home, your refuge, your fortress. It’s the only place where you can really afford to let your guard down, relax, and lick your wounds. You might even cry a little bit, but don’t let the others see you.

YOUR FIRST MISSION

RUNNING THE GAME

Now that everyone has chosen or created a Survivor, it’s time to set up what else you need to start your first Zombicide: Chronicles gaming session.

YOUR FIRST SHELTER

Now you are finally ready for your first Mission! Usually, it is good practice to follow up your Session Z with a simple, introductory affair. After the first Mission, you will be on your own, free to investigate Rumors you have accumulated (see page 100), or to follow some personal goal based on you Survivor’s backstory. Choose where you want to go and what you want to do, but be warned: it’s a dangerous world out there!

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Many of us survivors have found and joined a team, community, family, gang - whatever you want to call it. The thing is, supplies are getting scarce.

SURVIVORS

SESSION Z

41

42

Main Rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Mission Phase Additional Rules. . . . 48 Combat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Gear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Skills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Leveling Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

#03

PLAYING THE GAME

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MAIN RULES We need to get some power back to the mall to open the delivery door. Not an easy task. The game system for Zombicide: Chronicles uses a simple but solid framework of rules to help the players and the Gamemaster to bring the dead, the Survivors who fight them, and the world they all inhabit to life. The rules set a limit to what a character can do, as well as providing a way for the themes of the game to directly influence the story. The game system also provides the Gamemaster with the tools to describe a believable environment for their players to interact with. It's a world where actions succeed or fail due to tangible reasons, such as the characters’ level of ability and the difficulty of what they attempt to do. The choices that players make for their characters have real consequences that will be felt for the rest of the campaign.

ACTIONS If Zombicide: Chronicles was a board game, an Action would represent a player’s move. When the Gamemaster is done describing the situation the Survivors are facing, you must choose how your character reacts to the circumstances described. You must announce your next move. But Zombicide: Chronicles is not a board game, so how do you do it? Telling how your Survivor acts and reacts is as simple as telling the GM. A roleplaying game is a continuous conversation. It's group storytelling. You and the other players describe what your characters say or do, taking into account whatever the GM has said about what’s going on. The GM listens to what you say, and, building upon your input, describes the consequences of your actions. Sometimes, your chosen course of action requires a translation in game terms. This happens especially when the capabilities of your Survivor must be taken into account.

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This is when you roll the dice.

Once you are done rolling your dice (including rerolling any Mastery die that got a Zombie Head, see page 47), it’s time to see how you performed! The dice can produce the following results: • Molotov. The Molotov is a success. • Zombie Head. The Zombie Head is a failure. • Numerical values. Each numbered result obtained on any die is a failure, but it can be forced into a success by gaining Stress (during the Mission Phase, see page 48). If your roll scored at least 1 success, the Action has been performed successfully and you achieve what you aimed to do.

Muscle

Brains

Grit

Athletics

Stunt

Sneak

Endure

Attitude

Appeal

Convince

Hearten

Background

Security

Education

Contacts

Combat

Fight

Shoot

Cool

Perception

Spot

Evaluate

Scout

Survival

Scavenge

Tinker

Heal

For example, if your Survivor is attempting to fix the broken axle of a car, you need to roll TINKER. Take a number of dice equal to your Brains score plus your Survival score.

PLAYING THE GAME

The capability of the Survivors to endure the trials of living in an undead world is represented in the game by their Attributes and Proficiencies. As you can see on your Survivor's Identity Sheet, these ratings are arranged in an Action matrix so that if you cross reference an Attribute with a Proficiency, you get the name of a specific Action. • When your Survivor does something that corresponds to one of the 18 Actions in the matrix, you create a dice pool composed of a number of dice equal to the sum of the scores of the Attribute and Proficiency corresponding to the Action. • Then, you roll your Action dice pool and apply the result.

RUNNING THE GAME

DICE RESULTS

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

DICE POOLS

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

45

46

DICE POOL MODIFIERS You don’t always get to roll your dice pool as it is. Sometimes, you gain Bonus Dice due to some positive modifier, or you may lose dice due to a high Difficulty Level.

Bonus Dice Doing something you are good at, using the right tool to do it, getting some help, or wielding a weapon when attacking may let you add a number of dice to your Action pool. In particular, you can gain bonus dice if: • You are using a Favored Action to do something (+1 bonus die). • Someone is helping you (+1 bonus die). • You are using an appropriate tool (+1 die, or even +2). • You are using a weapon (variable). See the Gear section on page 55 for more details on tools and weapons.

maddie Quality Rating If your roll ends up getting more than a single success, you achieved something out of the ordinary. To quantify the quality of a successful result, you simply count the number of successes you rolled: • 1 success: the Action was successful, that’s it (ordinary success). • 2 successes: you achieved something that is out of the ordinary (superior success). • 3+ successes: your feat was absolutely exceptional and memorable (outstanding success). As a general rule, the GM should award a Survivor who achieved a quality of success beyond ordinary with a tangible improvement of the result. For example, a roll of EDUCATION yields more information, an APPEAL attempt influences a larger group, or a SCOUT roll does not only locate the presence of enemies, but their specific nature too. Special rules, like those for Combat or Prolonged Actions, already take into account the effects of scoring multiple successes.

Difficulty Levels Actions are never easy, but sometimes they can be even harder. Perhaps the stairs you’re climbing while running might be slick with blood, or the road you’re crossing at full speed on your bike could be cluttered with debris from an exploded store front. Once you have assembled your Action dice pool, the GM may choose to apply a Difficulty level to the roll to better reflect the circumstances: • If an Action is considered to be challenging, reduce your dice pool by 1 die. • If the Action is considered to be hard, reduce your dice pool by 2 dice instead. Difficulty levels are often shortened in the text as DL1 (challenging) and DL2 (hard).

MORE THAN ONE ATTEMPT When you do something, you try to do your best, right? In game terms, this means that if you fail at a roll (or succeed) you don’t get to try again. That's right. There's no second chances. Unless, of course, something changes. For example, you try again using a better tool this time.

47

Warning! You cannot ever roll more than 12 dice for an Action: 6 regular dice plus 6 Mastery dice, even if your ability and equipment might allow you to exceed that limit.

What makes a Mastery Die special is what we call a Mastery reroll: • When a Mastery die rolls a Zombie Head, you can pick it up and roll it again once. You must keep the new result (even if it’s another Zombie Head).

INTRODUCTION

Zombicide's Special Black & White Dice Set features two sets of dice in different colors. The white dice are what we call ordinary, or even standard dice, while the black dice have a special function and are called Mastery dice. If you're playing with custom dice, we recommend you keep two different sets for this purpose. • You get to roll Mastery dice when, after you have taken into account the Difficulty level of your Action, you find yourself entitled to roll more than 6 dice for an Action. Roll a Mastery die for every die in your pool beyond the 6th.

You may get to roll a dice pool of more than 6 dice when you take advantage of a superior ability or thanks to a wise choice of gear (see page 55).

SURVIVORS

Mastery Dice

0

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

RUNNING THE GAME

For example, Roger is trying to repair a jammed winch with a Tinker roll. Adding his Survival score to his Brains, he gets a dice pool of 7 dice: 6 ordinary dice and 1 Mastery die.

PLAYING THE GAME

To see if you are entitled to roll 1 or more Mastery dice is pretty straightforward. After all, you only have 6 standard dice. So, any die in excess of 6 is a Mastery die.

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MISSION PHASE ADDITIONAL RULES The living are losing ground. The pockets of resistance fall one after another and our CB radio, once bustling with messages, is now silent. We must leave. The zombies are growing in numbers and our supplies are getting scarce. When you are out there, scouring the landscape of the infected world, the passage of time is counted in terms of hours, if not minutes, or even rounds of combat. During the Mission Phase, the gameplay focuses on a more step-by-step pace and the rules start taking into consideration a number of details that aim to bring the world of Zombicide to life.

GAINING STRESS TO FORCE A SUCCESS They say that where there's a will, there's a way. During the Shelter Phase, the numerical results you get on the dice are as useful as a credit card during the apocalypse (hint: they’re useless). • When you are in Mission Mode, you can force each die that gave a result of 4+ to become a success. When you do so, you gain 1 point of Stress for each die you force. • During Combat, the minimum die result you can force into a success is determined by the Accuracy of the weapon you are using (see page 56). Keeping track of Stress is easy. Just mark down your current Stress amount on your ID Sheet. You can gain Stress up to your maximum Stress rating. When you reach that total, you cannot gain any more Stress until you manage to lower your Stress level in one way or another.

ROLLING TROUBLE Pass or fail, is that it? It cannot be that easy, right? No, indeed... • Whenever you make a roll, after you are done forcing successes or applying other effects, check your result. If you have more Zombie Heads than Successes, Trouble happens (regardless of whether the roll was a success or not). Often, you’ll wish that Trouble could mean simply that you were clumsy and made some noise. Sometimes, it will be much worse than that. It is up to the GM to determine what Trouble means, exactly (see page 72 for detailed instructions on how to choose the most appropriate Trouble consequences).

ADRENALINE GAIN As explained on page 40, you keep track of Adrenaline individually by using the bar on your Identity Sheet or the Adrenaline dials from the GM Starter Kit. As you raise your score, you advance on the bar or dial, progressively entering sections of higher intensity and unlocking new special Skills. You gain Adrenaline whenever you achieve something meaningful: • Success! You gain 1 point of Adrenaline for every success you get on any Action die roll, including forced successes. • Adrenaline Boost. You gain 5 Adrenaline points whenever you achieve something out of the ordinary, like dealing with an exceptionally tough adversary or upon reaching a milestone during a mission (see Mission Objectives on page 95).

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MEANINGFUL ROLLS

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

The rules for gaining Adrenaline points through dice rolls may lead players to roll the dice too often. But dice rolling in Zombicide: Chronicles should mark a momentous incident, not a trivial occurrence. So, players should refrain from rolling the dice unless the circumstances facing the Survivors represent a turning point. Something that is going to determine a dramatic change in the game, based on its result. • To further remove the incentive to make unnecessary rolls, the GM should deny any Adrenaline gain should a roll be deemed insignificant. Examples of meaningful rolls include, but are not limited to: HEAL rolls to recover lost HP, rolls of FIGHT or SHOOT that successfully damage or kill Zombies, HEARTEN rolls to gain Adrenaline, SCAVENGE rolls that let Survivors find useful Items or Weapons, Travel rolls and Interaction rolls that let Survivors obtain something useful, etc.

Heal If you have been injured, you can do something to mend your wounds. • Once per day, roll HEAL to restore a number of lost Hit Points equal to the number of successes rolled. The roll to treat your injuries can be made by another Survivor.

Note that no more than 1 Survivor can roll for this each day. Motivational speeches get boring quickly.

Rest

RUNNING THE GAME

Zombies die hard, but old habits die even harder. To relieve some Stress, you can indulge in your favored habit: smoke a cigarette, read a book, take a bite off your favorite snack… or maybe do all these things at the same time! • Once per day, you can spend a number of Adrenaline points to reduce your accumulated Stress by an equal number. There is a limit, though. You can never reduce your Adrenaline below your current level.

Call it a rallying cry, a motivational speech, or a pep talk. When you are down, well-chosen words can make a difference. • Once per day, 1 Survivor in the group can roll HEARTEN to give the other Survivors a number of Adrenaline points equal to the number of successes rolled (the acting Survivor gains Adrenaline too, based on the normal rule for Adrenaline gain).

Eating something and then getting some shut-eye is the best way to get back in shape for a new day of Zombie-hunting. • If you rest for at least 6 continuous hours in a 24hour period and eat some food, you get to reduce your current Stress by an amount equal to your Brains rating and heal a number of lost HP equal to your Muscle rating.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Catch a Break

Hearten

>

Going on Missions is hard work and can get you worn down quick. Also, you can get hurt in many different ways during a Mission phase and you better think about preserving your health, lest you end up joining the undead ranks.

PLAYING THE GAME

james

RECOVERY

COMBAT

50

This is not only about revenge, it ’ s about the future. The silence that engulfed the world is broken by an isolated gunshot followed by bursts of automatic weapons. The groaning of the dead mounts until it seems to suffocate every other sound. A monstrous roar, then a sudden explosion shuts out every other noise. Another Zombicide is over. Fighting for your life is what really defines you as a Survivor. And how you fight pretty much tells how long you’re going to last. The following paragraphs detail how to apply the rules for Actions to the various methods of dispatching the infected. See Chapter 4 for guidelines for the GM on how to set up a proper Zombicide and how to describe it to the players.

COMBAT SEQUENCE

Opening Shots Unless you’ve been surprised or you decided to dive into the midst of a Zombie horde, you should have spotted your unliving opponents from a distance. If that is the case, you may take the chance to fire a few shots into the advancing brutes using ranged weapons before combat at close range is initiated. The number of Opening Shots you can take depends on the precise circumstances of the fight as presented by the GM (for example, the presence of obstacles between the Survivors and the advancing Zombies). • In general terms, the maximum number of Opening Shots you are allowed to take is equal to the Range of the weapon you’re firing. Usually, it varies from 1 to 3, but it can be reduced by the GM if the visibility is bad or if the dead were already close. Opening Shots are resolved as normal Ranged Attack rolls, starting with the weapon with the longest range.

Combat in Zombicide: Chronicles is a bloody, brutal mess. It’s not a duel of wits between generals or a tactical skirmish fought by experts in urban guerrilla warfare. It’s living, breathing people against the mindless dead. It's butchery, plain and simple.

Once all Survivors have had their chance to fire, the enemy has gotten close enough for you to risk getting ripped apart.

With this, we don’t mean it’s not dangerous. It means you must get proficient in Zombie-killing, as the faster you can take them out, the more likely it is that they won’t overwhelm you with their sheer number, or end up landing a lucky blow that tears a chunk of flesh off your bones.

Once contact with the walking dead is initiated, gameplay breaks down in a series of close range Combat Rounds. • During the course of a round, Survivors and their enemies take turns to perform Actions, dividing each round into a Survivor Phase and a Zombie Phase.

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Most Zombicides begin with a Zombie horde approaching as you open fire against them. Unfortunately though, that won’t likely stop them, and to kill’em all you’ll have to get up close and personal. • A Combat Sequence consists of a number of Opening Shots followed by a cycle of Combat Rounds.

Combat Rounds

Being alive and quicker than the dead, the Survivor Phase is generally resolved first, with each Survivor performing their Actions during their individual turn (unless Surprised, see page 77). Then, all Zombies act simultaneously in the Zombie Phase, slowly but inexorably.

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SURVIVOR PHASE

INTRODUCTION

Survivors act one at a time, in the order of their choice. • When it is your turn to act, you get to execute 2 Actions, in any order you prefer - 1 Main Action and 1 Support Action.

SURVIVORS

Under most circumstances, you spend your Main Action to attack your opponents, while you use your Support Action to accomplish other things. • An Attack is always considered a Main Action, which is described below, while the many other ways to employ your Main Action or your Support Action are described in the Combat Moves section on the next page. Unless stated otherwise, a Support Action cannot be used to Attack.

Attacks

Assign Hits If you are using a Melee weapon, you can divide your hits as you see fit, distributing them among the available targets. If you are using a Ranged weapon, you must instead assign your hits in order of Speed: • Assign hits starting with the slower targets until they have all been eliminated. Then proceed to assign remaining hits to faster targets, and so on. If several targets have the same Speed, choose how to assign your hits among them. The Targeting Priority Order above lists each Zombie type in order of increasing Speed.

TARGETING PRIORITY ORDER 1.

Speed 1:

2. 3. 4.

Speed 2: Speed 3: Speed 4:

(Brute or Abomination the attacker chooses) (Walker) (Runner) (Dogz, other fast animals)

RUNNING THE GAME

Roll FIGHT if you are using a Melee weapon, or SHOOT if you are using a Ranged weapon. Each success is a hit.

For example, you’re shooting at 2 Walkers and 2 Runners. You score 3 hits: you must assign your hits to the Walkers first, wiping them both out. The remaining hit inflicts damage to the Runners, killing one of them.

EXTRA ACTIONS As the game progresses and Adrenaline kicks in, you may gain Skills allowing you to perform extra Actions, possibly including Attacks. Extra Actions break your limit of 2 Actions (1 Main and 1 Support) per turn.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

To attack at close range during a Combat Round, you spend the Main Action of your turn using a Melee weapon or a Ranged weapon with a minimun Range stat of 0. You don’t choose a specific target. Instead, you are shooting into the undead crowd or hacking away at a mass of undead bodies.

PLAYING THE GAME

Attacking is probably the best way you can put your Main Action to use. Hence why it's getting its own section here.

52 Combat Moves Performing any of the Moves described in this section requires that you to spend 1 of your 2 Actions for the turn. Most Moves allow you to spend any 1 of the 2 Actions, with the following exceptions: • Aim requires you to spend your Support Action. • Disengage requires you to spend your Main Action.

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All the other Moves allow you to choose freely which Action to spend (simply announce which Action you are spending when you are performing a Move).

Evade Evade is unlike any other Move, as it is not resolved during your individual turn, but when you are attributed 1 or more Attacks from your opponents (see Zombie Phase on the next page). To be able to Evade, you must have saved 1 Action if you have already taken your individual turn. Or you must spend it in advance if the enemy acted before your turn. For example, if you have been surprised by a group of Zombies and they attack you before your turn comes, you can choose to spend 1 Action now and roll to Evade incoming Attacks. When your turn comes, you will have only 1 Action left. • To Evade, spend 1 Action to roll COOL. Each success reduces the number of Attacks aimed at you this round. You don’t need a weapon or other defensive tool to defend yourself. You are doing all you can to stay away from the grasp of the dead, including dodging, evading, or exploiting any opportunity to find cover.

Aim Spend your Support Action to take aim with a Ranged weapon. • Then, if you Attack with a Ranged weapon in the same Combat Round, you assign any hits as you see fit, ignoring the Targeting Priority. Also, ignore any Trouble causing Friendly Fire (see page 72).

Disengage You try to put distance between you and the undead while remaining within shooting range. • Spend your Main Action to roll STUNT. You must score a number of successes matching or beating the highest Speed among all Zombies you’re facing. If the roll is successful, you are considered to have moved away at Range 1 until the end of the round. If you still have an Action available, you may choose to flee and leave the fight. If you have an Extra Action that allows you to do so, you may make a Ranged Attack at Range 1.

Note that you can spend more than 1 Action to Evade, if you want to. If you do so, simply roll COOL as many times as the Actions you spent to Evade, and reduce the number of Attacks aimed at you by the total successes scored.

First Aid Spend 1 Action to apply a tourniquet to a bleeding limb or otherwise patch yourself up, or revive an unconscious friend. Both you and the target Survivor must be at Range 1 or more from any opponents. • Roll HEAL to restore a number of lost Hit Points equal to the number of successes rolled. This counts for your daily HEAL roll.

Make Noise Spend 1 Action to attract the Zombies’ attention, drawing them away from your mates. • If other Survivors attempt a Disengage Action this turn, they automatically succeed. This Move counts as using a Noisy weapon (see page 72).

Draw/Trade Spend 1 Action to ready a weapon or other object placed in your holster inventory box and/or trade it with another Survivor.

Pick Up Spend 1 Action to recover a dropped item, weapon, or something else lying around in the battlefield.

For example, 3 Survivors face a group of 6 Walkers and 2 Brutes. During the Survivors Phase, they mow down all the Brutes and 1 Walker, leaving 5 Walkers to attack them. The number of Attacks that the Survivors must split among them (as they see fit) is 5.

You want to do more than just what’s listed here, right? Like risking your life is not your problem... When your turn to act comes, you can attempt anything that can be reasonably executed while engaged in a fight. For example, opening a door or passing a lighter to another Survivor about to light up some spilled gasoline. • Simply tell the GM what you want to do: Most of the time you will have to spend one of your Actions and possibly make a die roll. Sometimes, what you want to achieve is so complicated that it will require spending both your Actions, or even more, thus requiring multiple rounds to complete or the collaboration of two or more Survivors (see Prolonged Actions, page 67).

The characteristics of the various types of Zombies are summarised in the table below. More details can be found in the Zombipedia on page 79.

Speed

ZOMBIE PHASE

This rating is used to establish the Targeting Priority order of Ranged Attacks.

Hit Points Most of the time, if you hit ‘em, they’re down. HPs measure how many hits it takes to lay them to rest once and for all.

Special Rules If they possess any special rules, they're specified here.

ZOMBIE TYPES Speed

Strength/Hit Points

Abomination

1

3

-

Brute

1

2

-

Walker

2

1

-

1

Runners reduce the maximum number of Opening Shots to 1. Then, they attack twice: once before the Survivor Phase, and once during the Zombie Phase.

Runner

3

PLAYING THE GAME

This score is used to check the minimum Damage Value required to injure the Zombie and the number of Attacks it deals to Survivors.

Special Rules

RUNNING THE GAME

Survivors who Evade make their rolls now and reduce the number of Attacks aimed at them by the number of successes they get. Zombies do not roll for Attack. Any remaining, uncancelled Attack inflicts Damage (see Damage on the next page).

Strength

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

When it’s time for the Zombies to act, all Zombies attack! Simply add up the Strength rating of all Zombies in the fight. The result is the number of Attacks that the Survivors must face as a group. • Survivors may now split the Zombies’ Attacks in any way the players prefer (Survivors who successfully Disengage cannot be assigned any Attacks).

Type

SURVIVORS

Improvised Moves

INTRODUCTION

53

54

z

DAMAGE

Survivors inflict Damage to their targets with their Attacks and can in turn be injured by them. In both cases, the result of an Attack is a reduction of the total Hit Points of its target.

Inflicting Damage Each hit inflicted on a target by an Attack roll reduces its Hit Points by 1, but only if the Damage Value of the weapon used matches or beats the Strength of the target. Otherwise, it simply bounces off and the hit is wasted. • When a Zombie is reduced to 0 Hit Points or less, it crumples into a heap of rotting body parts. For example, if a Survivor is shooting 2 Brutes and 6 Walkers using a Damage 1 gun, all hits will be wasted on the Brutes. To eliminate the Walkers, the Survivor needs Damage 2 weapons to take down the Brutes first, or use the Aim Action (see page 52) to ignore the Targeting Priority.

Suffering Damage Survivors who are targeted by 1 or more Attacks (or another source of Damage, see page 74) have their Hit Points reduced by an equal amount. • Survivors who are reduced to 0 Hit Points are knocked unconscious and suffer a Major Injury, a potentially lethal wound.

...must we really say what happens if you pass out in a crowd of hungry dead guys? • An unconscious Survivor who is in contact with Zombies will be killed at the end of the following round.

Major Injury When you are reduced to 0 HP, roll a die and check the table below.

MAJOR INJURY TABLE: Roll a D6

Consequences That was close! You are alive, but remain unconscious until you’re back to positive HPs. You’re left with a nice scar as a souvenir.

Numerical result

Serious Injury. In addition to the above, you suffer -1 to an Attribute of your choice (Brains, Muscle, or Grit, to a minimum of 0) for a number of weeks equal to the numerical result. Modify all Derived stats accordingly (Stress and HPs). Fatality! Ouch, you’re dead. You might one day rise again as a zombie, unless your friends make sure you don't...

GEAR

For the sake of simplicity, all items you carry count as 1 piece each. If you are interested in adding a level of realism here, you can consider that large objects or items that are particularly heavy may count as 2 or even 3 items. For example, a chainsaw is large and unwieldy and you might consider it to count for 2 items. This would mean that a chainsaw would occupy all your ready slots, or your 2 holster slots.

INVENTORY As mentioned in Chapter 2, you keep track of what you carry using the three boxes at the bottom of your ID Sheet (if you're playing with components from the Zombicide board game, these boxes can be used to hold Equipment cards). • The ready slot can hold a maximum of 2 items, indicating what you have in your hands, ready to be used. Of the 2 allowed items, only 1 can be a weapon, unless you are wielding 2 identical weapons with the Dual Trait (see page 56). • The holster slot can carry up to 2 more items or weapons and indicates something you can reach and ready quickly (using the Draw/Trade Move). • The backpack slot holds up to 2 more items and is used to indicate what you carry around in a rucksack or duffel bag. Different from the items you carry in your Holster slot, you cannot access what you hold in your backpack during combat.

INTRODUCTION SURVIVORS

OBJECTS SIZE

Sometimes, a tool might not add dice at all, but simply allow you to do something you would not be able to do at all without it. For example, making a hole through a thick wall without a mallet or a pickaxe, or climbing down a sheer wall without a rope, etc.

WEAPON STATS All weapons in Zombicide: Chronicles feature a number of values: Range, Dice, Accuracy, and Damage. Additionally, they may have one or more special traits, characteristics indicating particular advantages or flaws.

PLAYING THE GAME

And if you’re lucky, or good at it, you won’t need a shovel to dig a grave.

As seen under the rules for Actions, when you are doing something, if you are using the right tool for the job, the GM will determine if you are allowed to add 1 or 2 dice to your Action dice pool. • If a tool is deemed to be useful for the Action at hand, you’ll get to roll 1 additional die. If the tool is very useful, you’ll get 2 dice instead.

Oh, I’m sure you figured this out already: A weapon may either be a Melee or a Ranged weapon.

Range Melee weapons have a Range of 0, indicating that they can be used exclusively against targets you’re in contact with. Ranged weapons have a minimum and a maximum range. They cannot shoot under their minimum range (usually 1 or 0) or beyond their maximum range (usually 1 to 3).

RUNNING THE GAME

Don’t forget to gear up! When you go on a mission, you can be certain you’ll face a horde of Zombies or two, so be sure to bring weapons. But you’ll also need something to smash doors, clear a boarded-up window, or bring down walls.

TOOLS

M

In the rules for combat, Range indicates the maximum number of Opening Shots they can fire before close combat is joined. Ranged weapons with a minimum range of 0 can be used in closed combat. However, attacking with a ranged weapon at range 0 is still a Ranged Attack (Targeting Priority Order applies).

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

I know better. Rate of fire is life. Keep on firing!

55

56 RANGE MEASUREMENTS Outside of combat, a weapon’s Range rating can be used to determine how far the weapon can be used to effectively hit something. • Range 0, or contact range, corresponds to what you can hit with your fist or a katana. • Range 1, short range, corresponds to pistol and submachine gun range (up to 20 meters). • Range 2, medium range, corresponds to assault rifle range (up to 100 meters). • Range 3 is long range. It corresponds to sniper rifle range (up to 200 meters). • Range 4 is very long range and corresponds to a military grade sniper rifle range (up to 400 meters).

Noisy Whenever you use a Noisy weapon or tool, you risk attracting some unwanted attention (see the rules for Hordes on page 82).

Reload If this weapon is used to attack, you must subsequently spend an Action to reload it before you can use it again.

Silent It’s quite self-explanatory. Using a Silent tool or weapon does not make noise. Note that some objects can be Silent when used as weapons, but Noisy when used to open a door (or perform other tasks).

Sniper Dice This score indicates a number of dice that you add to your roll when you use the weapon. The rating ranges from 1 to 5 (improvised weapons, like a Molotov cocktail, have no Dice rating, and thus you get to add 0 dice when you use them).

Accuracy As explained before under the rules for forcing successes, in combat, the minimum number you need to roll to force a die result is indicated by the weapon’s Accuracy rating.

Damage This is the weapon’s Damage Value that is compared to the target’s Strength. If the weapon's Damage matches or beats the target's Strength, each success scored on the roll reduces the target’s Hit Points by 1. Conversely, if Strength exceeds the Damage Value of the weapon used, that weapon is completely ineffective against that target.

ADDITIONAL WEAPON TRAITS Door-opening Pieces of equipment like a crowbar or a chainsaw let you smash open most doors without rolling dice.

You may freely choose the targets of your Ranged Attacks. Friendly Fire is ignored.

PROTECTION They say that the best defense is a good offense, but having some protection is never a bad idea when dealing with Zombies. Survivors may use all sort of items to protect themselves: shields, padded or reinforced clothing, armor... these items are not considered tools. Therefore, they do not add the usual 1 or 2 dice to Actions. If the Survivors manage to find or build some type of protective item, the GM may instead attribute them a Hit Points value. Protection usually comes in two forms: • Shields, like a riot shield, have 2 Hit Points and must be held in 1 of the Survivor’s ready slots; • Armor, such as sporting gear or a flak jacket, has 1 or 2 Hit Points and occupies 1 or both of the Survivor’s Backpack slots respectively, depending on how tough and bulky the item is.   When Survivors lose Hit Points because of a physical trauma (or any other source of damage that can be prevented by the armor’s protection), they can attribute some or all of the damage to 1 of their protective items.

Dual If you are wielding 2 identical weapons with the Dual Trait, you can use them together to make a single Attack. When you do, add up the Dice value of both weapons.

Once a protective item has lost all of its Hit Points, it breaks and becomes useless. However, it can be repaired with a TINKER Action that takes about an hour and restores 1 HP per success (up to the item’s maximum).

g

All Melee weapons are used rolling FIGHT.

Baseball Bat

Do you want to know why I prefer a wooden bat? Try putting nails on an aluminum one!

Type

Range

Dice

Melee

0

2

Accuracy Damage Dual 3+

1

-

Trait

Trait 2

Silent

-

INTRODUCTION

MELEE WEAPONS LIST

57

Chainsaw Type

Range

Dice

Melee

0

5

Accuracy Damage Dual 5+

2

-

Trait

Trait 2

Noisy

Door-Opening (Noisy)

Trait

Trait 2

Silent

Door-Opening (Silent)

Trait

Trait 2

Silent

Door-Opening (Noisy)

Trait

Trait 2

Silent

-

Trait

Trait 2

Silent

-

Trait

Trait 2

Silent

-

Crowbar I can open doors or skulls with this. You tell me.

Type

Range

Dice

Melee

0

1

Accuracy Damage Dual 4+

1

-

SURVIVORS

...vrinnn Vrinnn, VRINNN! That’s music to my ears. The lyrics would be more like kill, Kiilll, KIIILLL!

Fire Axe Type

Range

Dice

Melee

0

1

Accuracy Damage Dual 4+

2

-

Katana

PLAYING THE GAME

Shouldn’t we call it a Zombie Axe?

Silent... and deadly.

Type

Range

Dice

Melee

0

2

Accuracy Damage Dual 4+

1

Yes

Do you think this blade looks funny? Think again.

Type

Range

Dice

Melee

0

2

Accuracy Damage Dual 4+

2

-

RUNNING THE GAME

Kukri

Machete Type

Range

Dice

Melee

0

1

Accuracy Damage Dual 3+

2

Yes

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Keep on cutting. Where the branches end, the Zombies begin.

58

RANGED WEAPONS LIST

All Ranged weapons are used rolling SHOOT.

Pistol Always hold her with both hands and aim only at the head. If you don’t blow their brains out, it’s useless. Or, use one in each hand, and fire away!

Type

Range

Dice

Ranged

0-1

1

Accuracy Damage Dual 3+

1

Yes

Trait

Trait 2

Noisy

-

Trait

Trait 2

Noisy

Reload

Trait

Trait 2

Noisy

-

Trait

Trait 2

Noisy

Sniper

Sawed-off Aim at the knees. If they still have them.

Type

Range

Dice

Ranged

0-1

2

Accuracy Damage Dual 3+

1

Yes

Shotgun When you see that mountain of undead flesh, you know it’s time to take out the big guns.

Type

Range

Dice

Ranged

0-1

2

Accuracy Damage Dual 4+

2

-

Sniper Rifle Handy when you have enough space to take out those pesky Runners one after the other...

Type

Range

Dice

Ranged

1-3

1

Accuracy Damage Dual 3+

2

-

Sub-MG Do not remove your finger from the trigger until the magazine is empty!

Type

Range

Dice

Ranged

0-1

3

Accuracy Damage Dual 5+

1

Yes

Trait

Trait 2

Noisy

-

MOLOTOV COCKTAILS Alcohol consumption has certainly skyrocketed since the beginning of the outbreak! Well, anything flammable, to be precise... The Molotov cocktail has become the ultimate weapon of the discerning Survivor since the discovery that the dead burn like dry kindling. You can throw a Molotov cocktail as if you were using a weapon with Range 0-1, which is consumed after is it thrown. • To throw a Molotov, roll STUNT. The result is dealt as Damage to everybody at Range 0, including Survivors (unless the Molotov was thrown as an Opening Shot). Undead suffer double Damage. Aim straight, though! If you cause Trouble with your STUNT roll, you have poured some burning liquid on yourself and suffer 1 damage.

SKILLS

In game terms, Skills are superior capabilities that are unlocked when you feel the rush of Adrenaline. You start the game with a set of 4 Skills, 1 for each Adrenaline level. • When, during a Mission Phase, you pass from one Adrenaline section to the next (for example, from Blue to Yellow) you activate a new Skill, and can now use them freely along with the ones you previously acquired.

The effects of each Skill are immediate. This means that they may be employed in the same Turn in which they are acquired. In case of a conflict with the general rules, the Skill rules have priority.

INTRODUCTION

Talents, gifts, special abilities. Skills are what make you special and different from all the others who tried to become Survivors and failed.

If you have more than 1 Skill to choose from, simply pick 1.

You acquire new Skills by gaining Experience points and leveling up (see page 63).

SKILLS BY RANK The table below lists the Skills based on their rank, to be used in conjunction with the rules for Experience levels (see page 63).

SURVIVORS

Tell me how you kill zombies, and I’ ll tell you who you are.

59

Basic

Advanced

Master

Ultimate

Adrenaline Junkie

Combat Reflexes

Ambidextrous

Barbarian

Born Leader

Dual Expert

Blitz

Brother in Arms

Break-In

Gunslinger

Bloodlust

Bullseye

Destiny

Hit & Run

Charge

Full Auto

Field Medic

Improvised Weapon

Dreadnought

Mindfulness

Hoard

Is That All You’ve Got?

Fast

Super Strength

Hold Your Nose

Jump

Precision

-

Lifesaver

Lucky

Reaper

-

Longshot

Regeneration

-

-

Low Profile

Shove

-

-

Point-Blank

Sidestep

-

-

Scavenger

Slugger

-

-

Slippery

Sprint

-

-

Sniper

Swordmaster

-

-

Steady Hand

-

-

-

Tactician

-

-

-

Taunt

-

-

-

Tough

-

-

-

PLAYING THE GAME

SKILL RANKS

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

RUNNING THE GAME

E

60

SKILL DESCRIPTIONS The following list presents 46 Skills in alphabetical order.

• Adrenaline Junkie (Basic) You gain a boost of +4 Adrenaline. If this Skill is taken at blue level, you start with 4 Adrenaline.

• Ambidextrous (Master)

• Charge (Master) You may spend a Support Action to make an Extra Attack using a Melee weapon. If you do, you gain a number of additional bonus dice equal to the Damage of your weapon.

• Combat Reflexes (Advanced) In every first Combat Round, you gain an Extra Attack at Range 0.

You treat all weapons as if they had the Dual symbol.

• Destiny (Basic) • Barbarian (Ultimate) When resolving an Attack using a Melee weapon, you can replace your weapon’s Dice rating with the number of adversaries you’re facing. Skills affecting the Dice value, like Swordmaster, still apply.

• Blitz (Master)

Each time you roll for an Item or a weapon as a result of a Search Action, you may ignore the first result and roll again.

• Dreadnought (Master) Once per Zombie Phase, you may ignore 1 point of damage inflicted by Zombies.

You gain 1 Extra Attack using a Ranged weapon.

• Dual Expert (Advanced) • Bloodlust (Master) You gain 1 Extra Attack using a Melee weapon.

• Born Leader (Basic) During your turn, you can give 1 Extra Support Action of your choice to another Survivor to use immediately. Then your turn resumes. Only 1 Survivor can use this Skill each turn. NOTE: this Action cannot be used to Evade.

When you have Dual weapons equipped, you may spend a Support Action to Attack.

• Fast (Master) You gain an Extra Action that can be used either to Disengage or Evade.

• Field Medic (Basic) You gain an Extra Action that can be used exclusively to apply First Aid.

• Break-In (Basic) You open standard locked doors and windows automatically without using any gear or making noise. You cannot use this ability to open security doors. When in combat, you can open a door or make a SECURITY roll as an Extra Action.

• Brother in Arms (Ultimate) When you acquire this Skill, choose another Skill of Master level or lower you possess. All Survivors at Range 0 benefit from the indicated Skill.

• Bullseye (Ultimate) You gain a +1 Damage bonus with all Ranged weapons.

• Full Auto (Ultimate) When resolving an Attack with a Ranged weapon, you can replace your weapon’s Dice rating with the number of adversaries you’re facing. Skills affecting the dice value, like Gunslinger, still apply.

61 You may perform an Extra Attack each turn using these characteristics: Ranged weapon, Range 0-1, Dice 1, Accuracy 5+, Damage 1, Silent.

• Is That All You’ve Got? (Advanced) Use this Skill when you are about to lose Hit Points. You may negate 1 point of damage for each point of Stress that you gain this way.

INTRODUCTION

• Improvised Weapon (Advanced)

• Jump (Advanced)

• Lifesaver (Basic) Once per turn, choose another Survivor. That Survivor gains an Extra Disengage Action.

SURVIVORS

You may spend a Main Action to Disengage. If successful, you remain at Range 1 also during the next Combat Round as well.

• Longshot (Basic) The maximum Range of Ranged weapons you use is increased by 1.

You can’t get hit by Friendly Fire (Molotov still apply), and you ignore the Noisy trait of all weapons.

• Lucky (Advanced)

• Hit & Run (Advanced) When you score 1 or more hits with a Ranged or Melee Attack, you can then spend a Support Action to Disengage, gaining the hits you inflicted as bonus dice to the STUNT roll.

• Hoard (Basic) Your backpack slot can carry up to 4 items (instead of 2).

• Hold your Nose (Basic) Once per Mission Phase, you find a random object whenever the last Zombie standing in a Horde is eliminated (roll once on the Search Category table, then on the appropriate table).

• Mindfulness (Ultimate) At the end of each Combat Round, you may decrease your Stress by 1.

• Point-Blank (Basic) You can always perform Ranged Attacks at Range 0, no matter the minimum Range of the weapon you are using. When you do, you freely choose the targets regardless of their Speed.

RUNNING THE GAME

You roll an extra die when attacking with Ranged weapons. Dual weapons each gain a die for a total of +2 extra dice.

For each Action you take, you may choose to roll all dice again. The new result replaces the previous one.

• Precision (Master) Subtract 1 point from the Accuracy of each weapon you use (a 5+ becomes a 4+, and so on).

• Reaper (Master) Each time you inflict 1 or more hits with an Attack, you score an additional hit.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

• Gunslinger (Advanced)

PLAYING THE GAME

• Low Profile (Basic)

62 • Regeneration (Advanced) You only need 3 continuous hours in a 24-hour period to rest (instead of 6). In addition, you regain all your lost Hit Points with each rest.

• Sidestep (Advanced) If you want, you may begin your first turn of combat (not considering Opening Shots) at Range 1 (no roll or Disengage Action required). You return to Range 0 at the start of the next round, as usual.

• Scavenger (Basic) You can always perform 1 more Search than the number normally allowed in an area, and you may even search during combat as an Extra Action.

• Shove (Advanced) When you Disengage, you have to match or beat the highest Strength among your adversaries, instead of the highest Speed. If you do, you may choose another Survivor to be Disengaged, instead of yourself.

• Slippery (Basic) When you attempt to Evade or Disengage, you roll an extra die.

• Slugger (Advanced) Consider the Damage Value of all your Melee weapons to be 2.

• Sniper (Basic) You gain an Extra Action that can be used exclusively to Aim.

• Sprint (Advanced) You need 1 less success to Disengage (down to a minimum of 1 success).

• Steady Hand (Basic) You gain an Extra Action that can be used to Draw/ Trade, Pick Up, or reload weapons with the Reload trait.

• Super Strength (Ultimate) You gain a +1 Damage bonus with all Melee weapons.

• Swordmaster (Advanced) You roll an extra die with Melee weapons. Dual weapons each gain a die for a total of +2 extra dice.

• Tactician (Basic) You are never caught unprepared and cannot be surprised by Zombies in combat (you always take your turn first).

• Taunt (Basic) You gain an Extra Action that can be used exclusively to Make Noise. In addition, your Make Noise Action doesn’t count as using a Noisy weapon.

• Tough (Basic) You gain a boost of +2 HP (both current and maximum).

c

LEVELING UP Surviving during the outbreak makes you stronger and smarter... or maybe just more desperate. Whatever the case, it works. You are learning new tricks, new ways to show the dead that even if they’re going to win one day, it’s not going to be easy.

At each new Level, you unlock one or more advancements. Most are quite self-explanatory, but let’s look at them in detail. • When an advancement says to add 1 to a Proficiency, you get to raise a Proficiency of your choice by 1 point, up to a maximum of 6. • When an advancement says to choose a new Favored Action, you underline a new Action of your choice to mark it as Favored. • When an advancement says to add 1 to an Attribute, you raise an Attribute of your choice by 1 point. Remember to update all corresponding Derived Stats (Stress and Hit Points). When an advancement instructs you to gain a new Skill, things are a bit more complicated. A newly-gained Skill is added to one of the empty Skill slots on your ID Sheet. As you can see from the empty slots on your Sheet, you have room for 1 new Skill in the Yellow section, 1 in the Orange section, and 2 in the Red section.

Advancements

1

20

Add 1 to a Proficiency. Gain a new Skill

2

40

Add 1 to a Proficiency. Choose a new Favored Action

3

60

Add 1 to a Proficiency. Gain a new Skill

4

80

Add 1 to an Attribute

5

100

Add 1 to a Proficiency. Gain a new Skill

6

120

Add 1 to a Proficiency. Choose a new Favored Action

7

140

Add 1 to a Proficiency. Gain a new Skill

8

160

Add 1 to an Attribute

PLAYING THE GAME

XP Gained

Level

RUNNING THE GAME

ADVANCEMENTS

EXPERIENCE LEVEL TABLE

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

The Experience Level table below shows the amount of XP you need to advance from Level 0 to Level 8, and what advancements are unlocked upon reaching each new Level.

• When you reach Level 1, you gain 1 new Basic or Advanced Skill to add to your Yellow slot. • When you reach Level 3, you gain 1 new Basic, Advanced, or Master Skill to add to your Orange slot. • When you reach Level 5 and Level 7, you gain 1 new Skill of your choice (any rank) to add to 1 of your 2 Red slots.

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

&

The world evolved, and so did we. We learned in a couple months what a soldier might need years to learn.

During a Mission Phase, you track your evolution by gaining Experience points (XP), the amount of XP Survivors might gain is detailed on The Mission Phase, page 95. When your accumulated XP reaches a certain total, you level up, unlocking one or more advancements. • You start the game with no levels, Level 0, if you prefer. Then, you advance to Level 1 upon reaching 20 XP.

63

64 The Gamemaster. . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Special Actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 No Pain, No Gain . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Zombicide!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Zombipedia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Non-Player Survivors. . . . . . . . . 89 The Mission Phase. . . . . . . . . . . 95 The Shelter Phase. . . . . . . . . . . . 98

#04

RUNNING THE GAME

65

66

THE GAMEMASTER We are looking for other survivors and have already made contact with some of them. Most are not as experienced as we are at Zombicide, but they can learn.

So, all you have to do is get familiar with this rulebook, help your players do the same, and then sit down and play.

As seen briefly in the introduction chapter, to play Zombicide: Chronicles somebody must take the mantle of the Gamemaster. Let’s take some more time to talk about this figure, a staple of many roleplaying games.

Roleplaying games are narrative games and the rules used to govern them are traditionally open to interpretation, in comparison to the inflexible rules of board games. This is the case because the rules of a roleplaying game are meant to support the immersion and imagination of the players, not to constrain them.

Legends abound regarding the role of the GM. Many among those who are unfamiliar with roleplaying consider it to be a thankless and difficult job. But as it happens, things are not that way at all. Truth is, the Gamemaster is a player like the others, and anyone can do it. What distinguishes the GM from another player is that the GM does not play a single character in the game world… they ARE the game world. If the players are the heart of the game, the GM is its brain. If you choose to be the GM, then your task is to bring the world to life, describing what your players encounter, including the personalities of the people they meet. In a few words, to try and keep the gameplay engaging, all the while enjoying yourself.

HOW DO I LEARN TO BE A GM?

WHO'S GOING TO BE THE GM?

But this does not mean that the rules of Zombicide: Chronicles must be broken or ignored. It means simply that the Gamemaster and the players are invited to customize the rules of the game as much as they desire, keeping what they find appropriate to their playing style and tweaking or throwing away entirely what they don’t. Never forget one thing, though: Zombicide: Chronicles is a game, and the key for the creation of a truly cooperative roleplaying experience is to share its rules among all participants and apply them. The game system and its application is not the province of the Gamemaster alone, and all changes to the rules must be agreed upon by all participants. And once the rules have been accepted (customized or not), they must be applied consistently and fairly to dispel any doubts about the role of the Gamemaster as an impartial interface between the players and the game world. Nothing is more detrimental to a player’s suspension of disbelief than the feeling that a character’s fate is being dictated by the choices of the Gamemaster and not their own.

i

This is the one question many new players ask, and the answer is disarmingly simple: JUST PLAY! The Gamemaster is a pivotal role in a roleplaying game, but you’re still playing a game. You’re not trying to master some secrets of dark magic.

Applying the Rules

An age-old tradition sees the owner of the core book as the designated GM. While this has some merit, it need not necessarily apply every time. If you will be the GM, please keep in mind that sooner or later, you might consider passing on the torch to another player. After having seen you in action, they might feel ready to try out “the other side of the screen”. Spur them onwards! Give them the chance to try out a Mission of their own creation, and, if you are more experienced than them, help them in becoming a good Gamemaster.

INTRODUCTION

SPECIAL ACTIONS One rule: no rules. Well, almost. Find cool weapons, stick together, kill zombies, enjoy life, and everything should be fine.

It is up to the GM to set the number of successes required, but in general terms, a Prolonged Action requires from 3 (a simple but prolonged effort) to 9 (a long and complicated affair) successes. Typically, Survivors won’t achieve all the required successes in a single round. They accumulate successes roll after roll, adding their successes to the total.

PLAYING THE GAME

0 A failed roll during a Prolonged Action causes a simple delay. You need more rolls to accomplish the task and thus spend more time. Of course, rolling more than once raises the possibility of causing Trouble (see page 72).

OPPOSED ACTIONS What happens if two Survivors want to get that last candy bar? Well, they fight for it, rolling for the same Action at the same time. • The opposing Survivors roll, and the one scoring the highest number of successes wins. If nobody gets the upper hand, it ends in a tie. Players can gain Stress to force successes as usual, taking turns to force one success at time until they can’t force anymore or one of them surrenders.

RUNNING THE GAME

Normally, Actions require a single success to be completed. When a task needs more, it’s a Prolonged Action. Protracted endeavors like exploring a building, tearing down a barricade, or fixing a car’s engine requires time and effort. • To complete a Prolonged Action, Survivors must accumulate a number of successes based on the complexity of the task. As soon as the number of successes required is reached, the Action is over. • Often, more than one Survivor can cooperate on the completion of the task, adding up their successes.

If time is of the essence, and it often is, the GM may determine how much time passes between rolls, depending on the type of Action. For example, a round of rolls searching a palace could be two minutes long, while each roll to fix a car engine might take one hour.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

PROLONGED ACTIONS

SURVIVORS

Survivors are really good at coming up with actions that are not easily resolved using the main rules. What happens if their plan is to smash down a door, hotwire a generator, make some noise someplace else to attract a crowd of Z’s on a platform, and then activate that hydraulic press to squash ‘em? As seen in the previous chapter, most activities take one Action to perform. Similarly, an Action could require a dice roll or not. Sometimes, what a Survivor wants to accomplish is so complicated, it will take a long time to complete, or the collaboration of two or more Survivors. A number of special cases for Actions are described below.

67

68 Sample Prolonged Actions

Action Length

Required Successes

Pick a complicated lock (SECURITY), figure out the fastest way to exit a building (EVALUATE), explore a floor of a house (SCOUT)

Standard

3

Walk across a mall without alerting roaming Zombies (SNEAK), jury-rig a car engine (TINKER), understand a dense technical manual (EDUCATION)

Complicated

6

Run a marathon (ENDURE), free an underground corridor from debris (STUNT), stand watch for a full shift (SPOT)

Long

9

Quality Rating in a Prolonged Action It is possible, albeit rarely necessary, to gauge the quality of the success of a completed Prolonged Action. To do so, use the following: • If the Prolonged Action was completed achieving exactly the number of successes required, it is an ordinary success. • If the Prolonged Action was completed with 1 success in excess of the minimum, it is a superior success. • If the Prolonged Action was completed with 2 or more successes in excess of the minimum, it is an outstanding success.

But in the world of Zombicide, almost anything found still in working order can prove to be useful sooner or later (see the rules for Gear on page 55). For this reason, all Survivors have adopted a good practice of always checking a place that doesn’t look like it was thoroughly ransacked before. • In gaming terms, this is called a Search, and it’s handled as a SCAVENGE Prolonged Action generally requiring 3 successes. • If the Search is completed successfully, 1 useful item is found and can be added to a Survivor’s inventory.

See the Main Rules on page 46 for the effects of superior levels of success.

SEARCHING When Survivors look for something specific in a place that can be reasonably considered to contain it, for example a bucket of paint in a general store, the task is normally handled as an ordinary Action. The GM may allow you to find what you are looking for automatically or ask you to make a roll of SPOT or SCAVENGE.

cathy

Small or poor (single room, cellar, wrecked car)

1

Medium or well stocked (hardware store, parking lot)

2

Large or really well stocked (industrial warehouse, large bank, mall)

3

Otherwise, what can be found with a successful Search can be improvised by the GM based on where the attempt is made or determined randomly by rolling on the tables below. • If a fully random find is required, roll first on the Search Category Table and then on the specific sub-table. • If you want to narrow the result down to an item of a specific category, roll directly on the appropriate column. Obviously, the items listed in the tables don’t represent everything that can be found in the world of Zombicide. Use them as guidelines to create your own. Remember, pretty much everything you can find in a store today can be a precious commodity after the outbreak.

SEARCH CATEGORY What do we have here... Published Missions generally list what Survivors get when they make a Search in the right place, following this format: If the Survivors, in one way or another, manage to make it to the Banker’s rooms in the innermost part of the bank, they can make a Search there (Weapons 2).

PLAYING THE GAME

# of Searches

Roll a D6

•

Weapons

•

Health

•

Sports

•

Outdoors

•

Safety

•

General

RUNNING THE GAME

The Searched Area is:

The term in brackets indicates the category of the Search (General, Health, Sports, Outdoors, Safety, or Weapons), and the number specifies the number of available Search attempts. If the term in brackets is (Any), then the GM must first roll on the Search Category Table to determine what can be found there.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Every Survivor in a searchable area can contribute to reach the required total. If a searched area is large enough (or well stocked), the GM may allow for multiple Search Actions, thus potentially providing for more than a single found object.

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

69

70 WEAPONS Weapon

11-16

Broken Weapon

4

0

Roll a D66

Grindlock

Roll a D6

General

Health

•

21-26

Baseball Bat

31-33

Crowbar

34-35

Fire Axe

36

Chainsaw

41-43

Machete

44-45

Katana

46

Kukri

51-53

Pistol

54-55

SMG

56

Sniper Rifle

61-63

Sawed-Off

64-65

Shotgun

66

Molotov

Broken weapon: The GM chooses a weapon. The weapon isn’t functioning, but can be fixed during the Shelter Phase using the Make Shelter Action. See page 99.

ITEMS Sports

Outdoors

Safety

Broken Item(1)

•

Tool Set

First Aid Kit

Climbing Tools

Camping Tools

Fireproof Blanket

•

Trade Magazines and Manuals

Painkillers

Professional Sportswear

Multi-function Compass

Rechargeable Flashlight

•

Set of Lockpicks

Surgical Masks and Gloves

Protective Gear

Multi-purpose Binoculars

Gas Mask

•

Quality Toiletries (Aftershave, Toothpaste, Makeup Products)

Antibiotics

Bike or Skateboard

Camo Fatigues

Flak Jacket

•

Methanol(2)

Alcohol(2)

Paraffin Oil(2)

Petrol(2)

Turpentine(2)

(1) Broken item: The GM chooses an item, except a Molotov component. The object isn’t functioning, but can be fixed during the Shelter Phase using the Make Shelter Action. See page 99. (2) Molotov Component: you find enough flammable liquid to manufacture 1 Molotov cocktail during the Shelter Phase using the Make Shelter Action.

The first rule of the post-apocalyptic camper is finding a safe place to set up camp. This is a SCOUT action (DL1 if the Survivors are in a TL2 District; DL2 if the Survivors are in a TL3 or TL4 District, see page 109). In TL0 locations, no roll is needed (making camp is automatically successful). • If the roll is successful, the night (or an equivalent 8 hours) passes quietly and the Survivors can benefit from resting (see Recovery, page 49). • If the roll is a failure, something rotten comes shambling as per the table on the right (to learn about Hordes, see page 82). In this case, let’s hope the Survivors have someone on guard duty.

Threat Level

Size of Horde attracted

TL 1

Horde (x2)

TL 2

Horde (x3)

TL 3

Horde (x4)

TL 4

Horde (x5)

RUNNING THE GAME

The Survivors on a Mission lasting several days must stop and camp somewhere when the sun goes down. Easier said than done, considering the company...

WANDERING ZOMBIE TABLE

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

MAKING CAMP

`

PLAYING THE GAME

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

71

NO PAIN, NO GAIN

72

We can handle just about anything that comes at us with a believable grin, common sense, and whiskey. As the GM, your job is not to make a Survivor's life miserable, but you don't have to go easy on them. What you do as the GM is to confront them with challenges and terrible dangers so that their survival talents will be given the opportunity to shine. In short, by inflicting them pain and suffering, you’re making their lives interesting. This chapter details the rules for Trouble, Conditions, and Other Sources of Damage.

TROUBLE

9

As seen on page 48, Survivors cause Trouble whenever an Action roll gets more Zombie Heads than successes, regardless of whether the Action was successful or not. Depending on the circumstances, Survivors causing Trouble can attract unwanted attention, lose something important, or even hurt themselves.

Combat Trouble If a Survivor causes Trouble rolling SHOOT or FIGHT, the immediate consequences are simple, if unpleasant:

Friendly Fire If you cause Trouble rolling SHOOT in a Combat Round and there are other Survivors in the fight, you have a case of Friendly Fire! • Apply your first hit to another Survivor (players’ choice). Then, proceed to apply any additional hits normally, in Speed order.

Weapon Dropped/Stuck

T

If you cause Trouble on a FIGHT roll, you just dropped the weapon you were using, or it remained stuck in a Zombie’s skull. • If the roll was successful, apply damage normally, but the Survivor will have to spend an Action to pick up the weapon or dislodge it from whatever nasty place it got stuck in.

All Sorts of Trouble When Trouble happens using Actions different from SHOOT or FIGHT, even outside of combat, the consequences are up to the GM to determine, generally building on the circumstances the Survivors find themselves in. The GM must keep in mind that Trouble always means that something went wrong and that things are going to get worse for the Survivors. Published Missions and the descriptions of the city districts contained in this volume often offer details about what happens should a Survivor cause Trouble.

Noise If the GM is finding it hard to improvise the consequences of Trouble, they can always describe how the Survivor's actions made noise. And making noise is bad, as there is no question that Zombies have excellent hearing. For example, rolling Trouble on a SCOUT roll may have you return to your fellow Survivors with a few walking cadavers in town.

TROUBLE TABLE Examples

Annoying

You forget something. You lose your voice for a day. You slip and cut a finger. You embarrass yourself in front of others.

Worrisome

You drop something. You hurt a foot and now hobble. You sprain a wrist. You lose your temper.

Distressing

You lose something valuable. You bang your head and are now stunned. You break a finger. You insult someone needlessly.

Traumatic

You break a weapon. You fall from a great height. You cut yourself and are now bleeding. You injure someone else.

.

CONDITIONS Life as a Survivor is hard, but it can become harder very quickly. In a world that is slowly spiraling down to a new Stone Age, you could easily end up freezing, starving, suffering from a sickness, or be forced to search for something in the dark. When a Survivor’s situation is made worse by any source, be it environmental or the consequence of an accident or a particularly nasty attack, the GM may impose one or more Conditions, impairments that make it more likely for a Survivor to fail or cause Trouble. After an Action dice roll, but before a player chooses to spend Stress to force successes, the GM enforces the following: • If a Condition can reasonably be considered to be hindering the Survivor, pick the Action die showing the highest numerical result and flip it to a Zombie Head. • If the Condition can reasonably be considered to be impairing, flip the 2 highest numerical results instead. Only ordinary dice are subjected to the effects of Conditions (Mastery dice are always exempted). Players keep track of Conditions by recording them on the notes space on their ID Sheet.

SAMPLE CONDITIONS Hindering Conditions: Low visibility, splitting headache, stunned, tired, intoxicated, very cold, demoralized, shaken, falling accident, etc. Impairing Conditions: Darkness, partial blindness, sickness, poisoned, starving, freezing, suffocating, exhaustion, panic, etc.

PLAYING THE GAME

The table above can help the GM improvise the effects of Trouble, based on five abstract levels of severity to be used as inspiration.

Duration and Effects Generally, the effects and duration of a Condition are directly tied to its source. • If a duration is not specified or apparent, the GM may determine that the Condition lasts until the Survivor takes a rest (see page 49).

RUNNING THE GAME

Trouble Table

SURVIVORS

You wreck a vehicle. You seriously hurt yourself and pass out. You shoot a friend. You destroy something.

If different causes impose the same Condition on a Survivor, each instance must be considered separately, but the effects don’t get worse. For example, a Survivor might have his vision impaired by the darkness of night and then be blinded by a sudden flash. The Survivor remains impaired even after the sun rises if he has not recovered from the flash yet.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Catastrophic

INTRODUCTION

Severity

73

74

OTHER SOURCES OF DAMAGE Apart from being eaten alive by Zombies, there are a number of other ways for the Survivors to be injured: falling down a rickety staircase, being caught in a fire, drowning, or eating something really bad are some of them. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Survivors get really creative when it comes to injuring themselves, but it’s a good starting point. • As a general rule, accidental damage imposes a hindering Condition when it causes the loss of 1 Hit Point, or an impairing Condition when it causes the loss of 2 or more Hit Points. • A loss of HP due to accidents can generally be reduced with an Action roll (indicated in the damage source): reduce the Hit Point loss by 1 for every success rolled.

Falling Jumping out of a window to escape a horde of Zombies looks cool until you hit the ground! Survivors lose 1 Hit Point per 2 yards of falling. If the ground on which the target is falling is soft (like a pile of hay, a pile of mattresses, and so on), halve the HP loss, rounded down. • A roll of STUNT reduces the amount of HP lost. If any damage is suffered, the Survivor should also be left suffering from a Condition (a twisted ankle, a sprained wrist, bruised ribs, etc.).

Drowning/Suffocation Survivors under water, caught in a room filled with smoke, or exposed to a similar threat can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to their MUSCLE score plus 1 round per success scored on an ENDURE roll. Then, they start losing 1 Hit Point each round.

Explosions

A number of things can blow up during a Mission. Always be ready to get out of harm’s way! In game terms, explosions are rated in three levels, Contained, Powerful, and Devastating based on the severity of the blast. See the table below for the amount of damage caused by an explosion and the range of their area of effect. • A roll of STUNT can reduce the amount of HP lost. If any damage is suffered, a Survivor caught in the blast should also receive a Condition (stunned, hearing loss, partial blindness, panicked, etc.).

EXPLOSION TABLE Blast Level

Damage in Blast area

Damage at Range 1

Damage at Range 2

Contained

3

-

-

Powerful

6

3

-

Devastating

9

6

3

USING EXPLOSIVES AGAINST THE DEAD If the Survivors can get their hands on military-grade gear like a crate of grenades, or if they manage to build a pipe bomb or another sort of Improvised Explosive Device (IED), the GM can attribute a Blast Level to the explosive device. • Any Zombie (or Survivor) caught in the blast suffers damage as indicated in the table above, regardless of Strength and Damage Value. If the explosive device can be thrown, a successful roll of STUNT will land it in the target spot. If the roll is a failure, the bomb goes off without harming anyone. If the STUNT roll caused Trouble, the device explodes a little too close to the Survivor, who loses 1 Hit Point.

Radiation

Playing with fire is never a good idea. Depending on the intensity, Limited, Medium, or High, open flames and other sources of extreme heat cause a variable amount of damage for each round of exposure. • An ENDURE roll can reduce the amount of HP lost, unless in case of direct contact with the heat source (in which case, no roll is allowed).

After the outbreak, nuclear power plants were abandoned and hospitals ransacked. Dangerous radioactive material lies abandoned, slowly contaminating the environment. Radiation is very dangerous, especially because it’s not easily detected.

Examples

Limited

1

Torch, camping stove, boiling water

Medium

2

Bonfire, red-hot metal, boiling oil

High

3

Cutting torch, incendiary grenade, flamethrower

If any damage is suffered, a Survivor exposed to radiation will also be left suffering from a hindering or impairing Condition (burns, headaches, blood poisoning, etc.).

RADIATION TABLE Time Interval

Damage per Time Interval

Low

1 hour

1

Moderate

30 minutes

2

Severe

15 minutes

3

Critical

1 minute

Automatic Death (no ENDURE roll allowed).

Intensity

RADIATION VS POISON The effects of being poisoned are normally handled in game terms as a hindering or impairing Conditions. Since the effects of radiation can be easily ported over to simulate the effects of dangerous toxins, a GM desiring a more dangerous consequence for poison can employ the radiation rules exactly as they are, thus attributing a level to the source of poisoning (ENDURE rolls are always allowed).

PLAYING THE GAME

Damage per Round

Intensity

RUNNING THE GAME

FIRE TABLE

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

If any damage is suffered, a Survivor injured by fire should also receive a Condition (painful burns, headache, etc.).

In game terms, there are four levels of radiation: Low, Moderate, Severe, and Critical. Each level causes a different amount of damage for each time interval of exposure, as indicated on the table below. Beware: Critical radiation can cause instant death! • A roll of ENDURE can reduce the amount of HP lost, provided the Survivors have some sort of protection. Otherwise, no roll is allowed.

SURVIVORS

Fire

INTRODUCTION

75

76

ZOMBICIDE! We are no longer the people we used to be. The past is gone, we are now free to choose our fate. It won’ t be a zombie world. It is time for payback. Time for Zombicide! Combat against the undead is the defining experience for Zombicide: Chronicles. This is not simply what the Survivors are forced to do, this is what they want to do if they hope to get rid of the infected. This is not an outbreak anymore. It’s a war. And to win a war, you must conquer. This section expands the rules for combat found in Chapter 3: Playing the Game, providing a number of tips for the GM to use to enliven the game when a fight takes place. Stats for Zombies and other opponents are found on page 79.

STAGING A ZOMBICIDE A fight against the dead (a Zombicide, as we call it) happens for many reasons. The Survivors may accidentally stumble upon a horde while exploring a District, or the destruction of such a group could be precisely the Objective of their Mission. Whatever the case is, when combat breaks out, time freezes and every detail of the environment suddenly comes into focus. It is your task as the GM to provide the Survivors with a vivid description of the situation, allowing them to immerse themselves in the moment and make significant choices.

IT'S THE APOCALYPSE, BABY! The City after the outbreak isn’t just falling into disrepair from lack of maintenance. The relentless war between the living and the dead is taking its toll on everything.

™

So, don’t forget to embellish the scene with appropriate details like human remains, vapors of unspecified provenance, the smell of decay, dogs barking and whining as the dead start to moan, etc.

For example, the Survivors were busy searching a flat on the second floor of a building. After several long minutes, one of the Survivors spots a group of Walkers approaching the entrance of the building at ground level. The Survivors have several options. They could try and leave without attracting the attention of the Walkers...

77

INTRODUCTION

÷

Fortunately, describing an urban environment isn’t usually very hard (unless you’ve never lived in a city!). To this end, remember to read the description of the City District where the Survivors are located.

The Stage Location, location, location. The place where a fight is set is not like any other place. It’s the battlefield, and every detail can contribute to making the ensuing fight epic or desperate. You are free to use a map of your own, one of the maps found on Chapter 5, or the Zombicide board game tiles. But this need for detail does not mean you have to use a map. All you need to do is visualize the situation so you can describe it to your players. Start by answering the following questions: Where are we? Are we inside or outside? Is it dark? Where is the enemy coming from? Are the Survivors surrounded, or are there ways to escape that they can eventually make use of? Imagine how the scene looks when seen from above.

Twist in the Tale #2: Darkness Should the Survivors have the great idea of getting into a fight at night or somewhere away from a source of light, they will suffer from a hindering or impairing Condition (see page 73). Moreover, the maximum Range of any Ranged weapon is reduced to 1. As far as the Zombies are concerned, they cannot see in the dark any better than the Survivors and they don’t usually carry flashlights, but they can smell and hear you from a distance. So, darkness doesn’t impair or hinder them at all.

PLAYING THE GAME RUNNING THE GAME

Watts

But in the world of Zombicide: Chronicles, a lot of things can go really wrong, and that’s when the fun begins. For example, the Survivors might find themselves in the middle of a Zombie crowd because the floor under their feet collapsed, or because they were running blindly in the dark. Or, on the contrary, some circumstances might give them an unexpected advantage. For example, allowing them to fire on an advancing Abomination from a distance. • When a well-engineered plan, or luck, gives the Survivors an advantage, you can allow them to make 1 or 2 additional Opening Shots. • Conversely, if the situation sees the Survivors unprepared to face the enemy, you can determine that they are surprised and that they will all act after all the Zombies have acted.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Zombies are not particularly good at sneaking up on the living, and they generally can’t help but moan loudly when they see potential prey. So, Survivors are not particularly likely to get taken by surprise. Similarly, zombies are not easily scared, so ambushing them is not really going to provide a great advantage.

SURVIVORS

Twist in the Tale #1: Surprise

78

Choose Starting Positions

How the Dead Fight

One advantage that all Survivors have compared to their dead counterparts is that living people still think. Most of them, at least. So, unless they’re taken by surprise or are in a tight place, Survivors must be allowed to describe how they prepare for the undead onslaught. For example, they can choose their starting positions based on tactical considerations, building upon the description of the environment that you as the GM have provided them.

When deciding what the dead will do, try to get into the many shoes of a mindless mob of hunger-driven monsters. All they feel is an instinct driving them to destroy anything that lives. They feel no fear, no pity, no pain. They won’t stop as long as the Survivors are in their sight.

Will they wait for the Abomination to reach the Subway station entrance before opening fire? Or will they attract it into that dead end-alleyway by making some noise?

ACTION! When you’re done setting the stage, it’s time for action. So far, the gameplay was frozen as you and your players were fine-tuning the scene. Now you just have to hit Play! Tell your players how the moaning of the dead rises in a crescendo until they start firing into the advancing horde. From now on, always keep a first-person perspective when describing what’s going on. Limit yourself to describing what the Survivors can actually see or hear.

So, when it’s time for the Zombies to act, don’t overthink. Choose the most direct way for the Zombies to reach the Survivors. Don’t pay attention to traps or obstacles. If the Survivors stand behind a simple barricade, it will take a while for the Zombies to realize they can go round it. They will rather pile up before it until some of them can climb over.

USING BOARD GAME TILES AND MINIATURES Using tiles and miniatures from the board game in combat can be very useful. Laying a few tiles in front of your players allows you, the GM, to see the location with new eyes, making it easy to improvise details that otherwise would not be immediately apparent. Additionally, the details shown on a tile can be used by the players themselves. For example, to suggest that a dumpster on the street can act as barricade, or even be used to start a fire if they have the means to do it.

ZOMBIPEDIA Zombies no longer need to eat or sleep and don’ t show signs of pain. They are basically bloodthirsty puppets, but never underestimate them. They can endure a lot of punishment and will chase you tirelessly for days. The only cure I know is summary execution.

You, as the GM, can use this information as you see fit. For example, to better describe what the Survivors encounter in their Mission Phase, or to add details to Rumors that they gather during a Shelter Phase.

SURVIVORS

The information presented here is hardly top secret, but players of Zombicide: Chronicles should abstain from reading this section anyway, to preserve some level of mystery.

Some say that Zombies are just a reflection of our fears and failures. Tame your inner Zombie and you’ll win half of the battle. The problem is that you must deal with the other half by using rapid-fire weapons. • Everyday Zombies, the ones that are more commonly encountered, are distinguished into four main types: Walkers, Runners, Brutes, and Abominations.

PLAYING THE GAME

EVERYDAY ZOMBIES

We call the most basic type of Zombie a Walker. That’s because they just take their time to get to you. But when they do, you’d be wrong to consider them less dangerous than other types of undead. That’s because they may be slow, but there's a LOT of them, and their bites are no less damaging than those of their more-aggressive brethren. Underestimate them and you’ll find yourself overrun in no time.

Type

Walker

Speed

Strength/ Hit Points

2

1

RUNNING THE GAME

Walkers

x

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

So, finally we arrived at the meat of Zombicide: Chronicles (no pun intended): Zombies. In this section, you’ll find everything you need to know about the various manifestations of the undead, the main actors of the outbreak.

INTRODUCTION

79

80 Brutes

Type

Brute

ï Speed

Strength/ Hit Points

1

2

]

It’s easy to tell a Brute apart from an ordinary Walker. A Brute is big, bloated, and tough. Whatever changed them so much has made them also particularly hard to put down. Most weapons just tear pieces of flesh and bone from them, and they have plenty to spare. So, be sure to carry something able to do some real damage.

Runners Amped up for some reason, Runners are super aggressive. They hide behind other Zombies, especially Brutes, and will be upon you in no time unless you take them out first. They can be fast, but they still won't easily overcome obstacles set before them.

Special Rules

¨

Runners reduce the maximum number of Opening Shots to 1. Then, they attack twice: once before the Survivor Phase and once during the Zombie Phase, with all the other Zombies.

Type

Speed

Strength/ Hit Points

Runner

3

1

Abominations

Abomination

Speed

Strength/ Hit Points

1

3

PLAYING THE GAME THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Type

1

Huge, strong, twisted beyond recognition. Abominations are a Survivor’s worst nightmare. If you spot one of these, and it doesn’t see you, just run. Abominations are almost impervious to damage. Only the most powerful weapons can stop them. Or a well-aimed Molotov.

RUNNING THE GAME

O

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

î

81

82

ZOMBIE HORDES

Brutes & Co.

While it is possible to meet solitary Zombies, the dead display the annoying tendency to show up in large numbers. • In Zombicide: Chronicles, a large crowd of the undead is called a Horde. Published Missions and the Districts contained in Chapter 5 often rely on the rules for Hordes in their text. A Horde of Zombies can be compared to a mass of undead flesh attacking in waves. As with every type of crowd, a Horde’s composition is varied, but its bulk is formed by the ever-present Walkers. • In game terms, the number of Walkers in a Horde depends on the number of Survivors in a group. The uncomfortable presence of Brutes, Runners, and Abominations is instead based on the Threat Level of the area.

Walkers in a Horde Larger groups of Survivors attract more attention. In game terms, this translates into a Horde multiplier, a value normally ranging from x1 to x6. • A Horde multiplier determines how many Walkers are there for each Survivor in the group. For example, if 4 Survivors are about to face a Horde (x2), it means they will encounter 8 Walkers. If you must improvise a Horde multiplier, just add 1 to the TL of the area the Survivors are in.

The presence of Zombies of different types in a Horde is determined using the Horde Composition table below. • Roll a die and add the Threat Level of the District the encounter is taking place in to its result. Then, check the corresponding entry. Each column in the table is used to determine the quantity of Zombies of a given type that can be added to the basic amount of Walkers determined by the Horde multiplier. Quantities are expressed as a multiplier, this time ranging from x0.5 to x3. If the multiplier is x0.5, it means that the number of adversaries is equal to half the number of Survivors (round up fractions, sorry guys!). For example, if 4 Survivors are facing a Horde containing x1 Runners, it means that there’s 4 of them among the Walkers. The GM is always free to tweak the number of Zombies in a Horde to make the life of your Survivors easier or even more miserable than it already is. For this reason, the quantities shown in the Horde Composition table are to be considered suggestions. In particular, the addition of Abominations to a Horde must be considered carefully. • Published missions may modify the number of Zombies in a Horde adding a number after the multiplier in brackets. For example: a Horde (x3) + 1 Brute means you must add an extra Brute to its usual roster of rotten creatures.

For example, if the Survivors encounter a Horde in a TL 2 area, they will face a Horde (x3).

HORDE COMPOSITION TA D6 Roll + TL

BLE

Runners

Brutes

Abominations

1-2

-

-

-

3-4

0.5

-

-

5-6

x1

0.5

-

7-8

x2

x1

-

9-10

x2

x1

1

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

83

MUTATED ZOMBIES

With the outbreak, dead people didn’t just come back. You’ve seen Brutes and especially Abominations. The infection changed them, making them bigger, tougher, or just plain weirder.

You can add Zombies of different types by rolling again on the Horde Composition table, considering the TL of the area equal to 0. Each new round can generate another Horde, and so on. They just keep on coming...

In time, the Survivors were forced to distinguish different breeds of walking dead as they were consistently displaying newer, more terrifying mutations. • So far, four different strains of Zombies have been identified: Berserker, Seeker, Skinner, and Toxic Zombies.

For example, of the 4 Survivors fighting a Horde in a TL 2 District, 2 used Noisy weapons. At the end of the round, the GM rolls 2 dice and gets 1 Zombie Head. A Horde (x1) approaches! Then, the GM rolls on the Horde Composition table (with a modifier equal to 0) to see whether different Zombie types show up. The GM rolls a 4: a total of 4 Walkers and 2 Runners join the undead.

In game terms, GMs can employ the Mutated Zombies presented here as they see fit: • Berserker and Toxic Zombies can be encountered as afull Horde, as they display all four standard manifestations (Walker, Runner, Brute, and Abomination). • Seeker and Skinner Zombies only appear in certain forms and thus can only appear as part of a standard Horde or as their own group.

RUNNING THE GAME

At the end of each combat round, if there is at least one Zombie standing, the GM rolls 1 die for each Survivor that made Noise, such as using a Noisy weapon: • If 1 or more dice result in a Zombie Head, a Horde (x1) joins the fight in the following round.

PLAYING THE GAME

When dealing with a Horde, you know when a fight starts but not when it’s going to end, as the dead are a curious lot, and for all their normal sluggishness, they cannot wait to join their brethren in the melee. So, what you just faced in a round might be only a first wave.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Horde Waves

84 Berserker Zombies

Toxic Zombies

The first to appear after the outbreak, this mutation seems to affect individuals that were already particularly aggressive in life, such as prison inmates, criminals, or dangerous madmen. What was only a psychological trait seems to have turned into a physical one. Berserker Zombies develop hard scales all over their bodies, making them harder to stop with bullets. You basically have no choice. You have to meet them face to face. • The Berserker mutation affects all four types of Zombies.

If it moves and it’s covered in pustules and blisters, it’s a Toxic Zombie. Something happened with their blood and getting up close and personal with them isn’t a good idea. When you hit them, you can get splattered with some kind of toxic stuff.

Special Rules

Special Rule When you eliminate a Toxic Zombie with a Melee weapon, you suffer 1 point of Damage from its toxic spray.

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Berserker Zombies are immune to Ranged weapons fired using SHOOT (that is, not grenades, thrown explosives, or a Molotov cocktail). Unless otherwise stated, only a Melee weapon can kill a Berserker Zombie.

Simple exposure irritates the skin. Breathing it in or swallowing any can be lethal. Watch out for your eyes, too. Nobody knows how they got so toxic. Personally, I think it’s the food. So much food coloring can't be good. • Toxic Zombies exist in all four manifestations.

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Seeker Walkers

Skinner Zombies

Seeker Zombies hide among normal Walkers and incite them into a frenzy as they get closer to their target. They become so fast that Runners look like easy targets. When you finally understand what you’re facing, it may be too late. Look for Walkers acting up, like making noise and shaking. If you spot one of them, blast it immediately. • Seeker Zombies exist only as Walkers.

You can immediately recognise the older Zombies, those that have been around since the beginning. They’re leaner, almost shrivelled, and feral-looking. It's not a good sight. Some of them become Skinners, Zombies that do not stay dead even when cut in half. When they are reduced to armless or legless torsos and they keep chasing you, we call them Crawlers. • Skinner Zombies exist in all forms except Abominations.

INTRODUCTION

85

Special Rules Special Rules For every Skinner Zombie eliminated in a Combat Round, add a Crawler (see below). Type

Crawler

Speed

Strength/ Hit Points

*

1

¨

SURVIVORS

The GM can decide that there’s a Seeker Zombie among a group or Horde of Walkers. It can be identified with a roll of SPOT. If it’s not eliminated, all Walkers in the group or Horde are considered Runners.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

_ ¶

RUNNING THE GAME

PLAYING THE GAME

*Crawlers do not have a Speed score. They always come last in Priority Order.

86

ZOMBIE ANIMALS At the beginning of the outbreak, the media reassured everyone by saying that animals were immune to the contagion. Well, it turns out that they were wrong. Dogs, rats, and crows are the worst. Eating infected cadavers turned them into the most feral Zombies imaginable •  Zombie Animals work just like human Zombies. When using the rules for Hordes, a Zombie Animal type can be used to replace Walkers in a Horde.

Zombie Crowz It was inevitable that crows would get infected, scavenging all those Zombie bodies. It was also inevitable that it would be very bad news. Crowz may be easy to kill, but these flying vermin can move awfully fast and, worst of all, they can ignore obstacles, either flying over them or squeezing through broken windows, holes in the roof, or gaps in crumbling walls!

Zombie Dogz If you haven’t seen a pack of Dogz attacking, you haven’t seen anything, believe me. These rotten fleabags are quick as devils and devious. They can drag you to the ground and strip your flesh off before you can tell your mama goodbye.

Type

Speed

Strength/ Hit Points

Special Rules

Crowz

4

1

Crowz can fly over physical obstacles. Barriers, fires, and walls don’t block them.

Dogz

4

1

Dogz reduce the maximum number of Opening Shots to 1. Then, they attack twice: once before the Survivor Phase, once during the Zombie Phase, with all the other Zombies.

Ratz

4

1

Ratz can easily pass through narrow cracks and holes in the ground.

From the point of view of many, rats are pests to be killed at first sight. On second thought, however, the destinies of rat and man seem linked. Both species are survivors. Someone accused rats of being responsible for the Zombie disease, but it seems they carry the burden in the same way we do. They are vulnerable and can be turned into Zombies. We call them the Ratz.

Ratz are as numerous as their brethren, of course, but their fear of man has been replaced with a hunger for human flesh. For an unknown reason so far, they act like a giant pack. As soon as some of them find a fresh food source, all ratz in the vicinity gather for the feast. The more there are, the more frantic these critters become, and you know how agile and fast a rat can be!

RUNNING THE GAME THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Zombie Ratz

0

`

PLAYING THE GAME

SURVIVORS

ï

INTRODUCTION

87

88

CUSTOMIZING THE DEAD It gets worse, though. The zombies we found in the mall are weird. While it can be argued that death is the great equalizer and that it makes us all the same, Zombies are not all alike. As seen before, they have different manifestations and mutations.

BOOSTED ZOMBIES The simplest way to customize a Zombie is to raise its number of Hit Points and make it harder to kill. Note that if you raise a Zombie’s Hit Points, you’re not raising its Strength too! You’re only making it able to sustain more damage, not to make more Attacks or raise its resistance to certain weapons (Damage Value). As a rule of thumb, consider only boosting the HP of Brutes and Abominations to make them into fearsome, but uncommon, adversaries.

Sometimes, they display even stranger abilities; dangerous talents every expert Survivor needs to recognise as quickly as possible if they want to keep surviving.

A

List of Special Abilities This section lists a number of special abilities that the GM may use as a small toolbox to add another level of variety to the adversaries the Survivors will inevitably encounter. The combinations that can result by matching manifestations and mutations with special abilities are innumerable and can give life to unique and very unusual Zombies.

Fast or Very Fast This creature gains 1 additional attack during the Zombie Phase (2 if the creature is Very Fast).

Grabbing At the start of each Zombie Phase, this creature grabs all Disengaged Survivors, dragging them in contact again. Each Survivor can prevent this by making a STUNT roll. A grabbed Survivor can be dragged through a window, a door, out of a car, etc.

Impervious This creature can only be killed by area-effect attacks like explosives, grenades, and Molotov cocktails.

Meat Shield This creature always comes first in the Targeting Priority Order, regardless of its Speed.

Unbearable This creature can be attacked only with Ranged weapons (cannot be given to a Berserker Zombie).

THE OTHERS One of the main tasks of the Gamemaster is to bring to life those few lucky individuals who survived the outbreak and that are not controlled by the players. From the scared little girl hiding in the dumpster (how did she end up in there?) to the rugged ex-Marine sniping at Brutes from his home, they all have one thing in common: they’re Survivors, just like you. • In Zombicide: Chronicles, these individuals are called Non-Player Survivors, or NPS for short. Survivors may meet NPS by accident, for example when exploring the City, or on purpose when they investigate a rumor signalling their presence.

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In game terms, NPS have the following characteristics:

It’s the personal name or denomination of the NPS, usually accompanied by a descriptive role, summarising the character’s position in the world of Zombicide. For example: Teegan, Boss of the Screaming Jays; Natasha, lost cheerleader; Fred, Lone Zombiehunter; etc.

SURVIVORS

Name

Description The character’s looks, behavior, and general skill set. For example: Torn jeans and leather jacket. Fast talker. Sociopath. Eye patch and a limp.

Motivation

PLAYING THE GAME

The Survivors should be careful when dealing with them. Hunger and pride make people do crazy, unexpected things, especially now that everyone is making the rules for themselves. So, as the old saying goes, “Choose your enemies wisely and your friends even more”.

When approaching living entities, one should take into consideration their motivations and attitude towards strangers.

The Survivor’s short or long term purpose, objective, or drive. For example: Find shelter, recruit more followers, kill the White Abomination.

Gear The tools or weapons and other interesting things that the character is carrying.

Enemy Level

RUNNING THE GAME

Not everything that moves is dead and rotten. Sometimes, the Survivors find people. Real people. The talking kind. Some will be scared. Some will be lost. Others may be thriving, having found a way to coexist with the effects of the apocalypse.

Meet the NPS

This rating summarises the character’s overall fighting capability. It is used in conjunction with the rules for Fighting the Living (see page 91).

Special Rules Sometimes, the text of a District or Mission adds one or more special rules to the characteristics of a NPS. Generally, these rules detail specific abilities and advantages that a character can use to help or hinder the Survivors.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

We were on a supply run when we heard gunshots a few blocks away, quickly followed by an emergency flare. It ’ s been a while since we saw one of those.

INTRODUCTION

S R O IV V R U S R E Y A L P N O N

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90

SA M P L E N P S • Name: Teegan, boss of the Screamin’ Jays • Description: Torn jeans and leather jacket. Fast talker and even faster shooter. Sociopath. Eye patch and a limp • Motivation: Prey on the weak. Rule what’s left of humanity • Gear: Baseball Bat, Shotgun • Enemy Level: Dangerous • Special Rules: -

Interaction Rolls The outcome of an interaction with a Non-player Survivor may often require one or more Action rolls. It could be a STUNT roll to try and catch them (or to run away from them), a HEARTEN roll to snap them out of their state of shock, a roll of COOL to avoid being shot, etc. When this happens, the GM may add a Difficulty level (DL) to a roll based on how much the objective of an Action is compatible with the Description or Motivation of the NPS or how it relates with their skill set. Use the following guidelines to decide the difficulty of a roll: • DL0: The objective of the Action is compatible with the motivation or description of the NPS, or the NPS does not possess a skill set that can possibly hinder the roll. For example: asking someone for information about one of their enemies, running away from an old man, resisting being intimidated by an adolescent punk. • DL1: The objective of the Action is partially incompatible with the motivation or description of the NPS, or the NPS possesses a skill set that can make the action harder. For example: catching a young boy trying to slip away, taking an ex-cop by surprise, persuading a paranoid survivor to leave his fortified shelter. • DL2: The objective of the Action is directly incompatible with the motivation or description of the NPS, or the NPS possesses a skill set that can very reasonably pose a challenge for the Survivors.

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For example: sneaking into a camp patrolled by exmilitary, convincing a zombie-hunter to lend you her prized no-dachi, intimidating a grizzled veteran of many a Zombicide.

Combat Rounds

Survivor Phase

Fighting living opponents is different from fighting dead ones. Where a fight between Survivors and Zombies is seen as a furious wrangle of living and dead bodies, a confrontation with NPS has combatants shooting at each other at close range and charging in with melee weapons. • For this reason, there are no free Opening Shots for the Survivors to whittle down their opponents, unless they somehow manage to ambush them with a SNEAK roll. Combat then evolves in a cycle of Combat Rounds. • In the course of each round, Survivors and the NPS take turns in order of Initiative to take action.

Survivors act as usual when their turn comes. Attacks are resolved normally, rolling FIGHT in Melee and SHOOT for Ranged weapons, with 1 important exception: • Any weapon is effective in harming a NPS target, regardless of their Damage Value.

SHHHH! THEY'LL HEAR YOU! You knew opening fire against them wasn't the best idea. At the end of each combat round spent fighting NPS, the GM rolls 1 die for each Survivor that made noise, for example using a Noisy weapon, plus 1 die for each 3 points of Strength of the NPS opposing them: • If 1 or more dice result in a Zombie Head, a number of Walkers matching the number of Survivors in the fight joins in during the following round.

The fight depends on the Level of the Enemy you are facing (see page 92). Harmless and Tough NPS that are reduced to half their original number may consider the option of surrendering, while Dangerous and Formidable opponents will probably try to withdraw to fight another day.

INTRODUCTION

‰

SURVIVORS

The following section modifies the rules for combat against the dead. The aim of these rules is to provide a simplified combat resolution, not a system for tactical fights. Remember, fighting against the living should be an exception, not a recurring event. This is ZOMBIcide!

PLAYING THE GAME

But sometimes, a situation goes south and violence erupts anyway. And in the end, it’s better to be the ones who come out of the scuffle standing.

NPS are smarter than Zombies. It's one of the reasons why they are still alive! So, to determine who goes first in a fight, all Survivors must make a COOL to establish who is going to act first. • Every Survivor who succeeds acts before all the NPS opponents. • Survivors who fail act after all the NPS opponents. • If the Survivors have been Surprised (see page 77), they automatically act after all the NPS opponents.

NPS Phase As it happens with Zombies, attacks by NPS do not require dice rolls. Simply add up the Strength rating of all NPS involved in the fight. The result is the number of Attacks dealt to the Survivors as a group. • As usual, the Survivors may now split the number of Attacks in any way they prefer (Disengage and Evade have the usual consequences). It is up to the GM to describe the actions of the NPS as befits their description. For example, a crazed old man may just bum-rush the Survivors (and probably end up riddled with bullets), while a team of military veterans will maneuver and take the Survivors in a crossfire.

RUNNING THE GAME

It shouldn’t be necessary to say here why it’s never a good idea for the Survivors to pick a fight with living people. There aren't many of those left, even without them starting to kill each other. Remember, the dead guys are the enemy! And if you start shooting, they’ll hear you.

Initiative

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

FIGHTING THE LIVING

91

92 Enemy Level

Speed

The characteristics of the NPS facing the Survivors depend on their Enemy Level and denotes whether an opponent is considered Harmless, Tough, Dangerous, or Formidable.

As happens with Zombies, this is used to determine the Targeting Priority order of Ranged Attacks.

Strength

The table to the right provides the GM with all the stats required for a NPS to take part in a fight.

This is used to see how much damage an attack from a single NPS of that level inflicts on a Survivor. Differently from the Zombies, it does NOT indicate the minimum Damage Class required to harm the NPS.

Resolve

Hit Points

Modifiers to rolls are not normally taken into consideration in a fight involving only stinky, ambulating cadavers - you don’t expect a Zombie to dive for cover, or to gain the high ground. But intelligent and experienced opponents are a different matter. • All rolls made in combat and involving a NPS are modified by the Difficulty Level indicated in their Resolve rating, including rolls made for Initiative (use the highest Resolve in the group), to attack them, or to evade their attacks.

This is the Damage that each individual NPS can suffer before they are considered out of combat.

ENEMY LEVELS Resolve

Speed

Strength/ Hit Points

Formidable

DL2

3

4

Dangerous

DL1

3

3

Tough

DL1

2

2

Harmless

-

2

1

Enemy Level

EXTENDED EXAMPLE OF COMBAT WITH NPS Yuka and Amado located a gun shop that looked like it was ignored in the frenzy following the apocalypse, as its sign at some point fell from the window display. Unfortunately, the gun shop isn’t deserted, and as the two enter the front door, they notice someone scrambling for cover in the back! The GM knows that the gun shop is owned by Phil and Marnie, two Tough gun enthusiasts who are preparing to open fire on the two Survivors. Yuka and Amado roll for Initiative. Yuka succeeds while Amado fails. Yuka is the first to act. She moves behind a fallen display shelf. Then, she puts away her Katana and spends her Support Action to DRAW her sub-mg while shouting: “Hey! Who’s there!”

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It’s time for Phil and Marnie to act. They’re a couple of paranoid survivalists who have made the shop into their fortress, so the GM decides their answer is to open fire! Phil and Marnie are Tough, so it’s not their first rodeo. The Strength rating of the two NPS amounts to a total of 4 Attacks aimed at the two Survivors. They choose to split the attacks as follows: 3 attacks to Yuka and 1 to Amado. Yuka saved one Action to EVADE, so she rolls her COOL and gets 4 successes. All attacks against her are cancelled! Only 1 attack against Amado remains. Amado is hit, losing 1 HP and almost loses control! He already has his shotgun out, so he just leans against the nearest wall to AIM, then he goes boom! He rolls 5 dice for his SHOOT Action for a whopping total of 4 successes (at the cost of 2 Stress). Since Amado was aiming, he can choose his target. Ladies first! Marnie is caught fully by the shotgun blast, and is sent sprawling. She’s down to 0 HP.

Meet the Community

Disposition

If a NPS group is introduced by a published Mission or district, these values are predetermined. Otherwise, the GM is free to alter or choose each value, or even improvise it by rolling a D6. Here follow the five characteristics defining each NPS Group. The combination of the various ratings allows for the creation of hundreds of different factions; potential allies or rivals competing with the Survivors for supplies and for the best Shelters in town. • Size • Disposition • Morale • Leadership • Resources

Organized groups often give themselves fancy names to give their members a sense of identity. You don’t have to give a name to all of them, but if you do, make it fancy! Examples: the East Yates Wackos, the Ghosts of Birch Street, the Crazy 88, the Rooks, the Calaveras.

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NAME

RUNNING THE GAME

NPS groups are made of individuals, so interactions with their members will follow the normal rules for interacting with NPS described on page 90. • When considered as a collective, NPS Groups are described using a number of numerical characteristics, all ranging from 1 to 6.

This rating can be used to gauge the reaction of the group upon meeting the Survivors. The higher the rank, the friendlier the members of the group are. 1 - Hostile: predatory and violent, disposed to kill and loot rather than parley. 2 - Unfriendly: aggressive, ready to shoot first and then ask questions. 3 - Suspicious: defensive, requiring proof of trust to be approached. 4 - Cautious: open-minded, but still wary. 5 - Friendly: seeking contact, inclined to collaborate if reciprocated. 6 - Peace-loving: willing to help voluntarily, good samaritans.

SURVIVORS

Varying in number and organization, these groups of survivors spend the majority of their time in their own turf, leaving only to scavenge for supplies. What will happen when the Survivors trespass into their territory? Are they going to be friendly, or are they going to shoot first and talk later?

This represents the population of the NPS group. The higher the rank, the larger and more varied its composition. 1 - Tiny: a family, a few couples and friends. 2 - Small: an extended family, a group of a dozen friends. 3 - Typical: a sports team, a military squad. 4 - Substantial: a small neighborhood, members of a firm, a platoon. 5 - Large: a large neighborhood, a whole company of soldiers. 6 - Vast: a district-sized community.

INTRODUCTION

Size

PLAYING THE GAME

Survivors began to gather in groups just weeks after the start of the outbreak. Even the more sociopathic types quickly realized that lone individuals only make for quick meals. So, your team of Survivors is not the only organized party in the City. Others are hunkering down in condos, mall warehouses, and police stations.

Choose one entry for each rating, or roll a D6.

Penny

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NPS GROUPS

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94 Resources

Shannon Survivors who have made contact with a NPS group may attempt to improve their relationship and raise the Disposition level as a consequence. The GM should determine which is the best course of action to do so using other ratings of the group as a reference (like the group’s Morale or Resources level, for example). Normally, the Survivor must succeed in an Action roll for the rating to be improved (by a maximum of 1 point for each effort).

Morale This measures how cohesive and confident the group is. The higher the rank, the more united and motivated the group is. 1 - Failing: desperate, on the verge of disbanding. 2 - Low: malcontent is rampant, members are leaving by the day. 3 - Uninspired: things could be worse, but some fear the worst has yet to come. 4 - Optimistic: the situation is stable, the worst is behind. 5 - High: this is working! We’re going to make it. 6 - Unshakable: we’re the best!

Leadership This rates the quality of who’s in charge, be it an individual or a group of elected representatives. 1 - Abysmal: crazy, idiotic, self-deluded imposter. 2 - Weak: clumsy and amateurish. 3 - Limited: couldn’t find a better leader, so this will do. 4 - Adequate: learning the ropes, will improve. 5 - Strong: confident and effective. 6 - Superb: brilliant strategist, talented politician, wise ruler.

This is the approximate wealth of the NPS group based on their access to supplies and weaponry. The higher the rank, the better equipped the average member of the group and the more impregnable their Shelter. 1 - Dirt-poor: starving, ill-equipped. 2 - Scarce: hungry, always looking for more. 3 - Frugal: struggling to make ends meet. 4 - Acceptable: well off, but need to scavenge often. 5 - Prosperous: rarely lacking supplies. 6 - Lavish: jacuzzi, golden AK-47s, pimpmobiles, you name it.

How to Read the Ratings Combinations The five ratings of a NPS group are devised to make it easy for a GM to read and interpret. Starting from the bare numbers, the GM can easily flesh them out with narrative details and use them to determine the outcome of any interaction with the Survivors. Here is an example of how you can flesh out the numerical ratings of a NPS group: The Street Rats (Size 5, Disposition 2, Morale 4, Leadership 2, Resources 5) This community was created when the local youth detention center was abandoned by the authorities. Counting more than a hundred members (Size 5), they never left the building and instead fortified it when they realized what was happening. Swarming around the neighborhood like hungry rats, they picked it clean, accumulating a vast supply cache (Resources 5). Strongly territorial, the Street Rats avoid contact with other survivors and shoot whoever gets too close to the detention center (Disposition 2). They follow the orders of their current Chief, the last in a series of leaders who failed to keep a strong grip on the tumultuous community of adolescents (Leadership 2). This notwithstanding, the community is solid and is enjoying their new life as lords of a wasteland (Morale 4).

EXPERIENCE AWARDS

The Mission Phase comprises the best part of the gameplay of Zombicide: Chronicles. This is when the Survivors have a chance to show what they are made of and do something about an infection that threatens to become an extinction-level event. This won’t be easy though, as it is your task as the GM to make the world of Zombicide fight back.

Survivors gain Experience points during the course of the Mission Phase by achieving specific Objectives and by bringing a Mission to a satisfactory resolution.

From a structural point of view, you play the game as a series of Mission Phases separated by short Shelter Phases. The interplay between challenges set by the GM, the actions chosen by the Survivors to overcome them, and the consequences of those same actions create a dynamic narrative, a story created with equal input from the GM and the players.

WARNING!

Mission Objectives

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An Objective represents a turning point in the Mission, a milestone that when reached, indicates that the Survivors are indeed advancing towards achieving their plan. Usually, the nature of an Objective is tightly connected to the Mission type being played. Descriptions of the various types of Mission presented starting on the next page include examples of Mission Objectives. On some occasions, a Mission Objective may instead represent a side-quest, an achievement that is significant but not necessary to the overall success of the Mission. Tangential Mission Objectives like these can be easily improvised, taking the chance to reward the Survivors for an unexpected turn of events. • As a rule of thumb, Missions should always feature a minimum of 2 Objectives: a main Objective and a side-quest. • Achieving an Objective gains a Survivor 5 Experience points.

RUNNING THE GAME

Each Mission Phase typically sees the Survivors play out a number of days of game time before a new Shelter Phase is initiated to wrap the mission up. Ideally, the Survivors leave their refuge with a plan in mind, as set at the end of the previous Shelter Phase (see Plan Mission, page 100). Usually, the Survivors have resolved to pursue a precise Objective tied to events that happened in previous Mission Phases, or to investigate a Rumor they'd heard (see Rumors, page 100). This should give you the necessary time to set up the new Mission Phase accordingly, casting it as 1 of 10 different Mission types: 1 - Supply Run 2 - Exploration 3 - Secure Area 4 - Seek New Shelter 5 - Make Contact 6 - Obtain Information/Item 7 - Rescue Run 8 - Survival 9 - Seek and Destroy 10 - Keep Hope Alive

PLAYING THE GAME

Remember that the rules for Stress, Trouble, and Adrenaline come into play during each Mission Phase. See pages 48 and 72 for their proper application.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

PHASE STRUCTURE

When considering the elements that are going to be part of a new Mission Phase, one of the things you must do as the GM is to consider which episodes or incidents will gain the Survivors an Experience award.

INTRODUCTION

Several weeks have passed since the infection began and the zombie population peaked. What may seem like a routine mission is actually an ordeal where the smallest mistake could be fatal.

SURVIVORS

THE MISSION PHASE

95

96 Mission Bonus

Secure Area

Making it back to the Shelter alive can already be counted as a win. But we’re feeling generous. Survivors gain a number of additional XP as a bonus based on how well they fared. • At the end of each Mission, award the Survivors from 3 to 5 additional XP depending on how well they performed, especially as a team.

This neighborhood is a mess. Body parts are NOT decor. And I’m sure zombies attract other zombies. Blow those Brutes to bits and make this world a little better! • Plan: Clear the area, dispose of all bodies, scrape off the remains. • Reward: Reduce the TL of the Location by 1. • Objectives: Kill the Zombie boss infesting the area. Find the Spawn zones (how the Zombies gain access to the area). Prevent the dead from entering.

MISSION TYPES Here's a brief description of each Mission type, including examples of plausible plans of execution and rewards tied to the Mission’s achievement. A brief list of potential Objectives (see Experience Awards, page 95) concludes each writeup. The Stories from the Outbreak mission compendium contains a fully-developed example of each Mission Type.

Supply Run During the Apocalypse, some inconveniences are to be expected. First, you run out of tuna. No big deal! But then, you realize that you've ran out of gas too and can’t loot the mall. Then, things escalate and people start dropping dead, sick and starving. You need to find stuff and you need to find it fast. • Plan: Rush to the nearest unspoiled source of supplies and take everything you can carry. • Reward: During the next Shelter Phase, you automatically pass any Supply Checks. • Objectives: Find a supply source. Secure a fast means of transportation. Bring everything back to the Shelter without casualties.

Exploration How can we stop this madness if we don’t know where the infected come from and if there are others hiding out there? There must be some safer places to settle, too. • Plan: Reach and explore another District. • Reward: Gain key information about the District, its locations and possible denizens. • Objectives: Find a vantage point for observation. Acquire a map of the area. Bring back useful information.

Seek New Shelter We’ve had enough bashing zombie heads in the middle of the night. This place is no longer friendly to humans. On the other hand, that police station over there seems cozy and well defendable! If we secured the area, we may have a new place to call home. • Plan: Find a new Shelter, fortify and stash it properly, and settle down. • Reward: You have a brand new Shelter. • Objectives: Discover the best location. Ensure a safe move. Keep it secret.

Make Contact That column of smoke over there at the campus may not be another red herring. I’m sure there’s a BBQ going on! I’ll go get a couple six-packs. They’ll appreciate that for sure. Watch out for friendly fire though, as everyone (including you!) shoots first, then worries later about properly identifying who’s knocking. • Plan: Get to the location and investigate any traces of life. • Reward: Start collaborating with a group of NPS. You can start bartering Equipment, exchange information, and help each other... If they are willing. • Objectives: Discover who’s there without making yourself known. Gain allies. Save someone.

97

Rescue Run There’s no time to lose. Kim is still fending off wave after wave of runners, but she can hold on for only so long. We need to get her out of there. • Plan: Find and reach someone in distress, extract them, and take them to the Shelter. • Reward: Someone is indebted to you and might return the favor at some point. Also, you may gain a sidekick! • Objectives: Infiltrate unseen. Deal with the threat. Don't leave anyone behind.

Another Abomination spotted, another job for our elite group of zombie killers! Time for the prey to become the hunters. I hope you brought explosives. • Plan: Deal with a particular Zombie threat. • Reward: The critter’s head and tons of XP! • Objectives: Spring a trap. Obtain a special means of destruction. Reach an ideal ambush site.

SURVIVORS

You’ve heard it through the grapevine. There’s still a chance to power up the entire district, or there may be a way to open that damn bunker. • Plan: Follow your lead to a specific item or piece of info. • Reward: Get what you're looking for… or something totally different. • Objectives: Get what you were looking for. Find something unexpected. Put the information/item to good use.

Seek and Destroy

Keep Hope Alive They say that there are Survivor camps out east, protected by the military. Do you really believe that? The government is certainly looking for a cure, right? We must stick our head out and try to make contact with the wider world. • Plan: Set up a recorded radio broadcast to find other Survivors, leave messages for others to find you, and look for any traces of the world before or any other action to keep a beacon of hope alight. • Reward: Preserve hope. You never know who out there might be actively doing something to end all this. • Objectives: Find news of other communities. Reach the location you need to secure. Deliver the message you wanted to spread.

PLAYING THE GAME

Obtain Information/Item

RUNNING THE GAME

Jane

Whoah! I have never seen a horde so large! And they are coming right this way! An immediate threat needs to be dealt with. An illness has spread. The dead have unexpectedly found a way into the Shelter. An unexpected or a particularly large horde is getting closer. This mission can end in a Shelter Assault! (see page 105). • Plan: Survive the threat. • Reward: Your life. • Objectives: Resist until help arrives. Upgrade your defenses in time. Thwart the threat.

INTRODUCTION

Survival

The mission types we’re presenting here are not rigid structures never to be broken. For the sake of variety, you are encouraged to use them for what they are: guidelines. Especially when you will have a number of sessions of play under your belt, you’ll find it easy to mix 'n’ match different types of missions. For example, an Obtain Information mission can suddenly turn into a Seek and Destroy assignment when the Survivors discover the presence of a powerful Abomination!

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

MIXING MISSIONS UP

THE SHELTER PHASE

98

Our shelter is safe, for now. Unfortunately, our supplies won’ t last long. We also need clothes, equipment, and ammo. We ’ve decided to go explore the surrounding houses. We cannot come back empty-handed. Survive and win. This is the first commandment in the world of Zombicide. Forget about the money, power, or fame. Just keep breathing. But to see another dawn, every single Survivor knows that they will have to go out there, scavenge for food and water, pick clean every gun store and workshop for ammo and spare parts, and raid the medical supply stores at the mall before they can call it a day. The Shelter Phase represents the time the Survivors spend in their refuge when they’re not out there smashing Zombie heads. It’s a time for making sure that they have all they need to continue their fight and for planning on how to do that.

PHASE STRUCTURE Generally, the Shelter Phase takes place right after the Mission Phase when the Survivors make it back to their refuge. If there’s no time at the end of a play session, then the phase will take place at the beginning of the next. A Shelter Phase is divided into a number of steps: 1 - Supply Check 2 - Shelter Actions 3 - Plan Mission

REST & RECREATION During the Shelter Phase, all Survivors have time to heal and recover. They are all restored to their maximum Hit Points, they reset both their Adrenaline and their Stress to zero, and they remove any Condition that may have been imposed on them during the Mission Phase.

NO STRESS, NO TROUBLE!

Ned Roll a D6

Forcing successes is a special opportunity reserved for the Mission Phase. This means that during the Shelter Phase what you roll is what you get! Also, you never gain Adrenaline for rolls made during the Shelter Phase. Look at the bright side, though. During a Shelter Phase, all Action rolls ignore the rules for Trouble.

Supply shortage

Prolonged Action type

Consequences of Failure

••

Food, water

SCAVENGE

Weakened

••

Spare parts, ammo

TINKER

Unreliable Gear

••

Medical supplies

HEAL

Medication Shortage

99

Œ

SUPPLY RUN MISSION: NO SUPPLY CHECK!

If the Survivors completed a Supply Run Mission in their last Mission Phase, the Survivors are enjoying living in a land of plenty for a while and don’t experience a supply shortage this Shelter Phase.

NO SHELTER! In the unfortunate case that the Survivors find themselves without a Shelter (they find rest in temporary accommodations), they start every Mission Phase suffering from all three consequences of failing Supply Checks.

2 Shelter Actions

Each Survivor has enough time to perform the following three Shelter Actions, each one describing a special downtime activity.

INTRODUCTION SURVIVORS

‘

If a Supply Check is failed, check how many successes the group was short. That's the number of Survivors who struggle with supplies running low and start the next Mission Phase suffering from the appropriate consequences (who exactly is up to the players). If the Check is passed, everyone is fine (until next time!).

PLAYING THE GAME

During each Shelter Phase, the Survivors experience one supply shortage and must pass a Supply Check to find or fix what has become scarce. Roll on the table on the previous page to find which Action is required by the Supply Check. • A Supply Check is a Prolonged Action requiring a number of successes equal to the number of Survivors in the group. All Survivors contribute to the check, making 1 single roll each and adding up their successes.

Survivors low on supplies are flirting with disaster. All effects last for the entire Mission Phase. • Weakened. Survivors who didn’t get enough food or water suffer from a hindering Condition. • Medication Shortage. Survivors running low on medical supplies only recover 1 single HP with each rest or successful HEAL roll. • Unreliable Gear. Survivors causing Trouble on a roll using a tool or a weapon see their piece of equipment become useless until the next Shelter Phase (it breaks, runs out of ammo, etc.).

Gather Rumors Roll CONTACTS to collect scraps of information and collate it into something useful. On a successful roll, the Survivor receives a piece of news from the GM providing some insight about what is going on (see the next page for more on crafting Rumors).

Make Roll TINKER to build something simple (like a personal item), manufacture Molotov cocktails (if in possession of enough flammable liquid), or to repair a broken item. Used in conjunction with the rules for attacks upon a Shelter, this action is used to repair damage inflicted on the refuge (see page 105).

Study/Train Roll EDUCATION to gain a number of Experience points equal to the number of successes rolled.

RUNNING THE GAME

A Shelter is, among other things, the only supply cache of the Survivors. And supplies don’t last forever. When there is a supply shortage, the Survivors must comb their District for food and water, meds, ammo, or spare parts.

Consequences of Failure

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

1 Supply Check

100

3 Plan Mission At the end of the Shelter Phase, the Survivors gather to discuss their next Mission. Each Survivor may intervene, suggesting what they as a group should do first. One Survivor might choose to verify a Rumor they gathered, while another could think it best to go after an Objective they started to pursue in the previous Mission Phase. The GM should pay particular attention to this stage, as what the players as their Survivors will say generally coincides with what they would like to play. If a Shelter Phase is played at the end of the gaming session, the GM has plenty of time to think about how to answer to the players’ expectations.

RUMORS The world of Zombicide is a familiar place, as it is our world, after all. But a Zombie apocalypse is a big deal, and a shift in priorities has occurred. What was important to know before the End, for example where the best Pizza place in town was, might be less important to know than the whereabouts of an obscure hardware seller that might have escaped the early pillaging.

• The Survivors need to start from scratch and recompose their mental image of the City piece by piece, as if it was a puzzle. And they do this by gathering Rumors. And who provides them with that? You, the GM. As you can see, this allows you to let your players discover the world of Zombicide little by little, at a pace set by you, and based on their expectations and play style. Are they all about finding out what happened to their significant others? Leak a hint about slavers gathering people in the district where their families used to live. Or are they more interested in securing their place in the new world order? Then a rumor about a huge herd of walkers slowly making their way towards their Shelter could pique their interest more. Also, Rumors are like building blocks. They gain significance by accumulation. Something that might not have seemed important at first, like a fire in a faraway district, could gain prominence all of a sudden as you discover that the district is where the City’s nuclear plant is. So, take your time. Don’t show all the cards in your hand at once. Learn the subtle art of foreshadowing, dropping in advanced clues about things that will become more important later, like the name of someone who might become a nemesis for the team of Survivors, or an important ally.

Here's some useful guidelines for creating interesting Rumors: 1 - Rumors must always be vague and compelling. They aren’t precise, cold intel. For example, let the Survivors hear stories about strange lights appearing at night in a district. Don’t tell them of Survivors with an operating power generator. 2 - Rumors should often be enhanced with a personal element. Any story is ten times more engaging if it involves you in one way or another. Should a Survivor care if they hear stories about military planes attacking a hospital? Maybe, if it’s the same place they used to work, alongside many friends. 3 - Rumors take many forms. It can be a story told by a lone, crazy guy, graffiti seen on a subway wall, a message sent on the airwaves at regular intervals, or even an urban legend from before the outbreak. 4 - Finally, Rumors aren’t always true! In fact, you must intersperse the information you pass on to the Survivors with useless fake news. Don’t exaggerate though, or your players will soon stop trusting Rumors or putting any effort into following up on them.

Œ

You would be surprised at what some people find comfortable nowadays. Basements are more in demand than luxury attics. Who wants to climb all those stairs now that elevators don’t work? Sure, Zombies don’t climb them easily, either. Ideally, a Shelter should be large enough to accomodate all the Survivors and their supplies, but not so large to be hardly defensible. A Size rating is provided for each Shelter type. • If you are creating a Shelter for your first game, ask your players where they have decided to hole up together. It is advisable to choose a Shelter site with a Size rating no greater than 3. Choose a site or roll D66. Many locations in the table are not meant to indicate the entire building (for example, a hospital), but only a small section of it.

Roll a D66

Shelter Description

INTRODUCTION SURVIVORS

How do you create interesting Rumors? At first, you don’t have much to work with as the Survivors just entered the game. Study each Survivor’s backstory and prologue, looking for things characterising their past that you can exploit. As the game progresses, what the Survivors live through will provide more and more material for you to capitalize upon.

Description

PLAYING THE GAME

Crafting Rumors

When you need to create a new Shelter, you and your players must cooperate on determining its characteristics. These features are kept track of using the Shelter Sheet. A copy is found on page 170 and a PDF can be downloaded from www.CMON.com. Let’s have a look at a typical Shelter’s features.

Size rating

11-13

Bus, Caravan, Subway Car

1

14-16

Town House (Basement, Attic)

2

21-23

Office, Store

2

24-26

Warehouse, Showroom

3

31-33

Police Station, Post Office

3

34-36

Fast-Food Joint, Bank

3

41-43

Church, Mortuary

4

44-46

Theater, Museum

4

51-53

Hotel, Casino

5

54-56

School, Courthouse

5

61-63

Hospital, City Hall

6

64-66

Shopping Mall, Prison

6

RUNNING THE GAME

As the Survivors gather more and more pieces of news, the more they discover about their role in this brave new world of the dead.

CREATING A SHELTER

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Finally, don’t forget that the game is about the story of the Survivors, not yours. Rumors are a way to engage the players with the game world. So, what they happen to hear must be relevant to their Survivors’ circumstances and Objectives.

101

102 Location This is where the Shelter is located. Look at the map of the City and choose a District. Tell the players what they should know about the area (usually, what is contained in the First Look paragraph of the District’s description). Then, ask your players to give you any additional descriptive information they would like to add. For example, that the Shelter is behind a gas station, under a burnt-out hotel, next to the East Yates Asylum, or on Birch Street.

Name Ask the players to give a name to their crib. Choosing a moniker for a refuge is certainly not fundamental, but to some, it makes it homier. Sample names: the Bunker, the Fort, HQ, Zombicide Central, the Capitol, the Pentagon.

Openings One of the main qualities of a Shelter is its safety. This depends directly on its number of openings (doors and windows). The higher the number, the more difficult it is to protect, but it also means it has more ways to escape if things go south. •  The minimum number of openings of a chosen site is equal to its Size rating. The main opening of a Shelter is always a door. For each remaining opening, roll a die and check the table below.

OPENINGS

Î

Roll a D6

Type

Hit Points

Notes

•••

Door

15

You cannot attack through a closed Door.

•••

Window

5

Up to 2 Survivors can attack through a Window.

103

INTRODUCTION

Record all the openings of your Shelter using the Shelter Sheet. They are going to be useful in case of a Shelter Assault (see page 105).

Assets A Shelter is more than just a refuge. The reason why the Survivors chose to find sanctuary there is that this place has a number of qualities. They're what we call Assets. • The number of Assets of a chosen site is equal to its Size rating.

SURVIVORS

Roll a D66 on the table below to find the Assets of a Shelter. The same Asset can be chosen twice, unless its description says otherwise (in that case, roll again). All Assets and their effects are described below.

SHELTER ASSETS Roll a D66

14-16

Reinforced Opening

21-23

Shooting Point

24-26

Security Alarm

31-33

Easy Access to Supplies (TINKER)

34-36

Workshop

41-43

Garage

Easy Access to Supplies (type) This grants a free Success (1 in total, not 1 per Survivor) during a Supply Check roll of the type shown. Examples: Unspoilt warehouse or shopping mall nearby, vegetable garden, fresh water source.

Reinforced Opening Every time the Shelter receives this Asset, double the HP of 2 windows or 1 door.

44-46

Library

51-53

Easy Access to Supplies (HEAL)

54-56

Reliable Source of Rumors (CONTACTS)

Shooting Point

61-63

Generator

During a Shelter Assault, Survivors can make Ranged Attacks through this place as if it were a Window. Unlike Windows, a Shooting point cannot be attacked by Zombies.

64-66

Secret Exit

RUNNING THE GAME

Easy Access to Supplies (SCAVENGE)

Examples: Reinforced door, grated window.

Examples: Walled window, protected balcony.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

11-13

PLAYING THE GAME

Type

104 Security Alarm

Generator

The Shelter has an alarm system of some sort which prevents the Survivors inside from being surprised. In addition, in case of a Shelter Assault, the Survivors gain a free round. A Shelter can only have 1 Security Alarm.

The Shelter has a power generator and thus can be bathed in electric light at night. If the Shelter is attacked when the sun is down, the Survivors ignore all penalties due to darkness.

Examples: Security cameras, triggered alerting devices.

sensors,

wire-

Reliable Source of Rumors This grants an additional die to all Survivors choosing the Gather Rumors Shelter Action.

Secret Exit There is an alternative way to access the Shelter, a secret one. The Survivors can leave and enter it unnoticed and, if the Zombies break in during a Shelter Assault, they can escape through it with a STUNT Action ignoring the Strength of enemies.

Examples: Observation point, functioning radio.

Examples: Trapdoor to the sewers, makeshift bridge to another building.

Workshop This grants an additional die to all Survivors choosing the Make Shelter Action.

Library This grants an additional die to all Survivors choosing the Study/ Train Shelter Action.

Garage You have a place to house your very own pimpmobile! You don’t use it much to move across town though, as it burns precious fuel, but it’s the safest way to escape in case of disaster, or should you consider moving someplace else.



105

DEFENDING THE SHELTER

INTRODUCTION

One of the reasons why the Survivors must create a Shelter using the rules presented in the previous section is because, sooner or later, they will risk losing it. It’s a Zombie world out there, and the dead can come knocking at their door at any time. Usually, this happens during a Survival Mission when the GM has put the Survivors before a menace threatening to overwhelm them. If the Survivors fail to thwart the menace, they may end up besieged in their Shelter.

SURVIVORS

When this happens, use the following modifications to the regular combat rules.

Shelter Assault The staple of many a Zombie movie, a Shelter Assault sees the Survivors besieged by the dead trying to break in. The Survivors have barred all the openings and are armed and ready.

Z

PLAYING THE GAME

When the Zombies reach the Shelter, they split evenly to crowd all visible openings (doors and windows). • When it is their turn to act, all Zombies by an opening attack it, dealing normal damage. When an opening is reduced to 0 Hit Points, it is destroyed.

Aftermath

If all the besieging Zombies are repelled before they reduce any opening to 0 HP, no problem. The Survivors won the day. If the Zombies manage to destroy an opening, they’ll start swarming inside, starting with the Zombies that were attacking the smashed opening and then followed by the others. • Up to 15 Strength points of Zombies can swarm through a smashed door each round. 5 through a broken window.

Once a Shelter Assault is over, it’s time for a Damage report. • Damaged or destroyed openings can be fixed with the Make Shelter Action during a Shelter Phase. • Additionally, roll 1 die for each Asset of the Shelter. On a Zombie Head, the Asset is destroyed beyond repair. If Zombies were able to enter the Shelter, roll the die twice for each Asset.

Once the Zombies are inside, the fight continues following the usual rules.

If all Assets in a Shelter are destroyed, the refuge is considered doomed and a new one must be found. The same happens if, for any reason, the Survivors left the Shelter to the rampaging Zombies to save their lives.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

They’re coming to get you!

RUNNING THE GAME

Survivors inside the Shelter can attack the Zombies by each window, but not those attacking doors. No more than 2 Survivors can attack through a window during each round.

106 The City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 1. Downtown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 2. Old Town. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 3. Fun Zone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 4. University District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 5. The Heart of the City. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

6. The Slums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Extra: The Undercity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 7. Suburbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 8. Uptown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 9. Industrial Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

#05

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

107

108

THE CITY Where were you when the Zombie invasion began? Of course I remember. We were in the City. We didn’ t know each other yet. We were ordinary people, leading ordinary lives. We were consumers with jobs and bills. Bricks in the wall. We should have seen it coming. We were clever, once. But we didn’t, even if we had all the information we needed. We felt safe in our cities of steel and concrete, and we never thought the things we saw happening around us would actually happen to us.

just a disease. Even before the dead started to rise, we discovered that it's hard to contain an outbreak without radical measures. And when we found the guts to take those radical measures, it was too late. For they had already started to walk the earth…

Well, it turns out the City was probably the worst place to be when the outbreak erupted. Diseases love places with a high density population combined with high levels of poverty. And that’s what it was, in the beginning:

First, we called the cops and the firefighters. Then, the army intervened. They leveled entire neighborhoods with extreme prejudice. Other areas went up in flames by "accident". It was not enough. A quarantine was called on the entire City, and there we were, isolated from the rest of the world. It was up to us. We were alone. We still are. But we’re not afraid. Not anymore.

CITY MAP

CITY MAP SHOWING THE 9 DISTRICTS

The City of Zombicide: Chronicles is an abstraction of many metropolis around the world. The map shown below is meant to be used as-is, disregarding any real world specifics.

1. Downtown 2. Old Town 3. Fun Zone 4. University District 5. Heart of the City 6. The Slums 7. Suburbia 8. Uptown 9. Industrial Park

Survivors can make copies of the map to take notes and keep track of any useful information concerning the City, especially in conjunction with any Rumors they collect during the Shelter Phase (see page 100).

LOCATION THREAT LEVEL

INTRODUCTION

As a default, locations inside a District have the same Threat Level as the general area. If, for any reason, the location’s TL is different, it is indicated in the text as a modifier to the basic TL (like +2 or -1, for example).

THREAT LEVELS TABLE Threat Levels

SURVIVORS

In the course of play, the TL of a District may change, temporarily or permanently, usually as a consequence of the outcome of a Mission, be it positive or negative. Temporary changes are quite common, while permanent ones are rare.

Description

Descriptive Notes

0

I Could Get Used to This (Easy)

If it wasn’t for the fact that no one is around, the area looks almost as it did before the outbreak. Yeah, there’s a few Walkers around, but it’s no big deal.

1

That's Still OK (Normal)

Broken windows, the occasional burnt building. The dead are manageable, apart from the occasional Runner.

2

Come and Get Me! (Medium)

This is becoming adventurous. Come here only when you’ve earned your stripes and found some good gear. Here be Brutes!

3

Not for the Faint of Heart (Hard)

If you enjoy decay, pain, gore, and destruction in general, this is where the fun starts. It has it all, from whole blocks that were incinerated, to big herds of the most grotesque and misshapen Zombies you’ll ever see.

4

Nightmare City. Population: Us. (Very Hard)

A wasteland, crowded with undead monsters. The moaning of the dead is unceasing, broken only by the roaring of Abominations.

PLAYING THE GAME

If you choose to use the map as a starting point for your own real-world adaptation, the first thing you should do is to assign the different district types described in this chapter to existing ones, rearranging the map to fit the one you are trying to model.

Survivors rate each District of the City with a Threat Level (TL) based on the shape the area is in as far as the ruin of civilization is concerned, but also for the type of Zombies that they are more likely to encounter there. For some reason, the most dangerous specimens of aggressive cadavers tend to crowd around the most dilapidated areas. • TLs range from 0 to 4. In game terms, this rating is used in conjunction with the rules for Crossing the City and Zombie Hordes.

RUNNING THE GAME

As you can see from the map, the City is divided into nine Districts. This partition is used by the GM to regulate movement, and by the Survivors to scout the town and keep track of the changes that will occur as gameplay progresses. Blocks may be cleaned up and secured from the dead, others may be quarantined, others can be marked as interesting when news or rumors hint at useful resources to be found.

THREAT LEVEL

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Otherwise, it can be adapted and modified to recreate a fictional metropolis. Finally, you can use it as a template to superimpose on a real place, perhaps even bringing the apocalypse to your own neighborhood.

109

110

Ì

CROSSING THE CITY

East or west, home is best! But to get things done during the Mission Phase, the Survivors must often leave their area and move across town. And this means danger. Navigating the City of the dead is by no means safe. The streets are clogged with ruined vehicles and human remains, fires still burn unchecked. Buildings collapse, and explosions break the grim pall of silence hanging everywhere.

Travel Rolls In game terms, when the Survivors move across town, you must: 1 - Determine the total Threat Level of the traversed Districts, adding up their TL values. 2 - Then, the Survivors must nominate a pathfinder to roll SCOUT. For each success scored, reduce the total Threat Level of the journey by 1 (to a minimum of 1). 3 - Finally, make a number of rolls on the table below equal to the final Threat Level of the journey. Each entry represents a separate incident befalling the Survivors, so resolve multiple incidents one at a time. To resolve each incident, 1 Survivor (players’ choice) must make a roll using an Action of their choice corresponding to the Proficiency indicated in the entry. If there are 4 or 5 Survivors, the roll is made with DL1. If there are 6 or more Survivors, the roll is made with DL2. Apply the corresponding consequence to the rolling Survivor if the roll is a failure.

The consequences of failed rolls are described here in a simple and abstract way to make it easy for the Survivors and the GM to describe what’s actually going on in narrative terms.

TRAVEL EVENT TABLE Roll a D6

Type

Travel roll

Consequences of Failure

•

Fight

COMBAT

Lose 1 Hit Point

•

Delay

PERCEPTION

Gain 1 Stress

•

Accident

ATHLETICS

You’re now Tired (hindering)

•

Encounter

ATTITUDE

You’re now Demoralized (hindering)

•

Risk

SURVIVAL

Lose 1 object you’re carrying

•

Opportunity

BACKGROUND

Nothing. On a success, all Survivors gain 1 XP

District

The presence of Zombies in a location is expressed in a number of possible ways: 1 - As a specific reference. For example, 1 Toxic Abomination and 2 Brutes. 2 - As a Zombie type accompanied by a multiplier, expressing the number of Zombies based on the number of Survivors. For example, Berserker Runners (x2). 3 - Last, as a Horde (see the rules on page 82).

â

Threat Level

Number of Locations

Downtown

TL3

3 Locations

Old Town

TL2

4 Locations

Fun Zone

TL3

5 Locations

Page 123

University District

TL1

2 Locations

Page 130

Heart of the City

TL2

5 Locations

Page 135

The Slums

TL2

3 Locations

Page 144

Undercity (extra)

TL3

2 Locations

Page 149

Suburbia

TL2

3 Locations

Page 152

Uptown

TL1

3 Locations

Page 158

Industrial Park

TL1

4 Locations

Page 164

INTRODUCTION SURVIVORS

Zombies! Zombies Everywhere!

PLAYING THE GAME

Survivors mostly move across the City by foot. Cars and other motorized vehicles are used for emergency escapes, or to move to a new shelter, for a lot of good reasons. First off is fuel consumption. There's not a lot of Go-Juice left. Second, they make a lot of noise. To go somewhere on a car or motorbike is a surefire way to find a welcoming party when you get to your destination. • So, as a rule of thumb, crossing a District on foot requires a number of hours equal to its Threat Level.

An extensive description of the nine Districts of the City starts on the next page. Every District features a Threat Level indicator (1 to 3), a list of suggested Mission types that can easily take place in the area, a First Look paragraph, with an overview of the area and its general mood, and a number of Locations described in detail.

Page

Page 112 Page 117

RUNNING THE GAME

Travel Time

THE DISTRICTS

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Here are some examples. • Risk (SURVIVAL): Reno had to break the steering lock of a car to move it away from a narrow alley the Survivors were traversing (TINKER). Unfortunately, he snapped his Baseball Bat in the process. • Accident (ATHLETICS): To avoid a large herd, the group makes a long detour taking them in and out of the sewers (STUNT) and Shamsa is particularly tired at the end of it. • Encounter (ATTITUDE): Yuka sees two starving survivors fighting over a scrap of food. She tries to separate them (APPEAL), but then one suddenly stabs the other to death. Yuka is demoralized to see how low a person can fall after the outbreak.

111

∞

112

1. DOWNTOWN

Threat Level: 3 Exploration, Seek and Destroy, Survival

FIRST LOOK

The tallest buildings of the city are here, huge towers that still stand, even if most of the windows at ground level are shattered. The roads are wide and full of glass. Some of the toughest firefights must have happened here in the early days of the plague, as the military probably arrived here first in an attempt to secure the area. Roadblocks and ruined vehicles dot the landscape. Here, sounds break the undead silence at all times, be it an alarm from a shattered window or the roaring of a slowburning fire from inside a building. Dead businessmen still dressed up for their morning grind roam mindlessly in and out of buildings.

LOCATIONS The Central Bank The central headquarters is where all the money of the business district was handled in total security. Now, all that cash is nothing but paper useful for... you know what, and gold bars are maybe good for dropping them from a height. But the bank vault could be an impenetrable refuge, and maybe it ’ s even possible to find some weapons down there. The parking lot of the central bank and the surrounding streets are littered with corpses in unnatural poses, riddled with bullet holes or gnawed to the bone. The husks of vehicles of all kinds, including a police cruiser and an army truck, form an inextricable tangle of burnt metal.

Outside

ï

Downtown was the city’ s most important business district. All the big financial companies were managed here from magnificent skyscrapers and opulent offices. They loved to look down on us, those rich bastards...

Closing in on the marble staircase at the entrance, one can tell by the corpses what happened here. First, private security tried to stop the undead. Then the looters came. Then, cops. In the end, much more heavily-equipped soldiers arrived, raining fire and lead on the endless swarms of the dead. Many weapons lie about among the corpses and the ruined vehicles, allowing for a Search (Weapons 3).

Inside Someone here enjoyed rearranging the furniture… The first floor of the bank is a sort of maze, with narrow passages and unexpected dead ends. This is the work of the sole survivor of the place, the Banker (see page 114), who has cleverly found a way to deal with the walking dead and shut off any intruders. Moving across the first floor is possible using only a small number of passages (marked on the map). These passages start at the two entrances and look like they lead into the building. In reality, they only lead to side alleys.

Explosive Traps Anyone who enters the bank through one of the numerous barred windows, or strays far from one of the passages of the maze by climbing over a piece of furniture, or opens any of the doors not already open, risks triggering one of the many explosive devices. If a Survivor is looking for something unusual, roll SPOT to find an explosive trap. Defusing each bomb is a Prolonged Action requiring 3 SECURITY successes. If Trouble is rolled, the bomb explodes.

PLAYING THE GAME

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

113

RUNNING THE GAME

When such an explosive device detonates, it causes a Contained Explosion and whoever sets it off is considered to be in the blast area (see page 74 for the rules on Explosions).

The Tunnels

If the Survivors, in one way or another, manage to make it to the Banker’s rooms in the innermost part of the bank, they can find 2 Molotov Cocktails.

Phil

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

The Banker has set up a network of tunnels right below the ceiling to move along four observation points (marked in green on the map). From there, he can safely follow the movements of any intruders and lob improvised explosive devices on them (see the Banker’s Special Rules).

114 The Financial Square

The Banker He worked in that bank for decades, always fastidiously on time. When everyone died or deserted the place, it fell upon him to organise the defense operations. Luckily, he was a DIY enthusiast and an explosives nut… Usually, the Banker is holed up in the deepest recesses of the bank’s first floor. He leaves only when somebody breaches the perimeter or when he needs to go out to stock up on supplies (exclusively at night).

Every morning and evening, all the brokers working in the district poured into the square in front of the stock exchange building. Now, the place is adorned only with chunks of corpses and several Zombies milling around aimlessly. The doors of the Exchange are barred. Is there someone inside? Clearing the Financial Square of the infesting walking dead would allow the Survivors to approach the Exchange building safely. It’s a Horde (x3) but, if the Survivors make noise (for example using Noisy weapons), they attract more and more Zombies. After 1 round of making noise, the undead crowd becomes a Horde (x4). If the Survivors keep making noise, it becomes a Horde (x5), and so on.

The Exchange

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A large but demoralized group of white collars led by their managers has found shelter within the Exchange, wary of the behavior and armaments of the Survivors. They won’t reveal their presence unless the Survivors eliminate the Zombies in the square, at least for a while... • NPS Group in the Exchange: Size 4, Disposition 3, Morale 2, Leadership 3, Resources 1.

Corporation Tower

Mr President T H E BA N K E R

• Name: The Banker, unassuming clerk • Description: If there wasn’t an apocalypse going on, the Banker would just look a little unkempt for a clerk. He still shaves and wears his tie every day, but his shirt is blood-stained and his glasses have a cracked lens (collateral damage from various explosions) • Motivation: “The Bank is mine! I am finally in charge!” • Gear: DIY tools, 2 explosive devices on him at any time • Enemy Level: Dangerous • Special Rules: Any unauthorized trespasser is met with explosives lobbed from any of the 4 observation posts (marked on the map)

The symbol par excellence of civilized society. Its last floors burned for days in the first week of the plague. Once, it was a beacon of light, projected higher than anything else in this city. Now, it ’ s just a dark tower of cracked glass and bent iron. An empty hive of abandoned offices, meeting rooms, useless computers, and countless stairs. But hey, there has still to be coffee somewhere. Wandering about this extremely tall, 50 stories building is like going through the circles of Hell. Hordes of Zombies prowl its corridors and offices at any given time. The fast elevators of the building do not work anymore and the only way to get to the top floors is by the stairs.

115 From the 21st floor upwards, things are apparently calmer. Here is the highest concentration of corpses of the previous occupants of the tower, employees and tenants who ran up the stairs when the first wave of infected came knocking. As far as Zombies are concerned, only Runners manage to get this far up. Ready to sprint, they stalk the meeting rooms and offices in groups of (x4) or (x5).

Floors -1 to 3 The wide underground parking space and the first few floors are crowded with Brutes whose large size did not allow them to climb the emergency stairs of the tower easily. Spending too much time in this area means fighting against groups of Zombies (one group every 10 minutes) consisting entirely of these chubby cadavers, Brutes (x3).

INTRODUCTION

Floors 21 to 40

SURVIVORS

Going up and down the stairs for multiple floors, even if stopping every now and then to catch one’s breath, requires a successful ENDURE roll. If the Survivors need to take the stairs running, apply (DL1) to the roll. A Survivor who fails the roll is hindered until able to rest.

Survivors may make a Search on floor -1 (Weapons 1, General 1) and on Floor 2 (Any 1). Nothing worthy of notice can be found on the other floors.

PLAYING THE GAME

Prowling those floors is a brave endeavor, for sure, if a little reckless. Any triggered Trouble attracts 1 or more Brutes.

Floors 4 to 20

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The Manager spends most of the day shouting orders at his subordinates. Of course, what emerges from his pustulous throat are just incomprehensible snarls that can be heard several hallways away. He seems to repeat one command in particular over and over, and it sounds like "Fired!".

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Unfortunately, the writing on the wall is not unfounded. The Manager is an Abomination (Grabbing). It is surrounded at all times by a large group of Walkers (x3).

RUNNING THE GAME

Words scrawled with black paint on the stairs leading to Floor 4 read: “STAY AWAY! HERE RULES THE MANAGER”. From this floor upwards, the place crawls with Walkers in groups of (x4) or (x5).

The Survivors may look around the site of the fight with the Manager and conduct a Search (Weapons 1, Any 1).

116 Stairway to the Chopper This colorful helicopter sitting on the top terrace of the Corporation Tower, partially leaning into the void, is a bizarre sight. From ground level, it can be noticed only using binoculars or another sight magnification device. With a roll of SPOT, a Survivor can see that it belonged to a TV network. A successful Search (Any 1) inside and around the helicopter, coupled with a video device of some type, additionally yields recordings of hours and hours of views of the city from above, shot in the days immediately after the outbreak. Watching it grants precious insight on which roads were already blocked by destroyed vehicles. In game terms, for the next 1d6 Mission Phases, all TL3 Districts are considered TL2 for Survivors’ travel rolls (see Crossing the City rules, page 110). Regarding the chances of the helicopter flying again... let’s be realistic. Although it does not seem damaged irreparably, thinking of repairing it and finding the courage to board it to turn it on is probably more irresponsible than brave. But someone will surely try...

Floors 40 to 50 Of the floors over the 40th, those that burned for days, nobody knows anything. Are they deserted? Are there survivors among the shadows and the ashes? Are the undead kept at bay by even more unspeakable horrors?

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The only thing that Survivors can find out by carefully observing the tower from the outside is that on the helipad on the roof, spared by the flames, is a red helicopter...

In that case, repairing the chopper is a Prolonged Action (DL2) requiring 9 TINKER successes. If Trouble happens, the clumsy Survivors working on the chopper cause it to tip dangerously over the edge of the tower! With a grinding sound of bent metal, the helicopter skids and plummets onto the street below in a fireball of destruction, carrying in its husk all the Survivors who fail a STUNT roll (DL1) to jump out. If the Survivors succeed in repairing the helicopter without taking a dive onto the pavement below, it takes a pilot to fly it. An improvised pilot who, for example, has studied how it’s done or has played with chopper simulators might try to take off with it. Never mind that it’s on the top of a tower… Making the helicopter take off, keeping it in the air for a short time, and landing it requires 3 distinct EDUCATION rolls (DL2; more rolls if the flight time is prolonged). Failing even 1 roll probably leads to a nice and loud explosion as the chopper and its passengers fly into a building, lose altitude critically, and crash.

Tourists loved the Old Town. It had it all, historical buildings, museums, and cafes. And above all, the cathedral, with its old cemetery. It was also a busy area due to the traffic going to and from the port. The docks are less-infested with Zombies, and the ones there don’ t like to walk...

A miasma of rotten food and bodies issues from once exclusive restaurants, while Zombies shamble by, holding cameras and long-dead cellphones. On street corners, undead street performers strum their broken guitars with maimed fingers.

LOCATIONS Old Train Station Ah, the old train station! Those beautiful locomotives, the coaches with polished mahogany and briar interiors, and those beautiful songs of the ‘20s playing in the background, attracting tourists like moths to a flame. How sad to see all that splendor ruined by guts and blood... The oldest train station in the city still stands. It has not operated as an actual train station for a couple of centuries already, but it has been kept intact and clean for tourists. There’s even a train museum, built for kids and train model collectors. Unfortunately, the top floor burned in a fire during the first days of the outbreak.

The former members of the cleaning squad, now a group of Runners (x2), still wander the place carrying mops and buckets. They pop up whenever a Survivor causes Trouble or messes up the place in any other way. But hey, one member of the cleaning squad is still alive! His name is Terry. At the end of the day, keeping up with his coworkers is not too bad… as long as he keeps a low profile, not to mention an even lower standard of hygiene, he is safe. Lobby (1) The various blood-spattered entrances of the building lead to a wide hall, dominated by enormous wooden train timetables. Strangely enough, there is nobody here. Well, to be exact, there is absolutely nothing; no bodies, viscera, signs of combat, or blood spurts on the wall. If Survivors pass a SPOT roll, they smell a strong odor of lemon-scented bleach. Maybe that is what’s keeping the Zombies away?

SURVIVORS PLAYING THE GAME

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Antique and picturesque, this district attracted tourists and residents alike for its decadent and romantic look. Now, decadence has become decay, and what was romantic is now grotesque. The small houses that characterize the architecture of the place are quickly falling into disrepair as weeds and climbing vegetation slowly suffocate the broken windows and doors.

Clean & Fresh, a company specialized in large tourist areas, was tasked with keeping the place nice and tidy. Their van is still parked nearby, and its efficient, regularly hired employees still carry on with their job, as scrupulous and professional as always. They have taken up some unusual quirks in the transition from life to... un-death, though.

RUNNING THE GAME

FIRST LOOK

The Cleaning Squad

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Threat Level: 2 Keep Hope Alive, Seek and Destroy, Supply Run

INTRODUCTION

2. OLD TOWN

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Platforms (2)

TERRY • Name: Terry, needy janitor • Description: Terry is alive, young and in somewhat good health. He has coated himself in blood and viscera to trick his hungry excolleagues into believing he is one of them, and helps with the ‘cleaning’ • Motivation: Survive! Better to trust dead friends I know, than people I have never met • Gear: Mops and buckets • Enemy Level: Harmless • Special Rules: As long as he’s coated in blood and rotted remains, and doesn't make any aggressive or noisy moves, Terry is ignored by his former colleagues and by other Zombies

From the lobby, wide passageways lead to the four platforms and the tracks. On platform 3 sits a wonderful example of a 19th century train with two coaches and the old engine. If the Survivors get close to the coaches, they discover that they are jam-packed with Zombies squeezed against each other, their faces pressed against the windows. The doors of the coaches have been barred shut from the outside. Opening the doors of each coach releases a starving Horde (x3). If the Survivors linger in this location, the entire Cleaning Squad (or the remaining members, anyway) will arrive after a few minutes. While the undead try to keep the Survivors occupied, Terry hurries to open the coaches. He opens one at the start of the second round of combat and the other at the start of the fourth.

119 Exhibition Rooms (3)

INTRODUCTION

In these two rooms, accessed by extremely worn steps, there are glass showcases with dozens of model trains on display, from the most ancient to the newest types. Everything is oddly pristine. A small Horde (x2) wanders among the showcases, seemingly enraptured by the models.

Lost and Found (4)

SURVIVORS

The good old times when every station had a lost and found room, right? Up until the apocalypse, there were only display cases with everyday life items from the fashion of two centuries in the past. But now they have been replaced by piles of “modern stuff”. In fact, Terry put all the interesting things he finds on the bodies scattered around here so that they wouldn’t be trampled on or destroyed by his companions. This seems the ideal place to perform a Search (Any 2). As indicated above, Trouble causes the arrival of the Cleaning Squad, or a Horde (x4) if the Cleaning Squad has already been defeated.

Offices (6) The old offices were cordoned off, allowing tourists only to look from the open doors and windows. Mannequins in period clothing are arranged at the various desks, together with typewriters, stacks of paper, and nineteenth century furniture. Not all of the mannequins are… well, mannequins. A number of former staff members posed in re-enactment clothing, and some of them have been turned into Zombies. Now, they stand motionless in the dimly lit corners of the offices and are easily mistaken for mannequins if one doesn’t pay attention. Survivors must pass a SPOT check to avoid being surprised by a small Horde (x1).

The tourist area was that place that every local avoided because it was insanely crowded. Interestingly enough, it was the area that got deserted first when people just stopped coming to the City to visit... The tourist area is an ugly place, full of those identical, uninviting little restaurants, tourist-traps adorned with photos of fake-looking meals at exorbitant prices, surrounded by stalls advertising cheap shows and uninteresting tours.

RUNNING THE GAME

No Zombies are present in this area (as in the Lobby), but Survivors who remain here for more than a few minutes must pass an ENDURE roll to avoid becoming hindered. Opening the lockers requires a roll of SECURITY and will yield 1 item (Any 1).

Tourist Area (TL +1)

Who came here to visit was a living Zombie even before the outbreak. Now, nobody comes here, as it is the haunt of some of the most aggressive critters around, undead tour guides and gift shop vendors: Seeker Walkers (x3)!

Gift Shops If the Survivors deal with the Tourist Area Zombies, they can find something useful ransacking the many gift shops by performing a Search (Any 3).

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

The old waiting rooms have been converted into the museum’s ticket office and wardrobe room, so there may still be something useful in the lockers. However, the smell of bleach is suffocating among the neat rows of wooden chairs!

PLAYING THE GAME

Waiting Rooms (5)

120 The Cathedral and the Park Cemetery (TL -1) The long walks in the cemetery park, the people jogging among the tombstones, the beautiful view of the Cathedral in the background... those times are probably not coming back. The park lies in disrepair, with high weeds and dense undergrowth, and Zombie joggers keep running non-stop and sometimes lose a few pieces here and there. The crypts are scary, but also an exceptional place for hiding from the storm. The worst things are the murders of Zombie-crows perched on the ledges of the Cathedral. It sucks if a crow poops on your clothes, let alone if it tries to eat you alive. The Neo-Gothic Cathedral It is the oldest religious building in the city, although it has burned a couple of times in the last two centuries. Visitors and scholars came from afar to admire the refined basreliefs and stained-glass window. When the outbreak arrived, the church was full of the faithful who participated in a religious ceremony led by the bishop himself. Catholic priests and devotees took too long to bolt the entrance portal and pile wooden kneelers in front of the lower windows. The blasphemous contagion was already among them… And now they’re all still there, all turned into Zombies.

A murder of Crowz (x2) warns the Zombies inside if living humans are coming, attacking when they approach the portal.

Inside the Church The Zombies have been stuck inside the building since the start of the outbreak. A Horde (x4) of pious people usually stay in the nave, a sinister Berserker Horde (x2) of Priests walk all the time along the walls, while the Bishop Abomination (Fast) is hiding in some dark corner. If all Zombies are eliminated, Survivors may make a Search (Any 1) here, but with the first Trouble, they attract Nun Walkers (x1).

The Cemetery Park To enter this disturbing park of the dead, you can walk along the paths that begin near the church or access it directly from the big road on the other side. Navigating the ancient tombs and the vegetation that's growing out of control is a Prolonged Action requiring 3 SCOUT successes. After completing this Action, the Survivors reach the center of the park where a large funeral monument dedicated to the dead of all wars stands. In this area, Survivors can easily notice that an unusual number of corpses of any kind of Zombies are lying everywhere, including an Abomination at the base of the monument. If the Survivors perform a Search here (General 2), they also realize that there isn’t a single bullet casing around... All the Zombies were killed with some kind of blade.

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Day or Night For a human being, the park and the area around the church are curiously much more dangerous during the day than at night. Under the sun, in fact, several groups of jogging Runners (x2) tend to ambush visitors, while isolated Walkers or Brutes can choose that moment to rise unexpectedly from their graves.

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In the western area of the park, the oldest part, there are funerary buildings that give access to a set of underground crypts. Once a destination for history buffs or lovers of the macabre, they are not so bad now as a place to stay safe. The dead here seem to not have been awakened, and it is rare for the Zombies from the outside to end up here. Were it not for the total lack of food and any other comfort, they would make for an ideal, although somewhat depressing, shelter. In the Crypts, all SCAVENGE rolls have (DL2). Conversely, Hordes triggered during a Search there cannot be larger than (x1).

The Ghouls In the Crypts, some survivors have built a protocommunity. Some say they are cannibals. Others that they are breeding rats to eat them. If they are cannibals, they should be avoided altogether. But if they are breeders indeed, maybe the rodents taste good enough... The only sure information is that these independent survivors, called The Ghouls, roam the catacombs and seem to know the place pretty well. You just have to be very careful. Even if food is scarce, you can often smell grilled meat... the question is: whose? • NPS Group The Ghouls: Size 5, Disposition 1, Morale 3, Leadership 1, Resources 1. The Ghouls do not like the “surface dwellers” at all, and attack anyone who enters their territory. They are not very dangerous, and most of the time they only fight to be left alone (their Enemy Level is Harmless or, more rarely, Tough). If the Survivors somehow manage to make peaceful contact, they are brought to the leader of the community, a man going by the name of Vermin.

Sure, neither him nor his people tell much about their feeding habits (whatever they are, really…), but being around them long enough and improving their Disposition to at least 3, the Survivors make a surprising discovery: the Ghouls seem to be utterly ignored by the Zombies. Whether that is because of their deathly stench or the obscure rituals they perform far from prying eyes is still a mystery, but it could be rather helpful for the Survivors.

INTRODUCTION

Now, it seems he has proclaimed himself the Prophet of Death and acts as the spiritual leader of the community, performing grim rituals that involve human skulls and bones.

SURVIVORS

The Crypts

ZOMBIE SLAYER • Name: Zombie Slayer • Description: It’s not easy to get a clear view of the Slayer. She seems to be just a young girl, about 16 years old • Motivation: As long as I’m around, no Zombies will get up at night from their coffin • Gear: A sort of strange Kukri • Enemy Level: Formidable • Special Rules: At the start of each combat round, 1 random Zombie is killed

VERMIN • Name: Vermin, Prophet of Death • Description: A thin, bald, pale guy • Motivation: Ushering in the coming Age of Death and celebrating its triumph with his followers. Oh, and finding a girlfriend • Gear: None (except his ornamental bones, of course...) • Enemy Level: Harmless • Special Rules: Due to his terrible smell, Vermin is never attacked by Zombies, who avoid him in any way

PLAYING THE GAME

Nobody knows who they are. Nobody knows why they do what they do. They don’t talk to anyone. They work alone.

Not much is known about the man called Vermin, the undisputed leader of the Ghouls, who almost worship him like a deity. The only known fact is that he used to work as a tourist guide for the crypts before the outbreak and that most already considered him a crazy old man back then.

RUNNING THE GAME

The Zombie Slayer

Vermin

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

But after sunset, no Zombie dares stick its nose out of its nest... In the darkness, the Zombie Slayer may have begun their hunt.

122 The Docks Before the outbreak, the main attractions of this area were its naive and shabby cafes, along with street artists and buskers. Now, it ’s just full of damned Zombies with rolled-up trousers.

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Where numerous areas of the city have been turned into an undistinguished wasteland, that does not apply to the docks. The hipsters who used to crowd its narrow and picturesque streets in life keep manifesting their creative streak and defy societal customs even if they are not alive anymore.

According to many witnesses, these young Zombies love to “embellish” the neighborhood with grotesque flower compositions, dress more refined, and even hobble in a less barbarous manner. Although still every inch the bloodthirsty monsters the other Zombies are, they are rumored to abstain from eating the flesh of their kills… or they do in secret, perhaps even feeling guilty.

Hipster Zombies These undead creatures hold their differences dear and are known for the unusual practice of not just attacking the living, but also other undead who do not sport checkered flannels, folded-up trousers and bushy beards. Undead Hipsters patrol the streets, also proving they know how to drive their branded bikes, ready to stack any intruders. They are considered groups of Runners (x3).

The Nowhere Café Before the outbreak, this was a small, unlicensed bar on one of the numerous abandoned piers. Few knew where it was and so it did not have many customers. When the epidemic proved unstoppable, a number of regulars found refuge inside it. • NPS Group in the Nowhere Café: Size 3, Disposition 5, Morale 4, Leadership 6, Resources 2. The Nowhere Cafè is a secret oasis of peace and solidarity within a sea of torment and undead flesh. Rumors abound about its community having plenty of food and alcohol, a small herbs cultivation, and generators capable of feeding turntables and computers. Not to mention the chance to meet guys with glorious mustaches and tattooed and pierced gals.

Remember the Sunday afternoons spent having fun at the amusement park, supporting your team at the stadium, or watching the latest Hollywood movie at the multiplex? The hot dog stands, the smell of fried food, people cheering, and couples sharing PDAs everywhere... Now, there is only the stench of death. But hey, the view from the top of the Ferris wheel will always leave you breathless!

The amusement park, the apotheosis of the American dream! The place where everybody gathered to have fun with family and friends, no matter the age or social extraction. Watching a game of the Bats while drinking beer and eating hot dogs, going on a date with your high school sweetheart and eating cotton candy, or taking her to the movies, the amusement park was really the place to be… and now is one of the places NOT to be. Everything is silent, except for the buzzing noises coming out from a few speakers, and the disturbing tune of carousel music still playing from somewhere in the park... And the ever-present moaning of the undead, of course.

The main gate is huge and now duly covered in blood. A massive Horde (x6) blocks the sectors beside the entrance, due to the panic doors that seem to have been barricaded from the outside. Beyond the stairs, on the right and left, are the accesses to the stands.

SURVIVORS

FIRST LOOK

The North Plaza

PLAYING THE GAME

Threat Level: 3 Make Contact, Rescue Run, Seek New Shelter

INTRODUCTION

3. FUN ZONE

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LOCATIONS

Among the most imposing buildings in the city, the stadium was renovated in the 80’s and is now one of the sturdiest buildings, even after the apocalypse. It is structured on numerous floors, from the basement to the VIP boxes for the wealthy and every now and then, one can still find tchotchkes for the local team.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

The stadium was home to the local football team, The Bats, that before the outbreak was quickly climbing every rank. Every time the team played, the matches were attended by so many people that the cheering could be heard several leagues away. Now, you can hear screams alright, but, well, they are "slightly" different...

RUNNING THE GAME

Stadium

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Stands and VIP Boxes The stands are littered with dirt and rot everywhere, filled with corpses and scraps of decomposing food. They are full of Zombies too, though more scattered than those at the entrance. To cross the stands, the Survivors have to face a Horde (x4), which is quickly replaced by another Horde (x4) when defeated. Moreover, at the start of each round of combat in the stands, a Survivor must pass a roll of STUNT to avoid tripping over the seats, suffering a hindering condition until the start of the next round. It's easy to see that it’s not safe to stay here for too long, and Survivors who want to explore the place should either take refuge in the tunnels below the stands at the first opportunity, or try to run away through the pitch (see below).

Tunnels The tunnels lead to restrooms, shops, first aid stations, and the locker rooms. There are Zombies here too, but in smaller numbers than in the stands: Horde (x2) and a Horde is still replaced by another when defeated. They can be avoided with rolls of SNEAK.

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Successfully looting the pro shops with a Search yields 1 Item (Any 1).

First Aid The stadium had three first aid stations, accessed by the ramps on the northwest, northeast and southeast. To get there, of course, one must cross the sea of Zombies and filth, only to realize that two of them were clearly looted long ago. The southeast station was miraculously spared, allowing the Survivors to conduct a Search (Health 1) there.

Locker Rooms The locker rooms on the first floor can be reached in two ways: through the tunnels (but a successful roll of SECURITY is needed to open the doors of the reserved area), or using the entrance from the pitch, at the cost of drawing the attention from the Zombie players (see The Pitch, below). Getting there may be worth the risk, though. In the locker rooms, the Survivors will find 1 Sports Protective Gear each (no rolls needed). However, as soon as they grab the gear, Seeker Walkers (x3) break through the locker room and force the Survivors to fight them, or to flee through the only remaining way out: the pitch.

The Pitch It just so happens that during the outbreak, an important match was being played by the local team. The infection spread so quickly that many players turned into Zombies before they could even leave the pitch.

On the pitch are Berserker Brutes (x3) and Runners (x4) that will try to tackle and dismember anyone who tries to get past them. All these Zombies have double the normal Hit Points, thanks to their protective gear. To flee to the main gates, Survivors have to defeat them, or pass a STUNT roll (DL1, since those cornerbacks are still damn fast). However, there’s nothing more exciting than to reach the last yard of the pitch under the eyes of the crowd (even if it’s a Zombie-crowd). Any Survivor who manages to get past the player-Zombies successfully using STUNT will gain an Adrenaline Boost. AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!

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INTRODUCTION SURVIVORS

There are four pro shops inside the stadium, one on each corner of the building, plus twice as many shops selling merchandise and snacks. There is little left now. Most of the goods have been looted and, in fact, one can still see many Zombies rocking their team’s colors… with an extra serving of blood and guts.

PLAYING THE GAME

Shops

Should anything go sideways for the Survivors during their exploration, the pitch is the fastest way to get out of the stadium, but the Zombie players won’t make that easy for them.

RUNNING THE GAME

The restrooms are usually off limits after the first half hour of a Sunday game, let alone after the outbreak. Burps, gurgles, and foul smells come from the restrooms where some groups of Toxic Brutes (x3) lie in wait for their next snack. So, no matter what, DO NOT GO TO THE BATHROOM!

Still wearing their football gear, these Zombies roam the field no longer looking to catch the ball, but living prey to devour.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Restrooms

126 Theme Park Here, I had my first date. I had it planned for days. I took her to the haunted house first, where she spent all her time hugging me because of the scares. Then, I gave her a huge stuffed animal that I won at the shooting gallery (I dropped $60 to the kiosk owner to let me win the damn thing). And finally, I took her on the Ferris wheel and we kissed on the top... Such good memories. Who knows what happened to her? I wonder if she would still like this place...

At the center of the park stands an immense Ferris wheel, currently powered down. The park is divided in four main areas.

Southwest This was the area for families, with trampolines, Wacky Worm Coasters, fast food stands, and resting areas. Now, there is nothing scarier than this place. Entire families turned into Zombies, undead children crumpling on the trampolines, and the disturbing carousel music still playing from somewhere have turned this once happy place into a hellish landscape.

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The theme park is one of the most dangerous and yet safest places in the city. The danger is rather obvious: Zombies everywhere. However, that is also where the “safe” part of the deal comes into play. Zombies have a hard time entering the rides because of staircases, chains, and all sorts of safety barriers. So, being there is a mixed blessing.

Crossing this area requires a roll of COOL to avoid becoming demoralized (a hindering condition) until leaving. Moreover, Survivors must face a Horde (x5) every 10 minutes or so while exploring this place.

Northwest This is the most traditional portion of the park, with many classic attractions like the mirror maze and the haunted house. These places could even make for good safe houses, if you know all exits and escape routes. Or, they could be a death trap if you don’t. Being trapped inside a labyrinth while hunted by Zombies is almost the worst nightmare you could have. Not that the outside is much better, since Hordes (x4) wander the area and will be quickly replaced by other Hordes when defeated. If the Survivors are chased by Zombies and decide to take refuge inside the mirror maze, navigating it is a Prolonged Action requiring 3 EVALUATE successes. Completing the Action means getting out of the maze (and escaping the Zombies). But Trouble on any of the rolls causes the Survivor to be reached by Runners (x2) while inside the attraction. Moreover, the tight spaces and the confusing mirrors cause a hindering condition for all Survivors. Seeking shelter inside the haunted house could be another option, but there are still a couple of groups of Brutes (x2) inside, hidden among the unnerving animatronics. A roll of SPOT is required to avoid being surprised by them. But once they are eliminated, the Survivors will have a safe place at their disposal that should not receive many “visits” from both the living and the dead. Could come in handy in the future.

A

This cinema was undoubtedly the most impressive in the city. More than a dozen theaters showing anything from the great classics to the most anticipated blockbusters! Now, the only thing you can do here is experience a 4D splatter movie starring yourself. At least the popcorn machine still works, so you can always crunch some while shooting Zombies.

!

The multiplex was the gathering spot for families and the local youth, and also featured a fast food stand, a comic shop, and an arcade. The lobby is now a battlefield, with tens of bodies lying on the ground and at least twice as many wandering and groaning among them. However, a small group of survivors seem to have managed to barricade themselves inside the building. They could be reached, if one managed to get past the Horde (x5) stationed in front of the cinema…

SURVIVORS

Multiplex

INTRODUCTION

127

Even defeating the Horde, Survivors should be careful when walking among the corpses on the ground. There are some immobile groups of Crawlers (x2), virtually indistinguishable from the truly dead bodies. They will suddenly grasp the leg of a passerby, requiring them to pass a STUNT roll in order to stay on their feet. In case of failure, the Survivor suffers 1 Wound and, you know, a rather vivid experience of a Zombie movie.

Northeast

The Atrium

This is the modern section of the theme park, with the arcades and everything VR. Moving around here is somewhat easier than expected as many Zombies are stuck within the arcades or are still wearing VR headsets so cannot see all that well. On top of that, any techhead might find good bits for computers, communication devices, and the like.

Entering the cinema requires a SECURITY roll (DL2). Right after the barred doors of the main entrance, there are the two wide crescent-shaped atriums with all the fast food stands. The survivors now living inside the multiplex plundered all the food they could get, and even managed to restore power to the cold storage rooms to freeze everything that is perishable. At the far end of the atrium is the main ticket office. Inside, one of the survivors is present at all times standing guard.

The Halls Beyond the ticket office is the entrance of the lower halls. Upstairs, the upper ones. The multiplex is now the shelter of a group of survivors who have been doing pretty well so far. • NPS Group in the Multiplex: Size 2, Disposition 4, Morale 3, Leadership 4, Resources 2.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

But beware! Any Trouble in this area triggers the arrival of the Candyman, a Toxic Brute (+2 HP, Impervious) completely covered in caramel and body parts, followed by his smaller Walker customers (x3). Maybe he was the owner of the old food truck stationed nearby selling cotton candy and sweets, or maybe he actually is a number of Zombies held together somehow. Whatever the truth, if you wander the theme park and smell that sweet, sweet caramel... RUN!

RUNNING THE GAME

This is the area dedicated to the adrenaline junkies, with all sorts of extreme rides. They have stopped working a long time ago, save for the Eco Roller Coaster, the pride of the theme park, that is powered by batteries that recharge with a giant wheel generator… and that is still full of Zombies. It’s impossible to describe how macabre the sight of shuttles full of Zombies trudging onwards as the occasional body part falls off due to centrifugal force.

PLAYING THE GAME

Southeast

128 The small community has lived in the cinema ever since the outbreak. After they secured all the entrances and emergency exits, they used an emergency generator to power the cold storage rooms for the fast food. Night raids through the roof allow them to collect gasoline from the parked cars in order to power the generator, as well as other useful stuff from the surroundings. Under the guidance of Frank and his vast cinema lore, this group has attained some form of balance.

Frank, the ticket guy Frank has worked at the cinema for many years after losing his job in a restaurant in the city center. Being a lover of the silver screen, his new job was not that bad and the pay was not too shabby, either!

I

Frank was the first to realize something was wrong. Tommy, his coworker, bit three fingers off of a customer and all of a sudden, hordes of spectators had begun screaming inside the theaters. That’s how every Zombie movie starts, he thought... So he grabbed a fire axe, and after an old fashioned killing spree, he secured the cinema and gathered the remaining survivors.

b

The Beach (TL -1)

FR AN K • Name: Frank, the ticket guy • Description: A elderly gentleman with a moustache worthy of a character in a 19th century movie • Motivation: Survive until the helicopter comes to the rescue. Because there’s always a helicopter at the end of a Zombie movie, right? • Gear: Fire Axe • Enemy Level: Tough • Special Rules: -

One of the reasons I loved this city so much was the beach. You could go there and swim, surf, tan, or just meet new people. Now, instead of a beach, it looks like a dump, full of bodybuilding Zombies in Speedos trying to eat your face... The beach was the pride of the city. More than ten miles long, it was a bustling place with dozens of restaurants, shops, and food trucks on the shoreline road. In addition to the iconic watch towers, there were numerous openair gyms where fitness aficionados could work out all day long, in addition to a skatepark and a surf house. Now, the beach lies in utter neglect, with heaps of seaweed, plastic debris, and boat wrecks scattered everywhere. The first Zombie sighted here during the outbreak was one of the athletes in the gyms. Nobody precisely knows what happened, but it seems that this 6.5ft colossus came in with a torn cheek, glassy-eyed and foaming at the mouth. He jumped some of his workout buddies and then attacked the rest of the beach. Needless to say, it was a massacre.

The Boatville

During the outbreak, some people sought refuge in the sea. These were mainly lifeguards, anglers returning from their fishing trips, and other civilians who owned a boat and fled. And so it was that, by chance, the Boatville was born, a community of survivors capable of finding food, moving rapidly from place to place, and even of settling down in a safe place by mooring offshore and connecting their boats together. We haven't seen a Zombie swimming so far, right? Its leader is fisherman John, who owns a fishing boat and feeds the community daily. • NPS Group in the Boatville: Size 3, Disposition 4, Morale 3, Leadership 3, Resources 2.

#

INTRODUCTION SURVIVORS

• Name: John, the fisherman • Description: An old sea dog, not very friendly, who always seems to know what he’s doing • Motivation: Set sail for a safe island somewhere. If there’s one at all… • Gear: Kukri • Enemy Level: Tough • Special Rules: -

PLAYING THE GAME

}

If the Survivors manage to avoid the Abomination and the Zombie hordes roaming the beach, they could certainly find something useful among the debris washed ashore. Performing a Search will yield some Items (Any 3), but the rolls are made with a (DL1) due to the fact that most of the objects are junk, or almost completely buried in the sand.

JOHN

RUNNING THE GAME

This ripped Abomination is still around, surrounded at all times by a Horde (x3) that is replaced by another Horde (x3) if defeated, unless the Abomination itself is destroyed.

129

John has found out something so terrible that he has not had the heart to tell the others yet. Among the day’s catch, he found a sickly green fish, some of its belly missing and stinking like rot. Yup, you got it right. It was still twitching and attempting to eat the rest of the school. A Zombie fish…

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

John, the Fisherman

130

T IC R T IS D Y IT S R E IV N U . 4

Threat Level: 1 Obtain Information/Item, Keep Hope Alive, Seek New Shelter

FIRST LOOK The university district is a mosaic of modern buildings and older construction and includes the main campus, laboratories, a medicine department, and a hospital. The campus is a small town by itself, accomodating dorms, libraries, lecture halls, and an auditorium. Such a wide space has helped mitigate the effects of the outbreak, if compared to other, more crowded places like the nearby med school hospital, for example. But still, the lively buzz of students hurrying down the university’s walkways has now turned into the wail of the dead. One never knows from what nook or cranny an undead professor might spring up...

LOCATIONS The Hospital (TL +2)

b

The hospital was the pride of the campus. It employed cutting edge machinery and advanced treatment methods. It was here that the first confirmed Zombie in the city was spotted and the outbreak flared. Some say that an experimental cure was under development in some departments of this very hospital. Unfortunately, the results of this final, desperate attempt are quite obvious...

E

Ah, the university. Its imposing buildings, the study halls, the library, the football fields, the dormitories ... how many memories! But now, everything is devastated! Oh well. There could be many resources in the chemistry, physics, and medicine wing labs. The problem is: if today’s students are all childish smartasses, just think about how troublesome Zombie students in hormonal crisis can be!

The med school hospital is where everything began. It all started when Patient Zero “woke up” in the emergency room minutes after his mysterious death and began to attack anyone in sight, biting and tearing all flesh to shreds. Soon, the hospital fell into chaos, and with it, the whole city. Now, just as in the early hours of the outbreak, the hospital is one of the most dangerous places of the city. The corridors and rooms are literally overflowing with Zombies of the deadliest kinds, and the hospital can be a deadly maze for those who can’t find their way around. So, why the hell should one go in there? For starters, because this is the only place left in town where one can find big stocks of medicines and medical equipment that haven’t been already looted several times. On top of that, the hospital stored food, emergency generators, and all sorts of useful gear in case of the apocalypse. So maybe it’s worth a shot… Just remember to wear gloves and masks.

Main Entrance (1) The lobby can be recognized by its wide glass walls and a large, white receptionist desk. Everything is white. The floor, the walls, and staircases, even the leather couches. Or, at least, they were. Now, blood and organic matter have taken over in grim patterns. There are broken glasses and papers everywhere on the ground, and the sliding doors of the entrance are torn and partially open. At all times, a Horde (x5) can be encountered here.

SURVIVORS

The ER is among the most dangerous areas of the hospital, being populated by a Horde (x5). This nightmarish place is possibly even more gory than the rest of the hospital, with dried blood and body parts almost everywhere, including the ceiling. As if it wasn’t enough, Patient Zero himself still wanders these halls, an Abomination (+2 HP, Impervious) mutated beyond recognition. Running away from this hell-on-earth of a place would be the wisest thing to do, but defeating Patient Zero and taking a blood sample could lead to some interesting discoveries, if one could analyze it.

PLAYING THE GAME

On the first floor is the emergency room, the morgue, the cafeteria, a small supermarket, and the chapel. Starting from the second floor, the many wards can be reached following the information panels. A Horde (x4) is always present on each floor, and must be either eliminated or avoided with a SNEAK roll. However, a new Horde (x4) will be encountered shortly after the first (regardless of whether it is defeated or avoided), so the Survivors must hurry to do whatever they need to do.

Emergency Room (3)

RUNNING THE GAME

The heart of the hospital, the tower is the center of all the paths to the other wards. In a maze of fire doors, staircases, and corridors heading in every direction (from the cafeteria to the roof), the tower is three stories tall. Every floor has a detailed map and colorcoded pathways to its numerous wards.

The staircases lead to the roof and the (empty) helipad, which are safe spots (if the Survivors don’t let the Zombies follow them up here…). A successful Search performed in any of the storerooms of the hospital will yield some items (Health 3).

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Tower Block (2)

INTRODUCTION

131

132

Operating Rooms (4)

The Campus (TL +1)

There are many technologically advanced operating rooms in the structure, equipped with the latest surgery tech, but very few of them are still functional. They are well stocked with meds, painkillers, scalpels, and other surgical supplies. No Search is needed. The Survivors just have to get in and grab everything they need (in the next Shelter Phase, they can skip Supply Check rolls).

The campus of the university was the symbol of youth and freedom, and a place of culture and learning for the upper class of the future generation. Most of this youth is now a walking corpse, dragging itself along the campus boulevards looking for “freshmeat”, literally.

Moreover, if they find an operating room in good condition, Survivors could use it to perform surgical treatment that would be much riskier (or even impossible) elsewhere.

Infectious Diseases (5) The department of infectious diseases of the hospital is situated on the third floor. Apart from containing Toxic Hordes (x5), its only relevance for the Survivors is that the data related to the experimental treatment have to be somewhere inside this department. A Search is needed to find them (DL2). It’s up to the GM to rule whether or not these data are of any use for the Survivors.

The campus includes the lecture halls, a library, the labs, and the dormitories. Most of these buildings are now abandoned and covered with climbing vegetation, with groups of Zombie students and professors roaming aimlessly around an otherwise quiet and peaceful place.

Dormitories This is where the frat parties were held. The dormitories consist of several identical buildings with brick facades, three stories tall and with the same floor plan as the others. The common area is on the first floor while the others are dedicated to the rooms.

A Horde (x3) can be found inside each dorm and Hordes of the same size wander the outside alleys. The dorms contain little things the Survivors would find useful, and a successful Search inside each of them will yield no more than 1 Item (General 1). However, not all is lost. One of these buildings is the shelter of some surviving students, the members of the Zeta Omega Mu fraternity. Using good teamwork and their knowledge of the campus, they managed to survive and stay hidden, scavenging whatever they can from the other buildings.

However, this is not the end of the tale. The students of the Zeta Omega Mu fraternity (see above) claim they saw a human in the labs, dressed in a tight lab coat, with white trousers tucked into tall, black leather boots, a gas mask, and wearing long, black rubber gloves. Apparently, the Zombies ignore him, and indeed, they almost seem to follow his orders… Whatever the truth, it is undeniable that every night, a faint light can be seen in the windows of the chemistry lab...

SURVIVORS

The Zeta Omega Mu Fraternity: Size 2, Disposition 4, Morale 3, Leadership 4, Resources 1.

INTRODUCTION

133

This group also knows about the expedition of professor Cronauer and his students to the Household Store (see Heart of the City, page 138), and may give directions to the Survivors.

The Labs

Performing a Search in the labs will not yield items or weapons, but will let the Survivors find the basic chemical compounds and reagents needed for a variety of applications, from bombs to batteries.

Ä

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

The chemistry labs, in particular, have enough supplies to make improvised bombs and other useful compounds, but they are also teeming with Toxic Hordes (x4) of Zombies that, quite remarkably, glow in the dark. It is unclear why exactly these Zombies have this peculiar feature, but it may have something to do with the broken x-ray equipment leaking radiation from the main lab...

RUNNING THE GAME

PLAYING THE GAME

There are multiple labs equipped with advanced machinery within the campus where students from all over the world worked to earn their PHDs in chemistry, medicine, and the like.

134 Library The university library was erected in the nineteenth century and contains books about all branches of human knowledge, along with some very old and invaluable tomes that made it one of the cultural poles of the country. It remained relatively untouched by the devastation of the outbreak and is now populated by fewer Zombies than the rest of the campus. The library is a large building built on two floors. At the main entrance, a wide atrium with an oval-shaped desk welcomes all newcomers. Beyond it is the actual library, with a double-height ceiling, endless rows of large shelves, and large mahogany tables for readers in the center. Various staircases with beaten iron handrails lead to a mezzanine where smaller shelves contain the most precious volumes.

| Though less dangerous than the rest of campus, even the library hides its hazards. A Horde (x3) lurks among the shelves, very likely to catch unwary visitors by surprise unless a successful SPOT check is made. Once eliminated, it is possible to find any desired volume simply by using the library lists, without having to perform any Search. The library could even become a suitable shelter for the Survivors, since it is a safer location than many other places in the city. Surely there is no shortage of material to fight boredom, especially if you’re the “bookworm” kind of person.

The throbbing heart of the city, defined by many pubs and shops, now teeming with the undead. Due to its central position, it is connected to many districts of the city. Wide avenues lead to Uptown, while the narrow streets of the Ethnic neighbourhood connect it to Oldtown and to the Fun Zone. To the south, its buildings give way to the decrepit houses of Suburbia. And to the north, a bridge leads to Downtown.

In the eastern half is the famous asian supermarket that sells any kind of far east food, and hosts numerous restaurants and gift shops, while the western side is dominated by an immense electronics mall, open for business since the Forties.

#

The local nightlife quickly adapted to the great influx of people, and soon in both halves rose dozens of pubs and clubs serving beer, cocktails, and a few traditional dishes to all kinds of patrons.

In its eighty years of activity, this establishment started as a small gathering of hawkers and peddlers from the four corners of Asia, grew into a shop for Eastern foodstuffs and trinkets, and then became a full-blown modern mall.

SURVIVORS

Before the outbreak, this supermarket sold many exotic products and oriental household appliances. Strolling down the streets, one could still smell the strong aroma of spices, now mixed with the rancid stink of rotten food. There could be some unspoiled meat stored on some shelf, or maybe that katana displayed in the Japanese shop is a real one...

PLAYING THE GAME

The district used to be crowded at every time of the day or night. Smells of any kind lingered in the air, from the food trucks parked at the edge of the roads to the ethnic restaurants dotting the main street, splitting the district evenly in half east to west.

Asian supermarket

The Pagoda After the outbreak of the epidemic, the building became one of the most famous symbols of the resistance, today simply called The Pagoda for its once-famous sushi bar. There, one can find food, drinks, weapons, and much, much more. Helped by the building’s single main entrance, it is easily defended by the fearsome group of NPS hunkered down inside.

RUNNING THE GAME

FIRST LOOK

LOCATIONS

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Threat Level: 2 Make Contact, Secure Area, Supply Run

INTRODUCTION

5. THE HEART OF THE CITY

135

136 The Akashio The undisputed leader of this small stronghold is Ray Kobayashi, once the manager of the sushi bar on the second floor. The members of this community strive to save as many lives as possible while taking every chance they get to kill Zombies. That's the reason why their recon group is called Akashio, the red tide. Every time they sortie (which is quite often), they leave behind piles and piles of Zombie corpses! To be allowed inside the Pagoda, it is necessary to make contact with the NPS holding the building and gain the trust of their leader Kobayashi. • NPS Group Akashio: Size 5, Disposition 2, Morale 5, Leadership 4, Resources 5.

Should the Disposition rank of the group ever reach 3, the Survivors are allowed inside for enough time to do what they have to. If the Disposition rank reaches 4 or more, the Survivors can stay longer in the Pagoda, wander around, and discuss Zombies and sushi with Kobayashi. Befriending Ray Kobayashi gains the Survivors a precious ally. If the Survivors manage to increase the Disposition of the group to 5, Ray invites those Survivors who seem worthy to join the Akashio. If they accept, after a brief initiation ceremony, they receive a weapon of their choice between a Katana and a Kukri. From there on, they are considered trusted allies of the Pagoda.

Ray Kobayashi

RAY KOBAYASHI • Name: Ray Kobayashi, sushi chef • Description: Small, stocky, and very ugly. Perhaps that is also why he is so feared • Motivation: Saving lives • Gear: Countless Sushi Knives • Enemy Level: Dangerous • Special Rules: At the start of each combat round, he throws a knife, which hits a random Survivor with a Strength 3 Attack.

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Ray is a charismatic second generation JapaneseAmerican sushi master. His gaze is as sharp as the knives he uses to slice both fish for his legendary sashimi and Zombies.

PLAYING THE GAME

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

137

First Floor: China The first floor was once a supermarket offering a wide variety of foods from China. Luckily, most of its products have not soured yet and some will not for a long time still. It also specialized in tea and sold numerous varieties as well as tea-related accessories like teapots and ceramic cups. Only If the group’s Disposition is 4 or more, Survivors are offered unusual amounts and varieties of exotic foods. During the next Shelter Phase, each Survivor will not have to make any SCAVENGE roll (Check Resources step).

Lucky Balls A SPOT (DL2) roll allows a Survivor to notice a small box among the worthless stuff. It contains two brightly colored enamelled Stress Relief Balls of unknown origin. The Survivor must roll EDUCATION. If they fail, the Survivor believes the balls are lucky! Once per game session, when the Survivor fails a roll, they can decide to roll again and keep the new result. If the second shot is again a failure or causes Trouble, the Survivor is convinced that the balls have lost their power and throws them away. Bye bye, lucky balls.

RUNNING THE GAME

If admitted into the building, the Pagoda looks like the world has never collapsed and the mall was just about to open its doors to the crowds. The mall extends over three floors. The first floor is dedicated to China, the second to Thailand, and the third to Japan.

In the far right corner is a small area dedicated to trinkets for tourists, such as all kinds of vases, jade statuettes (are they, though?), dragon heads, fake Chinese sabres, and a smattering of other frivolous bits.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Enter the Pagoda

138 Second Floor: Thailand

5

The second floor, more than food, is dedicated to Thai art. Statues and icons of the Buddha are everywhere, and a large, 30 feet long reproduction of the Reclining Buddha of Bangkok dominates the center of the floor.

The place features numerous massage parlors specializing in all kinds of treatments, from foot massage to the full body Thai variety. They're the perfect place to unwind after a hard day.

How to get a Katana If the group’s Disposition is 4 or more, a Survivor might obtain a real Katana (not a cheap replica). They must speak directly with Ray Kobayashi and pass a CONVINCE roll. Alternatively, a Survivor could try to ‘borrow’ one from the storerooms in the back, rolling SNEAK (DL2). If Trouble happens, all the Survivors are immediately banished from the building.

The Household Store

Well-liked guests (Disposition 4+) have access to one of the still-running massage centers, spending time in a clean and cozy spa is something incredibly pleasant and yet utterly surreal for sure. A Survivor enjoying the treatment benefits from a Prolonged Rest. The total number of Survivors that are allowed to enjoy the massage depends on the Disposition of the group: 1 Survivor (Disposition 4), 2 Survivors (Disposition 5), and 3 Survivors (Disposition 6).

TVs and computers are no longer essential

Third Floor: Japan

HS was the largest place to buy household appliances and electronics in the city. From young couples making their wedding list, the elderly looking for a hoover robot, to millennials queuing up for the latest smartphone model, HS was the place to be when it came to electronics.

Once on the third floor, Japan’s, one can understand why in the past it was a major attraction. In addition to every kind of packaged food and instant ramen, there are numerous fluorescent snacks, gadgets of all kinds from Japan, manga shops, and even a sushi bar called the Pagoda. Much like the first floor, in the corner opposite to the sushi bar is an area dedicated to traditional Japanese merchandise like katanas, Kimono sets, and tea accessories.

PROFESSOR CRONAUER • Name: Professor Cronauer • Description: He dresses eccentrically, or maybe in the way of someone who thinks of something else when he puts clothes on. He often mumbles, as if he never agrees with himself

in a new world where your primary concerns are more basic. Even assuming that the

internet infrastructure is mostly intact, there is almost no access to the exchange of

information.

Other

appliances

could

still be useful, as long as they do not need electricity, of course.

This enormous store is divided into multiple floors, each dedicated to specific kinds of products, from televisions on the first floor to electric scooters and other non-polluting means of locomotion to the top one. When the outbreak began, some Zombies managed to breach into the store during the first hours and caused mayhem. Up to the present day, the store is considered off limits. The Zombies inside are almost endless, and the dark corners and panic door choke points make for deadly traps. However, should the building be cleared of the undead, it would yield a great amount of useful resources and electronic components.

• Motivation: Freeing HS from the Zombies and establishing radio contact with the outside

Entering the Store

world to call for help. Somebody is bound to

Entering the Household Store from the main entrance is foolish. The first floor is still teeming with Zombies and larger and larger hordes attack any intruders. It starts as a Horde (x1), then it becomes a Horde (x2), then (x3) and so on.

come and save them, right? • Gear: • Enemy Level: Harmless • Special Rules: -

139

They are more than happy to see an armed team wandering the area. They try to make contact with the Survivors as soon as possible, as they could be of great help. • NPS Group of Students: Size 4, Disposition 5, Morale 4, Leadership 2, Resources 3. The group is led by Professor Cronauer who once taught telecommunications at the university and now has created a temporary shelter in a dismal apartment overlooking the HS. During weeks of careful exploring and constant observing, the NPS have filled dozens of pages with data on the movement of the undead, blueprints, likelihood of fighting per floor, etc.

The Professor’s Papers Professor Cronauer jealously guards his notes. To consult them, a Survivor must pass a CONVINCE roll (DL1). Alternatively, they might try to steal them with a SNEAK (DL2) roll. On a success, the Survivors gain access to the dossier. Cronauer’s notes let the Survivors forfeit the SNEAK roll required when making a Search Action inside the store.

INTRODUCTION

Attacking the Household Store! The attack begins right after sundown. If the Survivors choose to give minor support, the NPS (including professor Cronauer) will be wiped out by the Zombies. However, in their suicidal attack, they take out enough undead to negate the necessity of rolling SNEAK during Search Actions inside the store. In addition, if the Survivors enter from the main access, they have to face only a single Horde (x4). If, instead, they choose to lead the attack, the Survivors must face three Hordes (x4, x5, and x6, one after the other). Once inside, a Horde (x5) must be taken out to secure the first floor. A Horde (x6) waits on the second floor and then another on the third floor. If the Survivors decide to push to the fourth floor, the situation grows dire. Attracted by the sounds of battle, a large mob of Zombies is drawn into the store and attacks the rearguard of the students, who now risk slaughter. The Survivors must face a Horde (x6), unable to fall back to the lower floors unless they come up with some risky stratagem. In addition, for any Trouble caused by the Survivors, part of Professor Cronauer’s group is killed. With the first Trouble, the students suffer heavy losses, up to half their numbers. With the second Trouble, all students fall, one after the other, overwhelmed by the Zombies from the lower floors. Cronauer is the only survivor. With the third Trouble, even the professor is devoured... Should the Survivors make it through this gruelling fight, the building is cleared. For how long, though?

SURVIVORS

A number of university students, mostly from IT and electronics, and members of the local ham-radio club have put their eyes on the store. They dream of wiping out the Zombie threat and salvaging whatever they can to put together a high-frequency radio station to communicate over long distances.

The Survivors can refuse the proposition and be banished from the area, accept the offer and give minor support (weapons, ammunition, and tactical advice), or actively guide the attack as the students and the professor watch their backs.

PLAYING THE GAME

Professor Cronauer

X

The professor intends to free the entire building from the undead with the help of the Survivors! Cronauer and his enthusiastic students will try to convince the Survivors to attack the store.

RUNNING THE GAME

In this case, the Survivors must only pass a SECURITY roll and face a single group of Walkers (x3). Once inside, it is possible to Search (General 3, Any 1), although every character taking part in it must first pass a SNEAK roll to avoid attracting a Horde (x3).

Cronauer’s Plan

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

A better option is to find one of the numerous secondary accesses reserved for the staff (thanks to a SCOUT roll).

140

Main Street (TL +1)

Zombie Collection

This street cuts across the whole district, but is chock-full of the undead. Trying to pass through without a way to divert the attention of the Zombies is stuff for the insane. The side streets are more viable, if you know how to crowdsurf.

±

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Main street cuts the heart of the city cleanly in half. It was there that the youth gathered on Saturday evenings around the best restaurants in town, the tourist traps and, of course, all the largest fashion stores.

Well, what once was one of the key junctions in the city now has turned into a warzone roamed by an endless amount of purulent Zombies. Well-dressed, although putrescent, ladies drag themselves up and down the main street, some still clutching a ruined leash with bits of flesh and tufts of hair dangling from one side. Large tourists in flower shirts and sandals have turned into horrid Brutes, while groups of Zombies in baggy clothes and earphones gather with others, with baseball caps and folded-up pants, in front of the most famous stores in a macabre imitation of the consumeristic rituals of the living.

Ahmed and his Family Survivors could have better luck in exploring the smaller stores and shops in the narrower and less crowded side alleys with a SNEAK roll to avoid attracting the hordes from the main street. Inside the shops, it is possible to take Search (Any 1) normally. At worst, if Trouble happens, the occasional Walker will appear. It is in one of these small stores that Ahmed and his family have found shelter.

Ahmed is the owner of one of the 24/7 grocery stores in a rundown building behind a large fashion store on Main Street. His family (his wife Randi and their three children), lives on the second floor, although the rest of the building is uninhabited. • NPS Group of Ahmed’s Family: Size 1, Disposition 2, Morale 3, Leadership 2, Resources 2. Ahmed doesn’t trust anyone. After the outbreak, his shop has been the target of many desperate survivors who have invariably tasted not food, but hot shotgun lead. It could be the same meal for our Survivors if they have no patience and don’t build a relationship. Ahmed emigrated here with his wife a decade ago and even before the outbreak has seen all kinds of stuff during his long time behind the cash register. Nineteen armed robberies, endless theft attempts, and a dozen drunken brawls for good measure. Ahmed is more than capable of handling himself!

SURVIVORS

Main Street is a terrifying nightmare. Moving about without being noticed is probably impossible, and those who want to do so must face the ever-growing hordes. The first is a Horde (x1), the second a Horde (x2), and so on, resulting in a hopeless fight from the very beginning. No group of NPS has settled directly here and, unless they feel a sudden shopping urge, there is nothing here for the Survivors.

PLAYING THE GAME

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Overcrowded

INTRODUCTION

141

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• Name: Ahmed, the distrustful • Description: He looks proud, but maybe he takes himself a little too seriously to be really convincing. In fact, sometimes he’s unintentionally funny • Motivation: Protect his family at all costs • Gear: Shotgun • Enemy Level: Tough • Special Rules: If any member of the family is directly threatened, his Enemy Level changes to Dangerous

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

AH M ED

RUNNING THE GAME

If the Survivors invite him to move to their Shelter, Ahmed categorically refuses to leave his shop and house, regardless of how dangerous the area has become (he might reconsider the offer only if his Disposition increases to 4+).

142 Pub crawl (TL -1, only during daytime)

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Zombies overran the pub mile, slaughtering those who tried to barricade themselves in the first moments of the outbreak. Nice try, lads. Their half-eaten corpses are spread all around the place, laying on chairs and tables with their bellies ripped apart and dripping into putrid pools of goo. You can hear some noise upstairs! It could be a very dizzy group of survivors, or maybe more Zombies. It ’ s hard to tell the difference!

Deep in every respectable city, there must be a pub mile, the area with the highest concentration of clubs and bars. Attended until the wee hours in the morning because of its alcoholic contents, this place is a key junction of the city’s nightlife. Something has changed Back then, there were drunk people hanging about and muttering gibberish. Today, there are Zombie people hanging about and howling gibberish... and spitting blood. As with Main Street, this was one of the most crowded areas of the city during the outbreak, so it is best left alone. However, for some odd reasons, the local Zombies seem to be more active at night than during the day. A faint recollection of their living habits? Survivors can then move around the area more easily when the sun is high, succeeding in a SNEAK roll (DL1 at night). A failure on that roll means the Survivors must face a Horde (x1), followed by a Horde (x2), and so on, until they realize they should not be there.

Do Zombies Dream of Bloody Beer? If they manage to successfully sneak into one of the pubs, the Survivors then have to face the Zombie customers inside, a Horde (x3) or more, depending on the club’s size. Even worse, additional Waves during the fight are based on the same TL of the District (instead of TL 0, see page 83), as the din of battle calls more Zombies from the outside. Winning the fight means the Survivors can make a relaxed Search (General 2) and loot the club’s booze stash! Assuming they manage to leave with it, of course…

The King’s Court Roughly halfway through the pub mile, one club survived the devastation and now is the base of operations of the only local survivor community. It is the Winchester Tavern, an unassuming pub where once it was possible to watch the English soccer championship while sipping on a pint of local beer. The owners are an elderly and yet energetic couple, husband and wife, but the true leader of the group is a charismatic drunkard with a heavy British accent simply known as The King. • NPS Group of Winchester Tavern: Size 2, Disposition 4, Morale 4, Leadership 2, Resources 1.

143

h

INTRODUCTION

The King was already a well-known figure before the outbreak. He reached the status of a true legend when he discovered he had the ability to create Molotov cocktails and throw them on the Zombies’ foreheads. All that practice throwing darts has paid off!

SURVIVORS

Meeting the King

If they make it to the World’s End, helping The King in his pub crawl, the Disposition of the NPS group becomes 6 and each Survivor gains an Adrenaline Boost. The King, drunk and euphoric, thanks the Survivors by kissing and hugging them one by one, and before they leave, hands each of them 1 Molotov.

• Name: The King • Description: More than a king, he looks like someone who's had one drink too many. But, it is undeniable that his jovial and affectionate ways inspire confidence and good humor • Motivation: Reaching the legendary World’s End pub • Gear: Molotovs (LOTS of them) • Enemy Level: Tough • Special Rules: If he smells Zombies, he overlooks the street and turns it into a hell of a fire in minutes

RUNNING THE GAME

Helping The King in completing his pub crawl means breaching 6 different places, each inhabited by a Horde (x4), without alerting the Zombies outside. The Survivors do not have to kill all the Zombies inside, only hold them for just the 3 rounds it takes to The King to have a pint.

THE KING

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

The King’s Dream

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The King dreams of making it to the World’s End with his group after drinking a pint from all the pubs between that and the Winchester, cementing his legendary achievement of completing the hardest and most famous pub crawl of the city.

PLAYING THE GAME

The King is rather friendly with the Survivors, inviting them in for a pint if they make their way to the Winchester Tavern. The NPS group holed up there is mostly The King’s old drinking buddies and a couple of patrons who happened to be there when the apocalypse hit. Chatting with their leader, the Survivors learn that the NPS have grown tired of fried chicken wings and onion rings and are contemplating the idea of a sortie to move into the legendary World’s End pub down the road, the largest and most famous club in the whole pub mile.

6. THE SLUMS

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The base camp of the local survivors is in the park, surrounded by a sturdy palisade, while at the east exit is located the command center for the anti-Zombie assault squads. In the market, one can find numerous useful things abandoned among the stalls and, but a few kilometers away, lies the prison, the safest place in the area. So safe, actually, it was renamed The Paradise.

LOCATIONS

Doug The butthole of the world. That ’ s what they’ve always called this neighborhood. Scum, outcasts, junkies, alcoholics, criminals of all kinds. These are the people who lived here. Even Zombies seem to avoid the place somehow. But give it a chance, you'll end up loving it. Threat Level: 2 Obtain Information/Item, Make Contact, Secure Area

Prison (TL -2) Before the outbreak, nobody wanted to go to prison. It takes your freedom and isolates you from the outside. Now, everyone wants to go there. It ’ s so safe and comforting with its walls and towers, especially if you have the keys. And there are washing machines, ironing boards, lots of laundry, and beds! How ironic that what was hell now seems like heaven on Earth!

In the northern slums of the city, this district has always been hated on by everyone, and its inhabitants considered the filth of society. In reality, they were simply less fortunate people trying to get by. However, this might be the reason why the Slums have found the strength to become one of the meanest and safest district after the outbreak, as the local communities have banded together and faced the disaster as an united front.

After the outbreak, the local jail has been secured and now is such a steadfast bastion that the survivors call it The Paradise. During the chaos of the first few days after the apocalypse began, the convicts revolted and abandoned the prison in a few hours. Some time later, the residents of the district have joined the surviving overseers in cleaning and securing the place, turning it into a shelter for children and the elderly under the leadership of the Directress, a determined and incredibly charismatic woman. The prison has four floors and a large yard surrounded by barbed wire and fences.

Zombies, Get Out!

Outside Yard

This district is the only one where things have changed relatively little after the Zombies have started pouring out in the streets, as it already looked like a warzone. Now, however, its inhabitants have put their strength and hope to building a stable community that found creative ways to survive and beat the Zombie hordes.

The area around the prison has been fortified and is constantly patrolled by guards tasked with protecting the residents of the Paradise from both Zombies and hostile survivors. Every inch of arable land has been converted into orchards and football fields and there is even a beehive for honey.

FIRST LOOK

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

There are no cells or offices, but the locales where the convicts once worked. From the laundry area to the workshop to the mess hall and the kitchen, everything has been renovated and is in full use for everyday tasks and, thanks to its dedicated generators, the prison has the extremely rare commodity of electricity. Its kitchens feed dozens of survivors from all over the city thanks to the immense food reserves in its cold storage units, which are periodically restocked by the exploration teams. Here is also the large common room dedicated to gatherings and daily briefings.

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First Floor

RUNNING THE GAME

PLAYING THE GAME

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

145

146 Second and Third Floor Exactly identical, both feature 80 cells, each capable of holding 6 inmates though currently used by the survivors. Each floor also has two offices once dedicated to the jailers and now turned into a nursery and kindergarten for the youngest.

Fourth Floor The fourth floor was dedicated to administration, but has been converted into a relaxation area because of its television and working blu-ray, while the office of the former director is the Directress’ own command center. • NPS Group of The Paradise: Size 6, Disposition 4, Morale 5, Leadership 3, Resources 6. The majority of the survivors sheltered in the Paradise are natives of the Slums. They are addicts, former criminals, homeless, and the families who gathered there after the outbreak and established some semblance of order moving into the much better defensible town jail. There, in The Paradise, many have found a chance for a fresh start by forming a surprisingly united and happy community, a true oasis of peace in this new post-apocalyptic world. The Directress is a firm but fair guide, supported by the former jailers who enforce her law and a host of loyal underlings who help her in ruling the place.

Heaven can Wait

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In spite of the relatively friendly demeanour of the Paradise residents, the Survivors are allowed to visit the prison only under heavy guard and after they have surrendered all their weapons to the jailers. However, the Directress does not tolerate her leadership being discussed. Any protest from the Survivors or behaviour that endangers the residents of the prison causes the Disposition of the NPS group to drop by 1 and the Survivors to be banished from Paradise (pun, of course, intended).

The Directress One thing is clear to everybody: without her, the Paradise would have been destroyed long ago. Legends have it that she single-handedly butchered a horde of Zombies. Even though nobody knows what really happened, the reinforcements found her sitting on a pile of Zombie corpses, covered in blood that was not hers. From that day onwards, no one questioned her orders.

THE DIRECTRESS • Name: The Directress • Description: She is a stern looking woman with an unknown past, made even more mysterious by the patch that covers her right eye • Motivation: Preserving the peace in the Paradise and leading it to a bright new future. Under her leadership, of course • Gear: 2 Kukris • Enemy Level: Formidable • Special Rules: When she talks, she always seems to make a lot of sense. To disagree, you have to succeed in an EVALUATE (DL1) roll

147 Open Air Market

Exploring the Market It requires numerous SNEAK rolls, 1 per Search Action if the Survivors wish to pilfer through the abandoned wares. Otherwise, careless visitors attract the attention of a Horde (x4). Once they have defeated the Horde and any additional Wave, the Survivors have enough time for 1 additional Search before another Horde (x4) makes its appearance.

Lil’Pete and the Lost Boys The market is also the hunting grounds of the Lost Boys, a gang of adolescent foundlings who have made a habit of scavenging useful items by moving over the stalls or under them through the sewers network. What they do not keep, they barter, mainly with the group in the prison or the one in the park, but are willing to trade with anybody who has interesting bits to exchange. • NPS Group Lost Boys: Size 3, Disposition 3, Morale 4, Leadership 2, Resources 2. These NPS have no actual hideout, but can be often met on the border between the market area and the Homeless Park (see next page), when they split the loot of their sorties. The Lost Boys are led by Lil’Pete, the eldest.

INTRODUCTION SURVIVORS

Lost Boys’ Purposes The Lost Boys are not faring too bad, but their business could improve if the area were cleared of the majority of Zombies to make their scavenging operations safer. With the undead out of commission for a while, Lil’Pete’s gang could finally fortify a place into an actual hideout and open part of the market itself, rather than living in hiding.

The Ol’Hook The presence of an Abomination among the undead ranks complicates things, though. The creature has been nicknamed Ol’Hook by the kids because of his hands fused solid into hook-like appendages by the mutations. It seems that Lil’Pete himself has a personal score to settle with it, believing it was Ol’Hook that killed his mother during the outbreak. Temporarily clearing the marketplace from Ol’Hook and the other Zombies means fighting a Horde (x4) and a Horde (x6), one after the other. The latter led by the Abomination itself. Defeating Ol’Hook and its hordes lowers the Threat Level of this location by 1 (TL -1), turning it into the new Hideout of the Lost Boys and raising their Disposition by 2. In addition, the kids are very grateful and any social interaction with them does not raise Trouble (regardless of their Resources rank).

PLAYING THE GAME

Of course, now it is completely abandoned and numerous Zombies wander its intricate maze, although it is still possible to find the occasional useful piece here and there.

Growning in the market (his family owned a kitchen utensils stand), Lil’Pete lost his mother the day of the outbreak and swore to destroy all undead (one in particular, see The Abomination called Ol’Hook below).

RUNNING THE GAME

The open air market has always been one of the most iconic destinations in the district. Once, one could find all kinds of bits here, even many of the items stolen around the city, making the place a “lost and found” of sorts. From the thrift stalls to kitchen utensils stands, from the food trucks to bicycle, skateboard, and scooter peddlers, the market had a little bit of everything.

• Name: Lil’Pete • Description: He’s a young boy. His necklace of Zombie ears is a testament to his determination • Motivation: Defeating Ol’Hook (see below) and claiming the market for the Lost Boys • Gear: Katana • Enemy Level: Tough • Special Rules: -

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Here, you could find everything. From really cheap street food, to used clothes, to fake and stolen goods. Now, it ’ s an open-air dump. But, on the other hand, you can still find a lot of clothes, tools, and if you’ re lucky, even radios and walkie-talkies!

LIL'PETE

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148 Homeless Park (TL -1) The park used to be the most infested area in the neighborhood. But now, it ’ s the liveliest one. A lot of survivors have gathered here and created a warm sense of communality. They cut down trees and used them together with the abandoned cars to build a barrier around the park. Lookouts have been placed on the last few trees to check what ’ s going on around the clock. No doubt, when it comes to surviving and adapting, we outcasts are the best. St. James' Park, once called “homeless park”, has become one the most important locations in the district. Here have gathered a small but well-organized community of survivors who cleared and fortified the place in record time, turning it into a shelter for all the homeless in the city.

Beyond the Barricades Inside the park are lodgings, a mess hall, and a small, colorful tent city, and a bonfire that is always lit at night at its center. The spokesman for the St. James homeless is a charismatic and curly-haired fella called “Hobo” Matt, who knows the district better than the back of his hand and leads the nightly raids for food and other resources. • NPS Group of Homeless Park: Size 4, Disposition 4, Morale 4, Leadership 6, Resources 2.

Recently, the Raiders have changed tactics. Instead of risky frontal attacks, they have been springing ambushes on the homeless’ food raids, weakening the park’s supply lines. “Hobo” Matt barely survived one of these attacks himself, and fears the situation is about to get worse.

Bear Confronting the Raiders The Enemy Level of a Raider is Dangerous. If the Survivors have established friendly contact with “Hobo” and his people, they can volunteer to face the Raiders once and for all. A good option is to CONVINCE "Hobo" and his men to be the bait to lure the Raiders into a place suitable for an ambush. In any case, the confrontation will fall entirely on the shoulders of the Survivors. Of course, the fight against the Raiders is complicated by the presence of the undead roaming the roads…

“Hobo” Matt

A New Hope

He does not love to be called a leader, but many survivors of St. James’ Park consider him one. A former serviceman and the cook in the local charity kitchen, he is as stern when cooking as he is generous when serving food. The homeless loved him well before the outbreak. Now, his discipline and generosity are once again put to the service of his brethren, thanks to his nightly raids to ensure his community always has food on the table.

Freeing the survivors of St. James’ Park from the Raiders threat earns the group the homeless’ eternal gratitude, increasing their Disposition by +2.

The Raiders However, the worst threat for St. James’ Park is not the undead. A group of survivors referred to as the Raiders, known to take over supplies and hideouts with violence, have attempted multiple assaults. Each time they were pushed back, costing the Hobo’s folks a few deaths.

"HOBO" MATT • Name: “Hobo” Matt • Description: He wants to dress better than those around him, but he doesn’t always succeed. However, his authority leaks from his every pore • Motivation: Making the St. James’ Park an ever-safer and prosperous hideout • Gear: Cleaver (counts as a Machete) • Enemy Level: Tough • Special Rules: If Matt has to fight to save a homeless comrade, his Enemy Level rises to Dangerous

We all took the subway. It was working perfectly and you... ah, you’re asking me if I ever went down in the sewers? No, I didn’t go there before and I’m certainly not going there now!

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INTRODUCTION

EXTRA: THE UNDERCITY Threat Level: 3 Exploration, Obtain Information/Item, Survival

Mould, rot, sewage... these are the smells that hover in the air. And then darkness, darkness everywhere. Going underground is scary enough, add all those lurking monsters up, and you may get the ambience around here. Even the rats are transforming. You don’t have to watch out only for Zombies, but also for rats or worse, and never, ever, EVER enter the water!

Enter the Undercity It’s not difficult. The city is dotted with subway stops, almost all of which are still accessible. The same goes for the Sewer manholes. They're even more numerous, which can be easily lifted with a suitable tool (or with a roll of STUNT).

The Metro Some metro stations are still operating, but if you want to move one of those damn trains you would better come to terms with it, and hope for a lot of luck! Almost nothing works anymore, even if at times you can hear an electric humming coming from the tracks. I haven’ t seen any trains go by, but if you could get one going, you could save a lot of people. I tell you, though, never use the subway tunnels to escape. There is only going backwards or forwards for god knows how long... After the outbreak, the metro has turned into one of the most dangerous areas of the city. Some stations are still under emergency lights, but the majority are drowned in darkness with the occasional flickering lamp or fading LED. All of them, however, are packed full with Zombies of all kinds, including Abominations, that seem to appear more frequently there than anywhere else.

PLAYING THE GAME

If there ’ s a word to describe these places, it is anguish. It is terrible down here. Your heart is always pounding, every single noise echoes everywhere and it seems that everything, even the very walls, wants to kill you. Welcome to the Undercity, pal!

SURVIVORS

LOCATIONS

RUNNING THE GAME

FIRST LOOK

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

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No survivor group has settled here, as even if the lack of lights and abundance of Zombies were not bad enough, the scarcity of resources would prove fatal. Unlike the largest stations with a few abandoned stores, most are desolate and dangerous places that should be avoided.

150 Searching in the Dark If the Survivors do not have access to light sources, they suffer a hindering condition and they cannot take Search Actions. If the Survivors have a light source available, any Search Action taken in a secondary station has (DL2), while it's (DL1) in the main ones. In addition, every main station is roamed in any given moment by hordes of Zombies that have suffered the Berserker Mutation due to prolonged permanence in the darkness. The most common is a Berserker Horde (x4) that must be eliminated before taking sort of other action in the area. If the Survivors clear a station and then return there later, another Berserker Horde (x4) is waiting for them. If the Survivors perform a Search (Weapons 2) on the bodies near the subway, they additionally find the keys to one of the trains.

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The generator rooms are most likely to be locked, requiring a SECURITY (DL1) roll to enter. If any of the rolls results in Trouble, the Survivors attract a Berserker Horde (x1), then a Berserker Horde (x2), and so on until they are forced to fall back.

Restoring the Metro A functioning means of transportation in the city would be invaluable! The Survivors just need to reactivate the track's electrical system and find someone who can drive those damn train cars… Restoring a tract of the railway system to a functional condition is no small feat, but could earn the Survivors a means of transportation much faster and safer than anything on the surface. First, the Survivors must find a clear railway section. Then, they must find its generators. The generators can be found with a Prolonged Action requiring 3 SCOUT successes, or by finding a map of the tunnels with a SCAVENGE (DL2) Action taken inside of the control stations. To reach the generators, the Survivors must move through the pitch black tunnels. Fortunately, the tracks only have a Berserker Horde (x2) roaming about.

Once inside the generator rooms, the Survivors need a TINKER (DL2) roll to restore its machinery. On a Trouble result on any roll, the group attracts ever-larger Berserker Hordes, as above. To restore power to a section of track, Survivors need only to find a train in working order. Every train of the metro is a series of six cars where numerous people have barricaded themselves to escape the outbreak… only to be butchered by the infected. For this reason, inside every train is a Berserker Horde (x6) the Survivors must eliminate before they can reach the cockpit. Luckily, the train is made so that the Survivor can fight it as a series of 3 Berserker Hordes (x2), unless they choose to open the doors of all the cars at the same time... Driving the train is not particularly complex, but understanding its workings and turning it on requires a TINKER (DL1) or EVALUATE (DL1) roll.

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

151

The sewers are every inch the hellhole popular wisdom has them to be. The only reason why somebody in their mind would venture in that maze of toxic exhalations is if they're being chased by Zombies and could only escape by getting into a nearby manhole. Manholes and drainage grates are all over the city, but only a few are large enough to fit an adult. They can be opened with a STUNT roll (DL1).

Undead Ratz are constantly running through the tunnels, attacking any human they come cross. In the areas closest to the manholes, they form groups of Ratz (x4), or (x6) in the inner tunnels.

PLAYING THE GAME

As the network is seemingly free of Zombies and spans the whole city with no other apparent threat than the stench, moving through the sewers could be seen as smart move on paper, but in practice, it is actually suicide. Some time after the outbreak, it was observed that even the local animals had started mutating. Rats were first, numerous in the underground, and now the tunnels are teeming with Zombie Ratz colonies that are much more aggressive than their living counterparts and attack anything in their path.

RUNNING THE GAME

If there is any place you need to stay away from, it ’ s the sewers! You don ’ t know w hat ’ s underneath, but strange noises come from dow n under... and I’ m not talking about Zombie moans. I’ m talking about feral growls! Some people say that w harf rats have become Zombies themselves and that the legends about undead crocodiles are not false... Yup, that ’ s all we need.

Ratz Everywhere

The Thing Anything that ends up in the sewer area below Oldtown disappears suddenly. The reason is because the thing that crawls in the mud and putrid water feeds on anything. Maybe it used to be a baby crocodile, but then it grew up. Then, it died. Then, it came back as a Toxic Abomination (Very Fast).

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

The Sewers

7. SUBURBIA

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What ’ s there to say about the suburbs? Just a huge residential area with hundreds of houses, one next to the other, all the same, each with its own garden, its driveway, and its mailbox. So was this neighborhood: the boring symbol of the American dream. The only two places of interest here were the mall and the nearby nuclear power plant, and that ’ s all there is to it. Now, the place is completely deserted ... well, by the living at least. Threat Level: 2 Rescue Run, Secure Area, Supply Run

FIRST LOOK The nuclear power plant employed more than a thousand workers whose families made up most of the district residents. After the outbreak, the whole neighborhood turned into a huge reserve of fresh meat for the undead. When they arrived, it was a massacre. What’s left of it is now the battlefield of a long-lost suburban war, with semi-decomposed bodies next to overturned garbage bins with blackened carcasses of automobiles and shambling corpses everywhere. Most of the houses are abandoned and a perennial murmur hovers in the air. A mephitic smell is coming out of the mall, and no one knows if the nuclear power plant was shut down and secured after the outbreak… There may be a few survivors barricaded in their homes, though. Due to the presence of the nearby nuclear power plant, many houses had fallout shelters in the basement and maybe someone took refuge inside them, with large stocks of canned food and other stuff. It may be worth a look.

LOCATIONS Toxic City Mall (TL+1) The shopping mall was the only real community center of Suburbia, and now it’s the cemetery of many of its inhabitants. After the dead rose, many people took refuge here, convinced that it would be a safe place full of food and supplies. But there were too many entrances to watch, and they became food on sale for Zombies. If you manage to break in, it’s Black Friday every day! There seems to be no end to the Zombies crowding this mall. Average weekend, right? It would be if it was not for the devastation and the stench in the air. To make matters worse, something turned the blood of these Zombies particularly toxic. Perhaps it is due to the radiation from the nearby nuclear plant or a side effect of all the junk food they ate in life.

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The building has two floors, with all manners of shops. It is an ideal place to stock up on supplies and useful equipment, but also to become food on display for the undead.

First Floor The ground floor of the mall features a large General Store, a clothing outlet, numerous coffee shops, an ice cream shop, and an indoor square with benches. Oh, and a putrescent fountain. Teenagers loved it before the outbreak! Fake road signs help visitors orient themselves inside such a massive structure. Passing from the main entrance pits the Survivors against a Toxic Horde (x4), followed by another Toxic Horde (x4) a few minutes later, and so on… unless the Survivors take the short break between hordes to sneak into one of the stores, find what they need, and leave as soon as possible.

A Search Action yields a small collector's gem, the Italian first edition of a historical fantasy RPG set in the Roman Empire.

INTRODUCTION PLAYING THE GAME

Lili

In front of the escalators, there is even a game store selling comics, tabletop, miniature, and card games once frequented by the local geek community. It is the worstsmelling place in the whole mall (to be fair, it was even before the outbreak), and is always occupied by a group of Toxic Brutes (x3). The group is led by the owner of the shop, a Toxic Abomination with a badge reading “Max” pinned on his t-shirt scraps.

SURVIVORS

÷ Game Shop

153

Second Floor The second floor features more specialized bars and sports, crafts, and outdoor stores. Moving here follows the same rules as the first floor (see above).

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

A place to stay away from is the candy shop in front of the ice cream stall. It was the favorite destination of a local girl who loved to put on costumes and still wanders the place wearing her preferred outfit. This Brute (Unbearable) girl attacks the Survivors if they get Trouble on any roll during their stay in the mall; she attacks in the company of her friends, a group of other Brutes (x2).

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Candy Shop

RUNNING THE GAME

A wiser tactic is attempting a SCOUT roll to find the entrances reserved for the employees and break its lock with a SECURITY roll. Once inside, they can avoid the undead masses with a SNEAK roll in the central areas and sneak into the stores. There, they can make a Search (General 3) with relative calm.

154 The Hood In this neighborhood, now as in the past, you have to be careful. While it was once enough to not disrespect the gangs and mind your own business, now you have to watch out for Zombies on every street corner. The silver lining is that the few survivors who still dwell here are armed to the teeth. But let ’s say that they don’ t always aim with care... “The Hood”, as it was known before the outbreak, was the shadiest area of the district and consequently avoided by the rest of the residents. The block housed the “bad batch”, people often caught in illegal activities. Granted, not all of them were criminals, but “stay away from The Hood was a common warning from richer parents to their children. Things have not improved since the outbreak, but at least the local Zombies look more “normal” than the others, if the word even has meaning now. The streets are roamed by simple Hordes (x5) that can be avoided by moving through alleys and backyards with SNEAK rolls.

Pops and Friends

[ Sports Store The enormous sports store is well stocked even to this day, but is teeming with quite fit Zombies. It is a group of Toxic Runners (x3). Once disposed of, it is possible to make a Search (Sporting 3) Action. In addition, every Survivor can find a Baseball Bat without needing to roll.

Other Shops There is a hunting and fishing store store where the Survivors can make a Search (Outdoor 2), and another that sells household appliances and electronics that they can ransack with a Search (General 2). The remaining shops sell beauty products, musical instruments, and books, which are all occupied by a group of Toxic Walkers (x3). In addition to those roaming outside, of course.

The Hood is inhabited by the only survivor community known in the district, a small group led by an old former criminal nicknamed Pops. • NPS Group in the Hood: Size 3, Disposition 2, Morale 4, Leadership 3, Resources 3. After spending his youth entering and leaving jail ("I was young and foolish, you know"), Pops turned a new page and in the years became a pillar of the neighborhood. He always knew what was happening in The Hood, and if anybody needed anything, he was the right person to go to. Even after the outbreak, things have not changed. Pops has sworn he will fight tooth and nail before losing to the damn Zombies. He and his family have taken in many of those in need, creating a small oasis of peace. The community has weapons and food scavenged from the nearby homes and partially grown in their orchard and hen-house in the backyard.

155 Milly, the Cat Mom

PLAYING THE GAME

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Milly was among the first infected, turning into a Brute (+2 HP) cat lady and, by extension, infecting her beloved felines too. She wanders the streets only during the night, protected by her "Catz" (x6; treat them as Ratz, see page 86).

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

Milly was always an odd one in the neighborhood. After her husband died, she started taking in a great number of stray cats. She was a person of good heart, perhaps more towards animals than human beings, but she could not stand Pops. It seems she thought nothing good could ever come from him and those in the know claimed it was because of a failed relationship in their youth. However, like him, she always helped her neighbors… at least as long as she was among the living.

• Name: Pops, former criminal • Description: Seeing him for the first time, he looks like an old man at the end of his life. But you only have to talk to him for a few minutes to realize that he’s someone you don’t want to mess with • Motivation: The Hood is his responsibility • Gear: Revolver and baseball bat • Enemy Level: Tough • Special Rules: -

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

POPS

RUNNING THE GAME

Pops has tried multiple times to stop Milly without success. The problem, however, is not the numerous and aggressive Zombie cats; Pops seems to harbor some sort of feelings for the old cat lady to this day that prevents him from doing what must be done. Perhaps the Survivors could end this matter once and for all.

156 Nuclear Power Plant The nuclear power plant had many benefits. It hired hundreds of workers, gave them good salaries, and made the bills cheaper. The plant made the city prosper, no doubt... but now, it may have become an even greater danger than the Zombies. When the nuclear plant was completed, thousands of people moved to this neighborhood. Working there meant a better life with stable employment, a good wage, and a nice house far from the bustling city. Sure, in the beginning, people said it was dangerous to live close to a nuclear plant, but such initial resistances were soon forgotten. The reactors were the latest tech and the safety standards were high. After a while, it was as if everybody had forgotten about its existence. The power plant was still there, however, with its enormous cooling towers and the white plumes spewing relentlessly out of its chimneys.

Outside the power plant, radiation levels are not high enough to manifest effects, at least not in the short term. They will increase soon if nothing is done, however. To avoid the catastrophe, somebody should venture inside and complete the shutdown sequence, braving both radiation and the contaminated Zombies that roam the place. The power plant rises in a wide, walled area, accessible by a barrier with an abandoned guard post.

The Offices The first building is an administrative and medical area. Inside, there is a Toxic Horde (x5). Once dealt with, it becomes possible to make a Search (Health 2). On a successful SPOT (DL1) roll, the Survivors find technical manuals of the plant, key in completing the shutdown sequence (see the Control Room).

The Night of the Sirens One night, the general alarm of the power plant went off. Many sought shelter in the bunkers and waited hours there, but nothing happened... or so they believed. The sirens had started blaring not for some radioactive leak in the cores... but because Zombies had started eating people. When people carelessly left their shelters, the slaughter began. Nobody knows for sure what happened inside the plant, but one can only hope that the technicians have managed to turn off both cores in time before the Zombies arrived. An encouraging sign seems to be that white steam has stopped billowing from the cooling towers. Although recently, one of the two has been emitting a faint plume of black smoke…

The Meltdown

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The truth is that although the shutdown sequence was initiated for both, one reactor has never stopped working. After some time, the core went into meltdown and radiation spilled in the whole district, starting with the mall nearby.

157 Inside the offices, radiation levels are much higher than outside the plant (Low Intensity, see page 75).

INTRODUCTION

The hazmat suits in the warehouses close by are instrumental in safely delving into the building (found with another SPOT roll), granting the Survivors the possibility to make an ENDURE roll to avoid or reduce Radiation damage (without proper protections no rolls are allowed, see page 75).

The Corridors

SURVIVORS

The reactor control room is connected to the office block by airtight corridors. The safety system activated automatically, closing all the doors, so moving through the various segments is a Prolonged Action requiring 6 SECURITY (DL1) successes. In all corridors, there are higher contamination levels (Moderate Intensity, see page 75).

The Control Room

PLAYING THE GAME

Once inside the control room, the group must face a terrifying group of Toxic Abominations (x1), mostly comprised of the technicians caught there when trying to shut down the cores. Those Zombies have mutated much faster under the effect of the radiations and glow faintly.

Shutting Down the Reactor

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This is the most contaminated area of the powerplant (Severe Intensity, see page 75).

Every Trouble that occurs during these operations causes the arrival of a Toxic Horde (x3).

Should the Survivors succeed in this titanic endeavor, they would stop the meltdown and avoid a catastrophic nuclear accident. It would still take a long time for the radiation to drop to non-dangerous levels, but that would leave the Zombies the “only” problem for the local survivors… If the Survivors fail, the consequences could be catastrophic, starting with the district, which will see its Threat Level increase by 1 (TL+1).

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

First, they must complete a Prolonged Action requiring 3 EDUCATION (DL2) successes. Only then is it possible to roll EVALUATE (DL2) to learn that a failure in the control box prevented the sequence from being completed. Finally, the Survivors must pass a TINKER (DL2) roll to repair the damaged control box and complete the procedure, activating the plant’s emergency cooling systems.

RUNNING THE GAME

Completing the shutdown procedure is no simple task, even if one of the Survivors had specific training on the matter. To succeed, the Survivors need the technical manuals (see The Offices) and correctly follow their instructions.

8. UPTOWN

158

The turf of splurge and dogwalks, where filthy rich people enjoyed posh boutiques that ordinary people could only dream of. But it was also the city’ s Broadway, where new dramas and musicals were released on a tight schedule and to huge acclaim. The lights are not shining anymore, the cars are now half-burned wrecks, and it ’ s striking to see those divas, still glittery in their gala dresses, eating those who once were their fans... Threat Level: 1 Keep Hope Alive, Rescue Run, Seek New Shelter

FIRST LOOK

LOCATIONS

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Uptown was one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in the city. It stretched around Paradise Hills, where the most luxurious and bizarre villas were on display.

Now, the neighborhood looks bleak and decadent. The plaster is peeling off the villas and their surrounding walls are covered with creepers. Luxury cars lie abandoned in the long boulevards and Zombies dressed in the latest fashion wander the streets, stopping in front of the shops every now and then to stare at the windows with blank eyes.

Carnation Street The Main Street featured the flagship stores of the most important brands in the world. Maisons and boutiques, world class restaurants, and the most exclusive clubs... It was a fashionista ’ s dream. Since very few people could afford to enter those places, the Main Street is semi-deserted now. Still, it ’ s a treat to go hunting for Zombies in designer clothes! The few Zombies that still wander about the glamorous part of town are a surreal sight. Many of them were fashion, sports, or show-business celebs, still wearing their shades and most recognizable outfits. Like any other Zombie, they wander aimlessly, although it seems they stop in front of the shop windows for longer times. Some even remain still, completely immoble, for days under the rain and scorching sun.

PLAYING THE GAME

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

159

Inside every boutique, there are usually Walkers (x3) that, barring the presence of the occasional unusually elegant Brute, should not pose a threat.

Maxwell The famous Maxwell is located about halfway down Carnation street. Until recently, it was considered the best multi-brand store in town and entire families of super-rich people came here to dress from head to toe.

The first floor is dedicated to women, and it looks completely empty. There are only a few mannequins and some torn and bloodied clothes somebody put back on their hangers who knows why. Oh, yes, and the odd decomposing corpses on the ground. Mostly cashiers. A successful SPOT roll allows Survivors to notice that all the changing rooms have their curtains drawn. And some are moving... If the Survivors do not deal with it quickly, they are surrounded by a Horde (x4) of half dressed former customers. As the Zombies pour in from everywhere, for the duration of the combat, all the Survivors are considered hindered.

RUNNING THE GAME

The silver paper envelopes with matte black lettering were a true symbol of prestige.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

For this reason, walking about Carnation Street is not as dangerous. The worst thing that could happen is spotting the occasional Horde (x2) that would not be followed by others for some time once defeated. There have even been cases of Zombies taking crude “picture” poses in front of survivors with a smartphone or cameras, letting them escape with ease.

160 A Search (Any 1) on this floor does not yield more than 1 useful item other than a woman’s perfectly sound fashion designer dress of the right size. The second floor was once dedicated to men and it was easy to see more than a few actors and singers consulting their personal shopper for some important occasion. Apparently, even now… and, yes, it is them, the four members of one of the most famous boy bands in the ‘90’s! They are not exactly the attractive kind now but still perfectly fit. 4 Runners (+1 Hit Point), surrounded by a Horde (x1) of fans, willing to do anything to be noticed by them. A Search of the corpses of the boy band yields 1 Antishock Watch with gold finishing.

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Third floor. Once, this was the kids department and cafeteria. It probably was the jewel of the entire store, with its colorful murals and the child-sized furniture reminding visitors of a fairy tale house. Now, it is possibly the most disconcerting place in the entire district. Outside lights do not shine here and what little light comes from the staircase barely outlines the shape of a small castle and some sort of cardboard forest. In but a few minutes, from the darkness, comes strident shrieks, as tiny shadows quickly move from cover to cover. And tens of small red eyes watch from every direction...

Children of the Damned Right after the outbreak, all the children in the building and others close by had been gathered here. Unfortunately, the contagion spared none, unlike Martha, one of the three young cleaning girls they had been temporarily entrusted to. The Runner children (x3) attack alongside the other zombified janitors, a Skinner Brute (x1) and Skinner Walker (x1). Since striking down kids is one of the most unnatural things a human being could do, even if they are ugly as sin, before fighting, all the Survivors must pass a COOL (DL2) roll not to be considered impaired.

Martha

Michelle

Even if almost crazed by terror, Martha is still alive, spending most of her time hiding in a closet. She leaves only when there are no children in sight to stock up water, snacks, and molding bread from the cafeteria.

Originating from the Dominican Republic, she had already lost much of her family before the outbreak and now has nowhere to go. If the Survivors let slip they have a safe shelter, most likely she offers to join them and take care of the cleaning in exchange for food and a roof over her head.

The store now is nowhere near the sight it once was, hiding a terrible secret. On the first floor, all the shelves have been torn down and the floor has become a dump of feces, dog food, and blood stains. In the wide underground storehouse, instead, some survivors - who have nothing human - have found shelter.

PLAYING THE GAME

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

161

Luxury Pets

• Name: Martha, cleaning girl • Description: She is tall, early 20s, maybe a little too muscular. Shy and good-hearted, she is always ready to help others • Motivation: Any place is better than this • Gear: Cleaning products • Enemy Level: Harmless • Special Rules: If she becomes a permanent resident of the Shelter of the Survivors, she counts as an Easy Access to Supplies (HEAL) asset

These are survivors driven crazy after the outbreak, who now practice cannibalism. They wear dog collars, scraps of clothes dirty with urine and dried blood, and now look closer to the Zombies that roam the streets. They form a Horde (x6) led by “Chihuahua” Watts himself, now an Abomination (Fast), whose renowned smile has turned into a grin of sharp and blackened teeth.

RUNNING THE GAME

M A RTH A

Cannibals in Town

They leave to hunt mostly at night and are incredibly violent and territorial, like a pack of stray, hungry dogs. Talking with them is impossible. Should the Survivors defeat them and find their shelter, rummaging through the filth and human bones, they would find the personal effects on a Search (Any 3).

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Luxury Pets was a famous brand of high-end accessories, clothing, and food for animals. Although they sold products mostly for dogs and cats, they also kept something for exotic pets. This specific retail space was managed by a small, cheerful man called Richard “Chihuahua” Watts, beloved by all the celebrities in the neighborhood (and even more by their domestic animals).

162 The Bad Luck The true symbol of the times would, without a doubt, be the Bad Luck. It was once the most exclusive nightclub around and, to this day, still has an aura of mystery about it. Because of its location on the top of a hill on the upper side of Nightclub Road, it could make for a great shelter. It is wide, classy, and easily defensible. It would be perfect!... If it was not for one little detail. On the wide terrace overlooking the hill, there are always Zombies writhing and grinding against one another, as if dancing to music that only they can hear…

Nightclub Road (TL +1) Drink an Old-Fashioned and lean against the balcony of the Bad Luck. Then, order a Fubu sashimi at Myazaki’ s. And close the evening sweating to the beats of the greatest DJs in the VIP room at the Slash/Torn... I know more than someone who would kill for an evening like this! Maybe this is the only place that hasn’ t changed. Brainless before, brainless today. A few blocks from Main Street beats the heart of Uptown’s nightlife, Nightclub Road. It was here that high society youth spent the majority of their nights out, usually starting with dinner in the best restaurants and ending in the trending clubs alongside jet set celebrities. The area seems emptier now than what it looked like on the average pre-apocalypse Sunday morning. The truth is that the clubs still teem with the reanimated corpses of those who could not escape during the outbreak. While on the streets, one can find only the occasional and relatively harmless Walkers (x2), inside the clubs are the much more dangerous Seeker Walkers (x4) waiting for careless Survivors looking for food and alcohol. Of the numerous clubs, two were the most famous: the Bad Luck and Myazaki’s.

If the Survivors want to venture into the three-story club, they face the largest concentration of Zombies that side of town, Hordes (x6) on each floor. On the top floor, the Horde is joined by an Abomination (the former owner of the club, once a friend of all the celebrities). Once the nightclub is cleared, the Survivors could turn it into their new Shelter in relative safety.

Myazaki’s “Simply the best Sushi I have ever had” was what the people leaving this place said the most. Myazaki’s was a small sushi bar not too far from the Bad Luck, with only a handful of seats but also with a great attention to detail. Reservation lists spanned years and its chef, Hinoki Ryu, great rival of Ray Kobayashi in the Pagoda (see Heart of the City, page 135), was known all over the world. With the outbreak, chef Hinoki refused to leave the restaurant with his workers and, after a strenuous resistance, was eventually taken down by the undead. Now, Ryu is one of the local nightmares, a Berserker Runner (+2 HP) always surrounded by his loyal Berserker Horde (x4) of former employees. For some absurd reason, Hinoki still clutches tightly a pair of extremely sharp knives. Only he does not use them on fish anymore…

163

PLAYING THE GAME

Like in the rest of the city, this street is utter chaos. Destroyed limousines, human remains, and abandoned shoes are a common sight. However, two things here have not changed. The first is Tom’s Theater, one of the oldest cinemas in town, and the other is Madame Gilette’s Boutique Magique, fortune teller of the stars!

Tom’s Theater This cinema saw the neighborhood change year after year and is a piece of cinema history. Opened in the 40’s by Tom’s father, it was used by numerous famous directors of the time for special events and premieres. Then, with time, the small cinema of the now aging Tom, well into his nineties, has become a small jewel, the only one still using a motion picture projector and projecting movies from the 60’s. It is said old Tom miraculously survived the outbreak and still lives in the cinema. That is not all, however. Legend has it that one night, a Zombie horde invaded the cinema, took their seats in the movie theater and spent about an hour and a half staring at a blank screen before leaving in an orderly fashion. Nobody knows if this is a true story or not, but as Tom would say, “wouldn’t be the first miracle to happen in a cinema, nor the last!”

INTRODUCTION

Madame Gillette has survived the outbreak, as she still is in her boutique. For some odd reason, the woman is left alone by the Zombies. If asked about it, Madame Gillette claims she is capable of communicating with the dead and somehow convinced them to spare her. Whether there is some truth to her claim or it is just the rambling of an old woman, Madame Gillette still offers her services, usually in exchange for supplies or apparently worthless trinkets (that, in her exact words, have “spiritual power”).

SURVIVORS

In this neighborhood, it was once normal to see thousands of people going wild at the sight of their favorite actors. Now, it's almost more frequent to see the opposite. Actors, now Zombies still dressed in their gala outfits, go wild in glee at the sight of their dear fans... Especially so if they are plump and have a beating heart!

Madame Gillette was a fortune teller and for sure the most peculiar character in Theater Mile. Her small boutique of esoterica was covered in drapes and darker shade carpets, always smelling of incense. Madame Gillette herself looked like a flesh and bone version of her shop, short and thin, old and curved.

louise MADAME GILLETTE • Name: Madame Gillette, medium • Description: Her age is indefinite and she won’t reveal it even if threatened. She keeps her black hair, streaked with white, under a burgundy handkerchief and wears many necklaces, rings, and earrings • Motivation: I speak with both the dead and undead • Gear: Card reading accoutrements • Enemy Level: Harmless • Special Rules: If a Survivor pays for her services, they can have their hand read. The next time they must make any roll to reduce damage, they can roll again and keep the new result

RUNNING THE GAME

The theaters of this street used to host the most spectacular premieres, with actors posing on the red carpet, and the great galas... Before the outbreak, people would cut off one of their arms to participate in these happenings. Now, you have to be careful not to lose one of yours. But hey, if you’ re lucky enough, you might still find your favorite celebrities here, and even get a picture while they try to eat you!

Madame Gillette’s Boutique Magique

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Theater Mile

9. INDUSTRIAL PARK

164

That desolate flatland in two words? Iron and concrete. Take a stretch of land where nobody wants to live, stick tens of foundries and ironworks there, and you basically have the Industrial Park. Add some dingy afterwork pub, the odd biker gang, a few strip clubs, and a smattering of gas stations, and the picture is complete.

The motorways connecting the industrial park to the suburbs are partially cleared, so the eye can wander freely about the grey and flat plain, beyond the abandoned gas stations and the countless biker bars and strip-clubs. In the days immediately after the outbreak, this was the theater of the initial fighting between the undead and the military sent to contain the contagion. Things seemed to be going well until all hope was lost at the battle at Checkpoint 232.

Threat Level: 1 Exploration, Seek and Destroy, Survival

LOCATIONS

FIRST LOOK During the economic boom, the local industrial area was brimming with ironworks employing hundreds of workers. Then, under looming threat of inflation and foreign competition, the factories ground to a halt, closing one after the other. The Howe Brass Foundry, the largest and most productive, was one of them, brought low not just by the crisis, but also by proven charges of emission of toxic substances.

Mou’s Gas Station Mou was always a quirky one, even before being turned into a Zombie... When traffic decreased and work at the gas station stopped, he started spending much of his time fighting against tall grass and bugs. Surrounded by rocky ground thick with weeds, Mou’s gas station is one of the few that still function. It has been in his family’s possession for generations and truck drivers liked to stop there even just for a fresh beer or a snack. His beloved dogs have always been at his side.

Army truck Closing in to the gas station, the first sight is the six large army trucks right in front of the building. One bars the road. The others are lined up behind, a couple of them overturned, as that image has made the rounds of the press. Military trucks used as coffin carriers. Too many died in too few days in the city. The dangerous dead, perhaps spreading the contagion, were being moved to the cremation chambers far from the inhabited areas of the City. However, it seems the journey of this particular convoy has stopped here.

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A Search (Weapon 2) inside the trucks could stir the dead inside their coffins in the third vehicle, all from the same retirement home. The first Trouble awakens the dead, a group of Skinner Walkers (x3).

INTRODUCTION SURVIVORS PLAYING THE GAME RUNNING THE GAME

I was stationed at the roadblock that morning. When we realized we had a large number of Zombies closing in from the road, we radioed command and they said reinforcements were inbound. We were prepared and did not give in to panic. After shouting some warning that we knew were utterly useless, we opened fire on the shambling horde with rifles and grenades. Dozens of them were torn to shreds, but their numbers looked... endless. We radioed for reinforcements and air support again, but nobody was answering anymore. Behind us, another horde came from the plains. We kept shooting, but there was nothing more to do. At 07:44, it was all over.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

THE BATTLE OF CHECK POINT 232

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165

166 A Search (General 2) inside and around the gas station is automatically interrupted by the old owner, Mou, a Brute, who emerges from the grass accompanied by his Dogz (x4).

Check Point 232 It is still there, the Check Point on mile 232, surrounded by the corpses of the soldiers scattered among the horde of Zombie bodies. On the remains of a tracked vehicle, a torn flag faintly billows in the wind. What happened here, beginning at 05:38 in the morning, most likely happened in a hundred other places throughout the country. Looting the Bodies Performing a Search (Weapon 3) here takes some guts. There's probably a few hundred dead bodies on the ground here and certainly not all of them are immobile. Sometimes, an arm moves, a head swivels, or an entire body twitches. Many have tried to take the weapons buried below the dead, but those who left that place in one piece are a blessed minority. At the end of every dedicated Search roll, Crawlers (x3) emerge from the mounds of corpses. In addition, every Trouble triggers a Horde (x3).

The Purple Drake Pub The Purple Drake is perhaps the only roadside building that has not changed much throughout the decades and still today looks much like it did in the 80’s. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the rest of the world. The Drake is an old bikers’ pub with neon signs and lists of beers and liquors written on a chalkboard. Numerous large motorcycles are parked outside, but there's no sign of their owners.

Inside the Pub The bartender, the only employee and owner of the place, is Drake, younger brother of Gillian, one of the leaders of the famed biker gang, the Crazy 66. They are both Zombies now, and somehow they keep getting along in their own way. Drake and Gillian (two Berserker Brutes) stay inside the pub, alongside the Crazy 66 gang, a Berserker Horde (x4), sat at the tables or behind the counter. Performing a Search (General 2) inside the pub is possible

only if the gang has been eliminated or lured outside. Some still intact liquor bottles can be found underground in a room used as a storehouse. If recovered (no check required), they provide enough alcohol for 3 Molotovs.

Howe Brass Foundry (TL +1) Big sheds in the middle of a flat, gray plain. Abandoned, rusty, gray. Once, they used to employ hundreds of workers. Then they became the home of masses of desperate people. And now? Nothing good can be expected... Howe Brass used to be the largest foundry in the city. Active until roughly a decade ago, it was then used as a shelter by homeless, addicts. and madmen. And so it remained until the outbreak. Then, in the lawless chaos of those dire days, a paramilitary group chose it as its own base of operations. They were ruthless mercenaries, but skilled with weapons. They called themselves the Archangels.

The Archangels Before being wiped out overnight by hordes of the destitute undead, this well-organized paramilitary gang enjoyed some fame. Their undisputed leader, a mysterious individual commanding from inside his office, was the source of much of this curiosity and dread, as very little was known about their name, appearance, or age. All of this matters little now, however… unless somebody decides to venture beyond the large, blood-stained gates of the industrial complex and brave the living dead, of course.

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Entering the Complex

Past the large gates, the industrial complex appears made of four large warehouses, numbered 1 to 4 and connected by a single road. During the day, it looks like textbook industrial archaeology: tall chimneys, rusting truck shells, and warehouses with windows whose glass was broken who knows how long ago. There's definitely nobody around, either living or dead.

Everything changes after sundown. The darkness looks even thicker here than elsewhere and the air itself appears as if it's sick. Is it its fame playing tricks, or decades of toxic emissions? In addition, keeping one’s cool as the machinery creaks and groans is notoriously difficult... All the Survivors must pass a COOL roll to avoid being hindered until they leave the facility.

Lighting a fire or using any light source outside of the warehouses quickly attracts a host of those same homeless that, in a single night, had taken over the complex and killed all the paramilitaries. They form a Toxic Horde (x6) made of wretched undead mutated by the toxic fumes.

PLAYING THE GAME

SURVIVORS

INTRODUCTION

167

ODIN

Performing a Search (Weapon 1) on the first floor is dangerous. Trouble results trigger a Horde (x4) formed by a mix of homeless and Archangel Zombies.

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

When the factory was still working, this place housed administration and most of the offices. Then, it was used as a headquarters by the Archangels. It is a dozen rooms total, between open spaces and smaller offices, spread over two floors. The Archangels made their last stand here, among ruined computers and upturned desks. To piece the development of the battle together, it is enough to follow the trail of undead bodies riddled with bullet holes and occasional mangled Archangel corpses. From the first rooms, the piles of the dead lead to the stairs and the second floor.

RUNNING THE GAME

Warehouse 1

168 Second Floor

Warehouse 3

On the second floor, there are so many bodies that they hinder movement, especially along the small corridor leading to the office where the feared leader of the Archangels spent much of their time in solitude. Now, they are a fearsome Abomination (+2 HP, Unbearable), who attacks intruders at the worst possible moment alongside their bodyguard, a group of Brutes (x3). When the attack begins, every Survivor must pass a SPOT roll not to fall prey to the ambush sprung by the rest of the Archangels and be considered Surprised.

Once used for storage, the Archangels turned it into their main dormitory, finishing the necessary renovations mere days before the final attack. Hence, the majority of the gang was massacred here, caught by surprise in their sleep. There are many Archangel corpses still on their cots (although often they are barely recognizable collections of body parts).

A successful Search (Any 1, Weapon 1) in the leader’s office yields a document about some project in the fourth warehouse. Unfortunately, the scraps of bloodied paper do not help in making sense of it, other than the position of a generator somehow connected to the defense of warehouse 4.

™ Warehouse 2 The largest of the facility, its numerous doors are fully open or downright missing. It housed the factory proper, with all of its machinery, piping, ladders, gantries, and enormous presshammers. The Archangels had partially converted some of the tooling to make weapons and ammunition, on the night of the attack the few left to guard the warehouse gave their lives to allow the others to mount a proper resistance inside Warehouse 1. Of course, the rest is history. A Toxic Horde (x4) wanders inside. To make Search (General 1, Safety 1, Weapon 1) rolls, the Survivors must be wary of crumbling machinery, sharp corrugated metal, and trembling ladders. Every Trouble costs them 1 HP. In addition, the chemical fumes impose an ENDURE roll for every Search. A failure causes the poisoning of the Survivor (a hindering condition) until the end of the Mission Phase.

Search (Any 2, Weapon 1) could look like a good idea to the Survivors, given the large amount of lockers and packs, but every Trouble awakens Crawlers (x3).

Warehouse 4 This warehouse, unlike the others, is covered in solar panels, their glint visible from a great distance during the day. In front of its still-standing metal gates are piled numerous Zombies. Nothing otherwise particularly unusual, if it was not that the corpses are charred, as if burned to death. Even the faintest of touches on the metal on the perimeter of the warehouse causes a strong electrical discharge (consider it as a Contained Explosion in Blast zone). The generator powering the trap is fed by the solar panels and is well hidden inside the warehouse. To find it, it takes a Prolonged Action requiring 3 SPOT successes. If the Survivors have recovered the document in the leader’s office, they automatically find the generator.

The Plane Inside, the warehouse is a hangar of sorts. The majority of the room is occupied by an old cargo airplane under maintenance, completely painted white. On it is the logo of the Archangels, a wing with two bloodied feathers. Was this the secret project of the Archangels? A cargo plane? The leader cared much for this project, whatever it was. And so did its technicians, a group of Brutes (x2) tending the aircraft, and its pilot, now an Abomination. They crawl out of the dark corners in the hangar after the Survivors have spent some time around the vehicle. A Search (Safety 1, General 1) in the warehouse allows the Survivors to find a working Parachute. A TINKER roll, instead, confirms the worst fears of the Survivors; the plane does not need repairs. It needs a bloody miracle.

SKILLS

SUR

BIO

weapons

level:

NAME:

Traits

Occupation: HABIT: LOOKS: Muscle

BRAINS

Grit

Athletics

STUNT

SNEAK

ENDURE

Attitude

APPEAL

CONVINCE

HEARTEN

SECURITY

EDUCATION

CONTACTS

Combat

FIGHT

SHOOT

COOL

Perception

SPOT

EVALUATE

SCOUT

SCAVENGE

TINKER

HEAL

ACTIONS

Background

Survival

1 2 3 CHRONICLES

Stress

GEAR

Hoard

4 5

hit points CONDITIONS:

6

SHELTER SHEET shelter sheet

NAME: occupants:

description:

S SURVIVORS AND NP

DISTRICT

location:

openings HP: Access Point:

assets

rumors and notes

CHRONICLES

INDEX

INTRODUCTION SURVIVORS PLAYING THE GAME

Force a Success..............................48 Fun Zone.........................................123 Game Master...................................66 Garage............................................ 104 Gather Rumors...............................99 Gear............................................ 32,55 Generator...................................... 104 Habit.................................................. 31 Heal...................................................49 Hearten............................................49 Heart of the City...........................135 Hit Points.........................................40 Hordes........................................82,83 How the Dead Fight....................... 78 Improvised Moves.......................... 53 Industrial Park.............................. 164 Inflicting Damage..........................54 Initiative............................................91 Interaction Rolls.............................90 Inventory.........................................55 Keep Hope Alive............................. 97 Leadership.......................................94 Level................................................... 31 Leveling Up.....................................63 Library............................................ 104 Location..........................................102 Looks................................................. 31 Major Injury.....................................54 Make Contact..................................96 Make Noise...................................... 52 Making Camp................................... 71 Map of the City............................. 108 Mission Bonus.................................96 Mission Objectives.........................95 Mission Phase Structure..............95 Mission Types.................................96 Molotov Cocktails..........................58 Mood.................................................40 Morale...............................................94 Mutated Zombies...........................83 NPS........................................ 89,91,93 Obtain Information/Item.............. 97

THE WORLD OF ZOMBICIDE

Occupation......................................30 Old Town..........................................117 Openings.........................................102 Opening Shots................................50 Opposed Actions............................ 67 Pick Up............................................. 52 Plan Mission.................................. 100 Proficiencies............................. 32,37 Prologue.................................... 32,33 Protection........................................56 Quality Rating.................................46 Radiation.......................................... 75

RUNNING THE GAME

N K

Abominations..................................81 Actions................................ 38,44,67 Adrenaline................................ 40,48 Advancements................................63 Aim.................................................... 52 Assets..............................................103 Attacks.............................................. 51 Attributes.................................. 32,37 Berserker Zombies........................84 Bonus Dice.......................................46 Boosted Zombies...........................88 Brutes...............................................80 Catch a Break.................................49 City.................................................. 108 Combat..................................50,52,91 Conditions....................................... 73 Crossing the City.......................... 110 Customizing the Dead..................88 Damage............................................54 Darkness.......................................... 77 Defending the Shelter................ 105 Derived Stats.................................. 32 Dice........................................ 13,45,47 Difficulty Levels.............................46 Disengage........................................ 52 Disposition....................................... 93 Districts.............................................111 Downtown........................................112 Draw/Trade..................................... 52 Drowning.......................................... 74 Enemy Level.................................... 92 Evade................................................ 52 Experience Awards........................95 Experience Level............................63 Exploration......................................96 Explosions....................................... 74 Extra Actions................................... 51 Falling............................................... 74 Favored Actions............................. 32 Fighting the Living.........................91 Fire.................................................... 75 First Aid............................................ 52

171

172 Range Measurements...................56 Ratings Combinations..................94 Recovery..........................................49 Reinforced Opening.....................103 Reliable Source of Rumors........ 104 Rescue Run..................................... 97 Resolve............................................. 92 Resources........................................94 Rest...................................................49 Rumors........................................... 100 Runners............................................80 Searching.................................. 68,69

Secure Area....................................96 Security Alarm............................. 104 Seek and Destroy........................... 97 Seeker Walkers...............................85 Seek New Shelter..........................96 Shelter..........................98,99,101,105 Shooting Point...............................103 Size.................................................... 93 Skills.......................................31,40,59 Skinner Zombies............................85 Slums.............................................. 144 Special Abilities..............................88

Speed................................................ 92 Staging a Zombicide..................... 76 Strength........................................... 92 Stress......................................... 40,48 Study/Train.....................................99 Suburbia..........................................152 Suffering Damage.........................54 Supply Check..................................99 Supply Run......................................96 Surprise............................................ 77 Survival............................................ 97 Survivor, Creating a New.............29 Survivor Phase........................... 51,91 Targeting Priority Order............... 51 Threat Level.................................. 109 Tools..................................................55 Toxic Zombies.................................84 Travel Events................................. 110 Travel Rolls..................................... 110 Travel Time.......................................111 Trouble............................................. 72 Tuning the Difficulty.....................40 Undercity....................................... 149 University District.........................130 Uptown........................................... 158 Walkers............................................. 79 Wandering Zombie......................... 71 Weapons List, Melee..................... 57 Weapons List, Ranged..................58 Weapon Stats..................................55 Weapon Traits.................................56 Workshop....................................... 104 Zombicide........................................ 76 Zombie Animals.............................86 Zombie Hordes...............................82 Zombie Phase................................. 53 Zombie Types................................. 53 Zombipedia..................................... 79

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