INTRODUCTION

This game is similar in many respects to the outstanding original version of One Against the Dead created by Scott Slomiany. Before starting, I strongly suggest you read his original rules at: http://www.backglass.org/scotts/games/OneAgainstTheDead/html/index.htm

SCENARIO

You find yourself in a city that has suddenly become overrun with brain-eating zombies.

(Sound familiar?)

Fortunately, there is the sound of a rescue helicopter off in that direction...

Unfortunately, you must battle your way through hordes of zombies to get there.

Of course.

EQUIPMENT

The original game uses coins to represent zombies. That's cool and it works well enough, but since I am a gamer and therefore have access to a fistful of dice, I decided to create a version of the game that uses dice to represent the zombies. That's the major difference between this version and the original.

Just to be clear - I don't claim that this version is better than the original. Far from it. It's just different.

You will need:

SETUP

First, remove two Aces, two Kings, and one Queen from the deck. Also make sure the deck has only one Joker, and that you are otherwise playing with a full deck. (Sorry. I couldn't resist.)

Shuffle the deck and deal out one card face up. If it comes up a non-number card, 'burn' that card to the bottom of the deck and deal another. Repeat until you get a number card.

Deal the next six cards facedown in a row to the left of the faceup card.

Finally, deal a final card at the end of the row, faceup. (Again, repeat the burn/redeal cycle until you get a number card.)

These cards represent the city. The first faceup card is where the helicopter is, so it's your destination. The second faceup card is your starting place. Each card represents a city block.

Set your life counter equal to twice the number of facedown cards in your row. For the basic game this will be 12. (If you dealt 10 facedown cards, it would be 20, etc.)

Place your marker on the facedown card at the left end of the row.

Now you're ready to begin. Follow the directions under MOVEMENT below.

MOVEMENT

You begin a turn by moving your marker to an adjacent faceup number card.

Generally this will be the card to your right, since you're trying to get to the helicopter.

You cannot move onto a non-number card.

If there is a facedown card adjacent to the card you've just moved onto, flip it faceup. If the revealed card is a number card, leave it where it is. If not, place it in any of the other open positions orthogonally adjacent to your start card. (That's directly above, below, or beside, not diagonal.)

Draw cards from the deck and place them in all open spaces adjacent to the card you're on. (Again, NOT diagonally!)

You should NOT place a non-number card directly in the path between you and the helicopter if you can avoid it, as it will block your path. However, if all of the cards you flipped up or drew were non-number cards, you MUST play them all and the direct path to the helicopter will be blocked! You will have to go around by a different path.

There is some light strategy involved in where to place the number cards you draw. See ZOMBIES below for enlightenment.

WEAPONS, SURVIVORS, & PROVISIONS

So, if you can't move onto them, why have non-number cards at all, other than to frustrate you?

Because they provide resources that can help you win the game, that's why!

Face cards represent weapons you can pick up and use to fight the zombies.

An Ace represents a survivor you can rescue.

A Joker represents a convenience store stocked with provisions.

Your default weapon is what the original rules call your 'Fists of Fury'. You are always considered to have your 'Fists of Fury' available to you no matter what other weapon you carry. You need not use a weapon just because you're carrying it - you can always choose to use your fists.

Face cards (Jacks, Queens, and Kings) represent weapons. You can pick up a weapon when it is sitting on a card adjacent to the one you're on. You can only carry one weapon at a time.

A Jack represents a baseball bat. A baseball bat is represented by a coin or other unique marker. It has unlimited utility. It never runs out of energy.

A Queen represents a chainsaw. A chainsaw is represented by a unique D6. Roll it before placing it on a Queen to determine how much fuel it has in it.

A King represents a shotgun. A shotgun is also represented by a unique D6. Roll it before placing it on a King to determine how many shots it has left in it.

If you already have possession of any of these weapons, they will not be available to place on a newly revealed face card. Only one of each weapon type may be on the map at any time.

If an unclaimed weapon is already on the map and you reveal another face card of the same type, that weapon then moves to the newly revealed card.

You may take a weapon from an orthogonally adjacent space at any time. However, when you do you must drop any weapon you currently carry. (Return it to the dice pool.) You may only carry one weapon at a time.

Remember to keep a chainsaw or shotgun die faceup to its original 'charge'. You will use this die to keep track of how many times it has been used. (See COMBAT below.)

An Ace represents rubble in which a Survivor may be found. When an Ace is revealed, roll the appropriate die (see SETUP above) and place it on the Ace.

If you already have a Survivor accompanying you and turn up a new Ace, there will be no Survivor available to place there. The game may include only one Survivor at any time.

If there is already an unrescued Survivor on the map and you turn up a new Ace, that Survivor is moved to the newly revealed Ace.

You may rescue a Survivor from an orthogonally adjacent space at any time.

If you are accompanied by a Survivor, that Survivor may be assigned to battle as many zombies as you do, or fewer. (A Survivor is not required to fight, but you are.) The Survivor suffers any damage inflicted by the zombies he battles, even if that damage is more than enough to kill him. (I.e. there is no 'spillover' damage to you.)

A Survivor may also carry a weapon. However, a Survivor may not carry a more powerful weapon than you do. Weapons are ranked in this order, from weakest to strongest: Fists, Baseball Bat, Chainsaw, Shotgun.

You may exchange weapons with a Survivor, take his weapon, give him your weapon, or take a newly available weapon for a Survivor at any time (as long as this doesn't violate the 'no greater weapon' rule) except in the middle of combat. (I.e. you cannot fight your zombies with a chainsaw, then give it to a Survivor for his part of the same combat.)

As noted in MOVEMENT above, a Survivor moves with you when you move. If he is killed, remove him from the map.

If a Survivor makes it to the helicopter with you, he is rescued as well.

The Joker represents a convenience store where you can find provisions that restore some of your life points.

When the Joker is revealed, roll an unused D6 to see how many life points you gain. You may not gain a number of life points that would make your total life points greater than it was at the beginning of the game. If a survivor accompanies you, you may allocate some or all of the life points to him. Again, his total number of life points may not exceed his original life point total.

Provisions cannot be 'stored' for later use.

ZOMBIES

After you move, you must generate new zombies.

After you reveal the map cards for your new location, note if any of the number cards you turned up match all of their adjacent existing cards in suit or number. If they do, they are NOT counted toward the calculation of new zombies. For example, if you are currently on the two of clubs and you turn up a four of clubs as next in your path, it would NOT be counted in your new zombie allocation. However, if you play a card above your current position that is a club, but the card next to it is a heart, it does NOT match both adjoining cards, so it IS counted for zombie allocation.

Add up the numbers of all non-matching newly revealed number cards. This is the number of zombies that will be added to the zombies that are already with you on your map space, if any. (Non-number cards don't generate new zombies.)

As mentioned under SETUP, you have three different types of D6s to represent zombies. One type represents a single zombie (you have four of these), one type represents five zombies (you have one of these), and one type represents ten zombies (you have five of these).

When placing zombies, 'make change' to represent zombies in the most efficient way possible. For example, if you already have 16 zombies with you and must add five more, the total is 21 zombies. Return the 5-point zombie die and add one 10-point zombie die.

If you cannot add the proper number of new zombies because you don't have enough zombie dice, the game is over. (See END GAME below.)

COMBAT

After zombie allocation (see the ZOMBIES section), you engage in combat.

You MUST fight ALL zombies every turn.

Your first decision in battle is whether or not to use your weapon (if any). If you don't have a weapon or decide not to use one, you will use your default 'Fists of Fury'.

If you have a Baseball Bat, you may use it for an unlimited number of combat rounds.

If you use a chainsaw or shotgun, its fuel/ammo counter must be decremented once per use. For example, if your chainsaw D6 shows a '4', to use it you would decrement it to a '3'. Once a chainsaw or shotgun is decremented to zero it is returned to the dice pool.

If a Survivor is with you, decide whether or not he will assist you in the fight. If so, he will do damage to the zombies he fights and will take any damage they deal back.

If you decide to have a Survivor fight, you must also choose whether or not he will use a weapon if one is available. If not, he uses his default 'Fists of Fury'.

A Survivor may fight as many zombies as you do, but no more. For example, if you were fighting 16 zombies, they would be represented by one 10-zombie die, one 5-zombie die, and one single-zombie die. You must fight, at the very least, the 10-zombie die, leaving the 5-zombie and 1-zombie die for the Survivor. (Of course, you may fight more of them if you wish.)

If a Survivor does battle, his combat round is considered to be simultaneous with yours, even though the dice are rolled separately. (See BATTLE below.)

If both you and a Survivor are fighting, separate all of the zombie dice into two piles, one for you and one for him.

If you are using a weapon, or if a Survivor is, make sure you've decremented your weapons dice.

Fight your zombies by tossing all of the dice that represent your opponents. If an individual die rolls equal to or less than your weapon's power, it dies. Here's the weapon power table:

For example, let's say you and a Survivor are fighting sixteen zombies. You use your baseball bat against the 10-zombie die, which rolls a 3 and dies. The Survivor uses his Fists of Fury against the 5-zombie die, which rolls a 3 and lives, and the 1-zombie die, which rolls a 2 and dies.

Once the battle is over, the zombies damage you (or a Survivor) based on the number of zombies left. You suffer one point of damage for every five zombies left, rounded down.

In the example cited in the above section on BATTLE, you would not suffer any damage, while the Survivor would suffer one point.

After DAMAGE allocation, you go on to your next MOVEMENT phase.

END GAME

The game ends whey you successfully reach the helicopter and have won a final battle there.

The game also ends if you need to allocate zombies and there aren't enough left to do so.

Scoring? We don't need no stinkin' scoring! WE JUST ESCAPED FROM BRAIN-EATING ZOMBIES!!! WE'RE FREAKIN' ALIVE!!!

But seriously, if you want to keep score, count your remaining life points as your score. Try to beat it next time.

If you successfully evacuate a Survivor, multiply his life points by your own.

Or maybe just keep track of how many zombies you kill as you play.

Whatever makes you feel good.