Zombies!!! 13: DEFCON Z Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Object of the Game ("How Do I Win?")
• Set Up
• Turn Sequence
• Player Pawn
• Map Tiles
  • Named Locations
  • Generic Street Tiles
  • New Zombies!!! 13 Named Locations
• Combat
• Infection
• Death
• Event Cards
  • Automatic Cards
  • Item/Weapon Cards
  • Regular Event Cards
• Player Movement
• Zombie Movement
• Winning the Game
  • Competitive Play
  • Cooperative Play
• Additional Rules and Clarifications

Contents

• 25 Map Tiles
• 50 Card Event Deck
• Heart Tokens
• Bullet Tokens
• Infection Counters
• 6 Player Pawns (Dr. Tilton)
• 100 Plastic Zombies (in 4 poses)
• 1 six-sided die
• Instructions

Object of the Game ("How Do I Win?")

Suppose this is what you were born to do. Kill zombies. Lots and lots and lots of zombies!

The goal of Zombies!!! 13: DEFCON Z is to be the first player to arrive at the Helipad with 3 or less infection counters AND 15 collected (killed) zombies in front of you. This is easier said than done, of course, since you risk infection with each and every fight against the undead.

There's also a cooperative version of the set, in which the players are working together. In this version, each player has to make it to the Helipad with at least 10 collected (killed) zombies each, and no single player must have died of infection (see the Combat section for details).

Set Up

Before play, set up your game as follows:

• Place the Town Square tile in the middle of the table.
• Shuffle all remaining tiles to form a single tile stack, and place it within easy reach.
• Shuffle the Event cards, deal 3 to each player, and place the deck within easy reach.
• Each player takes a pawn and places it on the center space of Town Square.
• Each player starts with 5 bullets and 5 hearts.
• Place all zombies and tokens, including infection counters, within easy reach.
• The starting player is the person who was most recently sick.

Turn Sequence

During a player's turn, he or she does the following, in this exact order.

1. If you have 1 or more "Automatic" cards already in your hand, you must first play 1 of those cards. You may choose which if you have more than one. (If you have more than 1 Automatic card, you may discard a second one during Step 8, if you want to avoid its effects at the start of your next turn.)
2. If you have 1 or more infection counters, roll a six-sided die. If the result is less than the number of infection counters you have, gain 1 infection counter (see the Infection section for details).
3. Draw and place a map tile (see the Map Tiles section).
4. Fight any zombies on your current space (see the Combat section).
5. Draw back up to 3 Event cards, if you have less than 3. If you draw an "automatic" card and did not play one in step #1, you must play one now (see the Event Cards section).
6. Roll a six-sided die for your movement (see the Player Movement section).
7. Roll a six-sided die for zombie movement (see the Zombie Movement section).
8. At the end of your turn, you may discard 1 event card from your hand. This may be an "Automatic" card (if you want to avoid its effect at the start of your next turn).

After deciding whether or not to discard an Event card, play proceeds clockwise around the table.

Player Pawn

In Zombies 13, there are special player pawns. These pawns have a special ability. If you are mixing this set with the base set, the pawns from the base set do not have special abilities. Who plays which pawns should be determined randomly (roll of the die or blindly picking a pawn).

Pawn ability: "Turning a Zombie": On any turn that Dr. Tilton could fight a zombie, he can attempt to turn a zombie back into a human with his special kit in his backpack. Roll the die twice and add the results. If the total is higher than 9 (10, 11 or 12), the zombie is now a human-ish. Dr. Tilton can control this zombie and he/she fights for Dr. Tilton (moving with the player pawn). If Dr. Tilton rolls less than a 6, the kit "breaks" and can not be used for the rest of the game. The kit needs to recharge before being used. Dr. Tilton must fight a zombie before the kit can be used again. (Obviously, rolling a 6, 7, 8 or 9 has no effect, but the zombie must be fought as usual with a result of 9 or less.) Dr. Tilton will not have anymore than three zombies under his control. When a zombie fights for Dr. Tilton, combat ensues as normal but if it is not successful, the "controlled" zombie is removed from the game. No bullets or hearts are used for these combat rolls.

Map Tiles

When the first map tile is drawn, it must be placed adjacent to Town Square, lining roads up as normal. The tiles may be placed in any orientation in which the connecting roads meet.

When each subsequent tile is drawn, it may be placed adjacent to any tile already on the table, including Town Square. Like the first tile, subsequent tiles may be placed in any orientation, so long as all roads meet between adjacent tiles.

When the Helipad is drawn, the player with the least collected zombies places the tile. If there is a tie, the tied player with the most infection counters places the tile. If there's still a tie, the tied players roll 1 die each, rerolling ties, and the player with the highest result places the tile.

Named Locations

These operate and are placed exactly as in the base Zombies!!! game. Each has a specific name in the corner, along with a number of bullets ("B"), hearts ("L"), and zombies ("Z") that you must place on the tile.

Zombies may be placed anywhere in the building or in the street, though no more than 1 zombie may occupy each space. Some tiles will allow zombie placement, movement and player movement in spaces that are outside the building and not considered street spaces. You can tell the accessible squares by the white line. Any square where you pass across a white line to access it is a playable square.

Bullets and hearts must be placed in buildings, if any buildings are present on the tile. No more than 1 of each type of token may share the same space.

Generic Street Tiles

These also operate and are placed exactly as in the base Zombies!!! game. They have no name or bullets ("B"), hearts ("L"), or zombies ("Z") listed in the corner. When you add a generic street tile to the board, place 1 zombie at the outer edge of each road leading off the tile.

New Zombies!!! 13 Named Locations

These are considered named locations but are NOT placed with bullets or hearts on them (they've been previously picked clean). They do, however, come out rather full of zombies! When you add one of these tiles to the board, place 1 zombie in each street square.

Fortunately, these new Zombies!!! 13 buildings offer a compelling reason for the players to clear them out, and periodically sweep them for new zombies that have wandered in. When a player ends their turn on one of these tiles that is free of zombies, that player gains a special benefit based on the tile he or she is on...

Foodlandia (Medical Tent): If a player ends their turn on this tile that is free of zombies, the player may gain 1 heart (max of 5 hearts per player).

Nether Worlder Armory (Weapons Stockpile): This tile has two special effects...

If a player ends their turn on this tile that is free of zombies, the player may gain 1 bullet (each player may have any number of bullets).

Alternately, a player may spend 2 turns on this tile that is free of zombies (ending two turns in a row without any zombies on the tile) to draw any weapon card from the Event deck. If no weapon remains in the deck, the player gains 2 bullets. After a weapon or 2 bullets are gained, all Event cards not in players' hands or played in front of players are shuffled together to form a new Event deck.

US Border Patrol (Operations Shelter): If a player ends their turn on this tile that is free of zombies, the player may discard any number of cards and immediately draw the same number of new ones. This does not prevent the player from also discarding another card (potentially one of their new draws) at the end of his or her turn. It also does not prevent the player from playing a single card for the turn: before, during, or after the discard and redraw.

Gallow Mountain Tower (Spotter's Nest): If a player ends their turn on this tile that is free of zombies, the player may draw the top 3 tiles from the map stack and reorder them however he or she likes.

McCormick Animal Hospital (CDC Scrubber Unit): If a player ends their turn on this tile that is free of zombies, the player may lose 1 infection counter (this is important to stave off turning into a zombie).

REMEMBER: These benefits are ONLY gained when the tile is ENTIRELY clear of zombies at the end of the player's turn. Thus, it's critical that players who want to use these locations first sweep them of zombies. This process represents the players helping the military and CDC build and secure their compound at the edge of the city -- and yes, more zombies can and will be moved onto these tiles afterward, rendering them useless until they're cleared again. Keeping tiles you want to use clear while moving zombies onto tiles your opponents want to use is a focal part of the strategy.

Combat

Any time a player begins his or her turn sharing a space with a zombie, or a player lands on a space with a zombie, combat ensues. Combat is resolved by rolling a six-sided die. You need a 4, 5, or 6 to kill a zombie.

If a player's combat roll fails (it's less than 4), he or she may spend any number of bullets to raise the result by the same amount (e.g. 1 bullet for +1, 2 bullets for +2, or 3 bullets for +3). If a player doesn't have enough bullets to raise the result high enough to win the combat, or if the player chooses not to spend these bullets, he or she must discard 1 heart.

SPECIAL: Each time a player rolls a natural 1, he or she is bitten and collects 1 infection counter. This happens even if the player spends bullets or otherwise winds up killing the zombie with the same roll.

Combat continues like this until the player defeats the zombie, runs out of hearts, or gains a total of 6 infection counters. A player may never voluntarily leave combat unless a card or other rule allows it.

When a player defeats a zombie, it is placed with the other zombies he or she has defeated. Unlike the base Zombies!!! game, players cannot win immediately by collecting 25 zombies; instead, in a regular game they only need to have 15 zombies (and 3 or less infection counters) when they reach the Helipad. In a cooperative game, each player needs to make it to the Helipad with at least 10 collected (killed) zombies, and no single player must have died of infection (see the next section for details).

Infection

The first thing an infected player does in each turn is roll a six-sided die to determine whether the zombie virus advances in his or her system. If the result is less than the number of infection counters the player has, the player gains 1 additional infection counter. When a player gains his or her 6th infection counter, the player immediately becomes a zombie. The player's pawn is removed from the board and replaced with a zombie from the supply.

If you're playing the cooperative game, the players immediately lose and the game ends.

In a competitive game, a player who succumbs to the virus loses half of his or her defeated zombies (rounded down), along with all weapons and items played face up on the table. The player loses the rest of his or her turn except for tile placement, zombie movement, and (optionally) discarding an Event card. At the start of the player's next turn, he or she starts over at the center of Town Square with 5 bullets and 5 hearts. The player then takes a full turn as normal.

Death

In either version of the game, when a player runs out of hearts he or she loses all remaining movement, and his or her pawn is removed from the board. The player also loses half of his or her defeated zombies (rounded down), along with all weapons and items played face up on the table. The player loses the rest of his or her turn except for zombie movement and (optionally) discarding an Event card.

At the start of the player's next turn, he or she starts over at the center of Town Square with 5 bullets and 5 hearts. The player then takes a full turn as normal.

Event Cards

Each player begins with 3 event cards in his or her hand, and draws up to a full hand of 3 cards during Step 5 of each turn (see the Turn Sequence section). A player may play only 1 Event card per round (that is, from the start of his or her turn to the start of his or her next turn).

A player may never have more than 3 cards in his or her hand at the end of any turn. If a player has more at that point, he or she must discard down to 3 cards.

During the last step of each player's turn, he or she may optionally discard 1 Event card. Discarding signals the end of the player's turn, and that player may not take any further actions until the start of his or her next turn (unless he or she still has a card play available and a card in hand that may be used before then).

An Event card may be played anytime that makes sense -- even when it's not your turn -- so long as you don't play more than 1 Event card per turn. When an Event card violates the normal rules of the game, the card supersedes the rules.

If the Event deck runs out of cards, shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw deck.

There are three types of Event cards in this set: automatics, item/weapon cards and regular Event cards.

Automatic Cards

Cards that start with the word "Automatic" work differently. When you start a turn with one or more Automatic cards in your hand, you must play one of them before doing anything else. When you draw back up to three cards, if you draw an automatic and did not play one already this turn, you must play one now. If you draw more than one, you decide which one is played. Automatic cards played from your hand do not count as the one card you may play during each turn.

Item/Weapon Cards

These are played in front of the player and offer a benefit when discarded, or for a set duration or until a trigger event occurs (such as failing a combat roll).

Items and weapons must be played in front of you during your turn (each time you play one in front of you, it counts as your card play for the turn).

Items and weapons in front of you do not count toward your hand size limit.

You may only have 1 of each item or weapon in front of you at any time, and may only use one for combat (e.g. during the same combat).

In a competitive game, you lose all items and weapons when you succumb to infection or die.

In a cooperative game, you lose all items and weapons only if you die (the whole game is lost if anyone succumbs to infection).

Regular Event Cards

These have a variety of other effects and can be played whenever it makes sense. Their effect is applied immediately.

Player Movement

Each time a player moves, he or she rolls 1 die and may move up to that many spaces. The player doesn't have to use all rolled movement, and may stop moving at any time.

You may never move diagonally. You must always move from tile to tile by street spaces.

You may move into and out of named buildings through any of the walls. You do not need to enter a named building through a door or window.

If you move onto a space with a zombie, combat occurs immediately (see the Combat section). If you survive the combat, you may use any or all of your remaining movement.

If you move onto a space with a bullet or heart and no zombie, you immediately collect the token and add it to your collection. If there is a zombie on a space with a bullet or heart, you must first kill the zombie before you can collect the token.

Zombie Movement

Each time a player moves zombies, he or she rolls 1 die and must move that many zombies 1 space each. If there are fewer zombies on the board, the player moves all zombies on the board. No zombie may be moved twice by the same player in the same turn. All rules for player movement also apply to moving zombies, except that...

• No more than 1 zombie may occupy each space.
• Zombies do not collect bullets and hearts.
• In a cooperative game, zombies always move toward the closest player pawn. When a zombie is moved and is equidistant from two or more player pawns, the current player chooses which player pawn the zombie moves toward.

Winning the Game

There are two modes of play in Zombies!!! 13: DEFCON Z, each with its own victory condition...

Competitive Play

The first player to reach the Helipad with 3 or less infection counters AND 15 collected (killed) zombies wins the game! Infection counters can be removed at the CDC Scrubber Unit (see the Map Tiles section), and they can quickly overwhelm players who aren't careful (and lucky).

Cooperative Play

The players win if they all reach the Helipad with at least 10 collected (killed) zombies. They lose if a single player succumbs to infection (gains a 6th infection counter).

Additional Rules and Clarifications

• Each space may contain 1 bullet OR 1 heart, never both.
• Once a bullet or heart is placed on the board, it may never be moved to another space.
• A player may never have more than 5 hearts.
• A player may have any number of bullets.
• Players may share spaces with other players.