Thoughts for a Modern Zombie Game.

Survivors
Survivors come in 3 basic types: Civilians, Professionals and Leaders. A band is made up of a combination of the 3 types usually to an agreed point value. All Survivors are assumed to have both a basic hand weapon and a pistol even if none are depicted on the figure. Civilian 2 points Shooting Fighting Wounds Courage Skill 5+ 1d6+3 1 3 4+ Weapon Loadout: 1 hand weapon and 1 basic ranged weapon. +1 point Upgrade their basic ranged weapon to a military ranged weapon. +1 point Add a pistol to their weapon loadout (this may mean they have 2 pistols). -1 point The civilian is armed only with a hand weapon and does not have any ranged weapons. +1 point Replace their hand weapon with a heavy hand weapon. +2 points Replace their hand weapon with a chainsaw. Professional 5 points Shooting Fighting Wounds Courage Skill 4+ 1d6+4 1 4 3+ Weapon Loadout: 1 hand weapon and 1 basic or military ranged weapon, 1 pistol. +1 point Add ballistic armour. This allows a 5+ saving throw vrs gunfire. +1 point Replace their hand weapon with a heavy hand weapon. +2 points Replace their hand weapon with a chainsaw. +4 points Replace their basic or military ranged weapon with a special military weapon note that this option can only be taken once for every 3 professional in the band. Leader 7 points 1 per band Shooting Fighting Wounds Courage Skill Experience 4+ 2x 1d6+4 1 4 2+ 2 Weapon Loadout: 1 hand weapon and 1 basic or military ranged weapon. +2 points Add ballistic armour. This allows a 5+ saving throw vrs gunfire. +1 point Replace their hand weapon with a heavy hand weapon. +2 points Replace their hand weapon with a chainsaw. +1 Point Backup pistol

Luck 1

The Turn Sequence

Initiative Spawn Survivor Move by initiative. Roll to remove Panic tokens. Shooting by initiative Zombie Move Hand-to-Hand

Initiative
Each player in the game rolls 1d6. The person who rolled the highest becomes the First Player.

If a player was the First Player in the previous turn, they deduct 1 from their roll.

Spawning
At the start of the game set out 6 inactive zombie spawning points. These are typically placed either at the edge of the board, or in locations that zombies could potentially lurk (ie the door to a basement morgue). The exact number and position is of course dependant on the scenario.

Activation Firstly roll 1d6 to see if one of the inactive spawning points becomes active:
On a 5-6: Activation! Roll randomly to determine which spawning point is activated. Add a cumulative +1 to the roll for each turn that there was no activation in the previous turn. On the first turn of the game one of the spawning points will automatically activate.

Spawn!
After rolling for Activation, roll 1d6 for each active spawning point: On a 5-6 place 1d6 Passive zombies within 2 of the spawning point facing into the board. Add +1 to the roll if there was any gunfire in the previous turn. Add +2 to the roll if there were any explosions in the previous turn.

Survivor Movement
Each player moves his or her band starting with the First Player and moving clockwise around the table. All survivors move at a rate of 6. This is considered fast movement. Feel free to walk if you want. A survivor starting their movement phase in base contact with an enemy is Locked in Combat and may not move unless they attempt to Break Away (see Hand-to-Hand below).

Skill Rolls
All survivors have a Skill Roll. This is rolled on a d6 if the survivor wished to perform any unusual action during their turn. This may include things like picking a lock, climbing a chain-link fence, using a radio, starting a vehicle, jumping across a gap etc. These rolls are generally made during the Movement phase, but often may also use the survivors Shooting phase as well. Popular consent among the players may modify this roll

Shooting
Each player shoots with each member of his or her band starting with the First Player and moving clockwise around the table. To fire a weapon at a target, simply choose a target, check theyre in range, and then roll equal to or above the firers Shooting value. Some weapons may allow multiple shots. Aiming: Add +1 to the to-hit roll if the survivor did not move during their activation. Add +1 to rolls when shooting at Zombies due to lack of self-preservation. Headshots! Any unmodified roll of a 6 when shooting at a Zombie automatically kills it. If the firer has aimed (see above) a head shot is caused on a 5 or 6. Example Jesse (a civilian) fires his gun at a zombie: Normally hed hit on a 5+. Because his target is a zombie however, he hits on a 4+. A 6 will result in a head shot automatically killing the creature. If Jesse had remained stationary during his turn, hed hit on a 3+ and a 5 or 6 would empty the zombies brain-pan.

Out of Ammo!
If a 1 is rolled when shooting, roll another d6: on a further roll of a 1 the weapon is permanently Out of Ammo unless a Resupply Token is used. If a Resupply Token is used the weapon must still be reloaded (see below).

Auto-fire and Reloading

Most modern weapons are able to fire a hail of lead either by holding the trigger down or simply pulling it quickly! When using auto-fire, the firer rolls a number of dice up to the weapons auto-fire value. Hits are caused on a 6 when shooting at survivors or 5-6 when shooting at zombies. When using auto-fire, 6s do not count as headshots and must roll to wound as normal. Weapons can normally only be auto-fired at half of their normal effective range. When rolling for auto-fire, if a single 1 is rolled then the weapon must be reloaded before it can be fired again. The survivor must spend an entire shooting phase reloading and may not fire any other weapons. They may still move however. If 2 or more 1s are rolled then the weapon is permanently Out of Ammo unless a Resupply Token is used. If a Resupply Token is used the weapon must still be reloaded (see above). Its perhaps worth noting again that a player does not have to roll the full number of dice when auto-firing. Blazing away with all 8 dice when using an SMG is fairly likely to empty the clip. Using only 5 dice may be a safer option!

Allocating Hits
When rolling multiple hits particularly after auto-fire, a player may spread them among his enemies. The initial target fired at must take the first hit. Every hit after the first may be allocated to a different enemy as long as they are within 1 of the previous target hit. This means that a player could potentially chain 6 hits along a line of 6 zombies as long as each was within 1 of the last.

Wounding
After hitting a target, roll to wound: Zombies are wounded by a standard attack on a d6 roll of a 5+. Most zombies have 1 wound only. If a zombie is not wounded it is knocked back 1 (for each hit) Survivors are wounded by a standard attack on a d6 roll of a 4+. Some weapons (ie shotguns) modify this roll.

Firing (or throwing) Blast weapons

When shooting a blast weapon or throwing a grenade, nominate a target point and roll a scatter dice. The blast template will be on target on the result of a Hit. If an arrow is rolled, the template will drift 1d3 in the direction of the arrow on ranges under 12, or 1d6 on ranges of 12 or over. Professionals and leaders may elect to reroll the scatter dice BEFORE the drift dice is rolled.

Firing in Hand-to-Hand
A survivor in base contact with an enemy is Locked in Combat and may not fire their weapon (see below). Survivors may only fire into a melee if none of the combatants are friendlies. Any hits from this fire are randomised.

Some Weapons
Range Basic Ranged Weapons Pistol Double Barrelled Shotgun Pump-action Shotgun Hunting Rifle Military Ranged Weapons SMG Assault Rifle Auto Shotgun Special Military Weapons Sniper Rifle Grenade Launcher Light Machine Gun 1-shot antitank weapon Flame thrower 12 18 18 24 12 24 18 36 24 24 24 6 Shots 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Autofire 4 at 6 2 at 18#* 2 at 18* 8 at 12 6 at 12 4 at 12 * 8 at 24 Notes

+1 to wound rolls up to 6 range. +1 to wound rolls up to 6 range. +2 when aiming instead of +1.

+1 to wound rolls up to 6 range +1 to wound rolls. +2 when aiming instead of +1. +1 to wound rolls. 3 Blast. +1 to wound vehicles +2 to wound rolls (+ 5 against vehicles). 5 Blast. + 1 to wound vehicles

* roll of 6 counts as headshot on autofire. # Must reload after firing twice

Resupply tokens and Grenades

At the start of a game, each survivor band is generally given up to 6 Resupply Tokens. Each of these tokens represents spare ammo and is considered spread amongst the group. They are not allocated to a particular survivor, but instead placed in a common pool. Whenever a weapon is permanently out of ammo, a token may be discarded and the weapon reloaded as normal next turn. When Resupply Tokens are distributed at the start of the game, they may instead be exchanged for grenades on a 1-for-1 basis. Unlike the tokens, grenades ARE allocated to a particular survivor. If the owner of the grenade is killed, and looting is allowed in the scenario, an unused grenade is placed on the board and may be picked up by a passer-by. Grenades may be given to any of the survivor band, and are not limited to professionals or the leader. Grenade range : D6+6 . If it falls short of target, it will scatter at the furthest point. Grenades come in 3 types: Fragmentation, Molotov, and Smoke: Range 6 6 6 Shots 1 1 1 Notes 3 Blast. +1 to wound rolls. 3 Blast. Molotov templates linger d6 turns (use a dice). Roll to wound any figure passing through. 3 Blast. A smoke cloud will last 6 turns (use a dice) and will provide 4+ cover from any shots passing through.

Fragmentation Grenade Molotov Smoke

Zombie Movement
Zombies move at 2 different rates: Passive: 1d6 Active: 1d3+4 Zombies enter the board in a passive state. Passive zombies are moved in the Zombie Movement Phase in one of 2 ways.

1: Random Movement
Passive zombies will move in a random direction within their front 180. Roll a scatter dice to determine the direction. If the arrow points outside of the Zombies front arc, then simply move them in the opposite direction.

2: Player Moved
The second and perhaps simplest way is to allow the players to move the zombies. Starting with the player who moved and fired LAST and moving anti-clockwise, each player takes it in turn choosing a group of Passive zombies, rolling for their movement and then moving them as they see fit. As soon as a group of zombies changes to an Aggressive state, then see the rules below.

Passive to Aggressive
Passive zombies have a vision and hearing range of 24. Vision: If a survivor moves into a zombies front 180 arc and within 24 the zombie and the group they are part of will become Aggressive. Hearing: Any gunfire or other loud noises within 24 will cause a zombie group to become Aggressive. Hand-to-hand combat, doors slamming, looting and other noises will attract any zombies within 12. Grenade blasts and other explosions are likely to attract any zombies on the board

Moving Aggressive Zombies

Any group of Aggressive zombies within 12 of survivors MUST move towards their prey. If a group of zombies has several visible survivor groups within 12 then they may be moved towards any of their targets not necessarily the closest. If using random movement then roll a dice to decide. If using player movement then the player who activates the group may decide. Any Aggressive zombies outside of 12 but within 24 must move primarily towards any visible prey (see above). If an Aggressive zombie group has no visible prey, it will move towards the sound of any combat (or other loud noises) that occurred last turn (see Hearing above). If an Aggressive zombie group loses sight of its prey and there were no sounds of combat or loud noises in the previous turn, then they will become Passive.

Hand-to-Hand Combat
To resolve a hand-to-hand combat each participant rolls their Fighting score (ie a professional would roll 1d6+4, a leader would roll 1d6+4 twice and use both results). The combatant with the highest result is the winner, and rolls to wound their opponent. Most zombies have a Fighting score of 1d6+2. A model with multiple Fighting dice (ie a leader) rolls to wound for each result that is higher than their opponents highest roll. Example: 2 leaders Jed and Zeke are facing off over a pile of assorted loot. Each rolls 2d6 and adds +4 to each dice. Jed rolls a 3 and a 4. He adds 4 to each, resulting in a 7 and an 8. Zeke rolls a 2 and a 6. Again, after adding 4, this results in a 6 and a 10. Zeke wins with one roll higher than Jed. He rolls once to wound. If his roll of a 2 had instead been a 5 (resulting in a 9), he would have hit with both attacks and rolled twice to wound.

Drawn Rolls
If 2 survivors are fighting each other, drawn totals result in a miss. No wound rolls are made. Because of their lack of self-preservation however, zombies always win drawn combats!

Wounding
After winning a combat and hitting a target, roll to wound: Zombies are wounded by a standard attack on a d6 roll of a 5+. Most zombies have 1 wound only. Survivors are wounded by a standard weapon or zombie attack on a d6 roll of a 4+. Some weapons may modify this roll or allow several rolls. Knock Back! If a survivor wins a combat, after rolling to wound they may elect to move their opponent/s 1 back and out of base-to-base contact.

Large Combats
The simplest way to handle large combats of several models on a side is to divide the melee into several smaller combats of a single figure facing one or more opponents.

Multiple Opponents
If a combatant is facing several opponents, roll the attacks for each survivor or zombie involved. The side that wins the combat rolls to wound for each result that is higher than their opponents highest roll. Example: Jesse (a civilian) is surrounded and attacked by 3 zombies. Jesse rolls his 1d6+3. This results in a total of 6. The zombies each roll their 1d6+2. This results in a 4, a 6, and an 8. Because zombies always win draws, Jesse is hit by 2 attacks and the zombies roll twice to wound

Locked in Combat and Breaking Away

Any survivor who ends the Hand-to-Hand phase with their base in contact with an enemy is Locked in Combat. They must remain locked and may not act during the next movement and shooting phases unless they attempt to Break Away. Breaking Away is attempted during the survivors movement phase. Each enemy may roll ONCE to wound the survivor as if they had hit them in hand-to-hand. If they survive this onslaught, they may move away, and act in the shooting phase as normal.

Some Weapons
Hand weapon Heavy hand weapon Notes Baseball bats, hatchets etc. Nuff said. +1 to wound rolls. Sledge hammer, weed whacker etc. Survivors armed with heavy weapons will loose drawn combats against other survivors. +2 to wound rolls. The user adds 1 less to their Fighting roll than normal (ie Civilian = 1d6+2) but may add up to 4 extra dice (ie Civilian = up to 4x 1d6+2) Like auto-fire, the weapon will jam if a single 1 is rolled, and will be Out of Gas if 2 or more 1s are rolled (see above). The chainsaw may be refuelled with a Resupply Token. Wins drawn combat against zombies. -1 to wound rolls. Broken bottles, knives, brick-in-a-sock etc. Surely no-one would be foolish enough to use such a weapon

Chainsaw

Improvised weapon

Experience and Luck

Survivor leaders have two extra stats: Experience and Luck. Each of these is a resource that is used during the game:

Experience
Each point of Experience can be used once per game to add +1 to the result of ANY 1 dice rolled by the leader. This could, for example, change a shooting roll of a 5 to a 6 causing a headshot on a zombie.

Luck
Each point of Luck can be used once per game to allow the leader to cancel any wound taken on a roll of 4+ on a d6. An Experience point can be used on this roll. It is also worth noting that a Luck roll is made after any armour save is made.

Courage and Panic

During a game while facing undead horrors, survivors will need to make courage tests. The test is made simply by rolling 1d6 and adding the survivors courage score. A result of 6 or over is a pass. Courage checks are made in the following situations: A survivor is shot at. A survivor is hit by gunfire and survives check at -1. A friendly survivor is killed within 12 and in line of sight. A friendly survivor is killed by gunfire within 6 and in line of sight check at -1. A friendly survivor is torn apart by zombies within 6 and in line of sight check at -2. Checks caused by gunfire are made at the end of the firing players shooting phase. Ie a player takes all of his or her shots before their opponent/s have to roll their courage checks. This may result in some of a players survivors being unable to take their actions Checks caused by hand-to-hand casualties are all rolled at the end of the hand-to-hand phase.

Results
If a survivor passes a test then they may react as normal in their next movement phase. If a survivor fails a test then the following occurs: Place a Panic Token beside the survivor. If the test was caused by gunfire in their next turn they MUST move towards the nearest hard or complete cover available. Assuming of course that the cover does not obviously shelter enemies! Once in cover they will hunker down out of sight and will not shoot (though they may reload). If a survivor is already sheltering behind cover they will hunker down where they stand. If the test was caused by zombies then the survivor will move at full speed away from the zombies to try and get out of line of sight. Once out of sight, the survivor will try to hide (see below). In either case, if the survivor does not reach cover after fleeing they may NOT fire. Theyre too busy running for their lives!

Panicked Survivors in Hand-to-Hand

A Panicking survivor is at a -1 penalty in hand-to-hand. A panicked survivor in hand-to-hand MUST attempt to Break Away during their next movement.

Removing Panic Tokens

At the end of each movement phase roll an unmodified courage test for each panicked survivor on the board. On a success (6+), remove the token. The survivor may now act as normal.

Retreat
As this is a dark apocalyptic future where bands of survivors are slowly whittled down, there are no checks to see if a band retreats at a certain threshold. A player may fight to the last man or sensibly retreat as they see fit.

Other uses for Courage

Players may come up with other possible uses for a courage roll pulling the pin on a grenade when being overrun by zombies, running through flames, etc. As players are of course fair minded individuals, popular consent may modify this roll.

Climbing, Jumping and Falling

Climbing and jumping require skills tests. Climbing skill checks are made for every 3 of surface climbed (3 per turn). Modifiers can be made for easier or difficult climbs as appropriate (eg easy climb such as scaffolding +1, hard climb such as sheer brick wall, -1) If the test is failed by 1-2 the climber cant move, if failed by 3+ they fall (which counts as cant move if they are less than 3 off the ground) Jumping tests are made for any jump greater than 1, with a -1 to the test for each extra inch and + 1 for a soft landing (eg rubbish pile, canvas awning etc..) Falls of 3 or more = Wounded on a roll of a 6. +1 for each inch over 3 fallen, -1 for soft landing. No armour saves allowed (except luck).

Vehicles Targeting a vehicle increases in difficulty with its speed: To hit: Stationary vehicle 2+ Moving 1-6 3+ Moving 6-12 4+ Moving 12+ 5+ +1 to hit large vehicle (truck/tank) Damaging vehicles: Civilian vehicle (car,van) damaged on 6+ Heavy Vehicle (Truck, tractor) damaged on 7+ Military vehicle (Hum Vee) damaged on 8+ Tank damaged on 9+ Vehicle damage depends on how much higher than the minimum damage roll was scored Vehicle damage 0 Control loss, control test needed each turn (-1 at speeds greater than 12 1 Immobilised, vehicle automatically out of control. Slows as if braking, cannot be restarted 2 Wrecked, comes to a halt within D6 in random direction (if moving). Occupants wounded on 4+ 3 Explodes, occupants wounded on 2+. D3 inch blast radius, zombies and survivors in range wounded on 5+

Vehicle Movement: Vehicles accelerate as per their ACC stat, and brake at twice their ACC. The have a maximum movement rate. Eg Car Max speed 20 ACC 5 Truck Max Speed 16 ACC 3 Tank Max Speed 12 ACC 3

Turning vehicle must be moved in a realistic manner. Up to 12 it is unrestricted. Moving faster than 12 requires a skill check for each 90 turn made. Failure = loss of control.

Collisions cause damage by rolling a D6 and adding speed level modifier: 1-6 +1 6-12 +2 12-18 +3 18+ +4 Head on collisions add speed level modifier of both vehicles. Collision with immobile object +2 to damage roll Ramming skill check to hit each model rammed. Wounds as normal (4+ survivors, 5+ zombies) + the speed level modifiers. A roll of 1 for a skill check = loose control Loss of Control: Roll a scatter dice as per random zombie movement. Vehicle moves in that direction at its current speed. Each additional turn of control loss, movement slows by 1 ACC level. If the vehicle was moving faster than 12, on a scatter dice roll of Hit is made, the vehicle rolls current move and counts as hitting immobile object.