Any fool can charge the enemy with an axe. Killing quickly and efficiently though, that's the thing that takes guts and skill. And with zombies, well, not every hit will do the trick. Hack a man's arm off, and he's down for the count. Hack a zombie's arm off, and he can still get you with t'other. You gotta be swift and sure, or you'll wind up as one of them.
When a Survivor executes a Melee, Ranged or Magic Action to attack Zombies, roll as many dice as the Dice number of the weapon (or Combat spell) being used.
If the active Survivor has two identical weapons or Combat spells with the Dual symbol equipped in Hands, he can use both weapons at the same time at the cost of a single Action. For Ranged and Magic Actions, both weapons/spells must be aimed at the same Zone.
EXAMPLE 1: Silas has two Repeating Crossbows in his Hands. The Repeating Crossbow has the Dual symbol, so Silas can shoot them both simultaneously. This allows him to roll 6 dice in a single Ranged Action, as each Repeating Crossbow has a Dice value of 3!
EXAMPLE 2: Samson is holding two Daggers. As they are identical weapons with the Dual symbol, he can strike with them both at once. In theory, he would roll 2 dice (one for each Dagger). However, each Dagger gives a bonus of +1 Die to another handheld Melee weapon. The bonus here is reciprocal, so each Dagger has a Dice value of 2, for a total of 4 dice in Dual wielding!
Three Hands?
Putting the proper Equipment card in his Body space, a Survivor could effectively be considered as having three cards equipped in Hand. For obvious reasons, he can only use two of them at any given time. Choose any combination of two among these three before resolving Actions or rolls involving the Survivor.
Each die result that equals or exceeds the Accuracy number of the weapon scores a successful hit.
Each hit inflicts the amount of Damage specified by the Damage value of the weapon to a single target.
Walkers, Runners and Necromancers are killed with a 1 Damage hit (or more).
Fatties are killed with a 2 Damage hit (or more). It does not matter how many hits you obtain with a weapon that inflicts 1 Damage. A Fatty will absorb the hits without flinching.
Abominations are killed with a 3 Damage hit (or more). As no weapon naturally has Damage 3 in Zombicide: Black Plague, you have to destroy the monster with Dragon Fire or with Samson using a Damage 2 Melee weapon in conjunction with his +1 Damage: Melee Skill.
EXAMPLE: Silas unloads his two Repeating Crossbows on three Walkers guarding a Fatty and scores five hits. The first three shots easily blow away the Walkers. However, the Fatty takes the two remaining hits with no consequences, as the Repeating Crossbow inflicts only 1 Damage.
Ann arrives to finish the job with her Hammer. She only hits once, but the Hammer inflicts 2 Damage, which is enough to crush that Fatty down!
If there had been two Runners instead of a Fatty, a single hit with the Hammer would not have eliminated the two Runners. Each successful hit can only take out one target, and any remaining Damage is overkill and wasted.
Melee Action
A Survivor holding a Melee weapon (a weapon with a max Range of "0") in Hand can attack a Zombie in his own Zone. Each die roll equal or higher than the Accuracy value on the weapon's card is a successful hit. The player divides his hits as he wishes among the possible targets in the Zone.
Missed melee strikes cannot cause Friendly Fire.
EXAMPLE: Samson attacks a Walker, a Runner, and a Fatty with his Sword. He rolls a 5 and 6, which means two hits. He decides to kill the Runner and the Walker, as the Sword's Damage value is not high enough to kill the Fatty. Though Clovis is also in the same Zone, he is safe from Samson's slashes.
Ranged Action
A Survivor holding a Ranged weapon (a weapon with a max Range of "1" or more) in Hand can shoot at a Zone he can see and that is within the weapon's Range.
Remember:
Inside a building, the Line of Sight is limited to the Zones that share an opening and just one Zone away. Missed shots can cause Friendly Fire (see Page 34), so aim carefully!
The Range of a weapon, indicated by the Range value on its card, is the number of Zones it can shoot across.
The first of the two values shows the minimum Range. The weapon may not shoot at Zones closer than the minimum. In some cases this is 0, meaning the Survivor can shoot at targets in the Zone he currently occupies (it is still a Ranged Action).
The second value shows the maximum Range of the weapon. A weapon cannot fire at Zones beyond the maximum Range.
EXAMPLE: The Longbow has a Range of 1-3, which means it can shoot up to three Zones away but can't be used in the same Zone as the Survivor. The Hand Crossbow has a Range of 0-1, which means it can shoot targets in its owner's current Zone or at an adjacent Zone.
When a Zone is chosen for a Ranged Action, ignore any Actors in the Zones between the shooter and the target. This means Survivors may shoot through occupied Zones without danger to either fellow Survivors or Zombies.
A Survivor can even shoot at another Zone while Zombies stand on his own!
Targeting Priority Order
When using a Ranged weapon (even at Range 0), the shooting Survivor does not choose the targets hit by successful rolls. Hits are assigned to Actors in the targeted Zone according to this targeting priority order:
Walker
Fatty or Abomination (the shooter chooses)
Runner
Necromancer
The hits are assigned to targets of the lowest priority until they've all been eliminated, then to targets of the next priority until they've all been eliminated, and so on. If several targets share the same Targeting Priority Order, players choose the targets hit among them.
| Targeting priority | Name | Actions | Min damage to destroy | Experience points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walker | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Fatty / Abomination (1) | 1 | 2/3 | 1/5 |
| 3 | Runner | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Necromancer | 1 | 1 | 1 |
(1) Abomination: Ignore Armor rolls.
EXAMPLE: Armed with two Hand Crossbows (Range 0-1, Dice 2, Accuracy 3+, Damage 1, Dual Ranged weapons), Nelly shoots at two Walkers, a Fatty and two Runners standing one Zone away. She rolls 4 dice (two for each Hand Crossbow, Dual weapons) and obtains: 6, 5 , 3 and 1. The Hand Crossbows hit on 3, 4, 5 or 6, which means three hits. The first two kill both Walkers, as they get the highest Targeting Priority Order. The last hit lands on the Fatty, but doesn't kill it: a Damage value of 2 is required to eliminate a Fatty.
Friendly Fire
A Survivor can't hit himself with his own attacks. However, emergency situations can call for a Ranged or Magic Action aimed at a Zone where a teammate is stuck. In that case, misses on the attack roll automatically land on Survivors standing in the target Zone. Assign these Friendly Fire hits in any way you want.
Armor rolls are allowed, successes cancelling Friendly Fire hits on a one-to-one basis. Each remaining Friendly Fire hit on the Survivor inflicts as many Wounds as the Damage value of the weapon (or Combat spell) used.
Remember: Friendly Fire doesn't apply to Melee Actions.
Killing a Survivor earns no experience.
EXAMPLE 1: Baldric shoots with a Crossbow (Dice 2, Accuracy 4+, Damage 2) at a Zone containing Clovis and two Walkers. He rolls 5 and 2: one hit and one miss! The hit kills a Walker, and the miss means a bolt hits his fellow Survivor. Clovis takes 2 Wounds. Ouch.
EXAMPLE 2: In an emergency, Nelly casts a dual Mana Blast (Dice 1+1, Accuracy 4+, Damage 1) at a Zone where Ann and a Runner stand. She rolls 5 and 6, two successes! One is enough to kill the Runner. The other success is lost. Only missed shots are assigned to Survivors, so Ann is safe.
EXAMPLE 3: Samson shoots a Hand Crossbow (Range 0-1, Dice 2, Accuracy 3+, Damage 1) in his own Zone, where he stands along Silas and two Walkers. He rolls 3 and 1 , a success and a miss. The success kills a Walker. The botched bolt automatically lands on Silas, as a Survivor can't hit himself with his own attacks. Silas endures a Wound.
Reloadable Weapons
While most weapons can be used repeatedly, a few, like the Hand Crossbow and Orcish Crossbow (when used for Ranged Actions), require spending an Action to reload them between shots if you want to fire multiple times in the same Game Round.
You can turn the card upside down to remember the weapon is empty and needs a reload to fire again. At the End Phase of the Game Round, all such weapons are freely reloaded, so that they always start the Round ready to fire.
If such a weapon is fired and passed to another Survivor without reloading, it must still be reloaded before the new owner can use it in the same Game Round.
When equipped with two identical Dual weapons that require reloading, a single Action reloads both.
Survivors may fire a single Dual reloadable weapon at a Zone and then execute another Ranged Action to fire at another Zone with the other Dual reloadable weapon.
EXAMPLE: Nelly holds two Hand Crossbows at the beginning of her Turn. She unloads them both with her first Action, reloads them with her second Action, then fires them off again with the third. The Hand Crossbows are empty.
At the End Phase, both Hand Crossbows are reloaded for free.
Magic Action
A Survivor equipped with a Combat spell (a spell with combat characteristics) in Hand can blast a Zone he can see (and within the spell's Range). Magic Actions share the same rules as Ranged Actions.
Dragon Fire
A Dragon Bile card can be discarded from Hand to put a Dragon Bile pool at Range 0-1 of the Survivor.
Later, a Torch card can be discarded from Hand to ignite a Dragon Bile pool at Range 0-1 and create a Dragon Fire: every Actor in the token's Zone is killed, no matter its Damage threshold, Armor values or remaining Wounds. A Dragon Fire produces no Noise.
The Dragon Bile pool is then removed, and the Survivor who threw the Torch earns all experience points.
Use Dragon Fire to set blazing Zombie traps! If all Dragon Bile tokens are already on the board and you need to set a new one, choose one of them and move it to the new Zone.
Step 1: Surrounded by Zombies, Ann throws a Dragon Bile bottle in her own Zone. A Dragon Bile token is set. Then Ann Moves away.
Step 2: All Zombies moved to chase Ann. The nun now throws her Torch in the Dragon Bile: Dragon Fire! All Zombies in the token's Zone are eliminated. Burn! Ann earns all experience points!
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