Article updated: 2017.03.11
After a few games of Zombicide Season 1 board game from Guillotine Games company & CoolMiniOrNot company, we have introduced some house rules that fit our gaming style better. In this article I list these rules we use for our games.
Zombicide without the card deck
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House rules
I prefer a simulationist / immersive approach instead of the gamist one the original Zombicide rules use.
Melee weapons open doors: Allow breaking a door with a melee weapon on a roll of 5+. Every attempt creates a Noise. You could probably allow breaking it with a roll of 6 even without weapons.
Roll for zombie splitting: The original rule says you need to add bonus miniatures if their is an odd number of zombies in a group that splits. I'd say on a roll of 1-3 the odd one join the first group, otherwise it joins the second. For the matter I'd prefer to choose the direction of the whole group this way if I'd run a Walking Dead version of Zombicide.
No search in the starting zone: If you want to equip them, allow a few draws from the equipment cards. I think it's stupid to spend 10-20 minutes with drawing cards, while allowing zombies to spawn in a safe house due to Aaargh! (surprise zombie) cards.
Remaining equipment: When a character dies, you put the miniature on its side but it remains on the board. If another character is in the same zone, it can take equipment that is still on the character.
Optional rules
These are experimental rules we sometimes use in our games.
To see the optional rules that make the game easier to complete, or to run as a game master, read: Running game demos - Zombicide
Slow exploration: When you open a building, you draw a card only for the first room. When you enter a room, you draw one card for each adjacent room you can see into. The first version was that you draw a card when you enter a room, but one of the players was vehemently against it. That way it would have allowed the instant kill of a character that would enter without enough actions to get out or without backup - I still think it's a good idea as it would force players to plan ahead.
Looted area: The area is considered already looted, so players can't search. You can set the whole playing area looted, or just specific tiles or buildings.
Limited loot: You put a Loot counter in every area you'd like to. I recommend buildings. If someone searches the area, remove the Loot counter, and draw from the equipment deck. If you have a Flashlight, you can rule either that the player draws two cards and keep both, or they have to discard one of them. If you'd like to, you can set different Loot counters for different equipment - one for shooting weapons that can be found in police cars, military or police buildings, and other equipment that can be found anywhere.
Increased shooting range: If you shoot farther than the range indicated on your firearm, decrease the chance of hitting the target for every zone beyond that. So if you have a Pistol that shoots 4+ for a range of 1, you get 5+ for a range of 2, and 6+ for a range of 3.
Phil, the sheriff starts as a sniper: Instead of getting a bonus pistol, Phil gets the Sniper skill. So, instead of killing team members with shooting attacks, Phil can pick his target. Advantage: I think this rule is more fitting for a policeman than just having a pistol, and the team gets a starting pistol anyway they can give to Phil.
Phil, the sheriff starts with a rifle: Instead of a pistol, Phil gets a range 1-3 shooting weapon. If you use the Commando squad rules from the demo options, Phil starts with a pistol and also a rifle. Advantage: This gives the player more chance to shoot zombies from a distance.
Zombicide without the card deck
There was an event when I left all of my Zombicide cards at home, so I had to come up with a solution.
Using dice rolls instead of drawing cards will give slightly different odds, because with the cards you are limited by the number of cards. However, if you do have the cards, and you just roll, and search for the card, if there are no more cards of that type, you can just roll another time. Beside the name of the card I'll show the limit of them in the game decks.
Wounds: Just put a marker on the survivor sheet.
Equipment: We use the Commando squad rules - every survivor gets a pistol and a crowbar. The area is considered plundered, so you cannot Search. The items are shown on the map as objectives.
If you intend to use the original chances, here is an approximation:
Season 1 (d6)
1 - Resources (d6): 1-2: Canned Food (3), 3-4: Bag of Rice (3), 5-6: Water (3)
2 - Tools (d6): 1: Crowbar (1), 2: Flashlight (2), 3: Goalie Mask (1), 4: Scope (2), 5: Gasoline (2), 6: Glass Bottles (2)
3 - Melee weapons (d6): 1-2: Baseball Bat (2), 3-5: Machete (4), 6: Katana (2)
4 - Ranged weapons (d6): 1-2: Pistol (2), 3-4: Rifle (2), 5-6: Plent of Ammo (Light) (3)
5 - Ranged weapons (d6): 1-3: Sawed Off (4), 4: Shotgun (2), 5-6: Plenty of Ammo (Heavy) (3)
6 - Special (d6): 1: Fire Axe (1), 2: Chain Saw (2), 3: Sub MG (2), 4-6: Aaahh! (4)
Zombie generation: Use dice to come up with chances you feel fitting. On the demos we usually only reach the Yellow level, before the game ends.
Season 1 (d6)
- Blue level: 1-2: Nothing, 3-5: 1 Walker, 6: Special - 1-3: 2 Walker, 4-5: Fatty, 6: Extra special - 1-3: 1 Runner, 4-5: 1 Sewer Walker, 6: Abomination
- Yellow level: 1: 1 Walker, 2: 2 Walker, 3: 3 Walker, 4: 4 Walker, 5: Runner - 1-3: 1 Runner, 4-6: 2 Runner, 6: Special - 1: Fatty, 2: Abomination, 3 Sewers ( 1-3: 2 Sewer Walker, 4-6: 1 Sewer Runner ), 4: Extra activation - Walker, 5: Extra activation - Runner, 6: Extra activation - Fatty
Resources
Teri Litorco (for Geek & Sundry): Home Brew Rules: Some good addition to the original Zombicide rules.
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Buying the product
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What do you think of these optional rules for Zombicide Season 1? Did you try them? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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