A Set of Rules for Combining Frag and Zombies!!!

by Philip Reed

"Frag Zombies!!!" is a rule set that combines Steve Jackson Games' computerless first-person shooter Frag with Journeyman Press' B-movie action boardgame Zombies!!!. To use these rules you will need both games. The Frag expansion Death Match, while useful (for the extra Frag cards), is not necessary to play.

Frag Zombies!!! is played with primarily the Frag rules though the zombies, humans, Map Tiles, and Card Event Deck from Zombies!!! are all used during play. When these rules conflict with the Frag rules these rules take precedence.

Using Death Match with Frag Zombies!!! All of the specials are, of course, removed from play. You must also remove the following cards from the decks before play begins. Weapons Mine Dropper Tranquilizer Pistol Gadgets Heat Shield Key Cards (all colors) Wall? What Wall? None of the Death Match rules should be used in a Frag Zombies!!! game.

Game Components

To play Frag Zombies!!! you will be using:

• Frag rules
• Zombies!!! Map Tiles
• Zombies!!! Event Card Deck
• Frag Weapon and Gadget Card Decks
• Zombies!!! zombie figures and "pawns"
• Zombies Life and Bullet Tokens
• Lots of six-sided dice
• A copy of the Frag Fighter Sheet for each player. Go here for a free PDF.
• These rules.

Setup

All players roll to see who goes first (as in the Frag rules). The winner also removes the Heliport and Town Square tiles from the Map Tiles. As in Zombies!!!, the Town Square is placed in the center of the table and the Heliport is placed at the bottom of the Map Tiles after they are shuffled and placed face down.

The Weapons, Gadgets, and Zombies!!! Event Deck are shuffled and each player is dealt one card from each deck. The Frag Specials cards are not used in Frag Zombies!!! and should be set out of the way. The following cards are removed from the Gadget deck.

Gadgets

• Energy Reflector
• Energy Shield
• Fireproof Coating
• Personal Teleporter
• Phase Shift
• Power Leap

Each player selects a pawn and places it in the center space on the Town Square tile. This is the only space in the game where more than one player is allowed to be at a time. This is also the only respawn point where fragged players reappear as the game progresses.

Sequence of Play

Each turn a player may do each of the following (in order):

• Check for Respawn: If you are currently fragged and out of play, respawn in the center space at Town Square.
• Place New Map Tile: Map Tiles are placed in play exactly as they are in Zombies!!!; see the Zombies!!! rules for details.
• Movement/Power-Up/Attack: As in Frag, this may happen in any order until the player runs out of movement and attacks. See box "Power-Ups" for how powering up works in Frag Zombies!!! Movement is modified from the standard Frag rules (see below) while attacking works in the same way as Frag.
• Zombies Move: The player to the right of the current player rolls 1d6 and moves that many zombies one space on the game board.
• Zombies Attack: Any zombies in spaces adjacent to the fighter (or in the same space) automatically attack now. The player to the right of the current player handles any zombie attacks for this turn. See Zombies, below, for detailed information on zombie combat and other tasty rules regarding zombies.
• Finish: Tell the next player that it's his turn. As in Frag, play proceeds clockwise.

Power-Ups On the standard Frag maps power-ups are indicated on the map with a gadget or weapon symbol. Frag Zombies!!! uses a similar method but since it is played on the Zombies!!! Map Tiles the Life and Bullet tokens from the game are used instead of the Frag power-up symbols. To use Life and Bullet tokens place them on a newly drawn tile as you would in a normal game of Zombies!!! A player moving over a space with a Life or Bullet token rolls for power-up as he normally would in Frag using life tokens as gadget spaces and bullet tokens as weapon spaces. These tokens are removed from play whenever a player successfully powers-up using one of them.

Too Many Frags! If a player frags more than 5 zombies in a single turn he collects all of the frags but may only draw five cards from the Event Deck. A player who frags more than 10 zombies in a single turn gains 2 blood points. How he gained them we leave to the imagination of the players.

Fragging Other Players Though fragging other players does not achieve either of the two goals needed to win and you don't gain any cards, there are still plenty of good reasons to frag another player when the opportunity presents itself. A player has more zombie frags than you do and you want to slow him down. There aren't any zombies in the immediate area and not fragging something on your turn would be a complete waste. A player is about to win by reaching the Heliport. Fragging him sends him back to Town Square. Players are likely to have countless other reasons to frag another player. A fragged player may still play cards on himself and other players. When a player is fragged, all of his gadgets and weapons in play are dropped on the space where he was fragged. Use the rules from Frag. There just isn't enough stuff in this town for it to disappear when a player is fragged. Unlike Zombies!!!, a player who is sent back to the Town Square does not lose any of his collected zombies.

Movement

Unlike Frag, fighters in Frag Zombies!!! only move a number of spaces during their turn equal to their Speed attribute. This distance can be modified with Gadget and/or Event Cards. There is no jumping in Frag Zombies!!!

Unlike in Zombies!!!, moving into a space with a zombie does not stop your movement. As in Frag, you may move through these occupied spaces.

Doors in Frag Zombies!!! are always open and do not block LOS. How else would all of those zombies be loose in so many buildings at once?

Movement is otherwise treated identically as in Frag.

Zombies

Zombie Pool: The zombie pool is the number of zombies remaining to be placed on the map tiles. At the start of the game, the zombie pool is all 100 plastic zombies included in the Zombies!!! game. As zombies are placed on the map tiles the pool decreases. Fragged zombies do not return to the pool but are instead hoarded by the player who made the frag. Fragging zombies is one of the ways to win the game (see Winning the Game, below).

Zombies in Combat: All zombies have Health 1 and can only attack an opponent in an adjacent space (they have no ranged attack abilities). Zombies do not roll dice to hit (all zombie attacks are automatic hits) and they roll 2 dice for damage.

Zombie Stacking: Unlike the fighters, any number of zombies may end a turn in a space or may even end a turn in the same space as a fighter. The cards This Isn't So Bad and Zombie Master may not be used to stack zombies in a space.

The Zombies!!! Card Event Deck

In Frag Zombies!!!, the Zombies!!! Card Event Deck takes the place of the Frag specials deck. Each player starts with one card from the Card Event Deck and earns an additional card for each zombie frag they make. Fragging other players does not earn a player cards. As in Frag, a player may not have more than five cards in his hand at the end of his turn. A player may have, in play, no more than 3 cards from the Event Deck at any time. Activating one of these in play cards does not count as playing a card for that turn.

A lot of the cards in Zombies!!! are easy to use with the Frag rules and don't require any special rules. For those cards and rules that do need some modification and clarification for a Frag game, the following will come in handy.

Generic Rules Applicable to Many Cards

• Combat Roll: When a Zombies!!! card states "add +X to a combat roll" add that number to the fighter's Accuracy for the number of combat rolls specified on the card. Example: Hey Look . . . A Shotgun! states "Target player gets a +1 to their next 3 combat rolls." which means, in Frag Zombies!!!, the player gains a +1 to his next three attack rolls.
• Double Movement: Cards that state "double movement" must be played at the beginning of a turn before movement. The player simply doubles his movement for that turn.

Rules for Specific Cards

Butter Fingers -- Play at any time. The target player must discard one card from his hand or already in play. Discard after use.

Chainsaw -- Play only when you are in the Lawn and Garden Center. For the remainder of the game you are considered to have a chainsaw weapon card in play that does not count against your weapon limit. Take one Chainsaw card from the weapon deck and place it beside your record sheet.

First Aid Kit -- Play only when you are in the Hospital or Drug Store. Roll 1d6 and collect that number of Blood Counters which you may use at any time during the game. Discard after use.

Grenade -- Play only when you are in the Army Surplus Store. This card remains in play and available until you are fragged or you choose to discard it. Discarding this card frags all zombies in a building. You score the frags (and draw one card from the Event Deck for each frag) but must also lose 1 Health.

I Don't Think They're Dead . . . -- Play at the beginning of any player's turn. That player must frag two zombies before the end of his turn or return two earlier fragged zombies to the zombie pool. Discard after use.

Lots of Ammo -- Play only when you are in the Sporting Goods Store. Discard this card to either reload all of your weapons in play or draw one weapon card. Discard after use.

Much Needed Rest -- Play at the beginning of your turn before movement. You do not move this turn but instead gain 2 Health (this may take you higher than your starting Health). Discard after use.

Skateboard -- Play only when you are in the Skate Shop. As long as this card is in play all of the player's movement is at +2. This card remains in play until the player is fragged.

Winning the Game

Much like the basic Zombies!! game, the primary goal of Frag Zombies!!! is to be the first player to reach the center square of the Heliport Map Tile. An alternate way of winning is to be the first player to frag 25 zombies. When a player achieves either of these two goals he instantly wins the game.

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Playtested by Michael Harris, Blake Smith, Andy Vetromile, and Lee Zaruba.

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Article publication date: October 26, 2001

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