PROMO SURVIVOR #4: EVA DURAN, THE ARTIST
DESIGNER'S NOTE #10
Eva
HISTORY
"Skill is a matter of life AND death."
Inspired and gifted, Eva was unsatisfied with her humble life as an accountant. Being part of the rank and file was like being a zombie to her. So, in her spare time, Eva danced, drew, sculpted and even took Japanese fencing lessons. Like everyone else, the zombie invasion changed Eva’s life: acting normal is now a nonsense and she feels more alive than ever. Extroverted and hyperactive, Eva is a messenger between survivors groups. No way she’s going to give up on her old activities: her notebook is full of sketches and that sword sure comes in handy.
SKILLS
Blue / Starts with a katana
Yellow / +1 Action
Orange A / Slippery
Orange B / Swordmaster
Red A / +1 free Combat Action
Red B / +1 to dice roll: Melee
Red C / +1 to dice roll: Ranged
GAMEPLAY
• Eva Duran is the dream Survivor for any player looking for a melee character with a fluid, neat and deadly style. The artist starts with a katana, whose two dice allows to quickly get rid of a zombie crowd. The experience points earned this way, along with what the team finds, then allows to specialize Eva at the Orange Level. You’re dreaming of dual-style katanas? Eva has it with the Swordmaster Skill. Any other melee weapon can do the trick but slightly changes her gameplay: used in pair, axes have less dice but more Damage against fatties. A chainsaw pair... and our graceful wardancer becomes a combine harvester. The Slippery Skill comes for an assassin’s gameplay, preferably with distinct weapons in each hand. In this case, the sub-
MG suits this. Whatever the choice you make for her, Eva becomes a mass murderer in endgame.
• Eva Duran is definitely a brawler. Melee is her obvious choice: if you take her along the bushido path, Eva will benefit from a quick and harmonious progression, especially with a katana in each hand. Going for a hybrid way or dropping melee for ranged combat is possible: her progression will be a bit slower but the final result will be the same. Anyway, the inventory is vast enough to hold a pair of katanas, two sub-
MG’s and Ma’s Shotgun, so why hold back?
• Eva is a great solo warrior but needs a team if she wants to cope with her two weaknesses. First, her playstyle isn’t really fit to 2-Damage rated weapons. So the artist mostly avoids fatties or leaves them to her more macho teammates. On the other hand, she doesn’t have team-oriented Skills like Born leader or Medic. She’s nevertheless a dream bodyguard and perfectly matches any support-oriented Survivor!
PROMO SURVIVOR #5: MARVIN REDFIELD, THE BODYGUARD
DESIGNER'S NOTE #11
Marvin
HISTORY
"Trust me and you’ll live."
Marvin Redfield’s mother always told her son he was born under a lucky star, that he was promised a great destiny. And she was right: the little boy was gifted with incredible luck. Yet Marvin didn’t ask for anything. Being left in peace was all he wanted. Marvin’s life was turned upside down the day his family was caught in a grisly accident. The boy was extracted from the rubbles without a scratch but was now an orphan.
Years flew by and Marvin became a bodyguard. As if to ward off the past, he used his luck to better protect his fellow Survivors. When the zombie apocalypse came, Marvin was not afraid for himself but for his friends.
Nowadays, Marvin scouts the city trying to save as much people as possible. His legendary luck hasn’t left him and gives him an aura of “redemption angel”: some people pray to him and beg him to find their lost ones amidst the death vortex. Marvin’s still cool: no way he’s going to become some kind of messiah. His dearest wish hasn’t changed since his childhood: all he wants is be left in peace.
SKILLS
Blue / Destiny
Yellow / +1 Action
Orange A / Loud
Orange B / Lucky
Red A / Born leader
Red B / +1 free Combat Action
Red C / +1 to dice roll: Combat
GAMEPLAY
• There’s no bad surprise with Marvin Redfield. Destiny, his starting Skill, allows him to Search without fearing of an unexpected zombie. Equipped with a flashlight, he becomes the one to quickly deliver quality material to the whole team. In this case, everybody wants to keep as close as possible to this bodyguard! At Orange Level, player’s choice of a new Skill is crucial for Marvin’s gameplay: with the Loud Skill, he becomes a great controller and can guide tides of zombies for the greater good. Lucky, he becomes a good fighter able to efficiently use luck-oriented weapons (chainsaw, sawed-off, sub-
MG). Red Level’s Skill choice is made according to the needs. In an extended team, Born leader allows a fellow Survivor to get away from a sticky situation with increased chances. The free Combat Action and the bonus to dice rolls really make Marvin a great fighter, according to his endgame arsenal.
• Marvin Redfield’s first game turns are mainly for Searching, so he finds good equipment for his allies and himself. Afterwards, the Destiny Skill is recommended for Search-oriented missions (finding some food, creating a Molotov, etc.) As aforementioned, Orange Level’s Skill choice has a great influence on Marvin’s abilities. Better choose Luck in a tight or veteran team and use the best from tricky weapons. In extended group or rookie team with noise management, the Loud Skill makes a difference. Whatever his Danger Level, Marvin can really act as an altruist Survivor and succeed all along. This last point mainly relies on the weapons he keeps in his inventory.
• Marvin Redfield is a cohesive team’s pillar, where his legendary luck makes him a great ally. Giving him a flashlight is a basic good practice to makes the best of his Destiny Skill. Afterwards, a smart team will leave him have a chainsaw and/or a pair of sub-
MG : he’s the best at using them at full potential. Marvin’s only weakness is his slowed experience gain compared to combat specialists. Time spent to search and distribute equipment is not spent to earn some precious XP! In this case, courtesy asks to let him take the objectives and use Molotov cocktails to catch up any delay he could have in experience.
PROMO SURVIVOR #3: NICK, THE BAD COP
DESIGNER'S NOTE #8
Nick
HISTORY
"I do things by the book, my book!"
Lieutenant Nicholas Walker has sometimes been bad, and always been lucky. Corrupt and cocksure, Nick gets his man, anyway he can, even if it means doing things a normal cop wouldn’t do. Bluffing and bullying his way through the streets of New York, this highly decorated officer has put away hundreds of criminals and lined his pockets discreetly while he was at it.
Now, with no more crime and money meaningless, he desperately searches for his wife, rescuing and helping other survivors in the vain hope that someone has seen her.
SKILLS
Blue / Tough
Yellow / +1 Action
Orange A / Slippery
Orange B / +1 die: Combat
Red A / +1 free Move Action
Red B / Born leader
Red C / Ninja
GAMEPLAY
• The best describing word for Nick is “reliable”. Enduring, fast and endowed with a versatile Skill tree, the bad cop has access to incredible career choices. From a game to another, he can be a silent killer, an officer or a high-class scout. Whatever the choices made, he’s a tough guy and can always endure the first wound he’s given. Besides the immediate gain of an increased endurance, this allows him to lock down the Abomination in the Zone he stands in and simply shrug off the damage it inflicts him every turn.
• Nick is ideally equipped with a ranged weapon in one hand and a melee weapon in the other. The Orange level Skill choice is crucial here. Slippery, he’ll go for a chainsaw and a Sub-
MG. With an additional die in Combat, he’ll favor a rifle (or better, a sniper rifle) with an axe.
• Nick is a Swiss army knife who can block an access for some time. When playing in group, he’ll stand just in the corner of your eye, from where he can brutally change his strategy and give some help to an endangered friend. The priority is to quickly give Nick some good equipment: he’ll use it good and long.
PROMO SURVIVOR #2: EL CHOLO
DESIGNER'S NOTE #7
El Cholo
HISTORY
"I’m not angry, I’ll show you angry… Joder!"
No one seems to know this gruff latino’s real name but everyone calls him
El Cholo.
Whether he minds, or even cares is unknown,
El Cholo rarely speaks, preferring to let his twin machetes do the talking. A hardened farmhand or possibly an ex-cartel enforcer, putting Zombies down at close quarters is
El Cholo's specialty, and damn! he's good at it. The survivors whisper stories of hopeless last stands and daring raids, and
El Cholo walking out covered in (someone else's) blood.
SKILLS
Blue / Starts with 2 machetes
Yellow / +1 Action
Orange A / +1 free Combat Action
Orange B / +1 die: Melee
Red A / +1 free Combat Action
Red B / +1 to dice roll: Combat
Red C / +1 Damage with machete
GAMEPLAY
• Starting with two machetes gives
El Cholo a serious advantage over Zombies, including fatties. He goes straight to the fray and leaves his companions the opportunity to search for weapons. His melee skills improves over Danger Levels. From Orange level and on, he becomes a one-man army and counterbalance the machete low Dice value with extra Actions.
El Cholo’s simple and heroic gameplay is great for every beginning player. No need to argue, he’s the tank.
•
El Cholo is a machete ace. Since he begins with a pair of them, he doesn’t really need to Search. He doesn’t decline a Goalie Mmask, however, as it increases his already great survival abilities in hand-to-hand fighting. If he still possesses his machetes at Red level, he’s even able to chop down the Abomination... A Molotov? Who needs that anymore? If an equipment swap is needed,
El Cholo is also great with a chainsaw and/or Sub
MGs, providing you choose the matching Skills.
•
El Cholo ain’t afraid to battle Zombie in close-combat but isn’t invulnerable. He has good synergies with shooters and those who quickly find equipment. His best friend will always be the sniper who’s able to shoot down lone targets (they hinder
El Cholo) and quick opponents (they can charge him).
PROMO SURVIVOR #1: DAVE
DESIGNER'S NOTE #6
Dave
HISTORY
"Yeah sure, take the shotgun if you want, I'll take the... AMMONIUM... NITRATE!"
As far as he remembers, Dave always found reality to be terribly boring. So he locked himself up in an imaginary world and learned piles of useless stuff... useless until now. Dave is a fount of knowledge. His chemistry mastery makes him look like a superhero amongst other survivors. At least until he opens this mouth, then everyone remembers he's a real geek.
SKILLS
Blue / 2 cocktails are better than 1
Yellow / +1 Action
Orange A / +1 re-roll per turn
Orange B / Slippery
Red A / +1 to dice roll: Ranged
Red B / +1 die: Ranged
Red C / Lucky
GAMEPLAY
• At first glance, Dave seems like an underdog. Going up close and personal doesn't suit his fancies. He follows other Survivors, does the searching after they’ve cleaned up and stays as far away as possible from the Zombies to shoot’em up. He'll gain experience slowly until he finds the glass bottles and gasoline. Then it's not just one but TWO Molotov Cocktails that he can make, becoming a true pyrotechnician. At this stage in the game, some Zones are probably saturated with Zombies and Dave can make great leaps in experience points.
• Dave's favorite equipment is the flashlight and Ma's Shotgun. The flashlight allows him to find more stuff while Searching and the quick assembly of his Molotov cocktails. Ma's Shotgun is an all-in-one melee and ranged weapon, allowing Dave for extra space in his Inventory! Dave also favors another advanced weaponry: the sniper rifle. His Skills make him an excellent sharpshooter.
• Dave gets along well with the more pugnacious Survivors. He finds the better equipment for them and keeps gadgets no one wants for himself. If his partners protect him efficiently and give him what he needs to survive, Dave may give them one of his Molotov cocktails in return. Having two such weapons in separate places is a precious asset!
HOMENUTT 
