ATZ-FFO House Rules

ATZ-FFO is far and away my favourite zombie skirmish game. I like the rules a lot but there are a few things that I want to do differently. So, I have come up with these House Rules, which will remain in place throughout my campaign.

CO-STARS. FFO uses two types of character - Stars and Grunts. I'm introducing a third type - Co-Stars. A Co-Star is simply a Grunt with the Star Power Advantage. This is actually allowed in the rulebook, but to differentiate Grunts with this Advantage from those who don't have it, I decided to call them Co-Stars. This will include anyone recruited by Vampifan. So from the outset, Big Sil, Angie and Gap will be Co-Stars. Just remember that Star Power can not be used against zombies. Also, note that Star Power is the only Advantage that a Grunt is allowed.

SKILLS. In my campaign Rep is no longer the all-encompassing power that it usually is. Now, Driving, Melee and Shooting are separate skills. To these I have added People and Savvy (as per the FFO rules) and Fitness, which is used for any Physical Challenge. A character begins with three skills of his choice at a level equal to his Rep, two skills at a level equal to Rep -1 and one skill at Rep -2. Rep is still used for Initiative and anything not covered by the listed skills. This is one of the biggest changes I have made to the rules, so it is important to bear it in mind when reading my batreps.

ATTRIBUTES. A Star can still have two Attributes and a Co-Star or Grunt can have one Attribute but instead of dicing for the Attribute I choose the Attribute that I think best reflects the character. In addition, I do not limit myself to the choices given in the FFO rulebook. After The Horsemen (ATH) is a great source for extra Attributes.

RANGED COMBAT WEAPONS. In addition to the weapons listed in the FFO rulebook I am adding the non-firearm weapons from ATH to my campaign. Bows and Crossbows are ideal for killing zombies and best of all, they are silent.

TIGHT AMMO. Weapons with a Target Rating of 1 appear to be immune to this rule since they can't roll double ones because they only roll 1d6 to hit. I advocate that they roll a second different coloured die for Tight Ammo purposes. This means that Bows, Crossbows and Bolt Action Rifles can run out of ammo if both dice score a result of double one..

STOCKPILING AMMO. I now have Ammo listed as a separate item that can be found so there is no need to burn a Resource or Item at the start of an Encounter to acquire spare ammo.

MULTI-FIGURE MELEE. I am raising the limit of how many figures can melee a single opponent from four to six. That is two to the front, two to the back and one on either side.

VEHICLES - DRIVING. The Driving Skill replaces all references to a Physical Challenge in the rulebook.

VEHICLES - TURNING. Vehicles with a Turn Rating of A can make a 45 degree turn at any time during their movement. Vehicles with a Turn Rating of B can make two 45 degree turns at any time during their movement. Vehicles with a Turn Rating of C can make three 45 degree turns at any time during their movement. I don't see why vehicles could only turn at specific moments during their movement.

PLACING ZOMBIES. Using the clock face on p.46 of the rulebook, I roll 1d12 to determine the direction a zombie will appear. I allocate one side of the game board as North and 12 o'clock on the clock face is always North.

RESOURCES - AMMO. Ammo is now classed a separate Resource. Just like Food, Ammo is a generic term and can be any type or calibre of Ammo. This is purely to keep bookkeeping simple.

FINDING RESOURCES.  I replaced the results on the Loot table with these.
Pass 0d6 = You have found nothing.
Pass 1d6 = If in Year One you have found one Food unit. If in Year Two roll 1d6 and on a result of 1-4 you have found one Food unit. If in Year Three or higher roll 1d6 and on a result of 1-2 you have found one Food unit. If the 1d6 roll is a failure you have found nothing.
Pass 2d6 = If you passed with a result of double one you have found one Item/Resource of your choice. Otherwise, roll on the Tables below.

Here's a few examples of how to use the Random Loot Tables.
Vampifan is searching a House in a Rural Area during Year One. He rolls 2d6 and gets a 5 and a 2, which when added together gives a result of 7, denoting Food. Consulting the Loot Table we see this gives him a score of 2. Now we check for modifiers under the column marked Food.. For being in a Rural Area there is a +0 modifier, and for searching a House there is a +2 modifier. Adding them all together gives a result of 4 (2+0+2=4). He rolls 1d6 and scores a 3. He has found one unit of Food.
Next year, Vampifan investigates a Pub (classed as a Bar) in the Suburbs of Mayhem City. Rolling 2d6 on the Loot Table he rolls a 5 and a 4, for a score of 9. This means he is looking for Gas and his initial score is a -1. Not a good start. His modifiers are +1 for being in a Suburban Area and +0 for being in a Bar. When added together we get a score of 0 (-1+1+0=0). Oh dear! Vampifan has zero chance of finding any Gas here so he leaves empty handed.
In Year Three, Vampifan is searching a Warehouse in an Urban Area. He rolls 2d6 and scores a 2 and a 1 for a result of 3. This indicates he is looking for a Rare type of Firearm and his initial score is 0. His modifiers, which we find under the F(Rare) column, are +2 for being in an Urban Area and +0 for searching a Warehouse. Added together, we get a result of 2 (0+2+0=2). He rolls 1d6 and gets lucky with a roll of 1. Now he rolls 1d6 on the Firearms (Rare) table and scores a 4. He has found a Semi-Automatic Rifle.
A building can be searched only once. No coming back and trying later on if unsuccessful the first time. In addition, up to six people may search a building if they are grouped together. If a party contains more than six people you'll have to nominate which six are searching. 
If you want an Excel copy of this table, just drop me an e-mail request at vampifan@talktalk.net and I'll send you a copy. I've printed mine out onto an A4 sized sheet of thin card to keep as a handy reference.

MEET AND GREET. This test uses the People Skill and not Rep.

KEEPING IT TOGETHER. This test uses the People Skill and not Rep.