Zona: the Secret of Chernobyl

My rules summary rev 2 (latest on Google Docs)

From rulebook+errata+BGG rulz forum clarifications, thru 1-Jun-2021

Objective = Win by acquiring a Secret ( =bottommost text of resolved Event card) from each of 2 different Secret Locations, then resolve local action of either Moscow
Eye or Pripyat to enter Power Plant, then resolve Power Plant’s local action to enter the Sarcophagus, then resolve an Event card there w/ . Lose if Rumor or
Sarcophagus decks run out.

Setup.
1. Place Main board (the “board”) in play area. Check icon in upper-left for either 1-2P side up or 3-4P side up.

Board upper-left: Board top & bottom:

1. Shuffle facedown Rumor cards (radio tower) & 1. Separately shuffle facedown 4 Secret Location Event
place on space labeled “Final Emission”.
decks ( 01-Underground Archive,
2. Put Emission marker on Emission Track’s sp.
02-Botanical Lab, 03-Gov’t Bunker,
3. Shuffle Emission deck (bars side up) and place on
04-Emission Observatory). Place on board’s
space labeled “Emission Deck”.
top/bottom #’d spaces, either the corresponding # or
4. Place Rumor token on “Temporary Effects” space. random. If a deck ever runs out, that deck’s Secret
Location becomes Looted.
Board left:
2. Shuffle facedown Lock tokens & place 1 txt
Shuffle facedown & place Sarcophagus Event deck. If ever
run out, game over / all lose.
side up ( ) in each Secret Location. Box the
rest.
Board lower-left: 3. Shuffle facedown purple Secret Item deck. Separately shuffle facedown green &

Shuffle facedown & place Outdoor Location Event Deal #P cards facedown to 4 piles & box the rest. yellow Artifact Item decks
decks. If ever run out, reshuffle. Place a pile facedown in each Secret Location. & place on board lower-right.

2. Place Marketplace board nearby. Separately shuffle Equipment Item deck & Junk Item deck and place off-board to the “slots” on board’s right edge.
Reveal 4 of each deck and place in empty board spaces.

3. Place Tray of Threat tokens nearby. Separately shuffle picture-side-up the 4 different types ( grn Mutant, grn Anomaly, yel Mutant,

yel Anomaly) and place in the Tray to their spots (marked w/ stickers). Note: draw from bottom, discard to top w/ pic-side-up (never runs out).

4. Place to side as a supply: Rubles tokens, Damage tokens, Weakness tokens, Reputation tokens.
5. Setup Players/Scavengers:
a. For each Scavenger, take Backpack board, Fatigue dial (set to 1), Player aid card, Char board, corresponding mini & 4 Starting Item
cards (with matching portrait; eventually placed to Backpack board slots).
b. Consult back of Char board (off-board slots to right):

i. Find Starting Location & place mini on main board there.

ii. Find Starting Values & take indicated # (placed on flip side’s Fortitude track) + # +1 (only if board shows Reputation is

Good / Bad instead of Neutral, placed on Backpack board’s medal art).

iii. Find Starting Setup & draw/place indicated Threat tokens to board.

c. 1st Player is whoever last went to a roadside picnic or recently experienced something incredible. They take Voice of Zona =1st player token. Turn order is
clockwise from Voice of Zona.
ACTIONS (may also PASS)

MOVE: mini to 1 Adjacent Location with dotted border (Take Dmg if Shortcut ( ).
● Blocked by solid border . Dashed border blocks unless OPEN / ENTER SECRET LOCATION.
● If destination Location contains any Threat token(s), you must resolve Encounter for one of them (if multi, Voice of Zona chooses for you, ∞ Threats/Loc).
○ Note: only if moved into new Location, NOT if placed via Event or Relocate effect, not if start Turn with Threat token.

LOCATION’S LOCAL ACTION : Max 1/Turn, Threat tokens ok. Described on board under title bar. See also rulebook Appendix p23.
● Note: enter Sarcophagus is a one-way-trip.
● If in Bunker, you may ALSO do CAMPING:
○ Fatigue dial by (may buff w/ Items first)
○ Do the following in any order, any # of times
■ Heal Dmg for 200 Rubles / Dmg token
■ Repair Consumable Items for 100 Rubles / Dmg token (remove/discard)
■ Sell Items (discard for Rubles on card, less -100 / Dmg token) and/or Mutant Trophies (discard for Rubles on Threat token)
■ Buy Items from Marketplace board.
● Reputation limits choice (note icons by card slots).
● After purchases, at end of your Turn, slide cards left 1 space & replenish from decks.
● Can’t Sell an Item bought this Turn.

SEARCH (ENCOUNTER): choose & Encounter a Threat token in your Location (can be one you Encountered & Failed before). Continue Turn whether .

REST: Fatigue dial by 1).

OPEN A LOCKED SECRET LOCATION : (Locked = Lock token text-side up ; must be in the Entrance Location Adj to the Secret Location)
● To Open, fulfill condition on ; flip to & put your mini on an empty sp.
○ If requires Take Dmg , you can’t fulfill if that would make you take a Weakness token.
○ If requires Fatigue , you can’t fulfill if Fatigue already at 5.
○ If requires Reputation change, you can’t fulfill if Reputation already Bad.
● After Opening, pick 1 of the cards to keep (see Inventory Mgmt).

● If still here during Events phase, you will resolve an Event card which may get you one of the Secrets you need to win and/or a 2nd .

ENTER AN OPEN SECRET LOCATION: (Open = Lock token side up; must be in the Entrance Location Adj to the Secret Location)
● Can NOT enter if Locked (see above) or Open but Looted (out of Event cards here; note out of does NOT cause Looted ).

● Can NOT enter if Open but no empty sp or already got a Secret from this Location.
● If still here during Events phase, you will resolve an Event card which may get you one of the Secrets you need to win and/or a 2nd .
EVENT CARDS

If Outdoor Location / green sector , draw , lookup your current Location’s name on card & resolve that section’s text. See In general below.

else if Outdoor Location / yellow sector , draw , lookup your current Location’s name on card & resolve that section’s text. See In general below.

else if in Bunker or Outdoor red sector , don’t draw a card / skip this phase.

else if Secret Location…

1. Draw from / / / corresponding to current Secret Location.

2. If deck ran out (whether already, or because you drew last card), Secret Location becomes Looted, & you must use your next Action to MOVE to Entrance
Location.
3. Resolve card text. See In general below as well as…
a. “You uncover a Secret” = gain a Secret = keep this card as 1 of your 2 pre-reqs to enter Sarcophagus (tuck under Char board w/ bottom txt showing e.g.
). May also take a Secret Item card (as with OPEN LOCKED SECRET LOCATION.
b. “relocate back to Secret Location” = interpret as “may”.

else if Sarcophagus, draw & resolve card text. See In general below as well as…
● If out of cards or last card discarded = game over, everyone loses.
● If card txt says flip & read upside-down txt = game over, you win!

In general…
● Resolve txt top to bottom, noting any conditionals from CHOOSE / OR blocks or / / Reputation. Text w/ “may” is optional to resolve.
○ Resolve any required Test (ex on rulebook p11) & note result blocks. Resolve if Succ or if Fail.

○ After resolving all FX, look for = go to next paragraph on card or = failed / delete this card and done.
● Thru-out, immediately resolve any indicated commands and/or suffer negative FX when text says so.
○ Take Dmg, Weakness token, Fatigue / , Reputation / . Same rules as Lock tokens in OPEN/ENTER SECRET LOCATION
… i.e. if you must +/- Reputation, Weakness, etc. but are already at max/min, you can’t fulfill the condition.
○ Encounters = draw Threat Token and if told to put in your Location, must resolve. Afterwards if not defeated, discard if Secret Location or Bunker,
else place in your current Location.
○ If forced move into adjacent Location, do NOT have to Encounter any Threat tokens there, or suffer damage inflicted by any Shortcut borders.
RUMOR/EMISSION

1. 1st player draws a Rumor card. If can’t because deck ran out, endgame & all lose.

2. Check card upper-left. If any ’s, move Emission marker down Emission Track (board’s upper-lt) 1 space per arrow.

3. If on last space of track(or if card says to), pause and resolve an Emission…
a. Place Rumor card faceup aside for now.

b. Flip top Emission card to the right (board space ) & align Location names w/ Threat icons on deck’s top, like this (rulebook p21): .
c. For Scavengers in Outdoor Location green/yellow/red sectors (not in a Bunker, Secret Location or Sarcophagus)…
i. Any Adjacent to Bunker Location may Fatigue by 2 to relocate to that Bunker.
ii. Any remaining in Outdoor Locations suffer FX of the left card’s Damage Scale (6 rows of either Take Dmg or Fatigue ).
Top to bottom cumulative ( suffers all 4 grn rows; suffers all 5 grn+yel rows; suffers all 6 grn+yel+red rows!

1. Discard any Rumor token on board + any Persistent Rumor card on board’s upper-lt.
d. Discard all Threat tokens on the main board & draw/place new ones by consulting right card for where (Location) and left card for what (grn/yel
Mutant/Anomaly). E.g. says spawn a green Mutant in the Wetlands.
e. On Marketplace board, discard all Items and draw/place new ones.

f. Reset to first space on main board upper-left.

g. Retrieve Rumor card previously set aside.
4. Resolve Rumor card text (Voice of Zona makes all decisions card calls for).

a. If card has , then FX are Persistent:

i. Place card on board upper-lt “Temporary Effects” space, discarding any prior card there.

ii. Place Rumor token on Board as indicated by card.

iii. Persistent card FX remain in play rest of game until discarded/replaced.
iv. Errata: Radioactive Wind: choose a grn or yel Location & place Rumor token there. Any Scavenger starting or ending Turn in that Location
suffers 2 Dmg.
b. Else resolve text once, then discard.
Round & Turn Sequence
1. Actions: in Turn Order, each Scavenger performs 0-2 Actions. At any time during this phase, may rearrange Gear Item cards.
2. Events: in Turn Order, each Scavenger draws /resolves an Event Card (or no card) based on type of their current Location.
3. Rumor/Emission

4. Pass Voice of Zona token clockwise.

5. Refresh Deactivated Items (remove/discard from card).

Thru-out:
● Take Dmg
○ Check Dmg Type(s). If multi Dmg types, inflict simultaneously. If , see Use Item.
○ You may Use Items to soak: vs. , vs. , vs. . Multi Items ok, but each Item max 1 use / effect that caused Dmg.

○ Each uncancelled damage = Dmg token to Char board Fortitude track. If out of Fortitude track spaces... discard excess & place a
Weakness token on your choice of Attribute ( ) off-board to a top slot that doesn’t have a token yet. That Attribute is now -1.
■ Die if 4x .
● Discard Char board, all Items & tokens and all but 1 Secret.
● Pick a new previously unused Char board. At end of Emission/Rumor, Setup Scavenger (except do NOT place Starting Threats).
● Fatigue: = increase (+1), = decrease (-1), on Fatigue dial. If at 5 and must take more, for each point instead Take Dmg 1 (unpreventable).
● Reputation: Good / Neutral / Bad.
○ change is Bad⇒Neutral⇒Good. If already and must +1, may instead Fatigue.
○ change is Good⇒Neutral⇒Bad. If already and must -1, instead Take Dmg 1 .
○ Discard, take or flip Reputation token on Backpack board as needed to reflect current or new Reputation.
● Test = roll 3d6 + Attribute ( ) - Weakness + Use Item(s) (multi Items ok, but each Item max 1 use / Test).
○ Succ >= target #, else Fail. Dice results: = +1, = -1, = 0, = if 2+ then Take Dmg =1 .
○ May Force max 1/Test: if Fatigue dial <5, & reroll any 1 die once only.
○ If rerolls granted by Item/game FX, may reroll same die multi times.
● Use Item ( Equipment, Junk, Secret Item, Artifacts). See also rulebook appendix p24. Errata: Chocolate: ignore card face, it’s
supposed to be or
○ May use at any time during your Turn (no Action required; does not count as an Action), or on another’s Turn in reaction to Dmg or Test you suffer.
■ For FX you are resolving (e.g. a Test, or Take Dmg), use multi Items ok, but each Item max 1 use / FX.
■ Sarcophagus counts as Secret Location for Item FX.
■ Artifacts when used inflict negative FX ( ). May NOT use if would >5, force , or discard Item/Resource you don’t have.
○ Modding Tests: = as , = as , = cancels 1 . limits Item to only Test vs. Encounter/Event of that type.

○ Each use, must place on card lower-left. If suffer , may only place on Single-use or Consumable, NOT Durable.
■ Single-use Items: discard when x is covered (by use or dmg).
■ Consumable Items: discard when x is covered (by use or dmg). Until then, may be Repaired when Camping @ Bunkers.
■ Durable Item: max 1 use/Turn. Unusable (Deactivated) when x is covered (may NOT be damaged via ).
● Encounters (resolving Threat tokens for Mutants & Anomalies, from Move or Event cards).
○ Forced only during your Move Action or Event card, not Relocate FX.
○ Note the Ability of the Mutant or Anomaly and the Detection/Confrontation section .
○ Mandatory Detection: Test . Resolve FX for Succ / FX for Fail.
○ Then optional Confrontation (regardless of Detection outcome). Token indicates required Test ( usually , usually ). Resolve
FX for Succ / FX for Fail.
○ FX descriptions
■ = draw corresponding (see Inventory Mgmt) & discard Threat token pic-up to top of draw stack.
■ = Trophy. Keep Threat token as Small Item. When Camping @ Bunkers, can sell for indicated Rubles..
■ * = special Reward (see tile). - = no Reward.
■ Suffer indicated Damage . Yes you can take Dmg twice ! (once for failing Detection, again for failing Confrontation).
● Inventory Mgmt
○ At any time during the game, may DROP an Item: box Secret, all others discarded to their discard pile.
○ Max 5 Backpack slots. New Items bought/gained must find a home BEFORE you can use them. Including if you must discard to make room for them.
■ 6th slot may be granted by another Item/power with and if so use upper-right side of Backpack board. If 6th slot lost, immediately move Item
to Backpack or if can’t discard any 1 Item (may NOT xfer to Worn).
○ Small Items with are placed to left-side of Char board, unlimited.

○ Gear Items with are placed either in a Backpack slot (FX inactive), or to lower-right-side of Char board (FX active). Max 1 Gear
Item per body part (e.g. Can’t have 2 Torso-covering Items). When a new Gear Item is gained, may immediately rearrange Gear Items. Note issue with
Hunter starting items here.