How to Play

Zombicide: Black Plague

1-6 players 60-180 min 7.6 Board Game Geek Rating

In this medieval fantasy zombie apocalypse, players control survivors like paladins, dwarves, and magicians battling undead hordes unleashed by evil Necromancers. Using swords, crossbows, magic spells, and special equipment, teams fight through city streets and secret vaults. Victory comes from completing missions while hunting down the Necromancers responsible for the outbreak.

Published 2015

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Understand theme differences

Black Plague has no mold mechanic; Necromancers provide increasing difficulty instead

Note outdoor freedom

Players may go outside without any oxygen restrictions

Prepare Familiars

Use Familiars instead of Machines from Invader

Set survivor health

All survivors have 3 wounds, tracked starting at zero and going up

Prepare spawn decks

Include Abomination cards and Necromancer cards that trigger spawns from dedicated decks

Understand doors

Closed doors must be opened using equipment, often requiring a die roll

Note vault rules

Vault doors open like standard doors; zombies are NOT spawned in vaults; no line of sight through vault doors

Set up spawn order

Randomly choose spawn zone order and direction (house rule)

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Perform standard actions

Movement, Searching, Trading, Making Noise, Take/Activate Objective, and Do Nothing work the same as Invader

Open doors

Door Activation is a once-per-turn free action

Use Enchantment Action

Cast an Enchantment spell as an action

Use Magic Action

Functions generally the same as a Ranged Action

Take Vault Artifacts

This is an Action but NOT a Search Action; can be taken multiple times per turn

Understand item restrictions

Gems at top of card indicate required Danger level to use

Use backpack items

Equipment with "Backpack" symbol is considered in use while in backpack (including Ammo applying to all relevant weapons)

Manage Body slot

Only ONE Body slot exists; can hold Body symbol item or character-specific Equipment card

Roll armor

Use dice rolls to cancel wounds; Abomination and Dragon Fire wounds cannot be prevented by Armor

Follow target priority

Walkers are targeted first (swapped with Fatty/Abominations from Invader)

Reload weapons

Some weapons need reloading if used multiple times per Game Round; a single action reloads all identical weapons equipped

Use Dragon Fire

Discard Dragon Bile card to place Dragon Bile (range 0-1), then discard a torch within range 0-1 to create Dragon Fire killing all actors silently

Control Familiars

Handler spends own actions for Familiar to Move, Melee Attack, Make Noise, or Search once per turn

Winning

How to claim victory.

Avoid total elimination

Game is lost when ALL survivors are dead

Kill Necromancers

When a Necromancer is killed, remove any one Spawn Zone from the board

Prevent Necromancer escape

Game is lost if a Necromancer escapes while there are 6+ spawn points on the board (house ruled to ignore)

Understand Necromancer movement

If no attack possible, Necromancer moves toward nearest Spawn Zone that is not their entry Zone

Note Necromancer escape

Necromancer escapes when it activates on its escape Spawn Zone; flip its Spawn token to standard side

Manage zombie spawns

When running out of miniatures, all zombies of indicated type immediately resolve an extra Activation (not just Abominations)

Handle zombie splits

Split groups get reinforcements to make all groups equal; one walker could turn into up to four

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