Advanced Abilities ?

[PJON]

Hi, I have been thinking about getting the Advanced Abilities supplement. If any one owns them already, I would like your opinion.

How do the advanced abilities work ? Is it a card Heroes draw from the Hero deck ? Does each Hero have their own requirements before they get advanced abilities ?

More importantly, how does it work for Zombies ? Do their Advanced Abilities come from making wounds ? Drawing the card ? (i can sketch pretty well) Do the abilities add on ?

Infectious then Outbreak then Ravenous then Swarm ? in a progression or is each seperate and random ?

Do the Abilities reduce if a Zombie is killed ? How do Heroes lose their advance ability ?

Thankz
PJ

[pasngr46n2]

They're pretty kewl. There's two ways to incorporate them. One is using the dot system. 4 dots gets you advanced abilities for all the heroes in play and entering play midgame. Advanced zombie abilities costs 2 dots each when drawn at random and three dots each when you pick which ones you want(some can be purchased chosen and some at random). The other way to add them is using the experience option. Whenever a hero kills a zombie they get an experience point. Three experience points get the hero their advanced ability. The zombies get to draw a random advanced ability card at the end of the zombie turn when one or more heroes were killed that turn. So they're not added to the deck at all, can't be canceled, and there is no way to discard them once in play. you also get 8 additional cards, 4 for the hero deck and 4 for the zombie deck. More fun for the zombie family!!

[SovTech]

Hmm... We tried them in a game with the experience system, which wasnt a huge hit. The problem was that they seemed to reinforce the side that was already winning, so if for example Johnny was lucky and got a chainsaw, killed 3 zombies, then he would become stronger and able to kill even more zombies(!). We played defend the manor house and Johnny ended on a kill count of around 30 zeds. Not a great day for the zombie master.

[Wanderer999]

You know what? I actually have a pretty damn good house rule for your problem, ST.

Instead of gaining exp normally, characters also gain exp as the turns go by (prob one bonus exp every turn). This means u do not have to kill zombies to 'level up'! As the night grows late, your characters grow smarter as they get used to things and they can level up in that manner, similarly zombie players do so the same way. If you do it like that, both sides will level up slowly but gradually, thus still maintaining balance between the two forces. Of course, the original ways of gaining exp are still there. This is just a bonus method of gaining exp to ensure no one gets left behind should one side become too powerful.

[pasngr46n2]

(02-05-2012 05:36 PM)SovTech Wrote:  Hmm... We tried them in a game with the experience system, which wasnt a huge hit. The problem was that they seemed to reinforce the side that was already winning, so if for example Johnny was lucky and got a chainsaw, killed 3 zombies, then he would become stronger and able to kill even more zombies(!). We played defend the manor house and Johnny ended on a kill count of around 30 zeds. Not a great day for the zombie master.

Actually from what I've read you only get ONE experience point at the end of the heroes individual turn if that hero killed one or more Zombies that turn, not for each zombie killed. The rules refer to the end of the heroes "Activation" which I'm assuming is their individual turn. So it would take a minimum of three turns for a hero to gain their advanced ability. that would even it out, especially if the zombies have the heroes on the run! But like i said I haven't incorporated them into a game yet.

[Emp]

Pas is correct, you only get one exp point per turn. It doesn't matter how many you kill.

[SovTech]

Uh, we might have played that one faulty... But, played as is it could still be problematic with a 'snowball' effect... However, I am very excited about how they will implement it into the next expansion I hope that they will introduce a campaign system of a sort, where survivors gain an advanced ability if they survive to the next scenario. That is how I imagined I woud houserule the advanced abilities... Now if only I had time to do a good small campaign, balanced and then had time to play it...

Cheerio,
ST

[PJON]

Hi, Thank you and thank you.

hmmmm Now I guess i know how they work. It seems Heroes can gain there Advanced Abilities easier than Zombies ? I play on the bases of attrition. So i expect casualties. Do ranged weapon kills count as well ? and dynamite ? and gasoline ? these things scare my Zombie Im sure it sounds easier than it seems. In some ways it may entice a hero to fight, to gain their ability ?

Much to consider...

So the Zombie player could start with 2 random abilities or 1 selected, what to do with that extra zombie dot...pillage and every hero starts with theirs.

idk......idk.....

Thank you for all your knowledge and experience
Hugz

[swiftfoxmark2]

Any kind of dead zombie will count, but only once per turn no matter how many you kill.

The zombie play has to kill one (or more) heroes in a turn in order to draw an advanced ability. Because the general rule is that four dead heroes makes a zombie win, a zombie player won't get more than three abilities per game (there are four zombie abilities).

I've played it and it does add new strategy and depth to the heroes and zombies. Don't forget that this expansion pack also provides a couple of interesting cards for both decks as well, although no card that allows either the zombie or hero player to draw their advanced ability.

[SovTech]

Im really looking forward to see hoe they will implement the advanced abilities into the game, but Ive also found that some dot rules arent very good for every scenario. In other words, even though there are dot cost for all abilities, the dot rules themselves are more or less fitted to each scenario... IMO.

Cheerio,
ST