DARK DARKER DARKEST

OFFICIAL FAQ V2.0

Missing info/printing errata

Base game

Bruce Romeros third ability is printed incorrectly in the icon guide.

The correct ability description is:
Guardian: Bruce adds 2 dice to a defense roll

The icon guide is missing one line explaining the movement of the Security Guard.
The guard has no fixed stat. Instead his movement is determined by a roll of the D4.
The rolled result is the amount of rooms he will move, patrolling the house. Range for his attack
is determined from the room he ends his movement in.
If he lands in a room with survivors without having spend his full amount of movement, he stays
put and attacks.

Expansions
Chuck Lees starting ability has the correct description in the icon guide but the symbol should have
had a cube, and not a 2, as this is a different ability from the Guardian ability that Bruce has.

The stats of the Gorillas movement and attack have been mirrored.
It is playable with the current stats but for optimal choices the movement should
be 2 and the attack value 4.

The icon explanation for the snake is missing in the icon guide.
This symbol represents the fact the snake can move under the floorboards, so walls dont block its
movement.

Chucks Shurikens have a red symbol representing the attack value.

This represents the fact that each shuriken used forms an automatic hit. Use them wisely!

Frequently asked questions

Items and Item management
Q: In addition to costing 1 action point for a character to give an equipment card to another character does
the receiving character also need to pay 1 action point to receive the equipment card?
A: Either the character passing the equipment OR the receiver pays 1AP.

Q: Does the handgun scope occupy a hand when attached to the handgun?
So a handgun with a scope requires 2 hands? Or do they combine into a single hand weapon?
A: The handgun and scope do not combine to form one item. So they contribute a total of 2 hand symbols.

Q: Do locks/codes count as an item in your inventory slot once attained?

A: No. They are simply placed in the tablespace of the player.

Q: Can I re-arrange items in my inventory at any point in the game?

A: Yes you can.
Q: What happens to the code chips belonging to a player when he dies?
A: They are lost, just like the items. This makes it crucial for a dying player to pass on his items before he
dies from his wounds

Q: Is it possible to trade a code chip between survivors? And if so, does it cost AP?
A: It can be traded between characters at the same cost of regular items: 1AP.

Zombie spawning
Q: Is it true that there are two zombie spawns before the players get their first actions at the start of the
game?
A: Yes. You have to see the Event resolution track as a cycle. Once every 3 turns when the marker is at the top
spot (depicting a zombie head) the round will start with an extra spawning. The following 2 rounds will have a
fire spread and a darkness advancement respectively.

Q: Is there a limit for the number of zombie tokens inside a room?

A: No, a room can hold any number of zombie tokens.

Q: Do spawn tokens work the same way as hordes where movement is concerned?
A: Yes, but unlike zombies, a token will not be affected by present burn tokens during the fire check.
This forces the team to approach the unknown horde in order to establish line of sight and have the fire
inside the room affecting the zombies.

Q: Does a used zombie token go out of the game and into the box after the zombies spawned?
A: Yes, they are removed out of the game.

Q: Do spawn tokens take damage when they share a room with burn tokens?
A: No, only converted hordes take damage from burn tokens.

Zombie & Creature reaction phase

Q: The reaction of zombies is determined by a specific area surrounding the active survivors, how does this
actually work?
A: The best way to describe how reactions of zombies are triggered is to speak of trigger zones.
A trigger zone is the area that consists of the tile the active survivor or group of survivors is/are standing in,
and all the surrounding 8 tiles. So a total area of 9 tiles potentially forms the trigger zone.
This area is sometimes smaller, when the active survivor(s) is positioned on a tile at the edge of the house.
Let us see at some examples:

In this visual example you can see how the currently

active group consisting of Survivor 1 and 2, who just
have finished their action phase and triggered the
reaction phase for the creatures, create a trigger area
consisting of 9 tiles (yellow / orange hue).
Z1
This results in zombie horde 1, positioned inside this
trigger area being activated. As a result this horde will
move 2 rooms closer to the triggering group. As there
S1
are no walls between the survivors and the zombies,
Z2
the undead creatures are able to end their movement
S2 inside the room with the victims.

After they ended their movement, the zombies will

attack the survivors, and end their activation.
Zombie horde 2 however is positioned outside the
trigger zone of the active group and will therefore not
be activated.
 In this example the active group, again consisting of 2 survivors, is
positioned in a room at the edge of the house. As a result, the
triggering area is smaller, and now consists 6 tiles.

In this situation, a zombie horde is positioned in the room with the

survivors. As zombies in the same room with the active survivors will
attack first in the reaction phase, zombie horde 1 will attack before
zombie horde 2 is activated, moving this second horde into the room
with the survivors, resulting in another attack, this time merged with
S1 zombie horde 1 to form a bigger horde and a resulting mightier attack.
Z1 Z2

S2

Z2
S3

In this last example a group of 3 survivors Z1

have just ended their action phase triggering
the reaction phase. During their action phase,
survivor 3 left the room where survivor 1 and
2 are still positioned, creating an additional S1
trigger zone. If he would have stayed in the S2
room with his other group members, only
zombie horde 1 would have been triggered.
Now, due to the larger trigger zone that added
7 tiles to the triggering area, zombie horde
2 is activated also. This horde is closer to
survivor 3 than to the other group members,
so it will move towards survivor 3.

Q: Will monsters react to characters who arent active? As an example: if Group 1 takes their actions, will
monsters attack characters in Group 2 if theyre on or move into their space even if the characters in Group 2
havent taken their turn yet?
A: Absolutely. It could well happen that a group puts another group in danger by activating zombies in the
trigger zone that will attack another group not yet activated. This makes careful positioning inside the house
a crucial tactical consideration. But remember: zombies will not move if the movement path requires them to
leave the trigger zone!

Q: If a zombie group is on an adjacent tile from the triggering team but not in a room adjacent to the active
survivor group (due to the fact the tile is split into two rooms). Is the zombie horde activated?
A: Absolutely. the triggering zone will cover the entire tile, so the two rooms on the tile will be considered part
of the triggering zone.

Q: If a group of zombies is activated because its adjacent to the active group, and there are survivors in this
activated room, do the zombies move towards the active group or instead attack the survivors in the activated
room.
A: They will stay in the activated room and attack the present survivors. Zombies as a rule of thumb never
leave a room with survivors in it. Groups that create triggering zones by acting always need to be considering
the impact of their actions, because they could always potentially put another group nearby into danger.
Q: Two zombies share a room with me and on the reaction phase, they attack me with two creature dice.
Two other zombies in an adjacent tile are triggered, so they move into my tile and attack me. Is this second
attack with four dice because there are now four zombies in the same room as me?
A: Yes. This makes clusters of nearby zombie hordes very dangerous.

Q: A zombie horde is triggered in the

following situation, as depicted to the left.
What exactly happens with the spawn
token? Will it move?

A: This is an interesting example, as the

locked door in the example makes all the
difference.

Due to the lock, there is no open route

towards the survivors, if the spawn token
should move down.

The whole idea of the behavior of the

zombies is that they will attempt to move
closer to the survivors.
Otherwise they wont move.
So basically, if the end position would
mean they would be further away from
reaching the survivors, they wont move.

As the door next to the zombies is locked,

the only way to reach the survivors is by
moving around the room. They would des-
peratly seek a way to get into the room. In
the starting position they are 5 moves away
from reaching the survivors. When they
would end their reaction movement they
would only be 3 rooms away from reaching
the survivors. This movement is performed
within the trigger zone.

So the spawn token will move.

Q: During an attack by a large horde, 2 survivors are foced to both flee (due to a fear result) to an adjacent
location. Does the horde follow them and attack again?
A: No. For now the survivors are safe. Even when they would be forced to flee into a location with zombies.
As the attacks of zombies on the same tile have already been resolved in this reaction phase.
So basically no new reaction is triggered by the retreat.

Q: If a zombie token ends its movement in line of sight of one or more survivors, does it automatically get
converted into a horde?
A: Absolutely.
Entrapment
Q: If all characters are entrapped, what happens?
A: GAME OVER for your team. You just have been defeated by the game system.

Q: If an entrapped survivor becomes free not because of a successful entrapment roll but because his
fellow survivors kill all zombies/creatures in that room, does the newly freed survivor still get all of his
remaining AP, just like after a successful entrapment roll?
A: Yes.

Q: Are rescue rolls that involve more players performed simultaneously?

A: Yes.

Q: What happens when a survivor gets entrapped mid-turn? If he already spent one or more AP, does he
automatically lose the remaining AP, as entrapped survivors have only one AP available per turn?
A: No. The AP he spend before the entrapment is not considered, as this was not connected to the new
situation. So the effect of the entrapment is applied to the remaining AP the survivor still has available, giving
him 1AP to use for the current turn.

Q: If a character is forced to receive both an entrap and a fear result during an attack from a
creature/zombie, what happens?
A: During such a situation the entrapment always takes precedence over the fear result, as entrapment can
only be resolved on the tile itself and forbids moving out of the tile. So in such a case the fear result is
neglected.

Q: Can an entrapped survivor contribute to a search or defense roll?

A: No, the only action he is allowed to perform is an attempt to free himself by using his only 1AP for the turn.

Q: Can a character use his special abilities when he is entrapped?

A: No, unless the ability is directly related to entrappement.

Combat
Q: Can the knockback be used during combat to push a zombie into an adjacent room when you are not
standing into the same room as the zombie (ranged attack)?
A: No, as the rules state the zombie can only be pushed out of the room of the attacking survivor.
So Knockback only works in melee combat (including range 0 with ranged weapons).

Q: What is the effect of an aim result in an attack roll during melee combat?
A: Aim is only active in ranged combat and is neglected as a result in close combat mode.

Q: Can I use ranged weapons when standing in the same room as the target?
A: Yes, absolutely.

Q: Are players forced to resolve a Knockback result during combat or is it optional, just as Retreat?
A: It is optional.

Q: Can I attempt to hit a target which is 3 spaces away but the weapon has only a range of 2, hoping for an
aim result to modify the range to a 3?
A: Yes, absolutely.

Q: Do you need to have a successful hit icon in order to assign a knock-back to it?
A: No, it is an independent effect.

Q: Can you use ranged weapons at a range of 0?

A: Yes, you can use them in close combat, standing in the same room as your target.

Q: Can I spread the successes, part of an attack roll performed by a survivor using a ranged weapon, over
several rooms?
A: Yes.
Fires
Q: Is a fire extinguished if all burn tokens are removed from the house but the Fire marker is still present?
A: Take note that the fire marker is not the actual fire, it is a marker that simply shows the direction the actual
fire is spreading towards. This marker can only be removed when all the burn tokens are removed from the
house. If this is the case, the Fire marker is automatically removed from the house, as the fire is extinguished
and cannot spread anymore.

Q: If I am a survivor and Im in a burning room, does this mean I am safe from zombie/(non-fire resistant)
creatures attacks?
A: Yes, as zombies and non-fire resistant creatures will never move into a burning room by themselves, only
when pushed by an attack into the burning room. That said, remember that survivors will take damage equal
to the number of burn tokens present in the room during each fire check. So these are anything but safe
areas.

Q: A fire starts in a corner room of the house and through a series of uncanny fire checks the corner room
receives a third burn token. What exactly happens now?
A: After the Darkness track is moved one position further, all the tokens on the room are removed from the
tile, including a code chip locking a door. If there is still at least one burn token positioned in one of the
rooms of the house, the fire is still active and the fire marker stays positioned on the burned out room.
Otherwise the fire marker may be removed from the tile and the fire is considered extinguished.

Q: Am I allowed to remove the fire marker from a tile if I removed all the burn tokens from this tile?
A: Only when there are no burn tokens remaining in the house.
The removal of the fire marker, unlike the removal of the burn tokens, doesnt cost action points.

Final showdown
Q: The rulebook says if a Nemesis encounters a character it will attack, then resume movement? Does that
mean it will attack once (versus until destroyed as zombies and creatures do)? If that is the case, will the
Nemesis resume its movement after attacking, if it has movement points remaining that round?
A: Its main goal is to destroy the corner rooms, so after attacking the survivors it will continue its movement
until it has used up all its movement points.

Q: During the final showdown using the flipside of the Multitracker, can I take back the action point cubes
immediately once they enter the third box after a shift to the right?
A: Yes. The crucial line in the rules is:
When a sixth marker is placed in this box (or possibly sooner) the cubes in all 3 boxes shift to the right.
As a result, the markers in the first box will land in the center box, triggering a nemesis reaction.
If the right space holds markers, return them to the appropriate players.

Q: Can you still use the corner rooms during showdown e.g. the Ammo reserve?
Strictly speaking its not searching...
A: Yes, but remember in a round, the survivors are allowed to spend AP on a function ONCE in each corner
room,meaning there s a maximum of 4 corner room functions per round. However, as you cannot use actions
to put out fires during the showdown, you cannot use the spinkler control room

Q: How does Bruces ability to give actions to other team members work during the final showdown?
A: As the rules state, in order to allow him to pass or receive actions from other survivors he needs to share a
box on the multitracker with the survivor he is offering AP or receiving AP from. However, during the endgame
you are forming one organic group, with not separation on the tracker, so during the finale Bruce can freely
pass or receive AP with anyone in the team, as the flipside of the multitracker used for the finale doesnt have
boxes to manage groups inside the house.

Q: During endgame, is activation of zombies just like in normal game?

A: Yes, with the exception that there are no triggering zones.
First all the zombies (as would be the case in the first part of the game) will attack. Next all the remaining
zombies/hordes will move towards the closest room with survivors and if they reach the targeted room attack.

Q: Jacks ability of one free attack, how is it used during the showdown?
A: His free attack is tracked by the player, but there is no cube placed in the box of the multitracker,
contributing to the 6AP limit.
Q: When the Nemesis should appear in the lab for the first time with already a survivor present, will it
immediately attack this survivor?
A: No, first the survivors will perform their actions, entering up to 6 cubes (AP) into the box of the
multitracker. Next, when the cubes shift to the middle box marked with a 1 the sequence will be triggered,
starting with the resolvement of the event (cycle) and ending the with Nemesis and zombie reaction.
So the survivor sharing the room with the Nemesis has one action phase to get away.
Remember the survivor sharing the room with the Nemesis must roll a retreat in order to leave the room.

Lets look at the basic steps of the finale:

The Nemesis has just appeared in the lab and as a result the
Multitracker needs to be turned to its other side (red).
A grey cube is positioned on the bottom spot of the even
cycle track (clock symbol), and a second one on the first
empty spot of the Darkness track.

Now the team, before the Nemesis has a chance to react, will
perform their actions. Unlike the previous turns played with
the flipside of the multitracker, groups formed in the house
dont regulate the order in which actions may be peformed.

Now characters can freely perform actions, placing their

action cubes inside the first box of the tracker.
However, this box may hold not more than 6 cubes (AP).
Once players have filled the box with 6 cubes or choose to
activate the system earlier (with at least one cube positioned
in the box), they can trigger the reaction system.

The team has spent 6AP worth of actions, so the

reaction system needs to be triggered. All cubes
inside the first box are now shifted into the middle
box. This box is marked with the symbol referring
to the numerical order of the 4 steps of the
reaction system that need to be resolved, starting
with step 1: the advancing of the event cycle.

The cube on the bottom spot of the event cycle is moved to the top spot.
This spot is empty, so as a result in the first reaction of the system nothing will happen.
During the next reaction the cube will be shifted to the middle spot, holding the clock
symbol. This will advance the Darkness track with 1 position.

Next up are the 3 remaining elements that need to be resolved of the reaction
system, starting with the fire check, followed by the zombification progression and
ending with the reaction of the Nemesis himself.
In this final step first the Nemesis will start moving towards the first corner room
and attack every survivor that crosses his path, followed by all the
zombies in the house being triggered.
.
After the Nemesis and zombies have performed their reaction, a new turn starts.
Again the team is allowed to spend actions and fill up the first box of the tracker with up to 6 action cubes.
After these actions have been performed by the team again the cubes will shift, triggering the reaction of the
system. The cubes in the first box will shift to the middle box, triggering the reaction system as they enter
the box marked with the 1 inside the circle. This would result in the grey cube on the event track to be
moved one position down on the event track, causing the Darkness track to move one position further (in
the 4th step of the reaction of the system).

The cubes in the middle box however shift into the third box. This box is marked with a different symbol:
cubes that are inside this last box are returned to the specific players.
These cubes may be used again in the next action phase of the team, filling up the first box of the tracker
again up to 6 cubes.

This sequence continues until either the team manages to defeat the Nemesis, or the cube on the darkness
track reaches the last spot, which would result in the team losing the challenge.

Q: Does combat against the nemesis work just like attacks from other creatures, so survivors are allowed to
perform a defense roll after they are attacked by the Nemesis, in an attempt to block its attack?
A: Absolutely.

Q: If the nemesis entraps a character and then moves on, assuming there are no creatures or zombies on
the tile with the entrapped survivor, is that survivor freed?
A: Yes.

Character abilities
Q: Jack has the skill DeadEye which turns rolled Aim icons into hits when paired with another rolled
Success icon. The Automatic states that hits are doubled. Would a Aim & Success combo result in 4 hits?
A: It doesnt render 4 hits, because the modified successes are just that...a modified success, not a regular
success result rolled. So lets say I roll:

The Automatic would modify each succes icon part of the roll, doubling it.
So you would get:

The Dead Aim ability turns the aim result into a regular hit so you would get
3 hits as a final outcome.
Q: If Jack Fulci with this ability finds, lets say, a Shotgun (NOT ammo for Shotgun), is it filled with 4 shells
(standard) or with 6 shells (standard + bonus)?
A: Jacks ability is related to ammo (items), not weapons. So it will only have 4 shells.

Q: How does Ninas virus resistance ability work ?

A: Nina can have 2 virus tokens in her inventory, but their presence dont trigger the zombification, if this
ability is currently active. When she receives a 3rd virus token, the zombification process is however
triggered

Creature abilities
Q: Does the security guard perform one attack against each survivor or each group?
A: Every survivor group within its range is a target. You simply resolve the attacks on every group or
isolated survivor consecutively: So you perform a roll for group 1 within range, roll the combined defense
dice, perform an attack roll for a survivor alone in a room, roll the defense die...until all the attacks within
range are resolved. Naturally, when a survivor is alone in a targetted room he will be forced to take all the
remaining damage from the attack after a defense roll.

Q: Can a creature using a ranged attack entrap a character positioned in another room?
A: No, unless there are zombies present in the room with the attacked survivor, the entrap may be neglected,
as a survivor can only be entrapped in a situation where he is sharing a room with at least 1 creature or/and
zombie.

Q: Is entrapment from the undead bird treated the same as entrapment by other creatures?
A: No, this entrapment is more vicious, as the rules state. It may ONLY be removed by killing the bird, so
rolling a retreat is not enough to free yourself from its entrampment.

Various questions
Q: Do symbols on tiles only affect the room it is in or both rooms on the tile?
A: They are active for the whole tile, so both rooms if the tile consists of two rooms.

Q: If I have a code chip that matches some, but not all colors on the security board, can it still be used?
A: Yes, but naturally this is not going to render an optimal result.

Q: When a character is healed by an equipment card or character ability and, as a result, passes the threshold
to gain an action point, does the healed character gain the action point immediately or at the start of the next
round?
A: The action points are updated at the start of the next round.

Q: I played my first two-player game and got slaughtered by the house and its creatures, what did I do wrong?
A: There is a big difference between a 2-player and a 2-character game. In a 2-player game it is advised,
especially for players new to the game, to control 2 characters each. This offer players alot more tactical
options and will make the challenge far less extreme.

Q: When a survivor is forced to move into a room with a lurking creature (symbol) due to a Fear result, must
he perform a lurking creature check?
A: Absolutely.

Q: When four characters are moving simultaneously to another room (being part of the same group) by
spending 1AP each for the move, and they land in a room with a lurking creature icon. Do they perform the
check simultaneously, so with 4 survivor dice?
A: Yes.

Q: Do zombies move out of a room with survivors?

A: As a general rule zombies will NEVER move out of a room with survivors present.

Q: Is simultaneous movement allowed to speed up gamflow, when all characters moving are part of the active
group?
A: Yes. As they act as an organic entity, you may simply move all the miniatures at once to an adjacent room,
each character using 1AP for the move.
Q: Is simultaneous movement allowed when entering a lurker room, or must the characters enter one for one?
A: It is allowed, and it benefits the team as less dice need to be rolled for the lurker check, as by moving one
by one not only means rolling for the entering character, but also for the characters already present.

Q: Are character abilities and room functions (or item use) cummulative?
A: No. The room function stands on itself and is not affected by items or character abilities.

House configuration example.

The diagram below is an example of a possible house configuration. Some elements are present here to
offer a rich and dynamic experience:

- The configuration avoids too many walls/enclosed rooms blocking all the routes towards both ends of the
house. There are 2 enwalled rooms part of the center 6 tiles, but they have an open route between them so
there is an alternative route available for the team. An optimal house configuration allows the team to
choose between at least 2 possible routes, so an interesting dilemma can unravel when time is running low.

- To create some interesting stealth play and to create opportunities for dramatic events to manifest
themselves during play, each row of the house has a camera positioned. The top 2 cameras are covering 3
tiles each, making them very challenging to avoid.

- The orientation of the corner rooms can make a big difference. In this configuration the ammo room is
rotated to a position that forces the team to either take a shortcut but facing the locks or a longer route that
will take more time.
 This example shows a similar house, for the most part built with the same tiles, but with some rooms
shifted in position. Most notable the position of some of center rooms have been changed, with one camera
room being replaced with a lurker room.

As a result, the security cameras cover a very different part of the house.
Instead of 12, with this configuration only 7 rooms are in view of the camera system at the start of the game.
While in the first configuration the team entering through the hall was already in view of a camera, this time
around the team has more opportunities to escape the deadly gaze of the security system.

Note that the first camera in the second row in the room with the well has 2 options for its orientation, as
both its current direction and pointing it downwards would cover 2 rooms. So the players can freely choose
the orientation.

I want to thank Luke Heineman and John Bruns for their feedback and help to compile this FAQ.
Your support is truly appreciated.
Also all the posters of the Dark Darker Darkest rules forum at BGG, who have been wonderful in offering so
much information about their experiences playing the game. Without your support, this FAQ would not have
been possible.