Rules for Humans vs. Zombies

Updated 10-17-2010

Overview

Humans vs. Zombies is a game of tag. All players begin as humans, and three are randomly chosen to be the secret Original Zombies. The Original Zombies tag human players and turn them into zombies. A zombie must tag and "feed" on a human every 48 hours or he starves to death and is out of the game.

The Golden Rule

Humans vs. Zombies is meant to be fun. Thus, the Golden Rule in this game is Don't Be a Dick (DBAD). All other rules stem from this simple concept, so if you worry that you might not be following the rules or playing in the spirit of the game, just ask yourself "Am I being a Dick?" If the answer is yes, stop it, and let it be known that the douchebaggery of others is not an excuse to break this rule. There is no excuse to break this rule so stop it, now.

Eligibility

To Play HVZ you must:

Be a Pitt student or faculty member
Live on or within walking distance of Pitt Campus
Spend several hours a day on campus
Own/Buy a Bandana of admin chosen color
Be ok with wearing aforementioned bandana around head and/or arm for days
Be ok with the roaming Zombie Horde chasing after you, eating your flesh, and then accepting you as their Zombie friend
Be ok with being shot by a Nerf blaster, being hit by foam boppers, and having a sock thrown at you.
Be ok with having your name displayed on a website

Safety Rules

For previous information on safety see the Golden Rule. For more information keep reading. The things to keep in mind:

No realistic or threatening toy blasters, the last thing we need is to scare everyone in Oakland, so be careful with this
Do not conceal toy blasters in such a way as to make them seem threatening
Do not stun or tag anyone on wheels including bicycles, skateboards, rollerblades, etc.

Non-players

Non-players are not to be involved in the game in any way. Do not ask a non-player to go get you food. Do not ask a non-player to scout ahead. Do not use a non-player as a shield. Do not do anything threatening to a non-player including shooting with a Nerf blaster, throwing a sock at, hitting with a foam bopper, etc.

Pre-game

On Saturday, October 16 at 08:00 the game will officially start. Before this happens you must sign up on the website, turn in a waver to a game admin, and create 4 ID cards (3 will be given to the zombie who tags you and one is for you to submit kills) to be carried with you at all times during the game. Do not lose your cards. Do not forget to bring your cards with you.

Equipment

Required Equipment

All participants must have a bandana of admin chosen color and ID cards.

Arsenal

Humans can use the following arsenal at the start of the game:

Nerf or other brand toy dart blasters
Rolled up clean socks

Later in the game humans will be allowed to use foam melee boppers such as pool noodles, foam toy swords, and assorted pool toys. All melee boppers must be made of foam

Modified/Homemade Toys

All extensively modified or homemade toy blasters or boppers must be approved by no fewer than two officers. Officers can be contacted easily through facebook, the game forum, or email and will meet with you to approve toys. Toys can also be brought to the bandana sales table, located in Towers Lobby until the start of the game for approval. Toys will be tested on you, so if you don't want to be hit with it, don't bother trying to use it.

Safe Zones

The Safe Zones include:

Academic buildings (including the Union and Libraries)
Inside restaurants/cafeterias (darts and socks do not make food taste better)
Any Pitt student's room (hallways are not safe)
Any Pitt student's apartment/suite (entire apartment/suite, not just bedroom)
Bathrooms
Player's workplace
Elevators

Classes/Practices/ROTC/Work

Certain classes require players to be outside of safe zones, these players are to be considered safe until after the class is over. Likewise athletes are safe during practices and ROTC students are safe during their meetings. Also, some players may leave their workplace while still performing duties on the clock; if this is the case they are to be considered safe.

Stunning/Tagging in/near Safe Zones

Stuns can occur inside a safe zone if the human is entering. Stuns can occur outside a safe zone while the human is inside if the human is leaving. If a human fails to exit the building shortly after stunning a zombie then the stun is void.

Kills can be made by zombies if they have either both feet or both hands outside of a safe zone.

Human Rules

human hero

Conditions of Winning

The humans can only win if all zombies starve to death.

Wearing an Armband

Humans must wear a bandana of admin chosen color around their arm at all times, starting on October 19 at 12:00. This armband must be visible at all times and cannot be obscured. If you are worried that your armband is hidden, go stand in Towers Lobby for a couple hours. If you aren't tagged in this time period you probably aren't wearing it properly.

Gathering Supplies/Human Starve Timers

Humans are required to go to campus computer labs in order to obtain resources. To do this all a human has to do is log onto the website and follow the "Get Resources" link and follow the instructions. The labs that are used for resource gathering are set at the begging of each game so humans must find out which ones they can use. This will help keep humans from being ambushed right at the begining of the game by the Original Zombies.

Stunning Zombies

Humans can stun a zombie for 15 minutes by launching foam darts, be it by nerf blaster or otherwise, throwing socks, and, when eventually allowed, by striking with foam melee boppers. When stunned the zombies are to be treated as non-players who cannot interact with the game. Humans cannot re-stun a zombie unless the zombie is not acting like a non-player and breaking the Golden Rule. If the zombie is re-stunned because of failure to uphold the rules, then the timer is reset to 15 minutes.

Staying on Campus

To be fair, no humans can leave campus for a period greater than 24 hours. If this rule is broken the player will be removed from the game, no exceptions.

When Tagged by a Zombie

When a zombie successfully tags you while not stunned you must hand three of your four ID cards to the zombie, who will submit the kill and allow two of his zombie brethren to feed on your corpse. At this time you will have one (1) hour before turning into a zombie.

Zombie Rules

zombie raid

Conditions of Winning

For the zombies to win they must tag all humans, such that they have no more to feed upon.

Wearing a Headband

Unlike humans, zombies do not have to wear their headbands at all times. However, in order to tag and kill a human you must be wearing your headband properly for at least 30 minutes. A headband is worn properly if it is visible from all sides, not obscured by anything, including hair or jackets, and rolled in such a way so that when tied it looks like a band, which is why we use the term headband.

Feeding

So you or your friends tagged a human, now what? First the zombie who made the tag must go to the website and enter the ID numbers found on the ID cards received from the human into the Submit a Kill section. Next the zombie can give two of his friends ID cards and they will go to the website and enter the numbers under the Submit a Feed section. It's that simple.

Getting Stunned

A zombie is stunned if he is struck by a foam dart, sock, or, when allowed, foam melee bopper. This zombie is then stunned for 15 minutes and is to act like a non-player.

Tagging

A zombie has tagged a human when said zombie firmly touches the human. This tag does not have to be with a hand. However, safety is of concern so do not attempt any tags that could endanger you or the human.

Incubation Period

Before midnight on October 16, three original zombies will be randomly chosen. These zombies will not have to wear headbands for three days, and will not have starve timers. They will appear as if they were human. Their goal is to tag as many humans as possible to start the zombie horde. The tagged humans will then change into zombies and be forced to wear their headbands even though the original zombies won't have to until 12:00, October 19. During this time humans do not have to wear armbands, but can if they so choose. Anyone who does not want to be an original zombie can opt out during sign up.

Bandana Summary

	Humans	Original Zombies	Other Zombies
Incubation	no bandana	no bandana	bandana around head
Post-Incubation	bandana around arm	bandana around head	bandana around head

Missions

Throughout the course of the game their will be optional missions. These missions will often have rewards for those that complete them. Information on these missions will be distributed to the concerned parties (humans, zombies, or both). This info will be posted on facebook, the forum, and/or via email depending on the mission. Mission Rewards will be based upon a point system. Points will be given for each mission and after accumulating so many points rewards will be given based on the number of points. The rewards are as follows:

100 pts: Use of melee weapons
250 pts: Vaccine with instructions for use

FAQ

1) Q: Can we make it a rule that if you're a zombie and you get stunned, you have to put hands on your head? That is, assuming you are still around humans, so if you are in a big fight, there is no confusion as to who is and isn't stunned.
A: This follows the DBAD rule. Zombies who are stunned are to act as non-players, if they feel that in order to make it easier on you to tell who is and isn't stunned they should do something such as put their hands on their head, it's up to them. The main thing is just that they don't be a dick.

2) Q: What does "within walking distance" mean?
A: This is up to the discretion of each individual. If you feel as though you are acceptably close as to walk to and from campus if you wanted to, you can play. If not, don't bother.

3) Q: Can I throw darts at zombies to stun them?
A: Yes, but you cannot just touch a dart to a zombie.

4) Q: How does a zombie act like a non-player?
A: He just acts like he's not part of the game. This means if he's talking to the zombie horde via cell phone he must hang up, otherwise he's still playing.

5) Q: Can I roundhouse kick a human to tag him?
A: No tags that endanger the players are allowed. This means no roundhouse kicks, no slide tackling, no headbutting, etc.