Here Comes THE WALKING DEAD TTRPG!

Free League has announced the official The Walking Dead Universe Roleplaying Game.

The game will hit Kickstarterin Spring 2023, with a release in Fall of the same year. It includes a core rulebook, starter set, and other accessories, powered by Free League's Year Zero engine, which is behind games like Mutant: Year Zero, Alien, Bladerunner, and more.

Additionally, there will be a 'Liveplay' series.

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As the groundbreaking TV series The Walking Dead comes to its climactic conclusion, AMC Networks today announced a long-term alliance with Free League Publishing and Genuine Entertainment to continue expanding The Walking Dead Universe with The Walking Dead Universe Roleplaying Game, an official tabletop roleplaying game. The Walking Dead Universe Roleplaying Game will debut on Kickstarter in Spring 2023, offering early access to the Core Rulebook, a Starter Set, and other premium accessories and limited-run exclusives long before its Fall 2023 retail release.

For news and previews, visit thewalkingdead-rpg.com. Then follow Free League Publishing on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, where fans can discover art and gameplay development ahead of the game’s release.

A co-production between AMC Networks and the award-winning tabletop publisher, which is working closely with key forces behind the franchise, including Chief Content Officer of The Walking Dead Universe, Scott M. Gimple and Head of AMC Networks Publishing Mike Zagari, the ongoing RPG series will introduce new story elements while drawing inspiration from the current series and upcoming spin-offs.

“The Walking Dead has always been about characters – and audiences, by extension – facing impossible life and death choices,” says Gimple. “Now, fans can face these choices head on, putting themselves in the world of the Walking Dead – at any time in the timeline, encountering familiar faces and places and brand-new ones and, within our apocalypse, making the biggest choice: Who are you going to be? We’ve seen a lot of stories in the Walking Dead Universe, now it’s time to see yours.”

The game is directed by Free League co-founders Tomas Härenstam (Alien RPG, Blade Runner RPG) and Nils Karlén, with Nils Hintze (Tales from the Loop RPG, Vaesen - Nordic Horror Roleplaying) as lead writer, Gustaf Ekelund (Twilight: 2000 RPG) and Martin Grip (Alien RPG, Blade Runner RPG) as lead artists, and Genuine Entertainment's Joe LeFavi (Alien RPG, Blade Runner RPG, Dune, The Dragon Prince) as producer and brand manager on the game series.

To immerse fans in this new extension of The Walking Dead Universe, AMC Networks, Free League, and Genuine Entertainment will also produce a limited Liveplay series, where real players will roll the dice at the game table and play an actual The Walking Dead Universe RPG campaign filmed in real-time. Featuring original events pulled from the series’ writers’ room, the Liveplay series will follow new characters who intersect with core story elements and cross paths with a familiar face or two. Kevin Dreyfuss, SVP of AMC Networks’ Digital Content & Gaming Studio, and Genuine Entertainment’s Joe LeFavi will serve as executive producers on the limited Liveplay series.

In The Walking Dead Universe Roleplaying Game, players are challenged to enter the unforgiving, post-apocalyptic sandbox and learn how to survive and thrive in this new world order.

“You can spend days just scavenging ruins and testing survival skills. Or blur it all into the background to focus upon the compelling human drama,” says Härenstam. Fans of survival games may indeed lose themselves in fortifying strongholds alone. “The place you call home should become a rich, three-dimensional character with its own origins, attributes, and memories,” says Hintze. Pushing the boundaries of the survival genre, each group can tailor their RPG experience to suit their own interests and play style. "Each session should feel like you're writing, directing, and starring in your own TWD episode," says AMC's Zagari. "Where it goes is up to you."

No matter what, expect the stress and stakes to be high. Boasting a new spin on Free League Publishing’s award-winning Year Zero engine, players must not only hone their physical skills, but deeply explore what makes them tick – confronting how the hardships of this world naturally impact what they’re capable of, in the best and worst of times.

“Just like the show, this game is not about killing walkers,” asserts LeFavi. “It's not about losing health points and fighting to stay alive. It's about losing your humanity and fighting to find and protect what’s worth living, killing, and dying for.”


 
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payn

He'll flip ya...Flip ya for real...
Yea honestly it’s a great idea for an RPG.

What took so long?
There were a few board games already. The one I played had license to use the AMC series artwork and characters. It was all right, but not something that will hit the table often. I think for a long time IPs were avoided because of mediocre or worse productions hurt sales. I know many gamers who ignore them. All the Gale Force Nine stuff (Homeland, Sons of Anarchy, Spartacus, etc) were really good but nobody bought them.
 

I think this is the first Free League game I have no interest in (I would probably have taken a zombie supplement for Twilight 2K). But I also never was into the zombie stuff too much anyway.
I wonder if they are hiring new people - it already feels like their resources are spread a bit thin for the number of lines they have.
 


Fenris-77

Small God of the Dozens
Supporter
Hah. See, I'm smart. I just stopped watching the show when it got stale. Thus my enthusiasm for an RPG product is undimmed! Because that was my plan all along, naturally....
 

MGibster

Legend
Didn't this used to be called All Flesh Must be Eaten? I kid, I kid. I love zombie fiction, but I got burned out on The Walking Dead series a few years ago. Not because I got tired of zombies, I just felt like the show had gone on too long and was dead on its feet. I'm halfway through season 10 right now, and it's been a few weeks since I last watched it.

I'm mainly interested in this game because Free Leage is publishing it. I own Alien, Bladerunner (waiting for delivery as of this post), and Twilight 2000, and each one is a top notch game. I wonder if WD will have ideas for setting the game at different time periods? At the beginning of the outbreak, a year after, or maybe many years later. Should be fun. I don't know if I'll have anyone interested in playing the game though. We'll see.
 



Yea honestly it’s a great idea for an RPG.

What took so long?

It can take a long time for major licensing deals to go through. And I suspect some of the bigger brands didn't get started with that until relatively recently, once D&D's impact became undeniable.

ETA: Also, they're desperate to find ways to franchise the hell out of TWD now that the core show is ending. Damn MCU has all of Hollywood wanting to utra-franchise everything.
 
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There were a few board games already. The one I played had license to use the AMC series artwork and characters. It was all right, but not something that will hit the table often. I think for a long time IPs were avoided because of mediocre or worse productions hurt sales. I know many gamers who ignore them. All the Gale Force Nine stuff (Homeland, Sons of Anarchy, Spartacus, etc) were really good but nobody bought them.
I feel a bit bad for GF9, they had licensed minis and D&D tie-ins I think before WizKids did, but WizKids has absolutely exploded in market share.
 

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