4 RPGs The Walking Dead Fans Need To Check Out Right Now!

Here’s my initial rant: so there’s the TV show, the video games, the books, the apps, the card game, the dice game, and the board games. Hell there’s even a Munchkin Walking Dead deck, all based upon the infernal genius of Robert Kirkman’s comic, The Walking Dead. So how in the name of Glenn is there no Walking Dead RPG? I think about it in my head once in awhile; the demographics line up, there’s a huge marketing machine ready to work, there’s no lack of creativity and companies out there that could do this, so why? Funny thing is The Walking Dead isn’t even on my list of favorite comics but I cannot deny its appeal or success, and I know that it's “the survivors not the zombies” that are the “Walking Dead,” but come on now. It seems to me that this would be a sure thing.
 
Now here’s my appeasement: As I said before I’m lacking in experience. The crew I play with aren’t really into horror, besides the odd dinner party and Dread RPG night. Mostly, I think they prefer a playing experience more centered around heroic themes and I respect this, mostly. Mind you while we don’t specifically play zombie survival RPGs we’ve still had our brushes with Lurkers and Roamers and this isn’t my first time rolling the dice. So from my experience and a little research I give you a couple of games to get your “zombie on.”
 
1) Ravenloft- (Dungeons and Dragons by the Wizards of the the Coast RPG Team starting in AD&D with its zenith in specifically 3.5, but now also in 5th Edition with Curse of Strahd)
So Ravenloft is a High Level Games favorite and I can see why. There is a wealth of materials and online resources supporting this game (check out The Fraternity of Shadows here). While this is not a biological contagion zombie scenario, the mechanics of a zombie mob attack, as well as the horrific lands they take place in, are terrifying. I literally winced when I found out that a horde of over 20 zombies does 24d6 of damage and peed a little when the DM told us the rules around Pack Maul special attacks, which is essentially getting ripped apart while you’re being beaten to death. For lack of a better analogy the zombie horde is alive and well in Ravenloft.
 
2) Shadowrun- Catalyst Game Labs
While the magically resurrected undead exist in this game from time to time, the victims of the HMHVV virus are much more what players would expect a typical zombie to be like. Ghouls in Shadowrun are closer to the biological pathogen type that The Walking Dead sets forth and while not truly undead they must consume 1% of their body weight in human flesh every week to survive. It doesn’t hurt that they generally look like corpses. Any Shadowrunners out there that have played through the "Dawn of the Artifacts: Dusk" module, knows that Ghouls are formidable, ghastly, and horrible when encountered in the dark alleys of Lagos. The only downside I see for zombie response unit players out there is that in Shadowrun some Ghouls retain their intelligence and sanity.
 
3) Outbreak: Undead – Hunter Books
This game gets good reviews. It boasts an easy to master system and provides a multitude of scenarios in which you can even play yourself. It provides quick start rules and a number of pre-written modules. For lovers of The Walking Dead this platform provides a similar world to that of Rick and Carl’s. Pre-constructed archetypes allow individuals to construct characters similar to that of the comic book or TV show and the additional modifiers of “panic,” “pain,” and “empathy” would probably allow scenarios to play out in an equally morally questionable manner. I haven’t played this one yet but if you have let me know how it is in the comments (and FYI the 2nd edition is up on Kickstarter if you wish to fund it).
 
4) All Flesh Must Be Eaten- Eden Studios Inc.
So apparently this is the game of games when it comes to zombie survival horror. While some of the reviews I’ve read, as to Eden’s Unisystem platform, are not entirely complimentary (described as clunky and difficult at times, with no defined grapple attack), its claim to fame is that it was the first horror themed game to focus entirely on zombies. I’m not entirely convinced that fans of the Walking Dead would really like this one but as a player I love the fact that they provided a stack of supplementary settings such as: All Tomorrows Zombies (Cyberpunk), Fistful O’Zombies, and Enter the Zombie.
 
There are a wealth of zombie friendly games out there to satisfy fans of the TV show and comic. Once again the GURPS platform came up, as well as the game Last Night on Earth. There should be no problem filling the dead void inside… but seriously, why is there no official Walking Dead RPG? Is it a licensing thing? The comic was published in black and white to give it a ‘hopeless’ feel, and that’s how I feel -hopeless. Not because there will never be a Walking Dead tabletop to play, that’s ridiculous, of course there will be! It’s only a matter of time. I feel hopeless because you can blame me for it not existing. I once had five minutes of Robert Kirkman’s time all to myself and I didn’t bring it up.

About Ryan: ​So I try to read about 50 comics a week, depending on my ability to pay the power bill. I try to read as much new and independent works as my tried and trusted favorites, and I’ve been doing this for years. Thus, I can roughly say that I am pretty decent at comicology, however I hold no formal degree. Luckily, degrees are no substitute for common sense and that’s how I got this gig. Read about his thoughts on what comic books he would like see turned into RPGs here.