Forbidden Lands vs The Walking Dead Universe RPG
Compare Forbidden Lands and The Walking Dead Universe RPG side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Forbidden Lands | The Walking Dead Universe RPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Horror, Post-Apocalyptic |
| Tags | Sandbox, Hexcrawl, Gritty, Survival, Deadly, Exploration, Base-Building, Random Tables | Survival, Narrative, Deadly, Character-Driven, Gritty, Licensed IP |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a pool of d6s (attribute + skill + gear dice). Each 6 is a success. You can push your roll for extra dice, but risk damaging gear and taking conditions. Gear dice degrade on 1s. Year Zero Engine. | Roll a d6 dice pool (attribute + skill). Each 6 is a success. Push your roll to reroll failures, but gain 1 stress and add a stress die. Stress dice that roll 1 cause bad things: attracting walkers, panic, or worse. Only 3 HP means every fight is dangerous. Anchors (named NPCs) relieve stress. Breaking Points track psychological damage; cross too many and your character is Shattered. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Availability | Free quickstart | Paid |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | Book tools not listed |
| License | Year Zero Engine OGL | All Rights Reserved (AMC Networks license) |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Free League Publishing | Free League Publishing |
| Year | 2018 | 2023 |
| Languages | English, Swedish, German, French, Spanish, Italian | English, Swedish, German, Polish |
| Best For | Sandbox hexcrawl campaigns with stronghold building, resource management, and a dark fantasy tone. Great for groups who want to explore and carve out their own corner of the world. | Groups who want tense, character-driven survival horror in the Walking Dead universe: where stress, difficult choices, and human drama matter more than combat. |
| Highlights | Detailed sandbox tools and hexcrawl structure, stronghold building adds long-term goals, push mechanic creates meaningful risk, low-prep with random encounter tables and legend handouts | Stress dice create constant tension, push mechanic forces difficult decisions, only 3 HP makes combat highly consequential, Anchor system ties survival to relationships, well-integrated licensed IP |
| Considerations | Tightly tied to its Ravenland setting, push mechanic can frustrate cautious players, stronghold rules require the full boxed set, hex encounters can feel repetitive without GM preparation | Tightly bound to the Walking Dead IP with limited homebrew flexibility, limited character options in starter set, stress mechanics can cascade into unavoidable spirals, Anchor system penalizes character growth through loss |