Roleplaying Core Rules is a rule book for The Walking Dead Universe Roleplaying Game. It details how the game works. It also includes the Atlanta Campaign set-Up, as well as the The Golden Ambulance survival mode. Throughout the book, the story of Hannah's Group is told through chapter introductions, roleplaying examples and, dearly departed monologues.
Chapter 1 - Introduction[]
The first chapter is an overview of the basic rules of the game. How different die rolls work, setting scenes, and the role of the Gamemaster and the players. This chapter features Hannah's dearly departed message to Miguel after she fired a revolver at a thief, which attracted walkers that devoured him on the rooftop.
Chapter 2 - The World of the Dead[]
This chapter details the lore of the Walking Dead Universe. A basic rundown of the Wildfire Virus and Operation Cobalt and what remains of the world today. It describes the behavior of walkers and how they can be utilized in games. It finally, discusses what kind of survivors would players encounter, whether they be hostile or friendly NPCs.
The first dearly departed message in this chapter is written to Julia. Julia's best friend details how she remembers Julia being ripped apart by walkers after a herd attacked. However, this horrifying image makes Julia's friend stronger.
The second dearly departed message is written to Alona, The Writer (possibly Imani or Hannah) expresses how when they first met Alona they thought she and Rebecca were a couple but expresses disgust that she instead hung out with Rodriguez. Alona had clearly hurt Rebecca in the past and The Writer used this to form a meaningful relationship with her, resulting in Rebecca and the Writer becoming a couple. However, Alona at some point took off with half the group's supplies and a car and somehow ended up being hung from a tree. The Writer then describes finding a reanimated Alona, hanging from the tree.
Chapter 3 - The Player Characters[]
Chapter three discusses the process of creating and playing your personal characters. Including deciding your archetype, name, issue, drive, attributes, skills and talents. It also goes over how health points, anchors and fear operate within the game. It presents the function of gear, experience points and how to navigate your player's relationships with other players and NPCs. This chapter includes a list of potential NPCs along with their background, issues, and gear.
The NPCs and their backgrounds are listed as follows:
- Anthony Brooks - Teacher
- Melissa Anderson - Screenplay Writer
- Robert Young - Kid
- Bobby Miller - Boxer and Thief
- Abigail Miller - Farmer
- George Lee - Plumber
- Kayla Clark - Dancer
- Doris Young - Elderly
- Elijah Flores - Politician
- Amber King - Soldier
- Betty "Anvil" Hall - Teen Punk Rocker
- Daniel Perez - Stockbroker
- Nicole Perez - Immigrant / Domestic Worker
- Samuel Carter - Construction Worker
- Denise Carter - Kid
- Raymond Green - Doctor
- Emma Wilson - Athlete
- Ryan Smith - Senior Citizen
- Sharon Smith - Senior Citizen
- Anna Jones - Spiritualistic Medium.
- Nicolas Wgute - Criminal
- Amy Hall - Soldier
- Ronald Green - Engineer
- Ki Wilson - Nurse
- Demián Vergara - Drifter
- Gael Barraza - Psychotherapist
- Angela Flores - Medical Student
- Jacob Flores - Baby
- Jason Lee - Farmer
- Barbara Ferrara - Runaway Teen
Next, the chapter features how havens operate and gives three potential starting havens for a campaign. These include The Bus on a Hill, The Factory and The Villa.
Finally, the chapter ends with the twelve character archetypes giving a detailed potential backstory for each as well as their possible issue, drive, gear and relationships with other characters. These archetypes are- The Criminal, The Doctor, The Farmer, The Homemaker, The Kid, The Law Enforcer, The Nobody, The Outcast, The Politician, The Preacher, The Scientist and The Soldier.
The dearly departed in this chapter is addressed to Roger. The Writer reflects on Roger's quiet demeanor, which often seemed incomprehensible but was always accompanied by a beloved smile and a clear sense of belonging within the group. Despite underestimating Roger, The Writer acknowledges his incredible strength and sacrifice, as he gave his life to save the others by moving a beam that had blocked their escape route. In his memory, The Writer pledges to protect Roger’s mother and support her in caring for the group she now sees as her “children.”
Chapter 4 - Skills and Talents[]
Chapter four describes the skills that each character has. These are Close Combat, Endure, Force, Mobility, Ranged Combat, Stealth, Scout, Survival, Tech, Medicine, Manipulation and Leadership. Depending on your archetype you will have modifies on some of these skills. The chapter details how to push a roll, use the stress dice, what to do after failed tests and messing up on rolls. It also details how opposed rolls work, when you're trying to complete an action against an NPC or player.
The second part of the chapter looks over talents. Every starting player gets to pick one talent and gaining XP throughout sessions can give them more. Each of the twelve archetypes has three base talents the player can pick from when they first design their character. There are also additional talents they can obtain through sessions, one of these is Whisperer - Which a player can gain after they've walked among the dead many times, dressed in skin.
The first dearly departed letter is addressed to Rodriguez, who died shortly after adventuring on a supply mission to prove his worth to the group. The Writer (possibly Hannah) expresses how they wished they looked for Rodriguez sooner but Imani convinced them that he didn't deserve it. The Writer recounts finding a reanimated Rodriguez in an abandoned retirement home and how David eventually finds the supplies and the motorcylce that Rodriguez originally came looking for.
The second dearly departed letter is addressed to a Crazy Wanderer. The Writer (possibly Imani or Hannah) recounts encountering a deranged individual while out with Rebecca. Initially mistaken for an animal due to their mud-covered appearance and animalistic movements, the Crazy Wanderer revealed their humanity by brandishing a gun and raving about being "the king of bears." The Writer then kills the Wanderer, considering him a threat to them and their group. '
The third dearly departed letter is addressed to Banner. The Writer (possibly Rebecca or Imani) expresses how they wished Hannah bashed him to death with his own hammer but is happy enough that Hannah eventually did kill Banner. However, The Writer is confused as to why Hannah is now upset about killing Banner. It ends with the Writer detailing their fear of Hannah hurting herself as after killing Banner, she got upset and ran into the ruins outside the base.
Chapter 5 - Combat and Healing[]
This chapter covers how both combat and healing work in the game. Firstly, it explains how duels and brawls work. Duels are one-on-ones with either NPCs or walkers whereas brawls are with groups of hostile enemies. It then covers how damage, healing, armor and critical injuries work. Critical injuries are obtained when your player character is broken. The player must roll a d66 to confirm what type of injury they have. A chart lists them out, some are minor and others are lethal. Next, it explains how stress works in the game.
The chapter then lists potential other hazards that could be encountered in the game, such as explosions, poison, fire, disease, falling, and traps, and how both hunger and tiredness can become challenges to the players. It further explains the function of vehicles and how travelling with them operates, how to ram other vehicles, how damage works, and the steps to repair one's vehicle. It also describes scenarios where the players are fighting the dead and explains the purpose of the threat level meter and how increasing and reducing it works. It lists a chart of potential walker attack encounters, decided by rolling a d66, these range from successfully killing a walker to being overwhelmed by walkers that tear flesh from your bones. The chapter finally educates players on how to fight a swarm of walkers if it comes to it.
This chapter's first dearly departed monologue is addressed to a parrot called James. The Writer (possibly Imani) recounts how they saved James' life a couple of times before he flew away to wherever he is now. The Writer reflects on the unique bond they shared with James, despite his disruptive habits—such as littering, loud screams at inopportune moments, and constant pleading for cookies—James earned the Writer's unwavering loyalty. The Writer kept James despite pressure from others to let him go. Notably, the Writer saved James at the water tower when Hannah tried to strangle him. The Writer now carries feathers from James on their hat.
The second dearly departed monologue is written to Michelle, a former member of Hannah's group who left after Hannah killed Henderson. Imani killed Michelle when running her down with her motorcycle. Imani explains that when they first found Michelle she made them stronger but after Michelle tried to leave for Free Town and abandon the rest of the group, Imani couldn't stand for it and thus killed Michelle.
The third dearly departed monologue is addressed via a radio to a Unnamed Man The Writer met (possibly Imani). The Writer, a member of Hannah's group expresses concern for the group. Explaining that Hannah has been shot, David has gone crazy, Lisa's baby is almost due and Dikembe is not right in the head after the last raid. The Writer wishes for The Man to be there to unite them.
Chapter 6 - Home and Away[]
This chapter illustrates the rules and guidelines for the heavens and going on supply runs in the undiscovered wilderness. Havens are group bases for the players and their group. Each haven has a capacity and defense score and it lists potential issues and challenges the haven could have. By completing projects, the players can increase both the defense and capacity scores of their haven. They also can teach NPC survivors if they are at least level 1 in any particular skill and build gear within their base.
The first dearly departed message is from Imani and is addressed to her mother who died from cancer before the apocalypse. Imani reflects that her mother always saw her as weak but now she is surviving in this harsh new world. Imani then reveals she shot a group member in the face who was sympathising with raiders. This is later revealed to be the group's medic, Eli. The chapter then lists three established havens these are:
- The Old Schoolhouse - A wooden schoolhouse on a grassy lane. It has the benefit of having a lookout platform, a river close by and several beehives. However, it has no running water or any other food sources other than the fish and game players can get.
- The Rooftop Apartment - A big apartment at the top of a ten-story building in a city. The entranceways are blocked off, providing good defense but causing players to be easily trapped inside. Luckily, there is also a stash of canned food and survival equipment but the food stores will eventually deplete.
- The Mall - A big empty shopping mall. The mall is surrounded by walkers but the military secured the bottom floor, and they secured all the entrances. It is unfortunately, a well-known location, there are many entrances to guard and the top half is ruled by former security guards who are now would-be despots.
Going on runs is an important part of the game for when you need to find food, weapons, medical supplies or to complete a mission. The chapter explains area maps, travelling to new sectors, how rations work, hunting on the road, scavenging and locating resources.
Chapter 7 - Running the Game[]
This chapter is intended for the gamemaster and details how to run a successful campaign, survival mode, or solo play. It starts with reexplaining how the core concepts function, such as issues, challenges, and endgames. It details how to prepare for a campaign, advising on area maps, characters and their relationships, the havens, and NPC factions. It provides charts for the gamemaster to use to generate the characteristics of new factions discovered by the players. Two established faction examples are provided for the gamemaster to use. These are:
- The Black Hearts - A group of 30 people who were freegans and punk rockers before the outbreak and now live in a five-story brick building.
- Sugar Hill - A large community of over a hundred people, who rebuilt an old city hall into their new society. Led by a community priest.
It then suggests placing secret issues for NPCs, items, and havens throughout the campaign and gives suggestions and advice on creating a challenge list to facilitate this. Random events are explained as a way to inject new life into the story if the current challenges are dragging or to add new layers to the mountain of current challenges and issues. It lists a faction encounter table to use as an example, utilizing the die as a way to determine if said faction will be hostile, friendly, or anything in between. It ends this section by defining how other locations, swarms, and rumors work, ending by providing a chart to monitor changes in factions and a suggestion on what to do between session preparations.
The fourth part covers sections and scenes, giving tools and guidelines on the structure of the campaigns. It goes over the goals of the first session and continues into the second, setting scenes, ending scenes, and flashback scenes. The fifth section covers challenges, how to activate them, dealing with multiple challenges at one time, players creating their own, how to escalate them, and using haven and character needs to create further challenges. It then provides the gamemaster with a chart of potential random events they can use in their campaigns.
The next section regards travel. It stresses the importance of describing sectors and proceeds to provide four charts that can be used to determine the weather, what ruins the players come across, what they encounter in the wilderness, and random NPC encounters. The latter includes a list of their backgrounds, issues, and gear. These NPCs are:
- Jason Brooks
- Rita Danny & Rosalynn Harvey
- Santiago Perez
- Paula Rodriguez
- Lenny Smith & Ross Brown
- Joey Chard
- Peter Sioan & Patricia Anderson
- Zoe Valdez
- Harry Lee
- Viviane & James Moore
- Lucas Resick
- Roger Hammond & Kit Wilson
- Melissa Jackson
- Ellen Kay
- Ming-Na Ho
- Kayd & Scott Pierson
- Madeline Rivera
- Stu Harrison
- Ezra Faheem
- Eliot Harper
It then discusses how to navigate when players are within a walker-infested building. The seventh section explains how to manage both human NPCs and animals, providing a reaction chart to determine the temperament and intentions of human NPCs the players encounter. Next, it provides a chart of potential animal encounters, such as:
- Alligator
- Bear
- Dog
- Eagle
- Elk
- Venomous snake
- Tiger
- Trained watchdog
- Wolf
- Wolverine
The eighth section advises the gamemaster on how to manage a campaign and provides tips such as not giving too many details, adding a twist when needed, asking questions, using sounds, and changing the pace unexpectedly to mix things up. "What do you do?" is the key phrase any gamemaster should keep saying to the players to activate them as co-creators of the story. Next, what to do when players mess up, how to utilize NPC deaths in a useful way, and tips on how to make it scarier, such as detailing the apocalyptic world, making them lose hope at times, and freaking them out with gore. Finally, the section gives bits of advice on how to use characters from TV Series. For example, if you meet Eugene in a bar, the players should come to learn this is Eugene, not know straight away.
The final section of the chapter runs down how to operate a survival mode scenario. These are usually one-session events that are designed to be more difficult than a typical campaign session. It instructs that gamemasters must create challenges and goals, a unique location with a map, a clear endgame in mind, and player characters.
The first dearly departed message of this chapter is addressed to God and is written by Lisa. She prays for Eli to recover from his gunshot to the face as Lisa is pregnant and needs his medical skills.
The second dearly departed message is addressed to Eli. The writer (possibly Lisa) starts by expressing their pet peeves about Eli whilst still proclaiming their love for him. It's revealed Eli didn't pull through his gunshot, and the writer proclaims that they lost their best friend.
Chapter 8 - Atlanta Campaign Set-Up[]
The final chapter can be used as a quick start for a campaign. Designed to be used as either a short of long campaign. The campagin is set in an area northeast of Atlanta, it takes place after the events of Season 11. It begins with preparations that the gamemaster must implement such as gathering players, rolling a die to set where the swarm/s are located and setting the key challenges of the sessions.
Players can roleplay as any of the pre-existing characters that are included within the Starter Set.
There are three ways to come into contact with content from the TV Series. One of the factions is a group called The Living that Rick encounted in Season 2. One of the members of The Reborn faction is Arnold Grant, a former member of Grady Memorial Hospital. The thrid and final is on the Lake Boat Settlement where the players can encounter Cyndie.
The Golden Ambulance[]
The Golden Ambulance is a short survival mode scenario set between Season 2 and Season 3 of the TV Series. It is a pre-built game where the players must obtain an ambulance stocked with medical supplies within the Heavenly Parking garage. However, it is in fact a trap set by Rachel Pérez. It also includes NPCs from Woodbury led by Ham Burke.
Included in this chapter is a large appendix that includes charts that the gamemaster can use. The first two are used to decide what a walker looks like. You first roll a d66 to figure out the walker's past, for example, they were a priest. Then you roll another d66 to give it a noticeable wound, for example, a shotgun wound in the chest. The third chart is designed to give some descriptive flavor to any empty rooms that the players enter, for example, a walker hanging from the roof. The fourth chart is a list of random locations that can be used when you need one. The fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth charts are designed to randomly decide the appearance, skills, issues, secret issues, and gear of an NPC. The final chart is a list of items players can find when scavenging.
Solo Play[]
The final sub-chapter of the book details how solo player functions.