I’m gearing up to run my first session of World Wide Wrestling on Saturday. I’ve got at least three or four potential players. All of whom are fans of wrestling. Only one of them has any experience with roleplaying however. And that’s restricted primarily to D&D. I’m going to run them through the Quickstart Scenario. So that helps a little, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice. On teaching the game to people who’ve either never role-played before or only have a background in D&D. Any advice would be appreciated.
I’m gearing up to run my first session of World Wide Wrestling on Saturday.
I’m gearing up to run my first session of World Wide Wrestling on Saturday.
It might be short notice, but I recommend that the players watch at least one of the Journeyman’s Cup videos on the ndpdesign webpage. That’ll help them have a rough idea what to expect.
ndpdesign.com – ndpdesign
I second that. Watching actual play videos helped me get a much better handle on the big picture and the particulars.
For fans, I would think giving them a peek behind the scenes would be fun. Give them an insider thrill…
Make sure they understand that the audience gains are tied to their success in the backstage plotlines.
For example, creative books the match for A to win, and reveals it to the players ahead of time. The backstage issue is wrestler B wants to win the match to impress a paramour or sponsor – depending on how big the Fed is described as being.
If they break the booking, then there might be consequences backstage unless the audience goes up or some good heat gets built up. In that case, management will forgive success and roll with it. If B doesn’t break booking, there may be bad blood that complicates later scenes. Play the backstage reaction either way.
Another fun thrill is to describe the fan Tweets etc. during the show. As GM, let them know how the live, TV, and online crowd is reacting. The show is, after all, the point of the game and those cheering crowds are the treasure chests.
Judd Goswick So for example I should say something like “Oh that sequence you just performed is going to make the rounds as a Meme on the internet.” Or “The crowd is stunned in silence at Wrestler A’s betrayal of his tag team partner.” Is that what you’re suggesting?
Phillip Ribbink yep, things like that. That way the idea of the audience stat and heat values are tied to the in-game fans. If they are fans themselves then it ties that experience in with the gameplay.
Also, it’s pretty fun! 😁