So, a few quick questions on general info stuff that came up while thinking of running a game for not-quite-wrestling friends:
1) How much should players have control over NPWs they gain from advancements? Is this one of those “depends on Creative” situations? NPWs are generally there to advance the story, so would they only be doing big things if it has a payoff?
2) If, say, due to hard moves piling up or story reasons, someone should lose their NPW manager/valet/etc, would you give them something to make up for it?
3) How important are controlling the gimmick changes from one to another? Were there some mechanical choices involved, or is it purely a logic/story thing?
4) Is there a gimmick simplicity spectrum? I know there’s some general suggestions, but I’m always worried I missed something that I’m always worried about.
Yeah I wasn’t sure if you were supposed to straight up roll a Manager character ala the gimmick or if I should just run them as a NPW that you have say over.
If you lose an accessory on *AW, you usually get one of equivalent value by the next session, or if it’s not your character any more, you get an equivalent advance.
Simplicity: High Flyer, Monster, Hardcore, Technician are all “Here’s a guy who does this kind of wrestling”. Manager, Jobber are people who avoid the typical “Build momentum, win the match” dynamic. The rest are in the middle.
1) Depends on Creative, I think! In my games it felt pretty natural for the player to have most of the say over them on camera, but then for Creative to “take them over” in backstage scenes. My long-term game had an antagonistic relationship where a player took the backstage producer/on-air interviewer as his manager, and she had a lot of developed personality by the time she was “acquired” with the advance.
2) I think it depends on context. Outside strings of just rotten luck the wrestlers generally have it pretty good, honestly, so my kneejerk impulse would be to make hard moves really stick, but if that’s going to kill the players fun then that’s probably not worth it, you know?
3) The Gimmick progression creates another layer of meaning and I think it’s pretty important. For example, everything can become the Wasted, and the Wasted can go back to anything (except Golden Boy) – this is a career moment of hitting bottom and finding redemption, if you want it. Nothing can change to the Golden Boy (except the Jobber), nothing can change to the Jobber (except the Wasted), because they’re the “starting points” of your career. The Veteran only has a couple options, etc. That said, if your game is only going to see one Gimmick change for a character it may not matter quite as much.
4) Yeah, Adam Goldberg ‘s got it.