I’ll be taking WWWRPG to Forge Midwest this weekend.

I’ll be taking WWWRPG to Forge Midwest this weekend.

I’ll be taking WWWRPG to Forge Midwest this weekend. I’m planning to kinda see what people want to do so I’m not planning any new match stips or anything, but I would like to have another “LE” Gimmick on hand to potentially playtest. Right now I have The Giant (which is what you’d imagine). A couple ideas I want to do:

– The Athlete. References: Kurt Angle, Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro. The Moves center around impressing with athleticism, but I’m not sure what the second dimension should be. Probably +Real based.

– The Gatekeeper. References: “The Enforcer” Arn Anderson, Legacy-era Batista, maybe. The guy you have to get through to get to The Guy. Similar to the Manager, where you have a pre-defined relationship with someone (NPC or other player’s wrestler), and your Moves revolve around making other people look awesome. +Work based.

– The Innovator. References: Michael PS Hayes, Goldust, Tommy Dreamer (arguably). Someone who comes up with something genuinely fresh, new or innovative in the world of wrestling, or who has an angle that only they can pull off. Has a signature Move that you get to define in addition to their Finisher, and probably something about inciting jealousy backstage, but other than that I’m not sure where to go with it.

Help me prioritize! 

So, back during the Cold War, the two best wrestlers in the world going into the Olympics were a Russian guy and an…

So, back during the Cold War, the two best wrestlers in the world going into the Olympics were a Russian guy and an…

So, back during the Cold War, the two best wrestlers in the world going into the Olympics were a Russian guy and an American guy. They’d caught the world’s attention and quite a lot of political hay was being made. The American was a Joe Cornflakes type, and the Soviet was feared for his mastery of a wicked move called the Pretzel.

The American coach grilled the wrestler relentlessly on the Pretzel, which he was sure to face. It had three stages: the first, which was hard to escape but not impossible; the second, which was itself a world-class finisher; and the third stage … from which no one had ever escaped. They spent every session working on escaping the first and second stages.

On the day of reckoning, after each wrestler had disposed of his opponents handily, the two squared off. The American coach watched in fear, crying out, “No, you’re in the Pretzel, get out!” to no avail as the American wrestler succumbed to the dreaded move’s second stage. As the inevitable third stage closed in, the American coach turned away in bitter, patriotic disappointment.

… Until a mighty cheer rises from the crowd, and he turns to see the referee holding up the American wrestler’s hand in victory!! He rushes to his side. “My boy, you were in the third stage of the Pretzel – how did you escape?!”

The American wrestler, who understandably looks like he’s been through a mangler, gasps out his story. “Coach, there I was in the third stage of the Pretzel. I looked to the right of me, and there’s nothing there. I looked to the left, and nothing there. I looked up … and there’s a pair of balls, right there. So I bit them!” …

… “Coach, you’d be amazed at what you can do when you bite your own balls.”

When you wrestle a bear roll +Real.

When you wrestle a bear roll +Real.

When you wrestle a bear roll +Real.

 On a 10+ holy shit, you wrestled a bear! Gain +1 Audience and choose two:

On a 7-9, you sure wrestled a bear. Choose one: you make it out of there intact; you make it out of there without anyone helping you; you make it out of there without letting everyone know how fucking terrified you are. 

On a miss, holy shit. You’re wrestling a bear.

I’d love to get outside playtest feedback on this game!

I’d love to get outside playtest feedback on this game!

I’d love to get outside playtest feedback on this game!

Is there anything in the game materials themselves that are presenting a barrier to play? Anything about explanation, presentation or the rules themselves that’s confusing or makes you feel like you won’t play it “right” (tho I’m a strong believer in “if you’re having fun, you’re playing it right”, especially for wrasslin’)?

Basically, I’m craving some validation that I’m not in some myopic game design bubble on this one!

Last Night On World Wide Wrestling

Last Night On World Wide Wrestling

Originally shared by Nathan Paoletta

Last Night On World Wide Wrestling

coming to you LIVE from Richmond, VA

bleearp THE REVOLUTION IS HERE

(sorry, not up to the big writeup right this sec, but bullet points!)

– Keith Senkowski ‘s Keystone locks management in an office, then legit breaks the key, giving him free reign over the show. None of the booking was set yet, nobody knows what’s going on!

– first match, Ron Edwards plays the Jobber Bill Blast (while Bruto is offscreen healing up). He gets rushed into a match with Jaxon the Saxon to set up a Revolution segment – before he can put over the Saxon, Tex Arkana (Eric Mersmann , taking on an NPC and making him the Technician) runs-in and beatsdown both guys, before revealing he’s now officially part of the Revolution. Keystone and CHL enter and Keystone puts Jaxon in the Brainwasher.

– backstage it’s chaos! Keystone scrambles to cover, and goes to Perdition to set up a 2-on-1 handicap with the Birds of Prey (Raptor & Buzzard). Perdition hasn’t even put his boots on yet, so Keystone has to keep the audience busy…

– Tex delivers a meandering promo to buy Keystone time, while Keystone thinks fast and pulls Bill Blast back out to beat on him and MAKE A POINT about WHO’S IN CHARGE TONITE. Bill takes some chair shots and blades, it gets uncomfortable but the audience is finally paying attention!

– The 2-on-1 match goes great! (Narrated, no PCs involved). Perdition hits both men with the Road to Perdition.

– Backstage, Bill tells the janitor that the lock on the office is broken, and he goes off to find a crowbar and let the management out.

– Keystone books El Tigre and local favorite Scour in a LADDER MATCH to keep the audience hyped.

– Backstage, Tina Tahini and C. Colton Craig have been released. She is spitting mad. Craig pulls Keystone aside and gives him the bottom line – “The rating had better be great for tonite or you are fired.”

– Final match, Keystone books himself and the Revolution (so now it’s a full faction, with CHL, Tex and Jaxon all having been brainwashed into it) against the only man who’s in his way, Perdition. Perdition clears the ring of the minions and has some brutal one-on-one with Keystone, and then all hell breaks loose after a succesfully pulled Low Blow, and the Revolution runs in to beatdown the “giant giant.” Keystone pulls back his men and they retreat once the big guy is down – but he does manage to get up and tear down the Revolution banner hanging over the ring, finalizing his face turn and setting up a feud going forward.

Good Episode! Kind of weird to get started, with the Revolution angle, and the guys had absolutely terrible dice for the first part, so there was a palpable “oh shit how are we going to pull this on off” tension.

Let’s Workshop a Move

Let’s Workshop a Move

Let’s Workshop a Move

I need a custom Move for Keith Senkowski ‘s takeover of our Wednesday Night Wars game. His wrestler is leading a revolution against the WWW management.

It’s a work, so we need some structure for it!

I’m thinking:

Note your Audience at the top of the Episode. When you rebel against authority or leverage your position as a malcontent, spend Momentum 1-for-1 to: book any match you want (including outcome); interfere in a match without making the Run-In Move; set up a segment of your choice; gain +1 Heat with the person you’re addressing; interrupt any segment and cut a promo (make the Cut a Promo Move separately). At the end of the Episode, if you haven’t gained Audience, you lose 1 Audience. 

Thoughts?

Our weekly game is hitting it’s first Gimmick transitions! Exciting!

Our weekly game is hitting it’s first Gimmick transitions! Exciting!

Our weekly game is hitting it’s first Gimmick transitions! Exciting!

This is the 7th session coming up, with the two characters changing playbooks (or whatever they’re doing, Ron Edwards is being coy about his plans) each having participated in all of them, IIRC. This is about what I had in mind – 5-6 sessions of play should be where games are either wrapping up, or moving on to the next phase of their wrestler’s development.

So that’s a nice piece of feedback about the long-term game!

Meaning to ask: I know the Beta test is called “Indy Circuit” – is that just a test name, or meant to signify “intro…

Meaning to ask: I know the Beta test is called “Indy Circuit” – is that just a test name, or meant to signify “intro…

Meaning to ask: I know the Beta test is called “Indy Circuit” – is that just a test name, or meant to signify “intro rules?” Because the rules are set up as more of  polished, televised wrestling company.

I could totally see an “Indy Circuit” supplement, however, with Indy wrestler gimmicks like “Spot Monkey,” “Washed-Up Oldtimer,” “Local Hero,” “Garbage Wrestler,” “Backyard Wrestling,” etc…

I could also see a Japanese supplement, with gimmicks like “Young Boy,” “Shoot Fighter,” “Junior Heavyweight,” “Gaijin Bully,” “King’s Road Golden Ace,” “Death Match Warrior,” etc…

The single biggest influence on how I like to run WWWRPG is WWE’s developmental show NXT.

The single biggest influence on how I like to run WWWRPG is WWE’s developmental show NXT.

The single biggest influence on how I like to run WWWRPG is WWE’s developmental show NXT. They embrace high concept gimmicks, invest time in their characters and allow them to make real connections to the audience, and make frequent and meaningful callbacks to prior events in their own canon. And, it’s only an hour!

This recap column is a real good way to find out more about that show, if you’re not already reading it! 

You can see the show on Hulu (sometimes Hulu+, I’m unclear on why but it switches sometimes), and also the WWE network.

http://www.uproxx.com/tag/wwe-nxt/