Momentum and Success in WWWRPG

So recently on the World Wide Wrestling RPG Google+ group, we were talking about an issue some of us had with the game. W3RPG has a fate point system in place called Momentum. You gain Momentum for succeeding in doing moves and you can use them to make your rolls better, interrupt your opponent, or activating your role move (Heel or Face). It is essentially a fate point currency. However, there are some issues with the way the Momentum Economy works with the rest of the game that causes a perpetual momentum problem.

For those that haven't played W3RPG, it is powered by the Apocalypse Engine. The game uses only 2d6 to do any sort of moves. A partial success is a 7-9. while a great success is a 10+. 6 and below are botches. Your character's stats range from -2 (super bad) to +3 (really good). At first glance, this makes the game less granular with the bonuses. There is a fairly good difference between having a +1 and a +2 in your stats. For example, if you have a +0 in your Power stat, then you have a 58.33% chance of getting at least a partial success and a 16.67% chance of getting a great success. When you bump that up to a +1 Power, suddenly, you have a 72.22% chance of getting at least a partial success and a 27.78% chance of a great success. That is a pretty big leap. If you have a +3 in a stat, you can only fail on a roll of a 2 or 3. In fact, with a +3 in a stat, you will have a 58% chance of getting a great success.

A part of this is because of the steep bell curve that 2d6 has. Bonuses make a huge impact on the probability of getting a success or not. And the better the success, the more Momentum you can get to make future rolls more successful. Matches end up being a bunch of successes and back and forth, with the Momentum being used to interrupt or increase their finisher at the end.

So what's the problem?

Looking back at stats, if you have a +3 in a stat, you will be getting a great success 58% of the time. In game terms, this means you'll be getting a lot of Momentum and other benefits depending on the move you do. For example, the basic wrestling move states that if you get a 10+ on your roll, you remain in control of the match and can get either 2 Momentum or 1 Heat (the stat that gives you enhancements). The game is all about narrating your character's match in a wrestling ring and making moves based on what you narrate. So, as long as you narrate moves that play to your strong stat, then you will always be in control and gaining momentum unless your opponent spends a momentum to interrupt. And even then, if you've built up the Momentum, you can easily take back control.

In addition, you can basically build up a lot of Heat quickly in a match. Ending a match with +4 Heat gives you a +1 to your Audience stat, and getting to Audience 4 gives you an advance. So with a +3 in a stat, you are essentially always building up an insane amount of Heat and getting Audience fairly often. And truthfully, there isn't much reason to narrate your wrestler using their bad stats. The game encourages you to stick with your strong stats so you don't botch, build up heat, then when you're at 4 Heat, spend 2 Momentum to end the match prematurely with the Heel move. The only thing stopping someone from doing this consistently is a gentleman's agreement saying they won't. But that's not really enough for me.

What's the point of having botch results when players don't really botch? The botch results make the match really interesting, but we never see them because players are consistently hitting 10s and over. And while you can and should occasionally put wrestlers in situations that put them at a disadvantage, consistently punishing a player for playing their character is silly. Why should I punish the High Flyer for never doing a Power move when Rey Mysterio or Kalisto never really do Power moves? Not to mention, there are several moves that can shore up stat weaknesses (like the Monster's ability to use Power instead of Look backstage). 

Ultimately, I'm identifying the mechanics I have issues with and am tweaking them to provide a more healthy and varied match while still rewarding a high stat. First off, the biggest issue I see in W3RPG is the conflict resolution system. In most RPGs, the rolls you make to resolve any kind of mechanical conflict are affected by two things: your stats as a character and the difficulty of the conflict. For example, if you are picking a lock, you'd add your Lock Picking stat to your d20 roll. If the lock was difficult, then you get a penalty depending on the difficulty of the lock. W3RPG doesn't have the difficulty penalty in its conflict resolution rolls. All rolls are based primarily on your stats as a character. 

So this is what I propose

Wrestling Difficulty System

This adds a layer of penalties depending on the difficulty and danger of the move in question. Whether it is a Feat of Strength, a normal Wrestling Move, Cutting a Promo, or anything else, this should help reel back the success some, while also rewarding doing more risky behavior.

There are three levels of difficulty in this system. +0 are trivially easy moves. Resting holds, intimidation, whatever. -1 are moderately difficult or dangerous moves. -2 are extremely dangerous moves. Whenever a wrestler wants to make a move, the GM lets them know how difficult it will be and applies the penalty to their roll, in addition to the proper stat for the move. The more difficult the move, the more rewards you can get from it. Succeeding a difficult move (-1 or -2) gives you a bonus +1 Momentum in addition to the move's results. In addition, for every -2 difficult move you do, you gain a +1 bonus to your finisher.

I feel with this method, it does reign back the amount of successes that you normally see, but, you still get good rewards for completing a difficult or dangerous move. And even though doing difficult moves can get you more Momentum, with the difficulty system in place, you will be using that momentum more often. So it should balance out. 

The major flaw is still that a player can narrate themselves to play it safe. I considered the following move:

BORING! BORING!: You're putting the crowd to sleep with your amateur moves. Whenever a player does two or more consecutive safe moves, they lose 1 Momentum per safe move. If they have no more Momentum after doing a consecutive safe move, the opponent gets a Momentum instead.

Hopefully not too hamfisted. I'm unsure and would like to see what others' take on these rules are.I personally prefer a slower W3RPG game, so with this and slowing down advancements some, I think it's the kind of game I'd like. This game is still good and I recommend playing it, but I think with some DIY hacks and good ol' fashion OSR spirit, I can make the game more to my liking.

EPF Match #2: Road to the American Open [WWWRPG Actual Play]

Taking a brief break from my sci fi dump to do my actual play of my bimonthly World Wide Wrestling RPG game on the heels of Money in the Bank. This match was shorter than the last as not everyone could make it. So I padded it with some NPC matches in the description.

Roster Appearance

Foul G: The leader of the Unholy Alliance. A fat, opportunistic heel Provocateur that won the Inter-Regional Championship and has been leading the stable on the warpath

Tavreth: The first member of the UNITY group. A face Monster with a martial arts motif. Kick a lot of ass in the last game on a three vs one handicap match.

El Capitan Verde: Another Veteran, a luchador that has joined forces with Tavreth to stop the Unholy Alliance and their reign of terror. Was beaten brutally by Foul G last game

Vlad Viper: A vampire golden boy that has been a bit out of the single match. Teamed with a mind controlled Sasha Lexington.

Sasha Lexington: A wasted submission expert battling alcoholism, she recently almost injured one of the EPF's enhancement talents. She's since been out of the ring.
Mailman Mann: The resident 'enhancement talent', Mailman Mann is, well, a mailman that wrestles. Plucky and endearing, yet never seems to snag the win.
Dungeon Master: The master of the hardcore, the Dungeon Master brings his d20 and kendo stick to make every match a hardcore one.

The Episode:

We start the segment backstage, as Foul G comes to gloat to the General Manager a bit about their upcoming match. Since he was over, he uses his pull to finagle a match between Mailman Mann, Sasha, and Dungeon Master. The General Manager humors the Rotund Rogue and grants him his wish. Meanwhile, Tavreth appears behind Foul G and uses his Over Move to make their title match at the American Open a Rage in a Cage match. The GM smiles and agrees, to the chagrin of Foul G.

First Match: Mailman Mann vs Sasha Lexington vs the Dungeon Master in a Hardcore Triple Threat

Probably to get revenge for her botch a couple of weeks ago, Mailman comes out swinging and uses a bicycle against Sasha successfully, and then to DM. DM takes control, rebounds off the ropes, and hits Mailman with a kendo stick. DM gets a shovel from under the ring, climbs the turnbuckle, and hits both Sasha and Mailman with the kendo and shovel. While DM gloats, Sasha takes control. Looking to show how a real wrestler fights, she hits DM with an electric chair facebuster and immediately does her finisher, the STS on DM to end the match early. Mailman does not want this to happen, so he Breaks Kayfabe and hits her with a bottle to stop the submission, giving Sasha a concussion.. The crowd goes absolutely nuts.

While everyone is shocked, Mailman takes a ramp from under the ring and does a sick nasty bike trick, hitting DM in the head. Then he gets a set of golf clubs from under the ring, sets up on the announce table, and hits a golf ball into DM's dice bag. DM trips him on the table, climbs the table, and gives him seven kendo shots to the chest as the crowd counts off each one. Then he runs into the ring to a rising Sasha and missile dropkicks Sasha. Mailmann runs in with his bike and hits them over and over with his bike, spinning and getting dizzy. Sasha takes control and does a swinging neckbreaker into a vertical suplex to the Mailman. While they are fighting, DM gets a set of scrap metal, pours it on the ground, throws Sasha on the top turnbuckle, and does a top rope suplex onto the metal on the ground. Mailman tried to capitalize on the carnage, but DM reverses him and slams MMM, pinning him for the win.

However, that wasn't the end, as Vlad runs in and slams DM. While he yells at his tag team partner Sasha for losing, Mailman hits him in the groin with a golf club and calls him out on a savage promo. Will we see a hot feud between these two?

Second Segment

GM is out and invites UNITY and the Unholy Alliance to come in for the match signing. The match next week will be an Achieve or Leave bout, between General Manager Montgomery Vincent Peterbilt and Foul G. The GM explains the legal papers and stipulations of the match. There can be no interference from anyone, including UNITY and the Unholy Alliance, or else Foul G immediately loses. Having 'read' the legal papers, Foul G signs the documents to seal his fate. Unfortunately for him, the GM is a crafty man and put something special in the fine print. The GM can pick any wrestler in EPF to fight for him in his place. It could be anyone. He teases that it could even be Foul G's ally, Bob Coleman. Foul G flips the table and an all out brawl ensures, with refs, security, and other wrestlers breaking up the schmoz. 

Second Match: Tavreth and El Capitan Verde vs. the Stellar Scouts

The match starts with an unfamiliar new team. Two women dressed as anime sailor scouts come out to 70's styled anime music. They come out to some cheers for this tag team match. The first has a Little Dipper symbol on her wrestling tights, while the second has the Southern Cross constellation. We'll call them Dip and Cross. 

We start with Dip and a flustered Capitan. They both go into a collar and elbow lock up, but Dip reverses the hold to a surfboard then laid a hurricanrana. Dip goes for pin and misses. Dip will tag her partner Cross and they go back and forth, with El Capitan taking control. Capitan double team hot tags Tavreth and crushes Cross.. Tavreth with the side slam against the Stellar Scout. Cross interrupts and begs for mercy, throwing Tavreth off enough to slam him in the gut, then tags Dip. Lil Dip then goes in for a top rope dive followed by a frankensteiner into pin. Tavreth escapes, then hits Dip with power slam. She tags out to Cross, but Tavreth immediately gives spear to Cross. While she is crumpled up, Dip distracts the ref and Tavreth looks on in confusion. Cross gets a chair and tries to make it look like Tavreth hit her to the ref, but Tavreth kicks the chair out and gives her a german suplex. El Capitan and Tav do a combo finisher of a Code Green into a Muscle Buster. Team Tavreth and Verde get the win as the Stellar Scouts throw a tantrum for their debut loss.

That ends the actual gameplay, though for building up NPCs we have the following matches

NPC Matches

Sin Miedo vs. Bruno Capello: Sin Miedo makes his first return since the Last Man Standing match, decimating Bruno viciously. He seems to be trying for a comeback.

E2C cut a promo about rising to the top and taking on the tag team champions. Citing their wrestling pedigree, they call out the champions Firefly.

Emilio and Enrique Cruz vs. Mack Razor and Dwayne Clinton: Team E2C beats Mack and Dwayne in a close match, making them 2-1 in EPF and building them up as a credible tag team.

Colleen and Artemis are interviewed about them joining UNITY, saying they are tired for seeing the bad guys running the show. When Colleen is asked about Tavreth eliminating her from the Royal Rumble, Colleen walks off without saying a word.

Colleen vs Masego!: This ends in a no contest, as Jimmy Ladder and Big Willy Johnson interrupt to beat down Colleen, before Artemis runs in and joins Masego! to save her partner.

That ends the show here. Our next match is July 1st and will be quite the card. In the meantime, one thing I want to do with this show is something called The Dirtsheets. In D&D you have rumor tables that have little tales your players can hear that lead them to adventure or disaster. Some are true and some are false. So I'm taking that concept with WWWRPG. The Dirtsheets are rumors about upcoming segments, matches, swerves, and 'real life' issues about the wrestlers. Just like in real life, you have websites like WrestleZone that dish out potential spoilers (true or fake) about upcoming wrestling events. So, I plan on using this for foreshadowing, game immersion, and the potential for moves that involve swerving the Internet Wrestling Community.

Eastern Pro Wrestling Federation Post PPV Game [Actual Play]

Taking a break from D&D writing. Between Starfinder's announcement and NXT Takeover coming this week, it's been hard to continue my train of thought about a contemporary fantasy setting. I'll have to rerail that one of these days. 

On Saturday, I ran my World Wide Wrestling game with some folks from the VGCW forums. It's been going on for quite awhile, starting as a simple one-shot but quickly evolving into it's own mythos of spandex and suplexes (hey, that's not a bad name for an OSR wrestling game ). We recently had our Pay Per View event, the King of Kings Tournament. It was a basic 8 man bracket tournament where the winner gets a title shot of their choice. This game was the post PPV show, where the bad guy stable, the Unholy Alliance, got to gloat as they have been dominating the scene and destroyed the good guys, Unity. Below is the card.

Roster:

Bob Coleman: Veteran heel that is the winner of the King of Kings cup. The Mouth of the Unholy Alliance, Bob Coleman has a LOT of heat on him. His tag team partner is NPC Adam Connor, the next member of the Unholy Alliance

Foul G: The leader of the Unholy Alliance. A fat, opportunistic heel Provocateur that won the Inter-Regional Championship and has been leading the stable on the warpath

Big Willy Johnson: The muscle of the Unholy Alliance. Despite being a heel, he gets a big pop from the people when he does wrestle

Rayne: The newest member of the Unholy Alliance. She weaseled her way into the Tag Team Championship by taking the spot of an injured Johnny Hook and has since brainwashed her partner, Jimmy Ladder.

Tavreth: The first member of the UNITY group. A face Monster with a martial arts motif. Won his PPV match against Sin Miedo in a Last Man Standing Match

El Capitan Verde: Another Veteran, a luchador that has joined forces with Tavreth to stop the Unholy Alliance and their reign of terror. Was beaten brutally by Bob Coleman in the PPV event

Yarona Riff: A punk rock woman wrestler, she is the third member of UNITY that pulled triple duty in the PPV event. She was in two matches in the tournament and was defeated by Henry Ellis, and then a tag team match with the Dungeon Master against Rayne and Ladder in a losing effort.

Henry Ellis: The golden boy face, Henry has been the perpetual underdog. Making it to the finals in the King of Kings tourney, he lost against Bob Coleman. He's the unofficial member of UNITY, but mostly wants to take down Bob Coleman.

Vlad Viper: A vampire golden boy that has been a bit out of the single match. Tagged with a mind controlled Sasha Lexington.

Sasha Lexington: A wasted submission expert battling alcoholism, she recently almost injured one of the EPF's enhancement talents. She's since been out of the ring. 

Father de Burgh: A zealous Irish Catholic priest that is a Monster. He had a bit of a rough couple of weeks, but is now re-debuting and putting the whole locker room on notice. Looks to continue his feud with Henry Ellis.

The Episode:

The episode starts in Atlantic City, New Jersey, as all of the members of the Unholy Alliance step into the ring to gloat about their recent wins. With Bob Coleman winning the King of Kings match, Rayne and Ladder (calling themselves Firefly) as the Tag Team Champions, and Foul G as the Inter-Regional Champion, they are very close to taking over the EPF. Foul G decides to call out the GM of EPF, Montgomery Vincent Peterbilt. Instead of him coming out, Tavreth comes out with an injured Capitan Verde and Yarona Riff. He calls the Unholy Alliance out, saying that UNITY will take down the cheaters and Tavreth personally challenged Foul G for the Inter-Regional Championship that night. MVP would come out and say that since he is in charge, he decides that Tavreth will have a title shot at the next PPV, the American Open. Foul G had his own plans, as he challenged the GM Monty to a match in two weeks. If Foul G wins, then he becomes the new General Manager. If MVP wins, then Foul G is fired. In two weeks, we will see who wins this.

First Match: Father de Burgh vs Bruno Capello

Father de Burgh makes a re-debut with a pulpit in the center of the ring. He puts the entire locker room on notice, saying that he's back and better than ever to punish all sinners. His opponent is Bruno Capello, making his debut. The two lock up and De Burgh dominated most of the match, with Bruno noticeably taking control with a double knee facebreaker. Unfortunately, Bruno would be unable to beat the Preacher of Pain, as he was incapable of doing a vertical suplex to Father and instead got countered. Father de Burgh would finish with a Fall from the Heavens (high cross powerbomb) and get the pin. The good Father is starting his streak strong.

Segment:

Team UNITY would be in their locker room, trying to give themselves a much needed morale boost. El Capitan Verde gives a rousing speech and helps to raise the spirits of the group. They leave the locker room and Tavreth bumps into Colleen Rhodes, the titaness wrestler that was eliminated by Tavreth in the Royal Rumble. They give each other a stare before fading to black.

Second Match: E2C vs The Olympians

An NPC vs NPC match that was quickly summarized. E2C are two Puerto Rican brothers in their second match, going against Colleen "The Colossus" Rhodes and her partner, Artemis. It was a close match, but the brothers would take the win

Segment and Third Match:

Rayne and Ladder (now going by Jimmy) are backstage talking to their new manage, Big Willy Johnson, and encounter Johnny Hook, Jimmy's old tag team partner. He's wheelchair bound and still suffering his injury from Sasha Lexington. He congratulates Team Firefly on their victory and says that while unorthodox, he's happy to see Rayne hold down the fort until he returns. Johnny Hook is clearly heart broken. Rayne drops an absolutely savage promo, tearing Hook apart, calling him a cripple, and threatens to throw him down some stairs. Yarona bursts out, sick of Rayne treating people like dirt. Rayne says Yarona Riff is just mad that she couldn't go the distance in any of her matches in the PPV. Riff attacks Rayne in a backstage brawl, throwing her into the boxes containing camera equipment. Yarona then slams Rayne in the knee with a box. Unfortunately, Riff would get triple teamed as Big Willy and Jimmy Ladder would attack Riff and all three wrestlers would mug Riff into the ground, leaving her battered backstage. Rayne would then command Big Willy to stuff Hook into a crawlspace and hide his wheel chair.

Fourth Match: Vlad Viper w/ Sasha on ringside vs Henry Ellis

The Count and Henry Ellis take on each other in a close match, with Father de Burgh on commentary. Vlad Viper would try and show off to Sasha, but she would rebuff and ignore him. Henry Ellis would put on a great show of grappling and power, throwing Vlad into Sasha. He also does well at playing to the crowd. Henry Ellis has gotten better at connecting with the crowd. However, this would be his undoing, as going in for a cutter, Vlad would counter and slam him, then climb the turnbuckle and get an elbow drop on him, putting him down. Unfortunately both Vlad and Henry Ellis would get rocked by Father de Burgh, taking advantage of their weakened state. The Preacher of Pain would leave the two crippled on the ground and walk off, cementing his role in the EPF as a terrifying heel.

Segment:

Interviewer Michael Stand talks with Bob Coleman about being the new King of Kings and who he may use his title shot against. Bob Coleman rebuffs Mike and says that's a stupid question, as the Tag Team and Inter-Regional Champs are all members of his stable. So Bob Coleman makes it clear that he is going for the North American Champion, Ulysses S. Axel. Axel comes into the segment, pretending that Bob is the valet. After mocking the King of Kings, Axel does congratulate him on his win and says that the old timer is going to have his work cut out for him. 

Fifth Match: Tavreth vs Bob Coleman, Foul G, and Adam Connor in a handicap match

Originally a three man tag, it seems that all of the members of UNITY are now injured except Tavreth. He still demands the match, and MVP grants it with the caveat that only Tavreth can use weapons without disqualification. El Capitan would be on commentary. Tavreth goes for Adam Connor with a sledgehammer, but misses and gets attacked by Connor, injuring his back. The three would capitalize on this, with a camel clutch, splash, backbreaker, and senton to further injure Tavreth. Tavreth would fight the odds and show his monstrous power, wrecking each fighter as they would tag out. Foul G would slam El Capitan in the face with a steel chair out of frustration. Tavreth would lose his temper and spear the fat wrestler straight through the barricade, Both would be tired after that spot, and it allowed Adam and Bob to beat down Tavreth. This would cost Tavreth the match as he would be counted out. The winners would continue to beat down Tavreth and El Capitan, until Yarona would come out with a surprise. The Olympians, sick of seeing the Unholy Alliance making a mockery of wrestling, would jump to the rescue. Colleen would run out like a human wrecking ball and destroy Foul G and Adam. As Bob dodges and runs away, he would be met with Artemis's drop kick to his face. UNITY would finally stand tall as there is some semblance of hope against the Unholy Alliance.

And that's it. This has been a great game and while you don't need to know about wrestling to play, it really does help with the experience. I hope everyone enjoyed this and stay tune for some regularly scheduled D&D blogging.

20 Man Royal Rumble Main Event? Oh Yeah!

So in addition to running an ACKS game, I also run a World Wide Wrestling game with seven people from a forum I frequent. The link to the RPG is here, while the link to the forum post about my game is here. Over all, it has been a very enjoyable experience, both as a fan of wrestling and a fan of RPGs. Many of the people have really enjoyed it as well, whether they are wrestling fans or first timers. I think that's one of the cool things about adding wrestling in an RPG format. Wrestling already supports the gonzo and beer & pretzel style of gaming. It's a natural fit. And while there's roleplaying and talking involved (as per any *World game), you can always just have a manager be your mouthpiece if you aren't so great at talking, just like in real wrestling. It's an amazing game and I think people really should give this a spin.

Anyways, a while back, I bought some funky dice and I've been wondering what I can use them for. Well, now that I have the go home show before our game's PPV event, I think I've figured it out. The PPV is called King of Kings, a bracket style tournament where seven people go in and the winner gets a title shot of their choice, when and where they want it, no matter the title. It's essentially like King of the Ring mixed with Money in the Bank for those that watch WWE.

Now I bet you are wondering why seven people instead of eight in a tournament? Well, that's where the main event of the show preceding our PPV comes in. It's going to be a 20 man Royal Rumble, where one person will be called in at a time to come into the ring and wrestle, until we exhaust the list of 20 entrants. To win, you have to eliminate another wrestle by throwing them over the top rope and having their two feet touch the ground outside. You do this until there is a last man standing. That winner will be getting a by in the tournament on the following game and go straight to the semi finals. The next six people will be put in the tournament and it'll go from there.

I plan on using the Funky Dice to do the random rolling for the Royal Rumble. I'll roll a d20 on the list of wrestlers and as I put more wrestlers out there in the ring, I'll step the die down. So if we have 11 people left to be called out, I'll roll a d11 to see who is next. I could use a deck of cards, but where is the fun in that?

I'll have to do a session recap for this come Wednesday. But, I am looking forward to it greatly.