Current Project

 

Alpha Playtest Underway

World Wide Wrestling is an professional wrestling RPG focused on the action and drama both in and out of the ring. Using the Apocalypse World engine as a base, 3-5 players create their own wrestling franchise and play out the dramatic storylines and exciting conflicts presented to the imaginary viewing audience.

Update 6.6.13: The rules document has been updated to 1.2 with a new, screen-friendly layout, some cleaned up language and a couple new Match Stipulation Moves!

More about the game!

Download the rules now! (PDF)

Download the playsheets now!  (Zipped folder, 16 PDFs)

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WWWRPG Alpha Playtest Draft 1.2 - Last Updated 6.6.13 (PDF) - Contains all the rules for play.

WWWRPG Alpha Playtest Playsheets - Last Updated 1.19.13 (zipped folder of PDFs) - Contains 12 Gimmicks, 2 Roles, Moves Reference Sheet and Creative Worksheet as seperate PDFs.

Tell Me About The Game

World Wide Wrestling is an in-progress RPG that enables you to create your own professional wrestling franchise. By using the Apocalypse World engine as a framework, WWWRPG is able to encapsulate both the exciting in-ring action of your wrestler, and the backstage/behind the scenes relationships and power struggles that drive the kayfabe decisions made "on screen".

This alpha draft is still a work-in-progress, but the core of the game has been playtested and is solid enough that I'm confident that you can give it a shot. Familiarity with Apocalypse World will help, but I tried to explain everything in it's own terms as well for those who may not have that experience. Of course, being a pro wrestling fan, or at least having one at your table, will be the most helpful thing you can do for your game!

WWWRPG is for 3-5 players, with one player taking the (GM) role of Creative, and the others each playing an individual wrestler. Each Episode of play should take around 2 hours, enabling quick sessions or multiple Episodes in a session.

So Tell Me About the Playbooks Already

In WWWRPG, each character is represented by two playbooks, a Role (either Babyface or Heel) and a Gimmick. There are twelve Gimmicks currently available, and the main goal of playtesting at this stage is to find out how well-conceived and captivating each Gimmick actually is to play. The Gimmicks:

 

  • The Veteran
  • The Clown
  • The Technician
  • The High Flyer
  • The Monster
  • The Legend
  • The Opportunist
  • The Manager/Valet/Companion
  • The Jobber
  • The Golden Boy
  • The Wasted
  • The Hardcore Icon

 

Each Gimmick emulates a certain kind of wrestler with clear analogues in real-world pro wrestling, but should provide enough variety that you can really make your character your own, especially once you play long enough to gain custom Moves. In addition, you can transition from Babyface to Heel and back fairly frequently through play, adding those additional dimensions to your character.

But It's All Scripted!

So here's the deal. Creative, the game master role, gets to do all the cool stuff that you want to do as a wrestling writer - plot out storylines, book matches, decide on who to push, all of that. They get to have a plan. The players of the wrestlers, though, have agency to make whatever in-the-moment decisions they want. Matches are held in good faith, then the booking is revealed after the character has made their final Move, but before they make their choices about what that means, and what kind of fallout will follow them backstage. The players also have some Moves that let them override Creative's booking in certain circumstances. What this means is, play ends up being a blend of order and chaos, plans and swerves, that really reflects the experience of watching a televised wrestling show where anything can happen!

I Have Something To Say!

Great! You can contact me through my contact form here. Also, you can tweet me @ndpaoletta, or post on Google+ and tag me there +Nathan Paoletta. I also fairly regularly check the Story Games forum.

Thanks for taking a look! I look forward to hearing what you have to say about the game!