THE WRESTLING RPG
BY BRYAN RANTALA
Character Creation
Step 1. Set attributes (36 pts).
Step 2. Choose two finishing moves.
Step 3 (Optional). Choose two wrestling styles.
All
attributes are rated from 1 to 10 (10 being the most powerful). Any wrestler
can have a single score that is valued at 11—no other score can go beyond 10.
Each character gets 30 points to spend.
STRENGTH: Measures how hard you hit; how much
damage you inflict on an opponent’s endurance with your body blows, slams,
suplexes, and other raw power attacks.
TECHNIQUE: Governs how skilled you are at
putting people into holds and submission moves, as well as how skilled you are
at reversing holds.
AGILITY: Governs how well you dodge attacks.
STAMINA: Measures how difficult it is to pin
you or make you tap out.
CHARISMA: A measure of how much the crowd
likes you. You can use charisma to get the fans to cheer for you, which gives
your wrestler the extra power he needs to continue fighting, even if things
look grim (you can regain lost Endurance). You can also use Charisma to
temporarily boost other stats.
WEIGHT: How physically heavy you are. The
heavier a wrestler is, the more difficult it is to lift him up for certain
moves. It is also difficult to break a pin from a heavy wrestler. Finally, a
flying attack from an exceptionally heavy wrestler is extra-powerful. Note that
your Weight score can be no less than your Strength
score minus 3.
1- 130 lbs.
2- 160 lbs.
3- 190 lbs.
4- 210 lbs.
5- 240 lbs.
6- 270 lbs.
7- 300 lbs.
8- 330 lbs.
9- 360 lbs.
10- 390 lbs.
11- 400-500
lbs.
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MOVES: Your character can use as many
different moves as you want—but he can have only two finishing moves (see
Finishers, in Wrestling Rules). Once you have selected these moves, they can’t be
changed (unless your GM is using the optional XP system).
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ENDURANCE: You calculate your character’s
Endurance by adding his Strength and Stamina together, and then multiplying by 3.
Your Endurance level is effectively your “hit points.” When an opponent
successfully attacks you, you lose Endurance.
Each time
you lose Endurance, you have a 20% chance of becoming stunned. A stunned
wrestler is helpless—he simply can’t defend himself. He doesn’t move, he can’t
counter attacks, and every move used against him while he is stunned
automatically succeeds. Stunned wrestlers remain so for 1 turn before returning
to their senses.
When your
Endurance reaches zero, you are automatically stunned for 3 turns, and are
stunned an additional 3 turns every time someone hits you after that (you have
basically lost the match, barring a miracle).
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Wrestling Styles (Optional)
With this
optional rule in place, each wrestler picks two aspects of wrestling that he is
especially skilled at. If you choose to use this rule, the game will become
somewhat more complicated and lose some of its “Beer & Pretzel” feel, but
it will be easier to differentiate your wrestler’s statistics from others, and
to specialize him. The styles are as follows:
Agility
Wrestling: The
wrestler’s Drop Attacks inflict 1 additional point of Endurance damage. In the
case of a finisher, this bonus is added after
the damage is doubled.
Bad Reputation: The wrestler doesn’t suffer Charisma
loss when using Cheap Shots.
Counter Specialist: Whenever the wrestler is attacking
with a counter-move, he gets a +2 bonus on any opposed roll.
Crowd Favorite: The wrestler gets a +3 bonus during
any roll to resolve the effects of a Crowd Chant on himself (this bonus does
not apply if an opponent is using the Crowd Chant).
Death from Above: Whenever the wrestler performs a
flying attack off the turnbuckle, he inflicts 1 additional point of Endurance
damage (added after the doubling in the
case of a finisher).
Flyer: The wrestler gets +2 to hit with all
flying attacks.
Hardcore Champion: Damage that the wrestler takes when
being hit with a weapon of any kind is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 1). This
reduction is counted before doubling
for finishers.
Iron Grip: The wrestler gets a +1 bonus to all
opposed checks to initiate or maintain a grapple (but not a special move or
finisher).
Steel Warrior: Whenever rolls are made to determine whether
or not the wrestler is stunned, the chance of being stunned is decreased by
10%.
Masochism: The wrestler gains a +1 bonus on
Stamina rolls to resist damage from submission moves.
Pain Means Nothing: Cheap shots do only 1 point of
attribute damage to the wrestler.
Power Wrestling: The wrestler’s Power Attacks inflict
1 additional point of Endurance damage. In the case of a finisher, this bonus
is added after the damage is doubled.
Slippery Fighter: The wrestler gets a +1 bonus to all
opposed checks to break out of a grapple (but not a special move or finisher).
Smack-Talker: When initiating a taunt, the wrestler
gets a +2 bonus to his roll.
Speedy Gonzalez: The wrestler gains a +1 bonus on
opposed rolls to dodge body blows.
Striker: Wrestler gets +1 to Strength rolls to
hit with Body Blows.
Submission Specialist: Wrestler gets +1 to opposed rolls
against opponents who are trying to break out of his submission moves.
Tough as Nails: The wrestler’s maximum Endurance is
increased by +3.
Won’t Stay Down: The wrestler gains a +3 bonus on any
opposed roll to resist being pinned.
Unbreakable: Slams/throws deal 1 less damage than
normal to the wrestler.
Vicious: The wrestler gets +1 to hit with Cheap Shot attacks.
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Wrestling Rules
Determining Which Wrestler Goes First
In A Turn: Roll 1d10
+ Agility. Higher result goes first. On a tie, roll again.
Different Attack Forms
Body Blow – A simple strike or knockdown attack
(such as a clothesline, punch, or kick). To attempt a body blow, you roll 1d10
+ Strength, while your opponent rolls 1d10 + Agility. If you succeed in the
attack, your opponent loses 1 Endurance and has a 50% chance of falling over,
unless he is braced against something.
If you fail,
your body blow misses, and that’s the end of your turn. If your opponent beats
you by 5 or more on the roll, however, he gets a free counter-move on you, in
addition to his turn.
Cheap Shot – A move that is generally illegal, or
at the very least, not very nice. This includes eye-pokes, crotch-shots, and
other below-the-belt maneuvers.
To execute a
Cheap Shot, roll 1d10 + Technique, while your opponent also rolls 1d10 +
Technique. If you succeed, one of your opponent’s statistics (of your choosing)
is lowered by 3 for 2 turns (you can’t lower Weight, Stamina, or Charisma in
this way), as he is knocked off balance by the surprising attack or temporarily
crippled by its viciousness.
If you fail,
the opponent automatically gets a counter-move.
Whenever you
perform a Cheap Shot, you suffer a 1 point penalty to your Charisma score
during that match, regardless of whether or not the move was successful.
Counter-Move – A player can’t voluntarily initiate
a counter-move. A counter-move occurs when the wrestler’s opponent exposes
himself to it, and can come in the form of a body blow, cheap shot, flying
attack, grapple, Irish whip, or even a taunt. A counter-move cannot in turn be
countered or interrupted by another wrestler.
Crowd Chant – If a wrestler has 7 or more Charisma,
he can sometimes be bolstered by heavy support from the crowd. The wrestler’s
player can declare that he wants to use the Crowd Chant to bolster his wrestler
at any time, even when it isn’t the wrestler’s turn or if he’s stunned.
When this
happens, both wrestlers must roll 1d10 + Charisma. If the character using the
Crowd Chant wins, he automatically regains full consciousness if stunned, and
he again rolls 1d10 + Charisma, gaining Endurance equal to the result. This new
Endurance can even exceed his normal maximum.
If the
wrestler fails the opposed roll, then the opponent gains a bonus to one of his
stats as if he had taunted.
A Crowd
Chant can only be used once per match.
Defend – The wrestler does not attack at all, but
instead focuses on a single opponent, preparing specifically to block and/or
counter his attacks by focusing all of his attention on him. The wrestler thus
gets a +1 bonus on any roll to resist the attacking wrestler’s moves, but gives
up the ability to execute his own moves (except in the case of counter-moves).
However, he suffers a –2 penalty on opposed rolls to defend against other
attacking wrestlers’ moves, and if the wrestler he is defending against still
hits him, he is taken off guard and automatically stunned for 1 turn.
Finisher - A finisher is a wrestler’s signature
move, known to be highly devastating to his opponents. It can be almost any
sort of move—body blow, flying attack, power attack, Drop Attack, or submission
(it can also be used as a counter-move). The player should describe his
wrestler’s finisher in detail, and give it a cool-sounding name, as it is part
of the wrestler’s identity.
A wrestler
must deal at least 10 points of Endurance damage to an opponent during a match
before he can execute his finisher on them—that is, after all, why it’s called
a finisher.
The move
deals double the normal damage for a move of its type. Furthermore, if a pin is
attempted by the attacking wrestler within 3 turns after the move is performed,
he gets a +10 bonus to his rolls to keep the opponent pinned.
Once a
finishing move is successfully executed, the wrestler must deal 5 more points
of Endurance damage before using it again.
In certain
situations, normal limitations on how often a wrestler can use his finishing
move might be ignored by the GM. For instance, if you are not in a normal
match, or are attacking someone during a match who is not officially your
opponent (such as a person who interfered, or the referee), you may be allowed to
execute a finisher.
Flying Attack – A flying attack is performed when
you dive off of the turn-buckle or bounce yourself off the ropes, attacking an
opponent with the full force of your body weight. It is more effective than a Body
Blow, but also carries a greater risk to the attacker.
When setting
up a Flying Attack, you must first spend 1 turn climbing onto the turnbuckle or
otherwise setting up a charge attack. If your opponent isn’t stunned, then he
can simply interrupt you from doing this on his turn with his own successful
attack (or by fleeing out of range), ruining your attempt at a Flying Attack. A
third wrestler in the ring can also interrupt the Flying Attack.
Once you
have set up the Flying Attack, on your next turn, roll 1d10 + Agility, while
your opponent also rolls 1d10 + Agility. If you succeed in the attack, your
opponent loses 3 Endurance. If your Weight is greater than the opponent’s, the
opponent loses 5 Endurance.
If you fail
the roll, you hit nothing but mat (or floor, as the case may be), and suffer 1
point of Endurance damage. If you fail the contested roll by 5 or more, the
opponent hits you as you come down, and you suffer 3 points of Endurance
damage.
Grapple – To set an opponent up for a special
move, you have to grapple them. To attempt a grapple, roll 1d10 + Technique +
Agility/Strength (the second of the two attributes you add is your choice),
while your opponent rolls 1d20 + Agility/Strength/Technique (his choice). If
you succeed, the opponent is grappled, and that’s the end of your turn.
If you fail,
that’s also the end of your turn, but if you lose the contested roll by 5 or
more, the opponent gets a free counter-move on you, in addition to his turn.
A grappled
opponent can do only one thing on his turn—attempt to break free of the
grapple. Both wrestlers roll 1d10 + Technique. If the grappled wrestler’s roll
is higher than his opponent’s, the grapple is broken and the wrestler is free
(although that’s the end of his turn).
If the grappled
opponent’s roll is 5 or more points higher than his opponent’s, he gets a free
Body Blow or Cheap Shot attack on the wrestler who attempted to grapple him.
The victim of this attack cannot counter it, though he can still try to dodge
it normally.
If the
grappling wrestler maintains his hold, on the next turn, he may attack with a
special move.
Irish
Whip - The maneuver
known as an Irish Whip is an excellent way to set an opponent up for a more
devastating attack. In it, the attacking wrestler flings his opponent into one
of the ring’s four turnbuckles at great force, likely stunning him. To attempt
an Irish whip, you roll 1d10 + Strength + Technique, while your opponent rolls
1d10 + Technique + Strength or Agility (his choice). If you succeed in the
attack, your opponent has a 60% chance of being stunned. If the cushion on the
turnbuckle has been ripped off, he also takes 1 point of Endurance damage.
Using an
Irish whip is risky, because if you fail to properly execute it, it allows your
opponent to potentially get in close and hit you with the added force of your
own momentum. If your opponent beats you on the opposed by 5 or more, he gets a
free counter-move on you, in addition to his turn. If this counter-move is a
body blow or another Irish whip, the countering opponent gets a +2 bonus to his
roll.
Pin – A pin can only be performed on a
prone wrestler, for obvious reasons. The wrestler falls on top of the opponent,
holding him down. To pin, roll 1d10 + Strength + Weight, while the opponent
rolls 1d10 + 5 + Endurance. If you succeed on the roll, the opponent remains
pinned for that turn. If you fail, he kicks out or otherwise breaks the pin.
Note that pinning someone within three turns of putting a finisher on them
automatically gives you a +10 bonus on your roll to pin.
Special Moves – Special Moves are powerful attacks
that often decide the victor in a wrestling contest. Most require that the
opponent be grappled (or stunned). There are several types of moves. After
executing a Special Move, you automatically break any hold that you have.
Power Attack: A suplex, slam, or toss attack, or
any combination of the three. This could be a piledriver, choke-slam, German
suplex, or any other move that generally requires a lot of brute strength. In
order to execute a Power Attack maneuver, you must have a Strength score that
is at least equal to the victim’s Weight minus 3—otherwise, you simply don’t
have the raw physical strength necessary to execute the maneuver.
To execute a
Power Attack, you must first roll 1d10 + Technique, while the opponent rolls
1d4 + Technique. If the opponent succeeds, your hold is broken and you fail to
execute the move, ending your turn.
If you win,
it’s time to do some damage. Roll 1d20 + Strength + Technique. Compare your
total to your opponent’s Endurance + Stamina. Your attack deals a minimum
damage of 3 Endurance points, but for each point beyond your opponent’s
Endurance + Stamina that you rolled, you deal an extra point of Endurance loss.
For
instance, let’s say Kane choke-slams the Canadian Crippler. Kane rolls 27. The
Crippler’s total, however, is 58. He loses 3 Endurance points.
If the
Crippler’s total had been 25, for instance, then he would have taken 5 points
(3 + 2).
Using a
Power Attack to slam someone into a harder surface than the ring mat (such as
the floor) will often deal additional Endurance damage.
Drop
Attack: A Drop
Attack is generally designed to achieve the same effect as a Power
Attack—except the wrestler executing the Drop Attack doesn’t rely on his
strength to execute the move, instead bringing down the opponent with other
abilities, such as momentum, skill, and speed. For instance, instead of lifting
up and slamming an opponent (an act of great strength), a wrestler using a Drop
Attack would simply grab his opponent around the head quickly and drop him
head-first onto the mat, using his opponent’s own weight against him (otherwise
known as a DDT). The damage potential of a Drop Attack is somewhat less than a
Power Attack, but it is much easier for less physically-powerful wrestlers to
execute.
To execute a
Drop Attack, you must first roll 1d10 + Technique, while the opponent rolls 1d4
+ Technique. If the opponent succeeds, your hold is broken and you fail to
execute the move, ending your turn.
If you win,
it’s time to do some damage. Roll 1d20 + Agility + Technique. Compare your
total to your opponent’s Endurance + Stamina. Your attack deals a minimum
damage of 2 Endurance points, but for each point beyond your opponent’s
Endurance + Stamina that you rolled, you deal an extra point of Endurance loss,
though the maximum damage cannot be greater than your Agility.
For
instance, let’s say Triple H puts a face-buster on the Undertaker. Triple H
rolls 27. The Undertaker’s total, however, is 58. He loses 2 Endurance points.
If the
Undertaker’s total had been 25, for instance, then he would have taken 4 points
(2 + 2).
Using a
Power Attack to slam someone into a harder surface than the ring mat (such as the
floor) will often deal additional Endurance damage.
Submission: A submission move is a special hold
designed specifically to inflict gratuitous amounts of pain, for the purpose of
making the opponent surrender rather than suffering any further.
To execute a
Submission move, you must first roll 1d10 + Technique, while the opponent rolls
1d4 + Technique. If the opponent succeeds, your hold is broken and you fail to
execute the move, ending your turn.
If you win,
then here comes the pain. Your opponent automatically takes 1 point of
Endurance damage. Roll 1d20 + Technique, while your opponent chooses either to
roll 1d10 + Technique or 1d10 + Stamina.
If your
opponent rolls Technique, that means he is actively trying to escape the
submission move. He automatically suffers 2 points of Endurance damage if he
rolls Technique, but if he succeeds three times, he manages to somehow break
out of the Submission move (either by grabbing the rope or maneuvering out of
the hold). These successes do not have to be consecutive.
If your
opponent rolls Stamina, he is actively trying to resist the pain. Each time he
succeeds, he suffers no Endurance damage. After three consecutive successes, he breaks free through brute effort. Each
time he fails a roll, he takes 2 points of Endurance damage.
If an opponent is reduced to 0 Endurance by a Submission move, he automatically taps out (though he can choose to tap out before then).
Taunt – With a taunt, the wrestler appeals
to the crowd or colorfully threatens an opponent to his face, drawing on both
his supporters and his opponent’s detractors in the audience for an extra
boost. Doing this takes 1 turn, and exposes the taunting wrestler to attack.
Both wrestlers roll 1d10 + Charisma. If the taunter wins, he may temporarily
add 2 points to one of his stats (except for Weight) for the next 3 turns.
Taunting is the only way in which a wrestler’s statistical score can reach 12
(or even 13).
If he loses,
then he becomes temporarily dejected, and can’t perform counter-moves for the
next three turns (although he can still attempt to break out of grapples).
A wrestler
can only boost one of his stats this way at once, and must taunt again if he
wants to apply the bonus to a different stat.
Weapon Strike – A weapon strike works just like a
Body Blow or Flying Attack, except that a weapon or tool is involved, giving an
additional bonus to the damage inflicted. Note that in most matches, using a
weapon will automatically disqualify the offending wrestler.
A weapon
strike can be countered normally, but instead of countering with an attack, the
countering wrestler can choose to disarm the opponent and take the weapon for
himself.
Bonuses are
as listed:
Brass
Knuckles/Microphone: +1
Chair/Guitar:
+2
Baseball
Bat/Hammer: +3
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Advancing a Wrestler (Optional)
Just as in
other RPGs, it is possible to enhance your character over time, if your GM
allows it. The GM can choose to award your character with experience points. XP
can be awarded for clever and amusing role-playing as well as for fighting
exceptionally hard in a match. GMs should hand out XP sparingly at best—1 point
every couple of matches, at most, should be enough.
Players can
use XP to increase attributes, Endurance, add new variant finishers, and gain
new wrestling styles (if your GM has allowed wrestling styles). The costs are
as follows:
Change
Finishing Move to Another: 1 XP
+1
Endurance: 2 XP
Additional
Wrestling Style: 7 XP
+1 Attribute
(Maximum 10): 10 XP
http://www.oocities.org/Colosseum/Sideline/9082/moves.html
- An archive of many, many wrestling movess, for those of you searching for just
the right arsenal.
http://www.accelerator3359.com/Wrestling/index.html
- An archived set of dossiers for almost eevery major wrestler in the business,
many of which include full biographical histories (the most interesting
part—long reads, but reading the histories gives you an idea of the general
foolishness of the storylines and a feel for how a campaign might go).
http://www.angelfire.com/wrestling3/funnywrestlers/
- An archive of the worst and often simulttaneously funniest wrestlers in the
modern history of the “sport.” Keep in mind that this is not a guide to what
sort of wrestler not to make. May not always display correctly on
FireFox browsers (Internet Explorer recommended).