Pro Wrestling MU?
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Has there every been an MU about pro wrestling? I'm curious. I've kinda got the bug for the idea of playing one, but I'd pretty much have to make it myself, I suspect.
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I've thought about it many times, actually. I've played pen and paper wresting games(simulators and RPGs) since the 80s and always wondered why there wasn't at least an attempt at a wrestling game(or a Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat) game. I've actually thought about it again recently because of the resurgence of play by web wrestling games(the IWA, which has been around since the 80s, Turnbuckle Smash, TZW, The Fantasy Wrestling Alliance, etc).
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There was Match of the Millennium, but that was more of a fighting game. Street Fighter's system wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great.
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Man, The Street Fighter RPG. My friends and I had a blast with that in High School. I've lost a lot of stuff along the way but, somehow, I still have all the books they ever put out for that game.
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City of Hope is a standard OWoD crossover game, not a wrestling game, but I'm told it has a group of professional wrestlers who do weekly shows.
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I'd love to see one pop up. Not as part of something else, but, like, its own super-kayfabe world, where wrestling is the most important sport - and possibly the most important THING - on the planet, and the feuds and larger than life characters are all real. Even the supernatural ones. I CRAAAVE it.
I'd also definitely love to see Street Fighter/KoF or Mortal Kombat games, but I'd be more interested in freeform RP in those than, like, throwing numbers at each other. I think the characters are the most interesting parts of those games anyway, and certainly the best part you can get across in a text game. I didn't like MoTM's HUGE CROSSOVER though, it seemed unfocused, and a lot of the series didn't mesh well. The only think I'd consider allowing to cross over would be Street Fighter and King of Fighters/SNK since they're pretty similar anyway. I'd still rather keep things condensed so characters can have their supporting casts around and everything.
A Guilty Gear game would also be rad.
But yeah, pro wrestling is what I'm about right now.
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I think a Mortal Kombat game could stand totally on its own as an action adventure game. The world is so diverse and layered that it'd make the perfect RPG setting.
As for a wrestling game, I agree it'd have to be totally kayfabe(wrestling is real, not scripted). Have you played Filsinger Games Champions of the Galaxy? It's a sci-fi wrestling game set in the future where wrestling is not only the #1 form of entertainment but a lot of space faring species use it to settle military conflicts.
The current WWE 2k20 game has a few "alternate universe" game modes. I'm currently running a universe mode where everything is horror themed. Downloaded a bunch of horror movie characters and used the in-game assets to create a horror themed arena(complete with zombie referee) and stuff.
What would be the perfect setting? A modern world where the supernatural and super science fiction exist? A fantasy realm(elves, dwarves, kings, queens, etc)? Far future science fiction? Lots of options I think.
Anyway, on such a game I would like to see a combat system of some sort. Even a simplified version of the Know Your Role RPG could be cool(WWE RPG from the early 2000's that used the D&D 3E open license that was, shockingly, not too bad). If we're gonna go kayfabe I don't want to know the results of the match before we head into it. I think it could add a lot of fun and drama to the "match" scenes.
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@ZombieGenesis Nah, sadly the only tabletop game I've been able to play was a few sessions of 13th Age. I think I'd prefer a mostly modern setting with crazy stuff being possible; with wrestling basically being a full-tilt anime rather than the real life 'basically anime'.
So to speak.
That said, the modern world could essentially BE fantasy with different nations and rulers and whatnot. But I'd like to keep it largely familiar just so there's some grounding for when insane things happen. Like the equivalent of RoboCop being real, or Kane. Maybe some NPC wrestler characters run by staff for big villains or corrupt authority figures or something. A yearly 'global' plot for the biggest show of the year equivalent to Wrestlemania/Starcade.
But yeah, I wouldn't know how to do it mechanically. My instinct is to just do it freeform, but wrestling has a history of RL drama over who gets to win IN REAL LIFE, so I can imagine it being a challenge in a game. It'd be cool if there were things like, I dunno, some benefit to playing to the crowd if there were RPG mechanics and whatnot. Like maybe you have to spend a round doing that to use your finisher, at least if you're a Face. But yeah, the nitty gritty is beyond me.
But yeah, Mortal Kombatwise you could definitely take that setting, setup and characters and just tell stories with them, maybe loosely based around the games events for bigger ongoing plots or whatnot.
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The good thing about most of the wrestling games out there is that they're 1+ players. If interested here's a list of the games I can think of off the top of my head.
Champions of the Galaxy(futuristic sci-fi wrestling)
Legends of Wrestling(tons of licensed wrestlers from every age of wrestling)
Face to the Mat Pro Wrestling(fast paced modern day style wrestling game with original wrestlers)
Various Downey Games(all modern using real wrestlers, various types and styles of play)Those all cost various levels of $$$. You are a few older games you can find PDFs for if you look(such as Superstar Pro Wrestling). The game I've been playing the most of recently is Squared Circle Wrestling Simulator. It's a bit expensive an the book is a horrid mess to read but it's a solid system and easily hackable. I enjoy it quite a bit.
Anyway, I do think a wrestling game could work mechanically and could be fun. I'm just not sure how many players it would draw, sadly.
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I have a combat system I'd be willing to provide, with a set of 9 slots for levels 1-10, building in AP earnings in an upwards scale for purchase cost, with powerups that are earned from high damage exchanges, and perform a particular function per powerup. Each powerup pairs to a skill with an increased effect, and the skills match left-right, plus a bonus system where the difference between attack and dodge, always positive, offers a bonus to counterattack.
You could make it so each of the nine skills is a particular type of target area, with a powerup out of 9 move classes, pairing to the target area. Beyond that, it has a custom attack name function, similar to MCM's old combat system (however obviously more complex).
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Another game/system to add to the list: World Wide Wrestling https://ndpdesign.com/wwwrpg/
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@Chet Is there any place to get/download that combat system? I seriously doubt I'll end up making a game, but I'm curious, and others may be too.
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Have you ever played WWW? It's a lot of fun!
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@somasatori I agree!
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I'll be there to TS whoever plays John Cena.
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My only problem with World Wide Wrestling is that it isn't kayfabe. You're playing a person who is playing a character on a wrestling show. I like something more immersive. Right now the best game to scratch that itch, for me, is the old Know Your Role RPG. It's 3E OGL but it's not that bad.
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Well hey, while I enjoyed Know Your Role as an RPG I kind of wish they had revised the OGL a bit more than they did. Apparently I was not alone in that thinking because someone did just that! You can find it here Wild World Wrestling: Main Event
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Playing a character that is playing a character seems too many levels deep.
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@WildBaboons said in Pro Wrestling MU?:
Playing a character that is playing a character seems too many levels deep.
Having a blast doing it on The Network.
