Moulin Rogue said:
I think the potential is really good. The skill set looks good, and Charisma won't be a dump stat in this game! 
I'm hoping for all kinds of d20 crossover potential (goblins wrestling gnomes? A futuristic arena of giant wrestling robots?)
I have some ideas for crossover potential, including some potential licensing.
Charisma definately isn't a dump stat, especially (through Distract and Oratory), which provide some combat benefits.
The skill set itself is only a draft list, and I intend to include many more interesting skills.
It's been suggested to do a "Mortal Kombat/Street fighter" type expansion. Additionally, a fantasy variant might be interesting.
"Wrestler Lore" - when the big feud is over and either specific wrestler leaves the league, would ranks in this skill now pretty much be wasted points?
I'm thinking that for wrestlers who want to return points spent on Wrestler Lore, the points could be placed in a reserve pool and can't be touched until your next level up (if you're more than halfway to the next level, you have to wait until the following level). This exception would be included because of the potential temporary nature of Wrestler Lore.
"Wrestling Specialization" covers finishers, I assume? When I ran an e-fed everybody wanted to use the Diamond Cutter/Stunner move because it could be popped on out of nowhere ("instant-kill"), and could be used on an opponent of any weight. Man, did I get tired of always seeing that. I think they should have to spend an extra feat or two if they want a finisher that effective, like a "Quick Draw" to cut down the time it takes to set up certain finishers.
"Wrestling Specialization" is actually this games version of "Weapon Specialization". It gives you a +2 damage bonus to a specific move (like a powerbomb, or a choke slam) and requires Weapon Focus in the general style (a powerbomb requires Weapon Focus (melee attack).
A followup feat "Finishing Move" could provide a wrestler for a devastating finish. In such a way, an "Instant" Kill move requires 3 different feats. If a player wants an "instant" kill, he has to give up other areas.
As to quick draw, there is an advanced move, "Rapid Attack" which allows you to combine two actions into one. What you give up is reduced effectiveness.
Will there be adjustments for heavy giant guys and little fast guys? A little cruiserweight shouldn't be able to gorilla press a guy twice his own weight, but maybe he could pelt him with drop kicks that are hard for the big guy to dodge.
I've been thinking about that, and right now I don't have an exact answer. In approximately two weeks though, I'll be releasing a second promo document, which I will definately seek to cover this topic.
Does the 'time is variable' part mean it will be too hard to set time limits on matches? You need some kind of clock to run an Iron Man match, for example.
'Time is variable' means that I don't want to tie things down to precise measurements. A low level character has one action, and in that action, he can't do much. A higher level character gains more actions because either (a) he is faster in setting up and performing the move, or (b) the opponent can't react as quickly from a more experienced wrestler's move.
A general time frame for those who want to keep track of time (maybe 6 seconds per round) could be established with a note that a round could take anywhere from 1 to 10 seconds. For the most part, time generally isn't important in a match.
The flow of a match is really important and something still missing from my experience with video games. I'm hoping the initiative system will better simulate the way wrestlers take turns on offense and defense. So yeah, I think this could be pretty cool.
The initiative system is appropriate for the style of the game, and definately simulates the flow of a wrestling match.
