D20 Wrestling

[Genysys]

The Grappler

Locks, holds, and technical maneuvers are the realm of the Grappler. His arsenal consists of some of the most bone-jarring suplexes and muscle stretching submission holds, which he has learned to apply with almost deadly efficiency.

Game Rule Information
Brawlers have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Strength serves a Grappler well, causing his moves to do more damage. Dexterity increases the Grappler's already good defense. Some of the grappler's class features would benefit from a high Intellgence as well.
Alignment: Any.
Vitality: D10
Class Skills
The Grappler's Class Skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Jump (Str), Perform (Cha), and Sense Motive (Wis).
Skill Points at 1st level: (4+ Int mod)x 4
Skill Points at each additional level: 4+Int mod

Level BGB BSB DEF F R W REP Special
1 +1 +0 +3 +2+2+0 0 Grappling Expertise
2 +2 +1 +4 +3+3+0+1
3 +3 +2 +4 +3+3+1 - Canny Defense
4 +4 +3 +4 +4+4+1+1 Break the Hold
5 +5 +3 +5 +4+4+1 - Back-Breaking +1
6 +6 +4 +5 +5+2+2+1
7 +7 +5 +6 +5+5+2 -
8 +8 +6 +6 +5+5+2+1
9 +9 +6 +6 +6+6+3 -
10+10+7+7+7+7+3+1 Back-Breaking + 2
11+11+8+7 +7+7+3- Expert Suplex
12+12+9+8 +8+8+4+1
13+13+9+8 +8+8+4-
14+14+10+8 +9+9+4+1
15+15+11+9 +9+9+5- Back-Breaking + 3
16+16+12+9 +10+10+5+1
17+17+12+10 +10+10+5-
18+18+13+10 +11+11+6+1
19+19+14+10 +11+11+6-
20+20+15+11 +12+12+6+1 Devastating Maneuver, Back-Breaking + 4

Class Features:
The following are features of the Grappler class:
Grappling Expertise: The grappler may execute any grapple-class move and only pay 3/4 of the vitality cost.
Canny Defense: The grappler now adds his Intelligence bonus to his defense.
Break the Hold: The Grappler may now add his Intelligence bonus to Grapple checks and Escape Artist checks.
Back-Breaking: The Grappler adds the listed bonus to damage from submissions.
Expert Suplex: The Grappler may execute suplex-class moves and pay only 1/2 the vitality cost.
Devastating Maneuver: Any move that the Grappler has enhanced through the use of either the Finisher or Signature feat now acts as if it has the Quick Finisher feat applied to it.

 

[Genysys]

A Sample Grappler AKA Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle, Male Grappler 15, Heel, VP/WP 84/15, Init +2, speed 30, Def +13, Atk (grap)+16, Atk (Stri)+12, SQ Grappling Expertise, Canny Defense, Break the Hold, Back-Breaking +3, Expert Suplex, SV F+12 R+11 W+5, Str 15, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 11, Cha 12.
Skills and Feats: Bluff + 11, Climb +16, Diplomacy +15, Escape Artist + 16, Jump +14, Perform +19, Sense Motive +16
Move Focus (Olympic Slam), Move Focus (Ankle Lock), Signature Move (Ankle Lock), Finisher (Olympic Slam), Expertise, Improved Reversal.

 

[Grazzt]

The system we devised (way back) was class-less and was in fact skill based (more or less). Each wrestler had a style (which would be class in d20 I guess). As far as I can remember, the styles we used were:

Brawler, Technical/Scientific, Mat Technician, Martial Artist, High Flyer, Powerhouse. Later on we added Lucha Libre and Hardcore.


Something else:

Each wrestler/character in the game had a certain number of actions he could take each round based on his Nimbleness (Dex) score.

Attacks were Str + 1d10 roll (or Nim + 1d10 roll for flying maneuvers)

Defense (which counted as an action) was an opposed roll and was Nimbleness (Dex) + 1d10 to dodge or Str + 1d10 to block.

One thing we used for quite a long time (and were in the process of reworking to streamline it) was something called "bone stats." Basically certain body parts (skull, arm, leg, back, neck, face, etc) had a certain number of points it could withstand before breaking. On a critical strike, damage was accrued to the area and that number was reduced. At zero, the bone snapped. It could be healed (through rest, casts, etc.) but never healed fully. It usually healed to its original level -1 or -2 depending on the severity of the injury, location, and how much damage was originally suffered, etc. This simulated the guys in wrestling who kept going until their bodies could no longer take it and had to retire.

I remember in our games, my character had a feud going with Randy Savage (because my guy had been screwing around with Elizabeth). I beat him in a "Loser Leave Town" match, so he left the WWF and went to the NWA (what WCW was before it was WCW). Not long after, I changed federations and went to the NWA as well. We rekindled our feud (after I had a brief feud with Tully Blanchard) and I broke Savage's neck using a piledriver from the ring apron the floor (yes my character was fined and suspended for a long time, but damnit...I ended the feud...for a bit.)

Savage came back (quite a while later) and broke my guy's arm. I attacked him on every occassion I could after that (his matches, interviews, etc., and eventually the "powers that be" decided it was time to end it, so we fought at the "Clash of the Champions" in an "Anything Goes" match (which would now be called a hardcore cage street-fight match or a normal match by ECW standards ).

Anyway- in the match, we beat each other bloody with everything we could find (ringside bell, guardrails, the cage, trash cans at ring side, chairs, etc.). In the end though, my character prevailed, and won by using his finisher (brainbuster from the top rope) on Savage. Afterwards, both guys were carried to the locker rooms on stretchers and received medical attention (injuries were high, blood loss was high, etc.)

But damn...it was a lot of fun.

 

[Curse_of_dragon]

A HUGE wrestling fan here.
Here is my input:
I do not think the class system would work that well. Almost every wrestler has a custum class. RVD is a
lot like Tajiri but they are not the same. RVD is more then just a High-Flayer/M. Artist character. He has like a strange style that is different then any other wrestler in histroy.
Here is what I think. I think that there should no classes but just one base.
Here it goes:
-No HP.
-Instead I will use Toughness. Con x 5 + 4 = ~Toughness~)
-When you lose all your Toughness, you only have Body Power.
-Body Power: Con Mod + 5 = Body Power
-Body Power System:
Dmg Dealt New Body Power
1 to 10 -1
11 to 15 -2
16 to 20 -3
20 to 24 -4 (and Stun)
25 to 29 -5 (and Stun)
33 to 37 -8 (and Stun)
38 to 42 -Knock out
-Here to finish off the whole hp/vp thing is the pin system:
Opp Status Pin Chance
Full Toughness none
Half " Barely (up to 1 count)
Quarter " Barely (up to 2 count)
11 to 6 BP Maybe (up to 1 to 3)
5 to 4 BP Good (up to 2 to 3)
3 to 2 BP Great (up to 2 to 3)
1 BP Great (3)
-1 to -4 BP Fact (3)
-5 and up BP Knock out

I will post my I deal of a Wrestler "class" but not right now.
It will use the Taunt System form most wrestling games. You pick the moves. Get feats. A new skill system. and more...

 

[Katerek]

What about prestige classes?

Legend - Basically your 10 yr plus veterens, 'Taker, Hogan, Flair all come to mind.

Evil Legion - NWO Members etc...

Or for a core class

Manager - Remember Paul Bearer? This might also be used for the female escorts as well that do not actually wrestle.

 

[Asmodean]

PrCs

Hardcore - Mankind, nuff said

Dirty Fighter - uses chairs, tables, illegal moves, and knocking out the ref.

Tag Team Specialist - fights best with a partner and gets extra HPs to reach his corner. recovers hps faster in a corner

 

[Katerek]

Lets not forget slooty sidekick.

 

[Tone Cold]

WWE Know Your Role RPG

Big pro-wrestling fan here too. I think the biggest problem in creating a wrestling RPG is listing all the moves--which I feel is practically impossible given all the variations being invented almost everyday. So instead, I made a maneuver system to let players create, customize, and modify moves on the fly for the upcoming WWE Know Your Role rpg (d20 OGL) from Comic Images. Interested parties can check out the demo rules at http://theforums.macharbor.com/viewforum.php?f=34. The rules have been changed and updated since, but it should give you a good basic idea of how the game works. It actually comes close to mimicking actual TV match time, as John Cena vs. Randy Orton took about 30-40 minutes to play, and 5-10 minutes between two low-level scrubs.


Tony Lee
Lead Designer, WWE: Know Your Role RPG

 

[Vorith]

I think you could use D&D rules and make it work...

 

[Solas]

Re: Know Your Role RPG

Great to see that I've found a thread that has one of the lead game developers responding! I'd love to hear more about the game....to the other respondents on this topic, I can say that I was an owner of the WWF Adventure Roleplaying Game (too long a title, and I had NO idea what they meant by 'Adventure' Roleplaying....) and that while the basics of the wrestling concept remain the same from that game to this, they have to be. Matches are ALWAYS dictated by the momentum or 'Heat' one wrestler has over another. The mechanism for lifting always has to be there, and so does the pinning/submission rules. It's the IMAGINATION of the people playing is what makes it, however. I don't expect this to be appealing to someone who's not into wrestling. It just won't work. You need to have some sense of what you're doing for the game to flow properly.

That being said, I think a level-based system works as it can reflect the time spent as a character working their way up through the ranks. A Veteran Prestige Class works very well, and I suspect Hardcore and other more niche types will be either standard classes or something similar. I'm assuming a ranking system to qualify for a pay-per-view match or title shot will come into play as well, perhaps based on Reputation?

Genysys, were those classes your own doing or extrapolation from what we've seen so far? Btw, the official eight-page promo material flows well in the read, for mine. And there's no tables for moves, though -a- list explaining a nice range of moves would help.

To wit: http://www.deathvalleydriver.com/bbbowm/bbbowm.htm

is a comprehensive if somewhat outdated set of pages regarding wrestling moves. That was something I liked about the early 90's game. It was a good grounding for moves.

And....TONE COLD! TONE COLD! TONE COLD!! Sorry...I had to do that. I was a bit of a fan of Steve Austin in the day....but you mentioned that some things have changed since the original rules you outlined in that forum link? Is that what's gone into the preview PDF I found at Comic Images, or has there been some tweaking? I'm very interested to see if I can place an order soon with my store (I'll buy it for background and 'history book' purposes if nothing else) and I'd love to know more about it, especially multiclassing, etc. Not that I'm wanting to know everything before it's released or anything like that....*chuckles*

S.