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Post by smathis on Dec 20, 2007 17:49:42 GMT -4
These should really be considered like the Strategy Cards version 3.0. Two problems I found with general play using the Strategy Cards (which I used in the DWA and my personal fed) were: - The luck of the draw thing didn't help with the roles my wrestlers were playing at the time. If Koko B. Ware drew three Crimson Masks, he was screwed. He couldn't hope to use them and it wouldn't fit his character if he did.
- The cards were fun. But I found myself more concerned about what I could accomplish by discarding them.
See, in order to the address the "I drew a hand that's entirely worthless" - such as when a wrestler in a singles match drew a handful of Double Teams or Pin Saves - I implemented rules where the cards could be discarded to do things like Distraction or avoiding a DQ. I found myself using those options more often than the options on the cards. Which I recognized as a problem. So, I've switched things around yet again to hopefully improve on this system. The primary goal is the same: to consolidate all the supplemental currencies in LOW into one pile. That way all we have to "worry" about is Fatigue, these points and then (maybe) a couple of special things listed on the wrestler's card. No more keeping track of Pin Saves or Distraction. I admit this wasn't a hassle in the rules as written. But when compounded with the plethora of house rules, rules addendums and other things that really enhance the game, it becomes tedious. As a secondary objective, I designed the Strategy Points to help enforce the traditional roles of Heels, Faces and Tweens. No longer will you have to fudge the rules or "imagine" a Heel begging a Face for mercy. Instead, it's an actual mechanic that has a real in-game effect. It costs the same as a Pin Save in a tag-match. I've tried this out a few times and I think it's pretty cool. Of course, I would - I guess. The primary flaws I see in it at this point are: - It's kind of hard to keep all the wrestler's options straight. There aren't really that many that can be used at any given moment BUT I just have them all on a big chart right now. So I find myself doing chart hunting more than I'd like. But I think some of this can be alleviated with better presentation.
- The prerequisites can get a little squirrely. I think this can be solved with more playtesting and streamlining the options.
What's cool about it (thus far): - It really is fun to have a Heel beg for mercy or tell the ref that the Face pulled his hair. And to do it with the same mechanic that manages Pin Saves. The options are a hoot and I find myself fiddling with them more and more (and wanting to add more options to the system).
- It's a lot simpler than having reams of House Rules pulled off the internet and trying to remember where each one is. Though the charts are unwieldy (at this point), it's a vast improvement over trying to find a specific chart in a stack of printed charts.
I'm still playtesting and tweaking this a bit. Once I get the formatting solid and the options straight, I'll be posting the files on the Depot (my yahoo group of files and bootlegs). I'll also post on the Hive at that point too. But I wanted to give you guys a Christmas preview of my latest mad invention.
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Post by smathis on Dec 20, 2007 17:53:31 GMT -4
Legends of Wrestling: Strategy Points
Summary Strategy Points combine a number of advanced and supplementary rules in Legends of Wrestling. Instead of having to keep track of things like the number of double-team maneuvers a tag-team has used or how many “(lv)” options an opponent has left, players pay for these options from a single pool of Strategy Points.
Set-up At the start of a match, each wrestler or team will get a set number of Strategy Points. Use the charts below to determine the number of points a wrestler or a tag-team receives at the start of the match.
Single or Tag-Team Match If… Points …the match is a curtain jerker... 0 …the match is in the middle of the card… 2 …the match is a special event or a main event… 4 …wrestler or team has a manager at ringside +1 …tag team match +2 …wrestler or team is defending a title +1 …match is a feud match +1
Melee-Style Match A match where 3+ combatants are in the ring at one time with no tag rules. Each wrestler gets 2 Points. Standard modifiers apply.
* – For melee-style matches, tag-team options, such as “Pin Saves” and “Heel Double Team”, can be used at the Promoter’s discretion.
Using Strategy Points At the start of the match, each wrestler gets a number of Strategy Points – usually between 2 and 6. If the match is a tag-team match, these points are shared by all team members. A wrestler may spend Strategy Points to use a Strategy Option at any point during the match if he meets the listed prerequisites. For example, if the Strategy Option stipulates that it can only be used when a wrestler has 4 Fatigue or higher, then the wrestler cannot use that option if he has only accumulated 1 Fatigue. Any Strategy Points left at the end of a match are lost. Some wrestlers will milk their Strategy Points for all they’re worth. Others will have an easy match and use only one or two. There is no in-game reward or penalty for using or not using Strategy Points.
Wrestler Classes Wrestler Classes are groups of options available to a wrestler or tag-team during a match. Each class presents a wrestler with different options that give him an incentive to behave a certain way in the ring. A wrestler can only use the options available to his class. The classes available to a wrestler are divided into three main categories: Heels, Faces and Tweens.
Faces Faces are the “good guys” of the squared circle. There are three Face classes: Hero, Technician and Tough-Guy. A Hero is a guy who is all guts and heart, the wrestler who never gives up. Legends who fit this archetype include Koko B. Ware, Bobo Brazil and Jim Londos. Technicians are the great technical wrestlers who use their knowledge and skill on the mat to come out victorious. Legends who could be considered Technicians include Frank Gotch, George Hackenschmidt and Mil Mascaras. Tough Guys are doggedly tough. There talent is knowing how to take a licking and keep on ticking. Legends who could be considered Tough Guys include Bob Armstrong and Larry Hennig.
Heels Heels are the “bad guys” – the guys who will do anything to win. There are three classes of Heel: Egotist, Conniver and Madmen. Egotists are the guys who strut around the ring like they own the place, feeling (rightly or wrongly) like they are the most skilled, most adored and best wrestler ever to set foot in the ring. Legends who could be classified as Egotists include The Destroyer, Gorgeous George and Buddy Rogers. Connivers are those wrestlers who will lie, cheat and steal to win. They resort to dirty tricks and under-handed tactics partly because they consider themselves smart enough to get away with it – and oftentimes they do. Legends who could be considered Connivers include Nick Bockwinkel, Buddy Rose and Dennis Condrey. Madmen are wrestlers who wholly ignore the rules, seeking only to harm or destroy their opponents. Legends who could be categorized as Madmen include The Sheik, Ox Baker and the Terrible Turk.
Tweens Tweens are capable of acting as Heels or Faces. Some wrestlers with a Tween class will wrestle as the good guys in a fed. Others will be bad guys. The Tween classes are a mix of options that combine elements of being a Face with elements of being a Heel. Four classes of Tweens follow: The Brawler, the Wildman, the Giant and the Bad-Ass. Brawlers are rough-and-tumble, beer-swilling guys who let their fists speak for them. Brawlers are generally tough but resort to meaner tactics than typical Faces. Legends that might be considered Brawlers include the Crusher, Ray Stevens and the Sandman. Wildmen are always on the verge of spilling over into complete mayhem. They may fight fair for a while but there’s no telling what they’re capable of once their opponent has earned their ire. Legends that could fall into the Wildmen category include Bruiser Brody and Hacksaw Duggan. The Giant is just big. He’s methodical and reasonably tough. But his main weapon is his size. Legends that could be used as Giants include Giant Baba, King Kong Bundy and Cousin Luke. The Bad-Ass is the guy that no one wants to tangle with. He’s tough. He’s mean. And he’s willing to do what it takes to win. The Bad Ass is often a Heel role but they are included under Tweens because, from time to time, a Face takes on this role. Legends who could be considered bad-asses include Johnny Valentine, Harley Race and Steve Williams. . How to Pick a Class Generally, it doesn’t matter what class you pick for a wrestler. There are a few obvious limitations. For example, you don’t want Frank Gotch or Danny Hodge to compete with the Giant options. Likewise, Koko B. Ware probably doesn’t have the moveset to take advantage of the Madman class. So choosing an appropriate class is a consideration of the wrestler’s size, moveset and role within your federation. If you are on the fence about a wrestler, it really doesn’t matter which class he gets as long as it corresponds somewhat to the role he plays in your fed. For instance, Buddy Rogers could be an Egotist or he could be a Conniver. Some might even use him as a Heel Badass. Bruiser Brody could be cast as a Face Wildman, a Giant or even a Madman. It doesn’t make much difference either way and there are no hard rules that will come to bite you if you don’t make Strangler Lewis a Technician. It’s more a matter of storyline and taste. I generally have picked the wrestler’s class right at the start of a match. On a related note, it’s possible to use a wrestler in multiple roles in the same fed. Maybe Buddy Rogers starts out as an Egotist but then he turns Face as a Tough Guy. Or maybe Frank Gotch starts out as a Technician and turns Heel as a Conniver. Maybe Ox Baker is a Giant in your Lucha fed but then he’s brought into the LWF as a Badass.
Hardcore Options There are a few options listed on the Hardcore Options chart. These options apply only in Hardcore Matches and are available to all classes.
Streamlining Play with Strategy Points Strategy Points consolidate the bookkeeping of Legends of Wrestling. This may suit the tastes of some but not others. The upside is that all Pin Saves, Interference, Distraction and Double-Teams are paid with a common pool of points. The downside is that there is now much more to do – and much more to remember to do – with those points. The following Legends of Wrestling rules and play options are no longer needed when Strategy Points are used.
the "(lv)" option Interference Pin Saves Double Teams
Strategy Points also implement a number of supplemental rules. These include rules for being Busted Open during a match and rules for Hardcore style matches. Strategy Points also include options that make disqualifications less frequent and help codify the traditional roles (Face/Heel) that wrestlers play.
Customizing Strategy Points Using Strategy Points should enhance gameplay, not detract from it. In keeping with this intent, promoters should feel free to customize how Strategy Points to fit their own style of play. Ways to customize Strategy Points for a Legends of Wrestling promotion include giving more (or fewer) and modifying or creating new options for wrestlers to use.
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Post by wildfire on Dec 21, 2007 0:53:52 GMT -4
Very interesting... I could see this been very cool for playing with someone else especially.
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Post by smathis on Dec 21, 2007 10:22:36 GMT -4
Yeah. There's strategy element to it.
For example, do you spend 2 points now to take over on Level 2 Offense? Or do you save them to help you break out of or avoid a Pin later on?
I think the roles/classes are a real strength too. There's a lot of stuff that's just hard to reflect on a card. So, creating different options with mechanical effects enhances that part of the game too.
For example, if Buddy Rose ducks out of the ring, how do you reflect Bruiser Brody jumping out of the ring and chasing him? But with the options, if a Heel opts to leave the ring, a Wildman or Brawler might just decide to go after him - which has a different result in play than just rolling on the Out of the Ring chart.
Because sometimes the Heel just runs for his life.
(I know I would if Brody were chasing after me...)
I'm still tweaking the options a bit. More like polishing them to make sure they're easy, don't bog down the game and that the mechanical result reflects what would happen in the ring. After that, I'll be happy to circulate the document and charts to whoever has an interest.
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Post by smathis on Jan 15, 2008 17:06:56 GMT -4
For those who are interested, I'm polishing up the final version of these rules. I've been testing them for a while now and trying to find a good balance between fun and added complexity. I think I'm just about there.
I'll be posting the text of the rules in the Front Office here. But the full version will be available on the Depot or via email.
I'll post on the Hive as well but I wanted to give the LP a first shot at this.
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Post by smathis on Jan 16, 2008 0:48:16 GMT -4
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