World Wide Wrestling RPG
{{Short description|Tabletop role-playing game}}
{{italictitle}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox RPG
| title = World Wide Wrestling RPG
| image = Cover_of_World_Wide_Wrestling_RPG.png
| designer = Nathan D. Paoletta
| illustrator = Nathan D. Paoletta
| publisher =
| date = 2015 (1st edition)
2020 (2nd edition)
| genre = Tabletop role-playing game
| system = Powered by the Apocalypse
}}
World Wide Wrestling RPG is a tabletop role-playing game about the lives of professional wrestlers both inside and outside the ring. It was written and illustrated by Nathan D. Paoletta. Gameplay focuses on the tension between wrestlers' characters as public entertainers versus their real personalities.{{Cite web |last=Creswell |first=Jacob |date=13 April 2022 |title=The World Wide Wrestling RPG Is the Perfect Tabletop Game for Wrestling Fans |url=https://www.cbr.com/world-wide-wrestling-ttrpg/ |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=CBR |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=RPG Review: The World Wide Wrestling RPG – Shut Up & Sit Down |url=https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/rpg-review-the-world-wide-wrestling-rpg/ |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=Shut Up and Sit Down |language=en-US}}
Gameplay
The basic game mechanics are built upon the Powered by the Apocalypse framework.
Player characters must manage three main variables: their favor with the audience, their tension with other fighters, and their momentum. Developing character connections such as friendships and rivalries unlocks new abilities. Example abilities include recording a promotional video or using a new weapon.
Publication history
The first edition was independently published in 2015. Paoletta released a second edition in 2020 after raising $55,886 on Kickstarter.
Reception
It won "Best Support" at the 2015 Indie RPG Awards.
Alex Meehan for Dicebreaker named it "one of the best tabletop roleplaying games released in 2015."{{Cite web |last=Meehan |first=Alex |date=16 March 2020 |title=Step into the ring again with the second edition of tabletop RPG World Wide Wrestling |url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/world-wide-wrestling-second-edition/news/www-rpg-announced |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=Dicebreaker |language=en}}
Jacob Creswell for Comic Book Resources praised the game's handling of cooperative storytelling during matches, writing that "WWWRPG understands that storytelling in wrestling can take on many different forms, so it gives players the tools to explore the style that they want, rather than limiting them."
William Quant for ComicsBeat.com wrote, "this game slaps. Obviously wrestling fans will get an absolute kick out of it, but even non-wrestling fans with imaginations will have a grand time in a combat and character driven world, especially since you’ve got to manage your character’s actions outside of the ring and off-screen, too."{{Cite web |last=Quant |first=William |date=23 November 2023 |title=Syndicated Comics |url=https://www.comicsbeat.com/pro-wrestling-gift-guide-2023/ |access-date=22 November 2024 |website=The Beat |language=en-US}}
References
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{{Powered by the Apocalypse games|state=expanded}}
Category:Indie role-playing games
Category:Indie RPG Awards winners
Category:Kickstarter-funded tabletop games