Kayfabe Questions

[taepoong]

So we played our first session of Kayfabe last night. We had a great time! However, we had a few comments and questions, which I am sure comes from inexperience:

1) 6's are really hard to get. I can understand Back-yard wrestlers never pulling off their moves with success, but I admit to being quite frustrated when my experienced wrestler couldn't generate a single success on 7 dice - 4 times in a row. It was the championship match, too! I felt so embarassed.

2) Does wagered heat add dice? There is one example that specifically says so, but we coudln't find any mention of it in the rules.

3) Rules layout. The book explains all the rules fine enough, but when it comes to game-play, we would like to see the rules follow the order of play. We believe this would make for easier reference during play.

[Lxndr]

7 dice, 4 times = 28 dice rolled.  The chances of not getting a single six is only 0.6% (yes, six tenths of a percent).

In other words, your experienced championship wrestler had a bad day.  But wow, what a bad day!  Ouch!

[HDWDiva]

Wow.  That's a pretty small percentage.  Our new wrestlers must have been way nervous ;)

Aside from the frustrating lack of sixes, I adore the game!!!  The writing session is perhaps one of the best things I've ever done in an rpg.

Great fun, and I can't wait to play again already :D

[Matt Gwinn]

1) 6's are really hard to get. I can understand Back-yard wrestlers never pulling off their moves with success, but I admit to being quite frustrated when my experienced wrestler couldn't generate a single success on 7 dice - 4 times in a row. It was the championship match, too! I felt so embarassed.

That seems like really bad luck to me. I've seen it happen in many games both ways.  I was playing D&D once and saw someone roll 4 twenties in a row...it was sureal.

Botching rolls is all part of the game.  I've seen some of the best wrestlers screw up moves before.  

If you're really concerned about it try concentrating on Move Sets that work with your character's Assets to get extra dice.  Did the Booker give you any bonus dice for cool narration?

2) Does wagered heat add dice? There is one example that specifically says so, but we coudln't find any mention of it in the rules.

Wagering Heat doesn't grant extra dice.  What page is the reference on, so I can fix it in the PDF version?

3) Rules layout. The book explains all the rules fine enough, but when it comes to game-play, we would like to see the rules follow the order of play. We believe this would make for easier reference during play.

Which parts in particular?  I put a lot of stuff in the Booker's section that could probably go with the Booking Committee stuff.  Stuff like venues and payroll are intended more for the Booker, but I can see where the entire group might want a hand in the more detailed stuff.  What do you suggest?

,Matt Gwinn[/quote]

[taepoong]

what page was that on? er... ::looks around nervously::

Actually, I am posting on behalf of the whole group and my comments are not mine alone. In fact, the last two comments were from the Booker, who has our group's only copy of the rules. Thus, I have no clue as to what page or recommendations for layout.

Um... has anyone seen Jason? :o\

[Matt Gwinn]

Well, I'll look around for the error.

What's important is that you guys had a good time and it sounds like you did.

,Matt

[Luke]

7 dice, 4 times = 28 dice rolled.  The chances of not getting a single six is only 0.6% (yes, six tenths of a percent).

In other words, your experienced championship wrestler had a bad day.  But wow, what a bad day!  Ouch!

actually, that "bad day" goes for the whole promotion. Our characters failed FAR more often than they succeeded. At first it was fun to narrate the fuck-ups and injuries, but eventually it just became frustrating and taxing. That coupled with a lack of degree of success or margin for error definitely made the game a little hard on us.

The booking/writing meeting was a little confusing as well. We definitely mixed in locker room politics and maneuvering into the writing/match booking. It was hard to separate, and the booker was pretty much encouraging it. But honestly, the first session just seems very hard to start. You're kind of adift as the writers: Not supposed to know too much about the wrestlers' personalities, but supposed to start the storylines for the big pay-per-view. This took the longest for us to get under wraps.

As far as actual game play, it went reasonably smoothly. We had 5 players, two of whom who had read most of the book and one who'd read a bit of it.  Still,  Heat is a big mechanic and quite subtle. We really couldn't keep it all straight by just using the book as a guideline.

This leads me to Pete's point about reorganizing the book (btw, Pete was the one who organized the BW chapters).  I think the game needs more of a cheat sheet/short list for use as reference during the matches. Something that spells it out in the plainest possible terms. In addition to that, we made up small, quarter page character sheets so we could keep track of more wrestlers. I could forward those along if you'd like them.

Lastly, the game fucking rocks. It is very dynamic and quite different from anything else i've seen. It's that very bare structure that you've managed to add that keeps the game going, while allowing a lot of varied action and interaction. I was really amazed at how easily my diehard BW players took to the narration mechanic. And I was amazed at how good they were at it. HDWDiva was incredible, I was terrible.

What I really love is the core idea that the group plays a competitive corporate entity -- competitive within itself and beyond itself. As I said, it creates some very dynamic scenes.

-Luke

Post Script: Matt, I taped some of our skits and about a hour of actual game play. Would you like me to make a dub and send you a copy?

[Matt Gwinn]

actually, that "bad day" goes for the whole promotion. Our characters failed FAR more often than they succeeded.

That's really weird.  There are a lot of times when I think about the rules and wonder if it's too EASY to get a 6.  If you think about it, the only time you really mess up is when you don't roll any 6s and you also roll a 1.  If you don't roll any 6s or 1s the moveset was just kind of blah, unless you were risking Injury.  The big thing is using your Assets.  Rolling 10 or more dice is pretty common if your wrestlers are doing their jobs.  I've had players rolling 15+ dice.  

The booking/writing meeting was a little confusing as well. We definitely mixed in locker room politics and maneuvering into the writing/match booking. It was hard to separate, and the booker was pretty much encouraging it.

That's the hardest part of the game for a lot of people, which is why Kayfabe isn't necessarily for everyone.   If it really becomes a problem the Booker can always limit players to only booking for other player's characters.  Another option is to simply let the wrestlers book the matches which has been known to happen.

This leads me to Pete's point about reorganizing the book (btw, Pete was the one who organized the BW chapters). I think the game needs more of a cheat sheet/short list for use as reference during the matches. Something that spells it out in the plainest possible terms.

Page 48 of the game has a Step-By-Step Match Advancement chart.  It takes you through exactly how a match should progress.  It's followed by a  a 2 page sample match.  Maybe your Booker missed it, or maybe I wasn't very clear in my description.  Should I do a more detailed walkthrough?

In addition to that, we made up small, quarter page character sheets so we could keep track of more wrestlers. I could forward those along if you'd like them.

That would be great!

Lastly, the game fucking rocks.

I love hearing that :-)

Post Script: Matt, I taped some of our skits and about a hour of actual game play. Would you like me to make a dub and send you a copy?

That would be great!  Let me knoiw how much it costs to ship and I'll Paypal you the money.

,Matt