The 2 things that make me hesitant with LOW

[CanadianPitbull]

I have always approached LOW and my Indy feds as worked shoots. They get in the ring and the matches play out how they would. If something weird happens due to the "Powers That Be" dice, then either I work with it as the bookers planned or it is something that feels unscripted and play it out as unplanned events. It could be a wrestler who normally never wins gets a victory over a top player and maybe the reason is that the wrestler went into business for themselves (what is the falout from that?) or any other rational explanation. Lockeroom drama can abound and makes its way into the ring. I have events that took place that certain wrestlers will not work with each other so you have to do work arounds especially if they are both top draws that HAVE to face one another over a title and how that might go depending on the wrestler. Do they stay professional or do they shoot and it turns into a potato match where one or both wrestlers end up getting sidelined or maybe even fired for their conduct.

As far as time and wrestlers aging. I don't get too caught up on that as this is a game and lets me have a bit of the old "suspension of disbelief". I have no problem blending eras and wrestlers together as if they all were able to face one another in their prime. think of it as Stonecold Steve Austin letting his Time Machine get out of hand (Celebrity Death Match reference) and wrestlers from all eras end up facing each other in feds all over the world.

[The REAL Mr. Jimmyface]

I can understand those things keeping you a little hesitant. Here are some suggestions that might help...

1) Let the dice do the talking - It's hard to separate work and shoot when it comes to playing Filsinger Games. So don't! You can set up the matches, and come up with the stories that lead to and result from the matches. But that actual match itself, that's up to the dice and the players choices. When I started with Legends, I was already planning steps beyond the match results. And when the results of the matches didn't line up with what I wanted to happen, I would feel stuck. Stuck leads to discouraged, discouraged leads to not having fun. Learn to book/promote in such a way that you can build up to the match, then let the match happen, and book what happens next after the matches are over. It will not only help alleviate frustration, but by learning to let unknown events and results influence the decisions, it will make you an even stronger storyteller and booker.

2) Seasonal booking - Borrowing a page from Lucha Underground, try breaking your fed into seasons. 13 to 24 cards per season, and then start a new one. This will help things fresh. Especially when you combine it with...

3) Draft and rotate the talent - This is the hardest part, but let me explain. There are literally hundreds of wrestlers to choose from, all in their prime. Trying to book all of them at once is daunting. So, either by draft or random, limit the roster to something you want to work with. For example, 20 singles wrestlers, 10 tag teams, and 10 women. Use whatever numbers you want to, so long as it fits your style and season lengths. But whatever number you choose, that is what you use for the remainder of the season. When the season is over, you can bring in other wrestlers, teams, managers, etc. Who stays and who goes is up to you. Use their win/loss record, personal favorites, etc. But when it's time to start the next season, add new talent and let the dice fall where they may.

4) Mix up Legends and Indies (and COTG?) - never be afraid of trying new combinations. All sets run on the same gaming mechanics, so why not? LOW and Indies sets can provide a lot of dream matchups (Savage vs. AJ Styles, The Briscoes vs. The Briscos, Fabulous Moolah vs. Trish Stratus, and now Kurt Angle vs. Bryan Danielson), and there are even a couple of COTG cards I threw in that fit amazingly well (consider American Guy, Phantasy and Sleeper Cell in a modern setting). There is no limit to how you build your fed, and anyone who gives you grief over time travel or different eras needs to just sit back and enjoy the show.

I hope these ideas have sparked renewed interest, and that you have lots of fun making your cards and feds. Any other questions, take to The Board. We're a great hive mind, and we'll keep you buzzing!

[ajcostello]

This is a great topic, and admittedly one that I've never really thought about before.

I've always looked at these games (I started playing CoTG in the late-1990s) as the dice being that real booker. I'll put the matches that I want to see together but at the end of the day, the winner is who the dice say is the winner. My job is to come up with stories to 'justify' those results and put the next match together.

I'll also say that letting the dice dictate who gets a push or a big win can result in some stories that can be very, very interesting. Possibly even more interesting than anything I can come up with... and I consider myself a pretty creative guy. Not to break my own arm patting myself on the back or anything.

There is nothing worse than coming up with a great story only to have the dice take things in a different direction entirely. I used to, from time to time, fudge a dice roll or result every now and again to get the storylines that I wanted but I found that takes a large degree of the fun away from the game for me. I like the 'anything can happen' feel that relying purely on the dice rolls can give me. Some amazing stories have been born from that. Again, it's all about letting the dice book the finishes of the matches and then putting it on me to build the angles around the results.

I can understand there is a little bit of cognitive dissonance between the two games even though I've never experienced it myself.

When it comes to rotating wrestlers in and out of the roster I just use the cards that I want to use when I want to use them. I use LOW, Indies, and basically everything that I like using. I normally only rotate cards out once I get bored with them or if they just have a really bad run or something.

I think that getting to play & run a few completely different wrestling games has helped me with my booking philosophies and planning. In one game (the World Wide Wrestling RPG) I go into running a match as Creative with my players with a general idea as to how I want t put the booking/ finish together but I can be flexible when it comes to that. If one player just has a better night with dice rolls and descriptions of his spots then I might change my mind. But then, the game specifically tells the guy running the game to think of it as letting the dice (and players) do what they're going to do and then make it their job to put it all together to make sense. Now, I've been playing LOW & CoTG for a lot more time than I've been playing the WWWRPG but I've found the way that game runs to be a perfect fit for how I do stuff anyway.