CONTRACT CONFLICT
By David Creighton

A WWE: Know Your Role tournament for 4-12 players.

PREMISE
The World Wrestling Entertainment is holding a tournament and the prize is a WWE contract! Of course, the WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon, will be watching and it is possible more than one contract could be awarded if Mr. McMahon is impressed.

Brand
The Contract Conflict tournament is suitable for either the RAW or Smackdown brand, depending on which roster, staff, and announce team the General Manager prefers.

Preparation
Familiarize yourself with the pre-generated characters in order to answer any player questions. Print all character sheets and handouts.

Using Abilities
Each round of the tournament is considered to take place on one show. So, unless otherwise specified, any ability that can be used once per show can be used up to 3 times (should the character advance) over the course of the tournament.

Special Rules
The following rule stipulations are in place for the tournament:

Appearances: The appearance limit for all players (based on Charisma and the Popular Appeal feat) is for the entire tournament. Scheduled matches do not count towards this limit. For the tournament scenario, appearances may be used to:

- Cut a promo any time after Round One matches have been completed.
- Interfere in a match
- Attack one or more wrestlers before a scheduled match begins
- Attack one or more wrestlers after a scheduled match ends
- Interrupt another wrestler while they perform any of the above.

Also, the Mouthpiece talent functions slightly differently for this tournament. Characters with Mouthpiece may activate it at any time to allow any number of other competitors in the tournament to interfere in a match they are participating in, or join him in any of the above other uses for Appearances. However, participation on behalf of other competitors is strictly voluntary and if no others choose to accept, the Talent is still considered to have been used.

Decisive Victory: All matches in the tournament must have a clear winner. Therefore the referees have been instructed to ignore double disqualifications, double count-outs or no-contest rulings. Any superstar caught interfering who is not obviously aiding one Superstar or another will be banned from ringside.

Here Comes The Money: Sheliagh O’Shea is the only tournament character with this Talent. If Sheliagh is in play, before each match ask if the player would like to use this ability to gain an advantage in the match. This ability can only be used once per show; when used, the effect is determined by the round of the tournament. See “Complications” below.

Reputation
Once per match, any character may add his reputation to one non-combat roll targeting the referee.

Scouting Your Opponent
Although the wrestlers in the tournament are relative unknowns, they may have encountered each other on the independent circuit in the past. Before a scheduled match, Superstars may make a Knowledge (roster) check and add their opponent’s reputation bonus. Remember, Knowledge rolls cannot be made untrained. Depending on their roll, their opponent must reveal the following (results are cumulative):

DC Result

5

Character class or classes (but not levels) and weight class

10

Levels in all character classes

15

Name and maneuver group for all Finishers and Signature Moves

20

Starting Endurance and Lift DC

25

Highest ability score (opponent’s choice if tied)

30

All maneuver proficiencies


Assigning Characters
Have players roll a d20 to see who draft their character first. If players are playing two wrestlers each (for a 4-6 player tournament), use a Snake Draft system where each player picks one wrestler and then the last player picks their second wrestler and the draft order reverses until the player who chose first chooses their second wrestler last. Also, be sure to structure the tournament brackets in such a way that any one player with multiple characters does not have his characters meet till the latest round possible.

Before players choose their wrestler, read the following list to all players in the tournament to help them make their choice:

Slick Willy Shade
A former Reality TV contestant who has moved into wrestling and is surprising many with his skills.

Gronk
A superheavyweight whom many compare to the late Yokazuma. Gronk is, however, said to be ot-nay, oo-tay, ight-bray.

Gary Grounder, the “True All-Rounder.”
Gary brings one of the most diverse styles in the indies to his quest for the big prize.

Max Simpson
Simpson is known to be almost unstoppable, laughing at pain, giggling at injury and guffawing in the face of death.

Dragon Shiva
An Asian Diva who is perfectly comfortable facing the men on the roster.

The Weasel
Don’t let the goofy gimmick and costume deceive you. The Weasel is a cunning foe always ready to unleash the popular, but dangerous Weasel Pounce.

Sheilagh O’Shea
This tough-as-nails former championship women’s rugby player rejects even the term “diva.” She’ll challenge any opponent with a lashing toe and an array of brutal moves.

Flash Fleming
Flash takes time away from his punk rock career to punk out his opponents with a mixture of High Flying and mat moves.

Major Slam
A veteran of Iraqi and Afghanistan conflicts, Major Slam’s powerful offense leaves his opponents seeing stars and stripes.

Mitchell Christian
Despite being best known as a manager Mitchell is more than willing to hit the ring himself and is known as something of a wrestling savant. (As a manager, Mitchell may be more challenging to play in matches.)

Brent Miller
Former NCAA champion Miller turned down a sportcasting position to turn pro, in hopes of continuing his career in the big leagues.

Emett Able
This high-flying martial artist is “Ready, Willing, and Able” to punish his foes.


Tournament Structure

# of players

# of wrestlers per player

Round Structure

4

2

Three rounds of singles matches, single elimination.

5

2

5 singles matches followed by a singles match and a triple threat match (make certain no player controls two Superstars in one match) and a singles final.
Add a stipulation of GM’s choice to the singles match in round 2.

6

2

Two rounds of singles matches with a Triple Threat final.

7

1

Round one, two singles matches and a Triple Threat followed by two rounds of singles matches.

8

1

3 round single elimination tournament.

9

1

Round one, three singles matches and a triple threat, followed by two rounds of singles matches.

10

1

5 singles matches followed by 2 singles and a triple threat, then a singles final.

11

1

5 singles matches and triple threat, followed by 3 singles matches and a triple threat final.

12

1

6 singles matches followed by 3 singles matches, then a triple threat final.


GM GUIDELINES

Step-by-Step Tournament Guide
Start by introducing the tournament. Feel free to role-play the announcers or General Manager for the brand you’re using. Otherwise, just jump right into the game.

1. Determine tournament structure based on number of players
2. Explain special tournament rules
3. Draft wrestlers
4. Assign match pairings. In tournaments with players controlling more than one wrestler, do your best to make certain no two wrestlers controlled by the same player are facing each other!
5. Begin the Preliminary Round (Round 1) matches. Whether you need to run two set of matches in the first round, do not let Round 1 take up more than half of your total time. See “Time Management” for tips on keeping things running smoothly.
6. Once all matches end, ask if players want to use any appearances before the end of the first show. Allow players to use Appearances but, if time is running short, ask them to keep them to a minimum in terms of role-playing or length of beat downs. If time is not an issue, let them play out the sneak attacks and vignettes to their heart’s desire!
7. Restore all characters’ Endurance to full and have them heal Trauma as if a week had passed.
8. Begin a new show and Round 2. Players whose characters have been eliminated can take on the role of commentators or fans.
9. Assign all matches for Round 2, again doing everything possible to prevent one player from controlling two wrestlers in one match. Let players do any pre-match vignettes or promos and, finally, pre-match ambushes.
10. Begin Round 2 matches, feel free to point out any rules players might be overlooking or not aware of, such as the use of Tricks, pre-match staredowns, or other in-match abilities such as Recovery or Distraction.
11. Repeat steps 6-10 for the Final. Remember that eliminated wrestlers with unused appearances can use them for promos, vignettes, interference or beat downs. If time allows, check Other Complications for some fun extras you can use to add to their experience.

Time Management
Running a Know Your Role tournament would be very time consuming if you had to run each match one at a time. Instead, it is important to keep as many matches running at once. If you have experienced players who can run their own matches, let them. However, never let one experienced player run a match between him/herself and a novice.

For all matches involving inexperienced players, simply run all the matches at once, round by round, in the following manner:

1. Determine initiative for all matches.
2. Choose one player who does not have initiative and have them declare their maneuver and record it on their match record sheet. All details of the move must be announced at this time as with any other abilities that must be used when moves are announced. Heat benefits must also be announced now.
3. Move on to the next match and have the player who does not have initiative declare their action. Continue until one player in each match has declared actions.
4. Then, in the same order, have the player with initiative declare. For triple threat matches or matches where other participants need to also declare actions, have the person second in initiative order declare now and continue having new rounds of declarations until all match participants have declared.
5. Have all players roll and determine which actions succeed for all matches.
6. Apply all affects for all matches (such as damage, lift/knockdown checks, stun checks, KO checks etc.)
7. Conduct any pin attempts, DQ checks, count out rolls or other outstanding business such as referees recovering from injury.
8. If any matches are not over, move on to a new round, be sure to adjust the order in which players declare their actions.
9. Allow players to use Appearances for post-match beat downs etc. The loser of the match always has the first opportunity to use an appearance.

If more than one GMs are available, break up players into as many smaller groups as possible.

Also, with inexperience players you may need to help out with narration. Don’t let players get overwhelmed with the need to script elaborate moveset narration. If necessary, simply announce the effects of moves when it is determined who hits in order to keep things moving. Use your own judgment depending on the number of players and the time available. The most important thing is that players have fun. It is far more important that players have fun than the tournament runs according to plan. If you have to reduce the number of matches by having more Triple Threat or Fatal Four-way matches in order to manage time and keep everyone involved feel free. That said…time can often be an issue at conventions or other events so…

What to do if time runs short
If a tournament round is drawing to a close with matches still underway, announce that in two rounds of combat time will expire. This should give players a chance to try last ditch big moves to put away their opponent before the clock runs out. If a match still does not conclude after those two rounds determine a winner in the following order:

1) The Superstar who has gained the most Heat during the match (regardless of any spent).
2) The Superstar with the lowest current fatigue penalty is the winner.
3) The Superstar with the lowest base Endurance is the winner.
4) The Superstar with the lower base initiative wins.
5) Other players in the tournament vote on a winner.

Winners
The superstar who wins the tournament wins a WWE contract and first prize (if any).

If you have additional prizes to award for second place or beyond, here are a few suggestions of how to give them out.

- Most Heat earned over the course of the entire tournament
- A player vote on best role-player/overall contribution to their enjoyment of the tournament
- If you are feeling ambitious, you can track Contender points (see Know Your Role, pages 116-177) and award second place (or an additional contract) to that Superstar, other than the winner who earned the most points. Usually this will be the second-place finisher since they will have more opportunities to earn contender points, unless other players wind up in matches outside the tournament itself.

Even if there are no prizes, the GM may award additional WWE contracts based on the above criteria or any others the tournament organizer may wish to use. Also, remember that any superstar with one or more levels in manager class could be hired on by a superstar who wins the contract and find employment that way (although at a much reduced pay rate than having a contract themselves).

Complications
Here Comes The Money Talent: These are the effects this Talent has, depending which round it is used. A Reputation check must be still be made. The DC is 5 in round 1, 10 in round 2, and 15 in round 3.

Round 1: A Scottish pipe and drum corps in full regalia accompanies O’Shea to the ring. This gives her a +4 bonus on the staredown in round one and a +1 bonus to all intimidation checks for the entire match. And yes, O’Shea is Irish and the band is Scottish. Why? Because anything can happen in the WWE!

Round 2: In the interest of saving WWE money, Sheliagh uses her considerable wealth to hire her own referee. As a result this ref is biased in her favor. The ref will slow count for her opponent so that once per pinfall attempt any automatic one count from hooking the leg, pulling the tights, grabbing the ropes or performing a finisher is cancelled. Also, O’Shea must do at least 12 damage in an illegal move before she receives a warning and she gains +5 on all rolls to avoid DQ. When O’Shea is out of the ring roll only a d4 for referee countout. If this ref is knocked out for more than 3 consecutive rounds a new, unbiased referee will be sent from the back.

Round 3: If Mitchell Christian is not being played in the tournament, he accompanies O’Shea to the ring as an NPC manager. Otherwise, use the same entry as Round 2.

Other complications
The following complications may be added if the GM feels there is extra time in the tournament.

Special Appearances: For the RAW brand, the first contestant to use an Appearance to address the crowd and is not interrupted by another contestant may face an interruption from a certain Superstar-turned-movie star who occasionally still drops by the WWE (if you smell what we’re cooking).

If using the Smackdown brand, any contestant who requests an interview after already being eliminated from the tournament will have that interview with SmackDown’s #1 Announcer, Funaki™! If things go badly they just might find themselves with another chance to impress the GM as Funaki challenges them to a match!

Stipulations
No stipulations may be added in the first round. Stipulations may be added to later rounds by players with appropriate Talents or Feats. In the second round, any stipulations all wrestlers in the match agree to may be added as well.

Optional: Alignment
To simplify the use of tricks, all 12 of the pre-generated characters have been created as Neutral wrestlers and only Common Tricks are available. If the GM feels more confident in the players’ expertise, use the following alignments instead:

Slick Willy Shade - Heel
Gronk - Heel
Gary Grounder - Face
Max Simpson - Face
Dragon Shiva - Heel
The Weasel - Heel
Sheilagh O’Shea - Face
Flash Fleming - Face
Major Slam - Face
Mitchell Christian - Heel
Brent Miller - Heel
Emmett Able - Face