D&D 5E Wrestling Rules – Homebrewed Fresh in 3WD’s Curse of Strahd Campaign

What do you do when a player brings a character that begs for something far outside the normal scope of your game? As an example, let’s say you have a player that brings a barbarian into your Curse of Strahd campaign that is, in no uncertain terms, Hulk Hogan. As I see it, you have two options: Shut it down or lean into it.

While you have every right to talk to your player and discuss alterations to their character to better fit the tone that you are hoping to set in your campaign, here is how I decided to lean into that very example … hard.

We’ve talked often on the podcast of DM Tony’s barbarian, Hawk Morgan, who is the Forgotten Realms’ answer to Hulkamania. We’ve hinted at the rules I’ve built to accommodate wrestling within our campaign world and we discussed in our most recent episode the “Dispute in the Den!” Barovia’s answer to Wrestlemania.

As promised, what follows are the wrestling mechanics we’ve been developing in our Curse of Strahd campaign as well as 3WD’s paean to the wrestling memories of our youth … “Whatcha gonna do when Hawkamania runs wild on you, brother?!”

Benchmarking

We talk a lot about the idea of benchmarking, especially within 5e. With its bounded accuracy design and balanced mechanics, most abilities can be reskinned to approximate whatever you might be going for.

First, you want to think about what the hallmarks are of the ability that you’re trying to recreate? In this case, what are the hallmarks of pro wrestling as opposed to, let’s say, collegiate wrestling? Generally, most matches are made up of strikes (punching, kicking, clothesline, etc.), holds (headlock, full nelson, figure-four leglock, etc.), and special moves or finishers (Leg Drop, DDT, Stone Cold Stunner, The People’s Elbow, etc.).

Secondly, wrestlers generally perform a series of moves in a row (the clinch, moving into a headlock and then wrenching the opponent’s neck). However, they’re not fighting a wooden dummy, so the opponent needs to be able to counter (breaking the headlock, throwing them into the ropes followed by some sweet chin music from their big ole size 13’s).

Finally, there’s the performance piece of the match. The crowd participation, the certain defeat followed by the comeback. The point where the hero gets to Layeth the Smacketh down on some jabroni’s candy-ass.

Once you have the hallmarks of what defines the ability you’re trying to emulate, you can begin to do some benchmark kit-bashing.

Striking

Bruce Lee paraphrased an old Taoist proverb when he said, “Before I learned the art, a punch was just a punch, a kick, just a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick no longer a kick. Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick.”

While this shows Lee’s profound understanding of the art, punches and kicks need to be more than meets the eye if you’re going to build a pro wrestler.

The best striker in 5e is the monk, hands down. The martial arts ability they gain at 1st level was a great place to start. However, since Hawk already possessed abilities granted by being a barbarian, and was already incredibly strong, I didn’t think he needed the same level of damage given to a monk with only that ability, so I moved the damage die back one tier:

Level 1-4: 1+Strength modifier

Level 5-10: 1+Strength modifier+1d4

Level 11-15: 1+Strength modifier+1d6

Level 16-20: 1+Strength modifier+1d8

I also added a mechanic for high-flying strikes, as they are a hallmark of pro wrestling. A high-flying strike deals damage concurrent with level+1d6 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet of height (i.e. falling damage). However, the player must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. Success has them take half the falling damage, failure has them take all of it.

Holds

We’ve often discussed the grappling rules currently in place in 5e. While they work for the majority of circumstances, they don’t allow the “what next” for a wrestler. I kept the grappling rules the same as in the PHB, with a contested Athletics check to grapple and a contested Athletics check to escape. What I added was the “what next”:

Continue the Hold: Target becomes Restrained until it can escape.

Wrench: The target remains Grappled and takes bludgeoning damage concurrent with level.

Bludgeoning: The target remains Grappled and is forced into walls, floor, etc, receiving damage concurrent with level+1d6 bludgeoning.

Performance Points

As I stated earlier, the performance is the foundation of pro wrestling. With that in mind, I needed a mechanic that could properly reflect the amazing athleticism, high-flying acrobatics and Finishing Moves that are part of the “gimmick.” My answer was Performance Points.

Since I was building this off of a barbarian, I decided to tie the Performance Points pool to the number of rages a barbarian receives at different levels. To add to this, any natural 20 rolled adds one temporary Performance Point to the pool until the next Long Rest is taken.

Performance Points would allow for two things: 1) for the player to take no damage from a high-flying strike and, 2) to execute Special Moves or Finishers, the crown jewel of professional wrestling.

Finish Him!

A leg drop is one thing. Hogan dropping one on the Macho Man is something else. Dropping an elbow can be done by anyone, but The People’s Elbow ends your opponent’s chances. Choke Slam? Very pedestrian. How about a Choke Slam to Hell from the Undertaker. You’re probably gonna Rest in Peace.

To emulate the fan-favorite moves that separate one wrestler from another, I built out the mechanic of Special Moves, which pulls off of the Performance Point pool.

There are two options for executing a Special Move:

1. Extra Damage (1 Performance Point): Damage increases to 1+Strength modifier+1d10
2. Stunning Strike (2 Performance Points): Target must be grappled at the start of the turn. Damage increases to 1+Strength+1d12 and they must make a Constitution saving throw (DC= 8+proficiency+Charisma modifier). Failure means the target is stunned until the end of the player’s next turn.

The Dispute in the Den!

So, how did I pull all of these rules together to allow for Hawk to go “One on One with the Great One?” (The Great One in our example being the werewolf alpha, Kiril Stoyanovich.) First, I needed to find a way to not have the other players spend the whole session watching a pay-per-view event. After some great advice from my fellow Strahd DMs on Facebook, I decided to go with the idea of a Lumberjack match.

Hawk and Kiril would face off in the ring with the objective of pinning their opponent. To pin, they had to reduce their opponent to at least half of their hit point maximum and Win Over Audience.

Win Over Audience was a mechanic I built to allow the other players to affect the match and assist in the win. While they were stationed outside of the ring, along with the “Barovian Brawlers” (a half dozen suped-up werewolves), they could earn Momentum, which would lead to them Winning over the Audience.

Momentum was gained (or lost) through turning the audience (various Charisma-based checks), awesome moves within the ring, or dirty tricks. I had it set that a team must achieve a Momentum score of five and be at least two points higher than the opposing side to attempt a pin.

Additionally, because the players were entering hostile territory, I had all of their checks for Momentum start at Disadvantage until a score of three or more was achieved to reflect their underdog status.

Final Thoughts

As I have come to realize over my years of DMing, the best stories come about when you let your players off the reins and let them go for something they’re really passionate about. DM Tony bringing a faux Hulk Hogan into our gothic horror game might seem like several steps too far for some of you. And, for some of you, you’re probably absolutely right. However, by going with Tony’s idea and seeing that the other players at the table were having fun with it as well, we were able to do something that I never would have thought of creating otherwise.

If you’re planning on building out something to emulate an ability that you don’t find in your game, or find that it’s lacking (like the 5e grappling rules for someone wanting to be a wrestler), don’t immediately try to reinvent the wheel. A lot of work is put into the design of game systems and, most times, you can easily reskin and kit-bash together existing material to create something unique.

If you’re going way out on a limb and completely homebrewing a mini-game within your game, like our version of Wrestlemania, keep it loose, keep it simple, and try to allow your players to drive the action. Then write an article about it and see if any of your listeners will playtest it for you!

Until next time, heroes … LIVE THE ADVENTURE!