Q. What is the LWA?

A. The Underworld Wrestling Syndicate was a traditional e-fed, but has been reborn as a reworking on an old concept of e-fedding and play-by-mail gaming. Players (or Handlers as we call them) will create a Wrestler and guide him or her to the top of the heap. StATS, Moves, Skills, and Items are chosen to flesh out the Wrestler. Each week, the LWA will pair off Wrestlers and Sim their matches. Whether you win or lose is entirely based upon the character you have created and a little random chance.

Here's an example:
Bob creates Joe Generic as a new Wrestler. He assigns Joe's StATS (Strength, Agility, Technique, Stamina) based on his starting allotment. He then choses a couple of Moves. Joe is very limited in his choices right now because he's just beginning. Joe is now active and at the next LWA show, he has a match against a mid-card Wrestler known as The Giraffe. He loses, thanks to interference from Giraffe's manager. Despite the loss, Joe gains experience (EXP) for the match. During the time between cards, Bob (remember Bob, the Handler?) spends Joe's EXP on another decent Move and a Skill. The next week, Joe has a match against a rookie who just entered the LWA. He wins the match and gets a lot more EXP than last week. He's now on his way up the ladder.

Q. Do I have to Roleplay?

A. Nope. The LWA has an in-character board where you can trash talk your upcoming opponent, but these posts will have no effect on the match results. They will just be used to help set the stage and provide another dimension to the wrestlers. The idea behind the LWA is for you to be able to compete in a wrestling e-fed even if you don't have the free time needed to roleplay in a traditional e-fed.

Q. I want to set someone on fire. Can I send in detailed strats?

A. No. The only Strats Handlers send in are ones to tell The Prez how they are spending their experience. You affect your Wrestler by developing his StATS, Moves, Skills, and Items. Then it's up to your Wrestler to determine what he does in the ring.

Q. What's a Card, and how do they work?

A. On a regular schedule (check the Rules for the exact schedule) the LWA will hold Cards, which are wrestling events. Each active Wrestler will be on the card. The LWA will maintain several non-player characters to handle an odd number of Wrestlers.

Matchups will be determined by our SimPromoter Matchup system. It will try and pair up Wrestlers of equal skill to give the audience the best show possible. But there will always be mismatches. If your Wrestler gets a Title shot too early or has to Wrestle someone clearly out of his league, don't worry. You get EXP based on your opponent, so you may end up getting more EXP for losing to the champ than if you had beaten the #2 contender.

The Card will then be simulated, and a text recap of all the matches will be posted on the LWA site. At the end of the Card will be a recap of everyone's changes: EXP earned, popularity gained or lost, match results, and interferences. You can read through the whole show, or just read your match and skip down to the end for the overview.

Q. Can I take advantage of the rules?

A. By all means! If nobody takes advantage of the flaws in the sytem then they'll never get fixed. There are obviously going to be tactical advantages to certain Moves, Items, and Skills. Some may be more beneficial than others, and some may be flat out terrible value for money. (or in this case, EXP) Since the engine behind the wrestling matches is hidden from players, it will take some trial and error and a keen eye to spot the best enhancements. As some Handlers become more successful than others, I will be able to see where the system needs tweaking. Keep in mind that the LWA is constantly in flux and rules will be changing over time. I will alert players of any changes without being specific. For example, "Damage for Piledriver Move has been reduced. Strength requirement for Powerslam Move has been increased."

Q. What's the difference between a Face and a Heel?

A. All Wrestlers have a popularity stat. (POP) Faces are good guys. Heels are the bad guys. If a Wrestler has a positive popularity (POP), he is a Face, if negative then he's a Heel. Wrestlers start out as Neutral but will quickly fall into one of the categories. In the LWA, you don't want to hover around zero. You either want to be the most love hero in the fed, or the most hated villain. Why? Skills and Items have POP prerequisites. For instance, only Heels can use the "Foreign Object" Skill. On the other side, only Faces can "Hulk Out". The most powerful Skills and Items are on the far ends of the spectrum. In order to get them, you have to be either really good or really bad.

Q. What happens when I'm maxed out?

A. Check out the section of the rules regarding "Cresting".

Q. Does this cost anything?

A. The LWA is currently absolutely free of charge. You just have to put up with the banners and popups. The LWA has a limited number of spaces open. (check the Rules for the exact number) Once we hit that limit, no new applications will be processed until some people leave.

Q. I've got a question that isn't answered here.

A. Just send it along to the email address below. But make sure the question isn't already covered in the FAQ or the Rules, because if it is you won't be getting a response. Also, depending on workload there might be a delay in getting an answer. If you want a faster response, you could always head over to our OOC board and check through the posts or ask your question there.

Colin Martin
LWA President