The mashup of professional wrestling and Castlevania-style gothic horror is now a reality as 9th Level Games launches its latest project, Wrastlevania, on the Backerkit crowdfunding platform. The tabletop roleplaying game promises a legacy campaign where players, as powerful wrestlers, must explore a sprawling map to defeat the villainous Ultra Dracula.
Wrastlevania is designed as a complete, boxed campaign experience, providing what the publisher estimates to be over 40 hours of gameplay. In the game, one player takes on the role of the antagonist, EVIL ULTRA DRACULA, while up to five others create their own wrestling personas to challenge him. The campaign is structured as a “metroidvania,” a style popular in video games where exploration unlocks new areas and abilities, allowing players to access previously unreachable locations.
At the UK Games Expo this year, 9th Level told Geek Natie that Wrastlevania was the craziest game they had ever made.
A key technological integration in Wrastlevania is the use of QR codes. The game features a “QRawl” progression system, where scanning codes found within the game reveal secrets, provide additional information, and even deliver bonus video content. This system is central to the legacy aspect of the game, as players unlock new content and permanently alter the game world as the campaign progresses.
The game runs on 9th Level Games’ proprietary polymorphTM rules system. This system assigns each player a specific polyhedral die (d4, d6, d8, or d10) that corresponds to their character’s role. For example, ‘The Ace’ character will always roll a d4, while ‘The Monster’ uses a d10. Success is determined by hitting a target number range on a resolution chart called the WRASOLVER, meaning different character types have different probabilities of success despite rolling different dice.
Character creation involves choosing a role, deciding whether your wrestler is a heroic FACE or a villainous HEEL, and even creating a signature promo and selecting entrance music to complete the persona.
This is the 27th crowdfunding project from 9th Level Games, known for titles like Mazes Fantasy Roleplaying and Kobolds Ate My Baby. The publisher notes that all of its previous 26 campaigns were successfully funded and delivered. The campaign, which went live on October 7th, is already beyond its funding goal. Early backers who pledge within the first 48 hours will receive a free d2 “steel” chair coin as a bonus.
Those wanting to suplex a vampire can head over to the live campaign on Backerkit.
