Book It!: The Pro Wrestling Promoter Card Game
Book It!: The Pro Wrestling Promoter Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 20 Promotion cards (5 per player)
- 24 Jobber cards (6 per player)
- 13 Venue cards
- 60 Wrestler Cards (15 per style)
- 30 Special Announcement Cards
- 30 Dirt Sheet Cards
- First Player Token
- Money
- Counting Tokens
- Reputation Tracker Board
Turn Summary
- Venue Phase: Each player chooses and pays for a Venue.
- Signing Phase: Sign a wrestler, push a jobber, purchase a Dirt Sheet or Special Announcement, or pass.
- Booking Phase: Players establish their show.
- Ticket Sales Phase: Collect cash for Reputation and total Star Power of your show.
- Show Quality Phase: Determine Show quality by comparing the Work Rate of your wrestlers.
- Clean Up: Return all Venues face up to the center of the table. Return all non-local wrestlers that were booked to the Wrestlers deck and shuffle it. Non-local wrestlers that were not booked remain in your deck.
Begin the next Turn with a new Venue phase.
Setup
Take the 60 Wrestler cards, shuffle them into one deck, and place the deck in the center of the table.
Shuffle the Dirt Sheet and Special Announcement cards and place them just off the side of the play area. Place the stack of Journeymen cards here as well.
Place the thirteen Venue cards face-up in the center of the table.
Each Player Gets:
- 25 money for their starting bankroll.
- Six Jobber cards, which will comprise their starting Roster deck.
- A set of the five Promotion cards (Hybrid, Strong Style, Hardcore, Sports Entertainment, and Lucha Libre).
Choose Promotion Style
Each player chooses from one of the five Promotions and puts their choice face down in front of them. Each Promotion has a special effect that lasts the entire duration of the game, and can effect what style of wrestlers you may prefer to sign. Once everyone has chosen a Promotion, all players turn their choices face up at the same time.
Turn Sequence
Players choose who will go first in any way they deem acceptable. Roll a die. Flip a coin. Hold a promo-cutting competition. Whatever. This person is given the first player token.
1. Venue Phase
Starting with the first player, players take turns selecting the Venue for their show that turn. Each Venue has a special effect that lasts until the end of the turn, and can have various effects on how you book your show or sign your wrestlers. Each player must choose a Venue and pay the cost (money) associated with that venue. Once each player has selected a venue, proceed to the Signing Phase.
2. Signing Phase
Lay out ten wrestlers face-up from the Talent Pool in the center of the table. This will make up the Marketplace which players will Sign wrestlers from.
Starting with the first player, each player takes turns choosing wrestlers from the Marketplace to add to their Roster. Players must pay the cost of each wrestler as they are chosen. When the wrestler is signed, a new wrestler is drawn from the top of the Talent Pool and is added to the Marketplace, keeping the number of wrestlers available at ten.
Tip: Try to sign wrestlers with the same style, so you'll be able to draw more cards during the Booking Phase and have more choices when booking your matches!
Instead of signing a wrestler, a player may instead decide to purchase a Special Announcement or Dirt Sheet card. Special Announcement cards will aid the player and their promotion in a variety of ways and cost 3 money to purchase. Dirt Sheet cards will hinder a player's opponents and only cost 2 money, but be careful! Word gets around about promoters who play dirty...
Players can have no more than three cards of either type (Special Announcement or Dirt Sheet) and no more than five total. A player may not buy a Dirt Sheet or Special Announcement card if they are already at their limit of that card type. If a card states to play it after a specific phase, the card can only be played as soon as that phase is over, before the next phase begins.
Signing Phase Actions
- Sign a wrestler
- Push a jobber
- Purchase a Special Announcement
- Purchase a Dirt Sheet
- Pass
If a player would prefer to boost up his local talent rather than sign any big names, they can instead choose to Push one of their Jobbers, removing them from their Roster and replacing them with a Journeyman. Journeymen have increased Star Power and Work Rate, and they will remain in a player's deck for the remainder of the game (unless something bad happens to them, of course!)
It costs 3 money to push a Jobber, and you can only bring in a Journeyman if there is a Jobber for them to replace.
On their turn, a player may do one of the above actions, or Pass. Once a player has passed they may not take any more actions during the Signing Phase. The Signing Phase continues until every player has passed their turn.
After everyone has completed their Signing Phase, each player shuffles together their Roster deck with their newly signed wrestlers and draws six cards. Return any un-signed wrestlers from the Marketplace to the Talent Pool deck.
3. Booking Phase
Each player draws a hand of six cards. Then, starting with the first player, each player lays out their show for the evening. Each player must book five matches, with each match consisting of exactly two wrestlers. If at any point during the booking process a player has zero cards in their hand, they may draw two cards from their Roster. These two cards will comprise their next match. The player may do this as many times per turn as necessary. If a player cannot book five matches for their show (if they don't have enough wrestlers in their Roster), they receive a -1 Reputation penalty for each match less than five on their show.
Card Synergy: If two non-local wrestlers in the same match have the same style, they are Familiar. When the match is made, the player may draw two cards. If the style of the wrestlers matches the style of their Promotion (two Hardcore Wrestlers in a Hardcore Promotion, for example), the player may draw four cards.
Note: A match must have two wrestlers to be considered a legal match. If at any time a match does NOT contain two wrestlers (if one gets removed from the match due to a Dirt Sheet, for example) then the match is removed from the show. (Return any remaining wrestlers in the illegal match to your Roster, as they did not perform on your show.)
4. Ticket Sales Phase
Once everyone's show is booked, players then collect money from ticket sales. The money collected is determined as follows: Players receive 2 money for each point of Reputation they have at the start of the phase. Players then total up the Star Power from each match (including bonuses) and add that amount to their bankroll.
Card Synergy: If two non-local wrestlers in the same match have the same Star Power higher than 0, they are Marketable. Add +2 Star Power when totalling Star Power for the evening.
5. Show Quality Phase
To determine the overall quality of a show, players must total up the rating of each of their matches. Match Ratings are determined by totaling the Work Rate of the wrestlers involved and dividing that number by two (rounded down) to get a rating.
Example: If a wrestler with Work Rate 2 and a wrestler with Work Rate 4 are involved in a match, they will have a Match Rating of 3 (not including any bonuses).
Total up all of the Match Ratings for each match to determine the quality of the show, using the tokens to keep track as you tally. The quality of the show will determine your promotion's Reputation increase.
Card Synergy: If two non-local wrestlers in the same match have the same Work Rate higher than 0, they are Compatible. The match they are involved in will receive a +1 bonus when determining Show Quality.
6. Clean Up
After the Show Quality Phase, players return all non-local wrestlers that were booked on their show to the Talent Pool deck, which is shuffled and made ready for the next round. Wrestlers that are still in a player's hand or Roster deck remain there. All venues are returned to the center of the table, and the first player token passes to the left. This turn order is repeated until six turns have been completed.
Taking Out a Loan: If things go bad for you early in the game and you need some extra cash, there's help, but it comes at a cost. If at the end of a turn your bankroll is below 15 money, then you can take a -1 penalty to your Reputation and add 10 money to your bankroll.
Show Quality and Reputation
| Show Quality | Rep Increase | The Buzz |
|---|---|---|
| 0-7 | +0 | Well, at least you managed to put a show together! Good for you! |
| 8-11 | +1 | A fine local independent show, I guess? |
| 12-14 | +2 | Most of the fans went home happy. |
| 15-17 | +3 | Everyone got their money's worth. |
| 18-20 | +4 | An amazing night! People will be talking about this online for weeks! |
| 21-24 | +6 | A solid contender for "Show of the Year" |
| 24+ | +8 | One of the single greatest nights in wrestling history. |
Ending the Game
At the end of the sixth turn, each player counts their bankroll and adds +1 to their Reputation for each 5 money they have remaining.
The promotion with the highest Reputation is the greatest in the world and that player is the winner.
If there is a tie, then congratulations! You're both equally the best promotion in the world and people on the internet will feud violently for decades trying to decide which is better.
Components of a Wrestler Card
- Star Power: How famous a wrestler is, and how much money they can potentially make a promoter.
- Work Rate: How talented a wrestler is in the ring. A high Work Rate will result in a better Match Rating and will increase the quality of your show, increasing your Reputation.
- Cost: How much must be spent to add the wrestler to your Roster.
- Promotion Style: The style of wrestling the wrestler is most proficient in. Helps determine how well the wrestler fits in with certain promotions and venues. Wrestlers in a match with the same style as each other will want to work together and will make booking easier.
- Wrestler's Name
Wrestling Styles
There are many different styles of professional wrestling. Wrestlers who are trained in different parts of the world can wrestle in completely different ways! In Book It, each wrestler has a style for which they are known. They are as follows:
- Lucha Libre (gold): A high-flying Mexican tradition that favors speed, athleticism and showmanship.
- Strong Style (red): A hard-hitting style popular in Japan that favors stiff strikes and dangerous slams.
- Hardcore (purple): A violent style that focuses heavily on weapon use, outrageous stipulations, and buckets of blood.
- Sports Entertainment (blue): Larger-than-life personalities, skilled talkers, and safe, consistent wrestling are the hallmarks of this style.
Signing Phase Layout
The Marketplace is made up of ten Wrestler cards, laid out face-up, that players sign from during the Signing Phase. Dirt Sheet, Special Announcement, and Journeyman cards are drawn from their own separate stacks off to the side of the play area.
Booking Phase Example
A complete show requires five matches. Each match pairs two wrestlers and displays that match's Match Money (Ticket Sales) and Match Rating (Show Quality), tracked with the Counting Tokens as the matches are tallied.
Credits
By Paul LaPorte Jr. Art by Alex Mahoney. Graphic design by Eric Swanson & Max Gorgol. Icons by Delapouite, Thomas Tamblyn, Skoll.
For tutorial videos, rules errata, card FAQs, house rules, and information about game expansions, check out the publisher's website: www.foamhammergames.com.