In The Business

You’ve paid your dues in management; now the promotion is finally yours. In this RPG, inherit the book and take the helm. It’s not just about booking matches—it’s the war behind the curtain. Navigate cutthroat backstage politics, call in favors with slippery agents to sign talent, and fend off aggressive rival promotions trying to poach your stars. Manage massive egos, quell locker room revolts, and balance the corporate budget. Every handshake counts as you fight for ratings supremacy.

For twenty years, you were the invisible hand guiding the ship. You wrote the TV scripts, managed the travel logistics, and put out the fires before the owner even smelled the smoke. But now, the ink is dry on the contract, and the territory is yours. In "Squared Circle: The Booker’s Burden," you aren't just booking a wrestling show; you are managing a volatile ecosystem of adrenaline, testosterone, and insecurity. The transition from middle management to "The Boss" is violent. The wrestlers who used to drink with you at the hotel bar now see you as the enemy, the bank, or the target. The core of the game is the Locker Room Morale System. Every decision you make ripples through the roster. Push a young upstart too fast, and the veterans will form a politicking faction to sandbag his matches. Ignore the mid-carders for too long, and whispers turn into shouts, eventually triggering a Locker Room Revolution. In this state, talent will stage walkouts during live broadcasts, change finishes in the ring without permission, or leak spoilers to the dirt sheets to tank your ratings. You must balance the egos of main event stars who demand creative control with the hunger of rookies desperate for a break. But the hardest battles happen behind closed doors. The game features a complex Favors & Ethics Mechanic. You will need to call in favors from your days in the trenches—maybe you need a rival promoter to lend you a star for a supercard, or you need a sleazy agent to lower a contract asking price. But everything has a cost. Conversely, you will face the darker side of power. You will have to navigate awkward, high-stakes interactions where talent attempts to curry favor through "personal services." Whether it’s a wrestler offering illicit kickbacks, bribes, or intimate propositions to secure a championship run, you must decide what kind of boss you are. Do you maintain a strict professional boundary and risk offending a vengeful star, or do you blur the lines to keep your top draw happy? Every ethical slip-up affects your reputation stat and exposes you to blackmail. Outside your arena, the war is just as hot. Rival promotions aren't just trying to put on better matches; they are engaging in corporate espionage. They will try to poach your champions mid-contract and run counter-programming to bleed your viewership. You have to manage the budget, keeping the lights on and the TV network executives happy, all while playing therapist to a locker room full of paranoid giants. In this RPG, the ring is just a stage. The real fight is keeping your sanity while wearing the crown. Will you build a dynasty on merit, or will you rule through fear, favors, and corruption?