Hey chaps and chapettes I know I ask for help a lot but I must ask once more: For those of you that are, is there any tips for playing a Face character? I'm usually a heel so this is giving me trouble in terms of writing a promo (Got it open in front of me and I swear I've got smoke spewing from my ears). But I don't want to have to default back to being a heel and aren't quite ready to give up on Mortimer just yet.

All I gotta say is that you need for follow some examples. Follow the careers of the wrestler irl who was a face. Guys like John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio, SCSA etc. Understand what made them such a good face and why people cheered for them. 

To be honest, playing a face is a really difficult job. Firstly, you have to be the good guy while constantly getting picked on by the heels. However, what makes a face unique in my opinion is the ability to extract revenge and have the last laugh in a way that the fans love him. Example, consider the way Daniel Bryan won the title in Wrestlemania. He beat Triple H, the man who made his life hell and in the end got the title (sure he had a huge fan backing that effectively forced WWE to change plans and that's why I tell you to study them). Another great example is SCSA himself. 

Again, there are 2 types of faces, the babyfaces and those like SCSA, antiheroes. So it's upto you to think what you will be. As i said before, it's your playground and you make the rules

Well I have an idea but it might be slightly heelish

ThatChapChristo wrote:

Well I have an idea but it might be slightly heelish

Kind of like an anti hero? CM Punk maybe? Doing heelish things and yet getting cheered as a face?

Nah was thinking of having him adopting the attitude of anyone can be a gentleman without having to be all prim and proper (since he's loud and more of an every man) but I'm not sure it would stick.

ThatChapChristo wrote:

Nah was thinking of having him adopting the attitude of anyone can be a gentleman without having to be all prim and proper (since he's loud and more of an every man) but I'm not sure it would stick.

You should give it a try. If it does not work then you can always change your character or modify it

I'm not a face here, but I am currently playing a face in another efed and he has a few similarities to Mortimer character-wise: gentleman, traditional values, sportsmanship, all that. Whilst I haven't been playing him for long, maybe a month and a half, I figured I could at least try to offer some feedback due to the similarities in character, and maybe tell you how I play him as a face.

I said it before, but depth can really help, face or heel. For a face, I say give him something to fight for: does he want to prove himself in the face of adversity, is he trying to bounce back from something negative, does he want someone or something to change for the better? For my face character, he's currently doing two of those things - trying to prove he's just as talented on his own as he was in a tag team, and trying to bring positive change to the company he's in. If you know what your face character's goals are, I find it's easier to write detail in and make him more sympathetic or relatable, which is a good part of a type of face character.

Don't be afraid to admit your flaws or 'bite back'. With my face character, I've written for him to have moments where he can be harsh or very critical when talking about opponents. Maybe he even has holier-than-thou moments. But I make sure that he knows he's acting that way. The difference I find between a face and heel is awareness. Faces are aware of their less flattering or 'wrong' moments, whilst heels aren't as aware of the times when they are being hypocritical or 'heelish'. I also find this helps to stop me from writing the same kind of promo for my face character, as I can add in some more biting insults and jabs at opponents, yet always have him 'regret' saying those things or at the very least make sure he's aware of the nature of what he's saying.

Identify your opponents strengths, and focus on competing with them rather than being better than them. Again, this is a fine line between a face and a heel, I find. As a face, I always try to find my opponent's strengths and highlight them, but then instead of saying how I'll be better, I speak in terms of competing with them. Stuff like 'I may not be as fast as you, but I am stronger and that levels the playing field'. I had a pretty good example of this recently in a match, where I as the face identified that my opponent was more agile, yet I was better at grappling and agility meant less when they were caught in a hold. They then countered by noting how difficult it would be to catch someone who was agile, which I identified, and then countered again by saying I could still compete with my higher level of endurance. It kept my character a face whilst still making him look like a threat. Whereas if I was Marx, I would focus heavily on weaknesses of the opponent, and if I were to bring up strengths, I would only do so to highlight how much better he thinks he is in regards to them.

Finally, I say stick to your positive values. Mortimer, being a gentleman, is most likely very sportsmanlike and 'by the book', and he should stick with that. You can even use it to highlight the immorality of your opponent, further reinforcing him as a face. And if it's questioned, it shouldn't then be ignored by you - to make him more of a face, he should stick up for his values. Say why they are strengths instead of weaknesses, make your opponent look and feel worse because they don't have those values. Mortimer's values can be shaken by an opponent, and maybe he might question them down the line, but unless your planning a heel turn for him via that, he could always show inner strength by sticking with them in spite of what people may say.

Being a face is more difficult than being a heel, I can agree with that. But this is just my thoughts on it - I'm sure others can give you better advice due to more experience. And this is by no means a be-all-end-all guide to being a face. Different things work for different people, you can always test new ideas out and listen to feedback of others with more time spent as a face to see what works for you. Apologies for the lengthy post, once I get writing I can't stop myself.

Don't be a dick

Voin wrote:

Don't be a dick

Yeah, don't be an Aren

Face's have to be somewhat relatable to the audience.  You're their avatar, you're fighting for them, and you're either going to be who they are as average Joe with nothing going for them who has to go the straight and narrow hard road to get somewhere in life, or you have to be the person that they want to be.

   Vulnerability is a good sympathy draw as well.  Have a flaw, sell damage from week to week, be a human being.  That doesn't mean you can't be wacky or tough or anything like that, but showing some vulnerability through the cracks garners sympathy for you and revile for your opponents.  

   Humor helps.  It's not necessary, but everyone likes someone whose funny.  Your character seems prone to that sort of comedic condition.  

Always be fighting to get uphill.  Even if you reach the top with the title create other challenges to over come, like keeping the belt.

It's always more about the Journey than it is the destination.

Thanks for the advice guys,it'll be a big help.

ThatChapChristo wrote:

Thanks for the advice guys,it'll be a big help.

Ditto.

I've been a face like 90% of my efed career and the #1 tip I can give is to know your audience. If you ain't a social person being a face is gonna be a hard time. If you have no idea what the EAW community even likes you prolly ain't gonna be able to get them to like your character. EAW and wrestling fans in general tend to appreciate shit that society might not since it's just a show, so getting over is more complicated than just being a "good person". You gotta be a likable person also.

It's extremely important for y'all to get on chat especially during live shows. That's probably the best time to figure out who has managed to get over in EAW.