Gang-based Campaigns?

Omega · April 12, 2018, 03:31:06 AM

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1033884Prof. B. Bachrach of the University of MN translated some sections of chronicles for us. You would see things like "The Big Man and his boys came into town today and his boys beat up Odo the Blacksmith for not having the spears done yet."

Oliver Twist LARPing gone wrong!

AsenRG · April 12, 2018, 09:57:54 AM

As mentioned, most of them, but Fates Worse Than Death is famous for it:).

tenbones · April 12, 2018, 11:08:43 AM

"Lord Baller" - my new royal gangleader title

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RPGPundit · April 15, 2018, 04:29:01 PM

I ran a long campaign set in Port Blacksand where the PCs were basically a gang, facing off against the other various gang forces of the city.

crkrueger · April 15, 2018, 10:33:39 PM

I might be cutting it fine, but my definition of a "gang" is one that holds literal physical territory either controlling actual streets and buildings or just handling the criminal proceeds from a certain area.

A roaming group of criminals I'd call a "crew". They may or may not hold a base or hideout and generally don't deal with street-level crime but are higher up the foodchain, being good/powerful enough to be professionals or members of an organized crime organization.

All adventuring groups aren't really gangs as we know them today, or even as they knew Magnus and his Pueri. Most of them aren't even remotely close. Almost all do map quite well against the concept of a crew though.

Sailing Scavenger · April 16, 2018, 12:02:46 AM

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1033884In the less settled areas in the early middle ages the line between "baron" and "gang leader" is an extremely thin one.

In the Merovingian period the word for "lord" was "Magnus," or "Big Man." The word usually translated as "retainers" is "pueri," which means "boys."

Prof. B. Bachrach of the University of MN translated some sections of chronicles for us. You would see things like "The Big Man and his boys came into town today and his boys beat up Odo the Blacksmith for not having the spears done yet."

Knight was Saxon for "boy". Huscarl is literally "house man".

Sable Wyvern · April 16, 2018, 04:36:45 AM

I'm running Blades in the Dark at the moment, so definitely.

RPGPundit · April 21, 2018, 02:32:00 AM

In my Wild West campaign, the PCs are literally a gang. They've become known as the core of the Dodge City Gang, which began in Dodge city but then migrated to East Vegas and then Tombstone.

HappyDaze · April 21, 2018, 10:37:52 PM

I played in a short game of the Iron Kingdoms RPG where we were a gang operating in Five Fingers. I loved the setting, but the mechanics drove me away.

Bedrockbrendan · April 22, 2018, 08:57:49 AM

Starting a another Mafia campaign tonight. These I usually keep short (like 6-8 sessions). Been a little while since I ran one, but online resources have improved dramatically since I last did so. We are pretty much just going to run it straight with the Patriarca Crime family (for which mafia wiki has a list of current administration, capos and even soldiers--good enough for a game at least). One thing I tend to do in these campaigns is bring in real world politicians (mostly local) and celebrities. But I take a lot of liberties with their vices and offscreen personalities. So the local governor, reps, mayors, etc usually end up being much more colorful.

Motorskills · April 22, 2018, 09:03:29 AM

Quote from: Sable Wyvern;1034474I'm running Blades in the Dark at the moment, so definitely.

I was part of a BitD campaign for a while. Absolutely loved the ambition of that product, sensational. Our group wasn't the best (logistics), the game definitely needs attention / buy-in.

I would have backed Cartel, but I'm trying to be good (financially) in 2018.

slayride35 · April 22, 2018, 12:39:17 PM

We played an entire Earthdawn campaign we called Earthdawn: Kratas Quest which was set completely in the Kratas:City of Thieves except for a few adventures. Our gang was called the Usurpers and we were out for compete control of Kratas. We started small in the slums and wiped out the main power in the slums then built up the area with our own base and a brothel to make money and worked our way into other areas of the city. We even killed the leader of the main faction, Garlthik, the One-Eye by allying with his enemy, the blood elf Vistrosh and a nethermancer from the Theran Empire before betraying them as well.

RPGPundit · April 24, 2018, 03:54:51 AM

It's funny how many elements from gangster movies can end up appearing in a Wild West campaign.

tenbones · April 24, 2018, 12:06:04 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;1035761It's funny how many elements from gangster movies can end up appearing in a Wild West campaign.

The wild-west gunslinger lifestyle has a lot in common with the roots of society that produce gangsters. Consider the "wild-west" was mostly lawless and people had to make do. Banding together for mutual gain in the middle of nowhere makes doing bad things a lot more lucrative than trying to sell saddles or pan for gold. Robbing that payroll train seems mighty tempting!

fearsomepirate · April 24, 2018, 02:30:30 PM

I keep misreading the title of this thread.