Some More Thoughts on Thieves’ Guilds

Another still from Gangs of New York (2002), also without permission from the production company.

We’re back!

I wrote some stuff last week to encourage folks to supplant monolithic “thieves’ guilds” with gangs. But I probably cut myself off too soon (which, let’s be honest, would be a first for that) because I have a lot more stuff to drop on this topic. I wanted to impress upon people out there in the internet that colorful, vibrant, unique gangs were a better alternative to drab crutches, but I feel like I owe everyone some more vivid tools to get your gangs there. So, here are some more tables to flesh out your gangs!

Identifying Symbology

Gangs need identifiers and calling cards. Inside the gang, you gotta know who is one of you, and who isn’t. Outside the gang, you gotta know who to steer clear of and give a wide berth to.

d12	Colors, Patterns, Identifying Marks
1	Red, with the fleur-de-lis as a commonly-used symbol.
2	Each member is branded with an iron shaped like a dagger.
3	Buildings and assets marked with swirl of white paint modeled after ram’s horn.
4	Purple. Fashioned after royalty, in a humorous but also sincere display of excess.
5	All members undergo scarification of an unblinking eye design to prove allegiance for life.
6	Doorways of sympathetic locations bear a secret geometric icon.
7	Stars.
8	Blue, often tattooed in designs emphasizing two. Two blue fingers, two blue bands, etc.
9	Bats. Just, like, bats. Everywhere. As pets. As décor. Bats.
10	Yellow/gold, worn only as a single accent piece to warn/identify without being obvious.
11	Tattoo of two copper pieces, to prove toll is paid to travel to hell on behalf of gang.
12	Green. Draconic/scale motifs where appropriate.

Guiding Principles and Rules

Even gangs have rules. In real life, those rules are often very mutable and questionably present at best, but in fiction, they’re a staple. The Sunday armistice of The Wire, the imaginary lines of jurisdiction acting like an electric collar fence in The Warriors. You need to have rules to prove exceptions are exceptional!

d12	Things Held Sacred or Reviled
1	Children – cannot be harmed, even in dire circumstances.
2	New Moons – crimes shall not be condoned under the new moon.
3	Nothing.
4	Feasting Days – crimes shall not be condoned on feasting days; even enemies are forgiven.
5	Temple Grounds – no actions shall be taken on hallowed ground of any sort.
6	Nothing.
7	The Sea – no business with ties to the sea is to be targeted, because of an agreement.
8	Women – to prevent being looked down upon by mothers, no women can be mistreated.
9	Nothing.
10	Demi-Humans – shall not be targeted for they carry with them curses and disease.
11	The Lord’s Widow – her interests are safe for the gang leader is in love with her.
12	Nothing.

MVPs

Gangs can teach you valuable skills to survive the cold streets of urban poverty. No, seriously. A classic joke is that some of the only people in America who reliably understand the metric system are drug dealers. In your game, though, your gangs might be able to impart other kinds of wisdom on your players.

You can learn from the gang’s expert member if you earn their trust by becoming a dedicated ally to the gang – but if you hire them as a henchman for awhile (at considerable cost!) you can borrow this ability while they remain in your employ.

You can also just pick this selectively if you need a certain trainer/role/authority on a subject for the purposes of your game. If you need someone who can identify a rare potion the party found inside the Temple of The Slaughtered Goat-King, just plant Folo in the town. For that matter, you could make the dominant gang in town a drug syndicate, since they clearly have a drug expert on staff.

d12	Most Skilled Member
1	Kristjan – Jewel Thief. Barely 5’ tall. Sallow skin, smart eyes, beautiful brown hair. Teaches: Jewel appraisal; identify jewel value without buyer/vendor.
2	Zeck – Murder (sneaky). Skinny, 6’ tall, pale. Cracked lips, speaks very little. Teaches: +1 bonus to poison damage of any sort OR +1 bonus to poison save.
3	Rada – Kidnapping. Stout, strong. Powerful hands. Scarred forehead, chipped teeth. Teaches: +1 bonus damage with blunt objects.
4	Alicia – Blackmail. Beautiful, hourglass figure. Famously lecherous. Redhead. Teaches: Nothing. She’s only after you for your body. And your money.
5	Orlan – Murder (obvious). Covered in tattoos and deep, gouged scars. Hulking stature. Teaches: +1 bonus damage with knives and daggers of all sorts.
6	Elissa – Burglary. Light as a feather. Dull personality. Few words. Only interested in work. Teaches: Nothing. It’s a personality thing. But a great hire nonetheless!
7	Roddick – Fence. Sharp, blue eyes. Silver tongue. Handsome. Pot belly. Smells of wine. Teaches: Art appraisal; identify art object value without buyer/vendor.
8	Nicolo – Pickpocket. Angular features. Slight frame, 5’6″ tall. Scary eyes with dark lashes. Teaches: +1 bonus to breath save.
9	Garan – Robbery. Shrewd expression, heavy brow. Greasy black hair. Long scar. Low voice. Teaches: Nothing. But my lord, how threatening!
10	Lee – Smuggling. Dark hair. Chubby. 5’8″ or so. Knowing smile, shimmering eyes. Red tattoos. Teaches: Hide small knife even if otherwise disarmed and captured.
11	Folo – Drug Cook. Sweaty. Clammy hands. Constantly cold. Way over 6′ tall. Blue eyes, dark skin. Teaches: Potion appraisal; completely identify potion on 1-in-6 odds.
12	Eyr – Extortion/Arson. Itchy all the time. Tall, stern, broad. Rugged. Bearded. Smells of coal. Teaches: +1 bonus to fire damage of any sort OR +1 bonus to fire damage resistance.

Another still from The Warriors (1976) without studio permission.

Where The Money Comes From

Just like McDonald’s specializes in food (technically) and Chevrolet specializes in boring me with every project that doesn’t start with “Corvette,” gangs have things they earn their money, influence, or power from. While many street gangs get their income from selling illicit drugs, there are many more options out there for varying levels of legitimacy. The Mafia (plural) came to power in America through smuggling during prohibition, then progressed to protection and extortion, and finally emerged as many semi-legitimate entities with controlling interests across construction, waste disposal, and various other forms of money-laundering fronts and racketeering. Your gangs should have an M.O., too.

You could just pick this to match the above MVP (most skilled member of the gang) or vice versa, too – if you need a gang of pickpockets, just choose that and choose Nicolo above and get on with it.

d12	Gang Specialty
1	Mayhem (riotous punks on the lam)
2	Protection (extortion is good business)
3	Burglary (sneaky night owls)
4	Robbery (redistribution of wealth by force)
5	Murder-For-Hire (assassination as a service)
6	Drugrunning (your neighborhood pushers)
7	Ransom (borrowing people; keeping gold)
8	Pickpocketing (redistribution of wealth by stealth)
9	Arson (fire is a good way to get rid of evidence)
10	Blackmail (revealing lucre or revealing secrets)
11	Smuggling (getting stuff behind the wall)
12	Prostitution (it’s like sex, but for money)

Where To Strike

Every chain has its weakest link. You may need to identify them to help your new gangland patrons resist the efforts of competing gangs, or maybe you need to twist them to your advantage to take the gang down for the crown.

d12	Weakest Link
1	Borjan – Slippery memory. Repeats instructions to himself regularly.
2	Dirty Val – Deeply in debt to an outside crook, unbeknownst to his mates.
3	Nitz – Nervous. Tells a local bargirl everything to get it off his chest.
4	Rudd – Has a secret. His distant cousin is in the employ of the city guard.
5	Janis – Rivals with another gang member. Will do anything for a leg up.
6	Fat Lip – Coward. Terrified of having his face scarred up even worse.
7	Duncan – Addict. When supply is low, willing to do just about anything for a fix.
8	Igor – Family man. Has no stomach for it anymore; afraid of anything happening to them.
9	Atillio – Getting too old for it. A little slower, a little weaker than he’d like to be.
10	Flea – Young. Foolish. Trying too hard to prove himself; takes bad risks and worse advice.
11	Portia – Wants to show off to everyone who will listen.
12	Thin Ed – Has a shameful, filthy, dangerous vice. Easily blackmailed if discovered.

Who’s After Whom

You can’t operate a criminal empire without gaining a few enemies and getting your name on a few lists.

d12	Foes
1	The Captain of the Guard, who wants to make his name known in the halls of the capital.
2	The Local Tycoon, who sees them as a threat to business.
3	The Witch, who considers their behavior unseemly and offensive (arbitrarily).
4	The Urchins, who tattle to the guard and reveal secrets they observe.
5	The Church, who sees criminality as offensive in the eyes of their deity.
6	The Cult, who sees criminality as offensively distracting from worship of their dark deity.
7	The Mercenary Pillagers, who can’t abide by the competition.
8	The Rival Gang, who also don’t care for competition.
9	The Caravaneer, who has lost too much money to theft and mayhem.
10	The Veteran, who considers the town to be his only sanctuary in need of protection.
11	The Magistrate, who has their own corruption and underworld business to worry about.
12	The Odd One, whose motivations are utterly bugnuts. Aliens? Faeries? Spite?

I hope these tables help everyone populate their world with cool gangs that prove much more memorable than cookie-cutter Thieves’ Guilds! Truth be told, I feel like I went off half-cocked on the first post, in retrospect; and now as I type this one up I feel like I should go whole hog past even this and make a bunch more stuff. It’s not my fault if there’s a Part Three at some point in the future. No idea; no promises.

In the meantime, ideally these tables (alongside those from Part One) kind of complete the implementation from zero to complete, unique gang. If you have ideas, criticism, or comments for me on this, I’d appreciate it – now that I ponder a Part Three, I’m really just a hop, skip, and a jump away from a free zine or something, so I’m open to your thoughts in case I ever do that silly idea. Get at me below or via Twitter by hitting me up @DungeonsPossum!