Quote from: Daedalus;539134I agree that Savage Worlds makes a good system for doing a modern day mafia game.  What kind of suggestions would you make to tweak some of the skills.

I would need to really give the savage worlds book another good read before saying for sure. But...

I like having an assasinaion skill in this kind of game and other crime skills. I also like having general ratings for stuff like your standing in the organization. Having things for stuff like rackets helps too (since that tends to be background stuff that goes on but isn't micromanaged). It all depends though. One thing I have found even using my own mafia game is to tailor these things to the group because with mafia every one seems to like a different level of granularity. things for dealing with the legal system helps as well. In my most of my campaigns characters run into problems with the law and it can be helpful to have an easy way to handle trials.

Quote from: Daedalus;539067I don't know- the guy over at The RPG Informer is running a Modern Day Mob game using Savage Worlds (and has run it before) and seems to have no problem with it).   So there is one person who is actively running a modern day mob game.

This is the main thread about the game he is running:

http://www.therpginformer.com/2012/05/04/modern-day-mafia-game-using-savage-worlds/

Structure of the Mob:  http://www.therpginformer.com/2012/05/05/mafia-rpg-american-mafia-la-cosa-nostra-structure/

Mob Slang:  http://www.therpginformer.com/2012/05/06/modern-day-mafia-game-mob-slang/

Useful stuff to run a mob game

i have played a Mafia Mob SW game and Gen Con and it was fine.

Quote from: jibbajibba;539165i have played a Mafia Mob SW game and Gen Con and it was fine.

Can you tell us anything about the game you played?

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;539139I would need to really give the savage worlds book another good read before saying for sure. But...

I like having an assasinaion skill in this kind of game and other crime skills. I also like having general ratings for stuff like your standing in the organization. Having things for stuff like rackets helps too (since that tends to be background stuff that goes on but isn't micromanaged). It all depends though. One thing I have found even using my own mafia game is to tailor these things to the group because with mafia every one seems to like a different level of granularity. things for dealing with the legal system helps as well. In my most of my campaigns characters run into problems with the law and it can be helpful to have an easy way to handle trials.

Well I like your game and one day when I can actually sit down and read it I might run a mafia game using it and see if it improves things.

Quote from: Daedalus;539178Well I like your game and one day when I can actually sit down and read it I might run a mafia game using it and see if it improves things.

Thanks

Long ago, I played in several sessions of Gangbusters, and it was a lot of fun. However it was very much within the context of the 20s-30s.

I enjoy a number of criminal focused shows and movies. On the other hand, it sort of bothers me to see it romanticized in RPGs. The mafia exists, and there are equivalents to it in most societies. They are evil, parasitic organizations.

The big problem is playing Evil. Most players aren't up for that. Which is a shame because it can be tremendous fun with the right group.

Quote from: Benoist;538069Vampire would work admirably well for this.

Our V:tM campaign was essentially Vampire:the Mafia and played out very Godfatheresque.

Quote from: Drohem;538076Also, because there is a 99.5% chance that there will be character conflict as some people just aren't cut out for that sort of gaming.

Very true. Any RPG with expected PvP will be niche.

Quote from: CRKrueger;538056Mafia movies and TV shows are practically a guaranteed hit these days, yet, they don't seem to have the same popularity in RPGs.  Why do you think that is?

"Real world" game settings -- either historical or modern -- seem to crash and burn. I suspect the general failure of any game specifically about the mafia to take hold is largely a function of that.

Furthermore, the structure of the mafia tends to feature elements which the typical RPG player rebels against. (Specifically, the mafia is all about taking orders from the family. Players hate taking orders.) And mafia stories that don't fall into those elements generally feature elements that a lot of GMs don't like. (If the PCs are the leaders of the family, their power is essentially unlimited and the GM will have difficulty delivering their linear plot hooks.)

Finally, playing gangsters doesn't tap any of the well-established game structures and experimentation with new game structures has essentially been dead in the RPG industry since the '80s.

None of these are insurmountable problems, but nobody has surmounted them yet.

Approaching the mafia from the other side (i.e., when the PCs are trying to bust the criminals), you'll find that this sort of thing is actually all over the place under a variety of names.

Quote from: Spinachcat;539451The big problem is playing Evil. Most players aren't up for that. Which is a shame because it can be tremendous fun with the right group.  Our V:tM campaign was essentially Vampire:the Mafia and played out very Godfatheresque.

I think you are right - and that this is real world evil. I don't think Id feel comfortable playing Somalian warlords or pirates either.

Very interesting point about Vampire. I am about four sessions into my first V:tM game and really see it.

SOMALIAN: The Boatjacking

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;539073I love what he is doing. Followed this topic with interest on his blog. Savage Worlds is probably the best general system for a mafia game IMO. I did think you need to tweak some of the skills and come up with a few extra subsystems to play mafia with it though (at least to play the way I like). But i would certainly never knock savage worlds as a core system (we actually have a green light to make a savage worlds version of crime network---once some of our other projects are finished I hope to get to it). One absolutely does not need a mafia specific rpg to run that sort pf game, i just find it helps.

He posted his first Actual Play post for his Savage Worlds "The Family" Modern day Mafia game:

http://www.therpginformer.com/2012/05/16/savage-worlds-the-family-modern-day-mob-game-session-1/

Sounds like a lot of fun

Quote from: Daedalus;539890He posted his first Actual Play post for his Savage Worlds "The Family" Modern day Mafia game: Sounds like a lot of fun

From the beginning, that reads almost exactly like The Sopranos Role Playing Game.

Quote from: Lynn;539928From the beginning, that reads almost exactly like The Sopranos Role Playing Game.

That is how they tend to play. Mafia campaigns are honestly a heck of a lot of fun.

Quote from: Lynn;539928From the beginning, that reads almost exactly like The Sopranos Role Playing Game.

Yeah, that's true but then the mob pretty much does certain things and you can work with it only so much.

He made it a little different which is cool.  It will be interesting to see how it plays out

Quote from: Daedalus;539957Yeah, that's true but then the mob pretty much does certain things and you can work with it only so much.

He made it a little different which is cool.  It will be interesting to see how it plays out

Where it gets interesting is when the players have room to figure out solutions and strategies themselves. For example, mobsters are expected to earn for the higher the ups and kick money up, they are not neccessarily given clear directions on what to do (the capo just knows he has to kick up a set amount each week and so it goes down the line). it is kind of like a pyramid scheme. It doesn't have to be as mission based as people sometimes assume. It can be as simple as "your capo tells you to bring in 20k this week or heads are gonna roll". And while the pcs are pursuing the quest for cash stuff like internal power struggles, rival gangs and legal issues can emerge. Every once in a while they might also get a clear mission like taking out a rival boss, investigating russian activity by the docks, etc.

The cool thing about a mafia campaign is how much is changes as players climb to different levels on the ladder (and due to the mob structure you rarely have pcs all occupying the same level). Once a PC makes capo, there is a clear change in my experience (think donnie brasco when Sonny black becomes capo).