Wiseguys - for Savage Worlds (but great for ANY game)

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tenbones

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I got my copy of Wiseguys for Savage Worlds (by Eric Lamoureux and Gilbert Gallo, Richard Gillingham, John Riggs, Morne Schaap, Pete Spahn, and Scott W.)... and I love it.

Quick side-note: Even if you don't use the Savage Worlds system - this book is very well done in terms of a specific toolkit/resource for *any* kind of game using Organized Crime. Despite sounding niche' it really does transcend it's own conceits.

Items of interest - covers the "classic" Vegas era of the Mob - including the modern era. Also covers other synidicates - Triad, Russian Bratvas, Yaks, Outlaw Biker gangs, and many others including indepedents. Do's and Don'ts in terms of conduct, breaks down the hierarchies of the organization. Also covers all the major law enforcement organization.

Lots of Generators: Plots, Heists, Street Gangs, Nicknames, NPC's, and others.

It's designed to run games that are like the Godfather, Goodfellas, Sopranos, etc - but more than that. You can apply most of this stuff to *any* kind of campaign where organized crime is a thing. At minimum even in your fantasy games you can model your Thieves guild around these principles and use the generators to hit the ground running with ease.

I think this book punches *way* above its weight beyond just using it for Mob-campaigns.

Disclaimer - I have *no* connections to the writers. I'm just feeling I need to give a shoutout where it's due for a product I think has good value.
 
This is definitely of interest. I have considered running Made Men: Welcome to the Family at some point but am having trouble finding a good starting point.

Just to check, I absolutely hate the Savage Worlds system but it sounds like this is system agnostic enough for that not to matter. Is that the right assumption?
 
It's made for Savage Worlds - but it's very toolkit. Even as a general guide to the basics of how organized crime syndicates are set up and how to run the game explicitly like you're doing a Goodfellas game or whatever.

But for relative novices to *how* organized crime operates - what they do, how the life works, rules of conduct - yeah you could lift all of this and port it into any game to give that flavor.

I mean most of this stuff I already know - but understanding how loansharking, moneylaundering, hijaking, and other crimes work - and *how* internally the PC's engage with their ill-gotten goods in direct relation to their organization *easily* informs a GM how they can port that over to their Fantasy game or their Sci-fi game where such things exist.

Thus far - most of the tables and generators can be ported over to whatever setting/system you're using. I'm running an Edge of the Empire game that is *deeply* tied into the Hutt Cartels etc. And I'm already going to port some of these tables over. Easy peasy.
 
Sounds like it would be a useful supplement for Cyberpunk gaming as well, since all those organizations presumably exist.

Does the product include any “weird” stuff like Jamaican Voodoo Posse’s or whatever? :skeleton:
 
Sounds like it would be a useful supplement for Cyberpunk gaming as well, since all those organizations presumably exist.

Does the product include any “weird” stuff like Jamaican Voodoo Posse’s or whatever? :skeleton:

Here's a list of the things covered (more may come later) - the primary syndicates have good writeups including ranking positions and their respective duties, history, activities, slang etc. The Freelancers are smaller writeups but useful info that you can drop into any game.

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Cyberpunk could really use a lot of this stuff in here. No question.
 
And for weird stuff - Roller Derby and Professional Wrestling (luchador!) including Edges for characters that are *really* into those things...
 
Anyone have any idea when this will be available to non-kickstarters?
 
I'm intrigued having long wanted to play a hoods game. The 'Hood and 1%centers are great PbtA crime rpgs. How well does SW adapt to the genre? I expect high lethality for the genre where one bullet from behind can do you in.
 
They played it remarkably straight for Savage Worlds, actually.
Yeah this is about the most "real-world" Savage World game out there. But it has a lot of useful stuff for any genre as it pertains to Organized Crime as a strong element in your games - regardless of supernatural elements.
 
I'm intrigued having long wanted to play a hoods game. The 'Hood and 1%centers are great PbtA crime rpgs. How well does SW adapt to the genre? I expect high lethality for the genre where one bullet from behind can do you in.
Savage Worlds *can* be quite lethal. It can be toned up or down to your desire. That's one of the many strengths of the system. I think if you play it straight up - it's very cinematic and not super-realistic. But they have options that will let you dump a truckload of grittiness into it. It helps that literally *every* other Savage Worlds setting has cross-pollination elements - you can take weapons/Edges/sub-systems/setting rules from any other system to tune your game to your tastes.
 
I'm intrigued having long wanted to play a hoods game. The 'Hood and 1%centers are great PbtA crime rpgs. How well does SW adapt to the genre? I expect high lethality for the genre where one bullet from behind can do you in.
Even in default Savage Worlds, the rules for The Drop, when someone has a weapon pointed at an unprepared person, are pretty nasty. Remember that Savage Worlds evolved from a Western game. Dealing with having someone at gunpoint has always been a consideration.
 
Savage Worlds gets downright terrifying once your bennies run out, and that's without any modifiers for how damage is played.
When my group first started playing, they quickly realized that if the party was almost out of bennies and victory wasn't imminent, it was time to run.

From the other side, I always let my players know how many bennies an NPC has left. I don't really tell them, but I have the counters obviously placed. It may seems like meta information, but I see it as the players having a sense of how worn down their opponent is.

It also helps with the frustration some players have with NPCs soaking a hit. If they see the benny pool go down because of their hit, it feels like progress even if the NPC wasn't actually wounded.
 
When my group first started playing, they quickly realized that if the party was almost out of bennies and victory wasn't imminent, it was time to run.

From the other side, I always let my players know how many bennies an NPC has left. I don't really tell them, but I have the counters obviously placed. It may seems like meta information, but I see it as the players having a sense of how worn down their opponent is.

It also helps with the frustration some players have with NPCs soaking a hit. If they see the benny pool go down because of their hit, it feels like progress even if the NPC wasn't actually wounded.
Well, Savage Worlds is a game with a lot of meta game to it.

when I spend a Benny to soak, I actually give it to the player making the attack so they get a tangible benefit from it, regardless of the soak result.
 
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