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View Full Version : Anyone know a good mobster roleplaying game?



Misereor
2021-01-14, 08:26 AM
Since I am getting a bit tired of running fantasy systems for my players, I thought a good old gangster campaign would make for some nice variety.

I am planning on letting the players start as street punks, set up a sandbox for them to discover, throw a few situations at them, and see were it goes from there.
What I'm ideally looking for is something with fairly lethal combat, mini-games for running various rackets, and some sort of companion system for superiors/underlings in criminal organizations.
I was considering using Call of Cthulhu (non-pulp), but I'm not great at designing mini-games myself, so anything including that kind of thing would be a big plus.

Any ideas or advice would be welcome.

Pelle
2021-01-14, 08:40 AM
I think there's a Blades in the Dark hack suited for that called Misbehavin'. Haven't read it myself, but as BitD it should be good for building up a criminal organization in a limited sandbox.

Grod_The_Giant
2021-01-15, 02:45 PM
STaRS (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/268061/STaRS-The-Simple-Tabletop-Roleplaying-System) would work well for a game like this! It's a rules-light system, with an emphasis on being fast and avoiding narrative-based mechanics. The key part for you, I think, is that the "conflict" engine is deliberately generic--it's designed to turn any challenge that could be a single check into a dynamic scene with tactics and back-and-forth action. It would be very easy to to use for protection rackets, con games, bank heists and the like. (The book includes plenty of guidance on how to do so)

Misereor
2021-01-16, 08:39 AM
Thanks for the feedback.
One of my players found a mini-game for running rackets, so we'll probably just merge that with CoC rules, as we are all familiar with those already.
Have to say though, that I find it really odd that such an iconic period hasn't been more developed in roleplaying games.

Grod_The_Giant
2021-01-16, 10:09 AM
I think you largely get stuff like Call of Cthulu, Hollow Earth Expedition, and Atomic Robo-- things that add a supernatural element to the 1920-40s pulp.

JoeJ
2021-01-17, 09:57 PM
A quick search turned up Gangbusters (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/292055/Gangbusters-B-X-version), which might be what you're looking for.

Misereor
2021-01-18, 05:10 AM
A quick search turned up Gangbusters (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/292055/Gangbusters-B-X-version), which might be what you're looking for.

I saw that, but I've been unable to determine if it had the rules for running rackets I was looking for. (I'm much better at rules retention than design :p )

JoeJ
2021-01-19, 03:00 AM
I saw that, but I've been unable to determine if it had the rules for running rackets I was looking for. (I'm much better at rules retention than design :p )

I haven't read it so I don't know, but it's only 99 cents for the PDF, which might be worth taking a risk on.

Misereor
2021-01-19, 03:40 AM
I haven't read it so I don't know, but it's only 99 cents for the PDF, which might be worth taking a risk on.

*facepalm*
I saw it as 15 bucks for the PDF
Yeah, I might just go ahead and take that risk... :p
Thanks!