The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

[phydaux]

I'm franticly working on background material for a PBEM campaign where the players all play villains. As to how to handle the good guys, I've got that covered - PRIMUS, national heroes and a local sanctioned hero group. I've even a local super-powered vigilante and an anti-metahuman underground organization.

 

My question is how to handle the PCs competition? I've worked Viper and Demon into the campaign, but I'm thinking about street level crime.

 

DC handled street gang activity via Intergang. I've always considered Intergang to be a mistake even in a Silver Age setting. I much prefer Batman:Beyond's The Jokers. I'll probably do something like that, but based on The Furies from the 70's movie The Warriors. I'll say they're all low level metahumans, and as such are able to dominate the other street gangs and elude the long arm of the law. So I'll have the Furied handle drug DISTROBUTION, and maybe a little methamphetamin manufacturing.

 

"Can you DIG it?"

 

As far as organized crime, Marvel used both The Kingpin and the Maggia.

 

As to why Marvel HAD to invent the Maggia, that is both an long and interesting story. In New York City in the late 60's and early 70's there were certain people who were saying that the mafia didn't exist, and in fact the who idea of the mafia was simply anti-Italian prejudice. If people persisted in saying there in fact WAS a mafia, suddenly the City Sanitation Department STOPPED picking up their trash. This was amde possible because the people insisting that there was no mafia were all made members of the mob. So Marvel had to come up with something else, and *poof* the Maggia was born.

 

Now back to the campaign - It will be set in Boston, and in Boston the Italians don't run things. The Irish do. But now days people aren't afraid of the Italians OR the Irish, it's all the Russians/Eastern Europeans.

 

Back to the mob in a minute. I want to discuss The Kingpin of Crime.

 

Only in the Silver Age could we have the Sinister Six, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and the Kingpin of Crime. Why not have everyone wear matching polyester bowling shirts with "We Are Evil" on them? Totally Cornball.

 

He did serve a role, however - he was a focus for organized crime. Not only that, but he was a fairly powerful metahuman himself (as I recall, he used to beat on Spiderman like a trailer park mom in a Wal-Mart parking lot).

 

My question is "Does he NEED to be a metahuman?"

 

If I go with the angle that organized crime (bookmaking, loan sharking, prostitution, protection, racketeering and drug trafficking) is dominated by the Eastern Europeans, then opens the door for the local boss to call on Eurostar for muscle if things get too nasty for him. Of course, there is always Mechassasin, Utility and Green Dragon if he need local muscle.

 

I'm just wondering if Igor (or whatever I decide to name him) needs to be a super himself? I'm figuring a 100+100 Super Agent level meta - Not enough to take on a super one-on one himself, but bad enough to look another villain in the eye and yell "Get 'em, boys" while he makes a dignified exit.

 

Does it sound like I've overlooked anything? I appreciate you guys help.

 

phy

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

Well, if the PC's are villains, how evil/violent/ruthless are they? In other words, how likely are they to kill the opposition/competition?

 

If they're likely to kill, and the "Kingpinski" isn't a super, he's probably dead as soon as they're in the same room with him.

 

Couple of ways I can think of to handle that.

1) Make him a shadowy figure, PC's only see lieutenants. Maybe finding out who he really is can be one of the focuses of the campaign. Perhaps he sometimes communicates directly with the PC's, but it's always by vidscreen, phone, etc. - never in person.

 

2)Don't rely too much on one person - make it a family/org. Kill the head, new head steps in, intent on revenge. Repeat. Of course, this brings it closer to the "maggia" feel instead.

 

3)Let them kill him. When the other crimebosses hear of this, they ALL come after the PC's, as they have broken the "code" - bosses and their immediate families are off-limits. PC's have to deal with every mobster, yak, etc. all breathing down their necks, all hiring out of town help to take them down. Good luck fellas.

[OddHat]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

Just for personal preference, I like crime bosses in Super worlds to be Supers, or at the least to have very high EGO scores and a super lieutenant with a very good reason for staying loyal (blood relation, or dumb as a rock and no skills). These guys rule by fear and charm; there has to be some reason why a minor metahuman brick hasn't displaced them, and why a minor telepath hasn't turned them into a puppet. You can come up with reasons for this, but a 200 point high EGO brick with good social skills is very convincing as the head of a crime familly.

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

other thoughts, depending on the campaign...

 

4)Doomsday device - everybody on the street "knows" that Mr.Big has a nuke hidden in the city tied to a heart monitor - if he dies, so does the city and the assassins.

 

5)Death Curse - everybody on the street "knows" that Mr.Big has paid off a number of high-level mystics around the world for major sorceries that inflict horrible icky retribution on anyone who kills him. Maybe it's just a rumor though...magic isn't real, right? But, I did know this guy, Lenny, who actually had him in his sights once, but he got a real bad headache, and didn't take the shot. Next day, he gets hit by a bus. God's honest truth.

[phydaux]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

I like OddHat's idea, but then we're right back to the Kingpin, aren't we?

 

Can you think up an eastern european sounding name for a 200 point high-EGO brick?

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

I like OddHat's idea, but then we're right back to the Kingpin, aren't we?

 

Can you think up an eastern european sounding name for a 200 point high-EGO brick?

 

I'd call him "sir", as in "Yes, sir" "No, sir".

 

Seriously, I'd just give him a normal name, perhaps with a nickname thrown in that people use talking about him, but rarely to him.

 

Something like: Boris "The Anvil" Chernyenko. Picked up "The Anvil" during his rise to power as an enforcer, when he killed a rival by dropping an anvil on his head.

[Doug McCrae]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

He did serve a role' date=' however - he was a focus for organized crime. Not only that, but he was a fairly powerful metahuman himself (as I recall, he used to beat on Spiderman like a trailer park mom in a Wal-Mart parking lot). [/quote']But he didn't actually have superpowers, even in the 60s. He was just a physically strong normal. Yes, he could go toe-to-toe with Spider-Man. No, it doesn't make any sense. Not much in comics does.

[phydaux]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

Something like: Boris "The Anvil" Chernyenko. Picked up "The Anvil" during his rise to power as an enforcer' date=' when he killed a rival by dropping an anvil on his head.[/quote']

 

I used to run a Shadowrun NPC called "The Crow" because when he was 14 he beat his step-father to death with a 3-foot crowbar.

 

I think I'll reinvent him into an eastern european crim boss...

[mathey]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

Ra's Al Ghul. The Kingpin. Fu Manchu. Lex Luthor. All of them are powerful, terrible foes who (unlike most of the crooks and terrorists who run around in spandex) just don't get caught. Ever. And if you think a fat bald guy in a sharkskin suit is weak, please check out the Frank Miller Daredevil story arc called "Born Again".

 

Point is, their potency doesn't come from genetic inclination or radioactive exposure, or from being some one-shot omnipotent cosmic villain. It comes from their wealth, their influence, and their machiavellian intellect. Powers are for wimps.

[Publius]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

You need Keyser Soze.

 

Keyser Soze didn't need to be in the same room with you to mess you up. Kaeyser Soze didn;t have to have power. He had to have will. The will to do whatever was necessary to prevail. Killing his wife and children, then the wives, children, friends and pets of his enemies one by one until the very mention of his name made hardened criminals soil themselves. He doesn't have to be there, he just has to be pulling the strings. Moderately powerful bricks will take orders from the puny human (for fun, call him Verbal) who relays his orders. They follow them to the word or their world will turn into utter hell.

 

You'll need some good stories. Scary stuff. Horsehead on the bedpost is okay. Hubby, wife and 2.5 kids stuffed into a single suitcase and set on fire because they took Soze's name in vain is better. Sprinkle them around. Have nasty villains (and heroes, although ironically less of them then the villains) end up meeting nasty deaths in foul circumstances (as in the stuff they did in Se7en was mild).

 

Keyser Soze man. That's hardcore. (actually, Hardcore is a pretty good name too, hmmm I might be using that in the near future).

[assault]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

DC handled street gang activity via Intergang. I've always considered Intergang to be a mistake even in a Silver Age setting.

 

I think you've missed the point.

 

Intergang was Darkseid's agency on Earth.

 

Many more conventional organised crime outfits have shown up in various Bat-titles.

 

And, incidentally, Intergang first appeared in the early 70s, and is probably strictly "Bronze Age" rather than "Silver Age"!

[steriaca]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

You need Keyser Soze.

 

Keyser Soze didn't need to be in the same room with you to mess you up. Kaeyser Soze didn;t have to have power. He had to have will. The will to do whatever was necessary to prevail. Killing his wife and children, then the wives, children, friends and pets of his enemies one by one until the very mention of his name made hardened criminals soil themselves. He doesn't have to be there, he just has to be pulling the strings. Moderately powerful bricks will take orders from the puny human (for fun, call him Verbal) who relays his orders. They follow them to the word or their world will turn into utter hell.

 

You'll need some good stories. Scary stuff. Horsehead on the bedpost is okay. Hubby, wife and 2.5 kids stuffed into a single suitcase and set on fire because they took Soze's name in vain is better. Sprinkle them around. Have nasty villains (and heroes, although ironically less of them then the villains) end up meeting nasty deaths in foul circumstances (as in the stuff they did in Se7en was mild).

 

Keyser Soze man. That's hardcore. (actually, Hardcore is a pretty good name too, hmmm I might be using that in the near future).

 

I defently agree with you on this part.

 

As for names for the big do-no-well...depends on where he was born. But I sergest not using eather Bruno or Guido, as that is so sterotypical. If the guy is English, prehaps give him a name like Bunson Gorre (I just pulled that one out of my but...but you can have it if you want), or Randale "the Slay Man" Blood. There should be a hint of evil to his name (especaly if he is to be a Silver Age type villian), but it shoulden't exactly hit you over the head with it.

 

Of course, this comeing from a guy who named a villian Reginal Wicked, and made his super idenity Mr. Wicked...

[phydaux]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

There should be a hint of evil to his name (especaly if he is to be a Silver Age type villian)' date=' but it shoulden't exactly hit you over the head with it.[/quote']

 

I'm going for more Bronze Age feel, but I agree with you totally. Also I'm wanting the character to be more eastern european. Keyser Soze would be perfect if it wasn't so well known already.

[Publius]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

I have always felt that 'Keyser' was just a way to remind folks of Caesar. Maybe it is a real name that dervies from this root, I dunno.

 

Rex is good in a similar vein, Rex Kassar, Avarex Kassar... Tyrant, Tyran.

 

Gosh. Maybe lets take a leader from that area, a particularly nasty one, and play with it.

 

'Stalin' was the code name of Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, hmmm, lots of good stuff there. He also went by the code name Koba. Stalin itself is a combination of Stal (Steel) and Lenin (whose name was also a code, some river I think) Some options: Iosif Vissar, Dzhuga Villar, Joseph Koba,

 

My favorites:

Alois Vissarion ('Alois' being pronounced AH-loh-ehs, which kind of sounds like alloy to me, like as in 'steel'). Problem: too many syllables. KAI-zer SO-zay has a short choopy sing song about it that makes it easy. This one is too hard. I like it, but it is too hard to say and lacks that punchy quality.

Rexar Dzuga (REX-ar ZU-ga) Problem: what the heck is a Rexar? I dunno, but I use Rex as the base, as in King. 'Regis Dzuga' has the right syllabic content but I expect him to kill you while wearing monochrome tie/shirt combos.

Tyran Dzugha (TIE-ran ZU-Ga). Problems: No such thing as a Tyran. Could be short for Tyranus or something. Still, I like it.

[zakueins]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

There could be no evil boss....

 

Or is there?

 

Pyramid ran an article on "The Man" (check out the archives if you've got a subscription) in which The Man is merely a spirtual manefestation, via his unconsious worshippers whom think they are his "lieutenants".

 

But, if you're going the Keyser Soze route...

 

He has to soil Batman's undies. He KNOWS everything-or enough to scare your heros. You're close to busting one his lieutenants, you discover your DNPC works in his office as a very close source...one that'll get caught in the backwash if the lieutenant goes down. You can get the small-fry, but you discover that "The Man" lets them get busted because they screwed up so badly. You hear stories of what The Man did when somebody screwed him over badly-and you realize it might be anatomically possible to have your own head screwed up your ass-if your head is cut off in the first place...

 

VIPER pays him a cut-because they don't dare go behind his back. The last time they did...wasn't pretty.

 

Taking the Man down should be the highlight of a campaign, not just "we busted him last week, we have to bust him again."

[Publius]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

I totally agree with Zakuens on this one. In fact, I think that the Soze figure (I'll use "Dzuga" here) should never be seen in a regular adventure. Just make certain that they constantly hear about him.

 

Here is a sample story you might want to use, excuse the length, but it contains a lot of different elements on how a meta can be brought down by this type of guy. It is actually pretty vanilla as far as violence goes, but I'm not sure how many Hanoi Hilton type stories would be tasteful on a public board like this:

 

"There was a brick I knew by the name of Armageddon Pete. Ol’ Petey was a hard guy ya know? bullets–bounce-off-his-chest sort of meta. Anyway, Pete got hired by one of Dzugha’s cutouts, only he didn’t know the job was for Dzugha (which is of course how these things usually get done right?). The job was to protect a shipment of smack from South America that was coming into the harbor. The money was good and the job looked straightforward and easy for someone with his meathuman talents, so Armageddon Pete took it without asking too many questions.

 

Then a vigilante came along, do-gooder type with a cheap mask and a bag of tricks. Pete and this guy tussled, but somewhere along the line the smack got blown to hell. Apparently the vigilante had it wired before he even started in on the hired help, maybe a stray blaster bolt I dunno. Whatever it was, a cloud of primo Columbian was drifting over the wharf near the end there and black-and-whites were coming to the scene by the dozen. The vigilante slipped away in the confusion, and so did Pete. Strike One.

 

Dzugha’s cutout shows up at Pete’s favorite nightclub and said that Pete owed him for the job gone bad. But Pete’s a hard-ass right? so Pete tells him to get the hell out and when this guy mentions the name ‘Dzugha’ Pete told him he don’t care. Strike Two.

 

Suddenly, all the jobs dried up for Pete: Legitimate and illegitimate alike. Nobody wanted to touch him cuz the word got out that he and Dzugha had ‘unfinished business’. Pete had some money saved up though, so Pete figures that this aint nothin’ but a vacation you know?

 

Then the nest-egg gets cracked. A mixture of hackers, ID theft and the untimely intervention of the Law made his portfolio just go away. Still he had all the stuff in his house at least to keep him company right? At least for a few minutes he did. First his car blows up then his house blows up; both at different times and both with him in them. Like I said though, Pete was a tough guy and came out of it without too much trouble but now he had nothing. Literally. Still, a half-dozen blocks of C-4 have a way of making a statement don’t they?

 

One of Dzugha’s boys came by after that and offered him a last chance: not that everything will be forgiven they say, but nothing more will happen if Pete does this thing and sets it straight with Dzugha. But Pete was mad by that time, and tore the errand-boy apart. They found the errand body stacked up in four juicy piles. Strike three.

 

Then the cops start dogging Pete. Everywhere he went they showed up. They had evidence of most of the illegal stuff he had ever done, and they were hanging some stuff that he never did on him too. Kind suspicious aint it? Pete managed to escape every dragnet, but they kept finding him time and time again. Pete knew he really couldn’t keep that up so he lit out altogether.

 

Pete was three hundred miles away and working a series of unconnected home invasions within a month, leaving behind dead families and empty burnt out homes. It seemed like it had worked too. The cops had stopped dogging him by that time and even though the FBI had him on their most wanted list and set up a task force, they suddenly got a ‘red hot lead’ in Los Angeles and dropped everything to head in the other direction.

 

Pete was in a little shore town called Dunhollow when everything came down. He’d been there for two days, and was in the process of giving the missus of the house little special attention when somebody shot him through the window with a Barrett .50. The missus started screaming and managed to crawl away just as Pete got back up and took another round to the head. Like I said, he was pretty much bullet proof, but those depleted uranium slugs must have really rung his bell.

 

What happens next is pure supposition backed up by what evidence the FBI was able to uncover: apparently they gassed Pete (the lady of the house was nearly dead because of the dosage so it had to have been pretty powerful stuff), then chained him to their Hum-vee and dragged him three miles to a sea cliff (leaving a very nasty trail behind). There, they threw him into a concrete mixer and turned it on for a while before driving the whole thing over the edge. The spot they picked was deep, it took the divers a good while to find it even after the anonymous tip. By that time, Pete was long since dead, but by all accounts he survived the Barrett, the gas and the dragging, because he was still trying to claw his way out of the cement when he drowned about three hours before the divers got there.

 

Bottom line: Don't mess with Dzuga man..."

[zakueins]

Re: The Kingpin, the Maggia and Intergang

 

"Ever heard of Mr. Smith?

 

"Scary thing...few days ago, I was doing some work for a guy. Told me to get stuff off a truck, load it on another truck, drive it to this warehouse and I'd get paid fifty large. No problem, I said, and was off.

 

"Some costume freak had to have been tipped off, 'cause next thing I know, one of them's pounding on me, and I'm out like a light. Wake up in the hopsital, chained to the bed. Few days later, lawyer comes by to the rest of the guys but the new guy we put on for that job. 'I came by here at Mr. Smith's request,' he said, and the room could have had a pin dropped in it. 'He applauds your efforts to protect his property, and promises you that he will get you out soon, if you keep your mouths shut and say nothing to the police. All except for your friend, whom isn't here-and ran when the vigalante came by. He will be dealt with, be assured.'

 

"Couple of days later? Witnesses recanted their statements, video tape of the whole thing vanished, and what's the costumes gonna do? Come by court and testify they put me in the hospital? Walked out with the judge making the DA apologize to us, piece of cake. Few days after that...phone call from the laywer saying I should read page twelve in the paper.

 

"Got a paper...they found the guy that flaked. At least most of him..."