GURPS Mafia

GURPS Mafia is a realistic role playing game dealing with the adult themes of criminal and street subcultures. It aims to be an authentic portrayal of urban life and criminality in mid-twentieth century Los Angeles. Players begin as low-level members of a Los Angeles street gang in 1948.

GURPS Mafia is a work-in-progress.

Campaign Background

Campaign name: GURPS MAFIA

Starting year: 1948.

Genre: Action/Crime

Realistic or cinematic? Realistic

General theme of campaign: TBD.

Are there multiple planes of existence? No.

Campaign World: Earth (Historic).

Campaign’s base city, nation, empire, or planet: Los Angeles, California, USA.

Society/government type: Representative Democracy.

Control Rating: CR4.

Exceptions to general CR: None.

Tech level: TL7.

Exceptions to general TL: None.

General mana level: None.

Do areas of higher/lower mana exist? No.

Brief description of important neighboring powers, political/economic situation, etc.:

Information for PCs

Player characters are low-level members (soldiers) of the XXX street gang in Los Angeles, California.

Starting point value allowed for PCs:

Disadvantage limit (including Quirks):

PC races allowed: Human.

Especially appropriate professions: Player characters should have a criminal speciality or profession for which they are known. Examples: bank robber, counterfeiter, jewel thief, etc.

Starting Wealth:

Starting Wealth levels allowed: Struggling or Average.

Starting Status levels allowed: 0

Languages available: Commonly-spoken and character-relevant languages include Cantonese, English, Hebrew, Italian, and Spanish.

Cultural Familiarities available: Chinese, American, Jewish, and Latino are the most common and relevant cultural distinctions.

Advantages, Disadvantages, and Skills

Required Advantages:

Especially Appropriate Advantages: Contact,

Required Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Criminal Record) [-5].

Especially Appropriate Disadvantages:

Required Skills: Savoir-Faire (Mafia), Streetwise, Urban Survival.

Especially Appropriate Skills: Acting, Counterfeiting, Driving (Automobile), Fast-Talk, Filch, Forced Entry, Forgery, Gambling, Holdout, Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Smuggling.

Disallowed advantages, disadvantages, and skills: No cinematic or supernatural traits allowed.

Appropriate Patrons, Allies or Contacts: Starting characters are not allowed Ally/Ally Group, but this may be developed in the campaign. Appropriate contacts include police officers, journalists, other criminals (especially those appropriate to your chosen speciality or profession). Patrons are uncommon for street soldiers with no reputation, but it is not unheard of that an elder capo takes interest in a young soldier.

Special Abilities Allowed for PCs

Exotic/supernatural traits: N/A.

Cinematic skills: N/A.

Are PC mages allowed? No.

Are any of the spells from Chapter 5 off limits? N/A.

Are PC psis allowed? No.

Are any of the powers from Chapter 6 off limits? N/A.

Are PC gadgeteers allowed? No.

Are there special limits on gadgeteering? N/A.

Unusual Background cost(s) for these abilities: N/A.

Legal or social restrictions on these abilities: N/A.

Rulebooks and Resources

GURPS 4th edition Basic Set. Required. Essential for character creation.

GURPS 4th edition High-Tech. Information about TL7 technology as well as equipment statistics.

GURPS 4th edition High-Tech: Pulp Guns. Detailed weapons descriptions and statistics.