The Gangs of Kings Landing...

[killjoy]

Hi! new to the game and forum...I'm working on my first campaign {set in the Iron Islands, I'll post about that later} but I've also been kicking around a campaign that deals with the underbelly of Westeros, especially Kings Landing. The players would be part of a gang, competeing with other gangs for every scrap of turf, coin, respect and power the lowborn can hope for...The gang would take the place of the "house", the PC's starting as low level members looking to advance. activities could range from running gambling operations, whore houses, smuggeling, spying, extortion, loan skarking, hits, etc...of course they would have to contend with the city watch, other gangs, betrayal within their own gang, and the will and power of the crown and other houses...each gang would have it's strong points, it weaknesses, and it's area of expertise...some would be masters of spying and information, some loansharking, some extortion, etc...

all i have to do is come up with some gangs, mark out their turf on the map, and adjust the character creation process to fit the game.

easier said then done, so any help or suggestions would be cool...thought?

thanks...

[Flagg]

I really like how HBO's Rome portrayed the collegia. Wrong historical period, but it might be used for some inspiration.

[killjoy]

I have seen it...perhaps I should revisit it.

[Paedrig]

But in contrast to Rome (the TV serie) the law enforcement of KL should also be mentioned and play a not unimportant role.
The gold cloaks are not a real "police" that's for sure but they are certainly stronger than any of this "gangs" and might intervene if the violence threaten the business and peace...
And of course such...charming guys like Slynt etc. might certainly have their part in some of the...murky business so to speak.
Just like such forces like Littlefinger and Varys. Most time the scum of Fleabottom is certainly left for their own, thats for sure - but if one of them is disturbing the plans and acting of the real big players...

And we should remember that beside the gold cloaks there might also be some sort of "local militia" (at least semi legal/ illegal) organized by the guilds etc. of the better parts of the city which try to "keep the streets save"...

[killjoy]

^ well put...after all, littlefinger owned some of the brothals and inns, i could imagine that shaking down one of his operations would be a bad idea...and the spider had his "little birds" everywhere, are the gang members willing pawns? do they even know they are feeding him information?

and the gold cloaks could be on all sides of the shadow conflict...

theres also plenty of room for politics between the gangs, between the gangs and lords, between the gangs and the mighty sept, etc...

theres a lot to work with here...

[Flagg]

The aspect I liked most about the collegia was their sort of handshake deal with the government - as long as they controlled the criminal element, and kept it from getting out of hand, they were tolerated - and sometimes even used by the patricians as an extralegal resource.

I could definitely see a similar look-the-other-way attitude in King's Landing.

[Paedrig]

Yes, this might fit.
But of course there might be various groups which try to use the extra legal forces - helping one of them could of course make you a target for annother (or their gang auxilias)...

[ceranko]

I think Varys would be in total control of the local gangs, having probably set each one up so he could use them. Anyone trying to operate would get a visit from him sooner or later. Baelish just owns brothels, he makes tons of money offering sick rich patrons and perverts the place to make their desires come true, Im sure he uses information he has to intimidate and extort when he feels he can vet something out of it as well. Which its why he can come up with vast sums of money on short notice.

[ceranko]

Settinv it before Roberts rebellion during Areys or Aegon V rule could prove interestinv, or Maegors.

[DaimosofRedstone]

I think Varys would be in total control of the local gangs, having probably set each one up so he could use them. Anyone trying to operate would get a visit from him sooner or later. Baelish just owns brothels, he makes tons of money offering sick rich patrons and perverts the place to make their desires come true, Im sure he uses information he has to intimidate and extort when he feels he can vet something out of it as well. Which its why he can come up with vast sums of money on short notice.

I don't think running them and directly interfering would be Varys style. I think all gang leaders would know not to run afoul of him and in doubt do what he asks, but day to day running them? No.

[killjoy]

so bottom line...is it worth doing this? would you enjoy such a game? i'm on the fence with it.

[ceranko]

I think it would be an awesome game as long as your players were up for it, criminals can be pretty brutal and some players just can't play the bad guy. I had a campaign where we were mercenaries and our fearless leader refused to take money from a really powerful warlord to murder a town mayor. Now being mercenaries why wouldn't you especially when if you refuse you will run afoul of a huge army that will eventually take over an area and make your life miserable. I was like lets be the bad guys easy money. The leader was like I'm not an assassin. My character was angry and asked him what the difference was between killing in a battle and killing a man in his study, you still kill the man, knowing his name and profession makes it murder instead of meeting and killing a stranger on a battlefield? He just couldn't do it. In another r game we were playing goblins and we took a halfling village, we had been at sea eating fish for months and I decided I wanted to eat the halflings, because I'm a goblin right? Goblins are evil bloodthirsty brutes. So I decided my squad was going to put the captured halflings in the stewpot. The Goblin Prince who was the mercenary captain in the other game said no he wouldnt allow it. I was man are we playing goblins or what? If your going to play goblins then lets play goblins. Then he was I'm not going to go there. Now my friend is a really nice guy but gaming with him kind of bored me sometimes playing the bad guy is fun get over it. Talk to your players first, because if your going to play a gang leader or a pimp ect they were not nice people and you may have to go down some pretty dark alleys some gamers cant handle. Just saying.

Am I evil when I play grand theft auto and beat people to death on the street with a baseball bat to relieve stress? Or do most of you do that too Just asking......

[ceranko]

Needless to say I'm not a fan of G or PG13 rated gaming.

[Kajani]

About Goblins I could not say anything (I am not friend of that D&D-System in which whole nations are "evil" - even goblins could have different behavior and some may think eating other speaking and thinking beeing is not good even out of religious reasons or so). The other case... mercenary means indeed not assassin by nature and even professional soldiers could (I say not must) have a code of rules. You want that the other player respect the way you want to play? That is your good right. But he has perhaps the same wish. It is better to clear such question before play.

[Zorbeltuss]

so bottom line...is it worth doing this? would you enjoy such a game? i'm on the fence with it.

Me? Well, frankly, I want to go explore the world Martin created when doing ASOIAF RPG, Flea Bottom is basically a slum little different from something you could find in a generic medieval (low or no) fantasy setting. The ruleset can be used for that sort of play, sure, though it's made with the game of thrones between nobles in mind.

[killjoy]

i guess i just always favor playing the outsider...or running games about outsiders. i guess thats why the first campaign i plan to run is set in the iron islands. the gangs idea is on the backburner for sure...but something i'd like to toy with in the future.

[Kajani]

But are the Iron Isles so much the outsider? The same you could say about Dorne, the people from there are often seen with suspicion and (in the Reach and perhaps also the Stormlands) with hostility... Actually Dorne was much less time being part of the Targaryan-Empire than the Iron Isles. And even under Robert huge resentments stand between the Deep South and the rest...

[killjoy]

But are the Iron Isles so much the outsider? The same you could say about Dorne, the people from there are often seen with suspicion and (in the Reach and perhaps also the Stormlands) with hostility... Actually Dorne was much less time being part of the Targaryan-Empire than the Iron Isles. And even under Robert huge resentments stand between the Deep South and the rest...

outsiders in the sense that they have no knights, are raiders and pirates, worship their own god, etc...plus threw a rebellion against robert after he took the throne...they are considered barbarians by most, not without cause some would argue...

[Kajani]

That they have no knights is not true in any case. In the Campaign Guide which rely on Martins Book on page 127 a Ser Harras from house Harlaw is mentioned. I could also imagine that house Goodbrother which style themselves like the lords of the green lands and have a maester did have one or another knight over the time...

It is true that the Iron Isles have another god, but same could be said about the North and Dorne too. And I am sceptical how much the ironmen raid actually against Westeros in the last years before the fall of the Targaryan. That means not that I did not believe that they seen by many with mistrust - but that may also happen towards Dornish people and even some from the North. I would simply argue against that they are see SO much different from other forms of mistrust and hostility against “foreigners” between different parts of the seven kingdoms.

[killjoy]

the north is much larger than the south and it's ways and gods endured long before the seven came to westeros. and yes, dorne are outsiders at best, but considering their links to the throne they still hold more sway then the iron men could ever hope for...from a gaming point of view, running a campaign in the islands or dorne will require a bit more work.just my opinion.

ps...i'm going off of what i read in the novels and the core rule book.

[Kajani]

Your are surely right, but I could imagine from my point of view as game-master it might perhaps even harder to run a campaign in Dorne simple because their society is so much different and we have even less detailed information about them than in the lands of the Ironmen. But that depends on opinion...