The Mob and Organization Stats

[Skazka]

Hi, everybody.

So, I've been working on a mission that forces the PCs to Infiltrate the Russian mob.  In trying to build the crime Family as an Organization, I came across a slight problem:

What Leaders Rating should a Russian crime syndicate have? 
Secretive, since no one knows (or at least, no one can prove) the leaders are connected to mob affairs?
Recorded, since the leaders are also normal citizens who run legitimate businesses on top of (and to cover) their illegal dealings?
Prominent, since the leaders have a number of politicians in their pocket?

I'm leading toward Recorded, but I'd like to hear other people's opinions. 

Thanks,
Skazka

[TheAuldGrump]

Hmmm, you might try handling it as an umbrella organization - rather than a single monolithic Mob it is a bunch of seperate mobs that work together, but only sometimes.... (I suspect that this is closer to the truth in any event....)

So, start with an odd splinter of GRU or KGB, crush the Union, and have them rebuild from the ashes....

Then you can start with something well within the normal confines of the Spycraft sytem, and diverge from there.

So, if the leader was at one time a Prominent member of the KGB then you have a Prominent Leaders choice.

If he was a deep down internal security mole then Secretive.

The Auld Grump

[Skazka]

Well, here's what I have in mind:

Yevgeny Grachev (boss) is the head of the Family.  He's largely hands-off by now, having handed the day-to-day aspects business over to his sons.  He handles influence peddling and blackmail, largely of politicians.  
Aleksandr Grachev (underboss), one of the sons, runs the branch of the Family that handles drugs and prostitution.  His operations are based out of a legitimate hotel owned and operated by the Grachevs.  
Stanislav Grachev (underboss), is in charge of an illegal weapons trade and contract hits.  
Both sons have their own employees working under them (Captains, and soldiers under the captains).  

EDIT: It seems worth pointing out that, in my mind, the Grachevs are at least suspected of having criminal enterprises, but no one has been able to prove anything for years.

In the mission I'm writing, the PCs are only going to encounter one branch of the Family anyway, and that branch is run by a captain under Stanislav.

I've already worked out most of the Family's backstory.  For reasons I can't explain, the Leaders cannot be ex-intelligence, at least not in general.  The captain the PCs will encounter was once KGB, but no longer is, and has also faked his own death (all of this has in-game relevance).  

Are you suggesting that I outline the captain's operation as one Organization, separate from his underboss's ring, which itself is separate from the boss's overall operation?

[TheAuldGrump]

In that case you might want them to be a Russian mob, but not the Russian Mafia - GRU, KGB army, and other government workers really were much of the roots of what the folks of the U.S. call the Russian Mafia - they had the goods and the connections to put up as an investment, as it were. A fair number were Jewish, and took advantage of immigration policies to gain access to Israel and the United States.

If the family you have outlined does not share that background it is even possible that the PC team is being manipulated into taking them down. Possibly make them a Georgian family rather than Russian - while American sort of stir them together the Georgians and the Russians just plain do not like each other, and among the Russians the Georgians have a reputation as criminals.

And having the various gangs as organizations set up under an umbrella organization means that when the lieutenant's branch falls it will not affect the primary as much, leaving plots for later. A fair amount of autonomy, with occasional orders going one way, and money flowing the other.

You may want to Google some of the history of the Russian mob, and for that matter the original Mafia - which began as an organization to counter the French. Wikipedia to start you off

The Auld Grump

[Skazka]

Thanks for your suggestions, Auld Grump.  They do have some potential.  But I'm not really struggling with any of the story elements; the mission is fully written, except for the mechanics of the Organization. 

I just need help statting out the lieutenant's branch as a sub Organization, and the Grachev Family as a whole as the encompassing whole. 
As I said originally, I wasn't sure what Leaders rating to give, though I think that Secretive would work for the captain's branch, at least. (Though I'm open to opinions)  What about the Family as a whole?

Anyway, I can probably figure out the stats for the captain's branch myself, though I'd appreciate the help in figuring out how to stat the whole umbrella.

Skazka

[Desertpuma]

I would start with what you know you want them to have and look at what you need them to have. Build off of the need and if the want is necessary immediately, then tack it on. But I would work first with what is most important for the mission on hand.

How well-known are their leaders? ... Do the history you want first for the subgroup and then build the history for that Family of the Russian or Georgian Mob. Pick their Sites where they have power benefits and go from there.

[Skazka]

You have a good point: I should just build what I need for now, and worry about the rest later.  

I think I finally have the captain's cell figured out:
Goals: 3 (Conquest, Greed, Megalomania)
History: 3 (Enemies, Growth, Rivals)
Image: 4 (secret goals, recorded methods, secret leaders, secret members, secret sites)
Sites: 3 (Black Market [WoF], Firing Range, Records Offices)
Tools: 4 (E-III, G-III, R-IV, S-III, T-III, V-II, W-IV)

I only hope that seems like the right relative power level...

Thanks for helping to get my thinking jump-started.  Depending on how successful this mission is with my group, I might try to write more of the Grachevs later.  For now, I think my questions are answered, though.  

Spasiba i dobryi vyechir,
Skazka

[Desertpuma]

Your welcome