[UA] Game Contracts (LONG)

[Patrick O'Duffy]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Royal Minister of Stuff" <yokeltania at yahoo.com>
To: <ua at lists.uchicago.edu>

> You've mentioned these before and, I'll admit I balked
> because they sound too corporate.  I'm trying to keep
> a more open mind.  What would a game contract look
> like, please? Can you print up a short example and
> post it?

A short example? I can do better than that.

Here's the contract for my as-yet-not-run UA campaign, Gangland (minus the
formatting and spiffy Word tricks). This is what I gave/will give to my
players if/when the campaign ever starts; it spells out everything a player
needs to know about the campaign, and (more importantly) my attitude in
running it.
--

GANGLAND
Contract for an Unknown Armies Campaign

THE CODE OF SILENCE
Detroit, Michigan.  A city of steel turning to rust; vacant car yards,
decaying factories, dead-end minimum wage jobs.  Crime.  But crime is
different.  Crime is money.  Your money.

For years, Iron Joe Matarrese ran the Detroit Mafia, ruling the city's
underworld with an iron fist.  Time change.  Now the Russians, the Triads,
the black gangs, even the goddamn Arabs have wrestled control of crime away
from the Mafia, and the Matarrese family is left with just crumbs.  As for
Iron Joe - well, rumour is that the doctors only give him a few months to
live, before bowel cancer eats him away from the inside.

You joined the mob because you wanted money, or power, or because you looked
up to the old school guys.  You gained respect because you were loyal,
skilled, smart.  Now everything is slipping away.  When Iron Joe finally
dies, the other gangs - and the Mafia families in other cities - will rip
Detroit apart, and you'll probably end up with a bullet in your head or
feeding the fishes.

You don't want to go out like that.  It's getting to the point where you'll
try anything to help Iron Joe get back his power over the city.

Anything.  Even storm the gates of Heaven.

THE ROAR OF GUNFIRE
Gangland is a campaign focusing on the Mafia, crime, and the supernatural.
It doesn't start off with any supernatural elements - but believe me, they'
ll show up eventually.  The PCs are mid-level mobsters and 'made men' in the
fading Matarrese family, running their own scams and schemes while also
working in the family structure.  An opportunity to get back on top is going
to come up - and open the door to an epic story of betrayal and loyalty,
horror and fantasy, magic and bullets.

Gangland takes place in the world of Unknown Armies, a game of action and
horror.  The setting of UA is basically identical to ours, at least at first
glance; there's no need to read the UA rulebook to learn about the setting,
but you're welcome to do so if you're interested.  However, you will need to
do a bit of reading about Detroit and the Mafia.  I'll provide some notes
and summaries for you; there are also some recommended reading/viewing notes
further down.

LOGISTICS AND STUFF
Ideally, we should be playing one 3-4 hour session each week, and the
campaign should last about a year.  We can work out a time/place for these
sessions as appropriate.  A few pre-game meetings, probably over lunch or
drinks, would be good to help with planning.

As usual, I have a very definite scheme and direction for the campaign.  I
won't railroad you or block your ideas, but I'll always be working things
towards my own nefarious ends.  You've been warned.  Trust me, it'll be fun.

A few unusual elements I should point out:

1. The campaign will cover about a year of in-game time, if things go to
plan.  The passage of time in each session will vary quite a bit, depending
on what's happening.  Some sessions might be real time, some might be
'selected highlights' from a period of days or weeks.  Similarly, there
might be just hours between some sessions, weeks between others.  Your
characters are busy guys, juggling their family responsibilities and their
own lives - rather than looking at everything that happens over the year, we
'll focus on the most important and significant events.

2. Everyone will be assigned a major NPC, who you'll also play upon
occasion.  These are important characters, like Iron Joe, who'll be
interacting with you over the entire course of the campaign.  Having them
played by a single person, rather than being just another one of the GM's
sock puppets, will help make them more interesting.

THEMES
There are two major themes that I want to explore in Gangland.

The Mundane vs. the Magical.  The Unknown Armies setting is full of magic -
but it's so subtle that you never notice it.  Many mobsters are aware that
the supernatural exists, even if they don't know anything about it (and don'
t want to know about it).  As the campaign progresses, your character will
be forced to interact more and more with the supernatural, finding out how
much of the supernatural co-exists with the mundane - and just how mundane
and ordinary the unnatural can be.

Power and Responsibility.  This is the classic 'superhero' theme, but it
fits Gangland perfectly.  As a mobster, you have power - the power of money,
of fear, of guns, of respect.  What will you do to get that power - and to
keep it?  What is the point of having power - and what can you do with it?
Are you willing to live up to the responsibility your power entails?  Will
you kill a man - or a pregnant woman - to stay on top?  Are there things you
won't do - and are you prepared to live with the consequences of your
weakness?

CHARACTERS
Character generation will be done as a group, at least initially, so we can
be sure that there isn't an overlap between characters.  The actual rules
part of creation will be done with my assistance, but we should discuss
concepts as a group.  Preferably over a drink.

At least on the surface, the character options of Gangland are a bit
limited, as all the PCs are mobsters.  But really there are a wide range of
possible options - the mob includes killers, thieves, lawyers, computer
experts and more.  There are really only a few restrictions on the
characters - they must be male, and white, and at least 20 (preferably
older).

You should also decide if your character is a 'made man'.  Made men are
given more power within the mob structure, but they are also given much more
responsibility, and held to blame if things go wrong.  Regular soldiers and
associates don't have the freedom and power of made men, but don't have to
live up to the same standards.  If you want to play a made man, your
character must be of Italian or Sicilian extraction (either a first or
second generation immigrant), and must allocate some points into the
'Authority' skill.

Characters will also need a major personal plot hook - something that can be
resolved over the course of the campaign.  You should also work out how your
character makes their money - what crimes, scams and systems they have for
pulling in cash each week.  The handout I'll prepare on how the mob works
should give you ideas there.

A quick note on supernaturally-powered characters.  As I mentioned, the mob
knows magic exists - but they don't like it, and they don't usually employ
those who use it.  On the other hand, they will use magicians if they have
to, and some of the old Sicilian families do know a few things - so the
option of playing an adept (someone who knows magick) or an avatar (someone
who channels an archetype) does exist.  On the whole, I'd prefer no more
than one such character - if you want to play one, we can discuss it, but I
may end up saying no.

Finally, work out what relationships the character has with the other PCs
and major NPCs, and if they have any immediate family.  The mob is often
built on family relationships, so you might be related to another PC, or
perhaps one of the NPCs.  The PCs are a connected group (a crew) so they all
know each other - but they don't necessarily have to be best friends.

NOW YOU SLEEP WITH THE FISHES
Unknown Armies is a dangerous system, where a single gunshot can easily
kill.  Similarly, being a mobster is a dangerous occupation - even though
you aren't getting involved in shootouts every day, the threat of a violent
death is always present.  And I will admit I plan to have plenty of action
scenes and danger.  So as you can see, the odds are good that one or more
characters may die during the campaign.

I'm not going to pull many punches as far as combat and death goes, because
I think it lessens the impact of the game.  If you play it smart, and act
like a real person in a firefight, you've got every chance of staying
alive - and I won't go out of my way to kill off characters.  I'm also
prepared to fudge a little if the death would be boring - but not too much.

If your character is killed, it won't take long to make a new one, and there
'll be plenty of options for slotting a new person into the mix.  In fact,
the range of possible characters may increase as the campaign progresses -
new characters might not even have to be mobsters.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING
Actually, these first two are not so much recommended as essential.  These
formed the main inspiration for Gangland, and the game follows their style
and tone very closely.

The Sopranos.  A soap-opera for men, following the lives of mobster Tony
Soprano, his family, and his crew.  This is, frankly, one of the best TV
shows I have ever seen, even better than Twin Peaks.  Funny, smart, brutal,
it uses the structure of television really effectively, and any of the
mobster characters would be great Gangland characters.  It's not playing on
TV right now, but with any luck, I'll have the first season episodes on
video or DVD sometime.

Ghost Dog.  A modern-day samurai works as a hitman for a group of mobsters.
A brilliant, clever and poignant film by Jim Jarmusch - a perfect blend of
old school and new school, East and West, hip-hop and the mafia.  The
absurdist touches are very appropriate for my take on UA, and many of the
characters would be perfect PCs.

Miller's Crossing.  Yes, it's a 1920s mob story rather than a modern one,
but it's such a great film I can't pass it up.

The Godfather.  Actually, this is really dated, but it's still worth
watching as a guide to the mob's history.  The writer and director never set
out to make an accurate portrayal of the mafia - but American mobsters loved
the film so much, they altered their own lives and style to better reflect
the movie!

Reservoir Dogs.  Much as older mobsters try to emulate The Godfather, this
film has been very influential with younger mobsters, who now try to dress
and act like the gangsters on the screen

Goodfellas.  A slightly fictionalised account of life in the mob in the 70s
and 80s.  An excellent primer on mob life and what effect it has on people.

RECOMMENDED READING
Crime Inc by Martin Short.  This is a terrific guide to both mob history and
mob structure, and explains just how the Mafia operates and makes its money
in various areas.  The handout I'm writing on the mob is based heavily on
the information in this book.

100 Bullets is a crime series from DC Comics.  It's a pretty cool,
interesting thriller series with some weirdness - and while it's nothing
like Gangland, the tone is pretty close in places.

I haven't talked much about the supernatural elements in Gangland yet.  The
novels of Tim Powers - especially Last Call and Expiration Date - are quite
close to the style and elements of Unknown Armies, and are definitely worth
reading.  I also recommend The Skin Palace by Jack O'Connell, a neat little
thriller with absurdist touches and occasional subtle hints of magic.  All
of these should be available from the city library.

http://organizedcrime.about.com/newsissues/organizedcrime - this website
includes primers on organized crime, crime news, essays and links.  A good
source of background info.
http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/U_S__States/Michigan/Cities/Detroit - a
starting point to find out stuff about Detroit.  I could find exact URLs,
but that's a lot of effort.
http://www.geocities.com/jiggs2000_us - a website about the legendary Purple
Gang, the syndicate that once ran Detroit.  Good for learning about the
criminal history of Detroit.

--
With minor changes, this is the way I format all my contracts - the details
change, but the level of attention to the details and the structure in which
the details are presented remain pretty constant.

--
Patrick O'Duffy, Brisbane, Australia

Hate. Bullets. Bombs. Blood. Spies.
Am I getting the fuck THROUGH to you people?

- Spider Jerusalem, TRANSMETROPOLITAN #55


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