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In Short

The Good: The alternate history setting is a neat idea and makes everything old new again. The use of poker cards and chips adds atmosphere to the game. Characters are set up with potential conflicts from the very start.

The Bad: The rules are not always as clear as they should be and the book would benefit from more examples (including a full example of play). Character creation is very unguided, and there’s little discussion about weaving together disparate characters into the narrative.

The Physical Thing

Under the Cover

Prohibition never ended and the United States chose not to enter World War II. Other countries ultimately did everything the U.S. did throughout history, thereby explaining how things are still mostly the same in this modern day but allowing the U.S. to be substantially different due to the incredible proliferation of organized crime and the U.S.’s policy of isolationism from the rest of the world. The early portion of this section focuses on the differences in everyday life, especially class and other social differences. Organizations like the F.B.I. and the Prohibition Bureau are discussed along with a general overview of the criminal justice system in the U.S. Organized crime sees a lot of attention as well, especially along ethnic/racial lines. For example, the Italian mafia receives two and a half pages of discussion of the areas of influence and goals of this mob along with two pages of major NPCs within the Italian mob. Combined with short discussions of major U.S. cities, the goal of this portion of the book is to give the GM enough material to work with to get a game going and then to let her fill in the rest.

What’s important for you to take away is that the U.S. is extremely corrupt, that mob activity is everywhere, and that the book wants to give you just enough tools to get your own tale of corruption and violence off the ground. On the whole I find the chapter to be adequate for introducing the alternate history and the mob generally, but I do find it to be a little sparse on the operations of the underworld. Another problem with this chapter, and the book more generally, is that I have a hard time building groups of characters in my head that would be regularly involved with one another. I see Mob Justice as a game where it’s important to have unified character goals since the general theme of the game seems to be expanding underworld power while protecting what’s valuable to the characters (family, friends, etc.). Finally, sometimes I wish the author would focus on important differences in this alternate history or important information on mob life. Some of the material is just there for the sake of being there, such as a half page table of all 50 States and their capitals.

The System - 76 pages.

Each player begins their game with a 52 card poker deck (Aces low) and 5 poker chips. In play one participant declares stakes – what might happen in the scene – and so does the GM (or potentially another opposing player), each by adding a poker chip. They can keep raising the pool by declaring new stakes and adding more chips. During this process the player and GM are each trying to build the best poker hand possible out of a large number of cards (at least 5 + Skill, but possibly more). When everyone’s done the hands are revealed and the winner gets their stakes and the story chips. Other players may only contribute a small effort (effectively granting a single extra card draw) to the conflict. The resolution of these conflicts can leave characters broken and beaten, triumphant, or anything inbetween.

Story (poker) chips are integral to the game play. They can be used for scene editing, which seems particularly important in this game since contacts and allies play a major role. Having one turn up with critical information at just the right time is a wonderful way to keep things moving. However, engaging in conflict is potentially expensive for the players and GM so there is an internal mechanism to encourage everyone to only use scene editing when it’s important. Unlike players, the GM gets a set number of chips per scene and does not have to be concerned with conserving them over time.

The real guts of the game, and the system, comes from Code (Code of honor, beliefs), Loyalties (people he is loyal to), Tells (things he cares about), Reputation, Contacts, Network (his piece of the underworld), and character Skills. Each of these is rated from Ace to King in terms of importance to the character, or general usefulness, except for Skills which function on a simple 1-5 scale with specializations. To better illustrate these, let’s build a character. There is little in the way of guidelines for the values assigned to some of these qualities.

Example: I’m creating Hernando Perez, a young man striving to make a name for himself in the Mexican Mafia while watching out for his family. His Code is created by the player and has an appropriate card assigned to it. I choose King (My family always comes first), Ten (The Mafia is more important than me), and Four (White people can’t be trusted). His Tell is Ten (Apartment building where my family lives). His Loyalty is Ten (to his older brother, also in the mafia). His Reputation is Three (Known only to the local community) and his Stature within the mob is Five (he is a trusted rank and file member).

These qualities can be brought into play to give the player more or fewer cards to use to build their hand, depending upon whether they cause a complication or give some sort of benefit. Additionally, when players introduce Code, Loyalties, and Tells into a scene the GM will gain additional chips to use to build that scene and react to the addition based on its strength. In effect, if a character is a real big shot in the mob and brings their best lieutenants into the scene then the GM will have a lot more chips to use than if the character is a rank and file soldier.

Players spend 20 points on 14 Skills, with each Skill Rank providing a free specialization. Skill + Specialization is added to the hand size drawn in conflicts, thereby greatly increasing a player’s chance of constructing a winning hand.

Example: Ask ‘Em Hard 2, Driving 2, Filch 4, Gunfight 2, Knowledge 2 (Mexican Mafia and City), Observation 4, Social 2, Up Close and Personal 2 are my Skills of choice for Hernando. Each Rank also gives him a specialization for that Skill which, in play, provides an additional card.

Two major concepts remain. Characters gain points to purchase a handful of Contacts based on their Reputation value. Characters also gain points to purchase their Network, which includes the various illegal enterprises that they have a hand in owning. These are important because players can use Contacts to gain quick information or introduce new story elements while their Networks serve as a means for the GM to always interest or threaten them. Along with Code, Loyalty, and Tells the game becomes very much about protecting what’s yours and expanding your operations all while dealing with personal commitments and obligations. It’s a great recipe for success that includes instant conflicts for the group to play around with, but I foresee some problems.

One problem is the mix of characters encouraged. I’m sure that if I brainstormed enough I could put them all together, but the book could really benefit from some discussion on building Mob Justice games in terms of character/campaign direction. Another is the lack of guidelines for most of character generation. Players just pick whatever seems most appropriate, whether that means they’re the lowliest thug or archduke of crime, and go from there. I fear this could cause gameplay problems if the GM isn’t dedicated to frequently challenging all the characters with the conflict mechanics instead of handwaving potential conflicts through good roleplaying and resource use.

Finally, while I think Mob Justice has some great ideas I have some trouble imagining it in play. The long term, in particular, is tough for me to get a handle on. More play examples and campaign discussion would be welcome additions to the good ideas presented here.

My Take

That said, I think the author is spot on in creating a mob game that centers around personal conflict between obligations and values. The general mix of character options strikes me as wonderful for creating drama and interesting decisions in game, and for many people that’s what roleplaying is at its best. Mob Justice could work well in its current incarnation for some groups, especially those accustomed to rules light RPGs, but if you’re on the fence it may be best to wait on a more polished product.

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