On The Nature Of Gangs

"On The Nature of Gangs" was written by Andrew Benton for the Southowilson campaign setting, and recreated here with minor changes in geography to help define gangs in Cyberpunk.

The vast majority of the gangs in the Chicago Sprawl are small, relatively non-descript gangs based around a local... from ten to a hundred individuals in their teens and early twenties who claim an area of turf as their own. Gangs may form around ties of meme; ethnicity, language, culture, or simply locale. The nature of the bond usually influences the name of the gang, as well as it's size and cohesion. Gangs generally war with one another over turf, resources, honor, unsettled grudges, or even simple boredom. Most of these gangers have few useful skills and limited access to equipment or weaponry. Most of their incomes are generated through petty crime, small-scale extortion, and the sale of black-market goods on their turf... drugs, and weapons being typical. On occasion, gangs will have ties to the larger crime syndicates, either acting as dealers, soldiers, or markets. The majority of gangs in the Chicago Sprawl fit into the general qualities described above, though not all. There are more specialized sub-types of the gang that bear mentioning due to their unique natures, a few of which are briefly explained below.

Specific Gangs of the Chicago Sprawl

While there are hundreds (if not thousands) of active gangs in the Greater Chicago Sprawl, most are nothing more than a handful of disenfranchised youths "claiming" territory and occasionally causing a ruckus. The gangs listed here are recognized by the Greater Chicago PD as true threats to the people of the Chicago. They do not meet the requirements to enter the list of Organized Crime Groups such as the American Club or Yakuza. The GCPD call these gangs the Terrible Ten, and each group (with the exception of the Disciples of Solomon, which are on this list for another reason entirely) are made up of hundreds of members (and sometimes satellite organizations which can boost their numbers to a thousand or more). 

Best described as Cyberpsycho Culties, the gang is only 13 members strong. Every individual of this gang is wanted by the GCPD Cyberterrorist Unit with $20,000 bounties on each individual and a $50,000 bounty on the enigmatic leader, Solomon. For the most part, they stay to themselves waiting for a sign from their leader as how and when to act, squatting in a series of abandoned buildings in the old dock area of Chicago. Every member has received extensive milspec combat modifications, making a straight up fight with individual members extremely deadly. They came onto the public radar with a series of coordinated strikes against holdings of a small Agricorp, essentially shutting down their operations indefinitely. The Agricorp had to sell out to a larger competitor, leaving the media to speculate that they might be some sort of covert military unit or mercenaries. That said, they took no prisoners in their strikes, executing everybody they ran across. Recovered combat footage released by anonymous netrunners shows that during every execution, the Disciples recited elements of the Song of Songs, a Talmudic verse between two lovers.  In 2099, the GCCU finally got a hot tip as to the location of the Disciples. Five squads of highly trained men and women went in to take them out, but they all died in the ensuing firefight. The GCCU only managed to kill one of the Disciples for their troubles, and is still recovering from the massive wound this did in not only their numbers but their pride.

A bosozoku that has claimed the I-90 Super Highway Network, Black Rain is the largest of the go-gangs in Chicago. If all members of Black Rain take to the road, they'll take up three solid miles of roadway bumper to bumper. Since the I-90 has been rebuilt, it and it's tributary highways run the length and breadth of the Greater Chicago Sprawl, leaving a lot of territories to cover. Multiple Black Rain clubhouses can be found in each of the Greater Sprawl's districts and it's leader Gogo Chigusa, is constantly making the rounds. It's said she spends her nights at a different clubhouse every night, socializing and planning attacks with each of her little "Rain Drops".  

A moddie gang made up of mostly Hindi and Eastern Asia members, the Yama Kings undergo extensive body modification to make themselves look as terrifying as possible, just like their interpretation of Yama the King of Hell. They are not serious organized criminals, so much as miscreants who want to terrorize other people. They often break into people's residences that they consider sinners and terrify them for a night. The Yama Kings call this rite the "Taking the Southern Road". Some of the more traditional members have murdered these sinners in gruesome ways at the end of the rite, but the majority will leave and call the cops to release their victims. When riots occur in Chicago, it is a safe bet that it will draw the Yama Kings out of hiding, with them traveling from their lairs around Joliet to enjoy the festivities. 

The “Pharaohs” are a strange gang blurring the line between Culties and Guardians. Originally from New York City, the Pharaohs were established in the Chicago area in the 2070’s as a religious organization based on Black Nationalism. They very quickly grew in opposition to the NOI, seeking to supplant it in power and prestige. Over time, the organization and its affiliated gang have grown in membership and radicalism. The Pharaohs believe in a complex theology of Africans as the original race, and the primacy of ancient Egypt as the first advanced civilization, as well as some odd connections to conspiracy theories, UFO’s, and spiritualism. 

In modern times, the Pharaohs believe that the NOI and the Wardens have sold out and are now pawns to the global system. It is their goal to take Chicago from the NOI and the Wardens, block by block, and lead the African-American community to true salvation. While few Chicagoans take their theology seriously, they have to concede that the Pharaohs are indeed serious and sincere. While the Pharaohs do commit their share of murder and mayhem, it is directed mostly against the NOI and occasionally against “outsiders”. They do not tolerate vices within their turf, and members who are involved in such things are not long for the world. Individual Pharaohs often wear strange clothing and ornaments of Egyptian style, and visible cyberware will often be richly decorated in artificial lapis and gold. Their bases are decorated like ancient Egyptian temples, and members usually adopted Egyptian-inspired names.

A gang of Russian expats who work closely with the BC Mafiya. The Scavengers are the most notorious and violent cyberware thieves in the city. Operating under a hierarchy, the Scavengers are broken down into four "jobs". The Scouts identify likely targets and stalk them for a day or so before the Snatchers abduct the victims. The Rippers surgically remove all of the victim's cyberware, and the Gutters dispose of the bodies. All Scavengers possess multiple cyberware implants and are the primary black markets dealers in neurolimus. They have the ability to disable cyberware from a distance and have no problem going toe to toe with the GCPD.

Defunct in 2117

The following gangs are defunct as power players in the Terrible Ten, having lost wars or to one of the other gangs which have removed much of their influence. They might still exist as a minor presence, but certainly not a major one.

Formed by Madeline "Ma-Ma" Madrigal, a former prostitute who castrated then murdered her pimp after he killed her boyfriend and disfigured her face, she took over his interests and used this influence to form a gang, calling it the Ma-Ma Clan. She is the only producer in Chicago of a drug called Slo-Mo. She has utterly destroyed the three other gangs operating out of the Peach Trees Housing Arcology and her turf now stretches from the 200th floor to ground level. As an initiation rite, each new member of the clan is inked with the word "Ma-Ma" inside a heart, usually on the side of their necks, marking them as a property of the clan for life. They are in a near constant war with La Familia, a rival gang from another housing arcology in the Bracket. While the Ma-Ma Clan is considerably smaller than La Familia, they have access to heavy weapons and are well known for their collateral damage. This fact and wanting to control the Slo-Mo trade has caused Ángel Salazar to offer a bounty to anybody who brings him the initiation tat of a Ma-Ma Clan member. She has been told he is having the skin saved so that he can make a blanket to wrap her corpse in.

In 2117, following Ma-Ma's execution by Federal Judges, leadership of the Ma-Ma Clan fell to "Sparkles" Cullen who was unprepared for La Familia's move to Peach Trees. The conflict, which spanned all 200 floors of the Peach Trees Arcology and several bloody counter attacks at the Atlantic Arcology was known as the Arcology War.