Philadelphia and organized crime are old bedfellows. Since 1911, Italian mafioso have made this city a hub for organized crime in the United States. Their close proximity to New York City has meant the Philadelphia Mafia has come to exist in the shadow of that city's Five Families. This has meant a good deal of cover for the organization over the years, but has also led to some of its most bloody internecine conflicts, as the local Philadelphia Mafia often desired its own leadership over those blessed and anointed by the likes of the Genovese or Lucchese.
The family truly established a name for itself under the leadership of Angelo Bruno. Bruno was a cool-headed, business-minded operator who kept to the traditional mafia business of labor racketeering, bookmaking, and loansharking. For over twenty years, from 1959 to 1980, Bruno's leadership spelled prosperity for his inner circle and for the Philadelphia Mafia in general. But all good things must come to an end, and in 1980 disgruntled subordinates in league with New York's Genovese family put Angelo into an early grave, sparking one of the bloodiest succession conflicts in Mafia history. Angelo was succeeded by Philip "The Chicken Man" Testa whose ill-fated one year reign was brought to an end by a nail bomb thought to have been planted by allies of Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo.
From 1981 to 1988, Little Nicky Scarfo ruled over the family with a despot's iron fist. He was prone to fits of rage and violence entirely out of scope to the offenses that prompted it. He soon soured the underbosses and made men to his leadership, and brought the watchful eye of the Philadelphia Police and Pennsylvania State Police down on their activities. The abundance of killings and the paranoia his attitudes raised in the ranks meant that when the authorities finally began kicking over the bodies in an effort to bring an end to the bloodshed, they found no shortage of terrified mafioso willing to turn state's evidence to avoid Scarfo's reprisals and a sentence in a supermax prison.
Scarfo's eventual imprisonment along with the vast majority of his top supporters led to yet another war within the Philadelphia Mafia. This time, it was New York's Gambino Family that tried to play kingmaker. Their chosen puppet, John Stanfa, was named as head of the family in 1991 after a two year period of murder and reprisal. This didn't sit well with the locals who were growing tired of New York's meddling. Ironically, it was the FBI and not either side that put an end to the conflict when they arrested Stanfa and his inner circle and nearly brought the family to its knees. Enter Joey Merlino, a young up and comer who had battled Stanfa and the Gambino loyalists up until the FBI's busts in 1994. From then to the present day, it's been Merlino in charge. The longest reign of any boss in Philadelphia history.
Status in the Philly Mob reflects your influence within your organization. The Philly Mob is organized along traditional Italian Mafia lines. Associates, Made Men, Capos, Underbosses, a Consigliere, and the Boss themself. Fealty is owed by status, and you always pay up. On the other hand, those with power and influence within the organization are expected to shepherd those beneath them, oversee their enterprises, lend advice and resources where appropriate, and look out for the little guy. They're called crime families for a reason.
The Philly Mob only makes those of Italian ancestry. They'll make associates of anyone, however, so long as they're loyal and useful. This means that unless your character is Italian, their status is limited to 1 in the organization. Apart from this limitation, most anyone can become a member of the mob.
With that said, if you're playing a member of the Philly Mob, you're not playing a Good Guy. You're playing a member of a ruthless organized crime syndicate. You can act like a boy scout. But you aren't one.
Being a member in the Philly Mob stats:
Status (Crime: Philly Mob): 1
Subterfuge: 2
Bluffing Specialty
Intimidation: 2
Threats Specialty
The following stats are suggested, but not required.
Merits: Untouchable, Takes One to Know One, Contacts (Warlocks MC or Junior Black Mafia), Allies (Warlocks MC or Junior Black Mafia), Retainer (Made Man)
Theme and Society
The Philadelphia Crime Family, the Philadelphia Mafia, the Bruno-Scarfo Family. The organization has had many names. Today, they prefer the moniker Philly Mob. Short, sweet, and simple. Rather how they prefer to keep their business dealings. The present day Philly Mob operates under the leadership of Joey Merlino, in the tradition of all Italian mobs throughout history. Though Joey Merlino himself is rarely seen in Philadelphia at all these days, preferring to haunt his clubs and properties in Florida and leave the day to day operations to his inner circle in Philadelphia.
This arrangement has turned Philadelphia into a series of fiefdoms overseen by Merlino's inner circle. Their traditional means of income remain. Racketeering, extortion, sports betting, illegal gambling, loan sharking, murder for hire, money laundering, corruption, and drug trafficking. Everyone's getting rich, and so everyone is happy. The made men pay the capos pay the underbosses pay the consigliere pay the boss. Merlino is content to run his affairs from Boca Raton, and the Five Families in New York seem content that Philadelphia is content. No one wants another war, right? That only brings the eye of the FBI and the intercession of the RICO act in all of their carefully crafted rackets. Right? Right, guys?
And then there are those who see Merlino as an absentee landlord. A puffed shirt who was too young when he assumed the mantle, and then faffed off to Florida to bang cuban women and gamble away the sweat and blood of better men in his self-imposed early retirement. The family could do more, could be more. Moreover, they could do it out from under the watchful eye of the Gambino and Genovese who have constantly demanded fealty from the Philadelphia families.
It's not a question of if, but when. Someone, at some point, is going to get sick of answering to a guy whose area code isn't 215. And when that happens, the blood will run in the streets once more. The real question is which side are you going to be on when the dime drops?
