Gangs
Gangs are best thought of as weapons with feelings. Mechanically they act as weapons, they have a damage rating that they inflict. They also have an armour value for incoming fire that works slightly differently to PC armour. As Gangs do not roll the damage move their armour instead reduces the incoming damage by its value, to a minimum of 0 (a gang will never get better when it gets shot at!). Gangs are often commanded by Warlords, who operate as a separate threat.
Much like weapons gangs can have tags attached to them. For instance the gang might have access to railguns and so their incoming fire might have the ap1 tag. All gangs have vulnreablities - this specifies how they fall apart when things go wrong for them. Assuming they are not wiped out in combat these can influence the size of the gang in future encounters.
Vulnerabilities
- Breakdown
- Desertion
- Disease
- Grounded
- Obligation
- Reprisals
Gang size
Gangs come in three sizes - small, medium and large. This affects modifiers to their base damage and armour against different numbers of Players.
Large gangs
A large gang is in excess of 50 individuals.
A large gang gets:
- +3 damage and +3 armour against a lone person
- +2 damage and +2 armour against 2 or 3 people
- +1 damage and +1 armour against an entire party
Medium gangs
A medium gang consists of between 25 - 50 individuals.
A medium gang gets:
- +2 damage and +2 armour against a lone person
- +1 damage and +1 armour against 2 or 3 people
- Normal damage and armour against an entire party
Small gang
A small gang consists of 10-25 individuals.
A small gang gets:
- +1 damage and +1 armour against a lone person
- Normal damage and armour against 2 or 3 people
- -1 damage and -1 armour against an entire party
Gangs and damage
When a gang takes damage it can begin to fall apart / lose members. This can reduce the size of the gang.
- 1 damage: a few injuries, one or two serious, no fatalities
- 2 damage: many injuries, several serious, a couple of fatalities
- 3 damage: widespread injuries, many serious, several fatalities
- 4 damage: widespread serious injuries, many fatalities
- 5 damage and more: widespread fatalities, few surveyors
Holding it together when shit goes bad
If the gang’s leader is present, active and strong a gang will hold together up to 4 damage. If the leader is weak or absent it will hold together if it suffers up to 3. Both weak and absent and it’s 2 damage. If there is no leader then it’ll start to fall apart after only 1 damage.
How a gang falls apart is up to the GM. They may panic and flee in all directions. They may make an orderly retreat under fire, or they may simply move on looking for easier targets.