Mafia

Basic Information

The Mafia is a Sicilian crime society, established in the late 19th Century. It later spread to other areas, including the United States and Australia. It is organized into several groups (known as families, clans, or cosca) that each have their own territory. Also known as The Mob, Cosa Nostra, or the grammatically incorrect La Cosa Nostra. The term Mafia often used to apply to Organized Crime in general, or other groups that are not technically part of the Mafia.

Code of Conduct:

The following list of "10 commandments" were found in the hideout of a mob boss in Sicily in 2007:

1. No one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.
2. Never look at the wives of friends.
3. Never be seen with cops.
4. Don't go to pubs and clubs.
5. Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty - even if your wife is about to give birth.
6. Appointments must absolutely be respected.
7. Wives must be treated with respect.
8. When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.
9. Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.
10. People who can't be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn't hold to moral values.

The Mafia has a code of silence, called the Omertá, which puts a death penalty on any mafioso who cooperates with the police.

It is very common for the initiation trial to become a mafioso soldier to involve committing a murder for the family.

Characters and Ranks:

• capo di tutti capi - Boss of Bosses, a possibly fictitious position
• capofamiglia - Boss
• consigliere - Advisor to the Boss
• sotto cappo - Underboss or Second-In-Command
• capodecina or caporegime - leaders of "squads" of about 10 soldiers.
• Soldiers - the rank and file of Mafia criminals
• Associates - allies, friends, tools, or property of the Mafia (see also Gun Moll, Shill, Protection Racket, etc)

Related / Similar Crime Organizations:

• American La Cosa Nostra
• Neopolitan Camorra
• Calabrian Ndrangheta
• Apulian Sacra Corona Unita

Sources

Bibliography

1. TV Tropes Wiki entry

2. Wikipedia on Organized Crime

3. Wikipedia on Mafia

Game and Story Use

• The tried and proven classic, The Mafia can be the heavies in a variety of settings.
  • Believable (and ruthless) antagonists for Modern Day or Twenty Minutes Into The Future.
  • An integral part of the setting and psychological landscape of the 1920s and 1930s.
  • Can serve as inspiration for well-organized villains in any other era.
• Some settings may allow or encourage players to be the criminals. Reading up on the mafia will help capture the right feel for such a game, and the correct level of honor among thieves.