Maestro D's Gang

Every other character who gets a gang has an ability, like Leadership or Pack Alpha, to use their gang.

However, the Maestro D' doesn't.

"For security, choose this:
a real gang (3-harm gang small 1-armor)"

Other examples, like the Savvyhead's improvement option, say something like:

"__ get a gang (detail) for security, and leadership"

So...

What can a Maestro D' do with her gang? Why doesn't she also get a leadership move if she chooses the gang option?

Thanks.

You've still got manipulation/seduction, and going aggro. It's like how the Operator doesn't get a custom move for controlling their crew.

But keep in mind, most of the time, NPCs who are "yours" are assumed to have interests largely in line with yours. The Chopper doesn't need to roll Pack Alpha every time she gives the gang an order, it's just a fallback when the gang decides they're going to question her will. The Maestro D doesn't have that option, but he's not always going to need it. It's just a bit trickier to order his gangs to do something that goes strongly against their nature or self-preservation instincts.

It's just a bit trickier to order his gangs to do something that goes strongly against their nature or self-preservation instincts.

Wouldn't "acting as security" by definition be strongly against self-preservation?

I'm just curious because every other character that gets a gang has some kind of move to back it up.

Why call this a gang then? Why not say, "You have a crew that sometimes can act as security... if it's like, not dangerous."

The Maestro D has moves to back it up as ben pointed out, they're just not the same moves.

Yeah, i see the maestro's gang as hired help

Yeah, i see the maestro's gang as hired help

Which is a crew, not a gang.

Why would hired help fight for you?

And, then why does the Savvyhead get Leadership when he gets a gang for "security"?

Seems like design inconsistency to me.

Vincent?

Yeah, right now I'm ruling for Phillip (our Maestro D with the badass "John Wayne/Stephen Hawking love child" voice) that his guys will follow orders but won't make hard advances. Which is a little wonky.

I mean, by "against self-preservation", obviously suicidal stuff like "Hey, go attack that heavily fortified bunker with four times as many guys as you, all of them better armed."

Dealing with rowdy drunks, or even the occasional knife-and-gun wielding thugs looking for protection tribute, is just part of the job description.

Alternatively, "take a move from another playbook" could easily include Leadership or Pack Alpha if you've already got a gang, y'know.

Yeah, it's that whole prescriptive/descriptive argument again. Does having a gang prescriptively GIVE you leadership?

Dealing with rowdy drunks, or even the occasional knife-and-gun wielding thugs looking for protection tribute, is just part of the job description.

Right, much like a gang in a hardhold is part of the job description. However, a hardholder has Leadership.

I'm curious why the Maestro D' doesn't have a "gang move" and if not, shouldn't the gang be a crew instead?

A gang can, like, function as a weapon. A crew can't unless you do the work of getting them armed and crap. It's a distinction in terms of how they operate. Security detail is violent stuff. Crews do other things.

A gang can, like, function as a weapon. A crew can't unless you do the work of getting them armed and crap. It's a distinction in terms of how they operate. Security detail is violent stuff. Crews do other things.

That's not necessarily true.

We've already established that a Maestro D's "gang" isn't going into a big battle. They're going to like, throw someone out for drinking too much.

So, a crew detailed down to like 2 or 3 guys who work as bouncers seems much more appropriate. Certainly a crew can still engage in conflict... But, probably not get the gang's stats for size and whatnot.

I just don't see a Maestro D' having 20 guys sitting around with machineguns for "security" at his establishment. And, if so, wouldn't the D' need some kind of ability to control twenty guys?

Yeah, and crews do security work. It's a gig.

Yeah, and crews do security work. It's a gig.

Amen.

I'll hold off until Vincent speaks. He's good at cutting to the heart of things. It seems like things are being made way more complicated than they actually are. Hocuses have a move that lets them form a gang (speak truth) but don't have a leadership/pack alpha move. I've just sorted out how it works in the fiction, and if someone without a gang move wants to command a gang they use one of the other moves. It's just a matter of who's got leadership skills, and who needs to manipulate or bribe or threaten people to do what they need done.

Like is this really confusing or quibbling over word choice?