Hey all. I've got a group getting ready to go live and I'm super excited for it. Since the whole group has lived in Northeast Ohio all their lives, I thought a good way to get them interested in the game would be to set up a homebrew sprawl close to home. So I began work on a brief overview of the Cleveland Sprawl (mostly the corporate climate) and a...less brief write up on the notable gangs you would find there. I'll be posting this in sections, and I will begin work on the organized criminal elements in my homebrew Sprawl. Let me know what you think. So, brief overview and six notable gangs.
Cleveland Sprawl Information
Overview: The Cleveland Sprawl, located in northeast Ohio in the United Canadian and American states. In the early 2000s best known for an ongoing economic slump despite the local government's best efforts to revitalize it (urban decay is a thing, after all). In 2075, though, it's now a major cultural epicenter in the UCAS thanks not just to its highly commercial areas (Ares, Horizon, and NeoNET certainly got a decent slice of the pie with Saeder-Krupp, MCT and Renraku not far behind) but also because of its varied musical culture (the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is still standing) and sports teams along with its excellent stage acting and trideo production. But by far the most profitable enterprise is the Cleveland Clinic and other associated hospitals, owned by established AA corp Great Lakes Meditech. The GLH is no patsy to the AAAs and an odd shadow war is going on: GLH wants a seat on the Corporate Court and the other megas want to being it under their thumb. Whoever owns the Clinic controls Cleveland, after all.
Notable Street Gangs
The East Side Rockers
Overview: By far one of the most powerful street gangs in the sprawl and the biggest name in the East Barrens, the Rockers control most of the East Side of Cleveland and are the prime reason why magically based drugs are continously flowing onto the city streets. The Rockers membership is based only on whether or not people can play traditionally rock and roll instruments (electric guitars and basses, keyboards, and drums mostly) and whether the hopeful is "street" enough and thus they have a varied membership which was restructured from the current boss hurling mojo at the former boss (a rascist Ork) for not letting her in the gang. The current leadership is a female elf mage known as Rokku, and she's been turning the formerly mostly mundane gang into a wizgang. The Rockers gather more Awakened members each week.
Leadership: Rokku, an American born elf who grew up too heavily invested in Japanese culture and is more or less a Japanese poser (going so far as to get her eyes modified and her skin "yellowed") kicked out the old leaders in a traditional mage way: slinging enough mojo to drive off the former boss and cow the rabble. She's smart, though, and she has a contact in the Yakuza (a friendly ex who still pines for her) to keep her supplied with cheap Awakened drugs. Thanks to this, she more or less has the street level market cornered and has enough magical muscle to hold her turf. She's bitchy and superior (ah, but what elf mage isn't?) and tends to inject Japanese words (which she may or may not know the meanings of) into her speech. Her true goal is to get noticed by Horizon and become a big name is magical music, but her "concerts" are all on her turf and Horizon execs are known for avoiding the East Side like the plague. Her lieutenents are human twins who go by Deimos and Phobos (and are actually Grecian unlike the weaboo Rokku). Deimos is the boy, and is a brawling adept with no actual combat training and his sister, Phobos, is a mage who specializes in illusions.
Contacts: The bartender at the Hard Rock Cafe, an Amerindian human named Robert Running Deer knows most of the members of the gang by name and is willing to introduce you if you slip him a few hundred nuyen and can prove you can play a musical instrument. He happens to be sweet on Rokku and wants to help her get new talent for her band. Rokku's drug contact, Toshi Yamoto can help as well if you blackmail him properly. Other than that? Really, any skid row drug dealer with Deepweed probably regularly interacts with Rockers.
Membership: 32% Human, 31% Elf, 29% Dwarf, 10% Ork, 8% Troll. About half the membership is Awakened. Most of the Orks and Trolls left with the power shift and the current ones are newer members. They're on the small side, about 150 members in all, but those 75 or so Awakened is what makes them a powerhouse.
Base: Most of the East Side, particularly the areas closest to the Rock Hall. They like to hang out at a local Hard Rock Cafe franchise.
Colors: Silver and blue
Relations: They may act like they have an in with the Yaks, but truthfully they get their drugs thanks to a sentimental junior officer who will lose his pinkies if his bosses find out what he's doing. They're at open war with the Hellscreamers, but thanks to their mojo they're winning handily. They dislike Wolfpaws (they consider them backwards fools who don't know real magic) and usually attack them.
How to Piss Them off: Telling them their music sucks, arguing with Rokku about her nationality, allying with the Hellscreamers, mage hate.
The East Side Hellscreamers
Overview: The Hellscreamers are not overly concerned about racial stereotypes. Consisted solely of violent, elf-hating, synthbrew chugging, Scorpion riding Ork and Troll thugs, the Hellscreamers were formed when the current boss, Borkis the Boozekiller lost his grip on the Rockers. Best known for dealing non-Awakened drugs, drinking themselves blind, blasting Goblin Rock, beating up on "softies", and riding super loud Harley-Davidson Scorpions through their turf. The Rockers are slowly edging them out, but one things for sure: this go-gang won't go quietly.
Leadership: Once upon a time, Borkis the Boozekiller led a street gang called the Rockers before his new archenemy, Rokku kicked him out and restructered the gang. The only real difference between six years ago and now is that Borkis somehow managed to get enough scratch together to replace his arms with chrome and get some bikes. Borkis is a typical Ork, violent, impulsive, and all around just an unpleasant person to be around, especially since he's a violent drunk and a massive alcoholic. His lieutenant, Horok (real name Horace) is more or less an enabling psychopath of a troll who keeps his boss drugged and boozed up so he has more opportunities to violently beat on "softies." Unsuprisingly, Horok is the one with all the drug connections and keeps a few labs scattered around so he can deal at his leisure.
Contacts: The best in is a mechanic who runs a small skidmark of an auto garage called Smash Down in the Hellscreamer's territory. He's an Ork named Ryan Klein who deals drugs and fixes up the gang's bikes in exchange for protection and their ill-gotten nuyen. However, he isn't much of a bigot and provided your money's green he doesn't care if you have tusks or not. Most Ork and Troll drug dealers likely buy in bulk from them.
Membership: It's all Orks and Trolls, each more violent and mundane than the last. Officers tend to have some chrome, though. They're about 300 strong.
Base: East Side, specifically the Broken Tusk, a dive bar run by the Sons of Sauron.
Colors: Black and red. Borkis' inner circle tends to wear leather jackets with the word Hellscreamers in bright red letters emblazoned on the back.
Relations: They don't like anyone much if they aren't bloodthirsty Orks and Trolls (and thus usually in the gang), but they're chugging a special cup of Haterade for the Rockers who they're at open war with. They're on good terms with the Wolfpaw Tribe thanks to the tribe's chief being a troll and penchant for solving their problems with violence. They also tend to supply muscle for the local Sons of Sauron chapter and get some support from the hate group.
How to Piss Them Off: Go into their territory uninvited without being an Ork or a Troll. And to be honest they were already pissed off anyway. If you are an Ork or a Troll, call Horok by his real name, call them lightweights, say their bikes suck...it's really not hard to piss them off.
The Tower City Bluebloods
Overview: Tower City is essentially corp central as far as Cleveland goes, with Saeder-Krupp, Horizon, Ares, NeoNet, and Evo boasting ownership of at least one building in the area. It's also the home of Great Lakes Unlimited's HQ. In short, Tower City is the last place you'd expect to have any gang activity, and yet a group of spoiled rich kids referring to themselves as the Bluebloods tend to ride around there more or less every night. They ride bikes bought with mommy and daddy's money, bribing the Star or using their parent's lawyers should they get in trouble. Since they don't need money, they stick to assaulting those weaker than them and vandalism mostly, and those guns they wave around? Yeah, never been fired. They turn and run when real drek starts going down, but they do have some power: the Star or Pawns tend to show up soon after anyone comes after them. They may be reckless snobs but they're not stupid: they don't go anywhere near the turf of other gangs.
Leadership: There isn't really any. The richest and snobbiest brat at the pre-ride party usually directs the action, but even then they don't actually lead.
Contacts: There aren't any. The Bluebloods don't concern themselves with "mouth-breathing rabble" unless they're beating on you and don't have any contacts that aren't tied to some corp. The best in? Put them in your debt somehow.
Membership: Mostly Human, Elf, and Dwarf with one or two Orks and Trolls whose parents got in some corp or another (usually Horizon). It's a grab bag of what they can do, but they're not very good at fighting anyone who can actually fight. It's worth noting they all don't neccessarily come from the same corp. No one knows how many there are, but rides consist of between 10 and 30 members each night.
Base: Their pre and post ride parties take place at a Tower City club called Sky High, an ultra trendy Horizon owned rooftop club.
Colors: Royal purple and gold.
Relations: With other gangs? They ignore (and are ignored) by most everyone except Wolfpaws. Wolfpaws attack them on sight and like to spoil their fun, and Bluebloods call Lonestar on them in response. With corps and law enforcement? Pretty damn good. Money is power, after all.
How to Piss Them Off: Breathe their air and be less rich than they are. They're elitist punks, what did you expect?
The Steelyard Scrapper's Guild
Overview: While the old steel factories of Cleveland are still running, the Steelyard is a place to do shopping, not unlike an outdoor mall. Of course, shopping there means you may be contributing to a street gang's bottom line. The Scrapper's Guild are masters at getting around security features and boosting automobiles, usually working in organized hacker/rigger teams. The guild is just shy of being an organized crime syndicate by virtue of the fact that they only have a presence in the Steelyard. They also work sporadically: a month may see massive Scrapper activity, only for them to take a break for three more months then start again for four months. They also boost any other kind of tech they can get (they aren't above looting 'wares from corpses, though they avoid killing), and more than one shopper with a weak firewall has suddenly found their accounts depleted when they try to buy something.
Leadership: A technomancer runs this Matrix savvy group of thieves and miscreants, and he calls himself Integer. Truthfully, no one knows who he is or if it's even a he, but his people are loyal to him since he keeps them well paid and makes all Matrix users whether or not they're technomancers feel welcome. Integer's face and voice is called Exponent, and she's a dwarf rigger equipped with bleeding edge hardware and some tailored pheramones to keep everyone friendly. Their ace decker (who acts more like a spider), Variable, is a male Ork who oversees security and keeps the meat guards in line.
Contacts: Most people (read: wageslaves and SINers) don't even think this gang exists (although there are subtle tags around the Steelyard), but the two people they trust enough to do business with are both fences of a kind. Dr. Wall, a reclusive street doc who specializes in body mods buys any cyberware they can get ahold of, but he's hard to track down and even harder to get to talk. His patients claim to have never seen him but his work is top notch. Mr. Flip is also a mysterious wildcard. He's a human fence with a knack for buying and selling illegal merchandise. People have seen him and most fixers use him as a resource, but the best description that was given was this: "He was really...average." The only other way to contact this gang is to break into their Host, but it's easier to track down Wall or Flip if you must talk to them.
Membership: About 29% Human, 19% Elf, 35% Dwarf, 17% Ork, and 20% Troll. Around 80 members in all. Most members are either technomancers, riggers, or deckers, but about 25 members are razorguys and girls that act as muscle.
Base: They have a warehouse somewhere in the Steelyard proper, but no one knows where it is aside from the Scrapper's Guild themselves. It's suspected it looks on the level.
Colors: Forest green and steel grey.
Relations: They generally stay out of the other gang's way and do their own thing, but they do like trying to mess up the rides of the Bluebloods if they get bored. The Bluebloods, of course, have no clue who sabotages them. Other than that they stay in their territory.
How to Piss Them Off: The fastest way is to reveal gang secrets. Other than that they're pretty mellow.
The West Side Wolfpaw Tribe
Overview: Some true believers here. The Wolfpaw Tribe is less a gang and more of an urban Amerindian tribe that likes to practice shamanic magic. Anything civilized must go according to these guys. Mother Earth is crying and the corps are destroying her chunk by chunk. Most of them are young, hotblooded Amerindians, but they allow all "friends of Mother Earth" in. Their fiery rhetoric sure sounds nice, but really they're more or less a group of eco-terrorists banding together to form an urban Amerindian culture all their own.
Leadership: Their leader (chief) is a Cleveland born Amerindian troll wolf shaman that uses his real name, Martin Hunting Wolf. He's only about 25, but he's convinced numerous people from all walks of life to rally to his cause; mostly young men and women who somehow haven't had a love of nature sucked out of them. Make no mistake though, the leadership is mostly Amerindian. Natalie Laughing Cub is the tribe's human Medicine Woman and a bear shaman who focuses on healing magic. An African American dwarf woman who goes by Spiritwalker in the Matrix functions as their Techno-Shaman, so basically she's one of the only tribe members that bothers to keep up to date on Matrix happenings.
Contacts: The easiest way to get ahold of these guys is through a sympathetic talismonger rat shaman named Gordy Welch. Flighty and cowardly, Gordy can get ahold of the tribe with enough threats (rat shamans are afraid of conflict, after all) but getting on his bad side could lose you a contact and will piss off the tribe. If you have a spellslinger of your own and wander around the West Side long enough, though, they'll probably Assense their spirits.
Membership: Assorted metatypes, but most of the members have Amerindian heritage even if they're making up their traditions as they go along. The tribe has around 125 members, about 55 of them have shamanic talent.
Base: Honestly? Mostly Gordy Welch's shop: Packrat Mystic Emporioum. It's big enough he can house around 20 members at a time comfortably. If not there, they usually squat in abandoned buildings on the West Side. Gordy more or less takes care of them and is considered an honorary Wolfpaw.
Colors: None...unless you count their tribal fetishes and urban shaman chic.
Relations: The Wolfpaws and the Rockers have a heated rivalry going on, and while neither side is declaring war quite yet the tensions are starting to reach critical mass. They've been known to attack Bluebloods during their rides and they're the only gang that actually went and pissed off the Freebooters. Those two are officially at war. They have contacts in the Cleveland chapter of Terra Fist and are friendly with the Hellscreamers thanks to their troll leadership and dislike of the Rockers.
How to Piss Them Off: Three words: Civilization is better. Do NOT insult or screw with nature in front of them if you value your life. And be nice to Gordy Welch.
The Coventry Freebooters
Overview: Gang or political statement? The Freebooters are based in the popular tourist trap of Coventry Street and was formed by some libertarian college students (read: dropouts) who think the market's being stagnated thanks to pesky law enforcement. They conveniently forget that it's the free market itself that led to the stagnation. As a result, they deal in the illegal and hard to get, acting as a local criminal courier service. They make decent money doing it as any local transportation can be done more cheaply by Freebooters than their more organized counterparts.
Leadership: Get this: the leadership calls themselves the Board of Directors. Every six months they have an election within the gang and since their goals all more or less mesh, the actual members on the Board don't mean jack shit to non-Freebooters. Besides, the Board doesn't interact much with customers, they just organize. Transporters (read: the members not on the Board) are your actual workers.
Contacts: Freebooters advertise on shadow channels, so they're easy to get ahold of. They're more of a criminal resource than a gang.
Membership: Anyone who agrees with their politics and can put the almighty nuyen above their petty squabbles. They're pretty varied because of that and have around 150 members, mostly deckers and riggers but about 65 of that number is muscle. The gang is run more like a minuscule corp than anything.
Base: Coventry Street, specifically a restaurant called the Pit Stop. Would you believe the Freebooters bought this place as of 2067? Ask for the Quick Special (not on the menu) and they'll hook you up.
Colors: Green and light blue.
Relations: Generally, they're neutral and since they'll work for nearly anyone no one wants to piss them off. The exception is the Wolfpaw Tribe who consider them anti-nature fascists and have attacked them so many times it hurt the gang's bottom line. The Freebooters declared war and they'll put off deliveries to deal with them and they're well equipped enough that the magic advantage is negligible. They are also loosely allied with the Rockers out of convenience and the common enemy of the Wolfpaw Tribe.
How to Piss Them Off: They won't turn a customer away because of politics or metatype, but God help you if you stiff them.
Edits: Replaced an organlegging gang called the Saints with the Wolfpaw Tribe. Updated the relations sections to reflect this.
