Equal Opportunity Evil

For this designer diary entry, I wanted to talk to you about how we included characters of any gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity in Wiseguys.

The Italian-American Mafia is a secretive brotherhood of thieves whose membership is restricted to males of Italian heritage. During my research, I discovered that the Mafia employs and works with individuals called associates who aren't members. They perform the same tasks as made men of the lowest ranks but aren't privy of the Mafia secrets, aren't included in decision-making process, and don't get the same share of the profits. Furthermore, they aren't subject to the same rules and membership requirements. This was important because it opened the game up to more than just Joe Pesci clones as was the case in the adventure that started it all: Fuhgeddaboudit!

Associates made it possible to include circus acrobats, Las Vegas showgirls, roller derby or glow girls, wedding officiants and any character part of the Las Vegas landscape that you wouldn't typically expect to see in the Mafia while still respecting the integrity of this romantic and iconic crime syndicate.

Now I know what you might be thinking. But playing a real made guy is much cooler! Perhaps so. This is a decision you'll have to make when you make your Wiseguys character. However, I just wanted to share with you some of the precedents in history that may make you rethink that. Two men instrumental to the expansion of the Mafia in Las Vegas, Meyer Lansky, and Bugsy Siegel weren't Italian; they were Jewish. Frank Rosenthal, the man who ran 5 casinos for the Outfit in the 70s, and whose life is depicted by the character of Ace Rothstein in Scorcese's Casino by Robert DeNiro was also Jewish. What about Scorcese's other iconic mafia movie Goodfellas? The three main characters in that movie played by Ray Liota, Joe Pesci, and Robert DeNiro were based on real-life Henry Hill, Tommy DeVito and James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke. Two of these men were Irish, none of them were made men. Despite all this, the mafia experience felt quite authentic, wouldn't you say?

As you can see, the Mafia doesn't discriminate against gender or ethnicity. If you can make money for them, they want you! They are an equal opportunity employer.

The Wiseguys JumpStart is out and in there you can find prime examples of how exotic, unique, and fun your character can be in Wiseguys.

What do you want to play when you play Wiseguys?

I leave you with an illustration by Chaim Garcia. Chaim is on the roster to illustrate Wiseguys. Here is a safecracker!