Characters in the Skin Trade are designed with the same point value as starting Ops, but you may want to try a slight reduction in points (20-30) to make up for the lack of training. The following Specialties are for "native" characters that have never been Slops.
Here are sample templates to play with. Hope you enjoy.
You're good at what you do and enjoy the feeling of power you get when a victim is hanging in the truck. All of this is about economics and ego – the money is good, but you are in it for yourself. You think of your crewmates as people, but the dumbasses you talk into the truck deserve what they get. It's, survival of the smartest, baby.
You joined the Trade because you were bored and thought it could be a fun way to meet people you could use. You are a subhuman predator that has no concern for anyone, victim or coworker. Bloodshed and torture are a lot of fun and you almost became a serial killer, but it seemed like too much work. For the time being, you'll settle for the occasional murder/rape/torture on your days off or take it out on some of the warmies in back of the truck when nobody is looking. Now that you think of it, that new truck boss could be a lot of fun. You'd like to make him squeal like a pig.
You joined for the money and that's your only reason for staying. You might have a problem with the work, but most likely you try to not think of the victims you help drag into the trucks. After all, it's either you starving or them hanging in a truck and that choice is an easy one.
You have always gauged your value by the quality of the work you do, and this job is no different. Committed to being the best, you are probably thought of as arrogant or intolerant by other workers. You realized that the only way that the organization and you are going to survive is if everybody tightens down and treats this like a business. Even though others don't always follow your example you are sticking to your high standards and will plow over those who get in the way of efficiency.
You joined the Trade a long time ago simply because there was a chance to make real money for once. Now you're pulling in more than you ever thought possible and are even picking up skills in the truck docks. They've got your loyalty and you consider yourself a lifer.
You are an undercover Slop trying to take down the Trade from the inside, but you're beginning to wonder if it is possible. Every time you get a report out that you think could cripple the supply line, it's ignored. Fed up, you decided to take action and made the mistake of going over your financier's head. Now you've heard rumors that Cloak Division is looking for you on charges that you "went native". It looks like this assignment is the only place you can hide.
You used to be a good operative and had a slowly rising SCL to prove it, but things change. All the BPN your squad got were always the same thing (Blue or Red) and a person like you needs variety and challenges. You also need to get paid enough to put your ass on the line, but old badger head doesn't see things that way. When a headhunter caught up with you and made an offer, you knew it was too sweet to pass up and signed on. The money is great, the job is new, but every Op squad seems bent on taking down the organization. One of these days you're going to see your old squad mates on the other side of your gun. Will you be able to do what you have to?
Here are some recommended packages for custom characters similar to the SLA training packages:
The hookman is responsible for calling the targets and isolating them from
the crowds. Usually he or she also operates as the truck
boss and decides where and how they hunt.
Streetwise,
Detect,
Persuasion,
Detect,
Pistol,
Intimidate
The primary responsibilities of the driver are to get the truck crew into
prime hunting areas without attention and out of trouble
if needed.
Streetwise
Detect
Pistol
Mechanics
Navigation
Drive
This is the standard truck crewmember that rides shotgun, provides extra
security, and loads the victims into the truck. This is the
lowest rung on the truck crew ladder.
Streetwise
Rifle
Detect
Drive
Running
Unarmed Combat
The Herder or Overseer is responsible for managing the victims and "herding"
them through delousing, vaccination, and the showers
prior to sale.
Streetwise
Rifle
Detect
Melee Combat
Unarmed Combat
Intimidation
The Buyer is responsible for sorting through the batches of victims for
pricing and purchase. Often they are independent contractors
who scout for particular clients and engage in an old practice called
"penhooking", where they get first pick of the latest halls
before they are released for sale.
Streetwise
Administration
Persuasion
Haggle
First Aid
Intimidation
The Hit Team covers the security for the truck teams and selling arenas.
Many are ex-Props or mercs who are looking to earn easy
money.
Evaluate Opponent
Auto/Support
Rifle
Detect
Tactics
Unarmed Combat
The backbone of the truck fleet, these people keep the trucks rolling.
Drive
Drive Motorcycle
Mechanics, Repair
Electronics Repair
Detect
Pistol
Often dishonored medics or doctors from SLA, these people still ply their
trade within the underworld. Many run double duty,
chopping the dead up to resell ("shark") the parts.
Detect
Medical, Surgery
Pathology
Paramedic
Intimidate
Persuasion
The runner researches current public/street activities and is responsible
for scouting for prime hunting areas and before the trucks
roll out. They also serves as a courier for communications between truck
crews that are working in concert and work closely with the
truck boss.
Streetwise
Hide
Detect
Pistol
Running
Persuasion
The Troubleshooter is an expert at sniffing out threats to the Trade such as
undercover Slops and dealing with them. They are widely
resented.
Streetwise
Intimidate
Detect
Torture
Psychology
Interview
Coming in the next project.
The Skin Trade is organized into separate departments like any business and functions like a well-oiled machine. In general, any of the specialties provided earlier could be assigned to any division as personnel resources are transferred regularly.
The Acquisitions division covers the truck crews, their immediate support/security personnel, and crew bosses. This division is responsible for both the capture of victims, but also for most of the recruiting of new personnel.
The Retail division covers all personnel who deal with the victims after they leave the trucks, with the exception of medical teams. Herders, managers, and occasional members of Hit Teams on security operate in this area.
Maintenance covers the mechanic pool, the medical teams, weapon smiths, and machine shops. Any equipment including the physical defenses of the facilities and vehicles fall in this area.
The Security Division has free reign to position soldiers anywhere in the Trade's facilities. While the teams all fall under the umbrella of security, they frequently are on loan to other divisions. Most of the personnel are little better than well-armed gangers, but someone occasionally distinguishes himself as a professional killer or sociopath. These are usually promoted to management or placed in one of the high-risk areas where they are more useful.
The Administration coordinates the daily actions of every department and keeps things running surprisingly well. Because of its efficiency, it is suspected that one or two people run each branch of the Skin Trade, but this has never been confirmed. Hatchetmen are under the direction of the higher administration and are dispatched as needed.
The Skin Trade is a 24/7 organization, but certain departments such as Acquisitions and Retail are more limited in their operating hours. The familiar panel trucks of Acquisitions normally stalk the streets only in the nighttime hours from dusk to early morning (6 pm – 4 am) but there are exceptions. During times of large sporting events and festivals, these hours are extended to net the most victims. Each truck crew is under a Crew Boss, who in turn cooperates with the Dock Manager to coordinate their efforts. Naturally, crew and crew boss competition is fierce and has been known to create significant bouts of attrition.
The Retail division has a diverse mix of free operators and full time personnel operating in an "as needed" shift basis. While free contractors (Buyers) serving outside clients work as needed, they are most commonly found around the pens in the early hours of morning or when they majority of the loads are delivered. Because of this, the standard truck crews and security have dubbed them "ambulance chasers". The standard overseer or herder crews offer a much less exciting life and run with a skeleton crew unless loads are enroute or a large surplus is present. Mostly they concentrate on managing and caring for the merchandise while hoping to move up to a better position.
The Security and Medical Divisions run full strength teams at all hours, concentrating upon peak hours when the trucks roll back in to unload. It isn't unheard of for members of the Hit Teams as they are called to hire out as mercenaries or Props, but this behavior is usually frowned upon. The Medical teams seem fairly comfortable operating solely for the Skin Trade and seldom moonlight. For this reason, it is suspected that they are some of the most highly paid employees and they are quietly resented for it.
The Administration Division is the Skin Trade's version of Head Office, Cloak Division, and a surprisingly bloodthirsty bureaucracy all rolled into one. Directives appear to originate from the Regional Managers who control 2-6 sectors of Mort but actually come from somewhere undetermined that is higher up in the food chain. District Managers are next in line of control and oversee the operations of one to five facilities at a time. In turn, they rely upon Site/Property Managers to run the operations of the individual facilities. Below them, managers guide the various departments (dock area, security, medical, herder/overseer, etc.) and are immersed in the daily operations. The bottom of the pyramid is made up of crew/herd bosses, truck/shift bosses, and the individual team members themselves.
Promotion between levels is based upon performance and the discretion of committee (the word of one's supervisor and two managers), but assassination is also a common technique. This internal threat marks the Skin Trade's main weakness and continues to inflict more damage than inter company conflicts and SLOP interference combined. It has worked to weed out the weaker employees and guarantees that anyone in power is truly a hardened professional.
The Skin Trade is combined of over a dozen independent organizations, some of which are well known to the public and SLA Industries because of their habit of leaving colorful calling cards behind. While the calling cards of "Puppy Talk", "Delicacy", and "Slap N Tickle" have captured the imagination and ire of the public and operative squads such as Symbiote, most organizations eschew them in the favor of anonymity. The only common characteristics are the equipment that each group uses and their general purpose.
The most common feature of downtown Skin Traders is the large panel truck, similar to those used in food deliveries. In many cases it is disguised as a delivery truck, but certain features that set it apart are evident upon closer examination. The vehicle sports a powerful engine, heavy armored siding, "bullet proof" glass, and puncture resistant self-sealing tires. The cab of the truck seats up to four people and is spacious enough to store personal weapons and equipment including "gelpack" stunguns, and chlorform applicators. The rear of the truck is padded to reduce sound and has heavy welded rails that run the length of the truck for hanging victims. This area is well stocked with handcuffs, manacles, leg irons, and sedatives to accommodate a full load of guests.
Although the details of how a victim is acquired vary, there are several recognized general classifications of techniques. These are presented below in order of increasing force and risk to the bag teams. All but the last one occur regularly throughout Mort's downtown due to the chance of intervention by SLA forces.
This is the most common method for the hookman that relies upon personality and a good line instead of force to bag victims. The sales pitch could be anything from selling controlled substances to recruiting for a music video, but ends up with the victim separated from the crowd and subdued. Solicitation requires an operator with good streetwise skills, the occasional prop or fake flyer, and good intercrew communication.
Special Invitation is used to describe when a particular type of victim (i.e. blonde haired blue-eyed females, age 16-22) is being sought. Word is put out in street publications and through advertising that some sort of contest or talent show with fantastic prizes is being held in a particular area. When the victims arrive, they are rounded up, subdued, and loaded like cattle.
Roping the dope is also used when a specific person or group is being sought, but is more of a one on one affair. The targets are approached in public such as a bar and picked up by an attractive member of the opposite sex. Drugging their food or drink, the victim is helped to a cab by a few patrons never to be seen again. This technique has also been used when drugged delivery food is been delivered to an apartment where a party is occurring. Once the drug hits, the truck crews load the victims.
The Smash and Grab approach is used when subtlety is no longer an option and a target is in public or about to escape. Crewmembers approach the victim and quickly incapacitate them along with any threats. The name comes from several instances where Trade members took a liking to toll booth members and had to destroy the booths they were sheltered in to get their prey.
The Home Invasion is used primarily by the Orientan (VieChang, Tchai, or Chang) gangs, but occasionally is executed by other Skin Trade groups. Well-armed team members break into the apartment of a family and quickly overwhelm anyone they find. In addition to kidnapping anyone that they can sell, the apartment is also thoroughly looted. Anyone not useful is killed on the spot to eliminate witnesses.
When a large number of crews work in unison with either Smash and Grabs or Home Invasions, it is called a Block Party. In several instances, entire downtown tenement populations have vanished over the night, but this draws a lot of attention and is fairly rare.
The following information will allow GM's to determine the success of the technique that bag teams employ to bag victims if the event isn't roleplayed. Keep in mind that a given truck can hold around twenty-five victims at one time, but they will be badly crowded and must be sedated. Each listing has a number of details that are described below.
Risk Rating is a general rating of the danger involved.
Skill Test: The skill that is being used to capture the prey. In some cases
this is an average of two skills.
Quality of Cargo: The health status of the prey after capture. This can vary
depending upon how violent the attack is.
SLA Intervention: The chance that SLA will be informed of the attack and
intervene.
# Victims: This is the number of victims that are captured with this
technique per point of success above target in a half hour.
Note that this will vary by area according to the GM's discretion and in the
cases of Block Parties and Smash & Grabs where there is
a finite number of targets available.
Risk Rating: Low
Skill Test: Total of Streetwise + (Persuasion or Seduction) divided by 2
Quality of Cargo: High
SLA Intervention: Low
# Victims: 1 per success point
Risk Rating: Medium
Skill Test: Diplomacy or Persuasion (also could be reflected by the quality
of the ad or commercial that is run on a rating by GM of
1 to 10).
Quality of Cargo: High
SLA Intervention: Medium.
# Victims: d6 per success point.
Risk Rating: Medium
Skill Test: Seduction, Persuasion, or Diplomacy.
Quality of Cargo: High
SLA Intervention: Low.
# Victims: 1 per success point.
Risk Rating: High.
Skill Test: Combat Skill + Streetwise/2
Quality of Cargo: Medium
SLA Intervention: High
# Victims: 2 per success point.
Risk Rating: High
Skill Test: Combat Skill
Quality of Cargo: Med to Low
SLA Intervention: High
# Victims: d6+1.
Risk Rating: Very High
Skill Test: Combat Skill, Leadership, or Tactics (to direct troops)
Quality of Cargo: Medium to Low
SLA Intervention: Very High.
# Victims: 2d6 per success point.
The amount that a given victim is worth varies greatly and is subject to haggling on the part of the buyer and auctioneers. The bounty in Unis that the individual Crew Boss receive is usually set at the following values based upon the victim's perceived age. Note that specific sorts of victims sought by collectors or other clients may warrant an increase in the bounty.
| Basic values | Modifiers to these values are as such: | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Specific Interest x2-x4 Exotic +10 Attractive Advantage +20 Ugly Disadvantage -10 Minor wounds -5 Beaten to Hell -10 Diseased -20 Good Heath, Athletic +5 Virgin +20 |
Standard Pay in the Trade
The following pay scale is present for most of the organizations:
Truck Driver 8 /hr + 3% weekly take bonus of TruckBonuses usually run less than a base of 10% of the weekly take by each crew, but this varies at the GM's discretion.
There are many known factions within the Skin Trade, eight of which are detailed below along with a brief history, preferred prey, and favored operating methods. If the players want to take the role of one of these groups in the following adventure, tweak as necessary.
Promoting itself as the ultimate dating organization, this Skin Trade group specializes in the acquisition of sexual partners for specific clients. All of Big Daddy Love's employees are very professional and experts at the hard sell to close a deal. Because of their proficiency and the highly equipped Hit Teams it employs, it is rumored that this is actually a SLA subsidiary company.
Area of Operation: Any
Specialization: Specializes in specific target types for clients.
Favored Method: Rope the Dope.
If any of the Skin Trade groups can be said to be stylish or elegant, it would have to be the "Big Red Glove". The name was derived from the affectation of a charming Action-Sex-Comedy hero in New Paris that was popular several years ago. The standard recruiter for this group relies upon charm and diplomacy to bag victims and it is well known that these people are truly the best of the best. The BRG should not be taken lightly as they are even more willing to use violence than any other group.
Area of Operations: New Paris, Uptown Mort
Specialization: Young attractive people of any age group.
Favored Method: Solicitation, Special Invitation, Rope the Dope.
Chained Love is a Skin Trade group that is gradually fading out due to competition. A protracted war with Slap N Tickle over the past year greatly weakened the organization and made it ripe for a takeover bid by a competitor. Chained Love has attempted to diversify its approach by specializing in the acquisition of specific targets, but this has caused conflict with Big Daddy Love and another war is about to break out.
Area of Operation: Downtown.
Specialization: young adults, specializes in specific target types.
Favored Method: Smash and Grab.
Delicacy organization is run by a group known as the Cabal and is known for its hard takedowns of prey for resell or chop work. Even though their methods are known to be very direct and brutal, a surprising number of victims survive and end up in the Slave Trade as servants. Rumors persist that an equal number of people are sold and processed for food to cannibals.
Area of Operation: Any except Uptown.
Specialization: Any
Favored Method: Smash and Grab, Block Party.
HardTyme Inc. is a relatively new organization that specializes in acquiring dangerous prey. Aimed at supplying the Contract Circuit and TV shows of the "Hunt the Criminal for Money" variety, this group is as much a recruiter as a kidnapping operation. It is common for HardType recruiters to attempt a soft sell on a potential target, then resort to the Smash and Grab to take the victim down. They have been known to take a victim's family members instead in order to get the target to comply with their demands.
Area of Operation: Any including Uptown Mort
Specialization: Combat proficient persons for use as gladiators.
Favored Method: Solicitation, Rope the Dope.
It is widely believed that Puppy Talk derived its name from the title of the apparent leader, an exProp called the Dogman. The Dogman has a near legendary status because he has been reported killed over a dozen times by SLA operatives, only to rise from the dead and continue business. SLA assumes that the Dogman identity is passed down from one individual to the next in the chain of command, but confirmation is not possible. One fact that is not disputed is that every time the Dogman "dies", terrorist style attacks targeting Slops flare up across the city.
Area of Operation: Downtown, Suburbia
Specialization: Attractive Slops, children
Favored Method: Solicitation, Home Invasion.
Urban myth has it that this group was started through an arrangement between the infamous serial rapist/cult leader "Count Sade" and a gang called the "Bad Mofos". Seeking to find a consistent supply of specific playthings for his thriving cult, he employed the BMs to seek out attractive young people and kidnap them. The career of the Count, his cult, and the BM's ended when Kiesta enforcers caught up with them and supposedly shattered the operation along with every bone in their bodies. Unfortunately, the organization lived on and expanded its operation. It is known to actively hunt younger Kiesta gang members and is based near the gang's territory.
Area of Operation: Downtown
Specialization: Kiesta youths, other young teens.
Favored Methods: Block Party
Wah Chang means "Young Chang" in one Orienta language and is a branch of an organized crime group that has run Changtown for years. Willing to use any number of methods to acquire victims, the Chang hookmen prefer subtlety over all over approaches. The formidable resources that the Wah Chang has at its disposal should not be underestimated and have led to the elimination of dozens of operative squads in the group's several hundred year history. Often ViChang youth gangs are employed as muscle and it should be noted that they prefer Home Invasions over any other method.
Area of Operations: Orienta, Changtown
Specialization: Young non-Orienta women age 10-18.
Favored Method: Solicitation, Rope the Dope.
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