Gangs of New York – Lessons for Blades

Gangs of New York – Lessons for Blades

I just watched Gangs of New York. Twice actually. Once to enjoy the story and once to track the progression of gangs as factions in Blades.

The story has a lot about gang war and ward bosses, and personal drama. Lovers and vengeance and all of that.

But…it also has a TON of political issues that exacerbate and fuel the central drama. It takes place in 1863, right in the middle of the Civil War and though it’s in New York (far away from the fighting) that is a major driver throughout the movie.

Two things I saw that were remarkable about this:

1.Politicians (as they always do) needed voters, and they were more than happy to use the disenfranchised (in this case Irish immigrants) to establish their voter base while at the same time employing anti-immigrant gangs (literally “The Natives”) to keep them down. Powerful people pitting one gang against another for their own profit. Sadly familiar IRL, but put in a very gamable context for Blades.

2. People will just let the world fucking burn to see their vengeance delivered. There is a scene at the end (trying to avoid specific spoilers here but if you’re sensitive to them, I’d skip this paragraph) where I’m just amazed as Bill “the Butcher” Cutting (a character that John has referenced as an inspiration for Bazso Baz) and Amsterdam Vallon are at each others throats despite the world falling apart around them. As far north as it is, war came to New York (in a fashion) and it destroyed lives, but these two fuckers didn’t care. They just had it out for each other and everyone else could be damned.

So I wonder…

…have you used powerful NPCs that are ostensibly not criminals to fuel the conflict between gangs to further their own political agenda? Are the gangs pawns of the nobles, the other way around, or a bit of both?

…have your Blades ever had political aspirations or sided with a powerful notable to do their dirty work?

…how much of the Unity War or the Skovlander refugees have you seen in your games? Anyone set a game few years before Blades normally starts while the Unity War was still going on?

…do you see the Blades being part of the larger ecosystem of Imperium, or are their actions so insignificant that they are unnoticed by the Ministries? What would it look like if a noble or government official took notice of the Blades? What would they want to do with them? What do the Blades think about politics or are they too focused on their own battles to even care?

…finally, I’ve seen this a lot with the Bloodletters. Do you think that Blades, by their nature, profit off misery, because if they don’t, someone else will? Because its the only way they can?

I mean, what Arcy and Canter and Oskarr do is just awful. They sell Leviathan blood to people to shoot up with and turn them into catatonic demon-human hybrid monstrosities and then sweep that under the carpet by giving the bodies to a vampire. What the fuck is wrong with these people? The fuck is that by their account, that is the only way to get ahead. Is there any force of morality or civic responsibility or scrap of patriotism that would ever make them reconsider their actions? Would they keep doing what they do if it hurt their city? Yes, we seen that. What about the whole Imperium? What about their friends? Their family? I’m just not sure.

Love to hear your thoughts on Blades and how they fit into the world of Shatter Isles.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0217505/?ref_=nv_sr_1

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0217505/?ref_=nv_sr_1