A riot broke out within my city. One of my scum players took the opportunity to one of the gangs and capped their leader. After doing this and a few lucky rolls of charm he now has a gang to call his own.

Now I have no problem with my players having minions but when he asked me if he could improve his people it got me thinking some ideas on how to do so. The easy answer would be to let him pay some xp but how would you guys rule out improving a player's minion if you are in my situation?

I think the most obvious aspect of improvement would be the equipment and weapons they have access to. It all depends on how the rest of the Cell goes along with it, but I could imagine the Acolytes starting to use their contacts and connections to secure small shipments of armour and arms for the gang that would otherwise lie outside their realm of influence (either due to legality or sheer distance). They could also use their influence to grant this gang a certain amount of leeway from local Enforcers, such as having their area of operations declared off-limits for patrols or outright declaring them Inquisitorial assets towards whoever is in charge. Similarly, the player characters could use their influence to direct Enforcer attention to the other gangs who are enemies to these newfound allies, thus taking out the opposition and allowing the Scum's buddies to fill the void.
All of this would be based not on any XP costs but rather the Cell's contacts and the amount of influence they can exert on local authorities, as well as their own money they would want to invest in this endeavour.

Such games are not without risk, of course. If the equipment if of a remarkably higher power (such as, say, military-grade) and these weapons turn up in the hands of arrested or killed gangers this could raise questions. If another Inquisitor stumbles over this he could even use it as evidence to condemn the Cell and possibly their Master with them, accusing them of undermining the Imperial Order and indirectly formenting rebellion against the rightful rulers of said world.

In short: I would use this as a plothook and have them roleplay it. The advantages would be a steady source of information on the local underground (the bonus depending on the gang's own influence and power) as well as potentially some additional monthly income and the option to call upon a bunch of thugs that assist the Cell in whatever business they have on this world (if transportation is provided). In essence, your Cell might end up propelling this lowly gang to some sort of planetary mafia, given enough time and resources.

I would also suggest that you take a look into the Ascension book, as it does in fact present players with an Influence Talent called "Crimelord" (p.115), which would apply to exactly a situation such as this. The only difference is that the Crimelord actually has criminal connections throughout the Sector, not just a single planet.

newo said:

Well, improving the gang could be done most easily by funneling cash into buying them better equipment. That could provide an immediate benefit, but ideally not a permanent one (unless the PC spends XP to make it permanent). They could lose the gear to raids, either by local law enforcement or rival gangs. It could break down and they have neither the expertise nor the resources to fix stuff like this. The spending of XP would represent teaching the gang how to keep their gear secure/hidden, or investing his own pesonal influence on diverting police raids, etc.

If the PC isn't around to monitor the gang on a regular basis, you could also have a gang member who tries to make a coup at whoever the PC leaves in charge. Maybe he kills the guy and takes the whole gang, or maybe he just runs off with a few members (and some of your improved gear.) Pretty soon all the other gangs in the area are sporting the same equipment and your guys are no longer "improved." Then you get into a whole arms race deal. How much money is your PC willing to funnel into this gang when his efforts end up empowering all the other gangs, too? How far can this escalate before the imperials get concerned with rising gang violence in the lower sectors? This world has already been through one major riot, I doubt the party's superiors would look too kindly on your player actively funding further violence.

Maybe a rival inquisitor (or rogue trader or some other influential person) surfaces, controlling a rival gang. Maybe he's been at this racket for a while and is upset that your PC appears to be intruding on his territory, or maybe he just got the same idea from the same riots. Now the two puppet gangs are going at each other, and the Rival may be willing to pump a lot of cash into making his gang powerful (forcing the PC to repsond in kind or watch his gang get pummeled into oblivion.)

In short, I wouldn't "rule out" any efforts to improve the gang, but I wouldn't make it easy to keep them either. Improvements made will have a habit of eroding or getting lost in time. In that kind of world there's always someone out for the big dog, and now the big dog is your PC. If the PCs end up leaving this planet, it may not even be worth trying to keep the gang after a certain point. (If the PC wants to take them off world with him, you could have them flat out refuse. "This is OUR HOME. We ain't leavin it to THEM!" "What about my momma and my 16 siblings and their extended families? You gonna take them too? I ain't leaving without them." "**** that, I ain't going to space! There's all sort of nasty xenos out there!") People don't join gangs without a reason, and many of those reasons could be immobile. There's a reason gangs tend to be territorial after all. If they could go somewhere else (without losing their pride) they probably would.

Steve-O said:

Well, in all fairness, the reason most Imperial citizens don't go anywhere else is simply because they cannot afford the trip. And we're talking gangers here - the kind of people that usually cannot even afford travelling to another country in our world. When the mafia and yakuza could spread beyond Italy and Japan, I don't see why some gang couldn't spread off-world in 40k if it suddenly gets access to the necessary resources and contacts. The Malfian Bloodsworn operate all over the Calixis Sector, too, and I'm pretty sure they only started out on Malfi alone at first as well.

As for threats to the gang, I think the most dangerous enemy would not be another gang (I don't see others having the resources to arm themselves up to a similar degree to what an Acolyte Cell could "organize", else they would have likely already done so) but a rival from the inside. This could be the lieutenant the Scum has left in charge when he's gone, or it could be an upstart who dislikes the idea of "his" gang being led by an off-worlder who keeps getting a share even when he was gone for months (conveniently "forgetting" about any investments made to improve the gang).

I see a lot of potential, but not much harm that could come from keeping this unique "Scum contact" permanently. It could be a steady provider of plot-hooks and the perfect setup for the Ascension "Crimelord" Influence Talent.

Lynata said:

Having a "scum contact" who happens to be part of a particular gang is one thing. Even if he's the gang leader, he's still just one guy. Having the entire gang at your beck and call is something else. That's more than just influence. That's manpower, firepower and money (via robbery perhaps, but money nonetheless.)

I definitely got the impression from the OP that he was dealing with having given his player the latter and then having his player want to improve the quality of manpower, firepower, et al that his gang could provide.

Steve-O said:

True, but this isn't much different from some of the other contacts you can get. IH specifically mentions the possibility of using contacts for anything up to requisitioning an Imperial Guard company with armoured vehicles. A gang is pretty small-scale compared to that, and if the players are putting that much effort into it I'd at least consider granting them this small toy and sense of achievement. It's still regionally limited, after all.

Other Cells start small legal business for steady income, yet others keep close contact with the Munitorum or the Navy ... so why not have something like that in the underworld?

Well there is no doubt I'm gonna be using this gang as a plot hook but it's gonna have to wait in line for the other things I have in store for my players.

Sometimes the simple things really miss us. I haven't even thought of letting him buy for the stuff his gang members are gonna have to carry around.

A gang is often viewed through the lens that it is more than just a group of people with one common purpose. Some view them as weapons and tools. After all, these tools at the acolytes disposal need upkeep. Perhaps keeping regular contact or a steady cash flow. I like the idea of having the player spend thier own cash to fund the gang, it not only gives them a sense of responsibility but gives them another outlet for any loose thrones that your acolyte may have laying around.

"Whats that you want to buy some new carapace armor and some bolt rounds? SURE!!! Just remember that your gangs equipment needs servicing and they need some cash to pay off the Arbites so thier other activities can flourish"

Personally i'd treat having a gang or other group as I would a bolt pistol. It's extremely effective if you supply it, take care of it, and maintain it's inner workings. However if you neglect to do these things it's just an over glorified club!

My WFRP (2nd ed) group has a similar option available to them. Since it is only the three of us gaming, I let them have a henchman they can directly control. They were also complaining they were levelling up too fast, so i gave them the option of banking xp they didn't want to use on their personal character, on their henchman.

Congratulations! Are they boys or girls?

Much good has been said already. I wouldn't charge xp for anything unless the PC actually wants to spend alot of time training them himself. If he does, tell him that doing so might be at the cost of his own training and improvement, and thus cost xp - which he might accept anyway.

A general rule to train the gang in a certain talent for example (Basic SP for example) is that the PC needs to have it, spend some time and twice the xp he need to learn it himself (in this case 200xp). Since there is no instruct skill I would use a basic (Ordinary)fellowship test, and let him instruct as many as his FB at a time, more with Air of Authority, taking a certain amount of time (of course retries are allowed until the gangers become tired and refuse).

If you want to avoid dice rolling etc. just say it takes x time and have him pay the cost.

The easiest is of course to give them stuff to use, and an industrious Scum may find ample opportunities to loot equipment and guns that the other Acolytes don't bother with and then give it to the gang.

The question is: Will the Scum inform his Inquisitor and try to use the gang to serve the Inquisition, or does he try to keep them secret and serves himself? Some puritans also may hold that "though shalt not succor the criminal" that the Acolytes swore...

Anyway, sounds fun I wish my Scum had done something like this.

Edit: Oh and I forgot - after some investments and time, this is a GREAT opportunity for the Scum to gain some steady income other than a random larceny roll... Scum: "Huh? What's in this envelope?" Ganger: "It's your cut boss, you know from last month's Obscura shipment"