Gangbusters Module Summaries

GB1: Trouble Brewing

The module is divided into three parts, with Part 1 being the Introduction. Part 2 'Campaign Background' presents a general overview of Lakefront City (the campaign city of the game, clearly modelled on Chicago). It gives a general overview of the political structure of the city and provides write-ups of the Mayor, City Attorney, Chief of Police and representative Councilmen and Judges. It then goes on to present a much more detailed look at the First Ward of the city (keyed to the map in the 1st edition box of Gangbusters and included—in reduced form—in the 3rd edition book of the game) giving write-ups of assorted policemen, federal agents, criminals, private eyes and assorted ordinary citizens—shop owners, labourers, cab drivers, office managers, secretaries, reporters, sales assistants, bank tellers, a doctor, a dentist, etc. Part 3 'The Campaign Game' presents series of scenarios (all set in the First Ward) which can either be run independently or linked together into a campaign detailing the progress of a 'Beer War' between the O'Connor Gang and
the Tolino Mob as the O'Connor Gang tries to take over all the Bootlegging operations in the First Ward. Not all the scenarios relate directly to the Beer War—there's a bank robbery, a jewellery heist, a couple of murders and a police raid included—but in a campaign game, everything would impact on the general mood of the city and the fortunes of the characters, so it's all related. (The entire contents of this module are included as 'Part III: Lakefront City' in the 3rd edition rules for Gangbusters, so if you own that edition, you pretty much don't need this module.)
This has information on bootlegging. Since it assumes that (some) of the PCs will be members of the O'Connor Gang, it presents bootlegging from a bootlegger's point of view.


GB2: Murder in Harmony

This presents a 'murder mystery' in which the PCs have to figure out who killed Arthur Overton, the lead cellist of the Lakefront City Symphony Orchestra and President of the Musicians Union. Overton is shot dead during a brief blackout at his home in the middle of a cocktail party he and his wife were giving for various members of the city's social elite. This is actually a humdinger of a scenario, in a hardboiled sort of way, with various 'respectable' members of society turning out to have all sorts of dirty little secrets with blackmail, kidnapping and embezzlement occurring in addition to murder. Given the right set of players (ones who enjoy hardboiled detective stories and are capable of investigating and solving a mystery).


GB3: Death on the Docks

This one features a war for control of Lakefront City's docks and the Longshoreman's Association (the dock workers' union) between "Comrade Leon"—a communist agitator and union organiser—and Ned Flynn—owner of a small shipping company and gangster—with various law enforcement agents (both local and federal) caught in the middle and trying to deal with both. It gives a nice picture of the infiltration of the labour movement by organised crime and of some of the management excesses and abuses that made a labour movement necessary. Ned Flynn is, among other things, a bootlegger and the docks are one of the main ways that booze enters the city. Flynn wants to control the docks and the Longshoreman's Association not only to secure his own supply of liquor, but also to be able to dictate terms to many of the other bootleggers in the city, much of whose alcohol also comes through the docks. The fact that, if he wins, Flynn would also be able to dictate terms and collect 'protection' money from the other shipping company owners is almost just an added bonus.

 

GB4: The Vanishing Investigator

Another mystery and a rather nice one. US Senator Andrew Barrington heads a
Senate Subcommittee on Organised Crime, which has just arrived to hold hearings
in Lakefront city. On the first day of hearings, after giving his opening speech Senator Barrington disappears from the Bloomfield County Courthouse, where the hearings are being held. He walks from the hearing room to an adjacent room and just vanishes. Nobody saw him leave and his hat, scarf, coat, papers, etc. are all still in the courthouse where he left them. The PCs have to figure out what happened to the Senator and why he disappeared. Shortly before the hearings started, Barrington announced that he had a 'surprise witness' who would testify against Stephano Luchinetti, the top crime boss in Lakefront city, so Luchinetti is the prime suspect in the Senator's disappearance and, if Barrington isn't found so the hearings can resume, Luchinetti will continue to rule the Lakefront city underworld, his power, if anything, enhanced by the incident. It's a very nice little crime-oriented adventure with the entire 'Senator disappears from the middle of a crowded courthouse in the middle of hearings' bit being a very pulp-ish touch. I can see The Shadow (or similar 'mysterious avenger') investigating this one very easily.

GB5: Death in Spades

Yet another murder mystery, this one with a gimmick. Before running the adventure, the GM draws a card from a standard deck of 52 playing cards (less Jokers). This determines who the murderer is in the scenario. Depending on what card is drawn, the back-story of the adventure follows one of five different plots, the victims vary and the clues the PCs find will change. Beyond the gimmick, a gambling theme runs through the adventure(s), so playing cards abound at various crime scenes. The scenario is also organised around a poker theme, with the chapters named 'Ante Up,' 'A Pair of Deuces,' 'Full House,' 'All Bets Are Off,' 'Call or Bluff?' 'The Last Hand' and 'Cashing In.' This last bit is actually very reminiscent of various pulp detective
stories, but I'm not really sure how it would translate into play proper—unless the GM specifically divides the game into 'chapters.' A significant part of the action occurs in a speakeasy/nightclub.

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