Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Info: Ranking System #2

Well, I've finally finalized the ranking system. It started with a download on MTS that mentioned the Vice Lords of Chicago, wandered through an article on criminal tattoos in wikipedia, and ended on Tru TV's Crime Library where I read about the organization of the Yakuza and the Mafia.


So here it is in loose form:




Henri is of course at the top. I see him more organizing rather than giving out orders though he is highly respected. Orders will most likely come from those directly under him, his trusted ones, and are probably issued out to the generals who complete the orders as they see fit.

There’s another adviser besides Jimmy, someone probably the same age as Henri who went through the Revolution with him. I imagine Kyrene’s father would be appropriate. He’s the right age and packed with wisdom. I imagine that Henri and Kyrene’s father struck a truce early on during the Revolution. It’s possible they knew each other from before, or at least knew of each other.

Kyrene's father is a shadow character to me right now. I don't even have a name for him yet.

Jimmy is of course considered second in command and has been since he was about 18. He’s an adviser, and he’s an enforcer. Henri's having Jimmy by his side is like having tamed the devil, and any fear that Jimmy gets, Henri gets the over flow. Being of the second generation, he will one day take over for Henri. (That time is assumed to be soon.)

Jimmy is basically like a visible Ghost as far as most people are concerned (if they believe in that at all). What they don't know is that one of his quieter functions actually is to work with the Ghosts, co-coordinating their movements, keeping them connected, calling them home when needed. I would guess that Aaron is actually the head of that group.

Ghosts are outside the regular organizational structure of the tribe. These are usually individuals who act alone rather than acting as a group. They communicate long distance through messengers who are usually unaware of what is actually going on. For a very difficult mission, it's possible that more than one Ghost may gather to lend assistance, but most of the tribe members may not be aware of it.

I do think people are aware that Aaron is someone important. Most people know he's someone dangerous, and the more observant people probably have noticed him with Jimmy or noticed him walking around in Neutral clothing like he owns the place. But to the average tribe member, the Ghost rank is a superstition.



Next up are the high ranking generals, each one with their own groups they control. These are people like Kyrene, Angel, Mike, Shawn, etc. There are probably more, each controlling an area/region of the abandoned city. These are the ones I see running apartment buildings.

Then the “Junior Leaders.” These're the young ones who are up and coming. Usually there is one junior leader who is trusted by the general of the area-- I see a relationship similar to the one between Henri and Jimmy. They’re sort of advisers/generals in training. I see them probably being in control, not of the apartment, but of the lower levels of the apartments. Per apartment, there can be more than one junior leader controlling a group comprised of those ranked below them.

Under the junior leaders are the grunts. I would guess they're like the Yakuza “younger brothers.” These are the trainees, so they're usually pretty young (from 10 to about 14 usually). They start their training living in barracks of some sort until they earn some rank and get an apartment, and even then they usually share that apartment with one other.

Maria is actually a high ranking grunt. But she lives with Mike who happens to be one of the generals. She has the capabilities, and so the others are working with her and training her.


Where does Brandon fit into this? At the moment, Brandon is considered a general, though he doesn't have his own area that he controls. The building he lives out of is actually Angel's area. (Poor Angel, he has both Brandon and Jimmy in his area.) Mostly, Brandon travels a lot, and so he can't be tied down to an area and expected to care for a group.


Now I can see that the ranking fights would probably be scheduled per area and the participants would most often involve the two lower levels-- Junior Leaders and the Grunts.

6 comments:

  1. It's very cool to see your rankings laid out like this. It's something that comes up so often in Ruin and a visual representation is helpful. The ghosts, in particular, are intriguing.

    Heh, you read my mind because all through this, I was wondering where Brandon fit in! I guessed he'd be a general but I wasn't sure.

    One question, do all the Southlanders move up through the ranks like that? Starting with grunt and then working their way up? Possibly, I guess, because I would imagine not everyone could be a leader.

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  2. I'm glad it's helpful. I hadn't really had things set here until the other day, lol.

    Hehe, yeah I figured someone would want to know about Brandon. And it's good reference for me too.

    For the most part, all Southlands move up the ranks in this way. Like in Mary's Story when Brandon turned ten and had to start his training. It's like a right of passage on its own.

    But there are some that are good enough to skip levels. Angel came along and blew everyone away at his ranking fights. He was meant to be a leader.

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  3. Thanks for this extra little insight, Lunar. I'm glad to see that my idea of Henri gels with your own.

    Brandon is quite an interesting character - there's something about him that just doesn't quite gel in my head with the rest of the tribe so I'm not really surprised that he doesn't have a physical area to control.

    Even though Jimmy is second in command, Brandon appears to me to be more like Henri than Jimmy is. He's an observer, an organiser, a charismatic person who could draw others to him if he so chose, who doesn't get physical unless he sees no other option. At least, that is my impression of him :)

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  4. Seriously, how do you do that? LOL! Yeah, the more I write them, the more it seems clear that Brandon is a lot more like his father than it would seem at first. And he's definitely more like Henri than Jimmy is. Though I think in some ways, Jimmy and Henri also have a lot in common too, but nothing that we've touched on yet.

    Hmmm.. yeah, I can see what you mean. There is something about Brandon that doesn't gel with the others despite his natural tendency to connect with others.

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  5. I am intrigued as to where Brandon fits in the ranks and what Henri wants him to do that he doesn't want to do (grammar alert).

    This was actually very helpful to understand the hierarchy a bit more.

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  6. Very good question. Another good one is what Brandon actually does, which I intend on getting to at some point in time. Though I haven't figured out if it'll be in this story or not. I just realized the other day that the script I had going has been tossed out the window by my characters. Ah those silly voices in my head!

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