Character Abilities

Ability Attributes are defined in the game as a type of character talent which may be improved only by use, not by study or practice (or at least, not by the average gangster in the first half of the last century). Abilities improve only by a character being assigned Orders or duties which require certain Abilities to be exercised as a matter of course. For instance, promoting a Character to a higher level of responsibility within your Organization will develop his Leadership Qualities Ability; ordering him to tail a particular named rival without being detected will develop his Stealth Ability; while giving him the job of extorting 'Protection' money from local businesses will develop his Intimidation Ability. But in all cases these Abilities will improve only to the best of which he is personally capable, which is known as his Aptitude for that Ability. Every named Character in the game, including your own Boss Character, has a rating of 1-9 in each of ten different Abilities, with a 5 being average. These are shown on each member's 'Character Profile' screen, both as a current Ability rating and an Aptitude rating for each Ability. The Aptitude rating shows how high it's possible for each individual character to progress in a particular Ability. For example, a Character might join your gang with a current 'Intimidation' Ability of only 3 or 4 ('Below-average'), but with an Aptitude for Intimidation of 8 ('Very Good'). The more he uses 'Intimidation', the quicker his actual level of Ability will rise, until it matches his Aptitude for that Ability. Both the current level of Ability and the Aptitude for each Ability are determined mainly by the Characteristics of that individual. A character's background might also affect some current Ability ratings, or the Aptitude for some Abilities. For example, an 'Ex-Street Gang Member' will have a natural bonus to his 'Intimidation' Ability, and to his Aptitude for this Ability. Abilities differ from Skills in only one important aspect - they can be learned & improved upon only through experience, by actually using the Ability. Skills, on the other hand, may also be improved by a character purposely devoting some of his spare time to study or practice, as appropriate to the Skill in question. As a general rule it is best to give Rackets & Orders to characters which have the most chance of improving the Abilities for which they have the highest Aptitude, regardless of the current level of Ability. The higher a character's Aptitude for a particular Ability, the faster he will improve in this Ability simply from making use of it, and the sooner he will become a more useful & efficient member of your gang. For example, a character with high Aptitude (7-9) for 'Intimidation' Ability should be given something like a 'Protection' (extortion) racket, even if his current Intimidation Ability is very low. On the Protection racket he will need to use intimidation on a daily basis to ensure a continual income flow. While he might not be particularly successful initially due a current low level of ability, his high Aptitude for Intimidation means he will develop this Ability more quickly than others might, simply from running 'Protection', and will therefore eventually be running a very profitable racket with very little trouble.

Ability Types

Leadership Qualities

This is the natural ability of command, to inspire other men to willingly follow your lead and have faith in your abilities. Leadership Qualities are essential for any character hoping to achieve, and then keep, any high-ranking position in a criminal organization. Characters unsuitable for the job - should such be foisted upon them prematurely - will but serve to alienate those now placed below them in rank, and this will undoubtedly cause complications in the long run. Men need to feel confident in the abilities of those placed above them in order to perform their best.

Business Acumen

While not essential to be a successful criminal, having a good business sense can make a huge difference to the profitability of a criminal racket or operation. Good businessmen can keep costs low without being detrimental to efficiency, can more easily spot opportunities for expansion and increased profits, and are better able to avoid the legal pitfalls involved in operating an illegal business.

Intimidation

The ability to intimidate one's fellow man is partly a combination of natural physical attributes, and partly a sense of 'knowing what makes the clock tick'. It's the latter part, especially, which can be learned from experience.

Intimidation is one of the most widely-useful abilities to possess, being both a means of more easily getting what you want as well as the means of making it less likely that anyone will complain about it afterwards...

Persuasion

Where intimidation fails (or where it perhaps might even be dangerous to attempt), Persuasion is a better option. This is the ability to make another see your point of view without unnecessary threats of bodily harm and busted property. Ordinary people and low-ranked criminals might react better to Intimidation, but anyone a little higher up the social ladder - those with a somewhat greater sense of self-worth - would usually react better to a more reasonable argument. Persuasion is the ability to offer arguments of the 'utmost reasonableness', to use the words of Don Corleone.

Unlike Intimidation, when using Persuasion the threat is still always there, it just never needs to be so openly stated.

Stealth

Quite simply, the ability to go largely unnoticed and to not stand out in a crowd, or at least to not arouse undue interest. Characters with high Stealth ability are those best able to appear to be normal 'civilians' going about their normal, boring daily lives, and to appear unremarkable in every way that counts - until it's too late. This is an especially useful ability for operating in rival territory, whether or not your intentions are immediately hostile.

Interrogation

Torture-interrogation in Vendetta is perhaps the best way of learning about rival personnel and operations, so much so that it has its own special ability. However, it takes a particular, rare type of person to really excel at this ability. It also takes a lot of hands-on experience to perfect the finer, grisly details of extracting the last ounce of useful information before the victim inevitably succumbs to the welcome embrace of death. The characteristics required to be a good interrogator are also useful when performing certain other tasks, so this ability will actually increase gradually for some characters even though they might never be involved in actually torture-interrogating a rival. In essence, this ability is actually also used (and improved) in other, vaguely similar situations, if the character has the Aptitude for it.

Personnel Management

A good personnel manager is a useful member to have around, if you can find one. Personnel management is a natural ability; a knack of finding the right man for the job, whatever that job description might entail. Any task involving recruitment, promotion or handling of personnel would benefit from being undertaken by someone with appropriate abilities.

Perception

Perception is the ability to see beyond the obvious. Its most subtle and useful trait is the ability to detect a lie, but it might also prove a useful ability to posses in various situations in which underworld characters - in particular - might find themselves involved. High Perception is one ability always 'working in the background' whatever the character is doing, and in the right situation might prove the difference between life and death.

Awareness

Awareness is another ability always 'working in the background' whatever the character is doing. This is perhaps best defined as a 'sixth-sense'. A character with high awareness will more often than not realize when something doesn't feel quite right, and this is also usually physically manifested by a tingling sensation along the hairs on the back of the neck. A character with very high awareness is almost never caught completely by surprise, which can be a very handy ability to possess.

Self-Preservation

This ability is an unusual one in that a character will mostly improve in this ability only on the rare occasions where he has used it successfully, as a failure to use it properly usually means that he will die soon after... Self-preservation is literally the ability to learn from past experience in surviving potentially-deadly situations, making it more likely he will survive such a situation in future. As with all skills & abilities, the character's Aptitude in this ability is based on his Characteristics, but - uniquely - Self-preservation also benefits from a character's Perception and Awareness abilities as described above.