Character Backgrounds

Each character in the game has a 'background' (what he did before joining your organization) and in most cases this might be important in some way. Some backgrounds (e.g. college graduates) will be much rarer than others (e.g. ex-street gang members. Many major Prohibition gangsters spent their formative years on the prowl with a street gang).

A Character's background will more often than not be reflected in his Characteristics, Skills and Abilities, as well as his Aptitude for increasing certain Skills & Abilities. For example, a College Graduate is likely to be fairly intelligent, whereas an ex-member of a street gang is likely to be tougher and more intimidating than most. Intelligence and Toughness are characteristics, while Intimidation is a natural Ability. Similarly, a College Graduate is likely to have greater Ability in (and Aptitude for) 'Business Acumen' than is a guy with a street-gang background, and is also likely to have greater Skill in (and Aptitude for) studying 'Law' and 'Accountancy'. These are just some obvious examples from a myriad of possibilities.

As well as affecting some characteristics, skills & abilities, certain character backgrounds would also be perfect for a particular type of Racket. Obvious examples would include a chemistry graduate being ideal for the alky-cooking side of the bootlegging racket, and an ex-printer or plate engraver being especially useful in forgery & counterfeiting, dummy stocks & fake share certificates, etc. However, not all background / racket connections will be quite so obvious and you will often need to use your own common-sense & knowledge (and swap likely tips with other players!) to use each man to the best of his ability. This is made more difficult by some backgrounds merely governing characteristics or boosting the aptitude for certain skills & abilities, but not actually providing a special bonus for any particular racket operation.

Boss Character Backgrounds

The backgrounds of Boss Characters are more developed, and more important, than are those for ordinary characters in the game, although the range of available backgrounds is far less as Boss Characters are rare & unique individuals.

You may select your own Boss Character Background when joining a particular game of Vendetta, which means you can also select a different Background for each game he joins. Boss Character Backgrounds dictate the starting Characteristics, Abilities & Skills for your character in that game, which may then be tweaked to some extent to produce the type of character you feel comfortable with playing.

See the separate section on 'Boss Characters' within this chapter for more information on Backgrounds and other aspects particular to Boss Characters.