Alertness & Character Modes

The Alertness Level set by your Boss Character will determine the 'Mode of Operation' used by all other Characters in your personal Organization. There are seven such Modes - 'Full Open', 'Open', 'Low Alert', 'High Alert', 'Mattress', 'In Hiding' and 'On The Lam' - in ascending order of alertness, with each one making your gang members more cautious (and therefore harder to kill) but reducing the Time Points (0-36) each has available to conduct normal operations and carry out your Orders. You cannot specifically order an Alertness Level of either of the two extreme Modes ('Full Open' or 'On The Lam'), although these will be used by some of your underlings for personal reasons, depending on your suggested Alertness Level. A Character's chosen 'Mode of Operation' affects his level of caution when conducting 'Business Operations' (running rackets) and how he spends any available 'Free Time'. It does not make him any less cautious when carrying out dangerous 'Orders' such as attacking or investigating rivals, only should rivals come gunning for him. A Character's 'Mode of Operation' also has a direct affect on any Hit or Kidnap Plan currently being devised against him, meaning that it's much harder to plan such an activity against someone who spends much of his time being very cautious indeed.

Note that all named characters will adjust their own 'Mode of Operation' to suit their personal characteristics & situation, regardless of the Boss's general recommendation. For instance, characters actively wanted by the police for serious crimes will tend towards 'Hiding' or even going 'On The lam' for a while, until things cool down a little.

Your own Boss Character may of course select his own preferred Mode from all of the above - including either of the two extremes - regardless of the mode being recommended for your organization as a whole. However, while being 'On The Lam' yourself makes it almost impossible for anyone to kill you, it will also soon destroy the morale of your organization when they realize just what a yellow-bellied, chicken-livered, sorry bag of spineless pus you really are... ;-) That said, sometimes the morale of your boys might just be the least of your worries...

If you have other player-Bosses beneath you in your Syndicate / Family you will also have an option by which you may pass on to those below you, in way of recommendation, a suggested Alertness Level. You will also be informed of an Alertness Level suggested by the Boss above you. By this means does the Don of the Family inform all Bosses below him of the current likely hostile risks to the Family. However, no Boss is obliged to follow such a recommendation, nor even to pass the same suggestion down to those below him.

Main Modes

The six main 'Modes of Operation' are as follows:

Full Open

36 Time Points available, but little or no caution at all in their daily operations & habits.

Some underlings will adopt this extreme mode if the Boss suggests 'Open' (below), usually due to stupidity, greed, or perhaps a supreme confidence in their own ability to deal with any nasty surprises. The Boss cannot himself recommend this mode to his Underlings - it's a little too dangerous even in times of peace & prosperity, as a Character operating in 'Full Open' mode is one taking no precautions whatsoever.

Open

30 Time Pts, normal caution.

This mode is most often used by Bosses of a Syndicate or Family not currently involved in, or in fear of, immediate hostilities. This is the mode to use (when safe enough!) to maximize your organization's income and expansion.

Low Alert

24 Time Pts, increased caution.

This mode is most often adopted by very cautious Bosses who don't like to take risks with the lives of their men, or by parts of a large Syndicate / Family rumoured to be in danger of a war but not yet themselves actively involved.

High Alert

18 Time Pts, high caution.

This mode is used by segments of a Syndicate / Family currently at war (or perhaps by those simply fearing being hit hard in the very near future) but one still needing to maintain a good income flow and some other active operations.

(Hit the) Mattress

12 Time Pts, extreme caution.

This mode is used almost exclusively by Syndicates & Families about to go to war or already involved in such. There is little time spare for anything other than fighting the war and trying to keep your underlings safe. Income will likely suffer considerably with so little spare time available, as most of each character's time is being taken up by being extra vigilant and either being on the move or out of plain sight.

In Hiding

6 Time Pts, maximum caution.

This mode is most often adopted by organizations fighting a losing battle, where the primary objective is now simply to try to keep your remaining underlings alive. Minor operations may still be conducted by those characters you think might be good enough, or guarded well enough, to risk the streets now and then. Even so, some wimpier characters will still go 'On the Lam' (see below) should the Boss order his Organization into hiding with this mode.

On The Lam

0 Time Pts.

This mode involves safely taking an extended vacation out of the city. This mode cannot be directly ordered by the Boss but some terrified characters will adopt it regardless, should things seem too dangerous for them personally. It's extremely unlikely that anyone 'On The Lam' will be killed or captured, but it's still possible. A Character adopting this Mode will have no income, having no Time Points available to allocate to 'Business Operations'.

Automatic Modes

There are six additional, automatic Modes used by named characters within the game at one time or another, but which cannot be actually ordered by the Boss. These are as follows:

State Prison

6 Time Pts.

An automatic mode for characters held in custody or serving a sentence. Some tasks are still possible in prison, hence some time is available. Safety in Prison is determined by completely different factors to safety on the streets.

Federal Prison

As above, only the location of the character is different.

Captive

0 Time Pts.

An automatic mode for characters kidnapped and held captive by a rival organization. You cannot give orders to this character directly, hence no Time Points are available. Captives are usually tortured, interrogated & killed, but sometimes a ransom may be demanded for their safe release, or they might be released unharmed on conclusion of some other deal. Note that it permanently harms a Boss's respect in the underworld if he accepts a ransom payment or deal but then still kills a captive; ie. if he demonstrates a lack of honor in his dealings.

Frozen

0 Time Pts.

When a player goes on vacation he may take a break from the game by 'freezing' his game position. All characters are frozen and neither they nor their rackets can be harmed, but neither do they generate income or expand in any way. Vacations have to be booked weeks in advance to prevent this being easily used as a cheat tactic, nor will a player be allowed to instigate a war in the days leading up to his vacation - he can only fight against those with whom he has a vendetta.

Wounded

0-30 Time Pts, caution is equal to Boss recommended mode.

A Character recovering from being wounded will have a reduced number of Time Pts available depending on his current condition, which generally will recover over time. The more free time a wounded character is given in your Time Allocation, the quicker he will recover. The base rate of recovery is dependent entirely on that character's Stamina Characteristic, with low stamina characters taking much longer to heal properly than would those with high Stamina. A wounded character may also still die if his Stamina is too low. Falling Time Points for a wounded character would usually indicate a decline in his condition.

'Dead': 0 Time Pts. An automatic mode for a character recently deceased. This is used merely to report the death to the player concerned, before the character is deleted from your organization data.