Blood Relatives

These are literally relatives of your Boss Character, whether brothers, cousins, uncles, nephews, sons or even grandsons. During the course of the game these will simply appear on your gang's 'Available Recruits' screen (which is not visible unless at least one character is listed there), without requiring any particular Order on your part. Indeed, you cannot do anything to affect the rate at which Blood Relatives might choose to apply for a job within your expanding criminal Organization. The appearance and availability of Blood Relatives will instead be staggered throughout the life of the game, representing the different generations of your extended family, so the longer you (and they) survive in the game, the more Blood Relatives you will accumulate over time.

Blood Relatives are generally superior characters. They will mostly - but not always - be extremely loyal to your Boss Character. Many will also have superior Skills & Abilities, or at least greater Aptitude for such, and those with high 'Leadership Qualities' Ability would also make good replacements should your Boss Character be killed. Blood Relatives also have more chance of having a particularly valuable Character Specialization. Blood Relatives would usually be most suitable as Underworld Characters but on occasion might be ideal as Lawyers, Accountants or Political Lobbyists. The latter are more likely to occur later in the game (ie. a later, college-educated generation of close family members) than in the early years.

When first they emerge Blood Relatives will share your Boss's own last name. However, before they actually join your gang (by being assigned a vacant position) you have the option of insisting that they use a different name as an alias, to protect them from being specially targeted. You may choose their new name yourself if you wish, but please be aware that unsuitable or offensive names will simply be targeted for execution by the top hitmen of Murder, Inc. This is no appeal against such a judgment, and no second chances, so please be sensible with your chosen names and keep these firmly within the spirit of the game.

Blood Relatives will also have a greater impact as the cause of vendettas and loss of Respect. For example, a Blood Relative being targeted or perhaps even killed by a rival will cause a far more serious vendetta than if he had been an ordinary gang member of the same rank. The death of a Blood Relative will also cause a greater, and permanent, loss of Respect for your Boss Character. Deaths of ordinary members always lose you some Respect based on the rank they held within your Organization, but it is neither as great as the death of an actual Blood Relative, nor is it permanent. For this reason identifying and targeting a rival's Blood Relatives can be a valid tactic to use in a destructive war.

Regardless of their name (as they might be using an alias), the true identity of a Blood Relative becomes known to you once you have successfully acquired that individual's Character Profile. He will still be listed under the name of the alias by which he is commonly known, but his relationship to the Boss of that Organization will be noted on his Character Profile after this is discovered & added to your own Syndicate or Family 'Knowledge Database'.

In all other respects Blood Relatives are treated the same as any other members of your Organization.