Cyberpunk Red (2078) - Gangs

[Noir]

Gangs

2020+
Even before the 4th Corporate War, gangs in Night City lived and died in a cycle of bloody violence. It wasn't uncommon for a gang to die after a single orgy of destruction, at the hands of a rival, or as a result of Corporate reprisal.

In the Time of the Red, a lot of gangs just fell apart in the chaos. Most poser gangs were unable to reliably get the biosculpting they required and fell apart, The DJs scattered to the wind, a lot of Brainiacs fell victim to R.A.B.I.D.S, and most of the Wild Things died fighting Militech soldiers. The list goes on and on. 

Of course, there's always a chance a survivor's alive to start over again, or a new ganger decides to pick up some cred by adopting an old name and motif...
 

Today
The streets of Night City are still alive and crawling with gangs. Whether it's a small pack of a dozen, or an army of two hundred, each gang in Night City is as diverse as The Street itself; guardians, chromers, dorphers, and freaks all thrown together in a lethal cocktail, mixed and sprinkled liberally with blood.

Meet the gangs of Night City... 

 

Tyger Claws 
The Tyger Claws are ruthless territorial gang based in Japantown and are one of the largest gangs in Night City. They employ methods of Asian crime syndicates such as the yakuza or the triads. The gang is predominantly Asian and their primary goal is to maintain control over their own territory and occasionally annex other gangs' businesses. Tyger foot soldiers are easily recognized by their Asian luminous tattoos, fast street bikes, katanas, and tantos. 

 

6th Street 
Founded by veterans of the fourth Corporate War tired of the helplessness of the NCPD, members of 6th Street in 2045 are generally well-armed and heavily cybered-up with armament from their days in the field. Recently, they have been forced to move into extortion and smuggling in efforts to pay their bills. While they operate all throughout the city, the 6th Street all are welcome protectors of the Holy Angels Church in Little Europe. 6th Street was meant to serve and protect the community of Vista del Rey. Today their interpretation of the law and "bringing justice to the city" is questionable and self-serving.

The 6th Street gang was founded by old-fashioned American patriots who came together to act as an ad hoc police force. They have since forgone their original goal of serving public trust and are no different than any other gang who abuse their power and position in local communities. They regularly force smaller neighborhood businesses to pay tribute and "protection money," and are known to engage in various and outright criminal activities.

The uniforms of 6th Street gangers are heavily influenced by military and patriotic accents: military boots, tactical vests and knee pads, cargo pants, baseball caps with old USA flags, stars, stripes, and eagles.

 

Valentinos 
The Valentinos are one of the largest gangs in Night City with a membership of about 6,000. Strictly territorial they operate in the vast impoverished Latino barrios in Heywood, The Glen, and Vista del Rey, where they are strongly rooted in the local communities. They are representatives of the Chicano culture of Night City and have cultivated those traditions for more than a century.

Valentinos openly display their gang tattoos and gold jewelry with religious motifs, the Santa Muerte and Jesus Malverde being the most popular and recognizable. They also have a taste for colorful clothes, pimped out lowriders, and silver and gold-plated guns. 

 

Animals 
The Animals are an aggressive street-fighting gang with no permanent turf. Their members are known to abstain from the most common electronic implants in favor of custom-brewed body enhancements and modifications. They use ultratestosterone and animal supplements to make themselves bigger and stronger. Experienced brawlers and trained in various forms of martial arts, Animals are keen on cage fights, duels, and other displays of brute physical force. Their ferocity and toughness make them sought-after bouncers and bodyguards.

They typically sport tattoos and occasionally some artificial animalistic features ranging from purely cosmetic changes, like spotted or striped skin and sub dermal implants, to extreme plastic surgery and cybernetic modifications like bestial jaws, and vat-grown implanted muscles. 

The gang has no official leader, though 'packs' are usually led by an Alpha, the strongest and fastest among them. When the gang gathers together in large numbers, it means they are up to something important and select somebody, almost always one of the one of the Alphas, to be the ad hoc leader.

 

Maelstrom 
Maelstrom are (mostly) found in the districts of Watson and the Northside Industrial District (NID). They are easily recognized by their intimidating faceplates and hostile optic implants, which not only indicates their gang affiliation but also their fetishization of cyberware and cybermodification.

This combat gang formed around the remnants of the old Metal Warriors; a gang virtually wiped out in one night by the Inquisitors. It later drafted members of the Red Chrome Legion and Iron Sights who also had violent personal grudges against the Inquisitors. Post-War, Maelstrom settled another long running feud with a smaller gang of cyberpsychos and began to adopt some of their old rival's meat-hating philosophies, leading to an almost exponential increase in visible and extreme cyberware among gang members. This, in turn, has only increased the number and intensity of the battles between Maelstrom and the Inquisitors which finally led the virtual destruction of the latter.

Maelstrom is known for their exceptionally brutal and public gang executions. Combine that with illegal braindance production and a manic fighting style and you've got yourself a gang with a reputation as a band of lunatics on the verge of cyberpsychosis. 

 

Voodoo Boys 
A mysterious gang from Pacifica with a dark reputation for their netrunning skills and their mystical voodoo flavor. Presumed to be entirely consist of members with Haitian blood, the Voodoo Boys are are exclusive, secretive, and distrustful of outsiders. The gang was originally comprised of voodoo priests and priestesses, the prominent caste in the Creole culture of the Haitian diaspora. In 2062, climate change wiped Haiti off the face of the earth and initiated a new chapter of the Voodoo Boys' history. The gang became the self-appointed guardians of Haitian refugees' interests and safety in the Pacifica combat zone.

Most Voodoo Boys are netrunners, so cooling suits and neural implants are common elements of a member's outfit complemented with "voodoo-flavored" elements like dreadlocks, tattoos, and the bones and skulls of small birds and rodents worn as charms.

 

The Mox 
The Mox are relatively small and operate out of Lizzie's Bar, a braindance club and brothel, located in Watson. They consist of of mostly sex workers, anarchists, punks, and sexual minorities. Formed in 2067 in the interest of mutual self-defense purposes, their name comes from the old slang term "moxie," denoting their determination to stand up against their oppressors.

The Moxes like to wear outfits that are a mix of the punk aesthetic and the inexpensive fashion worn typically by prostitutes, however they usually do not wear clothes that would restrain their movements in any way, leaving them looking more like gangers than your typical sex workers. Some members, especially those who focus on combat, have heavily modified bodies that sometimes evoke a "plastic doll" style, but may also be disguised with RealSkinn. 

 

Scavs 
Scavs are ruthless lowlife scum who prey on unwary law-abiding citizens and gangers alike. They emerged as a side effect of the mass availability of body augmentations. Harvesting cyberware and organs is a nasty but profitable business, and Scavengers fill this niche by assaulting their victims on the streets. They are absolutely brutal with zero regard to human life. To a Scav, a human is just a set of products waiting to be sold on the black market. They can be found all over Night City. They deal in selling to the black market cyberware forcefully ripped from their unsuspected victims. They are ruthless and care little for anyone else around them.

Scavs are of Russian descent, speaking Russian, use Russian graffiti, listen to Russian music. Scavengers are recognized by their tracksuits, Soviet cyberware, and criminal tattoos.

 

Wraiths 
The Wraiths are gang composed of what the Nomads call "Raffen Shiv" (the name is a derivation of several colloquial contractions and pejoratives), former nomads who were expelled from their families for murdering or raping a fellow family member, human trafficking, betrayal of the clan and other such horrible offenses. 

Nomads consider the Wraiths to be subhuman as they are scavengers and sociopaths who prey on the innocent and the weak. They are outcasts, renegades, and betrayers. The Wraiths travel mostly at night and prowl the Badlands, ambushing unsuspecting travelers, corpo convoys or even (and with particular relish) other nomad camps. They steal from, kill, or enslave any whom they come across. Some are borderline (or even total) cyberpsychotics, such as Dogkiller, the leader of the Wraiths, who is rumored to wear clothing made of human skin.

Much to the delight of the Wraiths, few non-nomads know much about their origin, simply assuming them to be just another nomad family, which badly taints their opinion of Nomads. 

 

Smaller Gangs
In addition to the major gangs listed above there are many smaller ones found throughout Night City. Here are a few of the more notable ones...
 

Piranhas
The Piranhas are a typical party gang. They party, drink Smash, take and deal drugs, and mug people, all as part of a "just because" lifestyle. To these guys, the Party is everything.
 

Inquisitors
The Inquisitors are a cult gang; like the hate gangs, they center on a specific ideology, in this case, religious. The Inquisitors think cyberware is blasphemous, and think nothing of tearing it right out of your body. They consider this "saving" your soul. Not only do they believe that cybernetics are "evil," but they also have a war going on with every other gang in the city. Everyone hates these guys, and thanks to several major classes with Malestrom, they are almost non-existent now.
 

Red Chrome Legion
The Legion is a neo-fascist hate gang; young people united around various hate group ideologies. Uniforms and militaristic slogans are the rule. The Red Chromers will attack anything that they think isn't "right." They were once a major force in Night City, now they are barely more than a footnote.

 

This is by no means a comprehensive list of gangs. If somebody spends any length of time in the Streets of Night City, they are bound to discover others.

[Noir]

Moved Nomad info to its own thread.