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02-04-2013, 08:43 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2022, 01:01 AM by Fearless Community.
Edit Reason: Fixed Encoding
)
In this topic I will go into more details about the Mafia Hierarchy.
First of all I'd like to say that the 'roles' section of each rank isn't what you must cement into your head. The roles are merely guidelines and what you should do to maintain a good level of realism whilst roleplaying.
Hierarchy
Boss
The Boss is at the helm of a crime family and has near enough absolute control over his subordinates. He is part of the Administration of a specific crime family which essentially controls and maintains a liaison with crews which Captains run on the Boss' behalf. Usually reigning as a dictator, sometimes called the don or an old Italian expression “godfather” which is almost never used anymore. The Boss receives a cut of every operation taken on by every member of his family. Depending on the Family, the Boss may be chosen by a vote from the Caporegimes of the family. In the event of a tie, the Underboss must vote. In the past, all the members of a Family voted on the Boss, but by the late 1950s, any gathering such as that attracted too much attention.
Underboss
The Underboss is the second rank in any traditional Cosa Nostra family. The Underboss is, along with the Consigliere, the liaison between the Administration and the crews of soldiers and associates which Captains control. An Underboss is likely to formally succeed the Boss should a murder / indictment come down on the reigning Boss, although they may take the role of Acting Boss before formally succeeding the standing Boss. Like the Consigliere, an Underboss regularly meets with Captains to ensure that profits generated by the crime family's schemes go directly to the Boss.
Consigliere
A modern-day Consigliere provides the Boss with advice and like the Underboss, the Consigliere is part of the Administration of a specific crime family and is usually a representative and the lawyer. The Consiglieri is the liaison between Captains and the Boss. In most cases, Captains formally report to the Consigliere of a family every two or three weeks to check-up on the doings of their crews or to gain authorisation (rarely) for a murder which must/can take place with the Boss' permission, although this rule isn't applied to the extent that it was two decades ago when Omertà was strictly followed.
UNOFFICIAL RANK: Acting Boss
Self explanatory. An Acting Boss is installed alongside the standing Boss to help maintain order within a crime family when the standing Boss is under indictment or some other form of scrutiny, whether from law enforcement or a rival family. The Acting Boss, in most cases, is someone close to the Boss - usually the Underboss - but can also be a relative of the Boss to ensure that they won't let 'power get to their head' once at the helm (this is what Carlo Gambino did with Paul Castellano, overseeing his current Underboss Aniello Dellacroce to install Castellano as Boss because of their blood relation).
UNOFFICIAL RANK: Street Boss
A Street Boss is not the Boss of a family and is often appointed by the Boss because of the candidate's devotion as a high-ranking Captain. Whenever a Street Boss is installed in a family, he serves as the liaison between Captains and the Administration instead of an Underboss/Consigliere. A Street Boss is essentially the "go-to" guy on the streets whenever a message is to be relayed between a Captain or Soldier to the Boss or a member of the Administration.
UNOFFICIAL RANK(S): Ruling Panel/Committee
A ruling panel or ruling committee is installed whenever two or more members of a family administration are under indictment or imprisoned. The panel frustrates and causes law enforcement scrutiny because with a ruling panel, law enforcement can't determine exactly who is making decisions and in-charge of the panel/committee. A good example of this is the 1990s Gambino family ruling panel which was put in place after John "Junior" Gotti was given the title of Boss by his father (a reference to blood relation) and given a panel of Captains / Ex-Bosses to aid him in his decisions because of his lack of experience at the top of a crime family. The panel consisted of John "Junior" Gotti, Peter Gotti, Nicholas Corozzo/James Failla, John D'Amico and Louis Vallario. The role of a panel is to help run the family smoothly whilst, as previously stated, administration members are imprisoned, deceased or simply unable to run the family.
Caporegime/Captain
A Captain oversees a crew of mobsters which consists of associates and soldiers. A crew may have influence in a geographical area and often specialise in a certain aspect of crime. For example, crew A of the X crime family may specialise in truck heists, whereas crew B focuses on white-collar crimes. The role of a Captain can differ depending on what their crew is utilised for. Some crews, such as the DeMeo crew is depended on for contract murders whereas other crews are well respected and liked by the administration because of consistent 'tribute' payments made to the Administration. A Captain is responsible for collecting weekly (realistically it is monthly, although this'd never work) 'tribute', 'tax' or 'kick up' from a Soldier who in turn collects from a bunch of Associates. This 'tribute' (the illegal, dirty money earned via the crew's specialised trade or any form of organized crime) is then passed on to the Underboss/Street Boss.
Soldier
A Soldier is the lowest (official) rank within a family but is a respected and well-earned rank regardless. To become a Soldier, an aspiring Associate is watched over for a good amount of time to determine his strengths (such as the ability to consistently earn and have a good reputation amongst other inductees) and weaknesses before he is vouched for and considered a proposed inductee by Captains within the family. The role of a Soldier greatly differs from that of a Captain and Soldiers are expected to put in much more work than a Captain. A Soldier often employs the help of other Soldiers and Associates to assist him on jobs to generate a steady flow of income for their Captain which is, as previously stated, known as 'tribute'. For example, a Soldier may run a weekly, low-stake card game with Associates helping out or filling in for vacant clients which generates profit. A Soldier cannot be killed (although this is often disobeyed) without the Boss' permission.
Associate
An Associate is the first rank in any crime family and can be considered a prospect period where an aspiring criminal learns the tricks of the trade to succeed in 'the life' of organized crime and the mob. They report to Soldiers every other day to note/give their progress and earnings. The role of an Associate is to essentially follow any orders given by a Soldier or above. By the time an Associate is well established within a crime family, they may be given more serious crimes like racketeering and extortion instead of low-scale drug dealing and low-stake card games. It should be noted that associates don't commit murder on behalf of a family unless properly instructed to in order for the chosen Associate to 'make their bones' which ultimately leads to recognition and proof that they're willing to do anything for the glorified rank of Soldier. An associate can be a male or female of any descent but to become a Soldier, the person must be male and of Italian/Sicilian origin.
First of all I'd like to say that the 'roles' section of each rank isn't what you must cement into your head. The roles are merely guidelines and what you should do to maintain a good level of realism whilst roleplaying.
Hierarchy
Boss
The Boss is at the helm of a crime family and has near enough absolute control over his subordinates. He is part of the Administration of a specific crime family which essentially controls and maintains a liaison with crews which Captains run on the Boss' behalf. Usually reigning as a dictator, sometimes called the don or an old Italian expression “godfather” which is almost never used anymore. The Boss receives a cut of every operation taken on by every member of his family. Depending on the Family, the Boss may be chosen by a vote from the Caporegimes of the family. In the event of a tie, the Underboss must vote. In the past, all the members of a Family voted on the Boss, but by the late 1950s, any gathering such as that attracted too much attention.
Underboss
The Underboss is the second rank in any traditional Cosa Nostra family. The Underboss is, along with the Consigliere, the liaison between the Administration and the crews of soldiers and associates which Captains control. An Underboss is likely to formally succeed the Boss should a murder / indictment come down on the reigning Boss, although they may take the role of Acting Boss before formally succeeding the standing Boss. Like the Consigliere, an Underboss regularly meets with Captains to ensure that profits generated by the crime family's schemes go directly to the Boss.
Consigliere
A modern-day Consigliere provides the Boss with advice and like the Underboss, the Consigliere is part of the Administration of a specific crime family and is usually a representative and the lawyer. The Consiglieri is the liaison between Captains and the Boss. In most cases, Captains formally report to the Consigliere of a family every two or three weeks to check-up on the doings of their crews or to gain authorisation (rarely) for a murder which must/can take place with the Boss' permission, although this rule isn't applied to the extent that it was two decades ago when Omertà was strictly followed.
UNOFFICIAL RANK: Acting Boss
Self explanatory. An Acting Boss is installed alongside the standing Boss to help maintain order within a crime family when the standing Boss is under indictment or some other form of scrutiny, whether from law enforcement or a rival family. The Acting Boss, in most cases, is someone close to the Boss - usually the Underboss - but can also be a relative of the Boss to ensure that they won't let 'power get to their head' once at the helm (this is what Carlo Gambino did with Paul Castellano, overseeing his current Underboss Aniello Dellacroce to install Castellano as Boss because of their blood relation).
UNOFFICIAL RANK: Street Boss
A Street Boss is not the Boss of a family and is often appointed by the Boss because of the candidate's devotion as a high-ranking Captain. Whenever a Street Boss is installed in a family, he serves as the liaison between Captains and the Administration instead of an Underboss/Consigliere. A Street Boss is essentially the "go-to" guy on the streets whenever a message is to be relayed between a Captain or Soldier to the Boss or a member of the Administration.
UNOFFICIAL RANK(S): Ruling Panel/Committee
A ruling panel or ruling committee is installed whenever two or more members of a family administration are under indictment or imprisoned. The panel frustrates and causes law enforcement scrutiny because with a ruling panel, law enforcement can't determine exactly who is making decisions and in-charge of the panel/committee. A good example of this is the 1990s Gambino family ruling panel which was put in place after John "Junior" Gotti was given the title of Boss by his father (a reference to blood relation) and given a panel of Captains / Ex-Bosses to aid him in his decisions because of his lack of experience at the top of a crime family. The panel consisted of John "Junior" Gotti, Peter Gotti, Nicholas Corozzo/James Failla, John D'Amico and Louis Vallario. The role of a panel is to help run the family smoothly whilst, as previously stated, administration members are imprisoned, deceased or simply unable to run the family.
Caporegime/Captain
A Captain oversees a crew of mobsters which consists of associates and soldiers. A crew may have influence in a geographical area and often specialise in a certain aspect of crime. For example, crew A of the X crime family may specialise in truck heists, whereas crew B focuses on white-collar crimes. The role of a Captain can differ depending on what their crew is utilised for. Some crews, such as the DeMeo crew is depended on for contract murders whereas other crews are well respected and liked by the administration because of consistent 'tribute' payments made to the Administration. A Captain is responsible for collecting weekly (realistically it is monthly, although this'd never work) 'tribute', 'tax' or 'kick up' from a Soldier who in turn collects from a bunch of Associates. This 'tribute' (the illegal, dirty money earned via the crew's specialised trade or any form of organized crime) is then passed on to the Underboss/Street Boss.
Soldier
A Soldier is the lowest (official) rank within a family but is a respected and well-earned rank regardless. To become a Soldier, an aspiring Associate is watched over for a good amount of time to determine his strengths (such as the ability to consistently earn and have a good reputation amongst other inductees) and weaknesses before he is vouched for and considered a proposed inductee by Captains within the family. The role of a Soldier greatly differs from that of a Captain and Soldiers are expected to put in much more work than a Captain. A Soldier often employs the help of other Soldiers and Associates to assist him on jobs to generate a steady flow of income for their Captain which is, as previously stated, known as 'tribute'. For example, a Soldier may run a weekly, low-stake card game with Associates helping out or filling in for vacant clients which generates profit. A Soldier cannot be killed (although this is often disobeyed) without the Boss' permission.
Associate
An Associate is the first rank in any crime family and can be considered a prospect period where an aspiring criminal learns the tricks of the trade to succeed in 'the life' of organized crime and the mob. They report to Soldiers every other day to note/give their progress and earnings. The role of an Associate is to essentially follow any orders given by a Soldier or above. By the time an Associate is well established within a crime family, they may be given more serious crimes like racketeering and extortion instead of low-scale drug dealing and low-stake card games. It should be noted that associates don't commit murder on behalf of a family unless properly instructed to in order for the chosen Associate to 'make their bones' which ultimately leads to recognition and proof that they're willing to do anything for the glorified rank of Soldier. An associate can be a male or female of any descent but to become a Soldier, the person must be male and of Italian/Sicilian origin.
Thank you for reading.
If you like this guide then you can check out my other guide about the Mafia here.
The Basics of the Mob & How to Roleplay as a Mafioso.
