Rookie's Guide to Criminal Organizations, The

Perps and their criminal activities are the greatest threat to the stability of Mega-City One. From the lowly dunk working his way through a crowd to lift stray wallets and cred-slugs to the mighty criminal empires that are seemingly untouchable to judges of the city, perps constantly prey upon decent citizens for fun and profit. The most successful perps eschew open violence and the dangers of street gangs to set up their own criminal organizations, sophisticated operations safely hidden behind legitimate business.

Whether it is the manufacture of drugs, protection rackets or a bureau of assassins, few perps running such operations really consider themselves as criminals - they will avoid judicial attention at every step but usually view themselves as businessmen, pure and simple and, in many ways, this is exactly how the larger criminal organizations run. Even if the incoming credits are garnered from murder and theft, they still need accountants to watch for the best investments and avoid Mega-City taxes, lawyers to keep the bosses out of the iso-cubes, and a close eye needs to be kept on profitability and cost projections. The only real difference is the manner in which business is conducted - a hostile take-over of another criminal organization is likely to involve spit guns and sharp knives, rather than a financial assault on another company's assets.