Arabin / Doc
I have a 'rival' judge for each pc, and a set of additional judges. Essentially I make notes about who did what, to whom, how well they covered it up, what the likely outcomes are, who knows about it and likely evidence left behind. In essence these rival judges have to make rolls in order to succeed at any point in which the players are involved (such as searching for clues) and if applicable its a contested roll (such as if a Judge is searching their car, and they have a hidden weapon, then its a contested roll).
To give them an out, they have a npc sleezy lawyer on side to give them a chance of beating the rap (in fact the lawyer has become one the Captain Pcs back up character - Prision is pretty inevitable). Other names judges have slowly evolved based on what happens in game, including the incompentent Judge Dixon (botched his spot roll, the H-Wagon missed the bust site) and the Judge Cassandra (Telepath Psi and Wally Squad), who ended up arresting two PCs, their hench man, and their target.
Also as a spot rule we use botches/criticals on skill rolls. Botch a criminal activity as its witnessed by a judge or spy-in-sky. Roll a 1 but don't botch its reported, fail by less than your rep (so the high the rep the worse it is) the judges associate the crime with you (though havent the evidence to be sure of conviciton).
So essentially, anything they are likely to find, the judges investigate. Bodies have to be carefully disposed of, weapons concealed, crime scenes cleaned, hits planned and people paid off (after all you gotta take care of business). The important thing is to have a slow pace, and a lot of in roleplaying, leading up to crimes (infact the PCs rarely commit that much crime, in many cases others do it for them).
Informants are essential, and most often NPCs are disposed of via a corrupt officer in the Resyc or going to 'Sleep wit da Zombies' (dumped in Romero Block). Combat tends to be short, one sided are often lethal. 2 Gang Members have been killed, and one critically wounded, and all bar one been hospitalised or badly hurt. So far only one has fought a Judges. 7th Level Citizen vs 3rd Level rookie. The rookie took them down in two rounds....
So far the there have been 3 convictions, that have stuck, all of them fairly petty, largely due to the lawyer getting them off (two six months, and a year). theres a monthly 'doing time' downtime sub-game, and I introduced an idea of parole and appeal cases (not strictly cannon, but with a pc possibly facing 10 years its useful).
Incidently the Judges, and NPCS gain experience, each time they appear in a session. If they get a bust, raid or arrest based in the game, they automatically gain a level. Get as many apperances as they have levels, and they gain xp. Most of the main judges are between 6-10th level (the players are 7-9th).
They are MC-1 Mafiaosa - Which is a kind of blend of American Cosa Nostra but without the exclusivity of genders. As its a satire everyone generally has a over the top kind of accent (hey ya mudda) etc... They are losely based on the Mafia of the Sopranos, Goodfellas and Godfather. But then theres some exceptions (Britty-Boy Bigham Boydd for example is a Mod).
I never concern my self with morality. Morality is for people who need to be told how to think and feel, and often is simply a crutch people use to make themselves feel better, usually by reducing someone else. I don't really condone organised crime, but I don't condemn it. Having not being in the situation I couldn't say whether those involved, given their typical background, opertunities and life expectances, did the right thing. I certainly don't see the idea of it being any more just or moral than big business is.
The cultural ethics of Organised Crime, and 'the Life' are what are being explored. Interestingly I find such games more ethical than traditional RPGs (which essentially include legitimised burglary, robbery, genocide and murder) in the name of being 'right'. One thing thats cropped up is that its all about 'business', and whats good for the family. The Gang is run by one PC. She is answers to a boss, and has to make sure that money goes up, and answers to him (or its likely time for a long drive - after all he has blitzers, so you either get in the car, or put in the boot). In many ways the game is very moral, until morals and ethics interfere with business or the gang.
Only one player ever went gun crazy and started killing (during an armed robbery). In the end the PCs dealt with him, because he put them in jepody, by turning a robbery into a massacre. The player involved still doesn't know that it was one of the other players who ordered the hit on him. Harsh, but thats the ethic of the game, though everyone generally gets one second chance (I know quite a lot about crime and organised crime, but my players don't - so often we pause and discuss implications etc...).
