“In this secret society, there’s only one way in and there’s only one way out. You come in on your feet and you go out in a coffin. There is no return from this .” - Paul Castellano

At the outset, a game about the mafia seems like a cool idea. Movies like The Godfather, Goodfellahs, Casino, and Donnie Brasco present the dark side of organized crime, but at the same time they revive the outlaw in the innermost parts of us.

I’ve always been fascinated by the mafia. Sure, I didn’t want to get to know a gangster, but I secretly admired their outlaw ways. Though I sat comfortably in my cubicle day in and day out, I would often think of what it would be like to live above the law. The fear of prison or death always kept me in line. What about those who overcome those fears? What’s it like to cross that line?

Two years ago I decided to delve deeper into the dark world of the mafia through a medium that I could “comfortably” do so without fear of prison or death. I chose to create a realistic simulation of the life of a mobster. The resulting project became MAFIA:The Role-Playing Game.

As I stated earlier, it seemed like a really cool idea. And most of the people I asked thought it was, indeed, a very cool idea. So I was really fired up when this thing started. But as time went on, and as I finished reading book after book about the mob, the less “cool” it became. And I was transformed somehow. I no longer saw the mafia as this cool concept. I recognized it for what it was. A society of soldiers bent on conquest and a cruel band of brothers bent on making money in any possible way that they can. And I realized at this very moment, that this was the perfect subject matter for a role-playing game. Now as I pause for you to stop laughing, I have to tell you that I’m dead serious.

This mafia thing is all about advancement, points, money, conflict, sacred oaths, secret rituals, betrayal, murder, guns, cars, women, and mostly it’s about power and the pursuit thereof. All of these things make for a great role-playing experience. Most of those things were the reasons why we played D&D. We wanted our characters to advance. We wanted them to get more money. Mostly we wanted our characters to gain more and more power. So, as you may now see, this mafia thing fits nicely into a role-playing game.

I have to tell you, this road hasn’t been easy. Reading nothing but mafia books day in and day out really begins to take its toll on a person. I find myself feeling dirty at times. Some of the “coolness” has warn off and as I read more and more about the lives that have been lost as a result of this organization I wonder how I could’ve thought these guys were cool to begin with.

It’s good to come to grips with the truth about things like this. It will make the role-playing experience even more real, I think. Even the mobsters must think about these things from time to time. But once they’re in, they have no choice but to live the life. As Paul Castellano, Gambino crime family boss during the lates seventies and early eighties, said, “There is no return from this.”