A thief run town... How?

[S'mon]

Palermo.

It's not at all uncommon for towns to be controlled by organised crime syndicates. IRL these are normally family or clan based, not Guild based, but the principle is the same. One thing, theft will be rare, extortion is a lot easier. When theft does occur it's without much risk - the truck/wagon driver just stands there while you offload the goods, because that's just how things work.

 

[Treebore]

Palermo.

It's not at all uncommon for towns to be controlled by organised crime syndicates. IRL these are normally family or clan based, not Guild based, but the principle is the same. One thing, theft will be rare, extortion is a lot easier. When theft does occur it's without much risk - the truck/wagon driver just stands there while you offload the goods, because that's just how things work.

True, the history of London would be even better than the history of Chicago.

 

[Treebore]

Plus don't some historians suggest that the Roman Senate and the thieves guilds/families were one and the same?

I bet things like that would go even further back in history if the written histories existed, or could be found.

 

[ppaladin123]

There is already a great name for this form of government:

kleptocracy

I love greek-origin words.

 

[Rechan]

Plus don't some historians suggest that the Roman Senate and the thieves guilds/families were one and the same?

Well, politicians have always been crooks of some type.

 

[Set]

Hm. A city where the crooks are in charge and make the rules?

I guess it would look sort of like Washington, D.C. then.

 

[mmadsen]

If all of them are run by the thieves doesn't the fact that they run it make them the government?

Yes, if the thieves overtly control the city, they are the government. In fact, that's all a ruler really is -- a stationary bandit with a vested interest in the long-term economic success of his subjects, because he "extorts" a small fraction of the economy very efficiently via well-defined taxes.

In constrast, a roving bandit pillages and plunders, because he has no long-term interest in his victims' economic success.

A good king's incentives are aligned fairly well with those of his people. An orc horde's incentives are diametrically opposed to those of its victims.

If a mafia ever comes to power, it evolves into a government. That's in its best interest. If some central government won't allow that, it can continue to control most of the local scene through threats and intimidation.

 

[Derulbaskul]

Socialism is essentially a kleptocracy by another name. So as to avoid straying into the forbidden realm of political comment, I will instead step directly into it and stomp my feet around!

 

[jdrakeh]

Lankhmar?

That was my first thought. My second was Port Blacksand (from Fighting Fantasy). In fact, if one wants to design a city of thieves, the AFF Blacksand! book would make for a good guide.

 

[chitzk0i]

Maybe this "town" is really an exaggerated trading post with a major seedy element. More like Bartertown than Ye Olde Quainte Village