Empire of Sin News

Crew, we have ourselves a batch of winners! A while ago, we announced the Empire of Sin Short Story Contest, where the participants all wrote original short stories that were related to the general theme and tone of Empire of Sin. We were posilutely blown away by the entries and after having read them all, the jury has finally picked their winners!

After careful consideration and a whole lot of elbow grease the jury was able to choose 10 favorites, all of which will be published on this website in a near future. And from these 10, to comply with local law, (gotta keep our operation up to code so the copper’s won’t come sniffing around!) we randomly picked our 3 winners.

So let’s all join in applause for our three winners:

• Alan Sennett
  
• Brittani Powell
  
• Mike Demski

Our heartiest congratulations, Alan, Brittany and Mike! You’re all the bee’s knees.

What was 1920's Chicago actually like? Empire of Sin Game Director Brenda Romero sat down and had a chat about the real history of Prohibition with a Pulitzer-prize finalist, Daniel Okrent - author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition.

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Alright, so we've made it this far. What happens now? Join us on Thursday for another gameplay stream, where Ian and Chris talk more about the mid- and endgame of Empire of Sin! Stream starts at 17:00 CET, as always, on twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive!

Chinatown, New York: Sai Wing Mock approaches Tom Lee - his gangland rival - on the street and asks outright for a 50-50 stake in his criminal enterprises. Lee laughs in his face and tells him where to stick the request. Mock’s retaliation for being publicly denied? He burns down one of the boarding houses of Tom Lee’s On Leong gang and a few days later, beheads another On Leong member in the middle of the street. Now, Mock is bringing this attitude with him to the streets of Chicago.

Mock is backed by the loyal and vicious members of the Hip Sing Tong. Lovingly referred to as Hatchet Men, these are the type of people who carry axes up their sleeves to do the dirty work. A hatchet sends a clear message. Sometimes they even leave the message embedded in the victim's skull.

As a boss, Mock keeps a six shooter strapped to his belt along with his axe. The man is a walking contradiction when it comes to self preservation. Sure, he wears a chainmail vest underneath his clothes, but during the height of his gang war in New York he was known to crouch in the middle of the road during a gun battle, close his eyes, and fire blindly in the direction of the oppressors. Fitting then, that Mock made his name in gambling rackets before coming to Chicago.

An expert strategist, Mock now knows the value of being feared above anything else, believing that it is more effective to have a reputation for violence than actually being violent. This is something he leans into, sporting sinister long fingernails to make everyone aware that he is above all the grimiest of a gangster’s dirty work, having plenty of underlings to carry it out for him. How else could he have become so feared? It seems obvious that his methods are perfectly suited to the wildness of gangland Chicago. Let’s hope for his enemies’ sake, they can keep their heads.

The following article is taken from a small newspaper, based in New York, from the day after the On Leong boarding house was burned down.

[h2]Underworld Lodging Goes Up In Flames[/h2]

[h3]Firefighters Called To Action As Two On Leong Dirty Doer’s Among The Perished[/h3]

Mott St., New York-- This morning the air above Chinatown is thick with the smoke of gangland tyranny. The seedy goings-on of the criminal underworld carving its dark path into the everyday, and rearing its ugly head for the good citizens of this city to witness in all its grimness.

Battle The Blaze

A well known boarding house, with shady ties to the underworld, caught fire last night around ten thirty. Firefighters attended the blaze shortly after reports that it had engulfed the roof, and though being alerted quickly, arrived to find the inferno spreading to the front of the building. Ferocious and unrelenting flame caused alarm for innocent inhabitants of the adjoining tower blocks.

Seedy Ties

The boarding house in question has come under the scrutiny of law enforcement in the past. The target of minor raids for gambling and boozing, it’s also a suspected hub for petty criminals with ties to the secretive On Leong tong, and has kept local law enforcement busy. Among the perished were two alleged lieutenants of the On Leong crime syndicate, giving police reason to believe that this foul act of debauchery was deliberately orchestrated by members of the rival Hip Sing Tong - alleged to be controlled by a Sai Wing Mock. When asked for comment today, the chief of the precinct noted: “We have a number of eye witness reports stating that Mock Duck recently approached the alleged leader of the On Leong Tong and challenged him for control in his criminal enterprise. It's because of this we have cause to suspect this [fire] may be an act of arson in retaliation for being denied his wishes.”

Neither Mock, nor the witnesses to the exchange could be tracked down for comment, though law enforcement officials have confirmed that the taciturn businessman has an alibi for the time alarm was raised on the blaze.

Hatchet Men Chop Down Rivals

As if the shock and devastation of the inferno was not enough to rattle the peace among the locals, this reporter learned today that not long after the rip roaring fire burned the building to a cinder, another death was reported. A known member of the On Leong syndicate met his gruesome end in the streets of Chinatown at the hands of two men armed with lathe hatchets. Police officers state that the rival Tongs have the run of the streets, with local civilians terrified into compliance. A local peanut vendor, close enough to witness the incident, has firmly told police he did not see or hear anything. This statement comes despite the fact that splatters of blood were found down the back of the man's clothes.

A Superficial Peace

Sai Wing Mock and his Tong are now said to be the head rulers of the Mott street area and beyond. Mock is said to be a polite and respectful businessman, but given the atrocities he is alleged to be linked to, these descriptions may be gleaned from the duress of a public under the grip of fear.

[h3]Watch the Chicago Chronicles video where we meet Sai Wing Mock here:[/h3]
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You arrive in Chicago, a whole city for the taking - but you’re outnumbered. Fortunately your previous efforts left you with enough to hire a couple gangsters and keep some pocket change.

At first there are only a handful of gangsters who are willing to work with you. Your reputation hasn’t made it here. That will change soon. As you take over the city your notoriety will increase and so will be the available roster.

Gangsters come in one of five professions: Hired Gun, Enforcer, Demolitionist, Doctor and Con Artist. Here’s the lowdown:

Hired Guns are marksmen by trade. What they lack in brawn they more than make up in accuracy and critical hits. Over time they can learn how to use new kinds of weapons or develop talents like Run & Gun, where they can move and shoot in the same action, or Gun Em’ Down, where they can fire a single shot at every enemy target within range.

Enforcers can really give a beating, and take one to boot. Just give them a bat, crowbar, or brass knuckles and they'll be happy. The best thing about those? You don’t have to stop to reload. Among the new talents they can develop are Draw Fire, which you can use to distract enemies away from your other team members and Meat Hook, which can pull enemies towards them.



Demolitionists are the best at using explosives. Call on them to raze buildings down, or chuck some grenades in the heat of combat. With talents like Break Shot, which has a chance to disable the opponent’s weapon or Time Bomb, where they throw a bomb that explodes in 3 rounds, they can drastically change the course of the fight.

Doctors can heal during combat and lower the chance of your gangsters taking serious injuries. Outside of combat they boost the passive heal of nearby gangsters. As if that wasn’t enough, they can learn talents such as Knee Cap, which aims directly at enemies’ knees to slow them down and Miracle Elixir, which cures and gives them an extra action point for a couple of rounds.



Con Artists can move farther and faster, and when raiding a racket can coax a little extra cash out of the safe. Their talents include Flush, which causes enemies to move out of cover and Kill chain, which gives you an extra action point if your shot kills.

Hiring gangsters is easy if they’re already willing to work with you. Just pay their upfront fee! The trick is keeping them around. You see, you’ll have to hand them a share of your profits. As your empire expands, your profits rise and better gangsters become available. Are you sure you still want to keep your initial crew around?

Before you do anything you might regret, be sure to check who they know. After a while, when your gangsters trust you enough they’ll start introducing you to their friends. Then you can cut them loose.



So, how many gangsters do you want to start with? The safest option would be two. The starting money covers their initial fee and whatever’s left can be used to pay their shares and convert rackets you took over. Did you think that was going to be cheap? You have to spend money to make money.

You could also ignore my advice, look for three cheaper gangsters and hope the enemy factions build the racket types you need or keep all the money and try your luck as a lone wolf, scoping what rackets are currently for sale.

I’m sure you can already imagine interesting combinations from the descriptions above, such as:

• Doctor + Hired gun: Use Run & Gun to get close and personal to the enemy, shoot and retreat so that the Doctor can patch you up!
  
• Demolitionist + Enforcer: Use Break Shot to disable their weapons and then Hook Shot to pull them towards you!
  
• Con Artist + Doctor: Doctors can use snipers so hit them from a distance and let the Con Artist run over to finish the job.

Part of the fun of Empire of Sin is discovering these combinations and I won’t rob you of that pleasure. See? I’m generous. Don’t forget that each boss also has a unique combat ability which will make you approach combat from a different angle. Build your crew around them, and good luck!