Organized Crime

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Organized crime make great side quests and adventures in any city campaign setting.  This creates bad guys and people to help which makes things more interesting.  It also creates opportunities for problem solving, combat, experience points, employment and treasure! 

Below are some examples that you can use in a campaign:

The Fight Club

An illegal fight club that people are betting on.  Maybe somebody has been kidnapped and is fighting in it.  Maybe elves, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes are being forced to fight monsters.  Whatever situation fits your campaign this has to be found, infiltrated, and stopped.  Then, does stopping it have any ripple effects?  Will anyone be upset (or grateful) that the player characters accomplished this?

Protection Rackets

An old fashioned protection racket where a gang of bad guys are hitting up merchants for protection money.  The merchants want the party's help stopping it.  This presents opportunities for problem solving (finding the gang, infiltrating their lair, stopping them) and combat.  Not only that, but a savvy party can negotiate with the merchants in return for this service - flat rates for services or a discount on future goods.

The hidden boss

There is a hidden criminal boss that is pulling the strings behind the scenes.  In my campaign there are two; "Mother" and "Death's Queen."  One is a loan shark/protection racket kind of criminal boss that also runs legitimate businesses in the city, the other is a priestess of the local death cult and is much more evil and dangerous.  This allows a series of encounters to be set up, ambushes, corrupt officials, clues, different locations (Mother ranges from a tavern to an inn to Mother's home) and not knowing who to trust.

Conflicts with the local thieves' guild or assassin's guild

This can go several ways.  Party members can do things that put them into conflict with the guilds.  Or, the guilds can ask/demand the party's help in dealing with other individuals that are in conflict with them.  Again, this can go a lot of places!

Vendettas

I like this to create ongoing encounters and tense situations leading to a serious side quest, especially when the vendetta is one sided.  Usually I'll have the party do something noble: for example, end the fight club.  This will upset some criminal types who will begin trying to get the party back.  It'll take the party a while to figure out what is going on (who put the poisonous snakes in our room?) and then it's on!

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