“You’re a gangster now. You’re on the other side. Whole new ball game. You can’t learn about it in school, and you can’t have a late start.”
After a crew member has leveled up 4-5 times, the next (5th or 6th) time you get the level up screen (the one with options like Smart Opportunist and Efficient Driver) you will have a promotion to Captain as the first option in the list. Select that and your crew member will become a Captain.
Captain roles
When you promote a crew member to Captain, provided they have the required prerequisites, they can be promoted to a specialized role which means they can go on a potentially profitable scheme if there’s one available.
You don’t need to assign someone straight away if you don’t want to. Sometimes you can’t, you have to work on getting them up to the requirements (see below). They start accruing requirements as soon as they’re hired, not when they become a captain.
Once you have assigned a role to a captain, you can’t undo or change it, except by reloading the game from a previous save. However, you can have multiple captains with the same role, e.g. three Enforcers, two Accountants, etc.
If you don’t have Criminal Record DLC, you’re sadly limited to only two roles: Accountant and Intimidator. That’s why I think Criminal Record is a must-have.
Accountant
Useful traits: Aggressive, Confident
Backup traits: Cautious, Compassionate, Forgiving, Friendly, Kind, Nervous, Sharpeyed, Sociable
Traits to avoid: n/a
| Requirements | Description in game |
|---|---|
| Booze Sold: 500 Booze Produced: 1000 Expansions/Upgrades Built: 6 | “Your accountant can build operation expansions very cheaply and assist you with taking over new buildings.” |
Either send a production manager on the road selling booze for a while or have them swap places with a speakeasy manager until both have fulfilled the other criteria.
Closer (Criminal Record)
Essential traits: Aggressive, Confident, Immoral, Loner, Vindictive
Backup traits: Clumsy, Lazy, Myopic, Slow
Traits to avoid: n/a
| Requirements | Description in game |
|---|---|
| Total Transactions: 50 Business Deals With Goons: 4 Favors Redeemed: 20 Residential Events Attended: 3 | “The closer takes over buildings at a steep discount and can make deals with outfits outside of town.” |
Transactions: buying/selling to businesses, possibly also fixing vehicles. Goons: do business deals with corner hooligans, or pay them off to go start a boxing gym.
Enforcer (Criminal Record)
Always use your Enforcer for opening new fronts, as they pay -50% compared to everyone else.
Essential traits: Agile, Cautious, Intelligent, Nervous, Sharpeyed, Strong
Backup traits: Confident, Friendly, Kind, Sociable, Talkative
Traits to avoid: Aggressive, Careless, Confident, Irritable, Loner
| Requirements | Description in game |
|---|---|
| Fronts Subverted: 2 Buildings Attacked: 2 Safehouses Looted: 6 | “An enforcer makes new fronts less expensive and can organize heists.” |
Subverted: get two enemy Fronts to shut down for a while. Attacked: attack two enemy buildings (the ones with a red background) or the same enemy building but in two different turns.
Intimidator
Speak to a hooligan, you get a list of everything in their safe house so you know how many trucks to send in case something were to happen to them.
Essential traits: Aggressive, Confident, Immoral, Loner, Vindictive
Backup traits: Clumsy, Lazy, Myopic, Slow
Traits to avoid: n/a
| Requirements | Description in game |
|---|---|
| Gamblers Extorted: 5 Gamblers Forgiven: 5 Businesses Extorted: 15 People Threatened: 5 | “The intimidator can find out what hooligans have stashed in their safe house and can get business owners to get you supplies your operations need.” |
Extort gambler: get them to give you money or any other option (e.g. car, connections, building). Whether they give it to you or not doesn’t matter. Forgive: where you pay their debts hoping they’ll fall deeper into debt later. Extort business: get a business in new territory to start paying extortion money. Threaten: I think this can either be smashing up a business or threaten a gambler into paying “or else”.
Jailbird (Criminal Record)
Essential traits: n/a
Backup traits: Confident, Friendly, Sociable, Talkative
Not amazing: Aggressive, Cruel, Immoral, Irritable, Unkind, Vindictive
| Requirements | Description in game |
|---|---|
| People Killed: 2 Times Fought: 6 Times Arrested: 1 | “A jailbird excels at using non-firearm weapons and can use connections to have the Feds swoop in on a rival.” |
Getting them arrested can be difficult when you’ve paid everyone off! Go kill someone in a non-bribed precinct and have them stick around at the crime scene. It can take several turns, but they will get arrested eventually … provided your outfit isn’t the most influential in the city. Even an unbribed cop in enemy territory seems reluctant to arrest someone, even when the person is standing around the crime scene, when most of it the map is under your control. So it’s probably good to try and get some of your crew members arrested early on so you won’t run into this problem later.
Lookout (Criminal Record)
Useful traits: Friendly, Kind, Sociable
Backup traits: n/a
Traits to avoid: n/a
| Requirements | Description in game |
|---|---|
| Distance Driven: 750 Corners Scouted: 50 Businesses Discovered: 25 | “A lookout can drive 50% farther each turn and can spread your territory easily into new areas.” |
Drive around and uncover (“scout”) new corners on the map where you haven’t been before, and use their Actions to click on businesses to “discover” them.
Mouthpiece (Criminal Record)
Essential traits: Aggressive, Compassionate, Cruel, Forgiving, Kind, Vindictive
Backup traits: Cautious, Nervous
Traits to avoid: n/a
| Requirements | Description in game |
|---|---|
| Conversations: 100 Cops Bribed: 4 Fronts Established: 4 | “Your mouthpiece crew member can pay off cops more cheaply and gather blackmail on various people in town.” |
Conversations just means talking to people. About Favors, buying/selling, joining, etc.
Operative (Shadow Government)
In order to replace the mayor, you need to have at least one Operative.
Essential traits: Aggressive, Confident, Cruel, Immoral, Unkind, Vindictive
Backup traits: n/a
Traits to avoid: n/a
| Requirements | Description in game |
|---|---|
| Favors Redeemed: 3 Residential Events Attended: 2 | “Your operative can convince politicians to give you their influence and increase the efficiency of your political actions.” |
Pay for poker nights, lunch clubs or dinner parties and have them attend. This is by far the easiest role to achieve.