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Old 06-21-2019, 08:02 AM   #1
Erling
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Default Need a sourcebook on Los Angeles

Hello there. I'm gonna run a modern police action game set in a modern day Los Angeles and I would appreciate a handy source of information, something to fill me in on the general outline of the City of Angels.

Wikipedia is nice, but I could use something more adapted to GM's needs. Think Shadowrun Seattle sourcebooks or Cyberpunk 2020 Night City sourcebooks – broad collection of data on general areas (which neighbourhoods are decent and which are dangerous), street gangs, customs of shady business, etc.

Data need not be 100% accurate nor up-to-date. My game will be vaguely based on S.W.A.T. TV series, a highly unrealistic beat-em-up cop show with lots of fictional elements.

Clues appreciated. Cheers.
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Old 06-21-2019, 08:15 AM   #2
Anaraxes
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Default Re: Need a sourcebook on Los Angeles

There are websites that produce maps of data like crime rates and home values, e.g.

https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ca/los-angeles/crime

Might help to give you some orientation. You can drill down to more granular detail if you like.
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Old 06-21-2019, 10:03 AM   #3
Black Leviathan
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Default Re: Need a sourcebook on Los Angeles

California is a really huge topic to just cram into 120 pages of sourcebook. There's a lot of political, ecconomic, cultural, and historical data there. If you're looking for what neighborhoods are like in different parts of your map you should look at tourism websites and the wiki sites for different cities. They'll give you a sense of what the place is like in descriptions of festivals or for-sale prices of homes.

At one point I found this awesome tool that listed the map location of crime reports in America. You could tell it you wanted to see felony theft incidents in the last 90 days it it would put a little icon on the map for each one. I'm sorry I didn't keep a link to it.
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Old 06-21-2019, 10:28 AM   #4
Pmandrekar
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Oregon, WI
Default Re: Need a sourcebook on Los Angeles

Quote:
Originally Posted by Erling View Post
Hello there. I'm gonna run a modern police action game set in a modern day Los Angeles and I would appreciate a handy source of information, something to fill me in on the general outline of the City of Angels.

Wikipedia is nice, but I could use something more adapted to GM's needs. Think Shadowrun Seattle sourcebooks or Cyberpunk 2020 Night City sourcebooks – broad collection of data on general areas (which neighbourhoods are decent and which are dangerous), street gangs, customs of shady business, etc.

Data need not be 100% accurate nor up-to-date. My game will be vaguely based on S.W.A.T. TV series, a highly unrealistic beat-em-up cop show with lots of fictional elements.

Clues appreciated. Cheers.
See if you can find (in print or PDF download) a copy of Los Angeles by Night. The Vampire the Masquerade supplements are modern day and although they will have a lot of general information about neighborhoods, etc. Then I might run out and buy a guidebook for LA, as you can start to use the maps, locations, people of LA in a setting.
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