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Rogue, Beggar

By Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - Unknown source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1172202 Rogue, Beggar
By Bartolomé Esteban Murillo – Unknown source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1172202

Wherever civilization manages to produce large urban centres, soon after it creates an underclass of city dwellers who rely on the charity (or naivete) of others for support.

The Quintessential Rogue
Author Michael Mearls
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2002

Beggars scrounge for money, using a variety of social means to extract coins from travellers and other strangers. While some beggars genuinely need charity in order to eke out an existence, many are little more than hucksters who bilk others out of cash as a vocation. The beggar character concept covers the latter type, a smooth-talking Constitution artist who uses his ingenuity, wit, and personality to support himself.

In some cities, the beggar population organises into a guild, with neighbourhoods and city blocks carefully apportioned to senior beggars and their followers. Such a guild often rivals a thieves’ guild in terms of income and stratagems, often forming protection rackets and other schemes that bring it into conflict with their rival thieves. Many beggars look at burglars and cutpurses as inelegant, crude practitioners of the art of robbery, reasoning that risking life and limb in a robbery is pointless and stupid when one must merely put on a good face and lure others into giving you their earnings.

Adventuring: In many ways, heading out into the unknown to face humanoids, undead, and worse is antithetical to most beggars’ way of life. After all, if they were interested in toil and hardship they probably would seek out a regular vocation rather than beg for a living. However, much like thieves, most beggars have an insatiable appetite for wealth, driving them to sometimes risk life and limb for a shot at a big payoff.

Other beggars tire of pleading for cash on street corners and decide to apply their talents to a more lucrative venture, particularly if they operate under the auspices of a beggars’ guild that strictly regulates the amount of money they can take in and the neighbourhoods where they may operate.

Role-Playing: Beggars tend to be slick talking, lazy, and greedy. They strongly believe in letting others do the hard work, especially if they can profit by it. However, beggars are not necessarily evil or self-centered. A good beggar may avoid work, but in times of need or if a life is at stake he leaps to his friends’ aid as readily as the most heroic paladin. Some beggars have a strong sense of independence, wandering the land as vagabonds, unwilling to live the stable life of a job and family. These wanderers are often resourceful, daring, and ready to jump at the chance of a quick fortune.

Bonuses: Beggars learn to live off the land, scrounging food, drink, and shelter when their income falls short of their needs. Furthermore, beggars blend into the urban landscape, giving them an excellent sense for picking up rumours and other information. Beggars gain Wilderness Lore as a class skill. They gain a +2 competence bonus to all Bluff and Gather Information checks, as their line of work requires a talent for tricking others and gives them access to a wide network of beggars who can pass along many valuable rumours and stories. Beggars may also pick up spare cash by working the streets. Each day, the beggar may spend 8 hours panhandling to earn 3d6 silver pieces.

Penalties: Beggars focus on their ‘Profession’ to such an extent they never gain the chance to pick up a few skills other rogues take for granted. The beggar does not count the following as class skills; Craft, Decipher Script, and Profession.

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