Beggar-Thief (Character Kit)

__NOTOC__
==Beggar-thief==
The cities of Zakhara include all levels of society, but among the lowest are those who have no home and hearth, no natural family or clan, and no money for food and drink. These are the ragged, tattered beggars. Some have been forced into poverty by circumstance, some have been born to it, and others have chosen this lifestyle in rebellion against the moneyed classes. Beggars survive on the kindness of others, on the gleaning of the harvested fields, and on the remains of market day.
Among this underclass are those who aim to do better, to improve their lot in life-whether to regain a lost position of power, to aid family and friends, or merely to seek revenge on wealthy merchants. These are the beggar-thieves. They are heroes among beggars and the subject of this kit.
Requirements: As their name implies, members of this kit must be thieves. While bards and others may find themselves reduced to beggar status by a twist of fate, they may not use this kit.
The Complete Thief's Handbook contains a more Western or European beggar kit, with many similarities to this one. Characters belonging to the Western kit become sa❜luks in Zakhara; they do not become beggar-thieves as described here.
Role: The legends speak regularly of those who have risen from the lowliest of origins to become leaders and potentates. Such tales and the hope they generate are a driving force to beggar-thieves who aspire to greatness. Many are sure that once they attain great wealth and power, they will aid the poor and downtrodden, ruling with wisdom and understanding.
On a more immediate level, however, beggar- thieves must focus on day-to-day survival. Cash-poor, ill-bred, and half-starved, they must strive to fill their own basic needs before campaigning for the needs of others. Gnawing hunger and intense desire lead beggar-thieves to take risks that others would not. 
Unlike sa'luks, most beggars are generally respectful of authority—if only until that authority has its back turned. Members of this kit treat those who have money and power well, even while they strive to share or remove their riches.
A regular feature of Zakharan myth is the king or sultan who masquerades as a tatterdemalion among his own people, to discover what they are truly saying about his rule. Beggar-thieves keep such legends alive; at a minimum, it helps make merchants think twice before kicking them out of a market stall. In addition, the hope that some newcomer is royalty in disguise is a common theme in beggar romances.
Weapon Proficiencies: A beggar-thief chooses his or her two initial weapons from the following list: club, dagger, dart, knife, sling, and staff.
Nonweapon Proficiencies:
* Bonus Proficiency: Begging.
* Recommended, General: Haggling, singing. Some beggars may have marketable skills such as weaving and tailoring, but to display them is to risk having it known they could work for a living.
* Recommended, Warrior: Endurance, survival (urban).
* Recommended, Priest and Wizard: None.
* Recommended, Rogue: Appraising, disguise, forgery, gaming, juggling, local history, musical instrument.
* Forbidden: None.
Equipment: Beggar-thieves (even wealthy ones) have relatively little in the way of equipment. A simple bowl and perhaps a musical instrument are about the limits of splendor that a beggar can afford (or afford to reveal). Even modest clothing reduces the opportunities for begging by -5, a penalty which is applied to the proficiency check. (See "Begging" in Chapter 4.) Any form of fancy dress negates the chance of begging entirely.
Beggar-thieves rarely wear armor when working the city, because for every point of visible AC better than 10, they suffer a -1 penalty to their proficiency check. Similarly, magical items (especially those in good shape) reduce the opportunity to beg or pass unnoticed by -5. When not involved in beggarly craft, members of this class may wear any armor and carry any weapons within their limitations as thieves.
Many beggar-thieves, once they have attained some level of wealth, leave their origins behind, cobbling together a different past in another city. Magic and special abilities such as the wise woman's eye may reveal the truth-that the "king" was once a beggar, for example.
Special Benefits: The greatest ability of beggar- thieves is what some call their greatest flaw: the cities are full of others who look just like them. A beggar- thief can disappear in a crowd or trail another person unnoticed (ability check based on Dexterity). This is possible only in areas with a large number of beggars; a deserted oasis and the sultan's palace are not locations in which these abilities are useful.
Special Hindrances: Beggars are regarded as being among the lowest levels of society. As a result, members of this kit suffer a 4-point penalty to all reaction rolls involving other intelligent creatures. Unintelligent creatures, animals, and monsters in the desert, as well as those hostile to humans and other civilized creatures, behave normally and pay no attention to the individual's social station.
Thief Abilities: Thieving skills undergo the following adjustments:
* Pick Pockets: +10 percent
* Open Locks: -5 percent
* Find/Remove Traps: -5 percent
* Move Silently: No modification
* Hide in Shadows: +5 percent
* Detect Noise: No modification
* Climb Walls: No modification
* Read Languages: -5 percent
Wealth Options: Every beggar-thief starts out with 2d6 gp. To increase this amount, those accompanied by other characters are free to finagle as much as possible out of them.
Races: All races have beggars, and among them are beggar-thieves. The more fortunate members of a nonhuman race are just as likely to ignore their less- fortunate cousins as humans are, at least in the cities and settlements. Zakharan gnomes are an exception. They consider all other gnomes their brothers. Gnomes who are "down on their luck" are to be adopted, cleaned, fed, and trained to do productive work. After that, a job is to be found for them. As a result, there are very few panhandling gnomes; those who seek to improve themselves get the opportunity, while those who choose to retain their beggarly status spend most of their time hiding from wealthier gnomes.
Category:Character Kit
Category:Character Kit AA