The Complete Thief's Handbook[]
Required: Beggar.
Recommended: Assassin, Bounty Hunter, Burglar, Cutpurse, Spy.
This proficiency serves two functions. First, it allows the character to pose convincingly as a beggar; success is automatic, so no proficiency check needs to be made. This function is used most by Assassins, Bounty Hunters and Spies in the pursuit of their assignments.
A character can also use begging to procure a very minimal daily income. (Many Cutpurses are in fact beggars who aren't getting enough-and vice versa.) Success requires first that there be people to beg from-people with money to give. A character in an abandoned castle or a recently pillaged village are virtually assured of failure.
The following modifiers are suggested to the DM as guidelines. They do not consider the wealth of a locale, just the population density. Impoverished regions might have greater negative modifiers-but then, so might affluent areas with traditions of stinginess.
| Locale | Modifier |
|---|---|
| Uninhabited/ Wilderness |
Automatic Failure |
| Countryside | -7 |
| Hamlet, Village | -5 |
| Town | -2 |
| City | 0 |
If a proficiency check is successful, then a character is able to panhandle enough money, goods or services that day to meet his basic needs (a little food and drink, a place to sleep).
The DM may also use the proficiency check for specific single actions-e.g., a character in disguise as a beggar accosts a specific NPC.
The begging proficiency may not be used to force player characters to give money away; players are always free to decide if and how generous their characters are in response to supplications.
The Complete Book of Humanoids[]
Begging serves two functions. First, it allows characters to pose convincingly as beggars (and many humanoids in civilized areas spend some time begging for a living). Success in this function is automatic and no checks must be made. Second, it allows the character to earn a minimal daily income. To use this proficiency to earn money, it must be used in an area where people are present.
The following modifiers are suggested to the DM as guidelines. They do not take into account the wealth of a particular locale, just the population density. Impoverished regions might have greater negative modifiers, as might certain affluent areas with long traditions or great reputations for stinginess.
| Locale | Modifier |
|---|---|
| Uninhabited /Wilderness | Failure |
| Countryside | -7 |
| Hamlet, Village | -5 |
| Town | -2 |
| City | 0 |
A successful check enables a character to beg for enough money, goods or services to meet his basic needs (a little food and drink, a place to sleep). Begging cannot force PCs to give away money. Players are always free to decide how generous their characters are.
Arabian Adventures[]
Characters with this proficiency can pose as convincing beggars and procure food, spare change, and the like. While beggars never become rich, each successful use of this proficiency results in enough money to meet a character's basic needs at the squalid state for a single day (see Table 22 in Chapter 6 of the DMG). Nonplayer characters always fork over a little something to successful beggars. Player characters are never affected by this ploy; they respond to characters with the begging proficiency as they see fit.
This proficiency enables characters to pose as beggars automatically; their real status is disguised. A proficiency check determines whether a character actually receives any money or food. Characters who beg from the same NPC more than once suffer a -2 cumulative modifier for each attempt after the first. Location also modifies the proficiency check. In small towns, beggars incur a -2 penalty, and along trade routes the penalty becomes-5. Attempts to use the begging proficiency fail automatically in the wilderness, in the desert, and at sea. No penalty applies for begging in a city.
Begging is not a good way to become rich or powerful. It can, however, prove useful as a masquerade. Characters who wish to be "invisible" know that beggars are often ignored in public. In a crowded square, a bum either blends in or becomes a faceless annoyance, much like a droning fly. However, even flies should pick their hangouts carefully. In the wrong spot, such as a palace court, such insects risk being cast out or bruskly swatted.