Begging (sage ability)
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Begging is an amateur-status sage ability in the study of Guile, granting an unusual skill in encouraging others to give money of their own free will. As a learned skill in persuasion and manipulation, the ability invokes sympathy or obligation. Elements like choosing the right targets, performing pitiable acts or weaving convincing stories are also part of the craft. At this level, only basic competence is provided, so that effectiveness can be inconsistent.
Begging is a blend of persuasion, social navigation and street-level politics, where a character must understand the dynamics of local beggars, thieves, and hidden power structures before attempting to operate. Larger settlements, towns and cities, with more than 1,000 residents, always have existent organised begging guilds; characters with this skill would know in these places that they should first contact such criminal entities and pay an upfront fee (and afterward, monthly) that would permit them to operate, within assigned perameters that would never be the best corners in the district. In a village, on the other hand, a character might act freely, relying on charisma and pity, though there would be a greater likelihood of the beggar being seen as an outsider and thus run out of town. Beggars that are not part of guilds would be forever on the move.
Having this ability, if a character wishes to obtain a bed for the night for themselves — the ability doesn't give a special benefit for begging on account of others — they must simply wander along an ordinary lane in the area. A glance at the domicile, or perhaps religious location, will tell if the character will be taken in... and so, upon knocking and telling their story, the character will be granted a meal and a place to sleep, without the need of a charisma check. The skill permits this. But it wouldn't be wise to take advantage of this benefit in an area where a beggar's guild exists. The next night, however, the place slept in must be outside the social sphere of tonight's resident — easy in a town or city, difficult in a village (three times is too often) and impossible in a hamlet.
Appearance
To obtain coinage through begging, other considerations taken into account. The character must adopt lcothing that signals poverty and desperation: worn, frayed garments, ideally loose-fitting or patched together to suggest hardship. The clothing should be dirty, possibly with stains from food, mud or long use, and lacking any obvious signs of wealth such as weapons, armour, tools or trinkets.
The character might keep this in a separate pack of some sort; it is liable to be infested by fleas or ticks, which won't bother the character due to long familiarity with this role, but should not be mixed in with the character's better gear. A begger's costume could be made as needed, though this does take a little time to obtain the clothes to be destroyed, then suitably dirtying them. Regarding any risk of infestation... the character has probably been bitten by fleas and such for so many years as to make them immune. They would know enough to pretend to itch and look uncomfortable, but this would be a performance.
Begging requires the commitment of a full day, at least 8 to 10 hours, to achieve the effect properly, with a greater sum gotten late in the day after continued visibility has opened the pockets of observers. The amount collected over this time is 1d4 coppers per point of knowledge the character has. This will largely be in the form of copper pieces, but occasionally there will be 1 silver coin for every 20 copper, and 1 gold coin for every hundred coins over all.
During festivals, this number is doubled for amateurs and tripled for those who have reached authority status in guile. This same adjustment can be given on days of the year that are of below-the-ordinary cold for the region, that being one temperature grade less than would be expected to occur. This latter can be dangerous in some parts, however, as a beggar's clothing could make them susceptible to hypothermia or frostbite. However, if a character were to employ endure cold & heat as a spell, they would know how to make it appear that they were suffering appropriately.
Unskilled Beggars
Those with 1 to 9 points in the study of guile may beg, though they do not possess the skill and therefore cannot benefit from conditions or festivals; nor can they effectively beg for a bed and a meal. For the most part, however, the other considerations described here are enjoyed, so that these characters can collect 1-3 c.p. for each point of knowledge they possess, for a day's begging.
Guild Fees
Further details about guild fees, placement of beggars within a city or the change in status that a beggar would achieve over time can be found on the page related to Beggar Guilds, as can information about rumours or connections to other criminal classes. As a guideline, however, a beggar's guild would typically charge between 12 s.p. as a joining fee, and 6 to 12 s.p. per month as a reflection of their earnings — this number being about 10% to 20% of an amateur beggar's take, if they possessed 10 knowledge points in Guile.
Failure to pay, once having joined, would result in exile from the locality, and most likely from any locality within a dozen miles of the town or city. A character would not want to be seen after that — and would, absolutely, be seen by some completely unobserved beggar, if they did not adopt a remarkable disguise to alter their appearance. There are larger beggar guilds that possess a reach over many localities... it would be well to know if the guild being entered is one of these, and how far their reach is, before making a commitment.
Alter & Change Self
Through the spells alter self and change self, beggars can adjust their appearance in different ways to achieve a different visible effect. This can be useful if the character wants to obtain lodging repeatedly in the same district, but it won't meaningfully change the success of the individual's begging. It can, however, greatly reduce the need for changing clothes.
