You would have grown up on the streets alone, orphaned and poor.  But you were found by the gang.  The gang took you in at first feed you and clothed you and taught you things.  Then you had to earn your keep by working for them.  First as a lookout, then as a participant.  To you lying, cheating and stealing were part of everyday life.  And things like food or clothing were worth fighting over.  The gang had a headquarters, but it wasn't for sleeping.  You had to keep vigilant and sleep where you felt it was safe, rooftops, alleyways or even completely exposed.  Despite everything you survived through cunning, strength, speed or a combination of all three. 

You begin your adventuring career with enough money to live modestly but securely for at least ten days. How did you come by that money? What allowed you to break free of your desperate circumstances and embark on a better life?

Skill Proficiencies: Sleight of Hand, Stealth

Tool Proficiencies: Disguise kit, thieves’ tools

Equipment: A small knife,  set of dark common clothes including a hood, and a pouch containing 15 gp

Suggested Characteristics

Street Urchins are shaped by lives filled with challenge and struggle to survive.  They tend to be driven by a commitment to others who shared the life on the street with them or a burning desire to find a better life, maybe even through payback on the system that forgot them.

 

d8	Personality Trait
1	I hide scraps of food and trinkets away in my pockets.
2	I ask a lot of questions.
3	I like to squeeze into small places where no one else can get to me.
4	I sleep with my back to a wall or tree, with everything I own wrapped in a bundle in my arms.
5	I eat like a pig and have bad manners.
6	I think anyone who’s nice to me is hiding evil intent.
7	I don’t like to bathe.
8	I bluntly say what other people are hinting at or hiding.

d6	Ideal
1	Respect. All people, rich or poor, deserve respect. (Good)
2	Community. We have to take care of each other, because no one else is going to do it. (Lawful)
3	Change. The low are lifted up, and the high and mighty are brought down. Change is the nature of things. (Chaotic)
4	Retribution. The rich need to be shown what life and death are like in the gutters. (Evil)
5	People. I help the people who help me — that’s what keeps us alive. (Neutral)
6	Aspiration. I’m going to prove that I’m worthy of a better life.

d6	Bond
1	My close friends are my family and I will fight to protect them no matter what
2	I sponsor an orphanage to keep others from enduring what I was forced to endure.
3	I owe my survival to another who taught me to live on the streets and survive in the gang.
4	I owe a debt I can never repay to the person who took pity on me.
5	I escaped my life of poverty by robbing an important person, and I’m wanted for it.
6	No one else should have to endure the hardships I’ve been through.

d6	Flaw
1	If I’m outnumbered, I will run away from a fight.
2	Gold seems like a lot of money to me, and I’ll do just about anything for more of it.
3	I will never fully trust anyone other than myself.
4	I’d rather kill someone in their sleep than fight fair.
5	It’s not stealing if I need it more than someone else.
6	People who can’t take care of themselves get what they deserve.