You lived on the streets, carrying every one of your worldly possessions (as few as they were) with you at all times to keep them from being stolen by other beggars.  A great variety of reasons leave people to this sort of life.  It may be economical, where you lost your job or business, or you were never trained to begin with.  It might be for social reasons, such as being forced out of your home, or you ran away from home, or a natural disaster or war took your home from you.  Or, perhaps you find yourself in this wretched life because of biological reasons, where you're ill, or suffer from a mental or physical disability, or you've grown old.  Whatever the reason, however, you were on the streets and at the mercy of those who walk passed you each day. 

Each night, you slept in an alley, or in the doorway of any business where the owner didn't drive you away.  You lived on the charity of strangers who had a copper or two that they found no need of.   You ate food thrown away by others, not caring where it came from as long as it filled your belly and drove away the constant pangs of hunger.  You were looked down upon, if anyone even took notice of you to begin with.  You've been spat upon, beaten, and even pelted with rotten food as your attackers laughed.  

 Then one day, while you sat in your usual spot at the edge of the market, a stranger took notice of you.  Perhaps the stranger knew you from your life before.  Maybe the stranger recognized something in you that spoke of potential.  Or, perhaps the stranger had been directed to you by some deity or patron.  Whatever the reason, the stranger showed you a kindness, perhaps enough coin to get cleaned up, to purchase new clothes, and a real meal in your hungry belly.  The stranger gave you a cryptic message to go along with the coins, something that has set you upon a new path, something that opens a new chapter in your life.

Skill Proficiencies: Your time living on the streets has given you skills that will help in the new life you have been set upon.  You are proficient with insight, for your eyes and ears have given you a skill in knowing others.  You are proficient in survival, having faced situations that others might not have ever faced.  Also, depending on where you were a beggar, and why, you are proficient in either deception, performance, or slight of hand.

 

Tool Proficiencies: Life on the streets didn't train you much in the way of tools.  You still retain your knowledge from your life before begging, perhaps one of the artisan tools.  You can also play simple pipes.

 

Languages: You can speak, read and write the common language, and you've picked up enough undercommon to speak and understand, but you don't know how to read or write it.

 

Equipment: The coins gifted to you were enough to buy traveling clothes and simple boots, a dagger, a waterskin, and either leather armor or a spell book, leaving you with only 8sp.  

 

Suggested Characteristics

You find it difficult to trust strangers, people with money, or those who wear some sort of uniform.  Your humility is natural, and has given you a wisdom that even the great advisors to the king will never possess.  With such a lowly past, you do not crave the shiny things in life as much as others seem to.  You find joy in the simple things of life.  

 

d4	Personality Trait
1	I am very territorial, and possessive of anything that is mine.
2	With but a glance, once I am close enough, I can take in a stranger's face and clothing and know what to say to get them to give me what I want.
3	If you want to prove yourself to me, you need to have compassion upon those less fortunate than you.
4	I can't resist giving some of my meager money to the beggars, much like that stranger who first showed me compassion.

d4	Flaw
1	I am unable to waste any money on things that I do not need. Beyond the bare essentials, I give all I earn to those who are in need.
2	I tend to overcompensate, insisting on keeping clean at all times, always afraid of returning to the squalor I lived in.
3	My personal grooming leaves a lot to be desired as I find bathing less important than those I travel with.
4	I am always watching for a new scam to run, or a new victim with lots of money that doesn't deserve what he/she has.

Contacts

You recognize members of the thieves guild, and may even have acquaintances among their ranks.  You know other beggars, or at least you know of them.