You were recruited at an early age as a potential White Scorpion assassin, and your life up until now has been dedicated to training with a view to becoming a fully fledged member of the Order (even if the name and details of that Order have been kept secret from you up until now). To you the world is an ugly place full of chaos and injustice, which, prior to you preparing for life in the Order, gave you little but misery and suffering. The Order however has given you purpose, discipline, confidence and strength. You are determined to complete your training, survive the initiation ceremony, and rise to fulfil your destiny as a weapon of justice.
- Skill Proficiencies: History, Stealth
- Tool Proficiencies: Disguise kit, poison kit
- Languages: Replace thieves' cant from the Rogue class with Scorpion Tongue
- Equipment: Starting Equipment: Weapon black (enough for one shortsword, or two daggers), face black (charcoal), a grapple hook, caltrops (p.151 PH), and a pouch containing 10 gp.
Equipment On Initiation: A vial of Deathstalker scorpion venom (5 doses), a "Sting of Steel" dagger with poison chamber
White Scorpions often a have a special bond with the person who trained them, especially as they will be one of the only members of the Order they deal with directly and regularly. In times of need they may go to this mentor for advice.
Suggested Characteristics
Urchins are shaped by lives of desperate poverty, for good and for ill. They tend to be driven either by a commitment to the people with whom they shared life on the street or by a burning desire to find a better life — and maybe get some payback on all the rich people who treated them badly.
| 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 town or city is my home, and I’ll fight to defend it. |
| 2 | I sponsor an orphanage to keep others from enduring what I was forced to endure. |
| 3 | I owe my survival to another urchin who taught me to live on the streets. |
| 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. |
Recruiting and training members is a slow and expensive process, meaning that the White Scorpions do their utmost to protect their members, especially as every member is also a guardian of many of the Order's secrets. As identities are not revealed unless absolutely necessary, locating other guild members can be difficult (see Secret Signs section on page 3) but if a member can locate another they can rely on them for shelter, food and even small loans. Towns with a Temple of Tyr, the God of Justice, are often a place of sanctuary, as priests of these temples sometimes serve as members of The Claw.