Mendicant

Being a Mendicant

The streets have always been your home. Amidst the shadows of buildings and tall towers, you know where the winds blow and bells echo. Whispers find you because you know exactly where to stand. You know exactly where not to talk. You hide in plain sight, people easily underestimate you, and you always know how to get away with situations.

How to Play?

You will collect coins, whispers, and information in urban areas; you will advance your network, having people bring you the collective information and secrets.

Prerequisites

In order to start a Profession as a Mendicant, you must have a Charisma score of at least 13 and proficiency in Deception or Performance skills.

Climbing the Ranks

You gain PEX through the activities listed beyond, but it is up to the GM to award PEX for other possible activities that are not listed.

Title/Office	Definition
Collecting at least 5 gd in a day	5 PEX
Collecting at least 10 gd in a day	15 PEX
Collecting at least 25 gd in a day	30 PEX
Learning a secret of an important labor-class individual	5 PEX
Learning a secret of an important merchant-class individual	10 PEX
Learning a secret of an important rich-class individual	15 PEX
Learning a secret of a noble or an equally important individual	25 PEX
Taking contracts and completing from a faction (for example learning the entrance of a thieves' guild hideout for a mercenary band)	X* PEX

*Note: The PEX reward for this activity is dependent on how hard it is, but must be rewarded with at least 10 PEX.

Apprentice Mendicant

Rank One

As an apprentice mendicant, you roam the streets while collecting whispers, secrets, and coins from people. You know how to get on their good sides, or at least where to stand to catch what they are saying.

Unerring Senses | 50 PEX: Listening to the crowds is the key to this job.

By eavesdropping on conversations on the streets and dark alleys, your hearing and sight has improved greatly. You gain proficiency in the Wisdom (Perception) skill.

Crowded Escape | 50 PEX: Blending in is an art after all.

Hiding among the crowds has become second nature to you. Whenever you take the Hide action in crowded places, you can double your proficiency bonus when rolling your Dexterity (Stealth) check. On a success, you are not only counted as being under the Invisible condition for as long as you remain out of sight of your pursuers, but you can also Dash as a bonus action to make a getaway. You cannot use the Dash to knowingly move closer to an enemy.

Lies! Deception! | 50 PEX: "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

You have become quite adept at presenting yourself to other eyes in a deceitful manner. When an ability check is made against your Deception or Performance to reveal the truth, it is made with Disadvantage.

Urban Sense | 50 PEX: "I am a hundred percent sure I have seen this alley before."

Your inner compass in urban areas is nearly unmatched by others. You have Advantage on any ability check to find your way in an urban area.

Journeyman Mendicant

Rank Two | 300 PEX

Your time spent in the streets has made you an adept mendicant. Instead of doing all the dirty work with your hands, you now have a way of establishing a network and conducting operations. Apprentices follow your lead, and every now and then news reaches you first. You are the source of some gossip and control the flow of whispers in some streets.

Specialization | 100 PEX: You choose a specialization in your profession. You will either be a Spider or an Owl. Spiders focus on establishing a network through the streets and collecting rumors and secrets, while Owls focus on stealth and secrecy.

Web of the Spider: You can spend your PEX and coins in order to establish a strong web of connections. Work with your GM to create necessary NPCs from the table below (Your Network) or choose the right ones in the Bestiary section. The names given in bold appear in the Bestiary; however, GMs can come up with their own preference of statblocks depending on the setting and the rules of their table.

Your Network

NPC	Explanation	PEX Cost	Salary
Finance Elite (street actor, street acrobat, street dancer, or similar stat blocks)	On a weekly or a monthly basis, GM has them roll a Charisma check (appropriate skill proficiencies may apply) and determine how much coin they bring.	10 PEX	8 gd/month
Field Agent (Guard, vendor, merchant of Venice, thug, or many others)	On a weekly or a monthly basis, GM has them roll a Wisdom/Intelligence or a related ability check to determine if they bring valuable information (appropriate skill proficiencies may apply).	10 PEX	10 gd/month
Operator (condottieri, seafarer, gondolier, temperatore, or many others)	You can send these Operators for specific operations, such as a heist, an intimidation task, or gathering information. An operator can be used once per week or month, at the discretion of the GM.	25 PEX	15 gd/month

Sight of the Owl: You can spend your PEX and coins in order to gain abilities mentioned in the table below (Owl in the Night). With them you are able to roam the streets and get the job done yourself.

Owl in the Night

Ability	Explanation	PEX Cost	Coin Cost
Picking Locks	You gain proficiency with Thieves' tools.	25 PEX	15 gd
Better Vision	Dim light does not impose Disadvantage on your sight and related rolls.	25 PEX	-
Silent Steps	When you successfully use the Hide action, you impose Disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to notice you.	30 PEX	-
Trap Master	You take half damage from traps if the damage is nonmagical.	50 PEX	-
Combat Training	You gain proficiency with a weapon of your choice and a piece of light armor of your choice. The armor can instead be shields.	50 PEX	25 gd
Agility Training	You gain proficiency in Stealth and Sleight of Hand skills.	50 PEX	25 gd
Close Inspection	You gain proficiency in Investigation and Insight skills.	50 PEX	25 gd

Disguise Adept | 100 PEX: "It is probably a good idea if a city guard does not see the same face twice in a row."

You gain proficiency with the Disguise kit, and you can acquire it for half of the normal cost.

Appraise | 100 PEX: "The metal does not taste right."

You immediately understand if a coin is fake or not.

Careful by Nature | 100 PEX: Nothing gets past your attention.

Your passive Perception score increases by 3.

Honed Senses | 100 PEX: "Focus on the words and reading the mouths."

You can read lips and understand what the people are saying if you know the language. In addition, being in a loud crowd does not impose Disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks.

Harsh Conditions | 100 PEX: You are used to sleeping under the stars, no?

You have Advantage on saving throws against extreme weather conditions due to your being accustomed to surviving on the streets.

Expert Mendicant

Rank Three | 1000 PEX

You are now the king or queen of the beggars; you hear every whisper uttered on the streets and even birds' singing reach your ears eventually. The coins put in beggars' cups flow your way. You have an eye and ear on each street, maybe even in each store or tavern. You do not only listen now–you talk and whisper while you decide what is true for the local folk and travelers.

Specialization Improvement | 200 PEX: You know the streets better than almost anyone, and your specialized abilities have become incredibly strong.

Great Spider: You are immune to the charmed condition and automatically understand if anyone is charmed by magical means. If an enchantment spell is directed at you, you are immune to its effects.

Night Owl: You have Advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks and are able to see even when there's little light. You gain darkvision to a range of 30 ft. If you already have one, its range increases by 30 ft.

Expert Sneak | 200 PEX: "Sneaking around is the definition of this job."

You have Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.

Resistant | 200 PEX: "You must have seen a few brawls here and there."

Your time in the streets has hardened you through a crucible of pain. You gain resistance to a damage type of your choice: bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, or poison.

Face of Innocence | 200 PEX: "The most sincere smile on the face."

If your total for a Charisma (Deception or Performance) check is less than your Charisma score, you can use that score in place of the total.

Master Mendicant

Rank Four | 5000 PEX

You are known as a kingmaker now. Streets talk through you. Not a single word of gossip has ever reached anyone's ear before your treatment or guidance. Nobles and kings know not to cross you, as they realize you can control what is truth and what is not.

Stories of the Past | Free: "Oh, have I told you about the time when…"

You have a lot of experiences and stories, and have probably taken part in some of the legends and myths. You have the ability to inspire greatness in others. You can grant Inspiration to anyone who listens to your stories a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus daily. This Inspiration point must be used in 1 hour, or it will be lost. Anyone who already has Inspiration won't be affected by this. As an alternative, the creatures who listen can roll on their Legendary Inspiration table or draw a card from the Deck of the Legendary Inspirations.

Vox Viarum, Voice of the Streets | Free: "Nothing escapes my ears and eyes."

While you are in a crowd, you automatically succeed on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to Hide, and you can only be found by magical means. For the purposes of this ability, mendicating on a busy street or in a bustling square counts as a "crowd" for you, whether you are in the throng or not. Additionally, once per week you can learn a very important secret. Work with your GM on what the secrets may be, but they have the final say on the level of information (though it should be considerably more important than the information gathered by your operator network, if you are a Spider). Examples of secrets you could learn are the location of a secret stash of treasure, the entrance to a highly secretive guild, the exact location of a magic item within a fortified keep, the upcoming daily itinerary of a hated foe, and so forth.

Downtime Activities for the Mendicant

Roaming the Streets

You spend a week keeping a low profile, traveling through the streets, and collecting some coins. The GM determines what skill could be applied to the Charisma check. If you roll 9 or below, you could get in trouble at the discretion of the GM. Check out the table Climbing the Ranks for related PEX rewards.

Charisma Check Total	Coins Collected
10	1 gd
13	5 gd
16	10 gd
19	20 gd
21	30 gd

Buying Off Local Law Enforcement

You make your way through the known individuals from the local law enforcement - for example, city guards who might be more open to your business endeavor. If you succeed on a DC 20 Charisma (Persuasion) check, they do not bother you for the next week or month. Each 5 gd spent lowers the DC by 2 to a minimum of 10 and you gain 15 PEX if you succeed.

Underground Contact

You can spend one workweek and 25 gd to learn the places you can buy or fence some unique and possibly illegal items or meet with "interesting" people. Roll a Wisdom (Perception) or Wisdom (Insight) check against DC 10. On a success, you meet one of the black-market tradesmen. Work with your GM to determine their proficiency, their items, attitude, and other important details. Once you establish a contact, you can revisit this downtime activity with a DC 10 Persuasion check to have an arrangement with the determined contact, for example for information or a specific item. The details are determined by the GM.