The Street Thug

See, them up there don't want to know what people like me do down here. But that don't mean they don't know where to find us when they want something done.

There are times when the educated and the wealthy must give way to the unsophisticated and down-at-heel. In those times, the covenant would do well to have contacts with the underclass found in every town and city.

Crime is an inescapable part of life, especially in the towns and cities of Mythic Europe. Several covenants

across the Order, especially those in Tribunals where city life is fast becoming more common, have explicit connections with street gangs. In some cases, the connections run far deeper than the covenant would ever publicly admit to.

Street gangs have several things to offer a covenant keen to maintain a presence within a city. Firstly, the gang, through its extended network of social contacts, can be an effective intelligence network. Information on the movement of specific targets can be tracked and fed back to the covenant; the mood of the city can be felt in the markets, taverns, and docks; and violence can be bought as easily as bread. The deeper the covenant goes with one or more street gangs, the more these can be used. Ultimately, the activities of a criminal network can be used as a source of income as described in Covenants, page 59.

But covenants wanting to use a street gang will need a man on the inside. A contact. A Street Thug. The Street Thug is any member of the street gang with the sense to see the magi as an opportunity. He may be a lowly petty criminal, or someone with brains enough to be running the outfit. He will know the streets of his city and have social contacts all over. He's not a thief in the manner of a cutpurse, confidence trickster, or palmist. He's a thug. He'll demand protection money in exchange for not burning down your workshop. He'll work the girls along the waterfront. He'll stab you in the legs and rob you while you're bleeding. There's nothing dashing or benign about him and he'll probably hang one day.

He is best suited to stories set within the town or city and can be used as an effective bodyguard, lookout, thief, or agitator. If the magi need a diversion to be created in the city, he's the man to go to. And if they need someone roughed up a little, they need look no further.

The Street Thug probably doesn't live at the covenant, even if that covenant is based within the city walls. In fact, when the Street Thug does spend time at the covenant, he probably causes disruption and upset. But he's a frequent visitor, coming to the kitchens to eat at his paymasters' expense; badgering their steward for new boots, cloak, or unspecified expenses; or just to hide out while the heat is on.

The following notes provide some suggestions for creating Street Thugs.

The Street Thug is really designed to either live fast and be hanged young, or to be a little more cagey and survive to run the joint. As well as making Aging Rolls for the Street Thug, storyguides may also want to decide whether the Street Thug has been caught in the act of committing a crime or targeted by his enemies, and whether there is a need for action from the magi to save him.

Regardless of this, life on the streets takes a heavy toll. The Poor Living Conditions Flaw (see Chapter 6, New Virtues and Flaws), on top of the base –2 Living Conditions Modifier for living in a town, means that the Street Thug can expect to have a Decrepitude Score of 2 and Characteristics totaling –5, rather than the starting 7, by the age of 50. An aging Crisis is only a few years away, most likely a Minor Illness as per the Crisis Table on ArM5, page 170.

Grogs can't take the Outlaw Leader Minor Social Status Flaw, but as a petty criminal, the Branded Criminal Social Status Flaw is appropriate for the Street Thug character. It sets him out as recognizably unsavory, and gives him access to Martial Abilities from the outset. However, the Street Thug is a brawler used to bludgeoning his opponents with whatever comes to hand amid the filth of the alleyway. Years of violence have toughened him up, hence the Tough Virtue to provide that extra Soak bonus. The last Virtue is Social Contacts, representing the contacts he's made on both sides of law and order across the city.

The Street Thug has two Flaws left to take, and both of these are new to this supplement. The Fish Out of Water (Cities) Flaw shows how little of life outside the city the Street Thug has experienced, and how uncomfortable he feels without familiar surroundings. But despite being at home in the City, he has particularly Poor Living Conditions. This last Flaw comes mainly from the daily grind of petty violence that takes its toll on him.

The following Virtues and Flaws represent a typical Street Thug: Branded Criminal; Puissant Brawl, Social Contacts (street criminals), Tough; Fish Out of Water (Cities)*, Poor Living Conditions*

* See Chapter 6, New Virtues and Flaws

Puissant Brawl and Tough can easily be exchanged for other Minor Virtues, such as Berserk for a more overtly dangerous fighter, and Large or Enduring Constitution.

The Street Thug seeks experience in anything that helps him get through another day on the street. This is likely to be Brawl, Guile, Area Lore, and for intimidation, Leadership. Brawl is the Street Thug's combat Ability of choice as people in cities are rarely armed and even more rarely armored. He is also

backed up by a gang and will almost always be in a trained combat group when with his own people. When not using his fists, a bludgeon, or a knife, he prefers a hatchet for its small size and brutal simplicity.

As the Street Thug grows older, he gains more authority over his gang, learning more about its activities and members, represented by his growing Leadership and Gang Lore Abilities.

Training packages for Street Thugs include: Brawler, Footpad*, Leader, Local, Soldier, Wastrel.

* The experience points against Legerdemain in this package are more likely spent against Thrown Weapon

ABILITIES AT AGE 20: Area Lore 3 (geography), Athletics 2 (running), Awareness 3 (alertness), Brawl 4 (fist), Carouse 3 (power drinking), Charm 1 (being witty), Climb 1 (walls), Disguise 2 (townsfolk), Folk Ken 1 (townsfolk), Guile 1 (lying to authority), Leadership 1 (intimidation), Living Language 5 (slang), Single Weapon 3 (hatchet), Stealth 2 (streets), Thrown Weapon 3 (throwing knife)

ABILITIES AT AGE 35: Area Lore 3 (geography), Athletics 3 (running), Awareness 3 (alertness), Brawl 6 (fist), Carouse 3 (power drinking), Charm 1 (being witty), Climb 2 (walls), Disguise 3 (townsfolk), Folk Ken 2 (townsfolk), Guile 2 (lying to authority), Intrigue 1 (rumor-mongering), Leadership 3 (intimidation), Living Language 5 (slang), Single Weapon 3 (hatchet), Stealth 4 (streets), Thrown Weapon 5 (throwing knife)

ABILITIES AT AGE 50: Area Lore 5 (geography), Athletics 3 (running), Awareness 3 (alertness), Brawl 6 (fist), Carouse 3 (power drinking), Charm 2 (being witty), Climb 2 (walls), Disguise 3 (townsfolk), Folk Ken 4 (townsfolk), Guile 3 (lying to authority), Intrigue 4 (rumor-mongering), Leadership 5 (intimidation), Living Language 5 (slang), Organization Lore: Gang 3 (politics), Single Weapon 3 (hatchet), Stealth 4 (streets), Thrown Weapon 5 (throwing knife)

The story seeds that follow use the city streets as a backdrop, and the Street Thug himself either as part of the lead-in or as a tool to be used in the in the story resolution.

The streets are running with blood, the city watch just look the other way, and someone at the top is getting very rich. They say that there's magic at work and that's why nobody can touch these people. Well, magic you have. Now all you need is someone who knows the streets and can find out where the money's going. Then it can start coming to you.

The Street Thug has a price on his head and is forced to lie low while the tempers cool and memories fade. The trouble is, he's hiding out in the covenant. It doesn't take long for his presence to become disruptive. The magi need to find a job for him to do. It's either that or turn him into a tree for the next month. But as it happens, the magi have heard that a tax collector of ill repute is arriving in town in the next week, and the taxes he's collected will be stored in the sheriff's keep. There might be a way to keep the Street Thug occupied and make a little money after all.

The magi receive an interesting offer from the leader of a group of street thugs. He knows that the magi provide a little backup to his rival gang leader, but he can cut them in for bigger stakes if they'll support him over their current associates. But this new face is harboring an Infernal secret, and the offer is a temptation to betrayal. The wheels are already in motion. Can the magi root out the demons before they take hold in the city, and can they stop the violence before it spins out of control?

PERSONALITY TRAITS & REPUTATION

The Street Thug has three Personality Traits. Rather than having true bravery, the Street Thug is Aggressive, an important distinction. And he is also Ruthless, prepared to commit crime, to hurt and harm others, and to betray those in his way. He'll very rarely find himself as the vanguard in any combat group; while he's aggressive enough to start the fight, he's also ruthless enough to make sure other people get hurt first.

But ultimately, the Street Thug is Pragmatic. This pragmatism is what draws the Street Thug to the magi and their covenant, and it is this pragmatism that stands in place of loyalty; he

can overlook their oddness if there's money to be made and protection to be gained.

An older Street Thug may have gained a reputation before being brought into the game, most likely among his underworld associates. This reputation might reflect a ruthless streak, or a the strength with which he runs his gang or holds his turf. If creating an older character from scratch, you might want to swap out one of his flaws for Infamous, which would give a bad reputation with a score of 4.

The obvious Social Status for a companion made in this mold is the Outlaw Leader. This gives the companion a handful of loyal men to carry out jobs at his behest. As a result, a gang leader may well be Wealthy, as this represents the time he has available with his crew running operations on his behalf.

Street Thugs elevated to companion status have scope for Story Flaws, such as Enemies in the form of rival gangs (although Feud could easily be used for the same). For a different feel, the Difficult Underlings Story Flaw is also appropriate as running a gang of troublemakers is guaranteed to attract even more trouble.

There's also room to re-purpose the Minor General Temporal Influence Virtue. The intent of the Virtue is to give a character political influence through politically powerful connections. The same can be applied to the Outlaw Leader, though the nature of the connections is less socially acceptable.

There are a number of Story Flaws that are very useful to the Outlaw Leader character. Blackmail (as per the Story Flaw) is likely to be very common and will be used to great leverage. The flip side is that you may owe Favors to others for their help, either in gathering information, watching your back, or for releasing men they had every reason to hang.

While the Street Thug as grog is useful for his aggressive approach and knowledge of the streets, the Outlaw Leader, as leader of a criminal street gang, is able to draw upon more resources that the covenant could put to good use.