Streetwise

Streetwise helps characters get around urban environments. Some situations call for seeking out those living outside the local law, while others can be handled through upstanding citizens. Generally, the modifiers are the same for each situation, but the game master should adjust them depending on the circumstances. It is possible, though generally unlikely, that a character would be well liked by both upstanding residents and local criminals.

Example: In a village, a character would find it easier to gather information about a particular person (and thus the city-size skill bonus would be +10 instead of -15), but he might have a harder time getting someone to trust him enough to tell him about it (making the tolerance modifier +15).

Information Sought	Difficulty
Things that are usually easy to find (ex., directions to the nearest police station)	3
Things that require discretion or careful investigation (ex., asking if the local law is straight or crooked)	6
Risky services; finding illegal and well-regulated items (ex., finding out an appropriate bribe for the local law)	12
Services of unusual skills; finding dangerous or carefully controlled items (ex., seeking a fence or a safe cracker)	18
A specific criminal in hiding; finding items whose possession means immediate imprisonment.	21

Size of City	Skill Bonus
Village (several hundred citizens)	+10
Town (several thousand citizens)	+5
Small city (several hundred thousand citizens)	0
Large city (one million or more citizens)	-15

Amount of Law Enforcement/Tolerance of Residents	Difficulty Modifier
Martial law or no tolerance for criminals or outsiders	+15
Criminal activity overlooked as long as it’s discreet; slight tolerance of outsiders	+10
Criminal activity overlooked as long as it’s not dangerous to the general public; tolerance of outsiders	+5
Criminal activity overlooked as long as it’s not dangerous to the local government; outsiders welcome	0
Anarchy; outsiders given same respect as residents	-10

Reputation of Seeker	Difficulty Modifier
Never been to the location; no contacts; not trusted by local underworld or residents	+10 or more
Rarely visited; only passing knowledge of how the local underworld operates	+1–9
Minor contacts; knows what to avoid; criminals or residents have no reason not to trust character	0
Somewhat favorably known by local underworld or residents; several contacts	-1–9
Well-known and liked by underworld or residents	-10 or more