Adventuring with Class -Low Class Adventures

The industrial age has pulled many rural workers into the city where they scrape out a living stacked on top of each other. Crime has flourished in the cramped quarters of the poorer neighborhoods. Those not resorting to crime find employment or aid anyway they can. The social pressure that rules the Upper class and the professional courtesy of the Middle are less evident here. The greatest worry of the lower class is simply eating every day.

Plot Hooks

More than the other two circles of society, the motivations for the lower class are fractured by world view. For a selfish and cynical scum, reputation or social mobility is nothing, but a poor yet honest man values his word of honor most of all (which may not be surprising considering how little he has to value).

Aside from a few social climbers, both cases are motivated by their values, not the values of those around them.

Misery loves company, and few are more miserable than the poor living in the streets of London. If a player character is willing to do anything to survive, a simple threat to a person they rely on is often enough, but if they are more altruistic, a threat to a downtrodden friend is better.

This is particularly effective with lower class characters due to their comparatively helpless state. If a character with a prestigious social circle needs the help of the law or public opinion they have avenues to get it, a professional can lean back on their connections and a good name, but a working man may only have his friends to fall back on.

The obvious offer of a few shillings will be enough to entice a character on the bottom rung of the social ladder towards the story.  This can stay interesting by trading the charter’s skills and abilities for expensive good and services (rather than a straight wage).  A bounty on Sewer Ghouls could bring a down on his luck character closer to a sewer based adventure; a missing sewing machine part could persuade the party to fix a cricket match.

Most of the clothes and household goods owned by a poor man were purchased at a dollyshop (a second-hand store, or an unlicensed pawn shop). A few of these shops may be on the up and up, but most were stocked with stolen articles. The ill gotten goods were then sold at a price their clientele could afford.
Any relatively nice item owned by a low class character could be stolen property. A handkerchief with a stranger’s initials, a silver backed mirror with a familiar crest, or a complete set of china dishes with a lovely pattern could all lead to a confrontation with the original owners, or an owed favor on their return. Any small item picked up (or pick pocketed up) could lead to an adventure.

Locations

As long as they are never seen or heard, the craftsmen of the lower orders always have a place in polite society.  If a pipe is plugged, wooden panels need replacing, or if a wall has a hole, the workmen will have to be called.  A low class player character good with his hands will have access to a better class of buildings as long as they discrete and unobtrusive.

For a man without a house, the street is his home. Everyone knows everyone’s business (but would never tell an outsider), and neighbors will drop their disputes to achieve a common goal.  From the rookeries’ nest of connected houses, to a simple clean street of tenements and shops, a sense of community exists between the lack of privacy and the stifling living conditions.

The sins and excesses of all men filter through the layers of society and settle down in the Lower classes. The worst places in London house the evils that entertain and provide meeting places for their partakers. Opium dens, dog fights, prisons, houses of corruption, smuggler’s tunnels, all can be places of exchange between members of all orders and the criminal element.

Dark private places such as abandoned houses or derelict boats are also used by persons’ wanting to keep their dealings unrevealed.

Enemies and Obstacles

The poor face many hurdles when breaking through class barriers. Any interaction with their “betters” will be especially difficult. Getting an unsympathetic policeman to listen, haggling over a price in a ritzy neighborhood, or not sticking out in the nice restaurant while observing a suspect are all going to be harder for a low born character.

Charitable societies and the less charitable workhouses seek to improve the lot of the working man, but that doesn’t mean they don’t interfere. Activists may try to set a fallen man on the straight and narrow in a belligerent fashion, seeking to help with the rod of correction.

 If player character is pestered by a civic improvement organization, they will have to act with discretion. Most are only trying to help, and are likely well connected or funded by a member of high society.

In the rookery crime is law. From buying stolen clothes (it’s all they can afford), to avoiding the extortion of street gangs, few honest men can navigate their day to day lives without a hint of larceny. Depending on the neighborhood, a player character may be in danger of mugging, bludgeoning, or murder and that’s before making any enemies!

Traveling across London on foot may be picturesque but having enough for cab fare or a train ticket is a lot easier on the feet. If time is limited, the few pence meant for tonight’s supper may have to be sacrificed to save a life.

A few trains have special tickets for men coming to and from work, but they don’t run all day. Maybe the sewer tunnels would be quicker?

That is it for this series. I hope these ideas are useful and helped to generate ways to use class as a basis for adventures in Victoriana. Even if a party is made up of multiple classes, that should only make it easier to use class to drive story. Why are they adventuring, what do a player character’s peers think of their friends? Remember every character has a class, it might as well fuel story.