Pickpockets are the bane of the marketplace—innocuous waifs with innocent smiles and deft hands who can cut a purse in an eyeblink. Pickpockets could also serve as any of the countless street urchins or guttersnipes found on the streets of any large city.

Adding a dagger or short sword turns a pickpocket into a desperate mugger. Replacing Deft Hands with Deceitful and changing Skill Focus from Sleight of Hand to Bluff can make a con artist pickpocket, while changing Skill Focus to Disable Device makes for a good apprentice lock-picker or trapspringer. Replacing the Appraise skill with Perform creates common acrobats, jugglers, or mummers, perhaps members of a troupe that engages in a little larceny on the side. In pairs (CR 1), one pickpocket usually provides a distraction for her partner to take advantage of. In large cities and markets, pickpockets often work in gangs of six (CR 4) or even more. A wanderer might employ a pickpocket assistant (CR 3), while a storyteller or minstrel might employ half a dozen pickpockets to help “work” the crowd (CR 5 or 6). A shady barkeep might keep two pickpockets on staff disguised as serving girls, along with his two regular barmaids, to supplement his tavern’s income (CR 5).