Chapter 04 · Street PerformerFM 93-07

Street Performer

You played for coins outside the mall, in subway tunnels, on the pier in the off season. You are used to crowds, used to being ignored, and very used to packing up fast.

A sidewalk at dusk: open guitar case, coins, a hat, the set already over. — Plate III-L. — Three verses and gone. The case is still open.

Spec	Issued
Creation cost	−2
Effective start	Performance 3 · Nimble 1 · Musical
Granted trait	Musical (purchasable 4) — fewer fumbled notes; Performance XP. Not Showman: you are not paid like a room, you are paid like a corner.
The real bonus	Nimble 1. The instrument occupies both hands. Packing up and running is the job.
XP / pay	Same verse loop as the Musician. Same busking rules: coin inside a claim, morale anywhere, daily cap, noise everywhere.

Who this is for

The sidewalk, not the evening at the inn. You want leftover points, a fast exit, and a skill that works in a doorway you do not own yet. You are three verses and gone. If you wanted Showman and Maintenance, pay the extra two points.

// FROM THE FILES — FOOD LION LOT

Coins in a case on the sidewalk in front of the Food Lion. The Food Lion is a tomb. The case still works. Pack up before the second crowd arrives — the one that does not clap.

How to play it

Treat Nimble as the occupation. Musical keeps the notes clean. Nimble keeps you alive when they are not clean enough. Never start a verse without a door, an alley, or a car behind you. Both hands are busy. You cannot shove and strum.
Short sets. Morale ticks for people in earshot. Coin ticks inside a settlement, per verse, cap per day. You do not need a two-hour concert. You need enough XP to climb and enough coin to eat. Stop while the overlay is quiet.
Craft the escape kit first. Picks ungated. Strings at 1 (you spawn at 3). Busker’s hat at 2. Cigar-box guitar at 3 — if loot fails, you can still be the occupation. Practice mute at 5 is your week-two trophy; until then, walls.
Play other people’s dirt. You do not have to found. A Shopkeeper’s claim is a legal hat. Ask. Busk. Leave a little goodwill and no corpses. A Street Performer who kites a horde into a stall is why towns ban music.
Climb toward Showman’s world without buying Showman. Performance 5 is the Musician’s spawn and your near-term. The mute, the songbook, the better verses. You will never be as generous a hat as Showman. You will be alive more often. That is the trade you paid −2 for.

Operator’s note — the corner Encrypted air drops, cordons, and contest parties are not venues. If the tracker is live, put the instrument away. Chapter 07 is the other band in town, and they do not take requests.

Caution Tin Ear fumbles more, and fumbles carry further than a good verse. Stage Fright pays less from strangers — which is your whole audience. Do not take either. Musical is already the clean-hands trait.

First week

Live like a burglar who owns a guitar. Loot the instrument. Do not serenade the spawn town’s main street. Find a claim, three verses, leave. Craft picks. Get Performance 4–5 on play, not on wishful outdoor encores. Pair with anyone who has a door. The Musician can have the stage; you have the sidewalk and the shoes.