Beggar

Beggars are a group of randomly occurring NPCs in the game. There are a total of 8 types of beggars, each requesting different donations. Isaac can donate pennies, keys, hearts, or bombs by simply walking into them. With each donation, the beggar has a chance to drop various pickups and trinkets. Sometimes, the beggar will drop an item and disappear. The rate of drops isn't influenced by luck.

Beggars can be destroyed by bombs, causing them to drop a few pickups. If destroyed in Chest or Dark Room they will drop an item, with the exception of the Shell Game who still drops pickups.

Normal Beggars, Devil Beggars, or more rarely Key Masters, Bomb Bums, Battery Bums, and Rotten Beggars can be spawned using XX - Judgement.

Beggar

Beggars ask for Pennies. For each payout, they have a chance to drop the following

16.6% Heart (3.33% with Daemon's Tail)
16.6% Bomb (23.3% with Daemon's Tail)
16.6% Key (23.3% with Daemon's Tail)
25% Card
12.6% Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Dessert, or Rotten Meat
12.6% An item from the Beggar item pool

After spawning a pedestal item, the Beggar will disappear and can no longer be donated to.

The hard-coded items can be spawned even if previously encountered during the same run.

Notes

When destroyed drops random pickups and increases the Angel Room / Devil Room chance by 35%.
When paying out increase the Angel Room chance by 10%.
The chance for paying out depends on whether the game is in hard mode or not.
- On hard mode, the first time the Beggar pays out will always be after at least six donations, with a high chance of paying out at six. After the first payout, any subsequent payout will take at least three donations.
- On other modes (Normal, Greed, and Greedier), Beggars may pay out after any amount has been donated. It is unclear whether there is a limit, but it is very rare that they take six or more donations before paying out.
- If the player has Lucky Foot, payouts are much more likely on each donation after the first payout. On Hard mode, the minimum amount of donations between each payout after the first is reduced to 2.

Devil Beggar

Devil Beggar.png

Devil Beggars ask for hearts. Each donation deals a half heart of damage to Isaac (a full heart in Chapter 4 and beyond). For each payout, they have a chance to drop the following

25% Pill
25% Card
12.5% Trinket
37.5% An item from the Devil Beggar item pool

After spawning a pedestal item, the Devil Beggar will disappear and can no longer be donated to.

Notes

When destroyed drops various pickups and increases the Angel Room chance by 25%.
- When destroyed drops two Spiders.
- Increases the Angel Room / Devil Room chance by 35%.
When paying out decreases the Angel Room chance by 10%.
Similar to a Blood Donation Machine, Devil Beggars will take Eternal Hearts first, then Red Hearts. If Isaac only has half a Red Heart remaining, they will then take Black Hearts and Soul Hearts. It is possible to die in this manner.
- Devil Beggars ignore eternal hearts when taking hearts unless Isaac only has half a heart and an eternal heart; at that point, the beggar will take the eternal heart instead of the half heart.
- The Devil Beggar will take the last Half Red Heart before Black Hearts and Soul Hearts.
Invulnerability and shields can be used to prevent damage from it.
The full hearts of damage in Chapter 4 and beyond can be mitigated by The Wafer, Cancer, or Percs, which cut it back down to 1/2 heart.
The donations activate damage effects, such as Celtic Cross.
Activating Devil Beggars while using an item that grants invincibility, such as the Book of Shadows or Algiz, will not lower Isaac's health, but will still cause the beggar to spawn items. Holy Mantle is ignored, though, so The Lost will be killed instantly.
- It is possible to exploit the invincibility frames after taking damage to donate twice for the price of one donation. Blind Rage doubles the invincibility frames, thus allowing to activate the Devil Beggar even more times in that period.
- Bone Hearts will not be broken by donating to a Devil Beggar unless Isaac has no other hearts, and can drain multiple Bone Hearts without breaking them.
The chance for paying out depends on whether the game is in hard mode or not.
- On Hard mode, the first time the Devil Beggar pays out will always be after at least 6 donations, though it very rarely takes more than 6. After the first payout, any subsequent payout will take at least three donations.
- On other modes (Normal, Greed, and Greedier), Devil Beggars will pay out randomly between donations 1-7, with increasing odds and a guaranteed payout after 8 donations. The chances of getting subsequent payouts are slightly higher than the chances of getting the first.
- If the player has Lucky Foot, payouts are much more likely on each donation after the first payout. On Hard mode, the minimum amount of donations between each payout after the first is reduced to 2.

Key Master

Key Master.png

Key Masters (also known as Key Bums) are rare and ask for keys. For each donation they drop the following

65% Nothing
30.6% Random Chest
4.4% Paper Clip or An item from the Key Master item pool if the Paper Clip has been encountered in the run

After spawning a pedestal item or dropping Paper Clip, the Key Master will disappear and can no longer be donated to.

Notes

When destroyed drops random pickups and increases the Angel Room / Devil Room chance by 35%.
When paying out increase the Angel Room chance by 10%.
If found on Dark Room or Chest, the chest payouts will contain items.
Possessing a Golden Key will not affect the Key Master in any way.
- Possessing a Golden Key will now make the Key Master instantly pay out with an item, consuming the Golden Key as well.

Bomb Bum

Bomb Bum.png

Bomb Bums ask for bombs.

For every donation, they have a chance to drop 1-2 Bombs or an item from the Bomb Bum item pool. After spawning a pedestal item, the Bomb Bum will disappear.

For each donation they drop the following

60% Nothing
26% 1-3 Penny
9% Heart
5% An item from the Bomb Bum item pool

After spawning a pedestal item the Bomb Bum will disappear and can no longer be donated to.

Notes

When destroyed drops various pickups and increases the Angel Room / Devil Room chance by 35%.
When paying out increase the Angel Room chance by 10%.
Bomb Bums are rarer than other beggars.
It is possible that the Bomb Bum will "pay out" by spawning a Troll Bomb underneath itself.
Possessing a Golden Bomb will not affect the Bomb Bum in any way.
- Possessing a Golden Bomb will now make the Bomb Bum instantly pay out with an item, consuming the Golden Bomb as well.
Bomb Bums are immune to bombs, and will respond to an attempt to bombing them by spawning several troll bombs, similar to XVI - The Tower.
- Bomb Bums can still be destroyed by the shockwave from Mama Mega! and Larynx, or by being walked into with the effect of Mega Mush.
- Having Safety Scissors allows Isaac to acquire infinite bombs by bombing the beggar repeatedly.
  - Can be abused further for infinite pickups with Sack Head.

Battery Bum

Battery Bum.png

Battery Bums ask for coins. For each payout, they have a chance to drop the following

81.25% Charge the character's active item by 1-3 charges (can overflow like The Battery)
10% Lil' Battery
6.25% An item from the Battery Bum item pool
1.25% AAA Battery
1.25% Watch Battery

After spawning a pedestal item or trinket the Battery Bum will disappear and can no longer be donated to.

Notes

When destroyed has a chance to drop random pickups, a pill or a trinket also increases the Angel Room / Devil Room chance by 35%.
When paying out increase the Angel Room chance by 10%.
This is the counterpart to the Electrifier in Antibirth.
Battery Bums pay out every 3-4 coins donated in Hard mode and every 1-4 pennies in every other mode.

Bugs

Bug!	Will not grant charges to a tainted character's pocket active item unless they have a normal active item.

Rotten Beggar

Rotten Beggar.png

Rotten Beggars ask for coins. For each payout, they have a chance to drop the following

36% Blue Flies
36% Blue Spiders
12% Rotten Heart
4% Bone Heart
3% Fish Tail,Fish Head,Bob's Bladder, or Rotten Penny (Farts if all trinkets have already been picked up)
5% Farts
4.16% An item from the Rotten Beggar item pool

After spawning a pedestal item the Rotten Beggar will disappear and can no longer be donated to.

Notes

When destroyed drops 2 Small Maggots and has a chance to drop a Rotten Heart. Also increases the Angel Room/Devil Room chance by 35%.
When paying out increase the Angel Room chance by 10%.
Rotten Beggars pay out every 3-4 coins donated in Hard mode and every 1-4 pennies in every other mode.

Unlocked by: Defeat Mega Satan as Tainted Apollyon. Will be replaced with a Key Master if not unlocked.

Shell Game

Shell Game.png

Shell Game beggars can sometimes be found in the Arcade; they also have a small chance to spawn elsewhere. After giving the beggar a coin, they will lift a skull, revealing a Penny, Bomb, Red Heart, Key, or Skatole. The beggar will shuffle the skulls around and wait for Isaac to bump into 1 of the 3 shells.

If Isaac wins then they will payout with 2 of the respective pickup / Skatole. If Isaac loses they'll instead spawn an Attack Fly.

Skatole has a 7.6% of being chosen while the other pickups have a 23.1% of being chosen.

If Isaac wins a coin pickup, the beggar will spawn 2-3 coins.

Once Skatole is dropped the Shell Game will disappear and can no longer be donated to.

Notes

The shell chosen is irrelevant; it will always be a predetermined outcome.
Lucky Foot increases chances of winning from 33% to 55%.
If Skatole has already been acquired, other Shell Games will never give a second Skatole and will remain unless destroyed.
- If Isaac wishes to avoid a Skatole pickup (for example, he wants to spend more coins before possibly acquiring Skatole), leave the room — this resets the Shell Game (though his previous coin is lost).
Item payouts are subjected to the same spawning chances as usual. Bombs can be replaced with Troll Bombs or Double Bombs, Red Hearts can be replaced with Half Red Hearts, Soul Hearts, Black Hearts, Eternal Hearts, or Bone Hearts, and Pennies can be replaced with Nickels or Dimes.
- Under the effects of Humbleing Bundle, bombs will be Double Bombs, Red Hearts will be Double Hearts, and Keys will be Key Rings.
A "shellGame" item pool contains other items than just Skatole. However, the item pool is currently used only by the Bag of Crafting, becoming likely to draw from when the Tainted ??? exclusive Poop Nugget is included in the recipe.

Hell Game

Hell Game.png

Hell Game beggars can sometimes be found in the Arcade; they also have a small chance to spawn elsewhere. After giving the beggar a heart, they will lift a skull, revealing a Black Heart, Blue Spider, Bomb, Key, Coin, Card, or an item from the Devil item pool. The beggar will shuffle the skulls around and wait for Isaac to bump into 1 of the 3 shells.

If Isaac wins then they will payout with a Black Heart, 2 Blue Spiders, 2 Bombs, 2 Keys, 2-3 Coins, A Card/Rune (Will always show a tarot card), or the shown item respectively. If Isaac loses they'll instead spawn a Spider.

The Devil Room Item has a 7.6% of being chosen while the other pickups have a 15.4% of being chosen.

Notes

The shell chosen is irrelevant; it will always be a predetermined outcome.
Lucky Foot increases chances of winning from 33% to 55%.
Invulnerability and shields can be used to prevent damage from it.
Due to the way the payouts work, the beggar may not always spawn the pickup shown in the shell. For example, a regular bomb may be shown, but the beggar may spawn a Troll Bomb and a Double Bomb.
The item shown in each Hell Game will not change between plays. This means that Isaac can't just leave the room and try to get a different item. Isaac can, however, leave the room if he wishes to continue playing the Hell Game beggar further (though the previous health will be lost with no benefit).
Unlike the devil beggar, bombing a Hell Game beggar does not affect the chance for an angel room to appear. Like the devil beggar, however, it will spawn spiders.
Sigil of Baphomet: the invincibility after killing an enemy can be used to play for free. Since the Hell Game spawns a spider when Isaac loses, this can be used to get a free play after every loss.