The Multiverse

The Complete Guide to Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
For Fantasy Role-Playing Games

Filling The House Of Ill Repute

The information for this section is taken from the out-of-print The Free City Of Haven (Copyrighted 1981 Gamelords Ltd.). If you find this classic RPG aide, grab it.

A brothel, bawdy house, whore house, relaxation emporium, or whatever the name are places where a person may go for an evening of entertainment (so to speak).

A brothel comes in three sizes:

In addition to the regular employees listed above, there will be a number of amateurs who use a house as a base. They will usually average 50% of the regular staff of that house. There will usually be a small number of girls in training, frequently working as maids for the top regulars. They will number approximately 25% of the regulars - these girls do not yet work with the customers.

As Table 1 shows, there are four classes of brothels. The GM can roll randomly or choose. Slavery is banned in most places, but not all; so it is included in the table.

TABLE 1: Brothel Classes

House amateurs usually receive about one-half the going rate; one does not find amateurs on a slave house. The racial mix in the average house of its class is given on Table 2; one may either specify the race of the girl involved (as in the rules in the prostitute random generator), or roll dice (1d100) for each girl to see who's available.

TABLE 2: Races Found In Different Classes

Houses tend to be run by women, although some are managed by men (occasionally chosen by the girls, frequently simply the "boss" who has hired them). If run by a woman, she is usually (80%) a high rank courtesan herself, and will occasionally be available to preferred (wealthy - and I do mean filthy, stinkin' rich) customers.

There are usually some additional costs involved in patronizing a courtesan in such an establishment. Although entertainment is usually provided at no extra cost in the major houses, a character should expect to spend the price of the girl's meal and alcoholic beverages.

If a character should wish to spend the entire night with the lady of his choice, the cost increase by 50%. This does, of course, provide one with a room for the night as well as a cuddly bed companion. If a man is dealing with one of the girls who work on the street, there is a 25% surcharge to provide a room, unless the customer has nearby (within 2 to 3 blocks at the farthest) quarters.

Time spent in a house can be as much as 4 to 6 hours (if not overnight). With one of the street girls, an interlude should occupy about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

The chance of a prostitute having a disease is less based on the class of a house in which the girl works. The higher the class of the house, the better health care the girls receive, and the lower the chances of infection.

In a Normal house, there is a -5% modifier to the chance of the girl being infected. In a Fine house, there is a -10% modifier to the chance of the girl being infected. In a Slave house, there is a -15% modifier to the chance of the girl being infected. This is high because most slavers consider losing income or valuable property to disease uneconomical. With the girls on the street, there is no modifier to the chance of the girl being infected.

Case: The Blue Tavern (Entertainment and Pleasure)

Owner: Kinalla Silkskin (STR: 9, DEX: 9, CON: 15, INT: 12, WIS: 9, CHA: 12) was once considered the most beautiful and accomplished courtesan in the city (40 years ago). She is still attractive (particularly for the generic set), and will occasionally entertain a customer. Black-haired (with the help of a good hairdresser), black-eyed, and still slender, she has a good business mind, and succeed in purchasing the Blue Lantern from its former madame some 20 years ago; the quality and name of the establishment have increased under her management.

Hours: 24 hours a day.

Exterior: A three-story building that is slightly inset from the street proper. It has a wide opening centered on the ground floor, above which hangs a large lantern which glows blue (the color is intense enough to be easily distinguished even in full daylight). There is an ally on the south side of the building, a walled garden in the rear, and a row of small shops to the immediate north.

Interior: Immediately inside the opening is a spacious room dominated by a fountain which sprays a lightly scented blue liquid into the air above the wide basin. Three elaborately carved screens block the view of the other exits from this room.

Behind the screen to the left is a lounge (to handle the musicians and entertainers who perform in the theater). A hall leads to the wings of the theater, and to a dressing room. To the right is a large office, where the accounting and management personnel work. It is seldom occupied after about 6:00 PM, and is almost always locked, even during normal business hours.

The opening behind the third screen leads to a room with a wide marble staircase. To the left is the "Hall of Beauty".. where many fair flowers wait to be plucked. There are usually 4d4 girls lounging about here, in various states of revealment. A wide opening leads to the entertainment area, where wine and song are provided (if you came through the Hall, you already have the women). The theater area is two stories, and has a large stage with a runway and an orchestra pit.

A long bar in the rear dispenses alcoholic beverages of many kinds.

Meals may be ordered from the kitchen. Most of the food supplies for both the girls and the customers are stored in the pantry off the kitchen.

The remainder of the house is devoted to living (and working) quarters for the regular girls. The smaller rooms on the second and third floors are used for the transient entertainment of clients.

The larger rooms area housing for the regulars. Kinalla has a suite on the third floor, with a circular iron staircase giving access to both the garden and the bar.

Price Range: As per the girl's qualifications.

Quality: This house is Fine, and of medium size.

Outstanding Items: There is young newcomer, Bianca (STR: 8, DEX: 10, CON: 18, INT: 9, WIS: 7, CHA: 15), who has made quite a splash with the customers. She is the runaway daughter of a noble family and is a neutral courtesan. She has altered her name and dyed her hair to change her appearance.

Cash Box: The money gained in the theater-bar is kept in a wooden coffer stashed under the curved end of the bar. The girls are responsible for collecting their own earnings, and are expected to pay one-quarter to the house (if Kinalla discovers a girl is cheating on the amounts, she simply requests her to leave and not return; Kinalla does not believe in violence).

Occupants

Staff: Kinalla, Bianca, and 17 other girls (11 of whom split the large rooms used for residence). There are 12 part-timers, 3 maidens-in-training, and various ancillary service personnel (none of whom reside in the house). The bouncer, Kethelas (STR: 17, DEX: 14, CON: 11, INT: 10, WIS: 7, CHA: 10), a bull of a man with sufficient physical power to toss an unruly customer lightly over the garden wall into the alley, has worked at the Blue Lantern as long as Kinalla, and has been her best friend and lover nearly that long.

Customers: Many.

NPC Encounters: A cast of thousands.

Special Options: None.

SCENARIO: The Nobleman's Daughter

Player's Information: In most of the taverns of the city, the disappearance of Lady Byelaya Tainley some three months ago caused many whispers. She still has not been located, and no ransom note has been received by her family. Descriptions of the 16 year old girl (very beautiful and highly attractive, medium height, slender, blonde hair, blue eyes) have been nosed about, and the family is offering a reward of 1,000 silver pieces for news of her. The girl was always known as a loner by the other maidens of the high, rich quarter. She had only one close friend - Cortina de la Riis.

GM's Notes: Byelaya Tainley has had dreams of being a hetaera (a very high class courtesan) since she heard, as young girl, a very romantic story in which the heroine was a courtesan (she had confided these dreams to no one, not even her closet friend). Three months ago, she dyed her hair brown, changed her name to Bianca, and ran away from home. She began working at the Blue Lantern. No one at the house knows her origins, and certainly no one suspects she is the daughter of a noble house. Bianca (byelaya - both names mean "white") is a natural courtesan - she enjoys men, and men definitely enjoy her. She has that indefinable quality of innocence that is irresistible. She has rapidly progressed, in the little time she has been at the Blue Lantern, from a very green novice to a competent intermediate.

A few weeks ago, Cortina de la Riis, Byelaya's only close friend among the girls of the rich section, was traveling to her voice lessons and spotted a young girl with brown hair who closely resembled Byelaya (Bianca had gone out to do a little shopping, and was not wearing her veil) except for the hair color. Cortina has worried about Byelaya since her disappearance, and has asked her brother Thomas to check out the girl she spotted circumspectly. Thomas is looking around for a group to do some investigating on this matter, and there is a chance he may choose the player-characters to do the job.

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Ch35-House-Ill-Repute.php -- Revised: January 27, 2021.