🎩 The One-Night Bride (fantasy brothel, casual player-driven)

[Gypsy]

EDITED TO ADD LINKS:

Game Info Thread
Approved Characters
OOC
Great Room
<a href=https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=266116.0>The Oasis (The Inner Courtyard & Pool)</a>
<a href=https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=266117.0>Madame’s Delights (BDSM Room/Dungeon)</a>
<a href=https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=266114.0>The Casbah (The Restaurant/Bar)</a>


Okay, I'll admit it.  My smutty side is wishing there were a couple of more casual group games out there where I could just indulge in a little sensual whimsy, and try out some characters that I'd find interesting to play without a mountain of background and plots that often seem to get lost when there is a smuttier focus anyway.

So ...

Here's the pitch -- a brothel game, but not just your regular, run of the mill brothel.

The One-Night Bride is a brothel located at the Bazaar (inspired by Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures setting, but without the characteristic slapstick humor).

The Bazaar occupies its own little pocket dimension.  It is a place where people come when they want something -- and often they don't even know how they got there, or how to get back if they wanted to.   There are many ways in, and many ways out, but those ways aren't easy to nail down, and maps are obsolete before the ink even dries.

It is a quasi-Middle Eastern setting, but there are bits of many cultures scattered about.    If it's been built, or sufficiently desired, it can be found at the Bazaar, lurking behind a door, beyond a tent flap, beneath some rusty grate or over a high wall.  It might even be found suspended and invisible, where a magician's rope trick ends in the sky.

The people, and creatures, who work at the brothel all found themselves at the Bazaar, one way or another.  As living in such a place is not cheap, they ended up selling what they could -- namely, some portion of themselves.  Some of them are practiced courtesans, others are hiding from things that most sane people probably wouldn't want to know about, and still others might be there because they need to pay back a debt of some kind, and some might be there just for slumming, a little excitement.   Nobody is held there against their will (whether they LIKE working there is possibly another story) and anyone can leave, so long as they take only what they've earned, minus a 'small' deduction for breaking their contract with the house.

The house is run by Madame Celeste, a succubus who usually interacts with others in human form.  She cultivates glamorous attire that she first discovered in a place called Hollywood where they created black and white illusions projected on a screen to entertain each other, lacking more robust magic.   She tolerates no violence at the One-Night Bride (other than what is bought and sold), and she keeps a security staff who can handle any big-ass baddie who thinks to disturb her establishment, those who work there, or those who come to barter for service.

Though the name of the brothel is the 'One-Night Bride', those who work there are certainly not exclusively women, and the customers are not exclusively men -- and nor are they all human, or even what they appear to be.  The statistics, if there are any regarding those who frequent the brothel, are a closely guarded secret, and usually attributed to be -- quite rightly -- little more than vicious rumor.

     

If there is enough interest, I'd be happy to create the game and kick it off.   A co-GM would be nice to help keep things going and organized.   There would be 'thematic events' at the brothel, advertised to draw people in, a luxurious 'common room' where people could interact and get to know the 'brides' who hope to attract their attention for at least a span of time, but hookups would be left to the players, as would posting speeds and such -- a completely casual, completely relaxed atmosphere.

All genders, all sexualities, all sexual preferences, (almost) all races, would be welcome in the game, as brothel 'brides' and as customers.  Ons/Offs and comfort levels would be expected to be honored.  Everything would be consensual, of course, but arranging to fulfill non-consensual fantasies could certainly be done at player/courtesan discretion.

Characters should fit the theme -- which is pretty broad -- but please give a thought to the quality of posts.  Readability, punctuation, spelling ... all those things should at least be more than an afterthought.  Hookups are purchased by the appeal of posts, after all.  The better a player's posting, the more that other people will want to write with them -- and creativity falls rather flat if sloppy presentation keeps others from wanting to read what's written.

I would reserve the right to refuse characters / players for writing that is hard to read, if I and any potential co-GM think that they would not be a good fit for the game, and, of course, for problem behavior outside the confines of fiction.

[Capone]

By default I'm interested in any idea you put forth, friend Gypsy, but while reading the setting for the Bazaar I immediately came up with a juggling tumbler of sorts. So you definitely have interest from me.

[Cold Heritage]

I'm interested. The casual aspect of the game is what really appeals to me.

[Honeycrisp]

Sexy times and rich inner character exploration as to why they are there and what they plan to do to escape or pay off the debt?

Please consider me interested. (:

[Top Cat]

Count me in as distinctly intrigued.  8-)

[Sephiriel]

Pinning this for...scientific purposes. Casual is too tempting to pass.

[AndyZ]

Keeping an eye on this.

[Gypsy]

It at least sounds like there's some interest, especially for a Friday when things are pretty quiet.

I'll do some more work on a setup and character sheet.

[Swordmaster]

I'm interested too. Count me in.

[Pockets]

*places an interest marker*

[Honeycrisp]

More Lords than Ladies.  That's a refreshing thing to see!

[Gypsy]

Honeycrisp has graciously accepted my invitation to co-GM this adventure, and I look forward to working with her, and everyone who joins.  We're hashing out some details, and will be posting more information here once it's ready.

Interest, suggestions, questions, etc. are  definitely welcome in the meantime.

[Honeycrisp]

Better to address things up front than try to change them once the train is rolling!  (:

I'm super excited to help out and can't wait to see what everyone brings to the story.

[Relikai]

Do you mind me playing as a Female Character? Probably one of the brides.

[Sally Aces]

I'm intrigued, captivated even.

Given the source for the setting, is Magic an OK element to add to a character? I'm thinking o sex magic and sensual rites...

[Cold Heritage]

Will pictures be required?

[BlackStone]

Interested.  I have an Unseelie Sidhe who I think would fit in well with the concept.

[Callista]

Checks the interested box!  This sounds like a lot of fun.  Please count me in.  Do you want writing samples or are you going to go by first posts?

[Honeycrisp]

Such great questions!  I love that y'all are really being thoughtful and putting them out there.  Thank you.

Gypsy and I are discussing them and will come back with answers to all of them later today.  It's not that they are hard questions, just that we want to be on the same page and make sure we give the best answer possible instead of having to go back and revise.

[Florence]

I could throw in some interest.

[Gypsy]

Honeycrisp and I are on the same page with everything, so that bodes well.    I'm glad to see all the interest that came in while I was sleeping. :-)

Do you mind me playing as a Female Character? Probably one of the brides.

Anyone can play whatever gender they wish to play.  Staff/Brides(or Grooms)/Customers can be any gender.

Given the source for the setting, is Magic an OK element to add to a character? I'm thinking o sex magic and sensual rites...

Magic is definitely okay - just make it fit the background.  However, I'm thinking (still need to make sure Honeycrisp is good with this) that the brothel will have some sort of magic dampening in place and only 'approved' magic will get through.   So the sex magic would be allowed, so long as those it were used on would be aware and consenting.

Do you want writing samples or are you going to go by first posts?

We think the writing in the character sheet will be a good enough example, and if we have some concerns, we won't be shy about checking out post histories and/or asking questions.   Character sheets will be your first chance to convince others that they want to write with you.   It's the eye candy, so we will urge everyone to use them to wow prospective clients, and to have the brides/grooms fighting over (figuratively speaking only) who gets to lead them upstairs.

Will pictures be required?

Yes.  We're discussing what kind of pictures.  I know some people like to use anime style, but personally, I dislike them and consider them the "anti-sexy".  I'd like to require a non-anime pic be used in the main, but allow them used as secondary pictures in character sheets, but I'll see what Honeycrisp thinks. 

We'll have the code used for post headers readily available.  Some people, like me, are quite visual and like to have that 'marker' to hang their head on.



If I missed things -- I haven't had my coffee yet, so we'll see how many brain cells are really functioning -- please feel free to poke.

[Honeycrisp]

Could you all give us a very rough and dirty "I want to play a male bride" or "a genderfluid customer" or such?  Just so we can all get an idea what everyone is interested in?

[Capone]

I was thinking of playing a male heterosexual customer whose work is elsewhere in the bazaar, but likes to use his juggling and tumbling skills to try and entertain and amuse the other customers and employees of the One-Night Bride.

[Gypsy]

I think there had been a mention of character limits.  What I'm thinking for the start is that we would limit characters to one of each type:

1 customer
1 'bride/groom'
1 staff

Not everyone would want to have different types, and there'd certainly be no requirement to have more than one.   Having a second character of the same type would depend on proven posting and the needs of the game -- priority would be given to another 'bride' type if said bride was of a type that a customer was looking for but was otherwise unavailable.  Likewise, if there are a dearth of customers, we would consider allowing someone to create another customer character, but would prefer a little OOC discussion between those looking for someone to interact with beforehand.

I think both Honeycrisp and I are pretty laid back where that goes, but we'd like to do this with an eye toward giving everyone optimum opportunity to find someone they'd enjoy writing with, both for sexy times and for more casual interaction.    We can't guarantee that, of course, but it's what we will strive to achieve.  We'd also like to ask players not to attempt to create more characters than they can reasonably play.  If one character isn't finding anyone to pair with, we would certainly consider letting the player put one character 'on break' and bring out another, regardless of type.

The biggest thing I will ask of all players is to be respectful of the other players -- not leaving people hanging without a word, informing those you're writing with of problems or delays (or informing the GMs so that we can help if there's something you don't want to address yourself), and just basically treating others as you'd like to be treated.   If a player gets tired of waiting on a response (given a reasonable wait - see below point) then it should be perfectly okay for said player to wrap up a conversation, a scene, etc. and move on to something else without guilt or hard feelings on either end.

We're planning to ask that a 'general' posting speed be part of each character sheet, and while it won't be a hard and fast rule, it should help people decide on interactions -- if you post multiple times a day, it might not be the best thing to do to 'hook up' with someone who knows they will post once or twice a week.

[impishcharm]

*Tentatively raises hand*  Peeking in to show interest.  Not sure whether I want to play a male customer or female bride.