Roll a d6
1. Double Tragedy: Both mother
and baby die. The Sisters must pay 2 Wealth total to bury them both properly or they all lose a Point of Legend. The mother is removed from the game.
2. Tragedy: The mother dies but
the baby lives. The Sisters can give the baby up for adoption without penalty but if a Sister wishes to adopt it she gains +1 Reputation and Legend though she has to support it fi nancially. One Sister must pay 1 Wealth for the burial of the mother or every Sister loses 1 Reputation. The mother is removed from the game.
3. Stillborn: The baby is stillborn.
The mother must pay 1 Wealth for a proper burial or lose 1 Legend by dumping it in Crossbones.
4. Massive Complications: The
mother very nearly dies. She misses the fi rst 3 turns of her next Season making her free Procurement once her Sisters have fi nished their third turn.
5. Infertile: Something goes wrong
and the mother loses her ability to conceive.
6. Complications: It is a very
diffi cult birth and the mother is harmed. She must miss the fi rst of the next Season’s 7 Turns making her free Procurement once her Sisters
Mechanics versus Story
A common problem in roleplaying games is where the game mechanics encourage players to think quite unlike their characters. This is particularly true of the Complications. A Player may well be relieved to get the Infertile result. The Courtesan however will be devastated. Yes kids cost money but they are also a considerable emotional and
sometimes even fi nancial investment.
Midwifery
Courtesans who aren’t giving birth themselves this Season may assist their Sisters by acting as Midwife. In such a case use the Midwife’s Prowess instead of the Mother’s applying any Good Ats or Very Good Ats. In fact untrained Midwifery is a very bad idea. Unless a Midwife Courtesan has Good At or Very Good At Midwifery she is at a -2 penalty to her dice roll. If the birth goes off without a hitch the successful Midwife Courtesan gains 1 Legend and 1 Reputation.
Children
So now you’re a mother what next? Well it is time to get some details down for your Child.
• Gender: When a child is born roll a dice. On a 1-3 it’s a girl on a 4-6 it’s a boy. • Appearance: Most babies
look alike but it is worth think about what they will grow into and what characteristics of each parent they have.
• Health: Like admirers Children only have one Statistic: Health. If you are creating the Child for a Professional at the start of play you can chose your Courtesan’s Child’s Health level. Otherwise roll a dice. • Handicap: If you roll a 1
for Health your Courtesan’s Child is born with some kind of Handicap. Roll a dice on the following table...
Waist Size and Complications
One of the disadvantages of that fashionable Hourglass Waist of yours is that it makes Childbirth much more diffi cult. If your Courtesan has an Hourglass waist subtract 1 from the dice roll for Complications. On the other hand being big and beautiful has its advantages. Courtesans with Childbearing Waists add 1 to Complications rolls avoiding Complications entirely if they roll a natural 6. Note that having a lot of Children can justify an increase in Waist size if the Player so wishes.
Non PC Terms
The terms used for Handicaps in this list are the modern ‘politically correct’ terms. At the time they would have used the harsher ‘depreciated terms.’ Landladies clear it with your Players before allowing these terms to be used in game. Show a bit of
Dice Roll:
1. Cerebral Palsy: The poor
Child is born with severe motor dysfunction. Physical action is impaired greatly.
2. Down’s Syndrome: The
Child has the distinctive physical appearance of the chromosomal dysfunction along with greatly reduced mental capacity.
3. Blind: The Child is born blind.
Visual perception is thus impossible.
4. Deaf: The Child cannot hear and
must be taught to lip read or sign to make up for it.
5. Porphyria: The Child has the
congenital illness Porphyria. This makes him mildly allergic to alcohol, sensitive to bright light and most disturbingly prone to psychosis. George III was the most famous sufferer.
6. Learning Diffi culty: The
Child appears normal but has a learning diffi culty that may make a particular kind of learning or play diffi cult. Examples include dyslexia and dyspraxia as well as autistic spectrum disorders. Note that none of these were properly understood at the time.
Cost
The cost of bringing up a Child is explained in the Expenses section. If at any time your Courtesan wishes to give her Child away for adoption simply pay 1 Reputation. Handicapped Children may be adopted at no cost to the mother however the mother gains 1 Legend for each year she keeps him by her side.
A Surrogacy Contract obviously automatically takes the Child out of the mother’s hands at no cost to her.
Inbreeding
Some of these handicaps are usually the result of inbreeding. This makes perfect sense. Post Restoration society was so full of sleeping around you could easily sleep with your half brother and not even realise it!
Have pity Sir!
If your Courtesan
successfully got a pay off from the father and his child is Handicapped you get paid off again when the poor mite is born!
Name
You clearly must give your little darling a name. He or she takes your surname unless you have the father’s permission to use his.
Survival
Each turn after the turn in which a Child is born (as in don’t roll on the turn he is born) roll a dice+ his Health against the Landlady rolling 1 dice with no modifi er.
• If the Child wins he’s fi ne. Add 1 to his Age.
• If the roll is tied the Courtesan loses her second active Turn sorting out some kind of unfortunate illness or injury of her child.
• If the Landlady wins the roll the Child dies either through illness or accident.
• Note the Survival roll is made after paying for the Child’s upkeep for the Season that has just passed. • If the Child dies the mother
must either pay 1 Wealth to bury him properly or 1 Legend to dump him in Crossbones.
Growing Up
Each Season represents the events of roughly a year. Thus a child gains one year of age for each Season he Survives. It is up to the mother what kind of education he receives but by the age of 16 he should be clear of the apron strings and no longer a burden on his mother. Handicapped Children cost 1 Wealth to support from age 16 onward unless an alternative carer can be found which works the same as Adoption in system terms. In story terms it could be a wealthy friend or spouse who is willing to put up with the expense. Finding said carer could be an interesting little side plot.
Survival of the Fittest
Conditions are far from ideal in the time of the Demi Monde. Only the fi ttest of Children survived. If your Child has Fitness 6 there is no chance of him dying. If the poor mite is Handicapped
though expect heartbreak.
Following Mummy’s Example
As they grow up your Courtesan’s Children may wish to follow in her illustrious example. Male Children may become High Society Fops who could make for good admirers for the Courtesan’s Sisters (no screwing your own son or sibling though Ladies, terribly icky!) Female Children however may grow up to be Courtesans themselves. At 18 years old build a sheet using the basic Character Creation rules for mummy’s little girl. 2 of the Handicaps disqualify a Child from the Demi Monde outright but with the Disability rules in Appendix One you can even have your
Handicapped Child join your Sisters on the scene!
Example: Our new mother Courtesans in Bernadette’s group now give birth. Details as follows.
Order
This is determined by order of Conception. Lucy goes fi rst followed by Nora. As both Conceived at the Ball there is a clash between Hattie and Jessica which is broken by the fact Hattie has a much higher Prowess and thus goes 3rd while
Jessica goes 4th.
Childbirth
Lucy: Lucy makes the roll easily
with her high Prowess.
Nora: Nora isn’t so lucky... her
low Prowess lets her down. With her Hourglass Waist she has a -1 penalty to her Complications roll. Alas with a roll of 3 she dies leaving her Child behind.
Hattie: The birth of Hattie’s child
goes without a hitch as she makes the roll.
Jessica: Jessica makes the roll and
the birth of her Child goes without a hitch.