Prostitution In Traveller

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

NOTE: THIS IS INTENDED AS A SERIOUS DISCUSSION PLEASE, EASY ON THE HIJINXS, IF YOU WILL...

My Lords,
I am planning a long term Adventure, and one of the "Episodes" deals with an encounter with a "Pleasure Cruiser" (Stats Given Below) essentially an interstellar brothel, I open this topic to see if you have any thoughts on how you handle the concept of Prostitution, if at all, in your various Traveller games. Some of you may find this topic offensive, if so, I apologize.

This is intended as a location where PCs can find NPCs both malevolent and benign, and such a ship would attract all kinds. Bear in mind that we are not talking specifically about solely female, or even solely human Prostitutes, but an institution adapted to the many races that inhabit the Galaxy.


The Ship's stats:

Ship: Messalina
Class: Messalina
Type: Pleasure Cruiser
Architect: Yothun Xuriano
Tech Level: 15

USP: B-B231033-000000-00000-0 MCr 940.955
2 KTons
Crew: 150 (courtesans)
TL: 15

Cargo: 45.900 Emergency Low: 20 Fuel: 520 EP: 32 Agility: 0 Shipboard Security Detail: 2
Craft: 2 x 100T Shuttles, 4 x 6T Grav Vans

Architects Fee: MCr 8.370 Cost in Quantity: MCr 773.564

Detailed Description
(T20 Design)

HULL
2,000.000 tons standard, 28,000.000 cubic meters, Cone Configuration, 250.000 Structure Points

CREW
10 Officers, 140 Ratings

ENGINEERING
Jump-3, 1G Manuever, 16.000 Ton Power Plant, 32.000 EP, Agility 0

AVIONICS
Bridge, Model/3 Computer, Model/2 Flight Avionics, Model/2 Sensors, Model/7 Communications

HARDPOINTS
None

ARMAMENT
None

DEFENCES
None

CRAFT
2 100.000 ton Shuttles (Crew of 2, Cost of MCr 50.000), 4 6.000 ton Grav Vans (Crew of 1, Cost of MCr 1.000)

FUEL
520 Tons Fuel (2 parsecs jump and 56 days endurance)
No Fuel Scoops, No Fuel Purification Plant

MISCELLANEOUS
200 Staterooms, 20 Emergency Low Berths, 1 Engineering Shop, 1 Vehicle Shop, 3 Sick Bays, 3 Additional Airlocks, 45.900 Tons Cargo

USER DEFINED COMPONENTS
2 Restaurants (15.000 tons, Crew 6, Cost MCr 4.000),
2 Gardens (20.000 tons, Crew 2, Cost MCr 4.000), 4 Gymnasiums (10.000 tons, Crew 1, Cost MCr 1.000),
1 Swimming Pool (40.000 tons, Crew 2, Cost MCr 1.000),
2 Holo Theaters (10.000 tons, Crew 2, Cost MCr 2.000),
4 Casinos (10.000 tons, Crew 4, Cost MCr 4.000), 2 Utility Bays (10.000 tons, Crew 0, Cost MCr 0.000)

COST
MCr 845.325 Singly (incl. Architects fees of MCr 8.370), MCr 669.564 in Quantity, plus MCr 104.000 of Carried Craft (Hardpoints and Turrets charged)

CONSTRUCTION TIME
132 Weeks Singly, 106 Weeks in Quantity

COMMENTS
This is only the rough of this ship design. It has no weaponry, and relies on Escorts for protection, usually two, kept at a discreet distance. The onboard security personnel is usually augmented by additional operatives of various security companies. I had it in mind that this particular example has a long standing relationship with Braknak, so rowdiness on board is very rare. The ship is designed for maximum comfort, and maximum Profit. (Deckplans to follow)

Thank You.

 

[mad13142000]

(It takes a brave, brave man to dowse himself with gasoline in a room full of people with lighters...)

-MADDog

 

[Shadowdancer]

My good Baron:

I will attempt to respond to your post with the same seriousness you exhibited in starting it. (Although, I must admit that when I first read HARDPOINTS: None, I thought "A brothel with no hardpoints -- what's the point?")

In my gaming group's current campaign, one of the characters is a trained courtesan. We used the Professional class as well as some new skills to represent this. She was actually fired from a ship much like the one you designed.

IMTU, courtesans are very much like the geishas of Japan -- at least Japan during the feudal era. In addition to being companions, they also are entertainers. In this case, the character also was an entertainer (dancer/singer) and a dealer in one of the ship's casinos. She became quite skilled as a gambler, and was caught cheating some of the customers.

She subsequently was hired by an intelligence branch of the Imperium to work as an undercover agent, and still must frequently use her courtesan skills during missions.

As to your ship's design, I must say it is very impressive. I notice you have two shuttles and four grav vans. Do the plans include storage and docking spaces for those? If so, may I suggest having an additional docking bay for customers' shuttles or ship's boats? This would be for loading and unloading of passengers only. This way, if a customer prefers to use his or her own shuttle to travel from the star port or from his/her own spacecraft to the pleasure cruiser, and back again, he/she may do so.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

I had the notion Milord, That for security purposes, It would be run like a Casino Bus Trip, the Gvans and shuttles picking up prearranged customers to free them from the worries of a ship, its sort of an "all inclusive" resort ship... a diversion from the rigors of space travel. High tech level communications make picking up passengers a snap. for the high fee (yet to be determined) the customer can expect to have every whim catered to, so to speak...

There are always die hards that insist on their own transport, that is why the utility bays are provided, but only for Vehicles and not Ships or Small Craft (fear of Pirates, these ships can make a LOT of credits in a given system) Bringing weaponry on board nulls the deal, and the offender does not come aboard (and loses the reservation deposit!!)

So is prostitution a full blown institution IYTU? are their schools? Is it legal in your Imperium?

IMTU, there are also "geisha" types, and most tread in high levels (outside the peerage) as consorts (and spies) sort of like the Bene Gesserit in Herbert's DUNE, in a way. This is not to say that there are not less Prestigous members of the Universe's oldest profession around. There is also a hard to detect (and some say manufactured) disease that causes madness and death if allowed to progress to long, a parable to how Syphillis was back in the old days.

I was inspired to post as I have been watching "I, Claudius" of late, and Prostitutes play a major political role in parts of that.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Posted Today on the Sidur Haski Design Consortium is the rough Deckplan of the Messalina Class Cruiser. Follow this link:

Messalina Deckplan in "New Photos"

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

A ship full of courtesans is a novelty device; best used on a one-shot or intermittant basis only, and then only as a setting for a regular adventure or merc ticket.

One could use a colony ship full of mail-order brides, a cruise ship chartered for a college class's spring break party, or a military ship from an Amazonian (female-dominant) culture on port call for the same effects (e.g., females of easy virtue accepting money for sexual favors).

One might just as well adapt the forum letters that are found in adult magazines - not that I've ever read them, I just look at the pictures.

 

[trader jim]

Hookers....wheres the Hookers????....shame on you!!!

 

[Shadowdancer]

Originally posted by Baron Saarthuran:
I had the notion Milord, That for security purposes, It would be run like a Casino Bus Trip, the Gvans and shuttles picking up prearranged customers to free them from the worries of a ship, its sort of an "all inclusive" resort ship... a diversion from the rigors of space travel.

This makes a lot of sense.

There are always die hards that insist on their own transport, that is why the utility bays are provided, but only for Vehicles and not Ships or Small Craft (fear of Pirates, these ships can make a LOT of credits in a given system) Bringing weaponry on board nulls the deal, and the offender does not come aboard (and loses the reservation deposit!!)

Very prudent. I did not consider this.

So is prostitution a full blown institution IYTU? are their schools? Is it legal in your Imperium?

IMTU, there are also "geisha" types, and most tread in high levels (outside the peerage) as consorts (and spies) sort of like the Bene Gesserit in Herbert's DUNE, in a way. This is not to say that there are not less Prestigous members of the Universe's oldest profession around.

Yes, it is a full-blown institution on many worlds. It is legal in the Imperium, and on many member worlds. And there are schools and training programs for the higher class "geisha" and "consorts" and "companions" and "courtesans."

Many members of the nobility as well as wealthy merchants indulge in special houses and resorts, and ships, which cater to meeting their every need. On some worlds, some noble houses will run the resorts/training houses. Of course, they also train the companions to be spies and assassins as well. But that aspect is kept very secret -- bad for business if word gets out. Although many nobles and wealthy merchants realize what is going on and accept it as part of the "Game."

There are, of course, more common prostitutes working in the star towns and mining belt taverns. This also is accepted as long as it is kept relatively hidden from the public. It is all legal, just not as socially accepted.

There are also strict licensing and health requirements for prostitutes.

 

[Zutroi]

Nothing wrong whatsoever with space-hookers! They've enjoyed a long history in SF, from the "Socialators" of (Hmmm, no 'gack!' icons) Battlestar Galactica to the LPSTs of Bujold.

IIRC, the Japanese geisha also served as a financial manager to the samurai, for whom the handling of money was not acceptable. One's wife took care of such matters, or if single, the geisha...

 

[TKalbfus]

COMMENTS
This is only the rough of this ship design. It has no weaponry, and relies on Escorts for protection, usually two, kept at a discreet distance. The onboard security personnel is usually augmented by additional operatives of various security companies. I had it in mind that this particular example has a long standing relationship with Braknak, so rowdiness on board is very rare. The ship is designed for maximum comfort, and maximum Profit. (Deckplans to follow)

Thank You.

I presume by Escorts you mean spaceships, not the other kind of escorts.

But seriously in one of my campaigns from way back, one of my players was smuggling robot prostitutes, they looked human, but they really didn't have much upstairs and strictly speaking weren't AI robots, but they didn't really need to be. At TL15 and perhaps even lower, these robots had an advanced enough computer in their braincase to perform sex acts, walk around, and utter oneliners and come ons to every creature it perceived to be the opposite sex of the creature it was designed to emulate, they had some faulty circuits and they tended to turn on and off all by themselves when their were sudden jarring motions in the cargo hold, and then they would burst out of their boxes and mill around looking for members of the opposite sex to have intercourse with. Some worlds didn't appreciate these robots, and hence they were lucrative markets to smuggle these robots to. Did anyone else ever use Sexbots in thier campaigns?

 

[vegascat]

Will these ladies for rent make house calls off the ship? or are they required to stay aboard for the cruise?
Are they contracted for a specific time period?
The Nevada brothel standard contract the girls sign states the women must remain on the premisis for three weeks at a time.

 

[vegascat]

Prostitution is a fact of life in any area where there is a imbalance between the sexes of any kind or restrictive behavior standards.
A ship of 2000 tons with 150 working girls aboard will need to travel a set route of planets with a need. Industrial planets, asteroid belts, military instalations will make for good stops. Agricultural planets loaded with farmers or poor planets will not be worth the time to go there.
A ship of this size will also need an advance scout to spread advertising literature and set up schedules.
In Nevada, prostitution is legal except in the counites with large populations. The taxi and limo drivers do outstanding business between the Vegas strip and a small town just the other side of the county line with a few well advertised ranches.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

What about cultures such as the Sword Worlds, where Gender roles are more nebulous, The addage of "Where Men are Men And Women are Men, too"?

 

[Anton]

Originally posted by Baron Saarthuran:
What about cultures such as the Sword Worlds, where Gender roles are more nebulous, The addage of "Where Men are Men And Women are Men, too"?

Good point, Baron, but why limit that to the Sword Worlds? I'd imagine that by 5,000 years from now, sexism will be a thing of the past (not counting Aslan gender-defined roles) generally in the Imperium. If I was to use such a ship IMTU, the breakdown of "companions" would be roughly 50/50, and the courtesan schools would also teach men...

Anton

 

[Ben W Bell]

Of course there is one problem with prostitution in the Imperium. Can it be considered slavery? If so then it is against one of the few core laws that the Imperium enforces on member worlds. To counter that it would probably be registered and policed.

Oh and talking about Geisha, they were not really prostitutes, they were mens entertainers. If they decided to sleep with a Samurai (usually only one of them and they would keep that for their main sponsor), then that was of their choosing. Of course there is choosing and choosing when it comes to Feudal Japan, and it may well have been expected by some, but most Geisha would reserve this for their richest client only.

 

[TKalbfus]

I have another take on prostitution. How about prostitute clones? Some nefarious individual manages to get a tissue sample from a celebrity, a holostar, beauty contestant winner and breeds a whole bunch of clones of those individuals and then fills a prostitution boat with these clones, traveling from system to system. I don't know if that would be against the law, it might be.

 

[Mythmere]

I have another take on prostitution. How about prostitute clones? Some nefarious individual manages to get a tissue sample from a celebrity, a holostar, beauty contestant winner and breeds a whole bunch of clones of those individuals and then fills a prostitution boat with these clones, traveling from system to system. I don't know if that would be against the law, it might be.

Wow, that would be about as illegal as it gets. Slavery AND cloning AND theft of bodily tissue with intent to clone...

 

[Jame]

What about bioroids, such as in GURPS Biotech? (For those who don't have G:BIO, a bioroid is [apparently]a constructed human, who can be programmed for certain things, such as the type of interaction this post discusses; they're sterile, so you don't need to worry about children.) That could be cloning and slavery, as well...

By the way, what are the rules for the workers and clients, aside from disease free? Must only take clients of their own species? Only take clients who are within five years of their age? Clients must be without disease?

I'd ask about homosexual prostitutes, but that's probably a sensitive issue and I don't know how to phrase the question...

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

Commentary:

Prostitution is not just motivated by inequality between the sexes. Other motivations include:

- The practitioner enjoys the attention.
- The practitioner can make more credits in four minutes than the rest of us can make in forty hours.
- The practitioner may be privy to high-level politics, and may be the actual 'power behind the throne'; thus being an active, yet invisible, 'player' in policy-making may be rewarding in itself!
- The practitioner knows no other skills.
- The practitioners believe that they could never be in a warm, loving relationship, so sex is just another money-making activity.
- The practitioners view their chosen profession as no less honorable than that of acting, social work, psychological counseling, telemarketing, or being a personal assistant.

... and many others. Prostitution is a complex activity; much more complex than a "My money for your body" transaction.

End of commentary.

 

[Mythmere]

Homosexuality among Aslan. That would get complicated.