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Today I bicycled over to a friend to help him out with writing out a lot of little flavour texts for a reverse-engineered RPG system he's cooking for his mates. It's a Swedish fantasy game apparently known as Eon, which is getting converted into science fiction duty.

A lot of professions had to be replaced or updated (how relevant is a nomad cowherd in an urbanized sci-fi industrial setting?), and then got some lines of explanation.

However, one group of professions were just copied straight over without change, because it was the oldest profession, after all.

I was at a loss at how to distinguish between some of the subcategories, but then my friend solved it in one fell swoop. Three words per line. It's got to be seen to be believed...

Let's call him Zephyr wrote:Prostitute
Brothel worker - Whore in house
Harlot - Whore in street
Escort - Whore with nobles
Courtesan - Whore who talks

I mean, he's not wrong.

You forgot wench - Whore in tavern

Blyat - Whore in Russia?

Iron Captain should be able to confirm or correct me on that one.

I would have said

Lolita/basha bazi: child whore

Harlot: whore who works in the street

Brothel worker: whore who works in a close house

Burlesque performer: whore who works in a circus or cabaret

Escorts: whore who works with clients with lots of money

Maid / Servant boy: whore that cleans and serves

Courtesan: whore who also spies, murder, bodyguard and entertain

Wench: whore who serves alcohol

Trophy wife / Fabio: whore that you actually married and who accepted just for money.

Geisha: extremely sophisticated, costly, talented and exotic whore

the Trap: actually not a whore, a con artist or a cop.

I actually used those classes for a DnD game in which my group was playing prostitutes who are also private supernatural investigators. The game was of course humoristical and we had quite a bit of fun.

Well, if it is a topic about Harlots in RPGs, what about:
-Slovenly trull
-Brazen strumpet
-Cheap trollop
-TypicaI streetwalker
-Saucy tart
-Wanton wench
-Expensive doxy
-Haughty courtesan
-Aged madam
-WeaIthy procuress
-Sly pimp
-Rich panderer

I mean does this need to be delineated into a class system?

 Da Boss wrote:
I mean does this need to be delineated into a class system?

Maybe not as fully fleshed class system as some of the follow up posters have taken it, but it could cause serious complications to the party if you mistakenly refer to the local lord's courtesan as a harlot

Sheesh, kids these days.

I was not delineating any sort of class system but rather referencing the venerated Harlots sub-table from the City/Town encounters matrix in Appendix C in the original DM's Guide. Page 192, if you must know.

AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide wrote: Harlot encounters can be with brazen strumpets or haughty courtesans, thus making it difficult for the party to distinguish each encounter for what it is. (In fact, the encounter could be with a dancer only prostituting herself as it pleases her, an elderly madam, or even a pimp.) In addition to the offering of the usual fare, the harlot is 30% likely to know valuable information, 15% likely to make something up in order to gain a reward, and 20% likely to be, or work with, a thief....An expensive doxy will resemble a gentlewoman, a haughty courtesan a noblewoman, the other harlots might be mistaken for goodwives, and so forth.

Oh, I knew.

Could you... not.

A large number of D&D players have no clue. They played BECMI or 3.0+ edition(s).