Pleasure Worlds traits (i need them)

By ThenDoctor, in Dark Heresy

Would anyone have happened to make a Pleasure World backround or be able to throw out some ideas for them? im working on a new career that would require the character to be from such a world and i dont thing FFG is going to come out with this for some time if ever.

I'd use Imperial World traits to be honest. I don't see that being from a "tropical cruise"-world would give any particular advantages or disadvantages.
I could see an argument for Nobleborn, though.

I would go with nobleborn to start with. Low WP seems fitting for people who've never experienced any kind of trouble for their whole life.

Pleasureworlders would probably have difficulty working outside of an established system so they'd probably have a similar trait to the Hivebound one.

The one thing I think pleasureworlders would be good at is interaction. They've spent their whole life in decadent luxury just hanging around with friends doing whatever. They'd have a pretty upbeat attitude. Thus I'd probably give them 'Charm' as a trained basic skill.

So:

Nobleborn stats

Hivebound Trait

People Person: Charm as a trained basic skill

Hellebore

I dont have a generic one, I did make up one for Askelephon Secundus which in my game I detailed out the planet being basically a bit like Venice with less charm, not many large landmasses and produces massive amounts of pharmacuticals for the sub-sector. Lots of water, lots of drugs, gambling and good quality food which was plentiful, so it did produce healthy if somewhat addled people... the weather was kind of terrible being slightly cooler than normal with lots of precipitation and heavy fog.

-5 to BS, +5 Fel

Fate points 1-4= 1, 5-8=2, 9-10=3

Starting wounds 1D5+9

Career paths I limited to (without a **** good reason why from the PC as why he/she was different) to being Adept, Arbitrator, Assassin, Guard, Psyker and Scum... lots of Scum

Skills and Talents I gave them Swimming, Carouse, Chem-Use and Pilot Watercraft (no roads here, lots of canals)

Trait of being a Fickle Eater, they get a -10 to Carouse skill to eat Poor Quality food or they get the squirts from both ends.

You could perhaps go one step further, living in such a wonderful place could make them softer than the average acolyte:

Sheltered life:
A relaxed and sheltered life has left the acolyte more susceptible to the horrors of the universe, whenever the acolyte gains insanity from any source they gain an additional +1 IP.
That might be a tad harsh though, some other skills could include: Peer (nobility), Evaluate, Gamble? I would be also tempted to increase the quality/craftsmanship of their starting equipment by one step. Finally who's to say you couldn't have a different background? A scum character from a pleasure world would make an interesting character.

No I don't think that's very harsh. To put it bluntly, in the context of the 41st millennium, a pleasureworlder would SUCK. They don't really have any redeeming features (that are selectively advantageous for the 40k environment). It was hard for me not to simply write 'everything they have is worse and they get insanity in alll environments'.

A pleasureworlder is going to be at least the equivalent of modern western middle class. Probably higher. Can you imagine the yuppies of the world being dumped into the 41st millennium?

Hellebore

Hellebore said:

No I don't think that's very harsh. To put it bluntly, in the context of the 41st millennium, a pleasureworlder would SUCK. They don't really have any redeeming features (that are selectively advantageous for the 40k environment). It was hard for me not to simply write 'everything they have is worse and they get insanity in alll environments'.

A pleasureworlder is going to be at least the equivalent of modern western middle class. Probably higher. Can you imagine the yuppies of the world being dumped into the 41st millennium?

Hellebore

Not necessarily. A Pleasure World is a world that is kept in pristine condition because the Powers that Be decided that they needed a vacation spot. Even in our world, there are quite a few vacation spots that are wonderful for those who visit but not exactly so for those who have to live there and serve those who visit -just look at half the islands in the Caribbean and then 40k them...

Some pleasure worlds could be barely kept secrets and jewels in the rough, but most i see as being pleasurable to the visitors not only for their unspoiled beauty, but also because the populace is forced to pleaser them by any means necessary. That can bread just as many strong and resilient (if not rebellious) individuals as broken and traumatized (by what they were and are forced to do to please those who came...) ones.

afaik pleasure worlds are resort worlds where the richest can live in complete decadence. Any population sustained on these worlds would have no concept of the real galaxy. Obviously a retired general would, but then that would hardly be a starting character.

If you were an indentured servant you might have plenty of etiquette skills but I still think in all ways you'd be deficient compared to someone from another planet.

Hellebore

Hellebore said:

afaik pleasure worlds are resort worlds where the richest can live in complete decadence. Any population sustained on these worlds would have no concept of the real galaxy. Obviously a retired general would, but then that would hardly be a starting character.

If you were an indentured servant you might have plenty of etiquette skills but I still think in all ways you'd be deficient compared to someone from another planet.

Hellebore

Your first paragraph is dead on, your second misses by several miles. Look at Hatti and Jamaica today and then amplify all the messed up crap by 11 and you'll have a Pleasure World. Trust me, they know what harsh living is all about and, in the Imperium, I'd imagine they'd know as much about the rest of the galaxy as any other Imperial citizen: jack and squat.

I think it would vary quite a bit. Some would be stuck in thepelasure world mold being bred and educated and trained ror the express purpose of servitude. Others would be the original natives of the world and may have a rich heritage of ancient and secret culture and religions.

Way I figure it, Pleasure worlds are full of a couple of different types of people.

There's the movers-shakers that live there and run business to cater to the tourists and administer the planet, fairly much like anywhere else in the Imperium, except maybe a bit more lenient in some regards that if they're openly a bunch of hard cases then no one will come to visit and spend money. You can sort of roll law enforcement and PDF into that area in that they're probably standing around eating doughnuts all day and doing very little, but have the authority to bother and annoy.

The menials who work the tourist industry and do all the other day to day stuff that involves making a planet work, (except for very large amounts of heavy industry) and I can't see their lives really being overly much better than anyone else in the Imperium in so much that they aren't dodging poisonous beasties and bullets often... instead you're the guy/girl stuck in a dead-end pouring drinks, driving buses, taking out the rubbish and putting up with dumb ass tourists from bumhole who-cares.

Then there's the scumbags, the guy who flogs your wallet, the hooker that gave you crabs, the shady guy in the club who sells drugs and some arsehole that ran off with your pict-recorder thinking he was going to take your photo with it. In fact given the amount of people blundering onto a pleasure world just looking to relax and bumble around with their guard down knowing they're not going to be lept on by genestealers, murdered by culties in their sleep and bitten by animals, the comensurate increase in scum should be a bit higher with easier pickings and the fact they're only really having to deal with bored police and tourists looking to lose some money anyway.

I was thinking of more along the escorts of a pleasure world (the player in question wanted to play an assassin that seduces her victims and i didnt want to tell her to just take charm i was planning on making a small alternate rank or even career) said world would be one of those that are full of brothels of varying qualities some made exquisitly for nobles and...other made for those drunken guardsman on leave looking to get rid of their thrones quickly. but this particular escort house also seconds its services as an assassin house for petty nobles (and secondly they are slowly but surely getting deeper in slaneeshi arts but that wouldnt necessarily be in the backround)

ThenDoctor said:

I was thinking of more along the escorts of a pleasure world (the player in question wanted to play an assassin that seduces her victims and i didnt want to tell her to just take charm i was planning on making a small alternate rank or even career) said world would be one of those that are full of brothels of varying qualities some made exquisitly for nobles and...other made for those drunken guardsman on leave looking to get rid of their thrones quickly. but this particular escort house also seconds its services as an assassin house for petty nobles (and secondly they are slowly but surely getting deeper in slaneeshi arts but that wouldnt necessarily be in the backround)

How's this for a rank for an escort (designed to replace an assassins first rank but it doesn't have to)

Blather: 100
Carouse: 100
Carouse +10: 100
Charm: 100
Charm +10: 100
Charm +20: 200
Chem-Use: 100
Chem-Use +10: 100
Ciphers (secret society): 100
Deceive: 100
Deceive +10: 200
Gamble: 100
Performer (singer): 100
Performer (dance): 100
Performer (storyteller): 100
Scholastic Lore (heraldry): 100
Scholastic Lore (Philosophy): 200
Scholastic Lore (Legend): 100
Scrutiny: 100
Inquiry: 100
Literacy: 100
*Alluring: 100
Talented (Charm): 200

*Alluring adds a +10 to first impression rolls

The heavy amount of Charm plus the special Talent, Alluring are there to help counteract the Assassins inherently poor fel score and expense in raising it. Chem-Use is there not only for recreational purposes, but also for the fine arts of poisoning -no seductress should be without it. Ciphers for her brothel and the cult/society that runs it, various Performer skills so she can be entertaining in more ways then one with more refined clientèle, SL (heraldry) because she should be able to catch on to which noble house and power that be is which and how to tell them apart, SL (Legend and Philosophy) to help entertain more refined clientèle in a more intellectually stimulating manor (they can buy a stupid ***** just about anywhere, if she's an escort, she needs to do more then just work on her back), Scrutiny for obvious reasons, Inquiry because I'm sure an escort can get the lay of the land, and Literacy (again, she needs to be refined).

Back on Pleasure Worlds, don't forget that most who visit them are the powerful and rich elite of the Imperium. The common man dose not have the power, money, and rarely the time. he only class of people which have all three of those would be the Nobility and it's because of them that pleasure worlds exist (although i can see maybe some Imperial Guardsmen visiting one briefly to raise their moral before shipping them to the next theater of war, but that seems to be more of an exception as opposed to a rule as the Munitoriums answer to low moral seems to be shooting them in the head or at least beating them until moral improves, not giving them vacation time).

from france

pleasure word for me exist like garden word look at quadis or the garden word described in grey knigth. pleasure word are not always circus/disneyland/brothel word there can be a lot of possibilities.

for me quadis is a good example.of what population can be present.. if you have been all your life there sur you don't know the rest of the universe like... well hive world.

but for off wolder who come and go i dont think they shoul be blind to the rest of the universe.

MKX said:

I dont have a generic one, I did make up one for Askelephon Secundus which in my game I detailed out the planet being basically a bit like Venice with less charm, not many large landmasses and produces massive amounts of pharmacuticals for the sub-sector. Lots of water, lots of drugs, gambling and good quality food which was plentiful, so it did produce healthy if somewhat addled people... the weather was kind of terrible being slightly cooler than normal with lots of precipitation and heavy fog.

-5 to BS, +5 Fel

Fate points 1-4= 1, 5-8=2, 9-10=3

Starting wounds 1D5+9

Career paths I limited to (without a **** good reason why from the PC as why he/she was different) to being Adept, Arbitrator, Assassin, Guard, Psyker and Scum... lots of Scum

Skills and Talents I gave them Swimming, Carouse, Chem-Use and Pilot Watercraft (no roads here, lots of canals)

Trait of being a Fickle Eater, they get a -10 to Carouse skill to eat Poor Quality food or they get the squirts from both ends.

I agree on the Fellowship but I would say -5 WP or S for it is hard for them to resist new pleasures and I would rather give them a bonus on Carouse since they often encounter copious amounts of Alcohol and Drugs.

So to recap:

Pleasure Worlder:

Stats:
-5 S, +5 Fel

Traits:
Blessed Ignorance:
(As Imperial Worlder)

Substance Abuse:Talent:
Gain the talent Resistance (Poison)

Eunuch OR Courtier

Eunuch:
You are trained to serve and not to partake
Gain the Chem Geld talent and Unremarkable Talent

Courtier:
Trained to entertain, gain the Blather, Charm and Performer (Any) as trained skill

Corruption:
Gain 1d5 Corruption

Careers:

Guardsman (Mainly Eunuchs)
Adept
Assassin
Scum

I always imagined pleasure worlds to be planetary retirement homes for the very highest ranking of adepts (like Florida gui%C3%B1o.gif )

I don't think many in the Imperium, even the richest of nobles have any concept of 'going on vacation', as even their privileged life is a constant round of politicking and assassinations. Rather, a pleasure world is somewhere a High Lord goes to die, spending the last few decades of his life in pampered luxury.

As someone else very rightly said, 99.99% of the population will be engaged in serving these elite. They probably move around in service tunnels under the ground so they're never seen, again, like a certain amusement park in Florida!

Andy

Santiago said:



So to recap:

Pleasure Worlder:

Stats:
-5 S, +5 Fel

Traits:
Blessed Ignorance:
(As Imperial Worlder)

Substance Abuse:Talent:
Gain the talent Resistance (Poison)

Eunuch OR Courtier

Eunuch:
You are trained to serve and not to partake
Gain the Chem Geld talent and Unremarkable Talent

Courtier:
Trained to entertain, gain the Blather, Charm and Performer (Any) as trained skill

Corruption:
Gain 1d5 Corruption

Careers:

Guardsman (Mainly Eunuchs)
Adept
Assassin
Scum

I actually like these but with a little exception... I'd scrap the Guardsman and substitute it with Arbitrator. After all, any public (or private) disturbance in Pleasure World that needs the governmental monopoly of violence to be solved would more likely involve police (Arbitrators) with at least minimal investigation skills instead of soldiers (Guardsman) with big guns and bad attitude gui%C3%B1o.gif

Also I'd include Imperial Psyker as a possible career since no matter what world you are born on you can still be born a psyker and taken aboard the Black Ships.

I actually like the Eunuch and Courtier attributes... pretty 40kish. In my campaign I've actually gone even further with one NPC "entertainer" who has had a good sized lobotomy to her frontal lobe to remove any possibility of romantic emotional associations. Gave her both Chem Geld and Jaded talents to represent "when nothing feels like anything anymore" kind of setup.

I can see their being both Arbitrators and Guardsmen really. There's going to be plenty of noble estates with liveried guards (I'm sure that the entry for Reth mentioned a significant PDF force) pressumable pleasure worlds are a goldmine for pirates.

But in general in the rule book pleasure worlders are just Imperial Worlders. You could say that's assuming that even on a pleasure world most of the population are just farmers (albeit with very high yeild easy to tend to crops) labourers (who are probably have much better living conditions) etc.

So it might be easiest to make alternative homeworlds for the specific planet. There's isn't that many in the sector and It seems that they would be different enough.

Santiago's stat's seem to work for a vacation world (if a bit specific for only the pleasure world servants) like i though Quadis was (although apparently there's an adventure set their that I haven't read) where as Reth is an ocean world that kind of sounds carribean or like pacific islands.

While of course there's the argument that pleasure worlders are weaker they probably have a lot more faith in the Imperium than some one who grew up in a sh!t hole part of the sector scraping a living.

Added Guardsman instead of Arbitrator becuase the Eunuchs would also need to keep the guests safe, so more guarding and less investigating.

I don't see Arbitrators hailing from Pleasure World, doesn't feel right...

Santiago said:

I don't see Arbitrators hailing from Pleasure World, doesn't feel right...

In theory, they could have any of the Careers available to the Imperial Worlders but I know what you mean. I just can't picture them needing / wanting Arbitrators sniffing around. I don't how it work's in practise though.

I think 1d5 corruption might be going a bit far. Unless you assume there's an evil flesh cult on every pleasure world.

is it worth making Pleasure World Eunuchs and Pleasure World Courtesans background packages?

The one character I've played in DH was a Priest originally it was going to be a from one of the alt homeworld (Sinophia) which was quashed by the GM so I randomly rolled a pleasure world. He got dropped into the underhive. Didn't have a clue what was going on awesome character.

Here's my take on the topic, done in the style of the "Unique worlds of the Calixis Sector" section on page 21 of the Inquisitor's Handbook. This is all about the pleasure world of Reth:-

RETH
(IMPERIAL WORLD)


"Crashed your ship you say? Hey, that's some bad luck there.....[Long pause] Can I get you a drink?"
-Rethian peasant addressing bemused Inquisitorial acolyte


Reth is arguably the most beautiful world in the Calixis Sector. Thousands of tiny, largely uninhabited islands lie scattered across a calm shallow ocean teeming with harmless local animal life, all of it edible, most of it delicious. The peaceful nature of the planet means that its inhabitants enjoy calm and indolent lives dedicated largely to enjoying themselves and relaxing. How long they will be able to sustain this gratifying status quo is debatable given the ambitions of their ruthless planetary governor, but as the Rethians themselves say "Live life now. Tomorrow is tomorrow."


Discovered alongside the other worlds of the Tephaine system during the Angevin crusade, Reth was used as a staging post for the exhausted crusaders to marshal their forces. Lord Militant Angevin himself is said to have enjoyed long retreats to the world whilst (technically) overseeing some of the bloodiest chapters of the colossal campaign. He is said to have so enjoyed the climate, food and landscape that he installed one of his closest aides, Archcount Maximillius van der Prekkus , as the first planetary governor. Prekkus, a natural bon vivant, was given strict instructions to ensure that nothing destroyed the beauty of the world, and indeed was true to these orders. The Prekkus family ruled Reth for centuries, their sole duty to the Golden Throne to act as gracious hosts to senior Imperial officials in need of rest on Reth's beautiful shores.


In 609 M40, the ascension to power of a new Lord Sector, Larnahus Sult, marked the beginning of the end of many of the ancient power blocks that had built up in the Calixis Sector. New tithe requirements were laid out, and many planetary governors who had grown complacent over the centuries struggled to comply with them. The House of Prekkus fell squarely within this category. The ruthless Jonah de Caul, a well connected Scintillan nobleman, secretly petitioned the Lord Sector for permission to wage an assassin's war against the House of Prekkus, with a view to installing himself as planetary governor and massively increasing the planet's tithe. Sult - a politically devious man with Spartan personal tastes - found the concept of a world solely devoted to pleasure somewhat repellent, and granted the petition. Only a handful of the Prekkus line survived the subsequent bloody purge. House de Caul's mercenary army rapidly seized power, swore allegiance to the God-Emperor, and began the slow transformation of Rethian society.
The house of de Caul, now headed by Jonah's grandson, Jedidiah, has ruled Reth with a fist of iron for over two centuries. They plan to convert the pleasure world into a true Imperial hive world, with a massive military and a powerful industrial base, before contesting for governorship of the whole Tephaine system, and eventually the entire subsector.


As of yet, these ambitions have not progressed far. The increased tithe has slowed the House of de Caul's timescale, and the naturally laid back Rethian populance have not formed a solid foundation for massive economic growth. Although the handful of Imperial cities have increased in size and output, they are still tiny compared to even the smallest hive world, and the de Cauls fear that their dreams of regional power are slipping away.


For now, the vast majority of Reth remains utterly beautiful, and untouched, an oasis of calm in a stormy galaxy. For how long, no one knows...


Rethian PCs
Rethians are cheerful, laid back individuals with a hedonistic and fun loving attitude. Forgiving, friendly, outgoing, and not particularly religious, they are so very different in outlook to the majority of humanity that they stand out in any crowd. Regarded by most Calixians as hopelessly naïve, useless, lazy and immoral, Rethians revel in this reputation, playing up to it whenever possible to get a rise out of the overly serious offworlders.


Creating Rethian characters
Use the Imperial Home World template, replacing the Hagiography, Liturgical familiarity and superior origins Traits with the following:-


Born to Serve (cocktails)
Despite the best efforts of the planet’s Governor, the Rethian economy is still primarily based on tourism. Most Rethians end up as servants on any one of dozens of luxury resorts, often sneaking a few drinks off the tables of the more inebriated guests…. Benefit: You gain the basic skills of a well trained servant or steward, and the fortitude of a hardened drinker. Rethians treat Carouse, Charm, Literacy (Int) and Trade (Valet) as basic skills.


Messing around in boats
Reth is a world of islands, inlets and waterways. Rethians think nothing of jumping into a skiff to go to market, or swimming to an adjacent island for a few drinks. Benefit: you treat Swim and Pilot (civilian boats) as basic skills.


Paradise Loser
Reth is, to put it mildly, not a world which challenges its inhabitants. Rethians are ill prepared physically and mentally for the harsh universe that awaits them when they reluctantly leave their planet. Penalty: reduce Toughness, Willpower and Strength by -2 each.


Nice, did you do that just now? I like it. But i'd put swim up to trained. Lets face it they'd be able to swim and no one uses swim any way except from once in a blue moon. Also carouse and charm are already basic skills. If it had +3 fel or something I could see myself playing that.

Now what supposed to happen on Quadis?