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About this Resource
This resource features the general description of a tavern and brothel. It includes NPC descriptions and adventure ideas that are appropriate for low-level (Levels 1 to 5) adventuring parties. Challenge Rating (CR) is calculated using a party of four as the model.
The DM is free to change or modify any or all the information found here. NPC names and settlement names are the first the DM should consider changing to accommodate any homebrew world lore.
General Description
The Broken Die Brothel is a two-story building right in the center of a great city’s downtown. The building is made of stone with an orange-tinted thatched roof. The Broken Die doubles as a game house and a brothel. It is one of the most popular locations in town for adult entertainment.
The ground level features a big common room with tables, one billiards table, and one roulette. There are a bar and a door behind it that leads to the kitchen. The kitchen is a small 15-foot room with a backdoor to the streets. This is the only exit other from the game house’s main door.
There are stairs on the north-west side that lead to the second floor. The second floor features a common area in the middle with a few chairs and crates. There are seven private rooms that can be accessed from this common room. The house ladies use these rooms to entertain patrons and sell their time and bodies for gold. The rooms are crude and do not offer much in terms of hospitality. There is one deluxe suite on the south-west side of the building. This room is bigger and features a bigger bed with red linens. It is usually reserved for important visitors like councilmen and the nobility.
None of the workers, ladies or owners of The Broken Die live in the building. That is why the rooms on the second floor show no sign of personal stuff or clothing.
General Features
These are the general features of The Broken Die, a tavern, and brothel in the heart of the city.
Terrain. The Broken Die has wooden floors and stone walls. The ground floor is usually packed with clients and is considered difficult terrain.
Light. The building has no windows. All light comes from torches in sconces on the walls and lamps on the tables. The rooms on the second floor only have candles.
Smells and Sounds. The ground floor is a lively place with people drinking, laughing, and gambling all the time. There’s also the sound of a minstrel from time to time playing the lute or a windpipe.
Background Lore
Ten years ago, a corrupt councilman named Frederich Nayther got involved with a criminal guild of the city. He took blood money from the guild in exchange for doing things in the council like passing certain laws or releasing captured members of the guild stealthily. One day, an important member of an opposing guild was captured in a raid and put behind bars. The criminal guild thought it was a great opportunity to get rid of him. Frederich Nayther arranged for three members of the criminal guild to be let inside the prison. The three assassins went in and killed the prisoner in cold blood. In exchange for this service, the guild gave Frederich Nayther a sizable amount of gold. The man in prison must have been an important target but Frederich did not know the man’s identity or deeds.
While councilmen are rich in comparison to most of the city’s population. Frederich Nayther had more gold than he could ever justify, even for a man in his position. He did not wish to draw the attention of the council or the nobility so he decided to put the money to work for him. He bought a property in the city’s red district and opened up a game house and brothel. He named the place “The Broken Die”. The wooden sign on building’s façade depicts three use-worn dice, one of them missing a chip. Frederich Nayther is often in the establishment but always as a patron. An associate of his and former prostitute, Madam Sazu, plays the role of owner and manager of the business. Frederich Nayther has avoided being linked with the brothel for over ten years. He is a well-known sponsor of the place but only that.
Madam Sazu is a middle-aged woman with still remaining beauty from her younger days. She is fearless, strict, and demanding with her staff and the working girls. Any client who wishes to spend time with any of the house ladies must first have a word with Madam Sazu, she controls and approves all transactions with the girls. She also collects all the money and pays the girls later.
Dramatis Personae
There are many interesting NPCs to be found in The Broken Die. If the adventurers come across any of them, they may hear any or all of the information below. These snippets of lore are supposed to spring new adventures into existence. Some are rumors, some are missions, some are just fluff lore. The information is given as if the NPC himself is talking.
Councilman Frederich Nayther
Councilman Neyther is the real owner of The Broken Die but pretends to by a client.
- I come here often you know. It’s the best place in town and the girls are a delight. I don’t fear being seen here in public, every man of power is here from time to time. My bodyguards are here too so I am safe.
- See, a place like this is perfect to take an assignment from the powerful men in the city. Close encounters but none of the council’s nonsense. I’m a respected council member by the way. If you’re interested in a heavy bag of gold coins, there’s a sale of expensive jars happening tonight at the docks. I don’t want this to take place and those jars are ugly anyway. Perhaps an unexpected situation might come up.
- Hey you! Strongman. I need you and your comrades to do something for me. I’ll pay, don’t worry. I didn’t get to where I am without paying my people very well. There’s a carriage departing tomorrow to the nearest town. Three working girls will pay a visit to a friend of mine, but I don’t want anything to go wrong. You’ll escort them and bring them back safely.
Madam Sazu
Madam Sazu is a middle-aged woman and the fake owner of The Broken Die.
- Oh! But what a strong man you are, and look at your companions. I hope it does not appear unbecoming of me, but I’d love to offer you a reward if you help this woman in distress. You see there is a group of disgusting brigands that promised to come tonight and cause trouble because we kicked them out yesterday. Can you help?
- And that is why we are always wary of councilmen visiting this establishment. I don’t trust them. A little bird told me yesterday that there is a man named Gustav Gordula, a councilman, who is about to outlaw brothels. Ah! As if it were possible… Men will always need our service.
- If you’re looking for a quick coin, I need your immediate help. One of my working girls was kidnapped an hour ago by an unfortunate man. I say, unfortunate because it is your job to track him and make sure his life ends accidentally tonight. The name of the girl is Fanelle, she is pretty with yellow eyes. One of my servants followed the man to a small house near the docks, I can point it in your map.
Princess Diane
Princess Diane is the most popular working girl in The Broken Die. She is a very expensive prostitute. She has brown hair and face features that are common in foreign countries to the west.
- You can talk to me, but you cannot afford me. Oh! You have gold? That still cannot buy my time. You need power and a position. You’re just a traveler and I only sell my time to the nobles. A friend of mine will sleep with any wealthy traveler like you. She tells me the strangest stories. Last week she mentioned a patron who would not stop talking about spices he sells from one end of the country to the other. His ship is still in tow apparently, waiting for more of those spices.
- Madam Sazu is a nice woman with me because I bring her so much money. But she is very cruel to the other girls. I wish she did not flog them with her disgusting cane. I tell them to stand their ground but the girls are so afraid of her.
- My favorite client is Sir Tarentelle. He is so handsome and everybody gossips about his deeds. I am more interested in the fact that he is looking for a suitable bride. He promised he’d marry me but a ring is still to come. I wonder what a knight wants…
Arielle
Arielle is another working girl in The Broken Die. She has red hair, brown eyes, and slim figure. She is secretly an agent of an opposing guild.
- I’ll tell you a secret because you seem trustworthy. There is something fishy going on in this place. I caught Madam Sazu putting last weeks proceeds in a sack. Then the sack was delivered to a wealthy house. But she lives in a common house near here. I think she does not really own the place.
- I have a friend, a very powerful friend. He is offering a ridiculous amount of gold coins for Madam Sazu. I don’t know why he wishes to interrogate her but the offer is real. Believe me, my friend wouldn’t have asked if it weren’t an important thing. But I am just a weak girl. If you help me we can share the prize. I could leave this place forever maybe.
- I am so jealous of Princess Diane.. such a stupid name, but she took it since she started sleeping with only nobles. Want to know a secret? She’s not even foreign, she was born near the docks, and her foreign mother was a prostitute too. She also used to work in a poor brothel for sailors and she’d spend the night with any filthy man that approached her. She’s such a hypocrite.
Gomo Verl
Gomo is a strong man that sits at the desk next to the entrance. He registers clients and exchanges their gold coins for gambling chips.
- Yeah, I’ve been working here for years. It’s a great place. Councilman Nayther is probably the source of our job stability. I guess he really likes the girls. Last year he stopped another council member from outlawing brothers in this street for whatever reason. A good man, Mr. Neyther.
- Quick! Help me! The young lad that went out running just before you entered, stole a bag with gambling chips. It’s worth a lot. If you stop him, the owner, Madam Sazu will reward you with the tenth part of those chips. She’ll probably pay you even more if you bring that misfit here alive.
The Great Sarsel
Sarsel is a minstrel and poet that visits The Broken Die often. She’ll share a song or a tale for a silver coin. He is also well loved by the working girls.
- Ah, but it is travelers and adventurers. I’ll share a tale for a silver coin, you will make it back if you follow the steps of other adventurers before you. A group of adventurers recently discovered an underwater cave a mile south of the docks where the reef is. All of them died except one who came back frightened and mentioned it was a type of sunken temple.
- I have a wererat friend who lives in the city sewers. I know ugh… He told me he and his kind do not approach the south-east portion of the sewers anymore because, guess what, there are living skeletons coming out from it. Apparently one of them opened a long-forgotten ruin of some kind. I only hope those fiends do not find a way to the surface.
- Have you heard of the Lost Scroll of Truth? It’s a fabled manuscript by an ancient wizard which supposedly holds great magic secrets. The first settlers of this city came here looking for the resting place of the ancient wizard. It is said he died close to this location but no one ever found his catacomb. There’s a passage in a poem that reveals the location “Near the rising star the great wizard’s resting place awaits. It is under the place where the rain is born. A sigil of angels marks the place”. I know it since I was a child, but to this day, no one has found the place yet.
