Morrowind Role-Play: The Courtesan (18+)
Another new class offered by Ahead of the Classes is the Courtesan. This guide explores how to roleplay one effectively. Because the themes involve adult content, this guide is intended for mature audiences only.
In this playthrough, your character isn’t content with simply sleeping with the powerful. She aims to rise through society by earning her clients’ favor, blackmailing them when needed, and ultimately gaining power on her own. As a spiritual dimension, she worships Dibella - viewing pleasure as a sacred exchange and devotional practice.
For race I recommend a Dunmer, as most influential people in Morrowind are Dunmer and only a Dunmer can understand a fellow Dunmer. They would open up and trust you better lore-wise. An Imperial is also a good option, as they have a bonus for Personality. Another possibility is a Breton, due to the fact that they can utilize magic to charm people.
As far as birthsign is concerned, The Lover is thematically perfect for this character.
Nota Bene: while this guide assumes a female character for ease of writing, the courtesan archetype can work for any gender identity. Playing a male courtesan is perhaps a more challenging, but in some ways more rewarding experience as well.
Goals of your character include becoming the lover of the most influential people of Vvardenfell, such as Duke Vedam Dren along with gaining influence on your own, such as by becoming the Grandmaster of Great House Hlaalu. You could also become the next Grand Spymaster of the Blades by acquiring information from your clients. I will offer some excellent mods for each of these goals. Handicaps could include a commitment to pacifism, your words and charm are your weapons. Perhaps your commitment to Dibella would require a weekly ritual at an Imperial Cult shrine that must be completed. (Offering gold for a boon.)
Your "gear" is your jewelry, elegant clothes, and perfumes. You can also collect rare beverages.
Mods:
Almilia's Daughters (18+): The most important mod for this playthrough, it adds a sex mechanics into the game which is implemented by the usage of textboxes. It takes NPC race, class and faction into consideration. What I really like about this mod is that while the mod is obviously about sexuality, it is done in a tasteful and even in a women friendly manner, unlike most similar mods. Along with the new content offered by the new guild, it also provides alternative ways for completing vanilla quests.
A less-immersive alternative to Almilia's Daughters is the classic Romance mod, which along with the option to have sex for money also contains the options to start a relationship with any NPC, to get married and to have children.
Bed Buddies (MWSE) allows you to sleep in owned beds, provided that the owner really likes you.
Since the beauty of a courtesan is quite important, consider a lore-friendly clothes mod, such as Better Clothes and/or Hilgya the Seamstress. For MWSE users, the mod, Vanity is also available which makes equipped jewelry visible. There are also several body replacers available, such as Better Bodies or Robert's Bodies. For head replacers, consider Better Heads, Rin's Beauty Shop or Westly's Faces.
Tamriel Rebuilt: The latest Tamriel Rebuilt adds tons of Hlaalu content that you can enjoy along with a Chapel of Dibella.
Blades Informant: Allows you to continue working for the Blades after Caius' departure and deliver useful information to them that you may have picked up during your travels. If you want your character's profession to only be a cover for a spy.
Divine Providence: (Vanilla/OpenMW) or PRAY (MWSE): You can pick Dibella as your patron goddess and gain perks and abilities from her.
The Dancer's Grace: This mod is something of a personal experiment, included here as a bonus. The mod features a quest designed to introduce pole dancing to Morrowind in a way that remains respectful to the game’s lore. I hope you’ll find it as enjoyable to experience as I did to create. (While pole dancing isn’t inherently linked to sex work, the two can sometimes intersect.)