30 Tavern Wenches

1-The Bouncer

This barmaid has huge almost man-like muscles and several small scars on her arms and body. Whilst her normal job is pouring drinks and taking them and platters of food to the customers, when a fight starts or someone is being downright obnoxious, she is the bar's resident bouncer, tossing troublemakers out into the street and knocking them out if she has to. She came from a poor family and volunteered to be a gladiatortrix for five years, winning many a fight in the arena including some that were fought to the death. Whilst she made some money and was famous for a time, her sponsors took most of it. After she left the arena she took up a job in a bar as a barmaid/bouncer. She is proud of her time in the arena and happy to tell stories about it to anyone who will listen.

2-The Slattern

Whilst not exactly a full time prostitute, this barmaid is happy to make a bit of money on the side through selling her body. She was saved from a pimp when quite young by her husband, and although happily married he seems to have no problems with her behaviour as long as she avoids diseases and shares the money with him. He lets her choose who she sleeps with, unlike a pimp; people who are too old, too ill, might be violent or are downright ugly are rejected by her. If someone did start hurting or manhandling her he would rush to her aid. A former soldier in the royal army, he can fight equally well with his fists and his sword. Should someone murder her, he would become consumed with the desire for vengence. Despite their open relationship, they really do love each other.

3-The Homesick

A beautiful brown eyed dark haired girl from the far northern wastes, her skin is so pale as to be almost albino and she has to wear long dresses to avoid severe sunburn. She could not get a job in her own country due to a recession, so found a job very far from home and her parents and three sisters. Although she works well and tries her best to keep her homesickness for her family and country under wraps, if you look in her eyes you can see the sadness in them. She is thin as she is saving up most of her money for the long trip to her northern home. When noone is around to see or hear her, she sometimes cries.

4-The Surley

A former noblewoman, she did some terrible faux pas at the royal court a few years ago. Whilst not in itself treasonous, it was so scandalous that she ended up expelled from the royal court, divorced by her husband, seperated from her children and disowned by her family. And forced to work as a lowly barmaid in a slum bar to make enough money for food and taxes. If asked what it was that she did she will turn bright red with embarassment and refuse to talk about the topic. Barely able to conceal her anger, scowling at the customers when they have said and done nothing to deserve it, if she does not start at least making an effort to look happy, she will soon find herself sacked and out on the streets.

5-The Singer

An Orcish girl who longs to be a famous singer and loved by the masses, humans laugh at her and Orcs are bemused by her. She left her tribe and headed alone to a human city in the hope of fame and fortune. She got a few coins chucked at her as a comedy act but not enough to live on through singing and belly dancing alone, so she took a job as a barmaid, but she still has dreams of hitting the big time. However, her race is against her as most humans just see a singing dancing Orc as a comedy act, no matter how good her voice is. Sometimes when alone she dances privately;if PCs see this and cheer instead of laughing at her, she will be almost patheticly pleased with them.

6-The Breasts

As in huge ones that need a big bra to avoid causing her pain. Most people just look at them instead of her face which makes her feel like a walking piece of meat. Any PC who looks her in her eyes when he speaks to her, rather then at her chest, and gives her some basic respect, will soon be able to befriend her and gain speedy service and perhaps even slightly lower prices. If it's a good looking male PC her own age, she could even end up finding herself falling in love with him, as he clearly thinks that her mind and her personality are more important then her oversized breasts.

7-The Despised

She was once middle class before she married the wrong person, a person who turned out to be a double murderer. He was hanged publicly and gibbetted, but she only played a minor part in the murders, and in exchange for giving evidence against him, she escaped with six months in a harsh prison. Her house was ransacked and destroyed by looters and the threat of mob violence forced her out of the town. Time and distance have lowered the danger of her being lynched, but she's not popular and the only job she could get was that of a serving wench.

8-The Student

Recently, things have got a lot better for women in (insert name of country here) as if they have the money, they can get educated, the new ruler being influenced by the love of his his life to help them. It is still quite expensive though and so this young student is payiing for her tuition by working in the evenings and late into the night as a barmaid, putting aside pride in the hope of getting a much better job once fully educated. She is much cleverer then the average wench but rarely gets to show it.

9-The Bouncy

An I love life type person with a cavelier attitude, she allways seems to be joyful and pleasent at her work, and therefor makes a bit more in tips then other barmaids and can afford little luxuries now and then, like a silver bangle or a new pair of shoes. There are those who whisper snide comments about her, talking about her behind her back and suggesting that she is a prostitute but the rumours about her are totally untrue.

10-The Informant

Arrested for a minor crime a few years ago, she secretly agreed to turn into a police informant. Since then her grassing has led to the solving of a murder and the foiling of at least one major robbery. None of the pickpockets, robbers and other villians suspect her of being a police spy, but she has to be careful. If they find out or even suspect her of telling on them, her strangled body will be found in a street somewhere as a warning to others who might be thinking of doing the same thing.

She will try and sell the PCs (insert illegal item here) for a small price. If they accept, then when they leave the bar a large patrol of police/city guards/whoever enforces the law tries to stop and search/arrest them. If they kill the police, they just became serious lawbreakers and outlaws with a price on their heads,and anyone can legally kill them. If they submit to arrest, they must either bribe the police to drop the case, try to escape from the cells, or face trial in court

11-The Harassed

This one has to face a lot of sexual harassment from her customers and/or boss, ranging from nasty sexual comments to bottom pinching or worse. The PCs can either ignore it, join in with the abuse, or try and make things better for her in which case she will be thankful.

12-The Criminal

This barmaid, when she thinks she can get away with it, takes advantage of the customers. She steals small amounts of money from the bar tap, pickpockets from people, tips off footpads about who to attack next (they share a small amount of the spoils with her.) She has been known to get people's drinks switched with Time Wine or the beer equivilant and then stolen from them when they are in a stupor but this does not happen often for fear of either getting caught or driving customers away from the bar.

13-The Refugee

Depending on the time period and place you are gaming in, this barmaid could be in formal witness protection, or could be hiding off her own back from an ex, a gang of criminals, the law or someone else. She fears that she would be found out but tries as hard as possible to keep her fear under control. For a minor roleplay hook, perhaps those who she is hiding finde her and try and grab her whilst the PCs are in the same bar. Do they let her be dragged away kicking and screaming to her doom, or do they act as heroes and rescue her? If they free her, it turns out that she knows where the McGuffin is hidden that the PCs need for the next part of their quest and is happy to help them out and in awe of the PCs for rescuing her.

14-The Disguised Man

This barmaid is a transexual who can pass well. The PCs are only likely to find this out from her slightly strange voice and of course if it is an NC 17 rated game and one or more of them try to have sex with *her*. She enjoys her job and is happy with her life.

15-The Spy

This agent was nearly caught and is working under a false identity as a barmaid, so that she can one day earn enough money to get back to her home country and her reward. There is a big reward out for her, and if the PCs find out who she is and can capture her and hand her in to the authorities they could earn said reward. She has a secret weapon (the GM can choose what it is) so she can and would put up a fight if they try and capture her, and there is no reward on offer for her dead body, other then not being prosecuted for killing her, and the few things she has to take.

16-The Slow

This unfortunate girl is mentally retarded but is a happy person and perfectly able to do her job of serving out the drinks. Perhaps someone starts abusing her and the PCs have to decide how heroic they want to be.

17-The Scarred

Once she was a pretty young model with many a male who was interested in her, and she had quite a few lovers. One of these turned out to be a jealous man who wanted her to marry him. She pleasently turned him down and then broke up with him when he continued to press the issue. So he ambushed her one night with a razor blade stuck in a potato, and whilst not wanting to kill her, he pinned her down and sliced up her lovely face, scaring it and making life as a model impossible. He was caught and convicted and got a long prison term; she became a barmaid, a big step down from the position that she had once enjoyed.

18-The Were

Unknown to anybody else this barmaid is in fact a female werewolf (or if the GM is feeling more exotic, some other kind of were ( see 30 Were-Creatures for ideas). The PCs go out one night and are attacked by a huge wolf or other creture on the night of the full moon and after it gets a wound from sword or spell it turns and runs. Laster they go back to the inn and find the barmaid nursing a wound on the same part of the body that the creature was injured in. Do they get the local law enforcement involved, seek private revenge or lynch law, blackmail her, or just let her be?

19-The Hero-Worshipper

It may well be that the adventurers are at least locally famous, and this barmaid starts following them around, chatting them up and generally getting in the way, clearly in awe of them, in love with them or both. What do they do? Do they let her tag along or tell her to get lost? If the latter she migght well follow them in secret and then get into trouble and they either have to rescue her or leave an innocent person in serious trouble. If they let her die it may cause them legal trouble if they ever come back that way, or just damage their reputations.

If they do let her come with them she will carry heavy things for them and do her best to help but knows no magic and has little or no combat skills.

20-The Vampire

This barmaid is in the habit of slipping the odd patron a Micky Finn and then fanging them and drinking a little of their blood, the fang marks normally being mistaken for mosquito bites. She neither murders nor robs;either would at the least give the inn a bad reputation and could end up with her being caught and having to flee from a bloodthirsty (pun intended) mob with stakes and torches. Despite being a vampire, she's otherwise a pretty honest person rather then being consumed with evil.

21-The Disease Carrier

This barmaid is a carrier of a horrible disease, but it has no effect on her body or mind. She is however breathing the germs out whereever she goes, and without intending to is spreading it wherever she goes, moving from bar to tavern to hotel, leaving quickly when large numbers of people fall sick and die before people put two and two together and discover that she is the cause of the outbreak. Within a day or so the PCs will start falling ill with (insert disease here) and death is a possibility if they cannot find a cure quickly enough.

22-The Merry

This barmaid has drank a bit too much for her own good and is staggering around with trays of drinks and in danger of dropping them at any moment. If the PCs step in, and take away the drinks and pass them around to the customers, they will be popular and might get a tip or two for doing so. Otherwise the barmaid will end up tipping them over the PCs, herself, or someone else, in which case she will either be punched by an irate patron or sacked on the spot and tossed out of the bar by the bar owner.

23-The Traumatised

This poor woman has experienced something truly horrific, she comes home screaming incoherently one day. Since then never leaving the village/town and never saying a word about what it was that scared her so deeply. She has a slightly "out there/loony" look about her, serving the patrons their drinks in silence.

24-The Siren

A barmaid in a dockside tavern. The Siren, is many things, barmaid, entertainer (a lute maybe?) and what her patrons don't know; a skilled thief. Those that have fallen victim to her charms rarely put two and two together. Enthralling her mark with the sound of her music, she distracts him long enough for her younger brother (too young to serve in the establishment yet) to cut loose a few purses every now and again.

25-The Cultist

This barmaid is a secret member of (insert name of dangerous banned cult here) and wants to poison or otherwise harm the PCs to further the desires of the cult. Or maybe she is planning something bigger and nastier such as ; arson of the bar;summonning a demon in secret in the basement; adding poison to everybody's beer. Maybe she misculculates and tries to get the PCs to join said cult and they have to decide what to do.

26-The Assassin

She can be anything from the *sack of hit points* who stabs at a PC with a blade or murders an NPC on the spot, forcing the players to look for another NPC to help them, to an NPC in her own right who helps the players only to lead them into a deadly trap or ambush near the end of the game. And she can be anyone from a simple hired killer or madwoman, to a member of a complex death cult or criminal syndicate.

27-The Lazy

This barmaid chats with her friend, drinks free beer and does very little work. She was foisted on the bar owner by the local Mafia or (insert name of crime family here), as she is one of the sisters of the leading member. As long as the PCs don't bother her she has no intention of bothering them but if she and them get into an arguement, two criminals per PC will get up and start attacking the PCs;should they be cut down, beaten up or otherwise dealt with, she will assume the PCs want to do the same thing to her and run for her life, screaming in terror.

28-The Lovestruck

This barmaid is deeply in love with one of the PCs. If chatting him up fails, she will slip a powerful love potion into his drink. In gaming terms he must make a successful Resistance To Poisons roll or he will fall headlong in love with her. The PCs will have to either seperate the two by force (the potion will wear off after a few hours) or find an antidote to the potion (which might need a subquest.)

29-The Undead

Even in an area where few people wash very much, the foul small of this barmaid and the cloud of flies around her head are two signs that she might not in fact be alive. A closer look reveals that her eyes are a dull grey and her flesh looks anything but healthy. To save on bar costs, the owner of the bar illegally brought a zombie slave to serve the drinks and food. If attacked the zombie will fight back and it's bite can cause zombiefication itself within X amount of hours unless the petals of a certain flower are found for the cure. The zombiefication can be delayed in the short term by...eating human brains.

30-The Slave

In a country where slavery is illegal, this barmaid was tricked by her boyfriend into coming to the area with a promise that he would find her a good job. Instead he sold her into slavery as a barmaid by day and a sex slave at night. When she refused she was beaten and tortured and raped but not in a way that would show any long term marks until her spirit was broken,and then put to work without pay. She has been told she will be murdered if she tries to run away.