Indie studio Catacolyte Games has released Courtesans’ Guild, a mature 29-page digital supplement designed for the revised Dungeons & Dragons core rules.
Written and developed by Ashton Baker, the release provides players with a mechanically deep Rogue subclass built around tactical espionage, close-quarters grappling, and political infiltration. The book introduces structured guild systems, tailored safety parameters, and tactical maps designed to transform mature themes into active elements of play rather than mere background flavour.
The project marks a distinct shift for Ashton Baker, whose previous tabletop work focused primarily on dark body horror and creating books that resemble physical fantasy relics. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Geek Native, Baker explains how the title navigates the mechanical constraints of the new rules without gamifying explicit acts, while addressing the broader realities of industry censorship, algorithmic filters, and the decision to move toward independent self-publishing.
In your previous interview with Geek Native, you focused on dark body horror and making game books look like physical relics from a fantasy world. With Courtesans’ Guild, you have shifted towards explicit social and political systems. What specific mechanical updates in the brand-new Dungeons & Dragons core rules made this the right time to build a booklet about a secret network of spies?
I was drawn to the streamlining in the new system. Classes are more balanced and encounters flow better. I want to contribute to this new take with a subclass that gives martial classes more varied depth. Wizards made a concerted effort to bridge the gap between martial and magical classes, but I feel like their solutions only treated the symptoms, not the root issue. Courtesans’ Guild puts this view into practice and reworks how a martial class interacts with the game world.
Adult content in roleplaying games often depends on abstract narrative permissions or safety tools rather than core mechanics. Courtesans’ Guild introduces a detailed modular rogue subclass and custom backgrounds. What challenges did you face in balancing mechanically sound class features with themes of sex work and espionage, all while maintaining the foundational math of 5E?
5E leans pretty heavily into bounded accuracy, which keeps the numbers low and easy to gauge at a glance. In that respect, 5E is easy to parse.
The real challenge with Courtesan’s Guild lay in translating the courtesan fantasy into something that works in D&D, a cooperative storytelling game about adventure, dungeon crawling, and big bads. This isn’t porn. It’s not a solo activity for self pleasure. It’s D&D — something you play with your friends. With that in mind, I still wanted to capture the feeling of seductive danger that is the hallmark of femme fatales like Lady Snowblood or Atomic Blonde. I decided to focus on subclass features like Lethal Lover, which allows courtesans to Sneak Attack creatures they’re grappling. This balances seduction with the excitement expected of D&D.
In your balance update to the community, you included the Black Widow feature at level and expanded Deadly Elegance to keep grappling relevant in mid- and late-game play. Can you walk us through that adjustment? What made grappling feel ineffective in your initial playtests, and how does the update address this?
I received feedback near the end of development that the subclass’s late-game features felt less unimpressive. I addressed this oversight with Black Widow, a 9th level feature that rewards players for making a successful Persuasion or Deception check against a creature before entering combat. If they do, they get Advantage on Initiative as well as their next attack roll. I particularly like this feature since it ties the subclass together and rewards players for playing into the femme fatale fantasy.
Deadly Elegance addressed a simpler issue. D&D rules say that creatures can only grapple other creatures up to 1 size category larger than themselves. That’s fair, but this rule means the subclass loses a key feature when the party starts fighting dragons, or god forbid, tarrasques. So, I expanded Deadly Elegance to allow players to grapple creatures they normally couldn’t, but only for the sole sake of activating their other abilities, like Lethal Lover.
Courtesans’ Guild includes three specific brothel maps and VTT assets designed for active tactical play. Usually, mature locations in tabletop adventures are just background details. What mechanical incentives or unique environmental puzzles did you incorporate into these spaces to make them suitable for tactical combat or stealth encounters?
As a designer, I want the meat of the experience to be in the narrative so I tend to add puzzles as fun, little surprises for the players. I created secret passageways, trapped chests, and a bookshelf puzzle where the players have to [REDACTED]. I also included plenty of cramped hallways and corners that favor the hit-and-run tactics the Guild specializes in.
The supplement lays out structured “Guild Services,” like equipment rentals, information, and resting bonuses, while clearly stating in community notes that there are “no sex mechanics.” How do you create systems that accurately reflect the economic realities of sex workers without crossing into gamifying explicit sexual acts?I don’t think a fantasy game can accurately reflect the economic realities of sex work. It’s also important to acknowledge that the nature of such work changes from person to person.
Instead, I tried to create a world that examines some of the real life issues sex workers might face like stigma and unequal power dynamics, but within a context far enough removed that players can feel safe engaging with these topics. Ultimately, Courtesans’ Guild is about a group of people who find power through sex and use it to gain agency for themselves and others.
Historically, representations of courtesans or sex work in fantasy settings often rely on gendered tropes. During development, you made a conscious effort to use gender-neutral language throughout the guild and henchmen. How did you ensure the text respects the historical nuances of roles like the chevalier servant or cisisbeo while remaining flexible for any player identity at modern tables?
The text treats the femme fatale trope as a character archetype, one that anyone can take up regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation. In Courtesans’ Guild, sex is an avenue to freedom that exists outside the control of society’s rigid hierarchies. It is intrinsic in the human experience and is therefore something anyone can wield. In that respect, it’s perfectly suitable for a wide range of characters and identities. The Guild acknowledges this fact and its membership includes all kinds of courtesans. There’s even a faction within the Guild that wants to expand its inclusivity further and include goblins, dryads, and other “creatures.”
Your studio believes that “play isn’t just for fun,” but is also a key part of self-exploration and expression. Addressing the stories of oppressed and marginalised groups seeking agency through illicit means is significant ground. How do you prepare a Game Master to handle these socio-political themes safely and respectfully, especially if their table usually sticks to traditional low-stakes dungeon crawling?
I agree that Courtesan’s Guild deals with challenging and complicated topics that not everyone wants to explore. Consent is important at every table, but especially so here. I use the supplement’s introduction to give DM’s ways for their players to set boundaries. I suggest different systems to help obtain, gauge, and (most importantly) maintain consent. I think a lot of this comes down to intent and respect.
Are there any independent designers or advocates of safety tools in the mature tabletop space whose philosophies you admire and think our readers should check out? Where can the community stay updated on your ongoing projects and future small-scale supplements?
I prefer the Traffic Light System at my table since it’s easy to use and allows for nuance. The DM checks in with players prior to an encounter and players respond with either “Green,” “Red,” or “Yellow.” Green means comfortable keep going, red is stop, and yellow indicates an in-between wariness. Players can also interrupt the game at any time if their answers change or an unexpected trigger arises. The system actually comes from the BDSM community, but it works great at the table.
I also really like the X-Card technique invented by John Stavropoulos. Players can tap or hold up a card with an ‘X’ written on it. X-Card’s advantage is that it lets players communicate without having to speak up. Pretty useful for loud tables.
As for where to stay updated on Catacolyte’s projects, you can follow me on Instagram at @CatacolyteGames or join us on Discord.
Research from Geek Native shows a growing consumer interest in how adult dynamics, kink, and safe boundary-setting relate to mainstream fantasy roleplaying games. However, major distribution platforms often restrict mature content with strict “adult content” filters. As an indie studio owner, how do you navigate the challenges of creating a product that people want while algorithms are working against you? You’re not on DriveThruRPG.
I don’t think we can get around algorithms. The filters are going to do what filters do. We need a larger cultural shift to pressure the powers that be to accept mature content. We are making progress though. Kickstarter recently rolled back their guidelines limiting mature content after user backlash. Baldur’s Gate 3, a game that includes sexually explicit plotlines, broke multiple records. Sex and romance are invariably part of us – they give us joy, pleasure, even meaning. It’s no surprise we want these things to be part of our character’s lives as well.
As for DriveThruRPG, I’ve moved away from sites that hide mature content by default. It’s just not the right place for Catacolyte Games. All products currently on DriveThruRPG will stay up, but moving forward I plan to only publish via Catacolyte’s website.
You’ve mentioned that Catacolyte Games is moving away from large crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and BackerKit to focus on self-publishing smaller, targeted supplements. How much of this decision was influenced by changing platform policies on mature themes, and how sustainable do you see independent digital-first publishing for adult TTRPG content in 2026?
The decision was influenced by a combination of things, including crowdfunding platforms’ hostility to content with mature themes. I’ve found that heavy reliance on crowdfunding through Kickstarter and BackerKit forced me to shunt energy towards complying with the platforms’ rules and expectations instead of spending my time on more important things like making really cool games.
It’s difficult to predict the sustainability of indie digital-first publishing, although I certainly hope there’s a future in it. Ask me again in a year.
When a designer tackles taboo subjects, it can lead to backlash from the community. What does success look like for you with Courtesans’ Guild once it leaves your design desk and enters the wider realm of public homebrew discussions?
For me, success means making something I’m proud of, something meaningful — something that can touch a person and change them. That’s the kind of success that I aspire to, at least. I’ll never forget playing Planescape: Torment, a CRPG from the late 90s. After I finished the game, I looked up from my computer and the world just felt different. If I can move just one person like that game did me, then I’d say it was all worth it.
Courtesans’ Guild offers an layer for tactical roleplaying games, combining distinct martial options with structured rules for handling mature themes safely at the table. Built entirely by hand, the supplement acts as an intriguing template for creators looking to bypass centralised storefront restrictions. Players and storytellers looking to explore this underground network can purchase the digital supplement directly from the developer.
