Since other folks seem to be getting good feedback for their ideas here, I thought I'd run one of mine up the flagpole and see if anyone would salute it.
As a DM edit, I've instituted the idea of Adventuring Charters in my campaign-- sort of an adventurer's license, if you will, that allows characters to wield magic items and be capable of casting powerful spells and still walk amongst the normal populace. It also has provided a great way to insert hooks-- all chartered companies are registered with state government, so folks in need of special talents can contract them-- and to introduce NPC's (my players met Orbius Vhalantru for the "first" time at their charter hearing).
To give the party a more direct stake in the events surrounding Zenith Trajectory and The Demonskar Legacy, I was thinking about having good old Lord V cook up a plot to tax adventurers not affiliated with him and get Skellerang to pass it. My only problem now is, how does one tax adventuring booty? Where do oyu get it assessed? I'm thinking a fairly low tax rate (5-10%) will be enough to piss my PC's off, but the logistics are boggling my mind. Should I abandon this altogether, or is their an easy way?
That's an excellent idea ! I'm doing something similar in my own campaign to reflect the importance of taxes in a medieval world. I reinstated the old French use of the "octroi" [oktro-Aa]. It's a toll payed by people simply entering the town. It's a fairly light fee for people bringing useful goods for the city like farmers selling their products (1 copper). However it could be fairly high for "wanderers", from 1gp per capita (horses included) up to 5% (medieval rule of 1/20th) of what they carry. It's especially true for merchants leading caravans and such "visible" foreigners.
Why not enforce this tax via the town watch once the orcs & ogres mercenaries arrive in town ? Each adventuring company will be searched when it enters the town and will have to pay a 5% tax on what it carries. They are strongly advised to declare what they already possess prior to their departure in order to avoid being taxed on the same goods repetedly ;o). It could be also mandatory to present themselves to a tax officer in the Town Hall who will assess the value of the booty they're carrying and perceive the tax immediatly. That should really piss them off ! Especially if the tax officer is a low-level yet untouchable NPC with strong relationships in the local nobility who likes to make himself a nuisance ;o) After a while they will really hate him... This special tax will also become a very accurate source of intelligence for Valanthru and his allies. What if your PCs discover copies of the tax books on NPCs after a well prepared ambush ? Like the one before the raid on the Wee Jas temple...
Smuggling boot should become a national sport after a while. Don't hesitate to design laws against smuggling and to hang a few NPCs from time to time to keep the pressure. It may become a source of revenues for smart PCs (teleportation becomes handy) but beware of jealous competitors like the smuggling division of the Last Laugh or the Alleybashers...
Hope this helps.
Bran
I like the idea of taxing adventurers. They should be taxed just like anyone else. Plus it gives you the opertunity to anoy your players. Definitely something you should do once in a while.
There was a thread a while back on housing tax. Perhaps you could find some ideas there.
The problem with any system of taxes is that adventurers can easily evade almost anything you throw at them. Unless the crown has some way to monitor everything the adventurers do, that is. They could hide most loot in extradimensional spaces. They can evade most toll collection points through teleportation.
One way to tax adventure spoils is through a magic tax. Whatever they do, adventurers need to buy and sell magic every once in a while. Or, if they do a lot of their own item creation, you Any time a party tries to sell or buy magic items they have to pay a fixed percentage. Magic shops and other places that sell magic would require a permit or charter from the crown. Temples could be exempt. Makes good relations with a local priest all the more important
Another option is a charter tax. Just have the adventurers pay every year (or month, if you like) to renew their charter. You should probably increase the fee depending on their succes, (i.e. the party level). Of course, it's off to the stockades if the party is found adventuring without a charter.
Or you could have the adventurers report once a month to the tax office, where they have to report what they've earned in a Zone of Truth or something like that.
I will probably use the adventure tax myself in some way. Since we're multiple DM's in my group I'm currently on a break from my campaign, but will probably resume it in a couple of months.
I would say the primary purpose of taxing the PCs in Shackled City is not so much to take their money, but to let them know that something's up with the taxes.
By that same token, the taxes would have to be levied often enough for them to notice a change. Since the pace of the Adeventure Path doesn't allow for "hey! Last year the Dwarf tax was only 6gp!!", I would think seasonal would be the best interval.
They may even just assume the taxes are increasing for metagame reasons to keep up with their new higher-valued treasure scores, but at least they won't be taken totally by surprise when there's a tax riot.
i also do a gate tax 10% of what you have on you or 100gp witch ever you like better... witch is seap and people know it... most traveling mercahns get a disscount because of thier daily travel in and out so they can buy a months pass... however soon the amount will go up... and really piss off the party
I'm using the monthly upkeep rules in the DMG (and avoiding nickel and dime stuff for drinks at the tavern, etc). Won't they be suprised when those costs start going up! It won't horribly inconvenience them, but it will tie the city's problems right into their pocketbook...
That's what I have done as well. I already used the monthly upkeep portion in my other games. I've even made players mad by inforcing them to use one of the higher costs when their 18th level PCs take a break after a good encounter. Fortunatly my current group understands that a guy with a $200,000 salary isn't going to eat at Mickey D's every night, stay at the motel 8, but drive a porche. Thus they use an appropriate status due to gp funds and character personality.
They've been curious why prices have steadily went up, and now they've bought a house to try to 'cut back on long term cost.' Too bad it's going to backfire. Still, as Archshade said, the prices won't go so high to cause a real problem, but enough to make them notice......and care.
I instituted a monthly "adventurers tax" in my game at the beginning of the AP. I think I started with 5% and kept increasing it a little with each new adventure, with a big increase just before the events of the tax riot. The party got taxed extra on magic items and things of that nature. I posted about this on another thread sometime late last year; there is another thread about taxes in Cauldron somewhere around here.
It was enough of a pain for them to start hiding thier new stuff so as to evade the tax collector. I toyed with the idea of having them get in trouble for tax evasion but I never did and we're just about to finish Soul Pillars and start Lords of Oblivion, so any tax evasion accusations would be pointless now.
Another option is a charter tax. Just have the adventurers pay every year (or month, if you like) to renew their charter. You should probably increase the fee depending on their succes, (i.e. the party level). Of course, it's off to the stockades if the party is found adventuring without a charter.
Adventuring charters are maintained with an annual licensing fee, and the expense varies by location (someplace like Cauldorn is cheap, while a metropolis like Greyhawk or Waterdeep would be prohibitively expensive). This ensures that retired Free Companies with expired charters are removed from the list of hireable adventurers.
If there's enough interest out there, I can post some of my rules for the chartering of Free Companies. A friend of mine and I are working on it for possible submission as part of a campaign workbook. Feedback is appreciated.
If there's enough interest out there, I can post some of my rules for the chartering of Free Companies. A friend of mine and I are working on it for possible submission as part of a campaign workbook. Feedback is appreciated.
Heck yeah! Post away!
On the subject of adventuring company charters, does anyone know if there is anywhere out there where one can find the text of the adventuring company charter that was in the original Forgotten Realms boxed set? No one I know still has that set, and I want to use in in our home game, reworded a bit.