The rogue in my party actually passed the civil service exams (bluff check gave him assist of +2, then an Intelligence check DC 20) to become a tax collector in Cauldron. I've now given him a Big Book of Tax Law and a month to study it before the new taxes go into effect.
He wants to study the BBoTL and figure out ways to embezzle funds. We've gone far afield from "kill things, take their stuff" here, and I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on how to run some white collar crime in DnD.
The best part is that he'll be the tax collector the party is accompanying to Maavu's Warehouse when the Umber Hulk attacks at the start of chapter four, but I've got to figure out how much money he can (or can't) embezzle until we get to that point. He's basically got two months of tax collecting before we get to the UH attack.
You could make him take ranks in Profession (tax collector).
And if that isn't enough profit, then you can double, triple the results on his check, but roll percentile dice to see if his mistakes catch up with him? Maybe the percentage becomes cumulative with the amount of money he makes?
I did it so that Occipitus was the throne and home plane of Myrkul (instead of Adimarchus in my FR setting), who when died tore his realm away from the Fugue Plane (future plane of Kelemvor). The abandoned plane is full of souls that are:
- worthy for demons who harvest them and fight for the plane becoz of this,
- important for angels who want to save them along with the plane,
The smoking eye template creatures each add a counter to the height or descend of the plane, being good or evil (neutrals dont effect it's status), and most (who don't mind living on a plane that is so alien compared to their natural surroundings) also walk it's surface to shape it to their will ( the template allows). The higher level the PC the more complicated and extended the shaping can be... Ofcourse Cyric (who i use as the detainer and enemy of Myrkul) send many servants to accomplish the test and also kills good smoking eye creatures, thus moving the layer towards evil.
that is my version.
Huh?
Anyway, the suggestion to have him take ranks of Profession (tax collector) was good. What I did was after 1 month of studying the Big Book of Tax Law I gave him +0 in Profession (tax collector).
Then for every 8 hours he spends collecting taxes (figuring out what's owed, sending out demands, opening incoming mail, general office work) he gets a tax collecting roll, DC 15. If he makes the roll he collects 1d100 gp of taxes that day.
If he wants to embezzle he uses his Pick Pockets skill. He chooses how much he wants to embezzle so it's DC10 to embezzle 5%, DC15 for 10%, DC20 for 15% and so on. If he misses by less than 5 he doesn't get anything. If he misses by more than 5 he doesn't get anything and he is caught.
The second month the DC's will move up by 5 (as everyone becomes more familiar with the tax law), but the amounts will double (so everytime he makes a successful tax collector check he collects 2x 1d100 gp). The third month we'll add another 5 and amounts will triple, and at that point I'm going to hold it for a couple of months.
Actually, I think--to cover up the embezzlement of funds as a tax collector you would need the Profession (Scribe) skill, since he doesn't need any kind of sleight of hand skill to cover up the theft of taxes...who's going to be watching him?
He has to "cook the books" to make it look like he's actually collected and turned in the correct amount of taxes. It's an administration, paperwork skill, not a sleight of hand skill, IMO.
Profession (Tax Collector)
If you have 5 ranks of intimidate, you get a +2 synergy bonus
Just my thoughts....
Actually, I think--to cover up the embezzlement of funds as a tax collector you would need the Profession (Scribe) skill, since he doesn't need any kind of sleight of hand skill to cover up the theft of taxes...who's going to be watching him?
Actually, I'd have him use Forgery (as opposed to buying yet another Profession). Forgery can be used untrained, and would similate him doing the paperwork to make everything look legit (after all, all of his work would have to audited and his patrons interviewed to really crack his scheme).
Profession (Tax Collector)
If you have 5 ranks of intimidate, you get a +2 synergy bonus
That is good, I'd also let Bluff 5 ranks give a +2 synergy bonus, to show him being a fast-talker and using doublespeak to avoid questions.
My two coppers,
-c
That's true, Forgery is a skill in D&D. I had forgotten about that one.
Bluff with 5 ranks gets you a +2 synergy bonus to Forgery to cover up the theft of taxes....seems like a good rule.
Those are good. Switching to Forgery makes sense. I was going with Pick Pockets simply because we're assuming that the actual gold is coming in and he's got to make it "disappear".
He's also doing Gather Information checks by the water cooler. :-)
It's really turning into Offices and Actuaries instead of D&D.
I laud the creativity of the group; an interesting game doesn't ALWAYS have to be about finding creatures and killing them.
I also agree - Forgery is the big skill check here, for the embezzling of gold; taking the coins isn't the trick, it's cooking the books that will count here.
But...it shouldn't be easy - aren't collectors escorted by scribes, to have multiple eyes present and record transactions? Unless the entire party has been contracted to be collectors (and thus, they would all be a corrupt gang together), wouldn't the tax collector have an escort who requires bribery, coercion or force to neutralize?
The players have been thinking from the perspective of the 'robbers' and taking the DM along for the ride; it's the DMs job to think like the 'cops' and understand what security a city would have in place to curtail just this kind of practice - or else every articulate rogue in Cauldron will be applying for city jobs!
Which ALSO means...assuming that the Rogues' Guild already has moles in the system doing exactly this type of activity... What is the guild going to do, once it finds out that there is a freelancer moving in on their cash flow..?
Hmmmmm........
My 2 cents,
M
Good thoughts. These are early days of the new tax code, so I figure it's both pretty easy to game the system and we're getting taxes from the "honest people", as in the ones who pay on their first demand. Remember that the most he can collect on any given day is 100gp this first month (200gp next month, and 300gp the third month). Given his skills, he's never gone for more than 10% which on his best day was something like 8gp.
So like most embezzlement schemes, it seems insanely easy to just skim a little off the top at the start, but as the lies and forgeries and amounts mount up, it gets harder and harder (hence the ever rising DC).
I like the tax collecting gangs (tax collector + scribe + muscle) to collect taxes from those who haven't willingly sent them. I guess they will begin in March, just before the Umber Hulk attack. I'm betting the rogue will employ the party's mage as a scribe and the cleric and fighter as muscle.
Honestly, this group spent the entire session planning for the Demonskar Ball. They designed costumes (along with magical special effects), took dance lessons, the mage started running a business of selling slippers of dancing (+10 to perform (dance)) to clumsy nobles, and basically got to use all the "softer" non-combat spells and skills that they never get to use. They buffed their charisma amazingly, such that when I originally set the DC's (20) for successfully completing the dances, I thought it was insanely high and they'd never be able to make it (the cleric has a Char of 6). When it came time, they were so buffed to dance that they couldn't fail. The only one who really had to roll was the mage, who was invited as Nabthatoron, and with his original Char of 8 + all his buffs, he had to roll a 7 or better.
The dancers now get a +2 to Diplomacy rolls when dealing with nobles in Cauldron, and the wizard gets +5, since he was the center of attention and had to do a much more complicated dance (DC30). What started as a plot for the Stormblades to make them all look like clumsy oafs has backfired into making them the toast of the nobility.