I'd like to give my players some first hand experience with the growing taxation issues that lead to the the tax riots of Demonskar Legacy. Only problem is, I don't have much of a clue about how taxes are managed in a fantasy, medieval city.
I can't imagine there'd be an income tax with no accurate way of tracking someone's income. All I can thinik of is a property tax(if the PCs owned any property) or an arms/armor tax (which would really hit the party square between the eyes come to think of it).
What exactly are all these people getting taxed on that's made them so uppity and how can I include the PCs in that taxing?
Taxes are an interesting problem. If you actually enforce some level of taxation then the PCs expected wealth levels will be too low.
Maybe you can use a monthly living expenses rule and increase that as the taxation goes up. I recall seeing something on this in 2E but not in 3E. Perhaps someone has a house rule for monthly player expenses?
I would speculate that taxes are based on property ownership; income taxes require too much recordkeeping for most people. The tax collectors decide on the value of your land and building and assess a tax accordingly.
|
I'd like to give my players some first hand experience with the growing taxation issues that lead to the the tax riots of Demonskar Legacy. Only problem is, I don't have much of a clue about how taxes are managed in a fantasy, medieval city.
I can't imagine there'd be an income tax with no accurate way of tracking someone's income. All I can thinik of is a property tax(if the PCs owned any property) or an arms/armor tax (which would really hit the party square between the eyes come to think of it).
What exactly are all these people getting taxed on that's made them so uppity and how can I include the PCs in that taxing?
Well for starters, depending on the extensive level (or lack thereof) as to the government in your game, perhaps there are "licenses" required for a lot of activity that the PCs engage in.
An adventuring party tax. Taxes for wielding magic. License required if a PC wizard wants to make magic items / brew potions etc; licensce for carrying weapons (especially if they're aren't secured via peacestrings.
All businesses that the PC are patrons of must raise their rates to be able to afford their hellacious new tax increases for their businesses. Taverns, inns, pubs, Skie's Treasury etc.
Visitation taxes if they come and go. Taxes on owning mounts.
All of these are explainable via beauracracy. Think of our real world and see how they apply:
Licence to drive a car, license to own a business, licensce to work as a day car provider, or private security, or a public accountant, or be a public contractor. Fees on registering vehicles; fees to register your pets. etc etc.
The key is to find ways to apply these types of fees/taxes to the PCs and people of Cauldron.
Robert
Taxes are an interesting problem. If you actually enforce some level of taxation then the PCs expected wealth levels will be too low.
Maybe you can use a monthly living expenses rule and increase that as the taxation goes up. I recall seeing something on this in 2E but not in 3E. Perhaps someone has a house rule for monthly player expenses?
I'm not looking at a regular tax, which I assume are covered by the upkeep cost you mentioned. However, a slight increase of upkeep would be noticeable and not a bad idea.
An adventuring party tax. Taxes for wielding magic. License required if a PC wizard wants to make magic items / brew potions etc; licensce for carrying weapons (especially if they're aren't secured via peacestrings.
All businesses that the PC are patrons of must raise their rates to be able to afford their hellacious new tax increases for their businesses. Taverns, inns, pubs, Skie's Treasury etc.
Visitation taxes if they come and go. Taxes on owning mounts.
Some good ideas here. The group gets back from Bal Hamatugn and finds that they have to pay at the gate (tax gate, arms/armor tax, etc). Nothing back-breaking, just something that wasn't there before. When the players go to restock their equipment (or up-grade), tell them everything in the PHB is now an extra 10%. Weapons, armor and mounts could even be +20% that the proprietor claims is to cover a new tax the Lord Mayor has levied.
Better yet, if broken up over time, it would appear to be a growing problem rather than a sudden jump. New equipment after Flood Season is +10%. After Zenith, there's a gate tax.
Any other ideas for how to stick it to the players?
Unfortunately, the part that deals with the details of the taxing is not part of the adventure, but on pg. 13-14 of the SC hardcover, between the history and the rumors. I happen to stumble across it by chance when I was running the adventurer. So, check it out.