(d&d) spending the loot

[ggroy]

FWIW, income taxes are mostly (although not exclusively) a modern phenomenon (i.e. 18th century and later or so). They only really make sense when you have a well-established money economy. Typical bases of taxation in the Middle Ages included fees as parts of tenancies in land (often paid in kind), scutage and other fees paid by vassals, labor obligations (i.e. serfs being required to work their lord's lands as well as their own), capitation taxes, and tariffs. Property taxes are perfectly plausible; depending on how you define things, that was often a major source of tax revenue. But the idea that buying a house in town should put characters on the hook for large continuous payments is not at all obvious.

Import duties for moving items into a gated city, can in principle be charged at the gates. For example, the customs desk at an entrance gate can charge a duty every time for bringing in large weapons, horses, armor, etc ... into the city.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Sure, they can charge an import duty every time you bring your sword into town. The question is, should they? I'd approach that question from two standpoints: What makes for the best game and what makes the most sense?

For what makes the best game, taxation rarely seems fun to me. Sure, if the players are being merchants or running their own businesses or whatnot, maybe you have to include some. And if the PCs are landed, having them pay fees to their lieges literally comes with the territory (and can sometimes be useful in motivating adventures, especially if the territory is having a bad year). But its easy to see how it can be fun to spend money to buy a big house and to store your artworks in it. I'm not sure where the fun comes from heavy gate taxes or income taxation (unless the idea is that there is an oppressive government in city A, so maybe you should move to city B or overthrow the government of city A (whether peacefully or violently)-- I can see the fun in that. But taxation as shake-down by armed thugs feels different from a routine, "oh, you've got a warhorse? That's an extra 3 gp each way.")

As for what makes sense... sure, if adventurers are common or clearly making vast wealth, the government will want its dime. But I would guess that cities would want powerful hero types with lots of money settling in their walls. It makes the city more secure (although it raises the risk of them trying to seize power), it boosts the city's economy, and it creates future opportunities. (When they die, for example, the city will almost surely take a substantial estate tax.) So I would figure that the city would either forbid them entrance (if it fears overthrow), or more likely not charge them for bringing in their personalty. Maybe if they bring in wagons of stuff it needs taxing, and maybe there's a flat gate fee (although really, is it worth spending game time on fees that are measured in silver or single digits of gold?)

I guess I just don't find taxation very fun as a gaming topic. Sure, in the real world, taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society, to paraphrase Justice Holmes, but they're not a lot of fun. So why deal with them more than necessary in a game, except when the PCs seek out activities that need to deal with taxes for versimilitude (shipping, ownership of noble domains, etc.)? If a PC wants to buy a house in my campaign, I'll charge them some money, think of it for possible plot hooks, and maybe give them an annual maintenance fee for taxes, upkeep, etc., and then be done with it. Why try to take away their fun if they find building a real estate empire fun?

 

[ggroy]

In my 1E AD&D games from back in the day, I did charge property taxes on houses which were owned by the player characters and were within city limits. Other types of taxes I didn't think of at the time, and didn't bother implementing.

Another DM I use to game with many years ago, did stuff like charging duties on objects being brought into a gated city. His explanation for doing this, was that he didn't want the players to accumulate a huge warchest of gold and other valuables.

 

[Lancelot]

I could give you reams of stuff from older campaigns, but speaking to the last 12 months of 4e....

1) Stronghold creation, using a modified version of the old 3e Stronghold book.

2) Hiring soldiers and other retainers, using a modified version of the BECMI rules.

3) Tithing to the church and donating to charity.

4) Supporting rebel groups and other "take from the rich and give to the poor" schemes.

5) Bribes to gain circumstance bonuses to assist with infiltration or information-gathering missions.

6) Purchasing and outfitting ships, horses, wagons, etc.

7) Buying new rituals and ritual components.

8) ...and, very rarely, buying magic items. This is usually next-to-impossible in my campaigns, though, as my default setting has no "magic shops". It might happen occasionally when the PCs visit a Very Special Place (e.g. Sigil, a famed wizard's tower, etc).