Fantasy world and taxes?

[Jon_Dahl]

In the fantasy world an adventurer often seem like a wild card, an outside element of the society.

However as Benjamin Franklin said, only taxes and death are certain. So let's assume that we should give fantasy taxing some consideration.

In my Greyhawk campaign I have concluded that generally you have to be bound to the land so that you can be taxed. You have to be a serf or own a building/land before you have to pay taxes to the local lord. If you rent a place, then you are not bound to the land and therefore pay no taxes. But you pay rent which is used to pay the landlord's taxes to the lord. And everyone is always a vassal to some lord, except the king.

To off-set this I rule that adventurers usually have to pay extra for everything. There's no harm in ripping off rich adventurers, they are not citizens or anything and they have gold for sure. Adventurers are fair game for slightly overpriced items and iron rations. I get this idea from the fact that tourist always have to pay extra and being adventurer is not much different from being a tourist.

I know a game where you have to pay taxes for everything, even for magical items. It's about 1% of the worth of magical items. I don't agree with this.

Also tithing... Religious institutes safeguard their spells from anyone who is not a worshiper and does not tithe. Churches only have limited amount of spells and they are reserved for the ones that tithe yearly/monthly. It would create bad image if the clerics would daily "waste" their limited spell powers for non-tithing non-worshipers and cast a shadow of doubt if they are constantly ready to heal their faithful flock if urgently needed. I only allow low-level clerical spells and at-will domain powers to be used on well-paying non-tithing adventurers. Faith is not for sale.

Also I'd like to introduce gate tolls, but I feel that one copper is not worth one second of gametime.

 

[amerigoV]

The old Lanhkmar setting book had a note on taxes. The key one was a wealth tax - one day a year (and it was secret as to which day) the collectors would go out, assess your value and charge you the tax right then and there. It mentioned the hilarity as word got out and people would start moving their valuables around the city in order to avoid the collectors.

You might do something like that. Make a one-shot event showing off something the mayhem in the city. The PCs would have to decide if they try to hide their wealth. I presume you are playing 3e or 4e, so the value of the "estate" is well documented

 

[Hand of Evil]

I think it comes down to the world you are playing in. But you can get crazy with taxes, window tax, gas tax, school tax, pocket tax. I think there are some old treads on the subject...also may want to check out the DM Advice thread.

Some of the breaks downs.

• State - what you give to the kingdom - This can be paying for rights but you find a lot of exemption at this level, noble do not have to pay
• City - the city you are living in - as a city will have to pay state tax, they can tax just about anything but MAY let the guilds handle it
• Church - nuff said
• Guild - guild membership and dues but may do things like seals and certs. A wizard could not pratice magic without one, or even be ranked without paying, this way you can have a lesser skilled MU with a high title within the guild.
• Income - tax on what you make
• Sales - tax on what you buy
• Ownship - taxes on the buildings, boats, horses, etc.
  
• Special fees - taxes on paperwork, travel fees, tolls, etc.

 

[pemerton]

The income tax is a modern invention - I think it would be out of place in a D&D world.

Land taxes, some sorts of taxes on goods (probably not sales taxes, due to record keeping being inadequate, but perhaps excise of some sort on goods brought into town for sale) and poll taxes seem appropriate.

Tithes, guild fees etc if appropriate.

And tolls on bridges, gates etc (ie user pays for public works).

 

[FireLance]

Why tax adventurers in gold? Let the adventurers do community service in lieu. It even doubles as an adventure hook!

I remember one scene from the second book of The Deed of Paksenarrion where the protagonist was asked to meet with the ruling council of the town she was staying in and was informed that as a (then) masterless mercenary, they were uncomfortable with an idle sword hanging around the town, and they would prefer that she left as soon as she had concluded her legitimate business (she had ordered some items made from the local craftsmen). However, they were prepared to let her stay on beyond that if she helped them get rid of some bandits that were attacking merchant caravans. Of course, she was only too glad to help!

 

[delericho]

In my experience, there is nothing players hate worse than having their "hard-won" stuff taken from them. So, unless you have a specific way to make it fun in mind (that is, an adventure hook), I would advise against applying taxes to PCs.

As an alternative, what you could consider is having the local lord assign them a keep and some land to rule over, with the condition that they must maintain the keep (costly), keep the land safe and productive (adventures), and that they must recruit and equip a number of troops, which they must provide to the lord for X days per year (and which they are expected to lead personally). Or, of course, they could pay scutage to escape these responsibilities...

That is, give them local power, but then use that power to tie them to the local heirarchy, in some sort of feudal arrangement...

 

[JoeGKushner]

Depends on the level of the campaign.

Like most things, it can add a feel to the campaign. Like most things that are added, it creates another level of complexity.

This is true especially if you are not overcompensating the players because in 3rd and 4th edition, the wealth by levels is built into the system.

if I have players who are interested in a deeper run of the world, taxes aren't necessarily the way to do it. Even in a Game of Thrones, which is as gritty and 'real' as it often gets, these are rarely mentioned from the character's point of view.

 

[Umbran]

Whether I'm running D&D, or some other system, I tend to use an "upkeep" model for mundane expenses, and I usually roll taxes into that.

Frequently, adventurers are an itinerant bunch, without a single set home base. That means that they aren't likely to be included on any lord's tax rolls to begin with. Plus, in the typical pseudo-medieval world, taxes usually fall on land, inventory, and goods production, not on cash income.

 

[Crazy Jerome]

My first 3E campaign was centered in a homebrew "imperial" section of the world. Characters had the option of being citizens of the empire or "guests". If the former, then we assumed they had a place and paid taxes, and for ease of handling, this worked out to 4% of all found wealth (i.e. effectively Umbran's upkeep model), and included low-level membership in the imperial organization of their choice (Imperial Mages Guild, Church of the Sun God, whatever). The guests paid no such tax, but were liable for any number of fees and tolls, most notably on use of central teleportation portals available for personal, rapid transit from one imperial hub to another. (The territory claimed by the empire included some areas under nominal control, where only slow, large caravans, sizable military units, or high level adventuers could safely go.)

I didn't care why a player made the choice. We had about a 50/50 split. Some picked one or the other because they simply liked that idea better for their concept. Some picked being a citizen because they could simply do a bit of math everytime they got some new wealth and then forget about that aspect all together. And some picked guests, because scrounging or haggling for fees, or finding a way to avoid them, appealed to them.

It worked out well, and gave another source of variety/rivalry/roleplaying hooks inside the group. Since then, I've tried to give at least two options on such questions, every campaign.

 

[howandwhy99]

Can't say enough about Medieval Magical Society: Western Europe.

Also check out the DMG, page 90. "Duties, excises, fees, tariffs, taxes, tithes, and tolls"