D&D 5E Taxes, and the people who have to pay them.

[Satyrn]

Sure. You would just have to have established consequences in place for people attempting to over-throw the powers that be.

The Tax evaders become the Tax Collectors.

 

[Satyrn]

Honestly in every game where I become wealthy my immediate thoughts are "buy a house, buy a safe, get on the good side of king and country". I don't think "Use my inordinate wealth to topple the government and rule these pathetic NPCs!! *evil laugh* has ever crossed my mind.

Who wants to be king anyway? The king never does anything fun. Don't be Picard. Be Riker.

I counter this argument with "Be Kirk, not Spock."

 

[The Crimson Binome]

That is all well and good if your players/characters are the types to do that. Being very anti-government or evil in nature. Would my players try something if they thought they could get away with it? Sure. You would just have to have established consequences in place for people attempting to over-throw the powers that be.

Right, but that would require the existence of something more powerful than a high-level adventuring party to enact those consequences, which is not something that exists in any of the books. A high-level party can slay half a dozen dragons and maybe a Tarrasque before they get tired.

If the evil empire wants to start a conflict against the heroes, then it's unlikely that the heroes are going to back down.

 

[Ed Laprade]

It really depends on how the players run their characters. If they have, or set up, a home base, then taxing them is just as simple as the tax collectors showing up once a year, or whatever, and handing them a bill. But if they're true murder hobos, and never settle down, going from village to dungeon to town, etc., taxation is usually more trouble than its worth.

Consider Group X leaves Sleepy Village and loots The Dungeon Of Excellent Loot, but instead of going back to Sleepy Village they go on to Bigger Town. When they get to Bigger Town, however, they are told that they have to pay taxes on the loot they got from the Dungeon. Wait a minute, exclaim the players, how do these guys know we've been to the Dungeon? We went through the wilderness and haven't met anyone in our travels. And even if we did, how would they know how much of what we have is what we started out with, and how much we looted from the Dungeon?

Saw this happen once. It did not end well.

 

[Istbor]

Right, but that would require the existence of something more powerful than a high-level adventuring party to enact those consequences, which is not something that exists in any of the books. A high-level party can slay half a dozen dragons and maybe a Tarrasque before they get tired.

If the evil empire wants to start a conflict against the heroes, then it's unlikely that the heroes are going to back down.

Well, if the empire was evil and taxing the player characters, and other citizens to death, I would be all for something like that. Helping to overthrow a evil and corrupt empire would be epic and fun.

In my world they are playing in now, the government is... neutral at worst. The most recent Emperor has just abolished slavery in all forms and is trying to usher in a new age of prosperity and stability. Besides that, the PCs are almost all good aligned.

So in this instance I would hope, if taxation was implemented, the players would understand going against the empire would make them more of pariahs than heroes. There is of course never any guarantee when players are involved.

 

[Istbor]

It really depends on how the players run their characters. If they have, or set up, a home base, then taxing them is just as simple as the tax collectors showing up once a year, or whatever, and handing them a bill. But if they're true murder hobos, and never settle down, going from village to dungeon to town, etc., taxation is usually more trouble than its worth.

Consider Group X leaves Sleepy Village and loots The Dungeon Of Excellent Loot, but instead of going back to Sleepy Village they go on to Bigger Town. When they get to Bigger Town, however, they are told that they have to pay taxes on the loot they got from the Dungeon. Wait a minute, exclaim the players, how do these guys know we've been to the Dungeon? We went through the wilderness and haven't met anyone in our travels. And even if we did, how would they know how much of what we have is what we started out with, and how much we looted from the Dungeon?

Saw this happen once. It did not end well.

I get that.

The players right now are all mercenaries. So property wouldn't be an issue, and it would fit that wandering mercs don't pay taxes (unless some feel to enter a city or something).

I had thought about your example as well, and agree it wouldn't end well. If I were to attempt to tax on specifically earnings from the Dungeon of Excellent Loot, I would wait it out. See if the players throw that money and wealth around with bravado. Then it would be easier to have say the local authorities take notice of these new big spenders, and attempt to exploit that wealth as well. There are more creative ways a mayor could squeeze money out of these loaded rubes, but a sudden interest in taxing could be fun. Makes for a nice social interaction and maybe even combat with the thugs of a corrupt politician.

 

[LordEntrails]

Right, but that would require the existence of something more powerful than a high-level adventuring party to enact those consequences, which is not something that exists in any of the books. A high-level party can slay half a dozen dragons and maybe a Tarrasque before they get tired.....

This is easy, 20,000 peasants. Or one inn keeper who poisons them.

It doesn't matter how power one person or a small group of people are if everyone around them wants them dead, they will find a way, eventually.

Sure, we use magic to create food and water for every meal... You can take precautions, but eventually you will touch a poisoned door handle, enter a cursed doorway, or otherwise make a mistake. If you are a big enough target to enough people, you will eventually loose.

 

[Sadras]

My question then is this. Has anyone made any sort of system or rules or even had thoughts about this besides me?

Yes. In many of the D&D Gazetteers of Mystara they deal with Taxes.
For instance in Gaz 11 The Republic of Darokin there are three main taxes:

Income Tax - 5% of your annual income
Sales Tax - 3% on wholesale, retail and barter transactions.
Total Worth Taxes - assessed once every 5 years, anyone who increases his Total Worth from the previous 5 years owes 5% percent on the gain. If the Total Worth went down, you owe no tax, but you cannot count losses in one 5 year period against gains in another.

TBH, our Darokin Campaign is called Darokin: The Accounting

 

[The Crimson Binome]

This is easy, 20,000 peasants. Or one inn keeper who poisons them.

No, twenty thousand peasants cannot defeat four level 17 adventurers, because only so many of them can get close enough to do anything and most of them will run away after the first Fireball or Magic Missile. If an entire civilization is going to side with the evil empire, then there's no ethical dilemma in putting them all down by whatever means necessary. Maybe the party will find a way to release the Tarrasque, let it fight all of the peasants, and put it away when they're done with it. Complications mean you get creative; it doesn't mean you let the bad guys win.

And no, poison is entirely worthless in 5E, because it either does meaningless HP damage or it offers a save, and PCs have significantly better-than-average access to Resurrection magic.

 

[LordEntrails]

No, twenty thousand peasants cannot defeat four level 17 adventurers, ...blah blah blah... poison is entirely worthless in 5E, because it either does meaningless HP damage or it offers a save, and PCs have significantly better-than-average access to Resurrection magic.

You miss the point of my post.

There is always a way for something to happen. Whether good or bad, anybody can be defeated. It's not about fireballs, it's not about rules or mechanics, it's about creativity. Assuming the DM allows it.

In D&D fiction, gods die, and they have more resources than any 17th or 20th level party.