In the Interim (Spring 2008) Regarding Government

Also, although I appreciate that no one does anything for free, I don't know why we are operating in such an open/free market society here. I would think we would want to strike trade/bartering agreements with our friends or potential friends. We don't have a lot of cash, but we do have muscle and experience to trade for the magical things we need from the school, for example. We don't have lots of capital but we gave hundreds (perhaps thousands by now) a FREE place to live...This is worth fealty....not to get too medieval, but we provide land and governance, and subjects provide goods, services, and when needed, manpower to do the jobs that need to be done. This isn't paid for, anymore than the land we gave for their use was paid for by them. Workers provide labor, risk their own capital, and kings get rich by taxing workers' incomes or goods and services. Kings didn't have to pay for the services of the local weaver. We can switch to a pay system, but if we're paying everybody, then it makes sense that we, the state, would allow private ownership of land; private owners need to buy it from us, and the we should tax their property, tax improvements to property....etc. We should be licensing professionals to work, charge for the use of resources like water, charge citizens for the protection we give (a dome which cost us dearly in lives, levels and treasures lost), etc....if everything is for a fee, then why aren't we charging?.

It may be that we are transitioning from one form of governance to another. If so, then we need to talk about policy in more depth. For example, maybe we could offer property deeds to those citizens who help us build the road system. We might get 200 or 2000 or 20000 volunteers. People do crazy shit for the chance at owning their own property. Regardless, instead of paying for an M-U to cast out regular mud to stone, or other spells which eventually makes a road, this should be something we should approach as, "this is a way that you can help make our kingdom self-sustaining, and in return, we become the force that can actually meet BH on the battle field and win." Hurray, no more protective domes, no more hordes of undead smashing and killing everything. Or, do this for us, and we will perform an equal service for you, no strings afterwards on either of us.



Why such an open/free market system? Several reasons.
1. That's what's in the DM and PLAYERS handbook
2. I think that's what logically develops given the situation. This situation is a Lawful Good Figurehead Monarch left unchecked for 20 years ruling over a band of Neutral Good gypsies with a strong "we are all family," "in the end we're all the same," "work hard for a fair price" work ethic.
3. It's easy, it works and I like numbers.

Oh sure, there is plenty of trading/bartering going on with friends/potential friends. The Huts and Keepers trade openly for differing foodstuffs (meats vs. produce), textiles & services. The school is currently operating as a free clinic and always willing to send over a few druids for crop dusting or veterinary assistance, and we give them very little. After a long run, many of the Yando Rivermen will ferry goods from the Huts over to Castle Lapspell for nothing more than free drinks and a soft bed to sleep it off in. Meutar itself every so often looks the other way and lets a few carts cross the border and head to the city Beolon on the Downs. That is whenever they are changing troops and you get a military escort both to and from the city. Here again there is no real cash exchange going on. We are trading our out of season foods and spices for our TOTAL metal requirements. We have no metal mines and our blacksmiths are dependent on those few trading shipments to bring back our requirements for repairs/upkeep & creation of new weapons (bullets for one).

The school is always willing to trade for your muscle and experience. Their current request is proof of that. But you did NOT give The Wandering People a free place to live. What you gave them was a SAFE place to live where they could turn your dead, barren, scrubland into the fertile breadbasket it is today. A place where they can toil all day and pay you taxes for the privilege to do it. And fealty has been pledged. The people are grateful, happy and content with their lot in life, largely based on the system as is. You provide the land, to the most part the people are self governing (but this is slipping away and there is a growing respect for the court system) and they do provide goods, services and when needed manpower. But this IS paid for, one way or another. Workers provide labor, there is no risk, and you guys hope to get rich by taxing a person just for living in the kingdom (whatever the age). In your example, the king can pay the local weaver by allowinf the weaver advertising that HE is "The Weaver to the King," and therefor can charge a little more from townsfolk. If the king however put the weaver in the tower and asked him to weave SOLELY for the king, what would the poor weaver do come tax time? In our current system, the king pays a fair price for hard work allowing the weaver in the tower to pay his taxes at tax time, and also buy a beer or two so the bartender can also pay his taxes and buy beer from the brewer who can now pay as well.... all the way back to the farmer who grew the hops on YOUR land and paid his taxes to do it.

You can allow private ownership right now if you want. The problem is most of the people under the dome wont go for it. Remember they are less than one full generation away from wandering around the world in wagons. Wandering for several centuries taught them that when you settle down and get land, sooner or later some other guy will bring an army in and claim it for his own and force you to pack up and move on. Its not that they don't trust you guy to protected them, its just that today these particular people don't really want to own land. Now some of the scum who have moved in from the huts will jump at the idea, but they are few and far. You can try selling land at the Huts, but those people are already under the impression they own their land. Now you can try taxing that land and the land improvements and licensing professionals and charging for water, gas and dome, but if all that is included in living under the dome (or in the kingdom) then wouldn't it just be easier to raise the tax you already have? That would be simpler. Sure, if you raise it too high you might get a revolt or at least a bunch or people starting to wander again, but if you do it right (say with a charismatic speech and a pretty paper announcement tacked up on the job board) you would probably get some sympathy.

"In my day, this was all shit and scrub grass!
You kids ought to be glad you have land to work on.
You only need to pay a little more taxes to build a road.
You could be LIVIN' IN A WAGON, DOWN BY THE RIVER!!!"

If you want to change the government then we will need to discuss policy in more detail. But for now the people are VERY happy, and happy people will bend over backward for their monarch. Like now, everyone knows how important roads are. If asked nicely, your workers would start working on credit if... oh say... free food was supplied. Knowing this the school would be happy to supply, free of charge, a couple of clerics to cast "Create food and water" spells to feed them all very well. AND, you could probably get a cook or two to go out and turn the clerics (described as rather bland) food into something special. Compare gruel to all you can eat stew (or chili or soup or gumbo or pizza in a cup or....) and see how fast people sign up to build that road.