We have two weeks left of advanced Ticket Sales for Pre-Registration for our April event, COLLECTION DAY! Today, I have a sneak peek of some of the story you can expect to see during this event. We will also discuss a BIG portion of the event’s premise - THE GRAVE TAX. Remember, there’s nothing certain in life but death and taxes!
Let’s first discuss the PREMISE of the April event, talk about some of the THEMES we will be exploring, and finally talk a little about the GRAVE TAX.
I also wrote a cool short story that I’m pretty proud of back in July of 2019 when we were first releasing hype about our factions in DR:TX. You read it on our FICTION tab, here:
Death and Taxes — Dystopia Rising: Texas (idratherbeinbravo.com)
Premise of the Game:
In the bloody wake of Holy Mother Queen Jasper’s final walk; Bravado’s Morgue is damaged beyond normal repair. Its delicate state, even prior to the extended use of the terrible ritual that interrupted Jasper’s connection with The Cycle, is indicative of a greater problem in the San Saba Territories, and that is the infrastructural deterioration of the morgue system; which has been ongoing since the cataclysmic damage it sustained during the final days of the Hiway War.
The Grave Council, ostensibly responsible for the morgue system’s upkeep in the Greater Lonestar, is headed by the enigmatic spiritual leader and Mystagogue Takheeta Firstborn of the Imix Tribe and Commander Rampart of the Reckoners; the Grave Council’s military arm. The Grave Council’s stated purpose, since its infancy in the wake of the Psionic Bomb, is to steward and to repair the deep structures of the morgue system; and to deliver to the San Saba people an uninterrupted and natural Infectious Cycle.
To that end, Takeeta Firstborn has realigned the purpose of Collection Day; the historical holiday upon which the Grave Council collects its Death Tax with her greater ideal, and of stabilizing the morgue infrastructure the entire San Saba over. She, on behalf of the Grave Council, has agreed to accept not only Brass as the blood currency for her Tax, but Infection as well. In return for the lives of common farmers and delvers, she will pay their petty debts in full. Their biomass to her purpose, and their lives to her infernal engine of change.
Themes of Collection Day
Each game, when we start out writing content for the game we start by considering the major themes we want to explore. We generally couch these in some of the language of the 6 types of literary conflict, but we go a bit more specific than that for our starting design so some of these conflicts will deviate from the classics.
Healing Wounds Older Than You (Man vs God) The Psionic Bomb was a sin committed by desperate people in desperate times, and many of them are dead now; or drifters who left the place they saved when it was rendered a hotbed of radioactivity and death. But still, the repercussions of those old sins fall at the feet of those who followed after, who live in the world that those old sinner’s birthed in fire and blood. It is not the Vado’s old grievances that keep the morgue system from bridging the rifts within itself to heal, but it is their responsibility.
The Grave Tax Does Come Due (Man vs Fate) In life there are only two things assured to us, Death - and Taxes. The Grave Tax is inevitable, it is necessary, and paying it yearly is as regular as a bowel movement. There is nothing glamorous or terrifying about the Grave Tax, so long as yours is paid on time and in full. Otherwise, the Reckoners; black-clad taxmen who specialize in wet work, will provide the only alternative known to Taxes; that being Death.
The Infectious Cycle Goes On (Man vs Time) The ecosystem in the Greater San Saba is a complex series of biomes that range from the ivory blast land of the Dune Sea, to the megaflora forests of Essex, and to the murky and miraculous sea life that thrives just off the Clutch’s oil-slick shoreline. But, in every settled mile of the San Saba, morgues persist; people die; and they are hacked out like tonsil stones from the meat of the Mortis. Morgues are but connections to something Beyond Death, and though individual channels may wither and die off - still the Eternity Beyond remains beyond the scope of any one life. The Mortis is huge, and we rarely see beyond the shores of the Near Death.
Now that you understand some of the themes of the event, let’s talk about the primary conceit of the game, the collection of the GRAVE TAX.
the Grave Tax
Much like the PREMISE and THEMES of our event above, our mechanic of the Grave Tax is centered in the story. This is the main way we approach things in the DR:TX world and it informs how we design everything from new blueprints, mods, new threats, and every story we tell.
You can read in full about the GRAVE TAX here:
Primary Themes of the grave tax
Death has Consequences - In a world where survivors can return from death, crimes like murder can run rampant unless some threat of punishment is enforced. The Grave Tax is a method to prevent the needless deaths of shareholders, merchants, and Braves, and is assessed as a financial burden upon death. Unnecessary death is frowned upon.
Death Comes for All, Pauper or Prince - The Grave Council does not care for the status placed upon a person in the times within the Mortis Amaranthine. They pursue their due from every being that walks the San Saba wastes. They also treat the death of a Pureblood from an ivory tower the same as they treat the death of a wandering Rover.
Story, not Punishment - The purpose of the Grave Tax is not to punish players for dying or to create an undue financial burden. The Grave Tax provides a concrete way to involve yourself in the greater story of the Lone Star, interact with several powerful factions, and seek out assistance and roleplay with other characters in the game. It is tied with the enforcement of law in the game and can be opted out if the player wishes to avoid a negative play experience by using the Pauper’s Fund.
The Grave Tax is meant as an avenue for story, not punishment.
What is the Grave Tax?
The Grave Tax is one of the enforced laws of San Saba Territories and a tradition of the Grave Council that helps cover the maintenance of the Morgues of the Lone Star. This is a fee, normally paid in Brass notes, that a Groundskeeper is paid to retrieve someone from the Mortis Amaranthine and is tracked and collected by the agents of the Grave Council. As part of an agreement with the recently formed Railroad Conglomerate, the San Saba Board has delegated authority over every Morgue within the San Saba territories and the Lone Star to the Grave Council and enshrined the Grave Tax into law of the Board. Even the Junkerpunks acknowledge the need to preserve the cycle of death through the Mortis Amaranthine.
“None shall interfere with the Delivery of the Post,
Nor the Collection of the Grave Tax.- from the San Saba Charter of Laws
how much does the grave tax cost?
There are three classes of deaths that occur in the San Saba. This amount is assessed by the Groundskeeper that runs the death scene for a character, and it is recorded in our DEATH LEDGER and on your character sheet in the NOTES tab. You can always choose to have MORE taxes put on your sheet, if you like that extra spicy angst. (You know who you are!)
Class 1: Accidental or Unpreventable Death (25 Brass)
Death by Zed, Raider, or a Creature of the Wastes
Death from the Environment, or Natural Disasters
Class 2: Preventable Death (50 Brass)
Death that could have been avoided in some way. Foolhardy, silly mistakes are normally classified in this manner. Needlessly feeding the Gravemind is a threat to the delicate balance of the Mortis Amaranthine. This includes Duels, Crimes of Passion, and Violations of the Laws. If an action of the deceased could have been avoided by upholding the laws and contracts of the San Saba, this level of fine is normally assessed.
Class 3: Intentional Death, or Murder (100+ Brass)
Purposefully feeding the Gravemind is the most grievous crime, particularly through MURDER. This can include collateral damage and actions that lead to the death of others in addition to themselves, particularly in ways that can be proven by the recently deceased or other witnesses. This is the starting amount of a fee for this type of death but can escalate accordingly to the severity.
why is the grave tax necessary?
When a person emerges from a Morgue in the San Saba after death, there is a significant threat of a dangerous wasting disease being contracted, known as the Plague of the Unfinished. The Groundskeepers of the Grave Council have developed a number of procedures to limit this spread, and when they or a Sanctioned Graverobber is involved, the threat of this disease is minimal.
The Plague of the Unfinished: This extremely fatal disease was first discovered by Sanctioned Graverobbers of the Grave Council in the Lone Star. While the cause of the disease is unknown, the symptoms are quite obvious. During the process of rebuilding of a survivor’s body after a death, the body is ejected from the Mortis Amaranthine in an unfinished state. The process of regeneration is left incomplete, and the body begins a quick return to the Gravemind as it literally melts and rots away. The process is extremely painful, horrifying to watch, and has very few known cures if not caught quickly. When the victim emerges from the Gravemind after dying to this disease, they are cured if they can survive a second loss of Infection. Thankfully, the disease does not seem to be infectious in this form.
If you die and return without the assistance of the Grave Council, you can lose more than one Infection. This disease is no joke! This disease might even be relevant during the next event…
the Pauper’s Fund
Ultimately, the story of the GRAVE TAX is an OPTIONAL one. You might not enjoy roleplaying owing a debt to a shadowy organization of Graverobbers and Gravemind Cultists. That’s perfectly fine! The Grave Tax is meant as a way to create a cool story behind each death, not a burden or punishment.
No player is required to have a Grave Tax added to their character sheet when they die. Period.
As an in-game reason for how this happens, The Widows of the Lone Star maintain an account with the Grave Council that helps alleviate the debt of the unfortunate or those that cannot afford to pay. This fund normally pays the Grave Taxes of those that ask for assistance and is collected by the various charitable works of the Widows. The Pauper’s Fund can be used in the cases where a player wishes to opt out of this mechanic, within reason.
The sole exception to this option is MURDER. If you kill another character and cause the loss of Infection in CvC Conflict, you’ll have to suffer the consequences for breaking the law… if you get caught!
We hope you will join us for COLLECTION DAY! Make sure to get your tickets early so you can have your character sheets pre-printed at the door. You can always buy you tickets on site if you miss out, but we appreciate the folks that can pre-register. This lets us know how many NPCs to expect for a shift (so we know when we can send out more zombies!), which players are planning on coming for Personal Plot Requests and PFA Requests, and helps us prepare an even better event for you!