Player Properties
Character Owned Properties in Sands of Intrigue
Characters are able to rent or purchase property in the game world. These areas are then available for the character to use to furnish, operate player factions, store items and otherwise do with as they please.
Purchasing and Renting Properties
In order to purchase a property in or immediately around Ephia's Well, e.g. in the Plaza or Tablet, a character needs to be Voiced. Voiced characters are full citizen of the Well, a status that can be purchased in the game-world, see Politics.
Once voiced, a character can purchase a vacant property by interacting with the sign placeable near the property's entrance. If the character has sufficient gold for the price listed on the sign, they can purchase the property and become its owner. The up-front cost goes to the state Treasury, and the taxes for the property are paid for 7 days. The character will remain the owner of the property until one of the following happens
- Taxes are due and they have insufficient money deposited in their property account to pay the total amount
- The owner does not enter the property using the door for more than seven consecutive days
- A Legate seizes the property
- The owner sells the property to another character
Players can also rent certain properties, such as rooms in the Krak des Roses, or an office in another settlement. Some of these rental properties do NOT require a character to be voiced, but otherwise function the same.
Taxes
Every seven days, at the time of day that corresponds to when the property was purchased, the state collects taxes. The formula for calculating taxes is as follows.
Base Rate + (Property Tax Rate) * (Total Up-front Cost of Property) = Weekly Tax Due
For example, for a Plaza property with a total up-front cost of 2,000 gold, and a tax rate set by the Legates at 15%, and base rate of 500, the total weekly cost to the owner is 500 + (0.15)(2000) = 800 gold pieces.
Players can deposit gold into their property account at any time, by interacting with the sign placeable on any property they own and depositing gold. Note, each character has at most one property tax account, from which all properties they own deduct taxes from. It is not possible to withdraw money from property accounts, only deposit.
Owners can see when and how much is due for taxes at any time by interacting with the sign placeable. They can also see the balance of their property account. Any character can view the weekly tax rate of a property by interacting with the sign.
If taxes are due and there is insufficient funds in the property tax account of the owner, the state seizes the property, announces this over the Bellows, and the property becomes vacant, and able to be purchased again by any qualified character.
Selling Properties
An owner can use the sign placeable in front of their property to put the property on sale. Once the property is on sale, any qualified character can purchase the property by interacting with the sign. The money spent to purchase the property is then depositied in the former owner's Coin-changer bank account (instead of the state Treasury, as is the case if the property was vacant). The buyer can purchase properties either with or without furniture, with the cost of the furniture included in the former cost. Furniture within the property is transferred if purchased with furniture. Otherwise, it is destroyed.
Controlling Access to the Property
An owner of a property can assign other characters access to the property by using a dialog accessible through the property's sign. The character recieving access must be present so the owner can select them with the tool. The owner can at any time remove access by striking a name from the list accessible through the property's sign. An owner can also allow public access; if this option is selected any character can enter the property by clicking on the locked door, which will open.