Death and Taxe$ is a singleplayer modification of Valve's Source Engine.

HISTORY:

The year is 2034 and the US has just come out of a period of civil war, unrest and revolution. The fighting began in 2020, with the election of Stuart Myers as President. The past 3 elections were hotly contested, with each side of the “established” 2 party system (made so by act of congress in 2011 in an attempt at bi-partisanship) growing more and more tense and violent. Reports were being made of senate members getting into brawls on the floor over spending cuts, and some mysteriously disappearing over welfare reform bills. Politics becomes a realm of unbridled passion and corruption.

When polls showed Stuart in the lead, riots broke out in cities across the country. And on November 4 th , 2020 (the day after Election Day), the president ordered the military into the capitols of those states opposing his administration. The move created more riots and uprising as the fear of a coupe became apparent. The mostly defenseless masses (in another move of “bi-partisanship”, the standard for gun ownership was raised to include impossibly difficult “safety exams” that many felt were a reminiscent of the Jim Crow laws in the late 19 th century) had no way to counter this federal takeover. Within months, the country was in the throes of war, and under a dictatorship. The fighting was primarily between raging political factions that were trying desperately to hold onto what little power was left to be had, or to overthrow those in power. A great portion of the military disbanded and joined the factions they deemed appropriate, and with them they brought weapons of the modern age. Cities were leveled, country sides burned; the breadbasket of America , turned ash and dust.

That was, until Washington came around. Be it coincidence or an example of divine humor, Eugene Washington rallied a group of militia together. His fight was not for power. His struggle was not for favor. His mission was to restore the freedom that had made his country shine. This small band gathered members like wildfire. And by 2029, the war was over, as was the terrible dictatorship and warring political armies.

Now the task before Eugene was the type of government to create in its stead. No one was willing to accept the former Constitution. Many feared those who had abused its privileges politically would do so again. What came about was a brand new system. A loose confederation of districts, with each district divided into urban and rural areas. Now, representation was not based on how many people, but by the type of district. Urban areas had no say in the laws of rural areas, and vice-versa.

However, a problem that had plagued the Articles of Confederation now surfaced again: how does such a weak central government collect tax revenue? The central government had no peace time army, and many districts merely refused to pay. Most local authorities did nothing to enforce federal taxes, only local and district taxes (i.e. their paychecks), and in the majority of cases they were powerless to do so even if they felt compelled to. This is the origin of the Tax Collector.

With no constitutional (or monetary) ability to raise a force necessary to get people to pay their taxes, they hired mercenaries, some domestic and some foreign, to be in charge of collecting in those districts that refused. Sometimes it was entire districts, other times only individuals.

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The Tax Collector is both despised and revered. Those who refuse to pay taxes fear them. Those who pay taxes respect him. He is the celebrity of his district.

Each trouble area is assigned a Tax Collector. The Tax Collector stays in the capitol of the district he is hired in. Here he is safe, for these large cities can afford to collect revenue for the central government. He is given his yearly salary after Tax Day, and usually is taken care of nicely. This prevents him from finding work elsewhere and getting killed. The more years a Tax Collector stays alive, the better his quality of life becomes. They are not wealthy, but their living expenses are all paid for to compensate for a fairly meager salary.

There is one, though, that is different from the rest. He does not belong to any district. He is brought in when others fail. He avenges the blood of the fallen, and redeems their honor...