Bounties

Every head in Vesper City has a price, if somebody is willing to pay it. Actions → Bounties is the board: who is wanted, for how much, and a form to put a price on someone's head.

The board

Wanted lists every player with a bounty on them, one row each, with the total reward, how many bounties that is and when the first one expires. Sort it by reward, name, level or expiry, search by name, or filter to players around your level, below you or above you. If there is a bounty on you, a banner at the top says how much: watch your back, or bank your cash (Bank).

Placing a bounty

From level 5 you can fill in the form on the same page:

1. Type the player's name in On whom (or press Place a bounty on their line in Online now).
2. Type the reward, at least $1,000.
3. Add a short reason if you like (up to 140 characters; no links or contact details, and the language rules apply, see Staying safe and reporting).
4. Tick Stay anonymous if you don't want the target to know it was you.

You pay the reward and a fee, in cash, up front. The fee is 10% of the reward, plus 15% more to stay anonymous. The house keeps it. The page shows what you will pay before you press Put a price on their head.

Collecting a bounty

Beat a player in a fight and put them in hospital (Mug or Hospitalise, see Fights) and you collect every bounty on them at once, in cash. "Leave them" doesn't send anyone to hospital, so it doesn't pay. You can't collect a bounty you placed, or one placed by an account linked to yours. The news ticker mentions recent collections.

When a bounty ends

• Unclaimed after 7 days, it expires: the reward comes back to the person who placed it, but the fee doesn't.
• If the target leaves the city for good, goes dormant or closes their account, the bounty is refunded to whoever placed it (the fee is kept). If a player is banned for good, the bounties they placed are void, and the ones on them are refunded to the people who placed them.

Who can't be targeted

• Yourself, or a linked account.
• Anyone you have blocked, or who has blocked you (see Staying safe and reporting).
• Players still under new-player protection (see Fights).
• Anyone who can't be found: a player in federal jail, away for a long time, or closing their account.

You can't place bounties while your own account is still being checked, or for 48 hours after a two-factor reset.

What the target sees

In the Graphical view, a pop-up tells them "someone put $ on your head", naming you unless you stayed anonymous. A bounty of $250,000 or more can make The Evening Racket, and the biggest names on the board appear in its Most wanted box. While there is a bounty on you, the fair-streets shield you get after a rough day doesn't stop bounty hunters (see Fights).

Getting even

• After being beaten by a Marked bully: everyone they beat gets a Get even button that opens the bounty form for them.
• After a burglary by a named burglar (caught, or named by the private investigator) you get the same button (Burglary).

Tips

• Bank your cash: a bounty hunter who mugs you takes it (Bank).
• Anonymous costs more, but nobody comes looking for you.
• A bounty on a high-level player is worth more to hunters, but harder to claim.