Bounty

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A Bounty is a monetary amount offered for the apprehension of an individual. Bounty increases when Marston commits a crime. Sheriffs, deputies, bounty hunters and other lawmen will attempt to pursue Marston to collect on the bounty.

Normally a bounty is issued by a government official or law enforcement with a monetary reward. The idea is to tempt others to aid law enforcement in tracking down and capturing the criminal. The bounty will increase if John Marston is witnessed committing major crimes. (You can kill the witnesses, or bribe them for a small fee) Law enforcement or bounty hunters will attempt to track the player down. There is also a wanted meter to indicate the intensity of the pursuing bounty collectors or lawmen.

Marston can be a bounty collector himself. Bounties will be issued on NPCs and Marston can track down these NPCs and either apprehend and turn them in, or kill them for reward. Bounties can be found either through missions or posters.

Acts Relating To Bounty Increase

Remember, all of these acts must be witnessed and reported in order to cause the bounty.

Criminal Acts	Bounty
Killing an owned dog	$3
Shooting an owned Horse	$5
Trespassing	$5
Threatening an Officer	$5
Killing an owned Horse	$20
Killing owned Cattle	$20
Kidnapping	$20
Kidnapping an officer	$30
Shooting an officer	$20
Cheating	$25
Killing a non-hostile/hostile person in town	$40
Stealing A Vehicle (Stagecoach)	$20
Murdering An Officer	$100
Safecracking	$50
Throwing dynamite at a house (if the player does not already have a bounty)	$20
Destroying Light Fixture	$1

All of these values may be cut in half by obtaining the highest Fame rank.

Acts Relating To Bounty Decrease

Collecting a bounty while having an active bounty on your own head will decrease the active bounty with the reward for the outlaw captured. Performing Nightwatch tasks will also reduce your bounty. Also being shot by a marshal will decrease your bounty for a certain percentage.

Affecting Bounty Level

Wearing a bandana while evading pursuit from the law will cause the wanted meter to decrease at a slower rate. If you are being pursued, remove the bandana in order to better evade apprehension by law officers and bounty hunters. Additionally, Marston can use a Pardon Letter to reduce his bounty to zero. Pardon Letters cannot be purchased. A bounty that exceeds $100 will result in posses trying to ambush you (the higher the bounty, the more ambushes you'll get).

Alternatively, Marston can hunt down outlaws, thieves, or run-aways for the bounties placed on them by others.

The Honor system also directly affects Marstons Bounty. Bad deeds increase the Bounty, while good deeds can reduce Marstons Bounty.

Tips

An effective way of losing a bounty would be to bring the lawmen away from a town and then kill them.
If staying on a horse, they will just make it harder to shoot them as they will be running around shooting and it will be harder to spot and kill the lawmen.
If you put your gun away and don't move while lawmen are after you they will put you in jail. When you leave jail you will lose your bounty and money at the same amount as your bounty. If you can't pay the bounty you have to Bounty Hunt to pay it off.
The only settlements in game where it is impossible to acquire bounties under most circumstances are Thieves' Landing and Casa Madrugada, however the player may still get shot at if they cause trouble in those locations.
The best way to escape from a high bounty, is to cross the border to Nuevo Paraiso, the two countries have their own bounties. Although bounty hunters and lawmen may be waiting for you at the edge of the border.
If you are attempting to capture or kill a NPC that has a bounty on him, be wary. Due to the fact that after killing or capturing the NPC, and all his followers nearby are dead, then reinforcements will chase you and attempt to kill you. they will stop chasing you if you are at the city you turn in the bountied NPC. The reinforcements usually consist of 3 people on horseback with Cattleman Revolvers, and maybe Repeater Carbines.