So, we're just about to take our new campaign into a classic Rebels vs Empire setting, something we've not done in ages and ages. And I have the basics of duty down no problem: do good things for the alliance, get more points. Hit 100 points, go up one more tier. It's a good thing that benefits the players instead of negative like Obligation. Easy peasy.

It's the specifics that I'm fuzzy on.

Like, for example, how much do you (roughly) get in a game? Lets say that the players sneak into a base, steal some troop movements, blow up the hanger full of TIE fighters and slip away. Five duty? Ten? What is reasonable?

And there's probably some kind of sliding scale, isn't there? Blowing up an asteroid listening base will be a whole lot less than blowing up a Death Star, I would think. Would a completely personal mission, something that doesn't involve the Empire or benefit the Alliance (say, saving a friend from the clutches of a Hutt) would probably be worth zero?

Any other thoughts or insights about how to run Duty? How does it work at your table?

(Also: heh-heh. He said 'duty')

Depending on how well the group does in their missions, I go for a Contribution Rank advancement every 3 sessions or so. So I use that as a sort of benchmark for my Duty rewards.

Also depends on whether the group in question all have Duty scores, or whether it's split with Morality or Obligation. Less Duty scores all around means less overall opportunity for Duty increases, but it might mean that, when those who do have Duty do something of note, they would receive an even bigger payout because of the fact that they stand out among their compatriots.

As far as I know, we'll all be picking up Duty when we join the alliance. So far we've got 3 Moralities and 1 Obligation - so we're all over the map as far as spiffs and bennies go.

The way I read it is that the Support duty characters are the only ones who should be getting Duty every session. Everyone else needs to work for it, then when they do their getting bigger chunks.

If we go with away's rank every 3 sessions (good pace IMHO) and a group of 5 PC's. Each PC needs to get 20 duty every 3 sessions. Personally I prefer to give 0-5 to PC's who "didn't do much", then when a PC achieves something big relating to their personal Duty they could get up to 15.

In this way it doesn't feel like a formality; "everyone gets 10 Duty...again"

I like having lists for each PC of minor encounters that I can drop into a session. Each is tailored to the PC's Duty (same as Obligations). Then when a Duty triggers I'll make sure to include 1.

I like to have them written like an optional side objective too, so if the PC wants that Duty they need to get the party to help them, it's not something they can "pick up on the way through". I like it to have the potential to jeopardise the primary objective as well, so there is some risk involved.

I recall the devs talking about this on an Order 66 episode. They said that you should be seeing Duty contributions on about every 3-4 sessions. For services to the Rebellion they should see about 2-5 Duty a session. Those who performed actions specifically related to their duty should be seeing 5-10, maybe even 15.

You happen to remember which episode? I've been working my way through the O66 Archives since there's been so many I've missed. I'll make a point to listen to that one tomorrow at work.

Was it "so long and thanks for all the fish"?

I've always disliked it for several reasons.

Firstly, the way it works is disassociated from the actual game. You could have Space Superiority as your Duty, but the random roll comes up when you're doing a land battle or infiltration. So... what, you get the warm fuzzies remembering a fight when you were a pilot? Doesn't make sense.

Secondly, I hate random rolls. I want character backgrounds to come up when it suits my plot, not randomly. I like the concept of Duty, it's helpful to know that a given Ace is say, a 'Placard Hunter' that seeks out the best enemy opposition, or really works for Internal Affairs. I can make adventures about that.

Thirdly, I REALLY hate micromanaging every little thing. This isn't a JRPG and not everything needs a number associated with it. This game is best when it sticks with the funny-shaped dice mechanic and loses it when it starts using percentiles. Making missions that tie in to PC backgrounds? Sure. Having yet another little stat to keep track of? No thanks.

Lastly, we're not playing raw recruits who just stepped out of basic training with a slugthrower rifle last week. Some of the PCs have been fighting the Galactic Civil War for 20+ years. They are higher up the totem pole, while other PCs are relatively new and one isn't even Alliance personnel. So a system, that sees every PC rise the ranks together won't work for our set-up. Besides, we wanted a clear chain of command (unlike the EoE group) with a leader, second in command, etc.) Resource management and acquisition is very much part of the set-up and I have other ways of doing that that are mission-based.

So I just don't bother tracking it. We use a simple mechanic, +2 to strain threshold if you're currently doing a mission that plays to your Duty (only +1 if you have two Duties). It gives the PCs a little bonus when they are doing their area of specialisation or interest, and doesn't require book-keeping.

Kudos to those who play as per RAW, but the mechanics of Obligation, Duty and Morality just don't do it for me.

Good topic anyway, Desslok. Keep 'em coming.

Was it "so long and thanks for all the fish"?

I think so. I'm pretty sure it was an Fish episode.

I apply Duty awards per objective to the group, not per player character. If the group accomplishes something it shouldn't matter whether two or ten people were involved. In fact, if only two accomplished it, you'd think they would get more kudos than a full team of SpecOps spooks.

I think so. I'm pretty sure it was an Fish episode.

Well, "So Long" (episode 28) talks with Fish about Enter the Unknown while 17 talks about the AoR beta - so I'll bet it's in 17. I'll start there and give 28 a shot if it doesnt work out.

Lastly, we're not playing raw recruits who just stepped out of basic training with a slugthrower rifle last week.

In our case, that's very much what happened. We're a bunch of college Students, moisture farmers and street kids who got thrown into The Deep End and haven't even stepped into basic training yet. So the Zero starting duty makes sense.

In fact if it's slow at work, during lunch I might start working on the Boot Camp Game, so that they can justify buying the recruit tree if they want.

Kudos to those who play as per RAW, but the mechanics of Obligation, Duty and Morality just don't do it for me.

We wound up hand waving the Morality more or less, but I really like the Obligation as written - but the jury is still out on the Duty, if it gets run RAW or if it's regulated to Handwaving.

I wish we could rename this topic to "Talk Duty to me"

My group uses it like XP. If my Resource Acquisition player say brings in a dozen field rations, he might get 2 or 3 duty, but if he brings in a dewback and uses the meat for food, hide for a tent, and the bones for weapons etc, that would garner more duty. Just like you would if a player does something exceptionally brave, clever and stupid, and pulls it off the player might get more xp.

My character decided to use some acquired Stormtrooper Armor to break into a jail to rescue a slicer, trick the Imperial agent watching him into handing him over to us, and walked out the door with him all without firing a shot. And this was our third game with barely any XP. We all prepared for a fight, but, I rolled exceptionally well, and everyone was surprised. The GM of that adventure, gave me extra XP for that feat.

Just checked the Ep list again, I'm actually thinking it will be in Ep 41-From a certain point of view; a discussion with Sam Stewart about combining Obligation, Duty and Morality in your games.

Edit: or Ep 39-Age of Rebellion Deep Dive; AoR core book talk with Andy Fischer. I'll actually find it for you in the next hour or so and post it here.

I do wish Chris had more time for editing to add chapters to these things but just having discussions with Devs is awesome.

Edit 2: Ep 39. 16.30-34min is a good explanation of FFG's intentions with Duty, it's the part that outlines rank every 3-4 sessions.

I'll check Ep 41 and post any useful bits here as well

Yeah, it wasn't episode 17 (beyond some "and the two systems are compatible" talk) and it's probably not 28 (I'm half way through and it's all about Enter The Unknown). Not that this has been 4 hours wasted, since listening to the Behind the Scenes stuff is always cool - just not what I've been looking for.

Ep 41; the meat of the show is a great knowledge drop on mixing all the Obligation, Duty, & Morality systems.

At 1hr:39min:22sec is when GM Phil first drops the single most helpful piece of advice though. One that Sam Stewart (lead game dev) even openly admits should have been in the rules from day one. Roll to trigger O/D/M at the END of games sessions, letting you plan for it much much better.

Well, 41 was a dud too. Mind you, talking about how the three mechanics interact was kind of useful and the examples from other media was interesting - but no hard and fast crunch about "Here's how the mechanic worked"

Ah well. Perhaps they've not done a topic on that yet? I should wander over and ask.

It's Episode 39, Age of Rebellion Deep Dive. Right about at the 17-minute mark, Andy answers a question regarding Duty & Contribution Rank awards. And he says, essentially, "it depends on how quickly you want them to gain rank within the Rebellion." To further paraphrase, he says that if you're running a long campaign, you might want to trickle the Duty awards more than you would if you were playing a very short series, in which case you would want larger Duty awards.

He gives an off-the cuff (laden with some dry humor) example of "everyone gets 10 Duty, and Wedge, because you're up in your ship and blew up the Death Star, you'll get a little more Duty."

My big takeaway is that, ultimately, you want the Contribution Rank increase to feel special. That is what guides my hand when granting Duty awards.

I feel like Doty is the weakest of the 3.

Obligations are mostly personal and integrating a Bounty or Family into a adventure is mostly possible in a way that feels natural. Duty is mostly highly specific, and integrating a "Space Superiority" Duty in a Session about Undercover Infiltration is really forced.

From a GM's perspective, I feel like Duty is strongest of the three. It gives the GM a solid way to hook the PCs into high adventure, and a reason for them to get involved immediately (it's their orders!). It can also very strongly interact with Motivation. Sometimes it's right in line with the PC's motivations, but what happens when their orders (Duty) and their needs, or perhaps the needs of friends and family (Motivation) conflict? Sharp contrast, sparks fly, and the character has to make meaningful choices.

From a player's perspective, I also prefer Duty. I feel more like I know what I'm getting into, and that the game isn't just waiting for the chance to screw me over (like Obligation does). Plus the Contribution Rank rewards are awesome!

Your Duty magnitude can also be a good indicator as to how much other Rebels or sympathizers are willing to help you, or how much Imperials might be hunting you. It's like Obligation in that respect (the social aspect) except it deals with Rebellion vs. Empire, rather than "Underworld" vs. "Lawful world."

Obligations are mostly personal and integrating a Bounty or Family into a adventure is mostly possible in a way that feels natural. Duty is mostly highly specific, and integrating a "Space Superiority" Duty in a Session about Undercover Infiltration is really forced.

There are ways to integrate just about any duty into just about any situation. It takes a little creativity (just like Obligation), but it's doable. I could see plenty of ways you might insert Space Superiority into an undercover infiltration:

• Maybe part of the mission is based off rumors of a new fighter being developed by a "neutral" third party...the job starts as intel gathering, and then let the situation evolve from there.
• Or, maybe the infiltration is taking place at a party on the estate of the Ace's arch-nemesis, the infamous TIE pilot Baron Von Tailspin.
• Or, maybe you decide, "hey, this 'undercover' op is going to blow up at some point, and when it does, they're gonna need to fly their way out all crammed into a TIE bomber, getting chased by enemy TIEs." Maybe it only needs to be "covert" up until the point that they get the macguffin, and after that they need to provide their own extraction
• Or maybe the undercover infiltration is at the TIE pilot training academy from which the Ace graduated, back when he was fighting for the Empire. It's his knowledge of this station that is making the mission possible in the first place.

...and so forth.

But, to be sure, there are times where perhaps you wouldn't want to integrate a player's Space Superiority into a session about undercover infiltration. But then why would you have to?? If you're rolling at the beginning of the session for Duty and the GM has his covert infiltration adventure all written out and ready to go (I'm not really one of those GMs), and you roll a PC's Space Superiority, then perhaps that PC has just come off a mission where he blew up some gunboats and he's feeling pretty darn good about himself. +2 Wound Threshold, there you go, carry on with the story.

Myself, if I'm actually writing up an adventure in the week preceding a session, I prefer rolling Duty at the end of the previous session. This gives players something to anticipate, and gives me the time to think about how I might bring that PC's Duty into the spotlight. Duty, then, becomes something that is not "integrated," but rather, "integral."

But I am usually comfortable coming to the table with a loose idea of what will happen in the session, roll Duty, and then go with it. It has only bolstered my gaming experience; I've never felt forced or shoehorned or anything by a Duty roll.