So my Edge of the Empire book arrived today. My group and myself are excited as hell as we are planning to play very soon. I am going to GM this game for them. I've started Character Creation with one of my group members. I've hit a bit of a snag and was wondering if anyone can point me to some info that could explain this issue. So...

1. I've reached the part in character creation about picking an obligation. I've have my group member roll 2d10 for a d100 roll.

He got the Oath Obligation for his role.

The total members of my group is 4.

Based on Table 2-2:Starting Obligations on page 40 that means the recommended default starting Obligation per player is 10. 10 x 4 = 40.

So assuming no one takes on any more Obligations, I would just make a chart like the following for Obligation checks?...

1-10 = player 1
11-20 = player 2
21 - 30 = player 3
31 - 40 = player 4

Am I doing this correct?

2. If I am, then I am assuming that when someone takes additional obligation I would add it to their pool for the percentile dice like soo.....

Player 3 chooses to take +5 for some extra credits... so I modify the chart like so,....

1 - 10 = Player 1
11 - 20 = Player 2
21 - 35 = Player 3
36 - 45 = Player 4

Am I doing this right?

3. Let's say a player wanted to take on additional Obligation for more XP/Credits. As long as he doesn't take more than the total for the per player group amount, in this case 10, he can do so?

10 is the maximum extra obligation a character may take, but everything else is correct.

As a note the total amount of obligation a PC has at the beginning doesn't always have to be lumped together. In your second point player 1 could have 2 x 5 point obligations while player 3 has a 15 pointer or alternately a 5 and 10.

As a little aside; roll the Obligation check at the end of each session instead of the beginning, it lets you plan the particular obligation into the next session much better, without having to come up with things on the fly.

How would one resolve an Oath Obligation?

Once player's character creation Obligation is gone how would they gain new obligations? Is that something I as a GM would setup story opportunities for them to gain more Obligation?

Ex. Players need to purchase some equipment from a merchant for a mission they are on, but they don't have enough money. I as a GM can role-play an obligation in and make it so the merchant in question grants them the items but in return wants a favor done for him, thus they would add the favor obligation to their obligations list on their character sheet on top of whatever other obligation they already have and assign that obligation a value typically from 5-15 depending on the severity of the obligation.

Am I correct?

On the character sheet I see it says Obligation, has two boxes for Obligations, and there is a box within them that says Magnitude, is this the location players would put in the Obligation value?

Ex. Player 1's starting Obligation Magnitude = 10 since he is part of a group of 4 and that is what the table on page 40 recommends.

Am I interpreting this correctly?

First off Characters within an Edge game should always have some obligation, even if it's only 5.

I would recommend your Players come up with Obligations that can actually be reduced (no life debts)

An Oath can be tricky, and it depends on how it's been written into the characters story but you could start by offering a way to redeem themselves or fulfill the oath.

I will often write a short series of encounters for each PC based around their Obligations (or Duty and Morality if we include the other systems). They don't have to happen in sequence, but I usually bring one in when either the PC is seeking out their own problems to fix them or their Obligation triggers.

As far as giving out more Obligation, think of it as a Resource similar to credits, it's almost a high interest barter system. The simplest way to offer them more is this: build a scenario that has 2(ish) methods of resolution, one is hard and requires the PC's to put their back into it. The second method is much easier, but it's going to give them more Obligation.

An example: a train heist. They could go on guns blazing, killing everyone and get put on the wanted list, congratulations everyone now has a Criminal obligation. Or they could carefully plan everything so that the contents of the train are delivered to them with no connections or chance of discovery, it will take them longer but the jobs done. The important thing though is that either way everyone had fun doing it.

Try not to punish them for not taking Obligation either, that's just not nice.

On the character sheet I see it says Obligation, has two boxes for Obligations, and there is a box within them that says Magnitude, is this the location players would put in the Obligation value?

Ex. Player 1's starting Obligation Magnitude = 10 since he is part of a group of 4 and that is what the table on page 40 recommends.

Am I interpreting this correctly?

Spot on. It's for them to have multiple Obligations.

Keep in mind that the player with the biggest obligation should have more double numbers than the other players, so

1 - 10 = Player 1
11 - 20 = Player 2
21 - 30 = Player 4
31- 45 = Player 3

would be better.

Keep in mind that the player with the biggest obligation should have more double numbers than the other players

Errr... Remind me why doubles are important? Does something happen on doubles?

Errr... Remind me why doubles are important? Does something happen on doubles?

I’m away from my book at the moment, so this is from memory. I’m sure that people will correct me if I’m wrong.

But I believe that doubles cause extra strain on the player who was triggered, and also causes regular obligation levels of strain on the rest of the party. Doubles also drags the rest of the party into whatever that obligation is.

So, if the obligation was a debt, the debt collector not only comes after you and breaks your knees, they also come after all your friends and break their knees too.

If the obligation was a family member, you’re not the only one who gets dragged into saving them — your whole party gets dragged into that mess.

Not correcting you, since what you said is basically true bradknowles

Doubles double the effect of obligation, 2 strain for everyone and 4 for the unlucky triggerer, and it states that "triggered obligation (especially if the GM rolls doubles) can also result in tangible problems. Favors could be called in, debts may require an impromptu payment, or an addiction may bring with it a sudden craving that needs to be satisfied"

Keep in mind that the player with the biggest obligation should have more double numbers than the other players, so

1 - 10 = Player 1

11 - 20 = Player 2

21 - 30 = Player 4

31- 45 = Player 3

would be better.

I see so he can hit 33 and 44 and have a higher risk of his Obligation being a problem.

Keep in mind that the player with the biggest obligation should have more double numbers than the other players

Errr... Remind me why doubles are important? Does something happen on doubles?

On doubles the party takes double strain, and the person who's Obligation was called upon take double what he would normally take and his Obligation should come up in the game session or should come up after the party is done doing whatever it is their are doing as their next adventure.

Ex. The party would normally take 1 strain if someone in the parties Obligation is triggered. The person who's Obligation is triggered gets 2 strain.

If Doubles are rolled...

Ex. 11,22,33,44,55,etc.

Then the party would take double the strain. So instead of 1 it would now be 2 strain.

The person who's Obligation triggered actually suffers 4 strain and a dramatic event occurs if your GM can work it into the story without interrupting what you guys are already doing.

If he can't he is suppose to make a note about it and as soon as you guys finish whatever it is you are doing and think your about to have down time, the Obligation effect adventure takes place.

Alright guys, thanks a bunch, all your posts have cleared alot of things up for me and I think I pretty much got it down. Now it's just a matter of playing.

Saturday, so excited!

I have an additional question about Obligation, so I'm hijacking this thread.

Let's say your party starts out with 5 players. So starting and extra obligation is 10.

Now my party will be reduced to effectively 2 players in the near future, due to people moving and new jobs etc.

But, another one wants to join up, so we're back to 3.

Now, recommended starting and extra obligation for 3 players is 15. But since it will be effectively the same campaign I would let Character McNewguy still only start with 10 (+10 extra if he so chooses), since the other PCs did so as well.

As to not give him more potential XP/Money that the others didn't have access to.

I feel like this is the right call, but wanted to hear how you guys would handle this sort of situation.

Thank you.

I feel like this is the right call, but wanted to hear how you guys would handle this sort of situation.

Depends. Are you kicking him some extra points to catch up to the others? Or is he stuck running at 110 experience (or whatever his race gives him)? How advanced are the others? If they're rolling in bank and have 300 experience under their belt, I'd kick the new guy some points and resources to catch up. Nobody likes running around with a stock heavy blaster (and not even a comlink since they cant afford it) when everyone else has Cortosis armor and Superior on all their stuff.

I feel like this is the right call, but wanted to hear how you guys would handle this sort of situation.

Depends. Are you kicking him some extra points to catch up to the others? Or is he stuck running at 110 experience (or whatever his race gives him)? How advanced are the others? If they're rolling in bank and have 300 experience under their belt, I'd kick the new guy some points and resources to catch up. Nobody likes running around with a stock heavy blaster (and not even a comlink since they cant afford it) when everyone else has Cortosis armor and Superior on all their stuff.

Good point.

The campaign is relatively young at ~5 sessions, so they're not that far ahead.

Just came to mind that allowing him more obligation would even out the groupsscore again, since the obligation of the other PCs would be gone, obviously.

Since the group dynamic is going to change so drastically, we also thought about soft-rebooting the campaign, giving everyone the oppertunity to make a new character if they so choose.

Either way, boosting him a little is a good idea, that for some reason didn't cross my mind.

Thanks.

Actually the soft reboot is not a bad idea. Everyone gets a chance to tweak their character and/or remake if it's not working for them. In that instance, I'd probably just bring the guy up to everyone else's level - that's what, about 80-100 points? It probably wont break the game and it'll keep him from feeling a lesser player. More fun for all = good!

I don't think that it is a problem if the group has "too much" obligation, especially if you find an ingame reason for that. Old debts or promises are explained easily, because whoever the player owed will likely project the debt on the group, substance-addiction on the other hand could be rumors about the group that stick to them and sour future business deals.

Also it gives you a good reason to try and get rid of said obligation, which imo always makes for an interesting story.

Also I'd suggest talking to the players about their reason for dropping out in advance. It might take the joy out of it a bit - knowing the end of your story - but it makes it way easier for the GM and the rest of the group.