Hi all

Asking for a little inspiration here - been a long week at work, and I'm completely drained. Anyway, one of my PCs triggered their obligation next session, and I'm struggling to come up with something decent.

For context: The PC is a drall technician/mechanic (classic min-maxer) with a fear of open spaces and a useless and comic companion droid who may or may not be inspired by baby Groot. She has the Obsession obligation and the Ambition (Expertise) motivation. The campaign is set 500BBY, with the PCs as part of an informal law enforcement/anti-terrorism agency called the "Unit 9 Irregulars", who are battling a shadowy force that has arisen in the Coruscant underworld. The adventures are deliberately very episodic, much like a TV cop show.

Below is the flavour text that the player wrote for their character's Obligation:

Quote

There are times when Geela’s interest in technology, particularly in rare or ancient tech goes further than a simple interest and becomes an obsession. When faced with the knowledge of an unknown gadget she will not just go out of her way to acquire or study it, but she’ll fixate on it. Whether that is putting herself in harm’s way just to get a better look at a particularly neat bit of kit or holing up in her room for 3 days without any sleep to study a new acquisition it invariably ends up sidetracking her from her main objectives. If ever one hears a high pitch squeak followed by a quiet “Ooh! Shiny!” chances are you’re not getting Geela’s attention again for a little while.

Now, I can give her some random piece of tech - an "unknown gadget" - to obsess over for the session...but I'm struggling to come up with something interesting to do with that. I'm a big believer that Obligation should be an obstacle, so I don't want to give her something that ties directly into the main plot, but I just can't think of something that would genuinely be both narratively fun and mechanically obstacle-y (yes that's a word...now). I've had a look through the gear in various books in the hope that something will leap off the page, but so far nothing.

Alternatively, I was thinking maybe the session could take place in a high-tech lab/factory with loads of stuff to distract the PC...but that feels a bit off, and doesn't really tie into the interest in "ancient" tech, either. Plus, I don't want her Obligation to completely de-rail the session, if possible.

Anyone have any ideas?

PS: Some people will probably look at this and say "mate, this is easy, what are you complaining about?". Please understand: I work in the TV industry and I'm currently trying to prep a shoot in Europe on a shoe-string budget and I've had about 3 hours' sleep, so my brain is struggling to fire. This forum's normally pretty **** creative with ideas, so I'm just seeing if anyone has any bright sparks of genius that could help me out. Even if people just post random one-line thoughts, that might help get something flowing!

Thanks in advance.

Try to make it a cooperative thing. Let the player know that her obligation was triggered and let her role play it up. If, as a player, she ignores it increase the obligation a little. If she bites and runs with it, reduce it a little. As far as in game, maybe she hears a rumor of some cool new tech so the character can get distracted by asking people about it. Like if they were interogating someone for a robbery she starts asking them about the gadget which has nothing to do with the situation. Then near the end of the session let the character find out a big piece of information about the gadget that satisfies the current obsession.

Take the adventure to where such things are likely to appear, like tech shows/galas. If the Obsession extends beyond the devices themselves and to the developers of said tech, so much the better.

At other times, let the Obsession just be off stage and have the adventure focus on the consequences of the character giving into the Obsession. This might range from skipped maintenance causing issues to the character getting caught having spent an inordinate amount of the group's resources getting the latest shiny toy. This itself can convert some of the Obsession into a different Obligation, such as Debt, Criminal, or many others.

In my experience, players always interpret Obsession obligation as a general character trait, usually OCD in some form but it usually works better with a focus on a particular item, person, task or sometimes a cause. Those things are all resolvable and so make excellent obligations.

Your player's already gone halfway there by describing herself as occassionally obsessed with " rare or ancient tech" which to me says she wants some mystery to crack. In fact she's given you a couple of great examples just in that flavour of ways that obligation can be triggered big and small.

I'd suggest going with your original thought: find a mysterious item in some bazaar early on. Something that stands out, perhaps mystical or bearing the mark of a famous lost ship. However, it needn't be some trinket for her to obsess over for one session. I'd make this a big deal - something to be tackled over the course of many sessions and may lead into an adventure of its own - a puzzlebox of sorts perhaps, layered challenges to be tackled by the player or an artifact requiring studious research. Sketch out what it is and where you'd want it to lead the player but for now, this session, just something to weigh on her mind until she has a chance to devote some time and energy to it.

Perhaps the first time they spot one of the key npc's in this episode (it can even be in the pre-credit intro - read: you just tell them about it) she spots something 'shiny' on his/her utility belt. Some early Mando piece of gear, a Jedi/Sith looking goodie, what ever piece of greebly you want to introduce. Or maybe, it just looks like one...

The character is just about to sneak into the enemy base or whatever, everybody else is in place, and she see's a rare Pigmy Flange 3000 in a junkshop window while on her way to meet them. Time is limited, and they need to enter now, can she resist the lure.

I'd be curious to know what the next session is about and where the last one left off.

In the current session you could have something interesting pop up that she might really really want to get her hands on, but is somehow inaccessible or difficult to retrieve.

The mob boss has a particularly rare and treasured bit of tech, maybe some sort of musical instrument that's controlled by the mind. It isn't well understood and nobody currently knows how to reproduce it. Having one to examine and try to figure out is a rare opportunity. They're sneaking into his dosh to retrieve some info from his computer. Unfortunately it's the size of a large suitcase (enc 5ish) and would make sneaking around hard (1 setback die for the group or 2 for just the person carrying it). They don't really need to get out without leaving a trace, but it would be nice to do so without shooting their way in and out.

The character has an eureka moment in the middle of the job. It's something pretty complex and if she doesn't get it down as quickly as possible she might forget the specifics. How many setbacks is trying to dictate something into your data pad while engaging in a firefight/hacking/etc?