When making a character, if you roll high enough on the chart, you can begin with two Obligations. You split your Obligation value between them equally. Easy enough. The next part is my question...

"Obligation cannot be reduced lower than 5." (EoE, pp. 43, Obligation Cap sidebar)

Does that mean each individual Obligation you have cannot be lower than 5, or does it mean your total value cannot be lower than 5?

I've always played it as total Obligation, per player. So you could technically have a PC with two Obligations at Magnitude 2 and Magnitude 3, respectively.

It means PCs should never have zero Obligation in EoE. You want it to be 5 per, that's fine. You want 5 split between multiples, that's fine.

If a PC ended up with two Obligations and bought them down, can the values be 5 and 0? Or do the values have to be as even as possible (3 and 2)?

If one was brought to 0, then it stops being an obligation, which is entirely possible. Edge just requires that the PC have at least 5 obligation at all times as there is always something stressing the character.

players should be constantly moving up and down and gaining/losing obligation. I use Obligation as place holders for adventure hooks. You sweet talked that spaceport administrator into erasing the fact that you docked at all? Thats 5 Obligation "Favour"

You threatened a local official to keep his mouth shut about a crime you were apart of "Or else!" Well thats 5 Obligation criminal.

Think of ways to tie in what the characters are doing with obligations. Always roll to see what the next obligation to trigger will be, at the END of a session. That way the GM can plan for it for next time.

There is ALWAYS Obligation... you finally pay off that Hutt, clear the books, and sit down at the bar and have a huge sigh of relief... and then something else happens. That's just the way of it...

It's usually pretty easy to find another Obligation, as well. It can be related to the way that you paid off your former Obligation, or just come about naturally in light of what your character has done so far in-game.

Exactly... the guy at the end of the bar may not like you... his friend may not like you, either.

Before you know what's happening, some old weirdo pulls out a laser sword and, BOOM: Obligation.

Just like that.

"Oh, for crying....just when I got rid of that stupid Duty: Moisture Vaporator Maintenance Obligation!"

You can sell your speeder to pay for the new one....

As pointed out, obligation is not a bad thing you need to get rid of. they are adventure hooks that help drive the story forward instead of having the PC contentedly settle down and do nothing. They need to fulfill that obligation! BOOM! Adventure time!

It's not like the PCs need to be stuck with the same Obligation(s) they started with throughout a campaign. Just pick another Obligation that sounds interesting and work with the GM to acquire it while getting rid of the old one. As long as you have at leat one Obligation with a value of at least 5, you're completely within the rules.