As a relatively experienced Edge of the Empire player, getting Age of Rebellion has been an exciting change of pace and I am looking forward to my first game. But that being said, I am a bit confused reagarding Duty:

"As the PCs accomplish more and more on behalf of the Alliance, the party's Duty value slowly builds up. Once the party's total Duty value exceeds 100, they reach a milestone in the campaign."

• So how fast does one award Duty?
• Does one increase the Duty for the entire party, or does each PC get an increase based on whether or not the session fufilled their specific Duty?
• The last sentence seems to describe it as increasing Duty causes narrative successes, not the other way around. Is that just poor writing?

While I'm at it, I would say that Duty has a few flaws:

• The whole "contribution rank" thing seems like a little too much on the side of being mathematical. They always say how it's a "narrative system," but the contribution seems to go against that idea.
• Duty seems too based on career/specialization. For any type of character, there is typically a very obvious choice. A soldier's duty is combat victory, an pilot's duty is space superiority, a sabatuer's duty is sabotage, a spy's duty is intelligence, etc. Obligation (and Morality based in what I hear) have more options for characters.

The increase and effect of Duty ranks is both mechanical and narrative. Gaining a rank in the Rebellion (or whatever organization is being used) has story implications, not the least of which is what sort of responsibilities they PCs will be given, but it also has a mechanical effect (improved/reduced disposition of various NPCs, and acquisition of a 'favor' of some sort).

Duty usually seems to be awarded in 5 or 10 point blocks. If someone's Duty is rolled for the session then they should definitely have some opportunity to fulfill it, but otherwise it will depend somewhat on the story.


Contribution rank is a math way to express the narrative effects since otherwise you'd be left with only a vague idea of where things stand.

You can go with obvious combinations but it isn't required or necessary (not to mention the option of a character having two Duty entries). A soldier could have a Combat Victory focus as part of a regular forces unit, but they might just as easily be a special ops type that deals with Intelligence, Resource Acquisition, etc. Likewise, a pilot (which also covers ground vehicle and gunnery specializations, among other things) might have an Intelligence duty because they focus on insertion or surveillance rather than fleet engagement, or a Personnel duty because they're a locally-known racer whose crowd-working just happens to act as cover for their recruiting activities. And so on.

The Order 66 podcast had an episode of Duty that you can listen in on:

http://podbay.fm/show/276381727/e/1460307480?autostart=1

They recommended giving a chance to increase contribution rank every 3-4 sessions and rolling duty before the next session so that you can plan it out. And always have secondary objectives that can increase a PC's Duty. At least, that's what I remember.

By that aspect, it should probably be around 10-25 Duty.

For the party, I give everyone a set amount of Duty, but give those who accomplished their Duty a little bit more.

Duty can be used in the narrative to give PCs access to resources, meet with more important figures of the Rebel Alliance, etc. It can be used to block them from certain resources, like being too known as a Rebel for someone to talk to you without making sure they are safe.

Think of Contribution Rank like actual rank in the Rebellion: Low ranks won't get you noticed as much in the Rebellion, while higher ranks mean that you've done quite a bit of stuff for the Rebellion.

And yes, there are obvious combinations for Duty and classes, but there's quite a lot that you can fill. Here are some examples:

An engineer with space superiority as Duty? Maybe he or she finds a couple of TIE Defenders that need some sabotaging while parked inside a hangar....

A diplomat with combat victory as Duty? The ISB busts into a ball where diplomats needed by the Rebellion are in, and you have to defend them...

A spy with placard hunting as Duty? There's an Imperial officer rising through the ranks and giving the Rebellion pain. Luckily, he's right in the mission area...

A soldier with clear skies as Duty? On a mission, TIE fighters are providing ground support to the Empire, but a cache of missile launchers was found...

And remember, the players are also free to make up their own Duty as long as they can justify it.

It's a low amount per session. I think the Commander's Book has it at like no more than 5 points per session.

At first I was doling out up to 24 points per session if they accomplished a lot, but their Contribution Rank started climbing really fast. When they reach that milestone they can be promoted and/or they will get something for free possibly. So you can use that as a guideline for how you want it to progress. How often do you want them to be given new stuff and harder tasks from the command element? If you want them to be 20 year old generals then you can give out tons of Duty, and that would actually mirror Luke in the movie. I would imagine that whatever it is that the PCs are doing must be a pretty big thorn in the Empire's side though.

On 10/21/2017 at 7:01 AM, Yaccarus said:

So how fast does one award Duty?

As fast as you want it to progress. A popular method per session, is to provide the party with multiple goals that, if accomplished, would further their Duty, and assign a point value to that goal. They can overlap, or simply run parallel. For example, you could have a PC who has Military Superiority as their Duty, and so when the party infiltrates an Imperial facility, they want to steal/blow up the wing of TIEs stationed there, so the Imps can't use them. While they are doing that, the Slicer who has Intelligence as his Duty, wants to go slice into the mainframe of the facility, and steal their secrets. They might not accomplish both, or either, but it gives them goals they can aim for, and a tangible benefit. If they accomplish one or both of them, award some amount (5 points/goal seems to be considered reasonable). And try to provide goals for every different type of Duty (not mandatory, but it's nice to let everyone have a regular chance to help the Rebellion directly)

On 10/21/2017 at 7:01 AM, Yaccarus said:

Does one increase the Duty for the entire party, or does each PC get an increase based on whether or not the session fufilled their specific Duty?

It's a cumulative effort. When the total value of the party's Duty reaches 100, then they "level up". So if one PC was able to provide say, 50 Duty, and the others each provide 20 or so, just add them up. If it =100+, then reset to 0, and give them a big cookie.

On 10/21/2017 at 7:01 AM, Yaccarus said:

The last sentence seems to describe it as increasing Duty causes narrative successes, not the other way around. Is that just poor writing?

It's not poor writing, it's saying that you should illustrate their efforts as having a significant impact on the Imperial's efforts in the region.

"Good job guys, between destroying 2 entire wings of TIEs from the garrison, stealing their ammunition supplies in transit, and stealing the information about the upcoming, and now failed, Imp raid on a Rebellion cell, you have significantly hampered the Imperial efforts in the area. Citizens in the area remark about how they can't remember the last time they saw a TIE flyover. And the number of Imperial patrols through the streets, harassing civilians has dramatically reduced. You've even heard from some of your sources, that more people are talking negatively in the streets about the Empire's influence on the planet, and more and more people are starting to try and contact the Rebellion and enlist. With the reduced air superiority on the planet, the local Rebellion hub was able to more easily sneak in an entire wing of X-Wings into an underground bunker, and are now preparing for an upcoming strike on the garrison! With the stolen munitions that you so kindly provided, they will be fully armed and ready for battle! " *GM pauses while players pat themselves on the back* "However, this has also caused the Empire to take notice of some of the failings in the area, and they have deployed a platoon of Elite Emo-Deathtroopers to the area, as well as a new Governor, who is known for his ruthless leadership techniques. There is still work to be done in the area, and it will be harder, but you now have some backup, as well as the support of the people on your side." *GM proceeds to upgrade the threats to reflect this new phase in the story.*

Stuff like that is what they mean.

On 10/21/2017 at 7:01 AM, Yaccarus said:

While I'm at it, I would say that Duty has a few flaws:

• The whole "contribution rank" thing seems like a little too much on the side of being mathematical. They always say how it's a "narrative system," but the contribution seems to go against that idea.

You have played with gamers before right? Of course there are mechanics, it's a roleplaying game, and the majority of gamers will fall into the fetal position and enter a catatonic state if they don't have SOME kind of stat to read and comprehend. It's hardly a massive mechanic though, I mean it's just a measuring counter to 100. It's basically there to give you a physical benchmark to decide when you need/want to show that their actions are having an effect on events. It's also partly there for the players to use too. You can have it progress at whatever rate you want, fast or slow, based on the storyline.

On 10/21/2017 at 7:01 AM, Yaccarus said:

Duty seems too based on career/specialization. For any type of character, there is typically a very obvious choice. A soldier's duty is combat victory, an pilot's duty is space superiority, a sabatuer's duty is sabotage, a spy's duty is intelligence, etc. Obligation (and Morality based in what I hear) have more options for characters.

.....I'm waiting for the part where you say this is a flaw and how. There is nothing requiring a PC to take the Duty they are most efficient at, but of course gamers are going to do that. There is nothing stopping a Pilot PC, who is also really charming, being Intelligence Gathering based Duty.

You know, like how a Poe Dameron was going around all sneaky like, getting stolen information and hiding it in a droid, to try and help the Resistance. That seems like something only a Slicer PC would do right? Nope, apparently the best pilot in the galaxy is perfectly good at smuggling data. In fact, his ability to fly well is probably why they gave him the job, since he was more likely to be able to escape with his life, than the person who's only good at hacking.