Issue: How do you, as a GM, narrate the result of the group's Duty roll - to weave it into the play session in a sensical fashion.

After wrapping up a 3-year EotE campaign, our play group is rolling up new characters for an AOR campaign. As we make the switch, we are shifting gears from incorporating Obligation to weaving Duty into our characters and the story.

We understand that, unlike Obligation and seeking ways to reduce it, Duty is a "good thing" that players want to seek opportunity to INCREASE over time. Both for the benefits of hitting the 100 threshold for the group and for the per-session benefits if the dice roll triggers someone's Duty.

What we DON'T fully grasp yet is how that Duty roll "looks" in a session's storyline. For instance, if I roll the EotE group Obligation (I traditionally do so at the END of session to give myself a week to think) and someone's triggers, I will create a narrative element where something (or someone) from a character's backstory or personal story arc appears in the planned session storyline - which creates anxiety for that character, etc ... which in turn is mechanically represented by a temporarily lowered strain threshold for that PC and his companions. It also reminds the PC about this lingering thing hanging over his head and to look for ways to free himself of it. That is how we have played Obligation and it generally works very smoothly in our storytelling.

But what does Duty "look like" in AOR? Two things we are trying to interpret from the RAW:

(1) Does a "successful" Duty roll call for an alteration in the session story line, to highlight that aspect of a particular character? As I think about it, I DON'T think that rolling a "Combat Victory" duty result would trigger a combat encounter to be woven into the planned session. The way I see it, if CV is rolled, and a combat encounter is added, that PC will likely earn MORE points in CV duty, which marginally increases its chance to be rolled the NEXT time. All of a sudden, there is this snowball effect (potentially) as one character's duty starts to gradually dominate the group session after session until they hit 100 and the group score resets.

(2) What does the temporary increase in wound threshold "look like" in game? How do the PC's experience that in a narrative (not mechanical) fashion? Is it as simple as someone recalls how awesome they are doing in their contribution to the Rebellion (their Duty is rolled) and suddenly the whole group feels empowered b/c one person is feeling good about themselves???

Bottomline: we get how Duty works mechanically. But we have really embraced the "collaborative storytelling" aspect of FFG SW (and other games for that matter), and we want to understand how to narrate the Duty roll in a way that smoothly incorporates it into the group story for that session without looking like a potentially awkward game mechanic inject.

Thanks in advance!

GM Khyrith

1) Ehh, not necessarily. Sometimes it can be them getting tapped for a special mission, but most of the time it consists of Command giving them a pat on the back and a "good job kiddo!"

2) Commitment to the cause. They're more willing to charge that line and keep going once their bodies want to give out because they're modivated.

"Ya know, that convoy we hit the other day got me thinking (Space Superiority duty triggered). For all the invincible, unlimited Empire's might, we beat them. Up real close to their faces. Makes me think maybe we're a part of something that stands a real chance of changing the Galaxy for the better."

1 hour ago, Khyrith said:

For instance, if I roll the EotE group Obligation (I traditionally do so at the END of session to give myself a week to think) and someone's triggers, I will create a narrative element where something (or someone) from a character's backstory or personal story arc appears in the planned session storyline - which creates anxiety for that character, etc ... which in turn is mechanically represented by a temporarily lowered strain threshold for that PC and his companions. It also reminds the PC about this lingering thing hanging over his head and to look for ways to free himself of it. That is how we have played Obligation and it generally works very smoothly in our storytelling.

I would say you've already got the bones of it here. Rolling at the end of a session is key, and then finding a way to work that particular Duty into the next session. Mechanically, it's an increased wound threshold; narratively, the Commando is reminded of her Combat Victory by a book she's read/a dream she had/she woke up on the right side of the bed. That makes her fired up to do her part for the Alliance (+2 wound threshold to her) and her enthusiasm is infectious for the rest of her team (+1 wound threshold to them). It's the same as Obligation, where one character's anxiety over their problem makes everyone else anxious about their own problems.

Incidentally, you don't—strictly speaking—need to actually involve that person's Duty, if your planned session doesn't have room for it. It's just that their own goals are inspiring them. The player could also be responsible for finding their own opportunity to involve their Duty, and they get a bonus for doing so.

To be honest, I don't love the Duty mechanic, much like I don't love the Morality mechanic. I came up with a house rule, in which we forego individual Duty scores and instead tally up the Group Duty score. Then, at the end of each session, we just quickly reviewed everyone's Duty to decide if anyone accomplished anything towards it. Based on what they had done, they increased the Group Duty score by a certain amount—do a little, get 5 Duty; do what's expected, get 10 Duty; go above and beyond, get 15 Duty. Every time the Group Duty score passed 100, increment the group's rank by 1, then subtract 100 from the Group Duty score.

To make up for the lost Duty roll, I assigned each character a number—I had four players—and rolled a d6. If one of their numbers came up, same effect as the regular Duty roll; if nobody's number came up, nothing happened. And if there was room to fit their Duty into the next session, I made sure to do so.

It made bookkeeping on my end much easier. Unfortunately, the game I was testing it in ended prematurely, so I never got to really stress-test it. My players were fine with it, though.

Hm, that is an excellent question! I always considered Obligation, Duty, and Morality rolls to be kinda "meta" and the narration would play out over the next session -- I too roll at the end of the previous session so I have some time to mull it over. The way I've played it is that the results of the roll are the seasoning for the entire next session.

To directly address your questions:

1. I believe triggering a PC's Duty does in fact change the session, but it doesn't have to be as rote as the text on the page - for example, "Combat Victory" could be the PCs delivering critical supplies to an embattled cruiser, or helping get a planetary defense grid online. I think what sets this apart is that the stakes are higher. Maybe the players have some idea why it's so important - the onus is not entirely the GM's to figure this out.
2. I like to think it's attributed to adrenaline - the PCs have a mission that means something to them and they are psyched to contribute in the way they feel that they can do best, e.g. "This is what I'm here to do!"

I agree with the sentiments expressed regarding Duty that some of our peers have posted here, and I have often wondered if duty as a team made more sense. I have yet to try it.

15 minutes ago, CaptainRaspberry said:

Based on what they had done, they increased the Group Duty score by a certain amount—do a little, get 5 Duty; do what's expected, get 10 Duty; go above and beyond, get 15 Duty. Every time the Group Duty score passed 100, increment the group's rank by 1, then subtract 100 from the Group Duty score.

Thanks for this. That is also running through my head, ie: establish a threshold for a Duty award. Our biggest min-max'er / powergamer has left our group, but I want to ensure we set a minimum accomplishment for receiving a Duty award. Would prefer to avoid the "Sabotage" guy from smashing every crate, or the Combat Victory guy from shooting every MSE droid -- just to rack up Duty pts as if this were WOW or DDO or some other video game.

Example: For CV (and similarly for space superiority), I was thinking he would have to contribute greatly to a SIGNIFICANT combat encounter. Like taking on a Rival 1v1, or perhaps taking out a crew-served heavy weapon. Simply wiping the floor with minions wouldn't meet the threshold (everyone does that), unless he's single-handedly wiping out several minion groups in an encounter.

4 hours ago, themensch said:

I agree with the sentiments expressed regarding Duty that some of our peers have posted here, and I have often wondered if duty as a team made more sense. I have yet to try it.

That's an idea I've toyed with: have everyone choose one or two Duties that are shared by the group, and make that their team's "mission profile," as it were.

The only downside I can see is there's no clear way to determine if/when someone gets that boost to their wound threshold. I guess you could just roll a die based on how many people are in your game (e.g., if you have four players, roll a d6 and assign each player a number) or you could somehow tie it to certain missions that align really closely with their chosen Duties.

4 hours ago, Khyrith said:

That is also running through my head, ie: establish a threshold for a Duty award. Our biggest min-max'er / powergamer has left our group, but I want to ensure we set a minimum accomplishment for receiving a Duty award. Would prefer to avoid the "Sabotage" guy from smashing every crate, or the Combat Victory guy from shooting every MSE droid -- just to rack up Duty pts as if this were WOW or DDO or some other video game.

Definitely use "significant" as your watchword, but don't set the bar too high. Remember that everyone should get the chance to be a hero. Your Combat Victory Commando doesn't have to kill everyone in a Star Destroyer for it to count, he just has to be an effective fighter in a skirmish, maybe inspire some NPCs with his heroism and bravery. Or maybe, like @themensch suggested, he's doing something to contribute to someone else's victory in combat without being directly involved.

This system is very fluid, and it works best when you embrace the different interpretations a phrase like "Combat Victory" can have.