1 hour ago, DurosSpacer said:

There isn't a satisfying way. Sometimes you plan ONE adventure and then the Obligation roll inserts someone's past you hadn't planned on getting into. It F's it all up. For example, you land on a desolate moon. Not a single thing alive, but you roll someone's obligation and now you need to make it like the player feels stress from the bounty situation. We started just saying, "You feel stress. A bad memory." But that's so cheesy.

What we mostly do is ignore the narrative of the roll if it does not fit in, apply the penalties. In some games we ignore Obligation altogether. To us, it is background. Something you want to undo eventually. Use it more to form narrative and ignore rolling it. It just gets in the way of a good story.

You just quoted the edit that clarifies that this topic is not about the obligation roll and then proceeded to talk exclusively about the obligation roll.

9 hours ago, ddbrown30 said:

You just quoted the edit that clarifies that this topic is not about the obligation roll and then proceeded to talk exclusively about the obligation roll.

***Edit: Just to keep this discussion on track, I would like to clarify that I'm not talking about the obligation roll. My question is about how to weave the bounty obligation into the narrative in a satisfying way.***

How do you have a "bounty obligation" if you do not roll it??? There is no need to "weave the bounty obligation into the narrative" unless it comes up on the roll. You ignore it until it comes up, BTR. I just assumed it was double-talk nonsense, as in, "This Pink Elephant Post is not about the Pink Elephant. How can I best weave a Pink Elephant into the story?" That aside..... Outside of a roll, it is just character background. Weave it in like you would any other character background. Why would bounty obligation be different than any other obligation?

3 hours ago, DurosSpacer said:

How do you have a "bounty obligation" if you do not roll it??? There is no need to "weave the bounty obligation into the narrative" unless it comes up on the roll. You ignore it until it comes up, BTR. I just assumed it was double-talk nonsense, as in, "This Pink Elephant Post is not about the Pink Elephant. How can I best weave a Pink Elephant into the story?" That aside..... Outside of a roll, it is just character background. Weave it in like you would any other character background. Why would bounty obligation be different than any other obligation?

I really don't know how to respond to this. Yes, it is character background, but I can't just "weave it in like any other background." That's the whole purpose of the thread. I'm looking for advice on how to weave it in. Like, that's literally what I asked.

If it makes it easier to understand, if we pretend we're using D6 or D20 Star Wars, the question could be rephrased as, "One of my PCs has a bounty on them as part of their backstory. How can I weave that into the main narrative without it just being a combat encounter?"

On 6/21/2019 at 7:39 PM, DurosSpacer said:

How do you have a "bounty obligation" if you do not roll it???

Maybe he doesn't use that *$(%^& rule.

On 6/21/2019 at 9:16 AM, Rimsen said:

Roll it at the end of last session.

Bingo!!! That’s one very easy solution to that part of the problem.

15 hours ago, whafrog said:

Maybe he doesn't use that *$(%^& rule.

Always a possibility.

However you trigger a PC’s Obligation, it’s best to plan ahead for it before the session starts. That means it’s better to roll the Obligation at the end of the prior session. This will give you time to come up with an adventure that specifically focuses on that Obligation. If it’s the one PC’s Bounty, that comes up for the next session, knowing ahead of time that this is what’s been triggered for the following session, you cap plan around it specifically in whatever way fits best. If the current session ended at a point where such a scenario wouldn’t make sense, given the party’s location, or other factors, then ignore it. But if the party is in a position where they could potentially bump into bounty hunters, and the like, then you can plan an entire session around it, if you know it ahead of time.

Obligation is one mechanic that does require more pre-planning, so knowing ahead of time will better allow for you to plan your next session‘s adventure around it.

On 6/21/2019 at 2:16 PM, Rimsen said:

Roll it at the end of last session.

This is exactly how I plan to run obligation.

On 6/21/2019 at 3:16 PM, Rimsen said:

Roll it at the end of last session.

Exactly how I handle Obligation in my games.

It gives me time to prepare something appropriate and keeps my players on the edge of their seats till the next session to get to know whose / if any Obligation has triggered. 😃

Use it as the story needs. My PC's have played the same campaign for a while and they all have committed some kind of crime. They could have an Imperial agent or bounty hunter come after them every session given what some of the PC's have done in the past (not including backstory.)

If the PC's are getting too cocky, too lucky, too **** good, I'll throw a good bounty hunter at them. Even now they are way overdue but I wont throw just anything at them if the story and flow are going well.

This all changes given obligation and stuff.

The question you've posed is so broad that it makes me wonder if you've discussed who issued the bounty, why they issued bounty, and the price tag on the PC's head with the player.

Like a lot of questions that pop up on these boards, working with the player to come up with an intriguing backstory around the Obligation will inspire interesting encounters. Also, a bounty doesn't mean that only one un-killable hunter will come after and attack the Player Character, a la Boba Fett vs. Han Solo. It's perfectly legitimate to have a bunch of bush league hunters spring an ambush (a la Greedo) only to get blown away by the PCs.

Work with your player and get them to bring some cool ideas to the table. I'm generally a pro-player GM but at some point the players need to make a stake in their characters' backstories and do some of the creative heavy-lifting.

On 5/28/2019 at 8:02 AM, Stan Fresh said:

The hunter can steal their ship, or attack any other undefended party resource. Put the squeeze on contacts and allies. Cooperate with the local Imperial or planetary government.

Make the party come to the bounty hunter.

My favorite use was a bounty hunter that knew he couldn't take them in a straight fight, and needed them alive. So he snuck on the ship while they were out and when they came back, he was waiting on the bridge with an armed thermal detonator. The party couldn't attack because they would kill him, then the detonator destroys the bridge, costing a fortune, plus preventing a timely escape. I guess it is the only time I successfully held an inanimate object hostage.

6 hours ago, Edgookin said:

My favorite use was a bounty hunter that knew he couldn't take them in a straight fight, and needed them alive. So he snuck on the ship while they were out and when they came back, he was waiting on the bridge with an armed thermal detonator. The party couldn't attack because they would kill him, then the detonator destroys the bridge, costing a fortune, plus preventing a timely escape. I guess it is the only time I successfully held an inanimate object hostage.

I am absolutely stealing this idea.