Obligation and Morality

By Vipersfang00000, in Game Masters

If i have a group of characters from Edge of the Empire and one from Force and destiny... according to the books ( if i have read it correctly )you use both... Obligation and Morality.

but my question is this... if obligation is triggered and the group succumbs to strain... do ALL the players? even the one from F&D or just the ones with obligation?

1 minute ago, Vipersfang00000 said:

If i have a group of characters from Edge of the Empire and one from Force and destiny... according to the books ( if i have read it correctly )you use both... Obligation and Morality.

but my question is this... if obligation is triggered and the group succumbs to strain... do ALL the players? even the one from F&D or just the ones with obligation?

You have the choice of using either one, both, or any combination thereof.

Only characters that are using obligation would be affected by it, but whether a given character uses it, or morality, or both would really depend on what best fits the theme of the character and the campaign. If it's an Edge game and the force sensitivity of one PC is incidental to that then ignore morality and just use obligation.

The three lines have Obligation (Edge), Duty (Age) and Morality (Force). You can choose to use none, one, two, or all three if you want to. I have seen Game Masters who apply this choice on a "per-character-basis" within the same campaign. The Force-Sensitive characters (even the one with that Force-Sensitive Emergent universal specialization from Age of Rebellion) all used Morality, the soldier had Duty, and the Bounty Hunter used Obligation. When they Bounty Hunter officially joined a Hunter's Guild, she, too, gained a Duty score.

As far as I can tell, being away from my books currently, when Obligation is triggered, all characters suffer its effects (and the one whose Obligation triggered might suffer double under the proper circumstances). Duty also affects the group, basically, as the group as a whole benefits from Contribution Rank. Only Morality is a highly personal thematic rule, only affecting the character with it.

4 hours ago, Xcapobl said:

The three lines have Obligation (Edge), Duty (Age) and Morality (Force). You can choose to use none, one, two, or all three if you want to. I have seen Game Masters who apply this choice on a "per-character-basis" within the same campaign. The Force-Sensitive characters (even the one with that Force-Sensitive Emergent universal specialization from Age of Rebellion) all used Morality, the soldier had Duty, and the Bounty Hunter used Obligation. When they Bounty Hunter officially joined a Hunter's Guild, she, too, gained a Duty score.

As far as I can tell, being away from my books currently, when Obligation is triggered, all characters suffer its effects (and the one whose Obligation triggered might suffer double under the proper circumstances). Duty also affects the group, basically, as the group as a whole benefits from Contribution Rank. Only Morality is a highly personal thematic rule, only affecting the character with it.

Likewise.... Does Morality trigger on all players? I would assume not... Since its a Jedi guideline for goodness...

1 hour ago, Vipersfang00000 said:

Likewise.... Does Morality trigger on all players? I would assume not... Since its a Jedi guideline for goodness...

Not a Jedi Guideline, a force sensitive guideline. But yes, morality only triggers on force sensitive PC's.

7 hours ago, Xcapobl said:

As far as I can tell, being away from my books currently, when Obligation is triggered, all characters suffer its effects (and the one whose Obligation triggered might suffer double under the proper circumstances). Duty also affects the group, basically, as the group as a whole benefits from Contribution Rank. Only Morality is a highly personal thematic rule, only affecting the character with it.

I'm not sure that that's the case: the entries were written assuming that the entire group would be using the same mechanic. In a mixed group I'd be inclined to treat each thing on a per-character basis, especially since Obligation and Duty are almost opposite mechanics - and you could have characters with Duty to entirely unrelated organizations on top of that.

I apply the effects of Obligation and Duty to the entire party, regardless of whether all the characters have it, because I view it as affecting the social dynamic of the group. The reason I do this is based on the description in the book. Here's the one from EotE:41:

Quote

These mechanical effects represent either internal or external pressure on the Player Characters as a result of their Obligation. It could be as simple as the characters being worried about paying off their Obligations, and their concern distracting them and stressing them.

We're currently playing a mini two-player game. One PC has Obligation, the other has Duty. When his Bounty Obligation was rolled, it was weighing on his mind heavily, and she felt the effect of that. When her Tech Duty was rolled, she was very excited by what she was supplying to the Rebellion and that bolstered him as well.

(I have never dealt with Morality at all.)

9 hours ago, Vipersfang00000 said:

Likewise.... Does Morality trigger on all players? I would assume not... Since its a Jedi guideline for goodness...

"Morality ... only affecting the character with it."

I asume we mean the same? (Except for Morality being a Force-related thing, not specifically Jedi.)

6 hours ago, Garran said:

I'm not sure that that's the case: the entries were written assuming that the entire group would be using the same mechanic. In a mixed group I'd be inclined to treat each thing on a per-character basis, especially since Obligation and Duty are almost opposite mechanics - and you could have characters with Duty to entirely unrelated organizations on top of that.

If available to you, check Force and Destiny Core page 338 "Cross-Game Line Compatibility"

Basically, it says there are three options.

  • Choose one theme rule for the group (your first sentence assuming same mechanics).
  • Choose one theme rule per player (your second sentence about mixed group).
  • Choose to combine Morality with one of the other two theme rules.

Then, there's mention of other combinations. I would interpret this as the option to "freely and individually" combine. As I gave myexample about the Bounty Hunter with Obligation, also gaining Duty later on as the campaign progressed.