Hello,

So I've been struggling to come up with how to use my obligation for the players.

It seems odd to roll in the beginning of the session as to me it seems like it should be a mission unto itself.

Even just throwing in a bounty hunter can often derail the current plot.

What do you most often find yourselves doing with it? Any examples of how you have used it.

How often do you add additional obligation to the group for what they've done.

Forgive me if this was repeated. I did see alot of on obligation but none of them really addressed the concerns and I was curious to see examples of what other GM's have done with their players.

Remember you don't have to incorporate the obligation in the plot just because it's been rolled up - it may just create penalties to strain because the PCs are pre-occupied with their problems. If you think dropping in an extra element will disrupt your scenario, then hold off on adding it.

I am in the middle of preparing my campaign, but as I'm noting down the first scenario I want to run I'm keeping an eye out for places where an obligation could be dropped in if rolled up.

I can't offer examples, but Obligation can function in two different ways. The first is to add potential complications during play on an existing adventure, which means the GM will be ad-libbing a lot. The other part is to go with it, that the obligation itself becomes the focus or at minimum the entry point into a given adventure.

Keep in mind that unless your players horrifically stack up obligation on character creation, it may only show up about 50% of the time or less. If you do roll it, all it can mean is that your players feel the stress of the obligation while they're trying to get things done (Strain). Sicking a bounty hunter on them is intended to be a consequence of repeatedly ignoring one's obligation... so it's not going to be every session... but if the players ignore their obligation or even add to it, then you can start planning for those consequences.

As i have read it, they are more like scenes, or maybe a character makes an appearance that complicates things for the party. They aren't meant to be so much as derail the plot, but make obligation add onto the plot in some small way. Just the presence of a BH can have implications if the party has become aware they are being actively hunted down and the hunter is in the vicinity.

Also remember, this is the price they pay for taking extra obligation at character creation. They have to pay for those extra credits and xp some day lol.

1) My response is going to be pretty long.

2) This response will contain minor spoilers for the adventure, SHADOWS OF A BLACK SUN.

3) I have not GM'd EotE yet, so my response is entirely theoretical.

So...

Based on the description in the book, it seems clear that the game designers want Obligation to be a bit of a wild card, but not one that disrupts your game. It's meant to enhance, not disrupt, game play. In that sense, you should NEVER feel obliged to gut or even alter your intended tale because of the random results of a die roll.

Personally, I view Obligation as the potential for "story seasoning," or setting a secondary tone/"B-story." I do my campaign like a TV series (22 sessions per season, complete with a mid-season and season finale) and I see Obligation as a way to add another layer of things.

Consider a show like BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. At its core, each episode is about pretty much the same thing: Buffy defeats the Monster of the Week. (Note: If you're a big Buffy fan, as I am, please don't call me to task on this oversimplification; I'm trying to make a point.) But depending on whose "obligation" has come up, how the episode plays out is going to differ: Are Xander and Anya arguing this week? Or is Buffy trying to figure out what she can do besides kill critters? Or maybe Willow is concerned that she might "fall to the dark side"? Or maybe Spike is particularly maudlin over Buffy... Regardless of the spin, the end result will be the same (Monster of the Week is defeated), but the path and tone might differ.

For GMs and players who relish the "role-playing" aspect of the game, I think this is a fantastic tool. Similarly, for a GM looking for some random "spice" session to session, there's just so much potential...

SHADOWS OF THE BLACK SUN gives some great minor manifestations of Obligation. They vary in detail, but all boil down to the same thing: If the PC's Obligation is activated, things get just a little more difficult for the PCs.

Character A's Obligation is Favor (basically, she works as a slicer for some criminals). If active, there's one scene where her attempts to get into a business's system are upgraded because high-end corporations know about her growing reputation are setting up counter-measures.

Character B has Family (both he and his brother work for the same crime syndicate). In the adventure, there's one particular social actions where the difficulty of skill checks get harder because the criminals the PCs are dealing with recognize the PC (and don't especially like/respect the brother).

Character C has Criminal (she's from a family of criminals). If her Obligation is active, security cameras pick her up at one point (assuming the PCs take certain actions) and move in to arrest her. Although this IS an additional encounter, it's relatively minor one.

Character D has Betrayal (a fellow bounty hunter as a minor nemesis). If this Obligation becomes active, the nemesis shows up -- but rather than a new encounter, he joins some criminals in an encounter that would happen either way. His appearance just makes the fight harder.

Note that none of these options are especially intrusive to the overall plot. Three of the four make a single encounter or challenge a bit harder. The fourth is a larger complication, but still more of a hassle than a true fight. I think that's an excellent way to approach things: don't disrupt your own plot, but look for some way to make things just a little more difficult for the characters, just once, during the session. (Note that in the SHADOWS OF THE BLACK SUN adventure, most of this complications impact the group as a whole, but the "offending" player in particular).

I think another good way to activate an Obligation without disrupting a story too much is incorporate it into something that was going to happen already. For example, in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, Vader MUST get to Bespin eventually for the story to work, but perhaps Boba Fett wasn't originally involved -- until Han Solo's Obligation came up...

In our first game running the corebook adventure, I just used Ob to determine why they were on the planet to begin with (following up on a lead). I did not do Strain the first time out.

I have a Wookie criminal in my group, A few imperial agents have shown up to make a fight or two more interesting, as his obligation has come up a few times.... I plan on using this for a plot hook to lead into Only Two Ways Home . Imperial agents seeking out the Wookie will capture the group, and then offer to clear the Wookie of his charges, if the group can manage to capture someone for them. I have a Bothan drug addict in my group as well... One of these days I'm going to roll that characters obligation and the session will him having a bad trip. I figure having him wake up on the Star Destroyer Vector, and the rest of the group all being paranoid/distrustful of him would make for some fun. Debit is kind of straight forward..... If I roll up debit a few too many times people will be coming to collect.

I've only run a couple of groups through the Beginner Box, so I'm not 100% on how I'd use Obligation in-game - but I've been GMing other games for a long time, and I find that it's usually pretty handy to have something I can pull out to motivate the PCs mid-game.

For example, many obligations could be used as the "hook" to bring PCs into an adventure. Instead of the PCs getting an adventure from an old man in a cantina, they could be given the job by the crime lord who they owe money to, or by a family member, and so on. If they go off-track, and head to Tattooine when you were hoping they'd go to Coruscant, for example, that's a perfect time for a bounty hunter to show up and start chasing them (not so much to get them back on the railroad, but because it's a mini-adventure you can prep ahead of time and pull out if you need it).

As far as adding obligation in-game, I would most likely use it as a "price" for them to get certain things. For example, one of the groups I ran in the Beginner Box realized they didn't have a good mechanic, and wanted to talk Vorn's R5 into joining them. If it hadn't been a one-shot, I probably would have said "Here's the deal - the droid will happily go with you, but one of you will have to take a 5-point Obligation for stealing the droid."

I don't think I'd give the PCs extra Obligation without at least warning them first. It seems to me that Obligation is something where the players should be able to influence how deep into the bantha fodder they want their characters to be. It should be hard, but not impossible, to lower Obligation, and it should always be very tempting (but dangerous) to take on more.

My most recent thought is that I will no longer be rolling Obligation at the start of a session. Instead, I'll be rolling it at the end of a session and the result will apply to the next session. This will give me the time to work the result of the roll into the events of the session, rather than just tacking them on at the last minute without any planning.

My most recent thought is that I will no longer be rolling Obligation at the start of a session. Instead, I'll be rolling it at the end of a session and the result will apply to the next session. This will give me the time to work the result of the roll into the events of the session, rather than just tacking them on at the last minute without any planning.

As soon as I take over the GMing duties for our group, this is how I've been planning on doing it.

I've been using Obligation as a way to let players choose to make things easier/harder for themselves. Sort of like a pay-me-Tuesday-for-a-hamburger-today thing. It gets a bit meta-gamey I suppose, but I've offered a reduction in Obligation in return for letting me add more foes, upgrade certain key check difficulties, etc. And on the flip side I'll occaisionally offer up Obligation increases or new obligation in return for a get-out-quick exchange like downgrading enemies to minions, having help show up, or just jump cutting to the players battered and banged up but somehow having triumphed over rediculous odds. All that is in addition to sitting back while players overtly act to increase or decrease obligations in play.

In terms of triggering an in-game manifestation of a character's personal baggage on doubles, I haven't really been that diligent about making sure it happens that or even next session. I wait for a moment when it makes sense to impact a session in a contextual way and just keep a sticky-note or a scribble to remind me that a given player has something headed their way. And thus far it has been more enjoyable in an odd way, for my players at least, when their Obligation triggers and it doesn't crop up that session. They know the boot is coming down and the paranoia can lead to interesting bits of fun. Such as that character deciding that they need to make good on some part of their Obligation before I have a chance to break Aunt Space-May's knees off camera.

An important note on this, the book states "...unless the characters frequently ignore opportunities to reduce their obligation, the GM cannot force the players to take on additional obligation beyond the start. The choice must be theirs, as an exercise in risk vs. reward." (pg. 309).

I'd give them offers they don't want to refuse (I am going to offer my players a new starship that isn't "marked" by the Imperial Navy as a ship of interest this week).

My players gave me ridiculous obligations to work with, each of which involves me traveling to their home world to deal with. Frustrating. So I am gonna put a little Hutt on their butt.

As far as adding obligation in-game, I would most likely use it as a "price" for them to get certain things. For example, one of the groups I ran in the Beginner Box realized they didn't have a good mechanic, and wanted to talk Vorn's R5 into joining them. If it hadn't been a one-shot, I probably would have said "Here's the deal - the droid will happily go with you, but one of you will have to take a 5-point Obligation for stealing the droid."

I don't think I'd give the PCs extra Obligation without at least warning them first. It seems to me that Obligation is something where the players should be able to influence how deep into the bantha fodder they want their characters to be. It should be hard, but not impossible, to lower Obligation, and it should always be very tempting (but dangerous) to take on more.

Last week I got my core rule book and spent time with my group fleshing out Obligations and clarifying Motivations so that I can have a kernel of info to spin encounters and mini-plots from.

During my prep time for game I will make my Ob checks and see if anyone activates, if so I will pre-empt or modify to accommodate the Obligation hooks. With Obligation I am basically letting the players personal stories win out over the scripted adventure.

The obligations in play at my table are all over the place but with a little work ensuring the Obligations and Motivations are overlapping with the story I am trying to tell it will be easy to move forward.