How are folks deciding how much characters owe for their debt?
One of my players, a scoundrel, has a debt obligation of 20 (gambling debts) and wants to know how much he owes.
The book has an example on page 310 of a character with a debt of 10, owing 50,000 credits. That seems a lot to me.
That's obligation for you. It's something you can't get rid of that easily. If you could ignore or wave your obligation goodbye it would contradicte the concept of obligation.
One of my players has a debt to pay to a mining company and it represents a lot of credit to lose a mining facility. So he has to pay it back.
Obligation is something that your player will never get rid of.
I guess that when AoR is out he can get a Duty to back it up.
But whatever happens, as stated in the EotE core Rulebook, an obligation can't get under 5.
In my opinion, the fact it can't go under 5 is the residual memory of an infraction. For example, your wanted as a suspect in the murder of a former Senator. You flee the system and a bounty is issued. Your awarded a 10 bounty obligation. You can deal with the bounty but the bottom 5 is the fact you'll never be completely clear of the implications. People will still think you did it, law enforcement might hound you and the family members might slander you.
Such is the life on the fringe.
it is totally up to you, but remember if they took extra obligation at character creation, than it shouldn't be that easy to just pay it off. I honestly don't know why Jay Little wanted this game to revolve around such an abstract mechanic.
I understand it well... Obligation is a great resource for GMs to use as hooks for adventures, and to give a much greater depth to integrating character backgrounds into the cooperative storytelling experience.
A debt obligation of 20 is pretty large, and having it represent a 20,000 to 25,000 debt is certainly well within the parameters of the game. Obligation isn't something that can be blown off in a few sessions of gameplay, but hangs over the players as an obstacle while they try to make their way in a very dark time. Struggling against the odds is one of the base heroic stories... I like it.
