I'm starting a campaign where the group owes obligation to a mysterious entity that tells them to go on missions every now and again. Though this obligation is going to be used to drive the story, all of the players have their own (example: the Bothan has a bounty on his head.)

My question is primarily how to handle that group obligation. If they were on a mission and they trigger the debt obligation, how would it play into the game? Would the entity nag them to hurry it up, or would rivals to the entity start making things difficult? Or is the fact that they have to run jobs for the entity enough of a burden?

I was also going to have them do side jobs and allow them to explore the galaxy on their own until their obligation to that entity came up, causing them either to run consecutive missions or actually have a few sessions in a row where they are doing other stuff entirely.

Thanks for the help, the group is really looking forward to the game, especially since they're all of the Technician Career path with assorted specializations.

I considered this for a bit when I started my own campaign also, but ended up coming to the conclusion that each player had thier own obligation, that normally did not have anything to do with the main campaign, so I was NOT going to add the obligation to the main story villian/NPC. Since the mystery guy is part of the campaign, theres no real need to add it as obligation to the players. They will most likely follow the story laid out for them regardless and the obligation they do have, like the debt when it comes up, either adds a side story/mission to the main mission or is simply handwaved into strain reduction if it does not fit the main story at the time.

Remember that each players obligation may have nothing to do with the main story, so bringing in something for a player when his obligation comes up, either is ignored like above with strain reduction or adds a side encounter. Of course it CAN tie into the main story too, but do whatever just feel right.

An example: One player has an obigation the a black sun vigo. He owes them a debt or favor. In the main story, he enters a casino that is part of the main mission, but whos to say that a black sun guy is not there also, and may recognize the player, and threatens him a bit, or some other thing. Maybe he just asks for a small payment, which the player pays and the NPC then brings to the vigo thus lowering the players obligation by a little bit. Or maybe the player refuses and takes the threat badly. They fight. If the players win, then maybe the obligation increases.

There are no hard and fast rules for obligation. do what you wish whenever you wish, be it handwaving, adding in a side story, or linking to the mian mission, its all up to you.

Here is one of my all-time favorite invocations of Obligation.

GM: "You all look up out of the cockpit of your landed ship, where you see a guy standing outside your ship looking back at you with a blaster, crossed arms... and Mandalorian armor."

Player: "... bounty hunter?"

GM: "... you just stole from the biggest crime syndicate in the galaxy! They put out a 150,000 credit bounty on your heads! You've had an Obligation of 115 over the past three sessions!!"

Player: "... do the escape pods in this ship work still?"

Okay, I think i'm understanding the role of the obligation. My intention is to provide weight to main story, even when they would be getting very little or no money from the adventures.

Your Black Sun example, Bravo, illustrated its uses rather well. Basically, if the Benefactor's obligation triggers when they're on a smuggling mission they picked up from a shady contact in Nar Shadda, they might get an urgent transmission from the Benefactor. The resulting pulse might alert the authorities they're trying to avoid to their presence. Or perhaps an agent of the Benefactor informs them they will be flagged to Imperial authorities unless they make all speed to the destination the Benefactor provided. They can still run the smuggling mission, but it just got a lot more complicated, unless they can negotiate a compromise (like the credits will help them prepare for the Benefactor's task).

Granted, these are rather rough examples, but hopefully they convey the idea that they can ignore the Benefactor, but possibly to their cost. It could also make an interesting spin-off plot for them running from the Benefactor if that is their choice.

For context, the group is bound for Kessel as prisoners aboard a prison barge for assorted crimes. The Benefactor provided them the means to escape, but requires them to repay their debt by doing jobs for the Benefactor. I intended to represent this debt with the obligation system, partially to help myself and the players explore the concept.

You got it right. The examples are rough like you said but they can really be used in any manner.

"They can still run the smuggling mission, but it just got a lot more complicated , unless they can negotiate a compromise"

-This

that bolded line is how I like to think about obligation coming up. It can be tied to the main story or not, but typically makes whatever they do that much tougher or adds another plotline.