Ok. So characters in EOTE can take extra Obligation during creation to get more starting XP or money. Paying back a monetary OB is easy. Take on 10 OB for 1000 credits and then either pay it back or fulfill some other requirement to have the OB forgiven. But OB for bonus XP seems a little different. Is a character required to sacrifice an amount of earned XP equal to that he got by taking added OB at creation? Or do you put a monetary value on that added OB? How does it work?

It's not something you should quantify. Game it. Make up a session about doing just that. Just my opinion.

10 OB for 1000 credits and then either pay it back

Oh, I would never offer that cheap a deal. This is the outer rim, and interest is killer. 10,000 credits, minimum (at our table at least).

As to your original question, Obligation isn't a tis-for-tat kind of mechanic. If you get money, it doesn't mean that you are in debt by that amount. Same with XP.

It all depends on the type of Obligation the character has. A Debt obligation is the most straight forward, but some require more of a narrative hook to increase/decrease. A character with Responsibility, for example, may have to spend time taking care of some errant (ideally during an adventure where time is of the essence). That may lower their obligation. Ignoring it may raise it.

Yet another abstract of the system, OB relies on the player and the GM to quantify it's value.

The first step would be coming up with what that XP represents in the character's back story. How did that character obtain that experience? What did they spend that experience on? An extra talent? Use that as a spring board for a mini story. Something like Grit on a Explorer/Fringer might mean that the PC spent the night lost in some harsh wilderness and lived to tell the tale. Now they can handle stress (Strain) that much better.

Then you have to determine an obligation source, and finally you can figure out how the PC might lower or repay that OB.

Personally, I handle OB repayment/accumulation on a 2 or 5 point basis. If they have done something really big, I go as high as ten points.

It's all relative to what happens in that session. Hope this helps!

The slicer in my group took on some extra obligation for XP. I said no prob. We talked about it, and I came up with the idea that the NPC who holds the lien on the Groups ship had let the PC tag along with some of his guys when they did a couple of computer jobs to get some hands on training (the XP), but in return for this training, he will ask a favor in return...ala Godfather.

To make a short story long here... I basically said ok, the NPC has some electronics records he wants wiped out when you get the chance. It was nothing ulta important or even vital to my game really. I said it was just some finical records of money the NPC owed. So when they got to the Wheel, he had access to the holonet, and went to work. I made up some difficulty, I think Medium-ish. He had the R2 unit help him out, so he got a boost die. He rolled really great and got a triumph. The PLAYER had the awesome idea to use the triumph to not only expunge the record for the Boss, but to turn these amounts owed over to one the Boss' NPC rivals!! I said hell yeah dude, thats great. Not only do you wipe out the 5 obligation you owed to the NPC, but he owes you 5 obligation now for not only doing this, but turning the tables on one his rivals.

My idea about Obligation is that it is not money, it is about favors, dealings, connections, and hookups. Things that are intangible. Sure you can get bonus credits for obligation, but it is not always about repaying that amount back. It is not a loan perse. It could be, but that is too boring in my opinion. It's hey you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours. It's hey i loaned you that cash, now my friend over here is in trouble, go help him out and we are even. Or a little closer to being even anyway.

I am wanting my group's Obligation to be fluid, to always be evolving, going up and down, getting rid of one obligation and picking up another. Thier contacts will even owe them some obligation.

Everyone in my group each owes 5 obligation to the guy that owns their ship, in addition to the cash amount. He told them that a friend of his, Reom, needed some help. Go talk to him, do the job for him, and I will reduce your obligation to me by 1 each. (And I get a little discount on his wares) but the group doesn't need to know that.

Well, thats how I am working it with my guys. Hope my mad ramblings help a little.

Oh, I would never offer that cheap a deal. This is the outer rim, and interest is killer. 10,000 credits, minimum (at our table at least).

Really? That little? For 5 Obligation, I'd have the minimum be 50,000 credits plus interest and favors owed.

Pretty much everyone else has hit the nail on the head with regards for Obligation, but I just want to point out something specific about Debt that the book mentions: it's almost never for the original amount. Like I just mentioned, when you owe money to a loan shark, the interest is pretty outrageous. This goes double if you owe it to a crime lord. Plus, they're going to expect some further favors, and will do everything to keep that debt in place. Even if a player managed to pony up the 100,000 credits needed to pay off their Obligation, the Hutt she owed it to would say there's still some debt left, "and I have the perfect way for you to earn it."

Oh, I would never offer that cheap a deal. This is the outer rim, and interest is killer. 10,000 credits, minimum (at our table at least).

Really? That little? For 5 Obligation, I'd have the minimum be 50,000 credits plus interest and favors owed.

Pretty much everyone else has hit the nail on the head with regards for Obligation, but I just want to point out something specific about Debt that the book mentions: it's almost never for the original amount. Like I just mentioned, when you owe money to a loan shark, the interest is pretty outrageous. This goes double if you owe it to a crime lord. Plus, they're going to expect some further favors, and will do everything to keep that debt in place. Even if a player managed to pony up the 100,000 credits needed to pay off their Obligation, the Hutt she owed it to would say there's still some debt left, "and I have the perfect way for you to earn it."

I find that if you set the bar too high, then the players don't feel as obligated to pay it back. It becomes too much of plot device rather than something they need to take care of.

If a player has 5000 credits, I want them to wrestle with the choice of paying off Obligation and buying something. If 5000 only takes off 1 Obligation point, then it's not much of a contest. If it's 5 points, though, then that's a real choice.

I also am pretty loose with handing out new Obligations, so then it becomes a matter of "pay this off before you start drowning."

I'm guilty of handling Debt the same way I handle favor. "Do this task for me and we can forgive some of your debt"

In other cases, I have had my players score a small cache of goods only to turn around and remind the player that his character has a debt to pay.

I tend to use it as something that is there, you know it but you can't quantify it...like the family or favor obligation. Will it ever be fully replayed...or will you end up repaying it over and over and over...most of these debts can never be satisfied.

I let any Obligation be paid off fairly easily. Of course, often doing so picks up new Obligation, so it all balances. I would just rather see shifting Obligations rather than a fixed character weakness.

I'm guilty of handling Debt the same way I handle favor. "Do this task for me and we can forgive some of your debt"

Exactly this. The game discourages actively having to nickel-and-dime out credits to reduce a Debt Obligation. And if that is occasionally a way to do it, I don't think the game intends that to be the norm. The person who is owed debt gets much more out of you than just cash if they play things right, they get deniable assets.

My question is this: what would you do if a player fully paid off his or her Obligation?

The book insists that Obligation can never really get paid off, and if it is, he or she is considered to have "minimal" Obligation. Personally, I feel a player is fully able to pay off Obligation and live free of its effects (except for the standard 1 Strain if it pings for the group), but with the warning that without Obligation, their narrative impact decreases dramatically. If a player goes on without Obligation for several sessions, I would probably insist we work together to create a new Obligation, to keep the character relevant, or else that the player create a new character.

I wouldn't force it, since the game's about having fun, but I feel like the player might not really be having fun if they don't have any Obligation at all.

Some players and GMs will be just fine without having an Obligation at all times. There's nothing wrong with living free and clear for a time. However, it's borrowed time and a minimum level of 5 in some Obligation is likely to develop if the character keeps living on the Edge.

Indeed, while theres nothing necessarily wrong with living "without obligation", due to being on the fronteer of space it's nearly inevitable that at some point or other they will pick up another, either due to a personal grudge bared by another entiy, family or goes one step over the law means that they will likely have an obiligation at some point or other. Even if it's merely a generic criminal obigation (that the empire want to capture him for crimes)

Obligation is a roleplaying tool rather then a cost and should be seen as such.