Tell me about STAR WARS: EDGE OF EMPIRE

Bagpuss · Jul 8, 2013

Crothian said:
What is it that separates this version of Star Wars from the others? Someone mentions something called Obligation so what is that in these rules and how does that work?

Hard to say without any fore knowledge of the others.... However

Every character in EotE starts with an Obligation of some form to some one (or some group, or some thing). This is represented by a numerical value which indicates the strength of the Obligation and a type. These can be determined randomly or chosen based on character background.

Examples of Obligations are Addiction, a Bounty on there head, a Debt to pay, Family or a Favour owed. Sort of like how Han had a Debt to Jabba, that became a Bounty. You could even say Luke had an Obsession to find Leia.

You pool the values of the party Obligations to get a value usually somewhere between 40 and 60. At the start of each session the GM rolls percentile dice and if the result is lower than the combined Obligation Pool then it is triggered and the group suffer a penalty during that session, as the pressure of the obligation takes effect. The GM can choose to leave it as that or actually have something related appear in the session, like Bounty Hunters turn up for example.

There are about six pages on Obligation in the character creation area and another four in the GM section, so I'm leaving a lot out. Like how you can lower or raise your obligations or gain them in play or what they might mean to other NPCs.

It seems to me that Obligation is particularly suited to the campaigns Edge of the Empire is designed to support, it isn't something I'd expect Rebel commandos to worry about in the second book, or Jedi in the third.

Crothian · Jul 8, 2013

So the game forces each character to have a specific flaw? Usually games have flaws as optional. What is the group penalty that happens? Do multiple penalties stack? If each of the 5 PCs has at least a 40% each of their obligation causing a penalty then the odds of multiple obligations occurring the same session is pretty good. In the video it seemed to indicate that characters get extra points for character generation for taking an Obligation. That leads one down the road to encourage min maxing like in the old days of World of Darkness.

Bagpuss · Jul 8, 2013

Crothian said:
So the game forces each character to have a specific flaw? Usually games have flaws as optional.

It is becoming more common for flaws to be required in character creation, particularly if they tie the character to the world, and give more plot hooks, which is what Obligations do.

What is the group penalty that happens? Do multiple penalties stack?

Every character has their Strain Threshold reduced by 1, but the player who's Obligation triggered it has his reduced by 2. This means they are more likely to be overcome by strain effects. Strain is any non-lethal impairment a character might face, exhaustion, stress, etc.

Only one Obligation is triggered at most per session so stacking this penalty isn't an issue.

If each of the 5 PCs has at least a 40% each of their obligation causing a penalty then the odds of multiple obligations occurring the same session is pretty good.

Only one can ever be triggered, the starting obligation depends on the size of the group, so with group of only two players each has a starting obligation of 20, but a group of 4 each has a starting obligation of 10. But you can elect to have more for xp or starting cash.

You then create an obligation table for the group, so player one might have a favour obligation of 15 and player two a debt of 10, so on the table 1 to 15 would trigger player one's obligation while 16 to 25 would trigger player two's... And so on.

In the video it seemed to indicate that characters get extra points for character generation for taking an Obligation. That leads one down the road to encourage min maxing like in the old days of World of Darkness.

Min-maxing comes from taking flaws that don't really come up in play, obligations will. Also it isn't a static value, it will go up and down in play, and you could end up with multiple ones.

So say you have a Debt to a Hutt, you might do a mission for him, and that pays off part of the Debt, so the obligation drops, or you might need to get some help from a smuggler, and in return you gain a Favour Obligation to them that might come into play later.

It is part currency, part reputation and part plot driving device, and I think pretty thematic to a campaign set on the edge of the empire, where not all trades are done for cash.

Agatheron · Jul 8, 2013

Multiple obligation is rare, although I did roll it for my first character. Usually one will only have one obligation, but its the magnitude that matters. It's a way of developing a character's background in a way that manifests itself in the game or could even be a plot point to drive a story forward. Han's debt to Jabba is a perfect example of this becoming more tha just a background point.

Building a single character with 40 Obligation is do-able but really high (mine has 20), and would likely have that character's obligation driving a hunk of the plot. However, obligation can also be paid down, and the system encourages them to do that. Obligation also can be taken on as a favour that an NPC does for them instead of having to pay raw currency.

Characters usually start with a base obligation of no more than 5-10. This is usually represented in that a party is expected to start with a Starship of their own. Additional obligation can be taken for more money or experience.

i like the dynamic of how it works... And it allows for a lot of improvisational situations in games, and is very flavourful.

Crothian · Jul 8, 2013

Bagpuss said:
Min-maxing comes from taking flaws that don't really come up in play, obligations will. Also it isn't a static value, it will go up and down in play, and you could end up with multiple ones.

An obligation that only comes up 10% of the time sounds a lot like "don't really come up in play". Or on the other hand where you have one player take a ridiculously high Obligation and his characters plot overwhelms the campaign because it comes up every week. Does the book talk about these situations and how to deal with them? Heck, I'd suggest all the PCs max out Obligation knowing that only one can ever matter in a session.

Agatheron posts sounds like one rolls on a table or something for Obligation. So, how is character generation? Is it rolled or point based? How are characters made.

Bagpuss · Jul 8, 2013

Crothian said:
An obligation that only comes up 10% of the time sounds a lot like "don't really come up in play".

It might not but 10% is probably the minimum most players can start with unless you have a really large group.

Or on the other hand where you have one player take a ridiculously high Obligation and his characters plot overwhelms the campaign because it comes up every week. Does the book talk about these situations and how to deal with them?

As I mentioned earlier it is up to the GM if the rolled Obligation actually has any real appearance in the actual session, or just plays on their minds giving the reduced Strain Threshold, which overly punishes the player responsible for the Obligatn that is rolled. So the GM isn't forced to give the player the spotlight because of some roll.

Heck, I'd suggest all the PCs max out Obligation knowing that only one can ever matter in a session.

Well if your group Obligation total is low then there it is more likely that you won't have a penalty at all, also if your obligation pool goes over 100 then it triggers every session also it plays on the PCs mind so much they can't spend any XP. So it isn't really advisable.

Agatheron posts sounds like one rolls on a table or something for Obligation. So, how is character generation? Is it rolled or point based? How are characters made.

Obligations can be selected based on back story or rolled for randomly.

Character generation is a case of selecting a concept and background, this step has no mechanical effect, just helps guide your choices later on.

Next determine a starting Obligation
Select a Species.
Select a Career.
Select a Specialisations (first one free)
Invest XP
determine derived attributes
determine motivations
gear and aappearance
select ship

your species determine your base attributes and starting XP pool which you use to buy everything. You can get a tiny extra amount (about 10% of what you get from your species) of XP to spend by upping your obligation.

career and specialisations give you some free skills, you can buy more with the pool of XP you start with. You can also improve attributes and get other talents with the XP.

thewok · Jul 9, 2013

Agatheron said:
Building a single character with 40 Obligation is do-able but really high (mine has 20), and would likely have that character's obligation driving a hunk of the plot.

It should be noted that the only way to get an obligation magnitude of 40 is during play. Each of the extra obligation choices can be taken only once. You can only ever take on an extra 15 obligation for more cash or xp. So, with two players, you'd have a starting obligation of 20. Then you could add the +10 obligation once and the +5 obligation once for a total of 35.

Agatheron · Jul 9, 2013

My understanding is that there are four options to increase one's obligation at character creation. Two cost 5 obligation, and two cost 10. You can only take each option once. If you take all of them, you could add 30 to a single character's obligation in return for what is 15xp, and 3,500 extra credits total. As ones "base" obligation is likely 10 already, it will then be 40. Is that worth the risk of more frequent strain? I can't say, but I wouldn't want to push it.

@Crothian: you can choose to roll on a table or choose your obligation type, you're not tied to one or another. I chose to roll, because I wanted to see where the dice landed as a starting point. Sometimes the randomness can lend for a seed of creativity, but its not necessary if you have a clear concept on a character you want to play.

thewok · Jul 9, 2013

Looking at the new table in the released rulebook, you may be right, Agatheron. I was going by the beta chart, which I read as having two options for each addition to obligation (either xp or credits). The new table does seem to follow your interpretation, so I guess I was wrong.

Bagpuss · Jul 9, 2013

There is a second requirement if you read it carefully. "Player Characters cannot gain more additional Obligation than their original starting value".

So in a two player game where players have 20 starting Obligation they could take an additional 20 Obligation for a total of 40 each and Group Obligation of 80.

In a three player starting 15 they could each have 30 in total for Group of 90.

In a four or five they start with 10 and could each have a max of 20, for a total of 80 or 100.