Duty
Disadvantage, Social, Variable Cost
If your occupation and social situation saddle you with a significant personal obligation toward others, and occasionally require you to obey hazardous orders, you have a “Duty.” Duty most often accompanies Rank (p. 29), a Patron (p. 72), or one of the traits discussed under Privilege (p. 30). A particularly arduous job might qualify as a Duty, but most ordinary jobs would not. A wholly self-imposed feeling of duty is not a Duty, either (but it can still be a disadvantage; see Sense of Duty, p. 153). Finally, you cannot claim points for a Duty toward Dependents (p. 131); the points you get for Dependents already reflect your obligations in this regard.
The GM may restrict the Duties allowed in a campaign, or even forbid them entirely, if he feels they would unduly disrupt the flow of the adventure.
If you have a Duty, the GM rolls at the beginning of each adventure to see whether it comes into play. Being “called to duty” could delay your plans . . . or be the reason for the adventure! Alternatively, your master might give you a secret agenda to pursue, or his associates might harass you while you are officially “on leave.” If you try to avoid your Duty, your GM is within his rights to penalize you for bad role- playing.
The basic point cost of a Duty depends on the frequency with which comes up in play:
- Almost all the time (roll of 15 or less): -15 points. At this level, the GM may rule that you are always on duty.
- Quite often (roll of 12 or less): -10 points.
- Fairly often (roll of 9 or less): -5 points.
- Quite rarely (roll of 6 or less): -2 points.
This cost is for an occasionally hazardous Duty imposed through normal social means. If this does not describe your Duty, you should modify the cost:
- Extremely Hazardous: You are always at risk of death or serious injury when your Duty comes up. There are significant penalties if you refuse to take these risks: dismissal in disgrace, imprisonment, perhaps even death. The GM has the final say as to whether a given Duty is “extremely hazardous” in his campaign. -5 points.
- Involuntary: Your Duty is enforced by threats to you or your loved ones, or is imposed by exotic mind control, a curse, etc. This is unrelated to how hazardous the Duty is when you carry it out – the danger here lies in what will happen if you don’t carry it out! A Duty can be Involuntary and either Extremely Hazardous or Nonhazardous. -5 points.
- Nonhazardous: Your Duty never requires you to risk your life. This option is mutually exclusive with Extremely Hazardous. +5 points. (If this raises the cost of your Duty to 0 points or more, the obligation is too trivial to qualify as a Duty.)
Examples
- Example 1: A mayor is indebted to the crime lord who got him elected. His benefactor rarely calls on him for favors (-2 points), but since the mayor faces blackmail or violence if he refuses to comply, his Duty is Involuntary. Duty (Crime Lord, 6 or less; Involuntary) is worth -7 points.
- Example 2: A commando is always on duty (-15 points). He might see only a handful of combat assignments in his whole career, but these will be deadly. And his daily routine calls for him to jump out of planes, hike through snake-infested jungles, and train with live ammo. A commando has Duty (Army, 15 or less; Extremely Hazardous), for -20 points