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Hired Gun Obligations

Bounty

This is a twist on the standard bounty Obligation. Somewhere in the galaxy is a target that the Hired Gun failed to kill, and he is still out there, victimizing the innocent or bragging about his survival. The character must deal with this being, whether because the escaped target may be a danger to him, or that he feels obligated to bring in the one that got away.

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Dutybound

The Hired Gun was once saved from certain death, or an unfulfilled contract, by someone he would never have expected to aid him. He knows that debt is due someday and he's going to have to save someone in turn. This focuses the Dutybound Obligation on the Hired Gun's stock-in-trade: fighting and killing.

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Responsibility

Some say (with good reason) that Hired Guns should not make friends. A personal relation of the character is another Hired Gun or similar career, and not a very good one. The character helped him once, and he is out there in the wider galaxy fumbling around, causing trouble for himself and others. Because of that one act of kindness, he might call upon the character to help him at any time.

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Favor

Favors are often an obligation in a Hired Gun's past. Many start their careers with either a mentor or a sponsor, and owe that person for their support. In the case of the mentor, the Hired Gun might be more than willing to repay past support with a favor now that he's made it in the galaxy. Other sponsors, however, might have been less altruistic about supporting the Hired Gun's career. The favors they call in could be something the Hired Gun finds unsavory or even morally wrong.

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Family

The character has struggled out of the slime pits at the very bottom of galactic society with an almost pathological frenzy to escape everything from his past. And yet, some residual family obligation still remains. Maybe it is a younger brother or sister, or maybe a parent or close friend, but someone still cares for the Hired Gun, and he still cares for that person, no matter how much he wishes he did not. If some enemy or creditor were to discover these ties, they could easily be used against the character, and fear of this is a constant worry.

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Adrenaline Rush

The character is addicted to the rush of adrenaline he gets from battle. It was this character flaw that cost him his position at the upper levels of society. Now he must feed the addiction or the results turn ugly indeed. The character cannot back down from a fight of any kind, and often goes in search of conflict when things get too tame for his tastes. Should the character go an entire session without combat of some kind, the GM may add a penalty of ■ to any skill checks in the next session (or until the character gets a chance to fight).

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Debt

Maintaining equipment, staying current with technology, and keeping weapons charged or fully loaded is not easy. Without these things, the Hired Gun has no hope of employment. The character found himself grounded without sufficient funds to prepare for a job and had to borrow money from an underworld figure. That outstanding debt now chases him from job to job. As the PC is unable to pay in credits, the debtor demands services as payment, often at the most inopportune times. The Hired Gun can reduce this Obligation by performing services for his debtor, but at the GM's discretion can also increase his Obligation for money (never more than once per session, and for a few thousand credits per point of Obligation increase).

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Collateral Accountability

In the pursuit of a past contract, the character was careless. He accidentally destroyed the prized possession of some major underground figure or killed someone important to that person. Now the figure holds it over the character's head. Ambiguous threats and demands for repayment have become near-constants in this character's life, as the underground figure refuses to let him forget his responsibility. He has a financial blood price or other compensation he could pay, but it is astronomical. Until it is paid off, however, the guilt and fear are ever-present. If this Obligation is triggered, the character can suffer ■ to some or all skill checks during the session (at the GM's discretion) due to this burden on his nerves.

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A Score to Settle

The character has always been rough-and-tumble, but somewhere along the way someone wronged him, and he never forgets a debt, real or imagined. This could be as simple as someone promising him backup who then disappeared or someone bad-mouthing him in front of a prospective client. Now, the character is always looking for ways to even the score.

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Betrayal

The character comes from a culture where military service is seen as a righteous calling, and is only pursued for noble ends. The people who trained him do not look fondly upon his mercenary career path. Efforts to correct this might range from representatives trying to convince him to stop to assassins sent to end his sullying their name once and for all. Here, the Hired Gun has committed the perceived betrayal, and since his career choice is what's at stake, squaring this Obligation can prove very tricky.

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Oath

The oath a Hired Gun makes is likely something to do with a mission he must complete or his own code of honor. He might have sworn to finish some violent and incredibly risky undertaking, or he could have promised to uphold a set of rules of conduct in warfare that are hard to follow.

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The Price of a Name

The character claimed to be someone else, taking credit for his accomplishments in a past negotiation in the hopes of a higher payday. The wronged party, either the person impersonated or the hiring party, is now angry. This enemy might respond by chasing down the character, spreading news of the duplicity, or demanding restitution to his reputation or his credit account.

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