Just played US for the first time last night, and had so much fun! There were a lot of cool beats and great storytelling, which was pretty exciting for everyone involved.
However, a question did come up: I am playing The Tainted, and my playgroup was a little confused by the mechanics of The Tainted’s intimacy move:
“When you share a moment of intimacy–physical or emotional–with another person, they give you a Debt they hold on someone else.”
I understand how this happens mechanically, but how does it follow the fiction of the story? Does the other person feel connected to The Tainted and “give” it willingly? Why would they do that? Or does my demonic power force them to “give” it to me, even if they wouldn’t normally do such a thing?
In my game’s example, The Wolf had a Debt over The Oracle because he was protecting her from harm. I shared an intimate moment with The Wolf and now my Tainted has a Debt over The Oracle. This left us all a little baffled and there were a few minutes’ discussion of the logistics of this. Anyway, if anyone has thoughts or insights on this it would be appreciated.
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A related question I hadn’t thought about until I saw this question: does the obligation go with the debt? So is the Wolf still protecting the Oracle, but now at the Tainted’s behest, or is the Tainted now also the protector?
This is a great question because it highlights a counter-intuitive part of the Debt system.
Answering your last question first: Debts don’t occur as a result of obligations, they only occur as a result of actions. So if your Wolf swears to protect the Oracle, the Oracle owes them nothing, but if your Wolf actually protects the Oracle at risk to themselves, then the Oracle owes them a Debt. The Debt owed to your Wolf by the Oracle is not in exchange for a promise of future protection, it is owed in exchange for past protection actually given. So whether your Wolf continues to protect the Oracle or not is, as it has always been, up to the Wolf. If the Tainted puts themselves at risk to do a favor for the Oracle then the Oracle owes the Tainted a debt. There’s no game mechanics associated with making a promise, only taking action. This is good because if you can 100 percent trust someone who makes a promise to you (or if you are 100 percent stuck following all your promises) there’s no politics anymore.
(The only time this vision of Debts isn’t one hundred percent on point is through the Fae power Words are Wind, which you should review to see why that power is actually a power.)
The Tainted Debt-transferring thing can follow the fiction in many ways. Certainly it’s legit to ask the players “what does that look like?” One idea might be the Tainted saying (before or after smooching) “Hey, you protect Oracle, right? Do you think you might arrange for them to do a teensy little favor for me?” And there you go. It’s like Dropping a Name except it has no danger of repercussions, so it’s even better! As for whether the person consents to give up the debt, I would leave that somewhat vague. If you’re intimate with someone, you’re vulnerable to them. If you’re not vulnerable to what they’re laying down then maybe you’re not that intimate with them.
The one area this can be tricky is when a PC Tainted is intimate with an NPC. Since GMs don’t really track Debt between NPCs, you end up thinking about things like ongoing obligations or secret favors.