Kyle, thanks for your answer to my previous question! I have a few more questions about Bonds, if that’s okay? They’re all kind of inter-related…
Are there any hard limits on a single Bonds total (I’m mostly thinking about negative Bonds)? Could I conceivably have a Bond rating of -6 or lower?
And, related to that question; can I burn negative Bonds? Clearly you can burn a Bond at 0 to -1, but can I keep burning that Bond after it is negative? In the fiction, this makes sense, as the relationship keeps gets worse, but after a point might seem mechanically abusive. As an EiC, of course, you might say that the deteriorating nature of the relationship means they cut all ties with you and that Bond simply goes away… planning, of course, to turn that person into a new Villain, since their hatred of the hero has become so all consuming!
How do negative Bonds affect the Bond Threshold? For instance, if my Bond Threshold is 5, and my negative Bonds total -3, then could my positive Bonds total 8? Or is the limit on my positive bonds, so that no matter how negative my Bonds, I still can’t have more positive Bonds than my Threshold?
Sorry to bombard you with questions! I’m excited about the game, it does a lot of the things I’ve always felt superpower games should do!
Hey there, no worries about the questions, it’s always great to see people excited about the game enough to really engage with it and come here to ask questions!
There aren’t any hard limits on negative Bonds, so it’s conceivable that they go way down – but you can’t Burn a negative Bond, or one that is at zero. You need to have Bonds to Burn, you can’t go into debt on them precisely because of the mechanical abuse possibilities. That said, they can definitely go down and worsen (or get better) depending on what’s going on in the fiction. The EIC lets players know when their Bonds are affected by what’s going on, and the player can work to repair and regain Bonds (and Burn the ones they have) as they see fit. Sometimes it makes sense for certain characters to fade away into the fiction once they go to zero or negative, but it typically won’t happen until later on in campaign when Bonds are typically more spread out more; I also keep track of any Bonds that do end up fading away just in case as that is perfect fodder for future conflict, just as you say.
The Bond Threshold only affects your the positive number of Bonds you have, so you can be in the negatives all you like and it won’t affect your ability to get more positive ones.
I know I’m not Kyle but I’ll let you know how I ran this with my group.
Bonds Threshold for us was a hard limit: no adjustments or anything, since they’re mechanically so excellent.
I’m not sure how gamey your group gets with stuff but my players get very invested in the fiction and in their image (cuz they’re a vain bunch, bless them). So they Hated burning bonds because it effectively made them less popular with the various people they knew and how the media reported about them. They did end up burning bonds during our end game, but each bond burned was an internal struggle for them to justify.
The moral of this story is that I’ve never had to deal with negative bonds, so I’m stepping into speculation here. I’d say that the lowest I’d allow would be -3 for bonds. After that something happens… and I think a custom move for exactly what that is would be awesome.
That’s actually a pretty great idea. A custom move for those situations could add a lot of flavor and a ton of fun.
Something like this:
When your Bonds weaken to the breaking point, the nature of your relationship changes. Roll when one of your Bonds reaches -3.
On a 10+, you have made a mortal enemy. This person will do everything in their power to destroy you utterly and to expose you and your loved ones to any and all dangers they possibly can.
On a 7-9, pick two from the list:
-They are actively hostile towards you and will attack you or provoke others to do so.
-They will go out of their way to obstruct your goals.
-They will never see the good in your actions. Ever.
On a 6-, your bond stays where it is. The only way to repair your relationship with them is to start over with all the baggage hanging over you like a looming meteor.
Kyle Simons just so you know, the text “negative Bond” appears on page 112 and only now reading your post do I realize it means a Bond with negative-connotations and not a literal actual negative number. That may be something worth changing in the PDF.
Colin Matter Hmm, I feel like the 6- and 10+ result almost need to be reversed, considering a player would probably rather the chance to make up the Bond than to pick up a mortal enemy. It might be be better to have it be an EIC facing thing, with the understanding given to players that once you hit -3, the EIC will be mixing things up with a Bond.
Alfred Rudzki I’ll see about clarifying it if it doesn’t mess with the layout! I’ve already changed the text to make it clear that Bonds can only be Burned if they’re positive, but I could probably clarify it a bit more.
Kyle Simons, swapping the 6- and the 10+ might be a good choice, but I was basing my current choice on the Harm move from AW where the lower you roll the better the outcome is for the player. It also means that there’s less a chance that the character will make a mortal enemy.
I can see the merit in either arrangement. This is just the arrangement I would use given my play group.
That’s true, I could see that working well, too!
Thanks for all the answers, and the awesome move idea!