Obligations

Characters improve in two ways; by taking on Obligations and by forcing others to break theirs.

An Obligation is an ongoing commitment to another group or entity. Once sworn, a character gains +1HD and +1 to-hit. A character failing to uphold their obligation loses this advancement. They may not take on further Obligations; this includes when being forced to choose between two mutually exclusive Obligations.

Characters with broken Obligations may seek revenge against whomever caused their Obligation to be broken. Succeeding in this allows them to take on future Obligations.

Causing another to fail in their Obligation means a character gains +1HD and +1 to-hit. They should expect them to seek revenge.

Killing someone with Obligations does not count as forcing them to fail in their Obligations.

Examples

Beowulf swears to protect King Hrothgar and his mead-hall. (Obligation made, +1HD & to-hit). Grendel destroys the mead-hall. (Obligation broken: Beowulf loses +1HD, +1 to-hit and the ability to take on Obligations; Grendel gains the same.) Beowulf seeks Grendel and kills him, taking revenge. (Ability to take on Obligations regained!)

If, instead, Grendel had killed Beowulf, the Obligation is not broken - Beowulf is just dead.

Thinking: a little more collaborative than Boasts. People can take on the same Obligations. I’d probably limit it to 1 Obligation gained per week. It also ties you to specific people, and limits the scope to an area, which might be interesting. More warrior aristocracy, less mercenary kill-squad.