Bonds

A Bond is a statement of truth about a character which is part of their dharma. [p161] Unlike an Affliction, a Bond is a promise the character must keep through their own effort. [p161]

It’s up to you as a player to determine when your Bond applies during play and the efforts that you put forth to enforce its truth. [p162]

What does a Bond say about you?

Just like an Affliction, a Bond is any of the following kinds of statements: [p161]

• Something you must (or ought to) do.
• Something you can’t (or shouldn’t) do.
• Something that drives you into action.

How do Bonds come to be?

• Chosen at character creation. [p161]
  • Beyond the base points to allocate to Bonds and Afflictions, you get extra points of Bonds equal to your chosen Treasure rating. [p209]

• Shuffled and tweaked between Stories (or at any time with HG consent). [p176]

• Temporarily applied by suffering a Surface Wound. [p324]
  • The Bond rating is typically 2 when inflicted by a lesser miracle, or 4 for a greater miracle, but the HG may choose any Bond rating 1-5.
• Each Setting Property of the World or Chancel that you’re in should be treated as a Bond with a rating of 2 while in that particular environment. [p315]

When do Bonds come into play?

• Add Strike to a miraculous action equal to the rating of the highest relevant Bond. [p163]
  • A Bond can also add Strike to a Gift. [p223]

• Add the mundane equivalent of Strike to a mundane action. [p163]

• Claim an Anchor or collection of related Anchors. [p209]
  • Any one Bond can only claim one Anchor or collection of related Anchors at a time. [p209]
  • You can spend unallocated Bond points during play to claim more Anchors. [p209]
  • Claiming an additional Anchor when you have no more available Bonds will inflict a Wound on you, which gives a Wound-related Affliction or Bond relevant to the Anchor. [p209]
  • You can take a Treasure-based Gift to have an Anchor-like relationship to a person or thing called a “Focus” without needing a relevant Bond. [p222]
• When your Bond gives you trouble, or you strongly exemplify the Bond in play, you gain some MP. [p164]
  • The amount of MP is at the HG’s discretion (minimum 1).
  • For mortal characters, the reward is usually points of Will (maximum equal to the rating of the Bond).
  • Because Bonds are player-controlled, you can get yourself into trouble with your Bond at any time you choose. [p165]
• You can sometimes use your Bonds to prevent character death. [p164]
  • Surviving off of a Setting Property as if it were a Bond may taint you with the nature of that environment, which manifests as a Wound with an Affliction that describes your dependence on that environment. [p315]
• When a Bond is non-trivially broken during play, the character takes a Wound. [p165]
  • The maximum possible Wound is determined by the Bond rating: [p165]
    • Surface Wound (rating of 1)
    • Serious Wound (rating of 2-3)
    • Deadly Wound (rating of 4)
    • Two Deadly Wounds (rating of 5)
  • This Wound counts as “giving you trouble”, for the purposes of gaining MP. [p165]
  • Note that you’ll also gain a Wound-related Affliction for each Serious Wound (Affliction rating 1) [p325] or Deadly Wound (Affliction rating 1-5). [p326]
• When you get someone into trouble with their Bonds or Afflictions, force them to break a Bond, or make their Affliction paradoxical, you can perform the Nettle Rite to gain the same amount of MP they gained for their trouble. [p340]