Adapting Characters, Bonds and Burdens
Translate players and supporting cast by fictional role first, with Bonds and Burdens as living ties rather than mandatory numbers.
Use this page when
- You are translating a Mar de Oro character to another ruleset.
- A player wants to bring a beloved character across systems.
- A supporting officer, specialist, or rival needs a light profile without a full stat block.
- You want Bonds and Burdens to feel meaningful in play instead of decorative.
A character should first be defined by fiction, not by rules. Only once the fiction is clear do you reach for the mechanics of the chosen system. Use this profile for everyone from a Player Character to a passing informant.
The character profile
- Fictional role. Who they are to the crew and to the world in a single sentence.
- Background and training. Where they learned what they know, and who taught them.
- Two or three capabilities. The domains in which they are Familiar, Trained, Expert, or Master.
- One Bond. A relationship, loyalty, duty, institution, or cause that can help and can pull.
- One Burden. A debt, responsibility, injury, secret, prejudice, legal restriction, trauma, political exposure, or divided loyalty.
- Resources and authority. What they can call on, and what limits their reach.
- Vulnerabilities. Where pressure lands hardest, physically, socially, or morally.
- Crew function. What role they fill on a ship, in a compañeros group, in a household, or in a network.
Bonds
Bonds are the living ties that connect a character to people, places, houses, faiths, and causes. A Bond can offer safe harbour, intelligence, letters of introduction, credit, or a fair hearing. It can also demand loyalty, silence, sacrifice, or a favour called in at the worst possible time.
A Bond is not a favour token. It is a relationship the world remembers. Treat it like a living NPC: it has priorities, it notices betrayal, and it can be strengthened, tested, or lost.
Burdens
Burdens are what the character carries whether they want to or not. They may be public, like a lost commission or a debt to a Volkharov bank, or private, like a name spoken in the Drowned Choir. Burdens shape the choices a character can afford to make, and they create the pressure the campaign needs to move.
Bonds and Burdens should not be treated as mandatory numerical traits unless the selected ruleset requires a mechanical expression. In a class-and-level game they can appear as background features. In a skill-based game they can appear as ties or reputations. In a narrative crew-focused game they are typically first-class fields on the character sheet.
Roles you will convert most often
- Player characters
- Supporting characters
- Specialists
- Rivals
- Officers
- Investigators
- Scientists
- Soldiers
- Sailors
- Diplomats
Worked example: Teniente Ilaria de Vega
Ilaria is a Valdegracian air-navy lieutenant who resigned her commission after refusing a boarding order. She now works as a compañeros contract officer, respected by former colleagues and watched by the crown.
- Fictional role: the officer who keeps a compañeros crew honest with itself and legal with the crowns.
- Capabilities: Expert navigator, Trained in air-navy protocol, Familiar with duelling.
- Bond: her former wingmate, now an air-navy captain who still returns her letters.
- Burden: an open naval enquiry that has been quiet, but has not been closed.
The same character across three system families
The following are conceptual translations. None reproduce third-party rules text; instead they show which fields on a system's sheet carry the weight of the character.
Class-and-level game
A martial officer archetype with a naval background and a social feature reflecting rank. The Bond becomes an introduction contact; the Burden becomes a recurring nemesis or a background complication.
Skill-based game
Skill pools centred on Pilot, Command, and Etiquette, with short trait fields for the Bond and Burden. Vulnerabilities are expressed as complications that the GM may invoke.
Narrative crew-focused game
An officer playbook with actions covering command, navigation, and prowl. Bond and Burden appear as first-class sheet items, and the Burden can be spent by the GM to introduce consequences.
Before you finish
- Does the character read as recognisably from Mar de Oro?
- Have you named at least one Bond and at least one Burden?
- Do the two or three capabilities reflect who this person is under pressure?
- Does the target system's expression preserve their vulnerabilities?
- Have you avoided reproducing any third-party rules text?