Common Bond

[AndrewKennett]

We're finding the Common Bond Edge rather underpowered and in 5 years of playing SW nobody in my group has ever taken it. What do other groups find? Is there a small power-up house rule that might Common Bond more attractive?

[Deskepticon]

That's been my experience as well. I'm usually pretty free with rewarding Bennies (using a four Joker deck helps with that), so players aren't often empty. And many players, I suspect, aren't too keen on an Edge that gives away a resource without seeing any direct benefit.

I mean, the Edge is alright if the character is geared toward more of a support-caste, where the other characters do most of the heavy lifting. It can probably be made more attractive if the Benny was returned if the recipient scored a raise. This would incentize using Support rolls, which fits thematically.

It works great as a Setting Rule, where every player has the option to share Bennies without burning an Advance.

[ValhallaGH]

What do other groups find?

I've found it to be unpopular but potent, much like the Leadership Edges. Players rarely want to make the investment for Edges that don't empower their characters (quite understandable) but the abilities can be very powerful in groups of player characters. That is true for both Common Bond and Leadership Edges.

Is there a small power-up house rule that might Common Bond more attractive?

Making it into a general Setting Rule, so everyone can do it, has worked. Common Bond became a lot more popular at my tables after the campaign with that Setting Rule.

[Akerbakk]

Not to create an echo chamber here, but my experience over the past 5+ years or running SW through multiple campaigns and players has been the same. No one selects the Edge. However, I also saw more interaction with the Bennie-sharing piece when I implemented it as a Setting Rule for one of my Savage Rifts games.

[paladin2019]

It is similar to D&D's bardic inspiration, just without its own dedicated resource.

[Deskepticon]

It is similar to D&D's bardic inspiration, just without its own dedicated resource.

True. And strangely, I've noticed 5e Bards to be quite popular.
The main difference is Bardic Inspiration gets inherently better (by giving more uses) as the character levels up, while Common Bond still relies on normal Benny generation. Having a way where there's a small chance the character gets the "gifted" Benny back would make the Edge more enticing.

[ValhallaGH]

True.
Alternatively something similar to the Chi Edge, where the character has one or two dedicated points only for Common Bond.

[AndrewKennett]

Yeah I think I might make it a setting rule for games where the players start off as an already established team.

[SteelDraco]

I give players with Common Bond an extra Benny at the start of the session; they can't spend this themselves, but they can give it away. I've seen several people take Common Bond after making this change.

[ValhallaGH]

Glad to hear that change works. I'll have to implement it in my own games.

[Mogge]

Really cool to hear. This is something I´ll implement in my games as well.