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Back in 2022, I added the concept of debt to Mangayaw. You can see the latest iteration of this in the current version of Mangayaw in itch.io. Not much changed, but there is an infant idea there.

Debt in Mangayaw was inspired by Gubat Banwa’s Debt mechanics, which was connected to the player characters’ Honor and the economy. The PCs in Gubat Banwa are called Kadungganan, “honored ones”– Honor is how they move up in the world. Debt being tied to such a concept, both in the world and mechanics, makes it equally important.

I ran a Mangayaw campaign with my adaptation of Gubat Banwa’s Debt mechanics sometime in 2023. In play, I felt something was missing. I was not able to adapt the extra dimensions of debt, beyond the economic. It wasn’t a glaring issue, just a nagging feeling.

Why am I making such a big deal out of such a thing as debt? Is it not just something of monetary value that someone owes and pays another person? Well, no. I’m only using debt as a snappy, easily understandable game term, but when I say debt, I really mean to say the concept of utang na loob in Philippine cultures. 

Debt as utang na loob goes beyond the economic sense of the word. Gubat Banwa treats debt as a concept equal to honor. Mangayaw will treat debt as economy, relationships and community. 

But first, a disclaimer. Debt as a concept in Philippine culture and history also has the dimension of slavery attached to it. Entire societies were built on peasants and prisoners indebted to the elite and the powerful. Utang na loob still exists in our cultures. Though it is more disconnected from the concept of slavery (in most cases), it can still be a toxic concept that we live with. 

Adding debt to my game does not mean I romanticize the toxic dimensions of utang na loob. Debt as social connections might seem like an optimistic view of debt, but I mean to have both the good and bad of it. I want players to appreciate the closeness and reciprocity debt provides, struggle with the obligations debt entails, and revolt against the injustice debt can be used for. 

Besides, if D&D and other western fantasy games and worlds can depict monarch and feudalism as status quo, why can’t Filipinos use our own imperfect societal systems in our games?