I'm going to echo a lot of folks and agree. I think that 17 represents a solid relationship that just can't be used to all that great an effect.
Ron Edwards would take this further, and say that the number is not a rating of strength or effectiveness, but, rather, the importance of the Ablity to us, the players. That's the extreme viewpoint, but it does point out how it works. That is, if you think that the Abilty should be stronger, then you have two options. Either raise the Ability to match your expectations, or come up with an explanation of the dichotomy.
In the first case, this is a matter of GM fiat. He can do so if it makes enough sense to him. But I'd argue that this should be the rarer case. Unless you really want the character to be all about his relationship with his mother, I'd suggest that the 17 represents a strong bond, but one that, maybe, is lessened by the fact that she's not all that available for some reason. Or maybe her love ends up being overbearing for the character, and he can only rely on it so much without pain. For most people, I'd venture that it's a matter of sexual roles and taboos - no matter how strong, we're not allowed to show our feelings to those of the opposite sex. Can you imagine an Orlanthi warrior falling into his mother's arms with a, "Mommy!" He has to be tougher than that
Or any of a number of things. Basically the average person's relationship with their mother is probably strong, but also, just as probably mixed up by all sorts of factors. The end result is a 17. The nice thing is that, if you want to raise your relationship with your mother, it only takes explaining how you're fixing those "problems."
If you're like Ron, just ignore it, and realize that it's just a metagame figure with no particular simulative value than you give it. If you're like me, then explain why the level of Ability matches the actual strength until you're satisfied. If you're into hardcore input based sim, then, yep, you'll probably have to adjust that 17 level significantly.
Mike
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