Complications
Accident: You cause or suffer some sort of accident. The GM decides the effects of an accident, but they should be troublesome. Accidents can lead to further complications; perhaps the hero develops a guilt-complex, obsession, or phobia involving the accident.
Addiction: You need something, whether for physical or psychological reasons. You’ll go out of your way to satisfy your addiction, and being unable to satisfy it may lead to a temporary weakness. When your addiction causes you a setback, that’s a complication.
Enemy: You have an enemy, or enemies, trying to do you harm. The GM can have your enemy show up to cause you trouble, and adventures involving your enemy tend to be more complicated for you; even personal grudge-matches, if the enmity goes both ways. When having an enemy causes a particular problem for you (such as your enemy abducting a loved on), you get a hero point.
Fame: You’re a public figure, known almost everywhere you go, swamped by fans and well-wishers, and similar problems.
Hatred: You have an irrational hatred of something, leading you to actively oppose the object of your dislike in some way, no matter the consequences.
Honor: You have a strong personal code of honor. Generally this means you won’t take unfair advantage of opponents or use trickery, but you can define the exact terms of your code with the GM. Honor is only a complication when it puts you in a bind or on the horns of a moral dilemma.
Obsession: You’re obsessed with a particular subject and pursue it to the exclusion of all else, which can create some complications.
Phobia: You’re irrationally afraid of something. When confronted with it you have to fight to control your fear, causing you to hesitate or act irrationally (and earning a hero point).
Prejudice: You are part of a minority group subject to the prejudices of others.
Reputation: You have a bad reputation, affecting what others think of you (whether you deserve it or not). Having someone adopt a bad attitude toward you because of your reputation is a complication.
Responsibility: You have various demands on your time and attention. Responsibilities include family obligations, professional duties, and similar things. Failing to live up to your responsibilities can mean loss of relationships, employment, and other problems.
Rivalry: You feel a strong sense of competition with a person or group and have to do your best to outdo your rival at every opportunity.
Secret: You have something potentially damaging or embarrassing you’re hiding from the world. Occasionally, something (or someone) may threaten to reveal your secret.
Temper: Certain things just set you off. When you lose your temper you lash out at whatever provoked you.
You get a hero point for each encounter where a complication comes into play. The GM decides when a particular complication comes up, although you can offer suggestions on suitable opportunities. You should choose one or two regular complications for your hero, and feel free to suggest others to the Gamemaster during play. The GM decides what complications are appropriate and can overrule any particular complication, depending on the needs of the story. Keep in mind the adventure needs to have room for all the heroes’ complications, so individual ones can only come up so often.
Example: The witch Seven suffers from claustrophobia. When the vampire lord Dracula places her in a coffin in preparation for becoming one of his brides, Seven is overcome with panic and unable to use her magic to free herself. The GM awards Seven’s player a hero point for the setback resulting from her complication.
Complications can (and generally should) change over the course of a series: old enemies die or are put away for life, rivalries and psychological issues are resolved, new romances and relationships begin, and so forth. Work with the GM to come up with new complications for your hero as old ones are resolved. The Gamemaster may set limits on how many ongoing complications your hero can have in play at any given time.
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