Both Origins and Occupations come with labels known as Traits and tags that help describe how they define the character in game terms.

A trait is a label with a mechanical effect in the game. It can affect abilities or dice rolls or something else entirely, but it has a definitive effect.

A tag is a label that has only a narrative effect in the game. A good example would be Secret Identity. This tag says something important about the character, how they act and who they trust, but it doesn’t affect the mechanics in the game at all.

Both Traits and tags are described in full later on in this chapter.

Challenging Labels

Not all labels are entirely beneficial. In fact, some of them can cause a character all sorts of problems. Any time that happens, though, the Narrator should give the character a point of Karma to make up for it.

Whether or not a label is challenging for a character often depends on the context. A Secret Identity, for instance, can help protect the character’s friends and family from being attacked by the character’s enemies. But keeping something so important from those same people can cause the character all sorts of headaches.

Players can purposefully put their characters in situations in which their labels might cause them problems as a means of gaining Karma for the characters. In fact, Narrators should encourage this kind of behavior, as it can make for wonderful moments of tension.

However, not every moment in a game needs to revolve around the characters’ Challenging Labels. If such behavior becomes disruptive or tedious, the Narrator can put a stop to it—at least temporarily—by suspending the Karma reward.

Gaining and Losing Labels

Characters can gain labels through game play. These should arise naturally as the game’s story evolves, and the Narrator should award them to the character when it’s appropriate.

For instance, if the character pursues a new career, they could add a new occupation—and maybe lose the old one. If they lose their sight, they would gain the Vision Issues tag—at least until they get their sight back.

It’s also possible for a character to lose labels during the game or to switch labels. For example, if a character with a Secret Identity is unmasked before the world, they should switch from the Secret Identity tag to the Public Identity tag.

Traits and tags can also be juggled according to the context of the game. For instance, if a character who has the Public Identity tag starts saving the world while wearing an entirely different costume, they could wind up with both the Public Identity and the Secret Identity tags.