The Headquarters background represents two elements: A highly secure, elaborate, or luxurious mansion, compound, fortress, corporate headquarters, or the like; and local political influence. Thus, a character who has Headquarters 5 in Topeka, Kansas, probably has a very nice (and extraordinarily secure) compound as well as a great deal of political influence in Kansas.
Headquarters can only be taken once. It is possible to have more than one Headquarters, if appropriate to the character. However, more Headquarters mean that each one is either less secure/less elaborate or represents less political influence, or a combination of both. In essence, a character with Headquarters 5 could have a single 5-point Headquarters, one 3-point and one 2-point Headquarters, or any other combination totaling five points.
Headquarters can be awarded as a Gift at 1, or can be purchased with XP with appropriate roleplay. It can only be increased one rank per Downtime, and each increase must be fully justified by accomplishments in Games or Side Games. This roleplay makes you eligible to purchase one rank. The XP expenditure then represents the time you are dedicating to building or expanding your compound, schmoozing local politicians and businesspeople, etc.; you're consolidating your accomplishments and using them to build political capital. This works essentially the same way as Fame and Status, and Fame-based characters often develop Fame, Status, and Headquarters in tandem.
It is possible for characters to pool their points to build truly elaborate fortresses/mansions.
