[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

The Joe Smith Collective

There are common factors in every reality accessible by parachronics - there has to be, otherwise contact wouldn't be possible. One of those factors is that when realities are similar enough, counterparts will appear. This is why realities with very different histories will both produce Abraham Lincolns, Marilyn Monroes, etc.

There are also people who will appear, no matter what. One of those is "Joe Smith". Whenever a reality gets to 1960, the man known as "Joe Smith" is born in the area known as Vancouver, British Columbia (even is that area doesn't exist in that reality). He will live his life and die sometime after 2020.

In one reality with a lot of Mad Science, a Mad Scientist "Joe Smith" established psychic contact with other "Joe Smiths". One of those "Joes" had knowledge that allowed Mad Science Joe to become very rich and construct apparatus that allowed him to travel to other realities. But since the travel device used the psychic contact device, it could only reach realities with a "Joe Smith".

The Joe Smith Collective is headquartered in a reality where Immortal Joe Smith is the literal Last Man on Earth. As a consequence, the "Joes" of the Joe Smith Collective are quite wealthy, with considerable resources.

Joes are master criminals, investors, adventurers, and other professions where oversight and legal control is lax. They can get all the manpower they need, have access to unexpected resources, and somehow never get caught. The various "Joe Smiths" give each other advice, information, resources, alibis and plans. The less lucky, less intelligent, and more impovershed Joes act as muscle and manpower for the luckier, smarter Joes. In the most extreme situations, there are even a few Sorceror Joes and Super Joes willing to help out.

While powerful, the Joe Smith Collective is limited in scope (realities with current dates from 1965 AD forward), And while there are a lot of them with a huge array of resources and skills, they have one weakness ...

You've seen one, you've seen them all.