[Supers] GURPS Unofficial Handbook to the Marvel Universe, Reboot Edition

[Otaku]

Might have another idea for you, Phantasm. Though mostly, I just realized something about one of my favorite mutant characters back in the day, and both the story and practical uses for him that were missed. So, if you'll indulge me (and if not, feel free to just skip this post), I'm talking about Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man, during the 90s when the X-titles x-ploded.* And... I don't really have anyplace better to discuss it. XP

Why wasn't Multiple Man on every X-team?

Due to his power set, it was iffy whether or not Jamie could overwhelm his opponents through just using his Dupes. He was a more or less athletic-but-normal human outside of his Duplication powers. Besides himself, he could only duplicate his costume and some clothing... not other equipment like a weapon. So... him being spread a bit thin across multiple teams? Not really dropping his effectiveness.

Yes, during the timeframe in question, you've got multiple telepaths and ultra-tech equipment to keep the X-teams in touch with each other, but by this point Jamie and his Dupes were in constant telepathic contact with each other. As long as Jamie's teammates didn't hate him, he'd be a common social connection for all the teams, besides an information relay. Going with the early 90s X-books, you could split Jamie and his 39 Dupes up between a "home" team (at the mansion, with Xavier), both X-Men teams (Blue and Gold Strike Forces), Excalibur, X-Factor, X-Force, and maybe even have Jamie tag along with Wolverine in Logan's solo book.

The real-world reason why is it gives you a constant pseudo-crossover, and excuse to discuss events happening on one of the other books. Though it would make oversights, where stories contradicted each other, more painful, it also provided an in-story reason for the kind of coordination a line-wide editor is supposed to bring to a family of books.

Now, even assuming this would have been a stupid idea for the real-world X-Men titles... well, I thought it might be a good use for the character even in your setting. I know you've changed some stuff about Multiple Man for it, so a similar idea might not work out as well. For example, while I initially wondered how - using my hypothetical 90s example - he'd fit in with teams like Excalibur and X-Force, I thought that Jamie was close in age to the New Mutants. I'm most familiar with Jamie from 90s X-Factor, where he seemed similar in age to Wolfsbane...

*I do not apologize for the terrible pun! X-cept I don't think this kind of wordplay counts as "puns"...

[Culture20]

The biggest reason to not have Madrox on every team in the 90's would have been a recognition of The Cell Phone Problem in storytelling. Of course, that already existed with all the telepaths, but Jamie would have been a visual reminder that the other characters from the other titles weren't being included in *this* book just because.

Also, Madrox's powers are a lot more than you expect. His limit of 40 dupes is only a mental block. If he's not conscious, that can be breached. Also, he can duplicate more than just clothing, but the items are not permanent, so he doesn't usually bother. If he were more forward thinking, he would keep himself armed at all times so that his dupes would be more of a force multiplier.

[Otaku]

Originally Posted by Culture20

The biggest reason to not have Madrox on every team in the 90's would have been a recognition of The Cell Phone Problem in storytelling. Of course, that already existed with all the telepaths, but Jamie would have been a visual reminder that the other characters from the other titles weren't being included in *this* book just because.

It is as you said; it creates a problem, but one that already exists due to technology and other powers in the story. To me, it is a fun idea for teams that (mostly) should already have at least some clue about what the others are doing. Though, for the time period (early 90s), I can understand

1) Wolverine not wanting Jamie tagging around.
2) Cable not wanting Jamie tagging around (though post X-cutioner's Song, it might make sense)
3) Jamie not wanting Jamie tagging along with certain groups and/or stuck at home base.

Gives me a fun idea for a What If story, though. Considering we had at least one Dupes "go rogue" by maintaining his own life and keeping himself (and his memories) from being completely reabsorbed by Jamie, and hanging around with Mr. Sinister. Could have been an interesting story where, doing my stupid idea, different clusters of Jamies start to reject the others...

While I enjoyed the What If comics, I never said they were all winners. ;)

Originally Posted by Culture20

Also, Madrox's powers are a lot more than you expect. His limit of 40 dupes is only a mental block. If he's not conscious, that can be breached. Also, he can duplicate more than just clothing, but the items are not permanent, so he doesn't usually bother. If he were more forward thinking, he would keep himself armed at all times so that his dupes would be more of a force multiplier.

I had heard that someone (Xavier?) took over his body at one point, and was able to exceed his normal Dupe cap. He was also forced to exceed his normal limits in the Age of Apocalypse. Which is just me going "Yes, right." but in far too many words. XP

I didn't know about him being able to duplicate equipment. That absolutely makes him more useful, even if duplicated equipment gets reabsorbed. The way Jamie was written, I don't think he'd ever want to become a soldier, but boy would he be useful as one.

[naloth]

Originally Posted by Otaku

Yes, during the timeframe in question, you've got multiple telepaths and ultra-tech equipment to keep the X-teams in touch with each other, but by this point Jamie and his Dupes were in constant telepathic contact with each other. As long as Jamie's teammates didn't hate him, he'd be a common social connection for all the teams, besides an information relay. Going with the early 90s X-books, you could split Jamie and his 39 Dupes up between a "home" team (at the mansion, with Xavier), both X-Men teams (Blue and Gold Strike Forces), Excalibur, X-Factor, X-Force, and maybe even have Jamie tag along with Wolverine in Logan's solo book.

Jamie usually isn't in contact with any dupes that aren't in his immediate proximity. During the X-Factor run he explicitly sends a number of them off to pick up skills. Many end up living different lives and have to be tracked down to be reabsorbed. One actually goes "bad" and tries to become the primary as well.

IIRC, Jamie's psychological block was 50 dupes rather than 40. Of course, that was surpassed quite a few times even in the 90s especially when he was fighting himself.

I had heard that someone (Xavier?) took over his body at one point, and was able to exceed his normal Dupe cap. He was also forced to exceed his normal limits in the Age of Apocalypse. Which is just me going "Yes, right." but in far too many words. XP

I didn't know about him being able to duplicate equipment. That absolutely makes him more useful, even if duplicated equipment gets reabsorbed. The way Jamie was written, I don't think he'd ever want to become a soldier, but boy would he be useful as one.

Actually, during a Hydra story line they tried to mind control him unsuccessfully but just ended up causing him to make more dupes than there were hydra agents before he overwhelmed them.

His ability to dupe equipment has been inconsistent. I suspect certain writers just take liberties.

On a far nastier note, Jamie has duped into someone causing them to explode on a few occasions. (Fist into mouth, dupe, pop, new dupe emerges from the corpse.)

Jamie's has had a long term Shield agent dupe as well as a lot of other professions. I'd be surprised if one wasn't spun off to be a soldier at some point. He's a great candidate for wildcard skills or wild talent (the yea, I sent a dupe off to master spend a few years practicing just that skill...).

[Otaku]

Please bear with me Phantasm, as I clear some things up in this side-discussion I started with Culture20 and naloth. I realized I've created a pretty major tangent in your thread, especially as you've already adapted Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man) to this setting!

Not that I'm complaining about the discussion! I'm glad Culture20 and naloth have helped me learn about what happened with Multiple Man after I stopped reading the X-Men titles. In my case, I had to give them up (just didn't have the cash) in the early 2000s. A lot of where my memories of Jamie's powers/skills differ from your (Culture20 and naloth's) accounts seems to be due to this.

I found out why Jamie's age seems inconsistent. He was 21 when introduced in 1975; given how time does(n't) work in Marvel Comics, Jamie wouldn't have been much older 20 years later. He likely skewed towards the older end of New Mutant/X-Force-age characters, at least during "the 90s", but still in that range. Meanwhile I think Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane) was near the lower (younger) limit. If they aged Jamie up in the mid-2000s, I'd have missed that. Not sure if Eric Dane, the actor who played Jamie in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) was supposed to pass as younger (he'd have been in his early 30s during filming), or they aged up Jamie's character. I mean, I thought Multiple Man looked like he was in his late 30s/early 40s in that film, but that was probably just me. XP

Jamie's mental connection with his Dupes isn't as strong as I remembered, but there still is something there. I can't find details, but here's what vaguely remember from events during the X-Cutioner's Song crossover of '92 to '93: Jamie on a spaceship to (or already on) the moon, noticing he "lost contact" with a Dupe that was babysitting X-Force team members back at (I think) the X-Men's mansion. Which Jamie said meant the Dupe was either unconscious or had been killed. What I can (mostly) confirm is that Jamie has to reabsorb a Dupe to gain their memories, experiences. Even this isn't foolproof; he lost the ability to clearly distinguish his memories from those of a Dupe and there was that Dupe who went rogue. I believe the latter had been reabsorbed at times, but had managed to keep himself separate.

Speaking of that one, then there's Jamie's Dupe limit. I might be remembering wrong, but I thought we had a 20-20 split when Jamie "Prime" and the rogue Dupe squared off with each other, but maybe it was 40-40? I am seeing both 40 and 50 cited as Jamie's maximum duplicate number. Another iffy thing is what happens when Jamie and/or Dupes are injured and merge together. I can't believe I forgot how Melloncamp died. @_@ I also got an abridged look at the whole "sending out Dupes to learn and then be reabsorbed" thing that happened, and... wow is this all confusing. A good use of Duplication, but confusing nonetheless. I haven't even touched upon the "Changeling" aspect of the character.

But all of this has been helpful to me. Once again, I must apologies for the extreme tangent, and I do thank those who willingly indulged me. I also won't be surprised if I got something else wrong. XP

[Phantasm]

I recently re-read X-Factor v1 #76 to 80*, when X-Factor!Jamie and Rogue Jamie went toe to toe. There was a panel where they said "38 Jamies KO'ed", after noticing they'd stopped duplicating and went about knocking them out to stop the fight, meaning the "primes" of both were still active. (At the time, they were going with "the dupes disappear when the 'prime' Jamie is knocked unconscious.")

That's when I was first aware of the "40 total". After one of his bodies (possibly the core body, but who can say) died from the Legacy Virus, the number of dupes suddenly skyrocketed, possibly to infinite. (To model this kind of boost, I'd probably borrow Super-Speed or Non-Combat Speed from ATR (detailed in Powers) to increase the number of dupes in combat and non-combat scenarios, respectively, by the SSRT.



* I was hunting down credits for something; the issue of the Jamie-vs-Jamie fight itself had lyrics over a radio for a song parody, allegedly by Weird Al, of Particle Man, entitled "Multiple Man", but the indictia didn't say whether Weird Al had actually written them for Peter David to use.

[Phantasm]

WOLFE, SARA

Real Name: Sara Wolfe.
Occupation: Office manager, accountant.
Identity: Sara does not use a dual identity.
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record.
Other Aliases: None.
Place of Birth: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: William Running Wolf (grandfather); parents (names unrevealed).
Group Affiliation: Order of Kamar-Taj; ally of Doctor Strange.
Base of Operations: Greenwich Village, New York City.
History: Not long after moving into their Bleeker Street domicile, Dr. Stephen Strange and his friend Wong realized they needed someone to handle their finances; this field was not something Wong was skilled at, and Strange had spent much of his prior career as a neurosurgeon spending money like water (see Doctor Strange; Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum; Wong). Almost everyone they interviewed, however, could not wrap their minds around the existence of the occult; Sara Wolfe, however, was the only applicant to take the weirdness surrounding Strange's Sanctum in stride. When asked why neither the talking snakes in the downstairs living room nor the faeries who inhabited the library surprised her, Sara mentioned that her grandfather was the shaman of her Cheyenne tribe back in Oklahoma, and that she had grown up with familiarity of the occult, though she had chosen to pursue a business degree instead of magic.

Suffice to say, she was effectively hired on the spot. To her own surprise, however, she discovered that it wasn't Strange nor Wong who had hired her, but the larger Order of Kamar-Taj that both belonged to (see Order of Kamar-Taj). When she showed up one day with her aging pet basset hound, Bats, in tow, over Wong's constantly sneezing protest, Strange cast a spell on the dog which gave him the ability to speak English; Sara found the spell amusing and didn't object when Strange made it permanent.

Sara has since become one of Strange's confidants, managing the day to day business operations while Strange and Wong handle the more mystical aspects. She is currently being tutored in self-defense by Wong. She is also on friendly terms with the Central Park dragon.
Age: 27.
Height: 5' 7".
Weight: 135 lbs.
Eyes: Brown.
Hair: Black.
Uniform: None.
Strength Level: Sara possesses the normal human strength of a woman her age, height, and build who engages in moderate regular exercise.
Known Superhuman Powers: None.
Other Abilities: Sara is a skilled accountant and office manager, claiming to possess an MBA (Masters of Business Administration). She has had some training in self-defense, though at present she can only be considered a novice. Sara herself is no stranger to the mystic arts, but has not sought any training; she can, however, assist in mystic rituals led by a mage as needed.

Sara is also fluent in English, Cheyenne, and Cherokee, and has been tutored on the basics of the language of the Dark Dimension by Clea.

Some would say her greatest ability is her open-mindedness toward the strange and unusual.
Allies: Sara is often accompanied by her faithful but aging pet basset hound named Bats. Bats appears to possess normal human intelligence, and has been enchanted by Dr. Strange to translate his barks into English.
Weaknesses: Sara is farsighted, requiring corrective lenses; she generally wears contacts.

166 points
Attributes: ST 10 [0]; DX 11 [20]; IQ 11 [20]; HT 11 [10].
Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs.; HP 10 [0]; Will 13 [10]; Per 11 [0]; FP 11 [0]; Basic Speed 5.50 [0]; Basic Move 5 [0]; Dodge 9.
Languages: Cherokee (Native) [6]; Cheyenne (Native) (Native Language) [0]; Dark Dimensional (Broken Spoken/Illiterate) [1]; English (Native) [6].
Cultural Familiarities: Western (Native) [0].
Advantages: Ally (Bats, Talking Basset Hound; 5% Starting Value) (12) [1]; Business Acumen 2 [20]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Fit [5]; Luck [15]; Occultist 1 [10]; Order of Kamar-Taj Rank 0 [0]; Single-Minded [5]; Unfazeable [15].
Perks: Efficient Research [1]; One-Task Wonder (Mind Defaults to IQ When Gathering Ritually for Sorcerer/Shaman) [1]; One-Task Wonder (Space Defaults to IQ When Gathering Ritually for Sorcerer/Shaman) [1]; One-Task Wonder (Spirit Defaults to IQ When Gathering Ritually for Sorcerer/Shaman) [1]; One-Task Wonder (Time Defaults to IQ When Gathering Ritually for Sorcerer/Shaman) [1]; Permit (Concealed Carry) [1].
Disadvantages: Bad Sight (Farsighted) (Mitigator: Corrective Lenses, -60%) [-10]; Code of Honor (Professional) [-5]; Honesty (12) [-10]; Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) [-10]; Sense of Duty (Friends and Family) [-5]; Stubbornness [-5].
Quirks: Attentive [-1]; Decisive [-1]; Methodical [-1]; Record-Keeper [-1]; Sensitive to Social Insensitivity [-1].
Skills: Accounting (H) IQ+3 [8] – 14*; Administration (A) IQ+3 [4] – 14*; Computer Operation/TL8 (E) IQ+0 [1] – 11; Driving/TL8 (Motorcycle) (A) DX+0 [2] – 11; Finance (H) IQ+1 [2] – 12*; Gambling (A) IQ+3 [4] – 14; Guns/TL8 (Pistol) (E) DX+0 [1] – 11; Judo (H) DX-1 [2] – 10; Karate (H) DX-1 [2] – 10; Leadership (A) IQ+1 [4] – 12; Merchant (A) IQ+3 [4] – 14*; Occultism (A) IQ+1 [2] – 12†; Propaganda/TL8 (A) IQ+3 [4] – 14*; Research/TL8 (A) IQ+1 [2] – 12†; Stealth (A) DX+0 [2] – 11; Thaumatology (VH) IQ-1 [2] – 10†.
Starting Spending Money: $4,000 (20% of Starting Wealth).

* Includes +2 from Business Acumen.
† Includes +1 from Occultist.

Role-Playing Notes:
Sara Wolfe is no stranger to the world of the occult even though she lacks magic of her own. She is one of the few who can get away with giving Strange a good smack upside the head when he's being dense.

Design Notes:
1. One of the forgotten characters from the '80s-'90s Doctor Strange series who has yet to appear again since that title was canceled (last seen as the administrator of the Stephen Strange Memorial Metaphysical Institute when he was believed dead again), Sara was often just there to be one of Strange's and Clea's confidantes and a link to the more mundane world.
2. Bats is one of the best new characters to the Dr. Strange mythos in recent years: a basset hound (enchanted for speaking English) turned ghost dog who is Strange's pet. I didn't want to make him a ghost yet, but I figured why not start with him as an aging dog who hangs around the Sanctum? Making him Sara's dog just seemed a logical step. Sorry, no stats for Bats yet; I'd probably just use the Hound stats in Dungeon Fantasy 5: Allies as the base anyway, but lowering several stats (particularly HT) for being an old hound dog with a weak heart.

[Phantasm]

Okay, delving a bit into the past here...

CAMELOT
It was a time of myth and magic, when the fair folk of Avalon would occasionally travel between the worlds to visit the British Isles. The Romans had retreated from Britain, while encouraging their pagan Germanic foederati – the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes – to take their place, particularly following their success against Attila the Hun in 451*A.D. As the Angles and Saxons conquered the southeast of Britain, the Celtic druid sorcerer Merlin saw that a king would arise in Camelot to unite the Britons and inspire countless generations of heroes to come (see Merlin).

Merlin's first choice was Uthur Pendragon, a stalwart warrior; however, circumstances led Merlin to decide Uthur's first-born son, Arthur, was instead the destined king (see King Arthur). Merlin acted as Uthur's and later Arthur's court wizard and advisor. With Merlin's guidance, Arthur established the Knights of the Round Table, a knightly order composed of noblemen and men-at-arms where all the knights were considered "equal", though in practice most deferred to King Arthur and several notable knights, such as Sir Lancelot and Sir Gawain, for leadership (see Gawain; Knights of the Round Table; Lancelot). Several of the Knights of the Round Table hailed from Briton kingdoms in Wales, Armorica (later Brittany in France), and Ireland, as well as the Kingdom of the Franks.

Camelot stood in what would become Somerset County, at or near the site of Cadbury Castle. As such, it stood as a bastion against the Saxons of the neighboring Kingdom of Wessex. It is unclear how many battles were fought between the Britons and Saxons in this area, nor where they were fought. By 520*A.D., Camelot and Wessex had signed a peace treaty, although tensions were still high a few years later. Despite this, in 527*A.D., Camelot and Wessex united briefly to war against Mercia, ruled by the Angles, to the north.

The Castle of Camelot where Arthur held his court sat atop a hill with towers overlooking the surrounding land, and several tall stone walls surrounding it in a series of rings, the doors of which did not line up so as to make the job of besieging armies harder. The town itself grew up around the hill, and at its height reached a population of around 5,400; some have called Camelot in its time the largest of the Briton cities. The architecture of the town of Camelot was both functional and artistic; the people took pride in their town, making it a work of art. Unlike other towns, Saxon and Brittonic alike, Camelot had cobblestoned roads with Roman-style drainage gutters along the side, and trees lined every road into the city. Surrounding the town were wide fields used for farming and herding livestock.

The official religion of Camelot, like that of most of the Celtic kingdoms of the British Isles, was Christianity. Among the populace, the older Celtic religion still held sway (particularly among those that treated with the fae); the pagan Germanic gods (the Asgardian gods under another name) were worshiped in the nearby Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (see Asgardians). Magic was not unknown in Camelot, as Merlin and his student Morgan la Fey were known magicians; unknown to most, including apparently Arthur himself, Queen Guinevere was also a practicing sorceress (see Morgan la Fey; Queen Guinevere; Appendix: Magic). However, most knights and the populace held magic in fear and awe, or considered it a throwback to pagan times; those few who practiced magic tended to keep it hidden; indeed, the Queen kept her practice of magic secret from the King.

One of the Knights of the Round Table, Prince Mordred of Lothian (a kingdom bordering the Anglic kingdom of Bernicia and the chiefdoms of the Picts), the nephew and illegitimate son of Arthur from the King's half-sister Morgause (who had a one-night stand with Arthur at the start of his reign without either realizing their familial connection), coveted the throne of Camelot for his own, yet was passed over as heir in favor of Mordred's half-brother Gawain (see Mordred). Mordred paired with his aunt Morgan la Fey, another of Arthur's half-sisters, to indirectly challenge Arthur for the throne.

Legend holds that Camelot fell to the treachery Mordred at the Battle of Camlann circa 537*A.D.; legend also holds that Arthur was transported from the battlefield to his half-sister Morgan la Fey's castle in Avalon to be healed, where he continues to slumber today. These events – and Arthur's final fate – have yet to be depicted, so it is unclear just how close the legends hold to the actual reality.

Camelot, 527 A.D.

Population: 5,400 (Search 0).

Physical and Magical Environment

Terrain: Plains.
Appearance: Beautiful (+3).
Hygiene: +0.
Average Mana (Rare Enchantment)

Culture and Economy

Language: Brythonic, British Latin, Saxon.
Literacy: Broken.
TL: 3.
Wealth: Comfortable.
Status: -2 to +5.

Political Environment

Government: Feudal (Monarchy).
CR: 3 (Corruption -1).
Military Resources: $140,000.
Defense Bonus: +8.

Notes

The bulk of the common people speak Brythonic, the Celtic language which later evolved into modern Breton, Welsh and Cornish. British Latin is the colloquial form of Latin spoken by those of Status 0 or better as an administration and trade language; most notably, all of the Knights of the Round Table speak some form of Latin. Saxon is most common along the border with Wessex, and spoken by several merchants, bards, and others who have dealings with the ruling elite in the newer Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

Camelot uses the Latin alphabet for most of its official records and proclamations. A number of knights and mages, including Merlin himself, use the Ogham script for various reasons.

The bulk of Camelot's army takes the form of the Knights of the Round Table, a group of roughly fifty landed knights who could raise levies of a few hundred soldiers from their own lands in times of need.




The idea here is to have a semi-historical version of Arthur who was a Romanized Celtic king who fought the Saxons who formed the Kingdom of Wessex to a standstill while still maintaining parts of the legend. The original Black Knight, Sir Percy of Scandia, will eventually get statted up. The big change is making Queen Guinevere a sorceress, pitting her in sorcery duels against Morgan la Fey while Arthur and Percy foil Mordred's schemes.