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

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Heck, most of the 'durability' of supers is probably better represented with DR 50 (Ablative, -80%) [50], Regeneration (Very Fast) [100], Unkillable 2 [100], and No Visible Damage [1] rather than DR 50 [250] and Injury Tolerance (Damage Reduction /10) [150]. The former represents supers who are capable of recovering from 'unconsciousness' (actually death) in a few minutes while the latter represents supers with bullet bouncing pecs.

With all due respect, I haven't needed to do any of the first set in my Marvel Reboot Shadowguard game for the PCs or NPCs. On the other hand, I permit folks to spend some of their Impulse Buy pools (which refresh every session) to invoke the Flesh Would rule and turn failures into successes - I also encouraged the players to all take Luck.

I also made sure the superhero uniforms are made of TL9 Reflex or similar ballistic fabric, pretty much handing them out to the PCs for free as part of their standard wardrobe they get for free (it falls under "work clothes"). Of course, it's not the same, but my players tend to be tactically smart and throw the party brick at the enemy brick rather than sending the squishy ranged blaster into melee range.

[Phantasm]

SWARM

Real Name: Swarm, original human host was named Fritz von Meyer.
Occupation: Would-be world conqueror; von Meyer was a entomologist and geneticist specializing in bees.
Identity: Swarm does not use a dual identity,
Legal Status: Inapplicable; von Meyer was a citizen of Argentina with no known criminal record, deceased.
Other Aliases: the Hive, "Bee-Man".
Place of Creation/Birth: (von Meyer) Just outside Santiago del Estero, Argentina; (Swarm) Chicago, Illinois.
Marital Status: (Swarm) Inapplicable; (von Meyer) single.
Known Relatives: Parents and grandparents (names unrevealed)
Group Affiliation: None.
Base of Operations: Mobile.
History: Fritz von Meyer was the grandson of Nazis who fled to Argentina in the final days of World War II. Although his parents and grandparents tried to instill in him the Nazi ideals, von Meyer never fully embraced them, seeing the racist portions of Nazi ideology as outdated. (This may be attributed to von Meyer's infatuation with a childhood friend, Seina Corazon, a Hispanic girl the elder von Meyers saw as a being of a "lesser race".)

From a young age, he was fascinated with bees. This led him to study not only their habits but also their genetics, becoming one of the leading authorities in the field. His primary goal was to develop a strain of honey bees which were resistant to the pesticides used by farmers to protect crops from less benevolent arthropods. He found his most successful choice in the already hybrid Africanized honey bee, which due to various habits is better known as the "killer bee".

Von Meyer was invited to attend an international conference on insect genetics in Chicago, Illinois; he brought several of his genetically modified bees with him, a hive of his killer bees. During one of his presentations, the genetically altered killer bees got loose and attacked him, stinging him to death as the crowd scattered and first responders attempted to disperse the bees. Eventually, all that was left of von Meyer was his skeleton.

But that was not the end. Von Meyer's mind somehow merged with that of the queen bee, creating an entirely new entity. This entity, which took the name Swarm after comments made by those in the audience, drew other bees at the conference into his body. In addition, Swarm used von Meyer's skeleton to give him a semblance of form.

It was at this point that Swarm came into conflict with the adventurers Ant-Man and Wasp, who in their civilian identities of Dr. Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne were attending the conference (see Ant-Man; Wasp). Ant-Man attempted to communicate with the bees using the cybernetic helmet he uses to communicate with ants, but was rebuffed telepathically. After a long battle, the Wasp managed to find and kill the queen bee which controlled Swarm's consciousness, causing Swarm to disperse. The two then managed to collect the gene-modded killer bees back in their hives. Unknown to the adventurers, the bees then selected a new queen for the hive from among the previous queen's larvae.

Several months later, the hive attacked and killed another man, taking that man's skeleton as their base and absorbing his mind the same way von Meyer's was absorbed. Swarm then came into conflict with Thor and Hercules outside Houston, Texas, interrupting one of their habitual brawls (see Hercules; Thor). The two gods were unable to physically defeat Swarm, but managed to convince Swarm to disperse his body, leaving the host body's skeleton behind.

Where and when Swarm will appear next is unknown.
Height: 6' 5" (variable).
Weight: 104 lbs (variable).
Eyes: None.
Hair: None.
Uniform: White or purple gloves, purple hooded cloak.
Strength Level: Swarm appears to possess the normal human strength of a man of the host skeleton's build; however, as a composite entity, this strength may be psychokinetic in nature rather than physical.
Known Superhuman Powers: As a composite entity composed of hundreds of thousands of bees around a human skeleton, Swarm possesses a number of superhuman powers. As a composite hive entity, he is nearly impervious to damage to his body, as most attacks will go right through him; only explosive or chemical attacks have been shown to truly be effective against him. He is able to control all bees composing his body, separating them from him to expand his senses and see and hear through individual bees.

As a collection of bees, Swarm sees in the ultraviolet spectrum and can fly at speeds approaching 30 mph. He can also command his bees to flow from his body to sting a target to death. He requires a human skeleton (or one close enough) to maintain a humanoid form; quite possibly he could take the skeletal remains of any creature to use as a base, potentially appearing as a bee swarm in the shape of a cow, but prefers the human form. (The skeleton may be damaged without harming him.) Should he kill someone for the skeleton, he gains personality traits

Because of their genetically modified nature, the been composing Swarm's body are practically immune to most pesticides.
Other Abilities: Fritz von Meyer was a geneticist specializing in bees, particularly the hybrid Africanized honey bee, also known as the "killer bee". It is not known whether Swarm possesses the knowledge of his human host or simply the personality.

534 points
Attributes: ST 10 [0]; DX 12 [40]; IQ 12 [40]; HT 12 [20].
Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs.; HP 10 [0]; Will 12 [0]; Per 12 [0]; FP 12 [0]; Basic Speed 6.00 [0]; Basic Air Move 10 [-4]; Dodge 10.
Languages: English (Native) [6]; German (Native) [6]; Spanish (Native) (Native Language) [0].
Cultural Familiarities: Latin American (Native) [0]; Western [1].
Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15]; Enhanced Move (Air) 1/2 (Move 15/30 mph) [10]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Injury Tolerance (Diffuse) (Body of Swarm, +40%; Flying Swarm, +30%; Humanoid Form (+50%; Accessibility: Requires Humanoid Skeleton, -20%), +40%; Swarm (Can Affect the Material World), +160%) [370]; Resistant to Pesticides +8 [7]; Single-Minded [5]; Small Piercing Attack (Bee Stings) 1 pt (Homing, +50%; Homing: Extra Passes +2, +20%; Increased 1/2D Range ×5, +10%; Increased Range: Line-of-Sight, +70%; Rapid Fire (RoF 100), +250%; Rapid Fire: Very Rapid Fire, +10%; Reduced 1/2D Range ×1/2, -5%; Final Range: 25/LoS) [6]; Speak With Animals (Specialized: Bees, -60%; Psionic, -10%) [8]; Toxic Attack 1d-1 (Follow-Up: Bee Stings, +0%) [3]; Ultrahearing [5]; Ultravision (UV Only) [0].
Disadvantages: Bloodlust (12) [-10]; Disturbing Voice [-10]; No Legs (Aerial) [0]; Social Stigma (Monster) [-15]; Weak Bite [-2]; Wealth (Dead Broke) [-25].
Quirks: Abrasive [-1]; Belief (Atheist) [-1]; Gloating [-1]; Sarcastic [-1]; Sexless [-1].
Skills: Animal Handling (Bees) (A) IQ+1 [4] – 13; Brawling (E) DX+2 [4] – 14; Computer Operation/TL8 (E) IQ+0 [1] – 12; Expert Skill (Apicology/Study of Bees) (H) IQ+2 [12] – 14; Flight (A) HT+0 [2] – 12; Innate Attack (Projectile) (A) Will+1 [4] – 13; Professional Skill (Beekeeper) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Research/TL8 (A) IQ+0 [2] – 12; Survival (Desert) (A) Per+0 [2] – 12; Survival (Plains) (A) Per+0 [2] – 12.
Starting Spending Money: $0.

Role-Playing Notes:
Swarm tends to take on the personality traits of the human hosts he kills and takes the skeleton of, seeing the skeleton itself as a kind of beehive. He is usually driven to attack people who get too close to the hive and has come to see all bees as part of himself. He holds himself as the avenger of bees killed by pesticides.

Design Notes:
1. When he takes a humanoid form, he requires a skeleton to do so. For simplicity's sake it's probably best to treat the skeleton as a "vitals" hit location even if IT: Diffuse lacks vitals. The skeleton would have DR 2, HP 10-12, and IT: Homogenous by itself, separate from Swarm's own stats; reducing the skeleton to 0 should effectively destroy it. This part comes from a discussion on the GURPS Discord server.
2. The mixing of Increased 1/2D Range and Reduced 1/2D Range may seem odd at first, but applying Increased 1/2D first gave me a Range 50/LoS, which was then modified with Reduced 1/2D Range for Range 25/LoS. A single level of Increased 1/2D Range with no Reduced 1/2D Range gives Range 20/LoS. Funky math tricks, and to my knowledge the book does not specify the two are mutually exclusive, although it may be implied. Your mileage may vary.

[awesomenessofme1]

A few things about the Innate Attack seem a bit off. How large are these bees if the actual sting itself (it's built as pi- rather than tox) can deal an entire point of damage? How do bees have a 1/2D range? And it seems a bit questionable from a points standpoint to have a 1-point attack with a 1/2D range anyway.EDIT: Never mind, forgot how Homing attacks work. First question still stands.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1

A few things about the Innate Attack seem a bit off. How large are these bees if the actual sting itself (it's built as pi- rather than tox) can deal an entire point of damage? How do bees have a 1/2D range? And it seems a bit questionable from a points standpoint to have a 1-point attack with a 1/2D range anyway.EDIT: Never mind, forgot how Homing attacks work. First question still stands.

Note that the sting is 1 pi- + follow-up 1d-1 tox. The bulk of the sting damage is still in the toxic bee venom, but that 1 pt small piercing - the best fit I could find without saying 1d-5, which my math actually gives as a negative point value - still needs to break the skin.

As for the size of the bees, comics art tends to be inconsistent about such things.

Hope that helps clear up some of the confusion.

[Phantasm]

TECHNO

Real Name: Norbert Ebersol.
Occupation: Professional criminal.
Identity: Publicly known.
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with a criminal record.
Other Aliases: Mr. Fix, Fixer.
Place of Birth: Dayton, Ohio.
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: None.
Group Affiliation: Lethal Legion; frequent partner of Mentallo.
Base of Operations: Chicago, Illinois.
History: Norbert Ebersol was born a technological prodigy. At the age of three, he'd already taken apart and not only repaired but improved an alarm clock. By ten, he'd already built an electric engine with a complex transmission, and by thirteen had built several robots. Despite his obvious intelligence, however, he failed most of his classes in school; he dropped out at sixteen due to sheer boredom. His life then suffered a series of setbacks as despite his skills no one would hire him, and those jobs he could get were menial low-paying jobs with a high rate of turnover. He turned his talents to crime first as a method to pay his rent and bills, and kept at it because of the challenges it offered him. Calling himself Techno, Ebersol had a moderately successful criminal career across the American Midwest.

He was then telepathically contacted by the criminal Mentallo with plans for them to steal some experimental technology (see Mentallo). This scheme brought the two of them into conflict with the crimefighters Ant-Man and Wasp, and the two were arrested (see Ant-Man; Wasp).

Some time later, Mentallo and Techno were recruited into the Crimson Cowl's Lethal Legion (see Crimson Cowl; Lethal Legion). While with the Legion, Techno clashed several times with Ant-Man and Wasp, as well as Iron Fist, his allies, and the Avengers (see Avengers; Iron Fist). Although arrested a few times during these conflicts, the Cowl always sprung him from prison.

Techno's current whereabouts and when he'll appear next are unknown.
Height: 5' 8".
Weight: 160 lbs.
Eyes: Brown.
Hair: Brown.
Uniform: Black bodysuit with a wide red stripe running from the neck to thighs, black gloves, black boots, metallic silver belt, metallic silver gauntlets, technological backpack held in place by metallic silver chest straps, red headband.
Strength Level: Techno possesses the normal human strength of a man his age, height, and build who engages in moderate regular exercise.
Known Superhuman Powers: Techno has several cybernetic implants enabling him to split his attention to better control his technological devices. His right eye has been replaced by a bionic eye which acts as a telescope with rangefinder, microscope, and false-color infrared sensor.
Other Abilities: Techno is a skilled inventor used to working with limited resources. His abilities in mechanics and electronics rival those of Tony Stark; however, while Stark has plenty of formal schooling, Ebersol's talent is wholly untrained (see Iron Man).
Paraphernalia: Techno has an ever-changing array of technological devices at his beck and call. He is occasionally assisted by a small robot he built, although the robot is primarily used for mixing and serving drinks rather than doing actual technical work.

Techno's gauntlets and backpack include a number of sensors and laser weapons. In addition, he commands a number of remote-controlled robot drones, flying and otherwise, through his cybernetic implants; these drones are often armed with conventional and laser weaponry. The backpack also contains every tool he can pack into it for most jobs he could think of. He also carries a stun gun in case of emergencies.

438 points
Attributes: ST 10 [0]; DX 11 [20]; IQ 14 [80]; HT 12 [20].
Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs; HP 10 [0]; Will 13 [-5]; Per 13 [-5]; FP 12 [0]; Basic Speed 5.75 [0]; Basic Move 5 [0]; Dodge 8.
Languages: English (Native) (Native Language) [0]; Japanese (Native) [6].
Cultural Familiarities: Western [0].
Advantages: Ambidexterity [5]; Artificer 4 [40]; Compartmentalized Mind 5 (Limited: Drone Operations, -10%; No Mental Separation, -20%; Electronic, -30%) [100]; Gizmo 3 [15]; High Manual Dexterity 3 [15]; Infravision (Electronic, -30%) [7]; Microscopic Vision 1 (Electronic, -30%) [4]; Quick Gadgeteer [50]; Signature Gear (Toolkit Backpack) [2]; Single-Minded [5]; Telecommunications (Cable Jack) (Video, +40%; Electronic, -30%) [6]; Telecommunications (Radio) (Accessibility: Selected Drones/Targets Only, -20%; Requires Concentrate, -15%; Secure, +20%; Video (+40%; Receive Only, -50%), +20%; Electronic, -30%) [8]; Telescopic Vision 3 (Electronic, -30%) [11]; Versatile [5].
Perks: Convincing Nod [1]; Energizer [1].
Disadvantages: Enemy (Law Enforcement; Medium-size Less Powerful Group; Hunter) (9) [-20]; Lecherousness (15) [-7]; Oblivious [-5]; One Eye (Mitigator: Cybernetics, -70%) [-4]; Overconfidence (9) [-7]; Social Stigma (Criminal Record) [-5]; Wealth (Struggling) [-10].
Quirks: Distractable [-1]; Expensive Habit (Wine Snob) [-1]; Mild Dyslexia [-1]; Sarcastic [-1]; Uncongenial [-1].
Skills: Acting (A) IQ-1 [1] – 13; Beam Weapons/TL8 (Pistol) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Beam Weapons/TL8 (Wrist Gun) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Brawling (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Climbing (A) DX-1 [1] – 10; Computer Operation/TL8 (E) IQ+0 [1] – 14; Drone Driving/TL8 (Automobile) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 14; Drone Driving/TL8 (Mecha) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 14; Drone Driving/TL8 (Tracked) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 14; Drone Piloting/TL8 (Helicoptor) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 14; Drone Piloting/TL8 (Vertol) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 14; Electronics Operation/TL8 (Communications) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 14; Electronics Operation/TL8 (Security) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 14; Electronics Operation/TL8 (Sensors) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 14; Electronics Operation/TL8 (Surveillance) (A) IQ+0 [2] – 14; Fast-Talk (A) IQ-2 [1] – 12*; Gunner/TL8 (Machine Gun) (E) DX+2 [4] – 13; Gunner/TL8 (Beams) (E) DX+2 [4] – 13; Guns/TL8 (Pistol) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Guns/TL8 (Wrist Gun) (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Inventor! (WC) IQ+2 [48] – 16†; Knife (E) DX+1 [2] – 12; Lip Reading (A) Per-1 [1] – 12; Lockpicking/TL8 (A) IQ+0 [2] – 14; Piloting/TL8 (Flight Pack) (A) DX+0 [2] – 11; Research/TL8 (A) IQ+0 [2] – 14; Running (A) HT-1 [1] – 11; Scrounging (E) Per+2 [4] – 15; Streetwise (A) IQ-2 [1] – 12*; Swimming (E) HT+0 [1] – 12; Throwing (A) DX+0 [2] – 11.
Starting Spending Money: $2,000 (20% of Starting Wealth).

* Includes -1 from Oblivious.
† Conditional +4 from Artificer.

Role-Playing Notes:
Although sometimes called a "mad scientist", Techno insists the more proper term for what he does is "mad engineer". His main issue is that he is unable to finish his schooling due to boredom, and his inventing takes a more "brute force" approach than those that understand the physics and other sciences behind the engineering: "if this doesn't work, adjust something and try again until it does". His crimes are more into gaining personal wealth and luxury than taking control of anything. Despite this, he is a solid team player when the others on the team respect him; if they don't respect him, he's likely to turn around and betray them.

Techno displays many of the signs of what has been called Adult Attention-Deficit Disorder, being bored and easily distracted when involved in something he is not interested in, while single-minded when something has his attention to the point where it is near impossible to get his attention.

Design Notes:
1. I chose not to call him "Fixer" because I thought his Thunderbolts identity fit the concept a lot better.
2. Drone Driving and Drone Piloting are new IQ/A skills with the same specialties as their DX-based counterparts, meant to represent remote control drone operations as opposed to operating them from a cockpit. Drone Boating and Drone Submarine may also make sense under this schema. Obviously, some specialties will make more sense than others.



Next victim: Ultron!

[awesomenessofme1]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

Infravision (Electronic, -30%; Microscopic Vision 1 (Electronic, -30%) [4];

Typo here, I assume?

Originally Posted by Phantasm

Next victim: Ultron!

Can't wait!

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1

Typo here, I assume?

Yes. Lemme fix.


Edit: Fixed. Not sure how that happened when I was translating from GCA to OpenOffice.

[OldSam]

Your Marvel Handbooks are super awesome, many thanks for that! :)

Just having watched the cool Ant-Man movie and checking your build at p.27-28, I was wondering about the unarmed strength and damage, though. Ant-Man can normally punch a person while being small, just like he can while he is in normal human form - exactly like you describe it "Ant-Man retains his normal strength when he shrinks down to the size of a large ant, around half an inch."

Really interested in the character, I checked your build and overall your building style is great, but actually I think there may be a little issue here - I don't think it's really 100% correct that way:

---
Shrinking 13 (Can Carry Objects, No Encumbrance, +10%; Full HP, +20%; Reduced Time 4 (1 second), +80%; Super, -10%) [137]
---

First, there seems to be a little typo, according to BS p.85 it is "Full HP, +30%" but the shown calculation is right anyway! ;)

IMHO, though, one important bit seems to be missing: I'd say Ant-Man should have "Full Damage, +100%"...right?

Finally that makes the following build IMHO:

---
Shrinking 13 (Can Carry Objects, No Encumbrance, +10%; Full HP, +30%; Full Damage, +100%; Reduced Time 4 (1 second), +80%; Super, -10%) [202]
---

Hope it helps! ...or maybe I'm missing something?

And please keep going, your work is fantastic! :)


PS: I don't know if that one is just in the movie (not knowing the comics etc.) - but in the movie Ant-Man has some kind of shrinking&growing weapon, too...

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by OldSam

Your Marvel Handbooks are super awesome, many thanks for that! :)

Thanks. It's a labor of love, so I'll probably keep going until I die or suffer from Alzheimer's.

Originally Posted by OldSam

Just having watched the cool Ant-Man movie and checking your build at p.27-28, I was wondering about the unarmed strength and damage, though. Ant-Man can normally punch a person while being small, just like he can while he is in normal human form - exactly like you describe it "Ant-Man retains his normal strength when he shrinks down to the size of a large ant, around half an inch."

Really interested in the character, I checked your build and overall your building style is great, but actually I think there may be a little issue here - I don't think it's really 100% correct that way:

---
Shrinking 13 (Can Carry Objects, No Encumbrance, +10%; Full HP, +20%; Reduced Time 4 (1 second), +80%; Super, -10%) [137]
---

First, there seems to be a little typo, according to BS p.85 it is "Full HP, +30%" but the shown calculation is right anyway! ;)

IMHO, though, one important bit seems to be missing: I'd say Ant-Man should have "Full Damage, +100%"...right?

Finally that makes the following build IMHO:

---
Shrinking 13 (Can Carry Objects, No Encumbrance, +10%; Full HP, +30%; Full Damage, +100%; Reduced Time 4 (1 second), +80%; Super, -10%) [202]
---

Hope it helps! ...or maybe I'm missing something?

Helps a lot! Good catch!

See, this is why I post things, so little oversights like this can be caught.

Originally Posted by OldSam

PS: I don't know if that one is just in the movie (not knowing the comics etc.) - but in the movie Ant-Man has some kind of shrinking&growing weapon, too...

I'll be honest, I originally wrote up Hank back in a fit of "Curse you, Quesada!" madness back in '06 or '07, well before the MCU began, so such a weaponized form of Pym particles wasn't in my mind. Given I gave Hank Gadgeteer and Inventor!, I can see him cooking them up given time. They're something to think about, though, especially since in the Reboot, Pym particles don't require an enclosed casing to be used to shrink the living.

[Phantasm]

For some reason, Ultron's bio is giving me fits, in that I can't seem to get it right!

However, one other character I had sitting in the wings for Spider-Woman's title that I thought I'd have a problem with just had an inspiration hit me over the head with a wiffle ball bat.