GURPS:

The Adventures of Luther Arkwright

You never believed the lunatics who think there is a conspiracy behind it all. All those mysterious goings on that those in authority cannot or never will, explain.

Who shot JFK ? Did Roberto Calvi really hang himself from Black Friars Bridge ? Are 'Men in Black' real ? If so, who are they and who controls them ?

All those questions unanswered and you just never cared until now. Until that voice in your head told you it mattered. There is something behind it all and that they are called 'Disruptors'.

They are behind everything, on every Earth. Yes, that's right. Every Earth. Yours is not the only one. There are an infinite number of Earths all parallel to yours. The Disruptors are at work on all of those Earths, working to unknown ends. You cannot do anything on those parallels, but you can on your own.

Should you believe that voice ? The one that sounds so very much like your own ?

Over the next weeks the voice goes on to explain everything.

The voice tells you that it is yourself talking to you, but it is yourself from another parallel Earth known as Zero-Zero. You and your parallel selves are gifted and can communicate via an empathic link. This makes you special, able to help in effort to stop the Disruptors, by working against them in your parallel.

Zero-Zero is one parallel that is free of Disruptor influence. A few others are also free, but those Earths are either lifeless or one of the few that have developed non-human intelligent life or no intelligent life at all. Zero-Zero is also a scientifically advanced parallel. The Theory of Relativity known by 1800 and Moon landings achieved in 1820. In 1881, Karl Marx proved the existence of other parallels and by 1905, the World Government of Zero-Zero built W.O.T.A.N., a computer designed to monitor other parallels. Marx also devised the annotation system for designating other parallels. His own was 00-00-00, or Zero-Zero. Flanking parallels were 00-01-00 or 01-00-00 and so on. More distant parallels were given higher numbers.

Through another area of research, Psionics, it was found that 'Empathic Links' could be made between some individuals across parallels. Via their other selves, Zero-Zero Empaths built up networks of agents working to curb Disruptor influence. Though the empathic link was rare it was the only way to fight the Disruptors.

The Disruptors work from the shadows through criminal, political or quasi-religious secret societies, manipulating events to their own ends. Their headquarters are hidden on some unknown parallel and little is known of how they operate.

What is known came through the capture of a Disruptor lodge in 1958. Normally Disruptors work through a network of agents indigenous to the parallel. These are the Pawns of the Disruptors. At the head of the Disruptors on each parallel are the Bishops. Then there are the Knights and the Rooks. The former are the rare active agents that travel across parallels. The Rooks are the Disruptor's strike teams: armoured super soldiers whose fearsome appearance has given rise to legends across many Earths.

It was obvious that the Disruptors were more advanced in trans-parallel science and technology. From the Lodge, Zero-Zero learnt the secrets of the trans-parallel communicator (TPC) which allowed the expansion of their anti-Disruptor network. Yet travel between the parallels was still not possible.

This changed with the appearance of one individual, Luther Arkwright. He was unique, having no other selves on other parallels. Bred and trained to be the perfect Disruptor agent, Luther rebelled against his training and fled. Psionically endowed, he could, by the force of his will alone, transport himself to other parallels. Eventually Luther was recruited by Zero-Zero agents and has been their prime agent for over a decade.

Recent technological advances have made possible a prototype vehicle, the Trans-Parallel Vehicle (TPV), known as the Van. Using this, Zero-Zero has been able to send out strike teams to other parallels.

Introduction

GURPS Luther Arkwright is based upon the comic series written and drawn by Bryan Talbot. Besides the Adventures of Luther Arkwright, Mr Talbot is also known for his work on 'Nemesis the Warlock' for British weekly comic '2000 AD' and a wide range of DC Comics' Vertigo titles. More recently he has written and drawn 'The Tale of One Bad Rat' for Dark Horse Comics. More information about Bryan Talbot in 'Sources' below.

GURPS Luther Arkwright is an illuminated Alternate Earths campaign using some cinematic elements. It is a non-magical setting, though the appearance and use of Psionics may be explained as such. Nor are there any species other than humans, barring the few parallels where non-human life evolved to sentience.

The range of Alternate Earths in parallels possible, means that the GURPS player and referee has a wide selection of historical source bodies upon which to draw, as well as those for other games.

Sources