New Fun #5 - pt. 2

We pick up again on another strip that one would not, at first glance, think of as Hideouts & Hoodlums material.  And yet, there is an intriguing scenario here. The "Professor" seems like a a Scientist Hero to me (no doubt statted with the Scientist character class from Supplement III: Better Quality) hiring what he thinks are two detectives to guard him, but who turn out to be useless Drunken Hoodlums. Later, three Robbers (they're called burglars here, but I would stat them as Robbers) show up and would succeed in robbing the Professor, if they hadn't failed their morale check when the dog shows up.

I include this snippet of Bob Merritt for two reasons. One is a little history lesson: Bob is using an "electric eye" to look for planes in the sky instead of Radar because RADAR (an acronym for RAdio Detection And Ranging) was still being developed in 1935 and wouldn't be called RADAR until 1940! (or so says http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar)

The other point is about how much Mr. Campbell is planning to pay Bob -- $100,000.  By H&H rules, Bob would have earned that money and hence be eligible for 100,000 Experience Points, or enough to catapult him from a 1st-level Aviator all the way to 17th level!

Although the rules do not say anything about capping XP awards, the Editor should feel free to do so, usually to whatever amount would get the Hero to the next level (or, only 2,000 xp for $100,000 if Bob is still level 1).

Brad Hardy is included here, not because it's amazing storytelling, but because it seems to be a treasure trove for mobsters. Apparently, if I had New Fun #4, I would have seen a giant snake. Here, we have rat men who seem distinctly not wererats (indeed, without their nets they don't seem to be much tougher than Brad).  We don't get a lot of detail about the giant golden bats, but they are apparently intelligent enough to speak and their touch is deadly (poisonous fur?).

Further, Brad's adventures are firmly set in a subterranean world not unlike the dungeons of a certain other game. 

Lastly, we pay a visit to Midshipman Dewey, demonstrating the art of disarming an opponent. The first rules for disarming were optional and introduced in The Trophy Case v. 1 no. 5, but will be part of the core rules in the next edition.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus)