More Fun Comics #17 - pt. 1

Am I starting with Sandra of the Secret Service because "Sandra and Lorenz have escaped from the Resbian prison" reads like "lesbian prison"?  No, it's because of the peculiar instance of Lorenz's flesh wound.  Can someone fall forward while running in Hideouts & Hoodlums and take damage?  Most likely not.  It's conceivable that Lorenz fell on something sharp, which could have impaled him like a weapon, but just landing on the ground from any distance less than 10' is not going to cause damage to a full-grown Hero. What is more likely is that Lorenz took a bullet wound, but is just being macho and doesn't want to tell Sandra.

Note Lorenz' regret over shooting the soldiers; this is perfectly in keeping with the save vs. plot rule for Heroes to shoot a person, which in earlier versions of the rules even Fighters had to make.

Thugs were statted in Book II: Mobsters & Trophies.

You know, the artwork in Don Drake has been pretty hit or miss so far, but the poses are really good in panel 1 and, in panel 2, you can really tell by looking at him that the whip-snapper with the boulder dropped on him is in a world of hurt.

The rules, as written, are a little harsh when it comes to requiring Lawful or Neutral Heroes to save vs. plot to go around picking up enemy trophies, but that's meant to prevent do-gooders from stockpiling all of those hi-tech whips that, we've already seen, do enough damage to even give Don Drake pause. Betty picking up smoked glasses, though, is really solving the puzzle of how to get through the Room of Blinding Light and not being greedy, so I would definitely not impose the save vs. plot there.



In this installment of Dr. Occult, the good Doctor and The Seven stand in final battle with Koth and his thousands of horsemen.  Again, I have to suspect that Siegel and Shuster are not as concerned with game balance as I am.  Especially when it comes to how easily Dr. Occult turns the tide, simply by activating the final power of his magic belt and summoning -- a Phantasmal Army.

Phantasmal Force is an H&H spell, but one meant to conjure maybe 1-10 illusionary soldiers, not thousands. Phantasmal Army would be a spell of at least the 8th spell level.  Will I include such a spell?  Like robots hundreds of feet tall in Federal Men, I'm inclined to accept that what we're seeing is an exaggerated version of what we can adapt to H&H.

This is from a loose adaptation of Ivanhoe, which you would think would work better with D&D or Pendragon...but this Black Knight sure seems a lot like a superhero here.  It would be interesting to see someone try running a medieval campaign using just H&H!

For a campaign aiming for a darker mood, you could take lessons from Barry O'Neill and Fang Gow.  Players may not appreciate having their SCMs kidnapped and murdered like this, so an Editor should consider it carefully, but killing their butler just to leave a message on his shirt, now that says evil.


(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus)