The Funnies #29

Alley Oop (not pictured here) doesn't name the dinosaur in the background this month, but it's very clearly a triceratops. For such a well-known dinosaur, I'm frankly surprised there have been so few triceratops in comic books so far. Triceratops was, of course, statted in Supplement I: National for Hideouts & Hoodlums.

This "rough and tumble" style of fighting might need some examining. Bat's leap attack reminds me of the panther attack we just saw in Gallant Knight the other day, and is clearly a trip/overbearing type attack. Bat's "claw yer eyes out" attack is a bit harder to quantify in H&H.  Do we need a blinding attack? I don't see most comic book characters fighting this dirty. For Bronc's turn, he kicks, and Bat hits his head. I would not add extra damage for Bat hitting his head; rather, this could be flavor text explaining a high result on the damage die.

I tell my players that they should bring supporting cast members with them so they'll earn more xp -- but the big secret is that's not really it. The reason I want them -- like Wash -- along is in case I expect the Hero to rescue the femme fatale in the next cell over and he surprises me by refusing. If it's really important to me for the plot that she be around, then I can have the supporting cast go free her!

Book III: Underworld & Metropolis Adventures had a list of metropolises and their challenge ratings, but that was just a broad overview -- if each metropolis was detailed gazetteer-style (like the treatment Duluth got in The Trophy Case v. 2 no. 1), there would be sections of each city with different challenge ratings. That would give you parts of town so tough they are "too tough for the cops".

Ben Webster and his pals have special glasses that allow them to see invisible things.

The missing links have a special kind of invisibility that makes you unable to hear them as well as see them. It's more like the psionic disicpline of invisibility that just makes people unable to notice you. Psionics were introduced in Supplement III: Better Quality and will probably not go in the 2nd ed. basic rulebook.

Here's a nice selection of spells being cast. We see Wall of Stone, Wall of Fire, a new spell -- Wall of Water -- and several castings of Dispel Magic.

I call your attention to The Crime Busters because it makes me question if a sub-machine gun couldn't be on the starting equipment list. It seems that people in the '30s only had to wait a few days to get one!

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

The Funnies #28

In Alley Oop this month, the cavemen go from trapping dinosaurs for their zoo to meeting woolly mammoths. Woolly mammoths were statted all the way back in Book II: Mobsters & Trophies!

When in foreign countries, be careful about how much you're offered in payment. Ten thousand francs, circa 1939, came to about $250 American.

This is a clever set-up for a wandering encounter. The driver cuts off the mark, takes him to the nearest house, and subtly questions him about how rich he is, if he's armed, and then the hoodlums jump him.

It looks like Mama fumbled and fell down the stairs, but that can't be because Hideouts & Hoodlums has no fumble game mechanic.  Instead, she missed and Captain Easy used a trip attack on her that sent her down the stairs.

Yeah, I don't need much of an excuse to share Captain Easy pages...

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

The Funnies #24

The continuing adventures of Alley Oop have him brawling with his ex-friend on the back of a flying pteranodon (the narrator refers to it as a pterodactyl, but it is way too large to be a pterodactyl). Any combat that takes place on a moving animal's back, moving vehicle, or some other terrain where balance comes into play should require a save vs. science from each participant per turn to keep from falling.

According to Alley Oop, pteranodons must have a low Armor Class from frontal attacks because their beaks are so hard (or Alley is just griping because his attack rolls have all been so bad).

If nothing else, maybe Reg'lar Fellers here makes the best case that anyone should have a chance to hypnotize others. But how good a chance? A 1 in 6 chance of triggering a save vs. plot?

Captain Easy has been struggling for the past few months, with its directionless plotting, but here Easy struggles with an issue Hideouts & Hoodlums players may struggle with someday -- how far can you move someone against their will that your character is grappling? I would have the grappler roll to hit and the victim roll a save vs. science and then look at those numbers. If the to hit roll was 5 or more higher than what was needed, the grappler can move the victim a half-Move away. If the save was 5 or less below what was needed, the grappler can move the victim another half-Move away.

The Editor must be careful to remain neutral, especially when the players are bluffing. Sure, the Editor knows that Easy's cannon has no gunpowder in it, but he has to realize that the guards in the truck would have no way of knowing that and should be given a morale save accordingly.

Machine guns have been a trophy weapon available in the game since Book II: Mobsters & Trophies, with canons and anti-aircraft guns being added in the more military-themed Supplement I: National. Note that Fighters do need tripod mounts for machine guns, as pictured correctly here, and anti-aircraft guns are not handheld weapons for anyone other than buffed Superheroes. 

As for that antique plane...even I wouldn't be mean enough to give my players transportation that antiquated...

Decades before The Godfather gave this a different context.  This gag filler is called Hold Everything.

This seems to be a clear-cut case, to me, of a stunt I gave the Cowboy class (in Supplement III: Better Quality) called Quick Draw.  Otherwise, I wouldn't even roll for initiative if one side has their guns out and the other doesn't.


(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus)

The Funnies #22

Alley Oop uses pteranodons a lot. They are called pterodactyls in the strip, but the scale is off (pterodactyls were too small). Pteranodons are one of the few dinosaurs that can be domesticated and ridden in Alley Oop. Dropping rocks while flying overhead is also shown to be an effective tactic. Helmets are shown to protect wearers from attacks directly overhead, though (act as shields from overhead attacks?).

This is from Four Aces and the lesson here is that pilots flying mail planes were, apparently, authorized to carry a gun.

Goat joke #15!

Oz is a place you could send Heroes to in Hideouts & Hoodlums.  Maybe they need to recover some of this Magic Powder of Life?  It's hard to define, in game mechanics terms, what this powder does. Besides functioning as a Raise Dead spell, it also grants sentience and intelligence.  This stuff would be worth a ton of experience points!

Should a pumpkinhead be a mobster type? Maybe statted the same as a bugbear?

This is a, so far, faithful adaptation of The Marvelous Land of Oz, second book in the Oz series.

Mombi has a potion that will turn Tip into a marble statue. I should have a mobster type for witches, maybe with a random table of crazy potions or powders they might be carrying.

From a gag page called, appropriately enough, Hold Everything.


(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

The Funnies #20

I've gone over before how combat turns, particularly unarmed combat turns, work in Hideouts & Hoodlums, but the Alley Oop story in this month's issue of The Funnies urges me to revisit the issue. Though you're not seeing it here, there is a page of Alley Oop on a boxer's back, getting in six punches while his opponent seems to be getting in only one punch. This is, of course, not the case of how combat works in H&H, and it would not be fair if it did (can you imagine, though, a RPG where you got to keep attacking continuously until you missed?). Rather, both boxers are getting equal numbers of attacks, but only Alley is lucky enough to be hitting all the time, and his unlucky opponent keeps missing.

At first, I thought Alley being on the boxer's back was just flavor text, until I realized there was a game mechanic advantage to the hold he has his opponent in, as it continuously allows Alley to attack from behind (and thus at a +2 bonus). So Alley establishes the hold on turn 1, then proceeds to punch at a bonus for the next three turns (2 attacks per turn if both combatants are fighting unarmed) because his opponent keeps failing a save vs. science to get Alley off his back.

Now, how the other boxer punches Alley out of the ring is another matter entirely. This "slam" effect I'll have to deal with someday, as it becomes quite prevalent in superhero stories later on. As of right now, there is no mechanic for ordinary fighters to knock each other over long distances -- though Supplement V: Big Bang has two powers for Superheroes modified to do this very thing.

Goat joke #13!

Though Mutt & Jeff have graced this blog several times, I think this is the first time its companion feature, Cicero's Cat, has ever been featured here.  I include it here because it's a bit of a mystery to me. Some of the staples of the carnival are unchanging and easily recognizable here -- the fun house, the roller coaster, the bumper cars. But what is the saucer on tracks, that seems to be different from the roller coaster? And what was that spin-around ride like, back in a day when safety was apparently not a paramount concern at carnivals? Did people really all tumble together in a big spinning pot?

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

The Funnies #17

So, what does Dell Comics have for us today? Well, this issue starts with Alley Oop still fighting crocodiles...

I include this page because it's the most detailed instructions for safe-cracking I've ever seen, and it might help for describing it in a H&H scenario.

Tad of the Tanbark has never had supernatural elements before, so there's probably a rational explanation for this...but it appears that the witch doctor has cast a new spell, like Summon Snakes. It can apparently summon at least 12 black mambas. Unless this is a Mobster Summoning spell which just happened to summon snakes...?

This page of Captain Easy is about easy deathtraps -- tie someone to a chair with a bomb in his lap, toss someone out a window with a rope around his neck, or, worst of all, threaten to marry him!

Hubba hubba!  I mean...where was I?

Oh yeah, hideouts!  I was about to type, some mobsters you might not expect to find in a hideout are railroad presidents and bankers. There is already a "corrupt politician" mobster in H&H (Book II: Mobsters & Trophies), but maybe there need to be stats for corrupt businessmen. They would be easy to defeat, but worth more XP because of the monetary value they represent?


(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

Funnies #16

We finally have reached 1938!  And we'll start with the Alley Oop feature from Dell's The Funnies.  I'm still not sure about showing Alley Oop pages here, so I'll just mention that Alley Oop has to deal with that old trope of crossing a pond full of crocodiles here while hunting for a flightless bird. Crocodiles would be statted the same as alligators, which can be found in Book II: Mobsters & Trophies (and, in fact, the alligator entry supports this).

Goat joke #12!

According to Dan Dunn, at least, a used car in good working order could be had for just $10 in the late '30s.

Bronc Peeler brings us the first instance of "being tied to the ground over an anthill as a deathtrap" in comics, as well as possibly the first instance of male nudity in comics. As far as deathtraps go, this one's pretty mild, since Mexico isn't known for having overly aggressive ants...

Here, Don Dixon tries to make a case for weapon proficiencies, or a rule that limits Fighters to only knowing a limited set of weapons. Or maybe Don is just pretending he doesn't know how to use a bow, because he wants that high Strength modifier for melee combat...

Hideouts & Hoodlums, of course, does not use proficiencies or weapon skills, though some classes are restricted in what weapons they can use.

I can scarcely pass up an opportunity to share a page of my personal pre-Superman favorite, Captain Easy. Here, we're left to interpret how effectively mobsters can feign death. Was Easy really fooled when he checked the man's pulse, or was picking the man up and threatening to throw him out the window just an elaborate way of calling him out? I'm half-tempted to give cowardly hoodlums the ability to feign death...

Here, Easy sees through a disguise, demonstrating that disguise should either have a percent chance of success or a saving throw to see through (auto successes should only occur by magic).

Mutt & Jeff (or at least Mutt, in this case) demonstrates that ability scores like Strength don't rise in H&H no matter what training you do.

...Unless they do. There is an optional rule in H&H that allows for ability score advancement. It has proven to be popular in past campaigns, though it really only seems to apply to Superheroes in the actual comic books...

Renting horses, for 60 cents an hour.



(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

The Comics #4

Dresses cost $11, or at least the flimsy dresses that rip while you're punching through fences in Wash Tubbs' strip do

It may seem unlikely that a gunman could shoot a moving rope, but six gunmen, minutes later, are shooting it out in the street and continually missing each other. There are a couple of possible in-game explanations. Perhaps Tom Mix just got lucky -- maybe his Editor gave him a 1 in 20 chance and he rolled well?  Or Tom's player used a stunt like Trick Shooting.

As for everyone missing each other in the street, that's not so unbelievable, given that the average shooter only has a 50-50 chance of hitting. And even then, the Heroes get a save vs. missiles to avoid being shot.

This is Dr. Doom, International Spy's henchman breaking in thanks to drugged wine. It's good that the henchman is doing it, because drugging people is a big no-no for Heroes. I would even make a Chaotic Hero save vs. plot to do this, though maybe at a bonus, with a Lawful Hero having to save at a penalty.

A wagon with a false bottom might not seem like much of a trophy item, but it depends on the setting. This would be a great trophy for a Western campaign just as much as this scenario, set in a poor European country.

Speedboats, like the one Tom Beatty is using, are probably more exciting trophies for Heroes to pick up, but they might come with more risks. There's no game mechanic for shooting at a boat and maybe hitting its gas tank, but an Editor can add complications like that to a scenario any time he feels like it.

This one is odd, as the effect of tear gas is so seldom shown as unconsciousness in comics. It's probably because of the confined space, but there's no game mechanic for that. Maybe G-Man Jim has been exposed to extra-strong tear gas.

Then this page of Myra North, Nurse deals with story pacing. An Editor would have to be very careful and know his players well before making them go a whole week without a clue. Many players would be tempted to ditch the whole scenario long before then.



In [Alley] Oop and Dinny, they go over a waterfall and survive. Of course, in fiction, everyone who goes over a waterfall survives!  An Editor could safely make the same assumption for his campaign, or be harsher and make everyone save vs. science to avoid drowning.

I really don't recommend this trick, seen in Lone Marshal, of allowing thrown knives to pin hands to walls or tables. For one thing, it's just gross. For another, it makes knives very dangerous in combat and players are not going to enjoy having this attack used against them.

At best...the Editor might consider a knife throwing mobster with this as a special ability...

...Okay, maybe I'd allow biting out a fuse to save a Hero from a deathtrap, but there's got to be some consequences from that, like maybe 1-2 points of burn damage?

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

The Funnies #6 - pt. 1

Okay, starting off the next 100 issues, we jump right back into Dell's comic strip reprint anthology and an Alley Oop creature feature!

This is bradysaurus, an early pre-dinosaur giant reptile big enough to warrant 8+1 HD, using d8 Hit Dice.

Though fiercer looking, edaphosaurus was smaller, much lighter, and would only be 4 HD.

Dinicitis was a primitive version of the modern day great cat. It was not far off from a cougar in size, so this would be maybe a 2+1 HD.

Truth serum is apparently a real thing, but it's also something of a cliche in all kinds of fiction, not just Dan Dunn. In Hideouts & Hoodlums, it could be called Potion of Lie Detection.

He's a pretty sharp shooter, that Dan Dunn!  Now, the cover rules only apply to soft cover and hard cover, with hard cover providing just a -2 penalty to hit. However, for a shot like this, where the target cannot even be seen behind the cover, an additional penalty for shooting an unseen target can be added, making a -6 penalty to hit in total!

There is always a chance for wrecking things, even for non-Superheroes. So, Dan would get through even a steel door with an axe eventually, but it does make sense that he could forego this for time considerations (it might take many turns for the Editor's rolls to get lucky enough!).

Lastly, the trap of a false floorboard flooding the room with poison gas if stepped on is quite nasty.  Of course, the Heroes still get saving throws vs. poison, and something less lethal, like knock-out gas, could be substituted.  The chance of stepping on the right floorboard might be 1 in 6 per turn spent in the room, per occupant.

I fear if more players saw what a G-Man gets for a starting equipment package on this page, that everyone would want to play nothing but G-Men!  I would not make this package available to starting players, though if a Hero became a G-Man during the course of a campaign, I could see rewarding him or her with such a loot crate!

It's unclear in the bottom tier if we are seeing the benefit of a Charisma modifier being applied to an initially low encounter reaction roll, or if the Editor is applying a situational modifier after some good role-playing.

Captain Easy had a tough time finding the gun in the snow because it became a concealed object, with only a 2 in 6 chance per turn of him finding it (though the Editor could bump that up to 3 in 6 if he felt the gun could not be buried too deep).

Landing on the railroad car could have been a simple attack roll -- unless the Editor wanted to make it really challenging and added the penalties for hitting a moving object, from the vehicular combat rules.

Flipping a coin and having the direction the head is facing determine what direction you head is a novel idea to me; it could be replicated with a real coin or a roll on 1d8 to determine compass direction.

The man Easy meets in the snow could be the result of a wandering encounter check, but since he has such a valuable plot hook for Easy, I suspect he was pre-planted in that location -- which is okay for the Editor to do.  Not everything needs to be random.

Wolves, particularly in whatever part of Europe Easy is supposed to be in, may be encountered in groups of 3-36.

Easy slipped on the ice because of a missed save vs. science roll.