The Funnies #12 - pt. 1

We begin our review of this issue with a page of Dan Dunn. We're in Bankok's secret hideout where, by simply hanging curtains, he can manipulate the air flow in his hideout and keep gas in certain sections. In most hideouts, doors would serve the same purpose, and be easier than having to hang curtains.

Poisonous incense, which gives off a toxic gas when heated, would be a trophy item.

In a more enclosed space, like a single room, this trap would be more efficient. Spread out through a portion of the hideout, the gas' onset time is slowed to 30 minutes.

A playing tip from this page of G-Man Jim is to always carry, or wear, a watch. If you're knocked unconscious and alone, it will be the quickest way to find out how long you were out.

Another playing tip, this time from Captain Easy, but again about having things on your person. If your Hero has to carry important pieces of paper, documents, etc., write them in a code (or rewrite them in code if someone else's papers, then burn the originals). This makes you a valuable prisoner if someone ever captures you for the papers you carry.

This page of Captain Easy is about the hideout. Here we have an ingenious waterfront hideout. The mobsters come and go via motorboat, entering from underneath via a ladder and trapdoor. Heroes entering the same way would have a hard time surprising the mobsters above the trapdoor, and would definitely have a height disadvantage.

Torture devices could be common features in a hideout. Here we see dental equipment set up in a separate room, reserved for torturing prisoners.

Note how the windows do not allow anyone to jump out into the water; all the windows face a walkway that encircles the building and is patrolled by mobsters.

A playing tip is to use police help wisely. Ask them to do leg work for you, like when you need to know where the mobsters' hideout is, but avoid bringing more than you need into the hideout with you -- you're just dividing the Experience Points more ways then.

Another word about the hideout, though -- note how much more challenging the scenario is made by the hideout employing a lookout who can alert the mobsters inside. Had Easy been able to surprise the hoodlums inside, this encounter would have gone much differently.

A good way to conceal a hideout is with a fake room in front of the hideout. Here, a false bedroom and a convincing hoodlum/actor almost fool the police officer and Easy into dismissing this as not the hideout they were looking for.

Checking small details, like the number of cigarettes in a tray, is a good tip for players. It may not always be important, but you may often learn something useful from such details.

Switching gears to Westerns and Bronc Peeler, we see an example of simultaneous initiative and the use of the Cowboy stunt Disarming Shot. These are the obvious features from this page, however. What is more curious is, how to play the part where Bronc slowly succumbs to a gunshot wound?

Combat in Hideouts & Hoodlums is already dangerous enough without adding complications, like continuous hit point loss from untreated wounds. I would prefer to explain this as a new stunt, Endure Injury, which lets a Hero continue acting for 1 turn past reaching zero hit points.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)