Feature Funnies #12

Get ready to squint at the poor scans today, because there's some quality stuff to consider from Quality today.

First off, I just think this is funny.

And then there's this. I didn't think we'd ever be examining Cliff Chance, boring sports character, here, but this is a good example of that old stand-by for adventure stories, the rescue from a burning building. It's exciting, visually, but a challenge for the Editor to make it feel like part of the game, and not just something quickly summarized by flavor text. There should definitely be an element of danger -- saves vs. science each turn to avoid ...maybe 2-12 points of damage from heat and smoke inhalation? And constant hear noise checks to be alerted to the presence of nearby people to rescue.

This bugs me to no end when I run Hideouts & Hoodlums -- my players never tell me their Heroes are reading the newspapers. When they travel to new places, picking up the local paper should be the first thing they do. This is the modern equivalent of going to the local tavern and waiting to overhear rumors -- particularly the classified sections, which are perfect for dropping plot hooks in the players' laps.

Some traps are so simple, yet still surprise me. This idea, of spreading sugar on the floor to foil stealthy movement (and Heroes moving about invisibly), is awful ingenuous.  The sugar would be hard to spot (2 in 6 chance?).

The smell of kerosene would be impossible to mask, but if hoodlums wanted a disposable hideout, filling it with pre-soaked waste would be a good way to burn it down quickly when the Heroes show up.

The Clock's tear gas-squirting stickpin -- no doubt a great ice breaker at parties -- was described in the Clock entry in Supplement IV: Captains, Magicians, & Incredible Men.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus)