Smash Comics #2 - pt. 2

My first draft of Hideouts & Hoodlums' new grappling rules specified it was for one-on-one combat only, but I'll be adding a new paragraph on assigning modifiers if multiple grapplers all attempt against the same target, as they do on poor Abdul the Arab here.

The "Sultan" is not lucky with women. Interestingly, King Faisal II, the closest thing to a real world analog to this character, never married and had to call off two engagements.

Vernon Henkel had a good grasp on foreign politics. There was considerable unrest in Iraq over the king allowing British occupation.

First of all, that executioner's outfit would look great on a supervillain. Secondly -- unless Hassan is a superhero -- I seriously doubt he can chop through chains with a sword in one chop. "Hassan chop!" indeed!

Now, I'm about to back up and show you the first page of this story, because I had not shared it yesterday, and I want you to see what Abdul's mission was.

It was simple reconnaissance you were supposed to be doing, Abdul! But here you are, mowing down the king's men with a machine gun, until your tribal leader father shows up to take over. Now, in real life, the tribes were anti-British while the monarchy was pro-British, but Vernon has reversed allegiances in this story. So...this is a win, and all those deaths are justified, because the pro-British side won? This is from the same creator who had Gallant Knight hacking down saracens recently. Anything you want to tell us about your personal biases, Vernon...?

This is Hugh Hazzard and His Iron Man. Science, physics in particular, is only as important in a H&H story as you and your players need it to be for suspension of disbelief (and maybe to force some save vs. science rolls!). If you want a robot to be able to fly simply by having a beanie hat and propeller on its head -- then go for it!

I've written before about how there can be no hard and fast mechanic for reputation, but I've also written how it doesn't take much to qualify as a disguise in comic books/H&H. So, just saying you're someone else is a type of disguise, and a successful save vs. plot would see through that and mean that someone did recognize you -- I mean Hugh by reputation.

And as for shooting with two guns, I don't intend for that to give you any kind of game mechanic bonus. Hugh is getting the same number of attacks he would normally; carrying two guns is just flavor text.

How far Hugh has fallen, that he's already gone from fighting mad scientists with robots to hoodlums with an antique biplane.

We also get a sense here that Hugh's remote control over the robot has a pretty long range (a mile or more?).

Captain Cook of Scotland Yard reminds me about the penalty I had for hitting humans in dim light in 1st ed. It was a tough rule to enforce -- when was light dim enough?  So I ditched the rule. If you can see, you can attack at no penalty. If it's too dark to see, then you get -4 to hit. But this one panel makes me think the dim light rule had some merit. I mean -- the thief is clearly silhouetted by the light from the window, but Cook still misses because the room is dark.

It makes more sense to me -- and in fact would be a sign of a good player (and/or a Lawful Hero) in my book -- for Cook not to want a shoot out in a street with pedestrians around.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)