More Fun #9

More Don Drake on the Planet Saro fun!  This time we clearly see that Don is fighting what must be a full-sized, 15 HD, sea monster -- which means that Zetrurian Canon must pack a whopping 15 HD of damage!

The next page features those bizarre "winged death" creatures again and, even with a better look at them, I can't figure out how to stat them!  It's almost more like an AD&D modron than a bird or insect. Any thoughts on them?

Poor Wing Brady is dying of thirst in the desert.  How to handle that, though, in game play?  Hideouts & Hoodlums includes rules for fatigue (in Book I: Men and Supermen, the combat section), but no rules for dehydration or starvation.

It is generally said that a man can go three days without water (though this site says some people have gone 8-10 days without water).  So, after 3 days, I would have the Hero suffer constant fatigue and, in addition, make the Hero save vs. science each additional day, or die.

Speaking of bizarre...Brad Hardy here tackles some "ape men" -- though, as anyone with basic zoological education knows, apes don't have tails. Perhaps, if we ignored the tails, these could be the gibbon men statted in H&H Supplement I: National?  The gibbon men only sprang into existence to fill a niche for a weak humanoid creature. Perhaps I should just replace them with monkey men like these in the next edition.

The "ape god" is a statue that just stood up and startled everyone. A stone golem...?

This installment of 2023 Super-Police shows that, even in the future, you can still find subterranean hideouts to explore!  Here we see a cave complex made from old lava tubes, now partially filled with water. The boat conveniently left on the shore reminds me of the classic AD&D module S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.

Good thing Kiddlaw has a flare!  Flares are not currently on the starting equipment list for H&H, but it bears consideration.

And lastly, Doctor Occult finishes his first adventure against the "Vampire Master", actually a Mad Scientist with a Thought Materializer Machine.  This machine needs to go into the next edition of H&H, as it's such a handy means of stocking a hideout with all kinds of crazy mobsters!

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus at  http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=11640&b=i)

New Fun #2 - pt. 2

"Don Drake on the Planet Saro" already has some history with Hideouts & Hoodlums; quarterly zine The Trophy Case (v. 2 no. 4) had statted some of the mobsters of Saro, including the midget-men and the bandars pictured here.  The H&H rules, until then, included nothing specific about grappling with nets, so this was the first time anything was written up on the subject. The next edition will likely not include those rules for just anyone to use, but may be noted under specific mobster entries who are likely to use nets.

There was already strong precedent for mobsters to be able to wreck things like Superheroes. Mobsters in Book II: Mobsters and Trophies with as little as 3 Hit Dice, like cavemen, could wreck things. This might be toned down for weaker mobsters (like 3-5 HD ones).

It is, of course, not recommended that Editors give atomic energy guns to 1st level Heroes, though this seems to be a particularly weak one. I would think that an atomic energy gun would at least disintegrate a target, but this one only damages a target and pushes it back. A particularly nice feature of this gun is that it's mounted behind a shield, so the shooter already has light cover.

Jack Andrews is an example of the sports genre in comics. How does the Editor determine if Jack managed to regain his balance or not?  This short selection demonstrates the need for a skill system in a roleplaying game -- and this brief paragraph will explain how H&H skirts having one. Instead, H&H uses the saving throw game mechanic very broadly.  A strong argument could be made that Jack's player would have to save vs. science (gravity and inertia, in this case) to right himself before hitting the ground (a weaker argument could be made that Jack's player should save vs. plot, because if he doesn't land safely, he can't fight the mobster at the bottom of the slope).

The fleeing saboteur is not doing anything particularly sneaky to get away; he was just hoping for a beneficial surprise roll from the Editor. Before an encounter, the Editor rolls for each side to see if it is surprised (usually a 2 in 6 chance).  In this case, Jack surprised the saboteur.

Sooner or later this blog would have to deal with the issue of the blatant racism found in Golden Age Comic Books. Rather than ignore it, H&H has taken the riskier route of staying truer to the source material and tries to incorporate some aspects of this into game play, as inoffensively as possible. These Indians would be statted as the mobster type called Natives in an H&H scenario (in some earlier drafts of Book II circulating, they were still called Savages).  Some players of H&H have had issues with any incorporation of this aspect of the comics and -- in total honesty -- this author has lost some players because of it.  Each individual Editor is, of course, free to use or not use as much of it he and his players are comfortable with.

H&H, as written, assumes a time frame of 1935-1941, but remains abstract enough to be applicable to a broad range of historical simulation, including future scenarios -- particularly the future as it was envisioned in the early 20th century.

In 2023, the Super-Police have planes that are propelled forward at terrific speed with the questionable technology of creating a tubular vacuum in front of the ship with cosmic rays and pulling the ship forward through it.  Their planes are equipped with cosmic ray guns, torpedo detectors, and inertia absorbers -- and completely stattable in H&H.  For a cosmic ray gun, just up the damage (maybe 3-6 Hit Dice, with a chance of wrecking things).  A torpedo detector could be like a Detect Magic spell with a higher range. Inertia Asborbers might function like the Superhero buffing power of Imperviousness. And, while intended for a time just eight years in our future, it is not hard to imagine such a vehicle in the hands of an Ultra Mad Scientist in a high-level campaign set in 1940.

(Scans courtesy of Comic Book Plus)

New Fun #1

Today we start waaaayyy back in the beginning -- February 1935 and the very first comic book by what would later become known as DC Comics -- New Fun #1!

Now, I am no secret millionaire; I do not have vaults full of rare and valuable comic books dating back to the mid ‘30s.  Nor am I taking a trip all the way to Washington, D.C. to see the copies in the Library of Congress. I believe there are ways to acquire these back issues on microfilm, but I have not looked into doing so enough. What I do have is the magic of the World Wide Web at my disposal.  You can find any comic book cover online these days, and the early issues of New Fun are particularly useful to us because their covers consist of a random full page of interior art and story!

In the contents and on the cover of this first issue is cowboy Jack Woods.  The cowboy, although a staple of comic books almost from its inception, did not have its own H&H class until Supplement III and, before that, had to be statted as Fighters.  The next edition of H&H will likely not include the Cowboy class, so poor Jack will go back to being a Fighter again (unless Editors wish to use the OH&H material, which should still be compatible).

Here, we see the convention of the genre where good guys (read as Lawful Alignment) wear white hats.  

Also note that, though combat in H&H is typically handled by dealing damage to each other until one side is unconscious, combat is won here by flipping the mobster (probably a bandit or brigand) and rendering him prone (at which point the mobster probably failed a morale save).  Now, one of the hallmarks of H&H is that, while the game mechanics are under the control of the Editor, players are free to assign whatever flavor text they wish to the results of those mechanics. So a player could roll to hit, be told by the Editor that he hit, and then decide that the damage he does is from flipping the mobster over his shoulder (the Editor would then be free to ignore that his mobster is prone during his next action, since that was just flavor text).

Optional rules for special maneuvers, like flipping/throwing/knocking down an opponent, were published twice in The Trophy Case ("Special Effects in Unarmed Combat" in vol. 1 #5 and a more complex system, "Blocking in One-on-One Melee Combat", in vol. 2 #2). The next edition of H&H will also feature optional grappling rules. 

2017 update: I finally have access to the some more of the contents of this comic!

The Wing Brady page features the Power Dive stunt, exactly as it's written up for the Aviator class in The Trophy Case #7.

In 2023 Super-Police, the police still drive ordinary cars and use ordinary phones, but have access to a stratoplane-submarine.

There's a comic strip Tom Mix ad for a "zyp gun" that shoots a plunger on a string. Two kids use their zyp gun to send a message to Tom. I don't think Heroes are going to want to carry plunger guns with them, but a written note on the end of an arrow would be a swift and silent method of delivering messages.

(Contents read at Read Comic Online)