The Comics #5

Our tour of 1937's comic books continues with this Dell anthology and a page of Wash Tubbs.

A top hat for $18. A bottle of perfume for $10. They're intentionally high-end prices, but still an indication of what Heroes might have to pay.

A Hero can keep taking damage so long as he hasn't run out of hit points -- but can he keep taking it without flinching?  The Arizona Kid would have to save vs. plot to avoid flinching. The Editor could even assign a modifier, such as a penalty for every point of damage minus the Hero's level.

Sombrero Pete has fallen into some Aztec ruins, ruins guarded by a trapped statue rigged to slam its fists down on the first intruder to come within range (one-time attack roll, as if a high-HD mobster?).

The ruins conceal a lost world still populated by primitive and superstitious Aztecs.

The Magic Draught sounds like a magic item/trophy, one that can not only heal serious wounds, but transform the imbiber into a Superhero!  This story could also be re-used as the origin story for a modern-day superhero...

And we end with a goat joke #10 in my running tally!

(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 Comics #3

A marksman, like the Lone Marshal, might get some kind of bonus (+1?) to hit with a firearm at medium or longer range. Doesn't seem distinct enough for a new class or sub-class, so I'd probably save that for a Cowboy Stunt.

I'm not sure if the science behind this is kosher, but secret writing on skin and chemicals that can make it visible seems feasible to me. Since I introduced the Spy Character class in The Trophy Case v. 2 no. 5, one could play a H&H campaign as a spy campaign, sending secret messages on your backs or searching for same on enemy agents.

But mainly I just shared this because the goatee guy is the Golden Age Doctor Doom, which just seems crazy wild.

Notice how ineffective the sub-machine gun is in melee combat, as opposed to an ordinary chair?  I'm tempted to prohibit or penalize missile weapons from use in melee combat, but I hesitate to restrict combat options for players...

The smugglers are sure scared of rushing that shack! They're more willing to take a range penalty for shooting at what looks like medium range, along with the hard cover penalties.

It must just be a thing that all bad guys leave their keys in the ignition.

I may not be a huge expert on boats, but that "yacht" looks more like a merchant vessel to me. I don't think I would allow Heroes to install an anti-aircraft gun on the deck of a yacht.

When I wrote up a Naval destroyer as a hideout for The Trophy Case no. 9, one of the things that struck me about the layout was that it was so necessarily compartmentalized into small rooms and areas, that -- despite the large size of its crew -- it would be awful easy for a small team to sneak on board and target small numbers of crew members at a time. Much as we see here.

I may not be a huge expert on mines, but I'm pretty sure mines are not/were not this a) spacious and b) well-lit. In many ways, this reminds me more of a fantasy mine from D&D than any real mine I've seen pictures of.

Ah, the 1930s, when punching an orangutan was seen as heroic adventure! Frank Buck is practically the model for the Explorer character class (from The Trophy Case v. 1 no. 2), with its bonus to damage vs. natural animals.

As for the animals, there is a giant poisonous snake in Book II: Mobsters & Trophies, but I would make an ordinary cobra 1-1 HD, with a weaker poison (save at +2 or comatose for 1-3 days). Apes are in the same book and I would make orangutans only slightly weaker (the Ape entry assumes a gorilla is being discussed). Tigers have already been discussed here.

 
It's not very heroic to rely on animal companions, but it is an option to consider, especially for a scenario that is proving particularly challenging for low-level Heroes. Here, six 1 HD hunting dogs would make a huge difference in a fight if that cougar decided to come down and start roughing people up.

More on the strange nature of quicksand in comic book -- apparently quicksand can be found in the middle of ponds.



(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

The Comics #2 - pt. 2

In a Western-themed campaign, most Heroes would probably be Fighters, though the Explorer class (from The Trophy Case v. 1 no. 2) would fit frontiersmen well.

This page of Prairie Bill illustrates a good range of weapons appropriate for a Mythic West campaign -- rifles, tomahawks, spears, knives, and war clubs!

Erik Noble is a curious inversion of the quest tale -- Erik starts out in the exciting jungles of Panama, but wants to leave to get to the relative banality of California. Of course, perhaps panthers and alligators just seemed too challenging for 1st-level Heroes...

Treasure can take many forms. Silver ingots are a clever idea. Storage of treasure is always an issue to consider as well, though chests or strongboxes like these seem so cliche.

A long fall into rapids that go over a waterfall could be used as a trap or even a deathtrap, depending on how the Editor arranges for the Heroes to wind up in the drink. Of course, waterfalls are almost never lethal in fiction, so I would probably give at least a +1 bonus to a save vs. science to half or avoid falling damage.

G-Man Jim's hot tip for players: planes with no federal license numerals on them are suspicious!

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

The Comics #1 - pt. 1

Before Captain Easy had his own strip, he was just an adult sidekick to Wash Tubbs.

Here, Wash tells us that silk shirts cost up to $10 in the 1930s -- a then expensive luxury!

Easy is also in a car with a ridiculous amount of nitroglycerin; I hate to estimate how much damage that explosion would have done to the poor guys had their car been hit by that TNT!

At present, there are not specific game mechanics for unarmed combat moves like flipping your handcuffed opponent over your head -- this would simply be a generic grappling attack.

This is from In the Name of the Law, a cheap knock-off of War on Crime.  In it we are reminded that, while a Hero's chance to hear noise might not work through hideout walls, it should work through ordinary interior walls in buildings.

Tom Mix learns, the hard way, how to burn down a wooden cabin (though most Heroes will avoid burning down a hideout, for fear of destroying valuable loot inside!).

Prairie Bill's feat of strength could be achieved a couple of different ways, both starting with successful grappling rolls (very successful; I plan to switch to a grappling system with more than one level of success).  The Editor could then allow the grappled victim to save vs. science to keep from being thrown in the drink.  Alternatively, if the Editor could leave the successful grappler in control of the next step, by having him roll to-hit the water -- AC 9, let's say.

Gambling, whether a friendly game or not, is beyond the purview of simulating with Hideouts & Hoodlums.  The easiest way of handling it, of course, would be to sit the H&H books aside for an hour or so and play some hands of poker yourselves.  Failing that, or if pressed for time, the players could simply roll d20s, highest score wins that hand.

G-Man Jim demonstrates the proper way to use a wireless radio to summon reinforcements.

Though drawn in a horribly unprofessional manner, G-Man Jim has all the earmarks of a classic H&H hideout crawl.  There is a definite goal to the scenario -- find the missing girl -- but lots of rooms to search, including a secret room to find. There's even a trap -- a button that will set off an explosion if pressed!

Again, we have a poorly drawn, but evocative scenario in The Arizona Kid. Just riding by and finding what appears to be a guarded well, but is actually a mine entrance, Arizona descends into a subterranean world that...well, it wouldn't be very H&H, but I wouldn't be surprised to see orcs or goblins show up down there.

I'm not sure how literal to take Myra North's description of this gas. Does she feel weak from the gas, or is she really, physically weakened by it? A weakness-inducing gas might be an interesting trap, though since there are not actually a lot of game mechanics tied to the Strength ability score, it might wind up only affecting flavor text...unless it was also tied to Movement rate.


(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)