Marvel Mystery Comics #5 - pt. 3

Two features left!

Second to last is Irwen Hasen's Ferret, Mystery Detective. In it, we learn that the police code for a shooting is 23. At the crime scene, Ferret gets a good encounter reaction roll and the commissioner on the scene let's him keep a clue. We learn that Ferret's car has bulletproof glass, improving its Armor Class value and shielding Ferret from a lot of bullets as he is chased from the crime scene. Mobsters force him to crash -- treat it as an obstacle in a car chase, but with a save vs. science or a skill check to avoid? -- and he emerges with just a light wound on his arm.

We learn that "they've been doing this in Europe for years. You place a dry sheet of paper over a wet one and write a message with a matchstick. When the paper dries it's blank - but wet it again - presto! A message!" I haven't tested this to see if it really works.

Before going into a suspicious building, Ferret leaves his pet ferret outside, so he can whistle and summon it to rescue him later. Which turns out to be a good thing, as Ferret is vulnerable to the "surprise head blow" trope that fells so many golden age heroes. We learn it takes a ferret 30 minutes to chew through a wall (interior wall, I'm guessing -- or that ferret needs to be statted as a superhero!).

After escaping, Ferret has three hoodlums chasing him. He uses a length of rope to trip all three of them. Okay, I've talked about allowing this before, but giving them a bonus to their saves to reflect how his efforts are being divided. What's unusual here is that only two get back up right away to fight him, while the third takes longer. I've always ruled that it takes 1 melee turn to get back on your feet...but what if it should take 1-2 turns, to stagger how fast your opponents can get back into combat?

Speaking of combat, a ferret, at only 2-3 pounds, shouldn't even add up to 1 hit point, but Ferret's ferret Nosey looks like he does 1 point of damage in a fight.

In a queer bit of slang, counterfeit money is called "the queer" in this story.

In Ka-Zar, Ka-Zar steals into de Kraft's tent and steals all his guns. Rather than use the guns against him, he wants to make for a fair fight, so he wrecks the guns against a big rock (possibly for fighters to do, as guns fall only in the doors category).

Ka-Zar is later captured, though, tied up, and slashed with sharp weapons 100 times by natives. This has to be flavor text, there is no way Ka-Zar has over 100 hit points. Despite having been able to wreck guns, Ka-Zar is not strong enough to snap the rope tying him. Without leverage, he could have a significant disadvantage to his rolls. 

(Read at readcomiconline.to)

Marvel Mystery Comics #4 - pt. 3

Ferret is an odd name for a Hero, and a seemingly unnecessary one since everyone seems to know who Ferret is. I suspect what's going on there is that "Ferret" is meant to be protecting the famous author's identity from his the readers, so you don't know who he's meant to be.

Ferret is investigating a murder and the police are focused on a stereotypical clue -- the matchbook in the dead man's pocket. Ferret, however, does his legwork and interviews people from the nightclub. Now, it turns out the first clue was right, but being thorough can help the Heroes from following up false leads, and then blaming the Editor later for letting them spend the whole session on a dead end.

Ferret wears a bulletproof vest. It doesn't protect Ferret from taking the bullet, but he gets pushed back and has the wind knocked out of him instead of being killed. It is more realistic sounding, but it's not how bulletproof vests work in most comic books, and won't work this way in Hideouts & Hoodlums.

Ferret is staked out, watching an apartment, for two hours before he falls asleep. There's no game mechanic that covers that sort of thing. I guess Ferret's player announced he was falling asleep, or the Editor punished the player for yawning at the game table.

When a life is in danger, Ferret has to ditch his plans of being methodical and play on a hunch as to who the killer is. He barges into the nightclub and searches the office for secret doors before anyone can stop him. It's not behind the bookcase, but it looks like it's behind some paneling that slides open, revealing a door. Behind the doors is a short flight of steps that leads down into a lower room with barrels of cement in it.

In Ka-Zar's fourth installment, white men have come back to the Congo where Ka-Zar calls home, with a small army of native porters with them. Ka-Zar goes to their camp to harass them with his bow and arrows, but when a native shoots at him, that's provocation enough for Ka-Zar to shoot him with an arrow and kill him (which isn't possible under normal H&H rules).

Leopards really have it out for Ka-Zar -- again a leopard challenges Ka-Zar and only backs down when other animals come to Ka-Zar's aid.  Maybe Ka-Zar is just unlucky with encounter reaction checks when leopards are around -- or maybe the Explorer class needs an animal with a special enmity for the Hero.

Ka-Zar roars like a lion and it chases some of the natives away; mixed in with the natives might be some superstitious hoodlums.

(Read at Marvel Unlimited.)