Funnies #7

Robbers (found in Hideouts & Hoodlums Book II: Mobsters & Trophies) are a little boring, game mechanic-wise. They need some of the skills of the Mysteryman class, like open locks.

The Spinner tells a story of a deep-sea diver. Old-fashioned diving suits and acetlyene (cutting) torches are found in Book II.

Bighorn rams would be 2 HD animals.

Windy's talking crow gets him into trouble. But is it a mobster?  It's too small to even have a hit point.  It's not a trap, though it does get Windy into considerable trouble. No, it's a Supporting Cast Member!  SCMs do not have to be friendly or even supportive; you (the player) just have to be responsible for pulling them into your scenario. This talking crow could have just been the Editor's flavor text, but Windy's player decided to take it with him (after a successful recruitment roll) for the XP gain or simply just something to interact with in-character.

Another goat?  I need to go back and start a running tally!  Seriously, Golden Age, how many jokes do you really think you can get out of a goat?

Hobos are tough in a fight!  Did I err in never statting them as a mobster-type?  They're good at stealing things, too.  Or should this hobo simply be statted as a robber?

One of the advantages of having all weapons do the same damage is that Hezzy of the Hills can throw a rock and it's just as effective as shooting a gun at someone (except for range).  This, in actual practice, has never prevented H&H Heroes from stockpiling firearms but, sigh, it's a start.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

Comics Magazine #4

According to Poss, all lieutenants have mustaches. Keep that in mind, Fighters, when you reach 4th level (level title: lieutenant)!

Yes, it's hard to take a feature as goofy as Age of Stone seriously, but this idea of fishing for electric eels and using them as weapons might have some merit, particularly if the Heroes have to bypass a guardian in a pit or a tunnel too small for the Heroes to get into.

Giant eels appear in Supplement II: All-American, but they are giant conger eels and not electric eels. Making the change should be easy, maybe dropping the Hit Dice to 2+1 and adding 1d6 of electricity damage when they hit.

Despite what Freddie Bell, He Means Well would have you believe, popping balloons should not cause damage. Spankings, maybe, depending on how hard someone is hitting (1-3 points maximum).

A 1' long tarantula sure would scare me, but it wouldn't even rate a single hit point in how Hideouts & Hoodlums works (in case you're wondering, an animal needs to weigh around 30 lbs. to warrant a hp).

It's interesting, though, how the spider seems to be making them dance. In a certain edition of That Other Game (Frank Mentzer would know which one I'm referring to) is a pun-laden monster called the tarantella spider.

This page of Natural History talks about moose. As funny as moose are, they never seem to get the love that goats get in these early comic books.

Now, according to Wikipedia, moose are more dangerous than bears and wolves, so it looks like we have another herbivore that needs statting for equal representation. Moose I would give 4+1 HD and allow to trample for 2-8 points of damage.

This page of Klondike Gold almost cries out for a brutal fumbles chart added to the combat mechanics, but I am loathe to add such a thing to H&H.  I think we have to chalk this up to Doc actually hitting, but the switch of weapons for irony being mere flavor text.

This is not the first Dickie Duck; the first "star" anthropomorphic animal created for comic books to rate a cover appearance had been slinking through the back pages of at least two publishers already. I include him here only to demonstrate how, in a certain type of campaign, funny animal characters and humans could live together.



(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)