Crackajack Funnies #4

Twenty officers for back-up, Dan? Thanks for ruining my adventure by sitting back and letting a small army of non-Heroes take all the hits!

At one time, this would not have penalized Dan at all, XP-wise, as the original rules for Hideouts & Hoodlums called for experience point awards for defeated mobsters to be awarded in full to all participants. This was handy in the message board-based playtesting, with its slower pace and level advancement, but I completely reversed this call in my recent "1.5 ed." changes after much more live session play. Making players think twice about how many people they bring into the hideout ("Hmm...I'll have to split XP 21 ways...?") actually helps better emulate most Golden Age comic book stories with lone heroes.

Unless you're a chicken like Dan Dunn.

To be fair, Dan's player might just be high-balling here, realizing that the Editor may not want to give him 20 officers for back-up and is looking for a high compromise number. Now, if he was looking for a number of back-up officers equal to his level, I probably would allow it right away, but for a higher number like that, I would make an encounter reaction roll, and it would have to be a very friendly result to get that many.

I have recently posted, and been giving a lot of thought, to game mechanics for car chases. Obstacles -- lamp posts, peddlers carts, trees -- should be getting in people's way all the time in car chases, each one requiring a save vs. plot from the driver to avoid crashing into.

And this I just find funny, how this page talks about a lottery like it's a terrible scam, and how far we've come in being permissive of gambling in this country. What's really interesting, though, is how Dan says booze is still illegal. That means this adventure took place no later than 1933!

This is from Capt. Frank Hawks, Air Ace, and it got me to thinking...could the wrecking things table be used in reverse? Could I use it to figure out what a robot or a car -- or a plane -- can wreck, when they go up against each other? It needs more thought, but I'm thinking yes.

This is Freckles and His Friends.  There's some pricing information here -- such as a "trick" horse fetching between $500-650.  The boys' errands show that they could earn a quarter for running a grocery errand, 75 cents for fixing a radio, and 35 cents sounds like an average laundry bill.

Dr. Centaur's tip for attacking a ship: take out the foremast first, to disable the ship's radio. That way they can't call for help.

I don't know if just anyone could "reverse look-up" a name and address by a phone number by calling the operator, but G-Men apparently could. Maybe any Hero who makes a positive encounter reaction check can too.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

The Funnies #18

The importance of communicating by telegram cannot be overstated. Telephones were not reliably private and depended on the operator, or a series of operators, being able to make the right connections. Important messages were still sent by telegram, which cost about 75 cents on average, according to this page of Dan Dunn.

Ten cents for a beer. Bear in mind that you could get a hot dog for only five cents.

A good playing tip from G-Men: dressing in a mail carrier's uniform is a good way to get close to a hideout, and also an excuse to check their mail. Also note the tropes of secret writing, and the secret marijuana trade.

The text here in Don Dixon doesn't specify what "Ogi" is, but given the name and his height, it seems a fair guess that Ogi is an ogre, possibly the first one in comic books.

Tad of the Tanbark is suddenly my source for new spells!  Smoke Image is like the spell Projected Image, except that it can only be projected through pre-existing smoke closest to where you want to project to. This has to be a 3rd or 4th level spell.

There are some good tips here from Captain Easy about always checking up on new people you meet, and what to look for in identifying a fake twin, but the real find here is what Spain was, allegedly, paying foreigners to come and man their air force during the Spanish Civil War. Any Heroes down on their luck might want to consider fighting in a war, even in a pre-WWII campaign.

Tailspin Tommy reminds us that pirates, even modern-day ones, can't resist acting out the tropes of their genre, and would have to save vs. plot to resist doing things like making their prisoners walk the plank.

The Four Aces remind us why some villains use deathtraps -- it's to hide the evidence of the murder from police. Of course, why they don't shoot them first and then burn the building down, isn't explained...

According to Scribbly (yay! I get to post Scribbly!), a newspaper's weekly payroll was only about $7,000.


(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)

The Funnies #12 - pt. 1

We begin our review of this issue with a page of Dan Dunn. We're in Bankok's secret hideout where, by simply hanging curtains, he can manipulate the air flow in his hideout and keep gas in certain sections. In most hideouts, doors would serve the same purpose, and be easier than having to hang curtains.

Poisonous incense, which gives off a toxic gas when heated, would be a trophy item.

In a more enclosed space, like a single room, this trap would be more efficient. Spread out through a portion of the hideout, the gas' onset time is slowed to 30 minutes.

A playing tip from this page of G-Man Jim is to always carry, or wear, a watch. If you're knocked unconscious and alone, it will be the quickest way to find out how long you were out.

Another playing tip, this time from Captain Easy, but again about having things on your person. If your Hero has to carry important pieces of paper, documents, etc., write them in a code (or rewrite them in code if someone else's papers, then burn the originals). This makes you a valuable prisoner if someone ever captures you for the papers you carry.

This page of Captain Easy is about the hideout. Here we have an ingenious waterfront hideout. The mobsters come and go via motorboat, entering from underneath via a ladder and trapdoor. Heroes entering the same way would have a hard time surprising the mobsters above the trapdoor, and would definitely have a height disadvantage.

Torture devices could be common features in a hideout. Here we see dental equipment set up in a separate room, reserved for torturing prisoners.

Note how the windows do not allow anyone to jump out into the water; all the windows face a walkway that encircles the building and is patrolled by mobsters.

A playing tip is to use police help wisely. Ask them to do leg work for you, like when you need to know where the mobsters' hideout is, but avoid bringing more than you need into the hideout with you -- you're just dividing the Experience Points more ways then.

Another word about the hideout, though -- note how much more challenging the scenario is made by the hideout employing a lookout who can alert the mobsters inside. Had Easy been able to surprise the hoodlums inside, this encounter would have gone much differently.

A good way to conceal a hideout is with a fake room in front of the hideout. Here, a false bedroom and a convincing hoodlum/actor almost fool the police officer and Easy into dismissing this as not the hideout they were looking for.

Checking small details, like the number of cigarettes in a tray, is a good tip for players. It may not always be important, but you may often learn something useful from such details.

Switching gears to Westerns and Bronc Peeler, we see an example of simultaneous initiative and the use of the Cowboy stunt Disarming Shot. These are the obvious features from this page, however. What is more curious is, how to play the part where Bronc slowly succumbs to a gunshot wound?

Combat in Hideouts & Hoodlums is already dangerous enough without adding complications, like continuous hit point loss from untreated wounds. I would prefer to explain this as a new stunt, Endure Injury, which lets a Hero continue acting for 1 turn past reaching zero hit points.

(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 Funnies #9

It's taken me almost half a year now, but we're finally one year before the debut of Superman now.

First rule of being a secret operative: don't tell people you're a secret operative, Dan!

Here's how you do it, Dan. G-Man Jim here will show you how to wear a secret camera in your jacket. And looking for clues on people's clothing (2 in 6 chance to find one, for humans).

I suppose I could say I shared this page for a playing tip, to always remember that the Editor can have people overhear your players plotting whenever they do it in public. But, really, I'm just sharing this page because he's Captain Easy, so it's awesome.

This is an interesting escape, for what Easy doesn't need to pull it off.  He doesn't need a climb skill; since he reaches the rooftop off-panel, we could easily assume he used a ladder. He doesn't wreck things or bend bars to open the window -- he hands her a saw and makes her do it!

I include Tailspin Tommy here because of that great closing shot of the Sargasso Sea. What a hideout crawl that would be, moving from ship to ship, separated both by centuries and only a few feet...

This page is a handy companion to the article on famous jewels I wrote for The Trophy Case no. 9.

This page of Og Son of Fire is fascinating. First we see the cavemen fighting a snow leopard (leopards were last discussed here). We see a caveman skinning a giant sloth (both cavemen and giant sloths were statted in Book II: Mobsters and Trophies) -- and the last encounter looks an awful lot like my gibbon men!  As I mentioned back here, the gibbon men were a cheat, intended to fill a niche in the game without any evidence of their existence, but it's nice to finally see them on the page!

Don Dixon is in a humdinger of a deathtrap -- he and all his friends are tied to a huge stone that will swung down into an active volcano. Other than waiting for the volcano to erupt and make your superstitious executioners afraid, how would you escape?

(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)