Jim Hardy is really taking over Tip Top Comics around this time, as other features like
Peter Pat get wrapped up. Further down this page you'll see one page where Jim Hardy is intentionally dressed like
Dick Tracy -- and suddenly the inspiration for this strip is crystal clear, even why he picks up a Junior-like sidekick in this storyline. And it turns out that Dick Moores was once Chester Gould's assistant on
Dick Tracy, confirming my guess.
This is from vol. 2, no. 11 (Mar. 1938)...
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Game notes: There are three ways that someone can be killed by hitting them with a vehicle in
Hideouts & Hoodlums. One, the Editor can simply change the mood
level of the campaign to be more lethal (this was
discussed
more in 1st edition). Two, the Editor can rule that non-Heroes, or at least unnamed non-Hero characters, can be killed instantly. Three, the Editor could rule that hitting the victim knocks him unconscious, and then running him over is a separate attack that does additional, killing damage.
It seems unlikely that The Kid (I don't think he has a name yet) is tactically inclined enough to transfer damage into pushing attacks to try and knock the hoodlums off the train. There may be environmental factors in play, like the pitching and swaying of the train, that make the Editor declare that any damage necessitates a save vs. science or be thrown from the train, making combat as challenging for Jim as it is for the hoodlums.
In
Little Mary Mixup, we see rabbits can be bought for $1 each. I'm not sure what good rabbits will do for the average Hero, though maybe a magic-user would like one for pulling out of his hat?
There are some tips here for keeping the challenge level not too high for solo play and low-level Heroes: keep hit points low on bad guys, even if they have more than 1 Hit Die. Be prepared to give away modifiers you would not normally give out, like maybe an Armor Class bonus for swinging on a rope while being attacked with missile weapons.
If running a game for half-pint Heroes, you could cut them some slack on skill checks like balancing on a beam, since that should be easy for them given their small size and low center of balance. But still reward them for coming up with grownup ideas, like juryrigging grappling hooks out of rocks.
How It Began proves useful filler again. I don't know where it got this idea about a charming dragon with emerald eyes from, but now I want to stat an emerald dragon for
H&H really bad!
We come back around to
Jim Hardy again in v. 2, no. 12 (Apr. 1938). The issue here is, would a steel door stop an explosion that can blow up an entire wooden building? It's almost an academic question, because it's not necessary that the steel door works; all we know is that the hoodlums
think it will work.
I don't think it would...
Now we're in vol. 3, no. 2 (June 1938) already, and this is that page I mentioned with the Dick Tracy outfit on Jim. We also learn here that a bouquet of roses cost $3.50.
Checking in on
The Captain and the Kids again, I'm struck by the unusual situation of the mount turning around and biting its rider. I doubt that happens often, but it's worth bearing in mind that when trying out a new mount, the Editor should always make an encounter reaction roll for it to see how it reacts.
Curiously, the circus man says Blackie is going to get a two-bit (25-cent) ticket, but later he's sitting in the reserved seating where the seats cost $2.50. That's a really big range of pricing, like if I could go to the movies today and choose between $5 seating and $50 seating.
(Scans courtesy of
Comic Book Plus.)
