Speed Comics #6 pt. 3

We're still looking at this month's Crash, Cork, and the Baron adventure and, as always, talking about comic book stories and how to emulate them using the game Hideouts & Hoodlums.  If you don't play H&H, you're still welcome to stick around and look at the pretty pictures.

Under most circumstances, and as we've talked about many times on this blog, H&H makes no distinction between subdual damage and lethal damage; the only time injuries kill is when the character is already unconscious or in a deathtrap. So the question here is, is Crash in a deathtrap?

No, the natives' intentions are to torture Crash, not kill him, so this cannot be a deathtrap. Indeed, rather than full damage, it appears that the natives are being careful to do less than full damage.




I hesitate to allow either side, players or Editor, to have such control over their damage that they can specify an exact number of points of damage they want to inflict, but misusing or under-utilizing a weapon should make it work like an improvised weapon, which do half weapon damage.

I really hate how this story ends. They threaten the chief, feed him a baloney story about how oil pipes leaking into their drinking water isn't bad for them, and then apparently get him addicted to cigarettes to force compliance. I just...ugh.

So let's move along and look at Ted Parrish, Man of 1,000 Faces.

Right off the bat, I'm wondering about that fall. Is Ted -- disguised here as Pedro -- really knocked unconscious by that, or just pretending? Ted is a 2nd level mysteryman by now, so it seems awfully humiliating to have a 10' fall knock him out. On one hand, maybe he's feigning unconsciousness, so no one can ask him any probing questions about where Pedro had got off to, but on the other hand, maybe the Editor wanted him unconscious so he couldn't do anything that would derail the story before the sub reaches Central America.

So, the next question I have is -- where is this? What Central American country was producing oil circa 1940? With some effort, I was able to find that Mexico started drilling for oil back in 1916, but I can't verify any other countries were drilling that early.

Even this page, which talks about a jungle, does not invalidate Mexico as a likely suspect. Though one normally thinks of Brazil both in terms of jungle and oil, Mexico has the smaller Lacandon Jungle within it.

And look, the ol' stick in the mouth trick!

Moving on, this is Dick Briefer doing Biff Bannon. For humor, the superhero-soldier turns out to have a fear of public speaking. But what does that mean, in terms of game mechanics? Is this evidence that Biff has a low Charisma score? Perhaps Biff's player really wants Miss Lee for his supporting cast, and is afraid of messing up the recruitment roll?

This first tier is rather remarkable. Firstly, it's a stirring mini-speech about the value of integrated public education to combat racism. I think that was Dick's genuine intention, as the second remarkable thing about this tier is panel 2, and the black boy who is drawn completely normal (or as normal as Briefer's highly stylized art allows). Remember, this is a time when even artists as progressive as Will Eisner were drawing black people in minstrel show style.

I'll spare you from the strange subplot that gets Biff put in a dress and wig. The important thing here is the sheer mass of improvised weapons half-pints can use, including things I never thought of, like B-B guns, firecrackers, blowguns, and inkwells. The inkwells come with a little something extra, the chance of producing a blinding attack, but I would say that's pretty unlikely; maybe if the inkwell hits on a natural 20.

This page is noteworthy because the mobster in panel 2 acknowledges that they live in the same world with Shock Gibson. So many characters lived in their own isolated universes before this, even in the same anthology title.

This is Lt. Jim Cannon of the British Navy. By "15-inch guns" it probably means the BL 15-inch Mk I naval gun. "It was the first British 15-inch (381 mm) gun design and the most widely used and longest lasting of any British designs, and arguably the most efficient heavy gun ever developed by the Royal Navy. It was deployed on capital ships from 1915 until 1959, and was a key Royal Navy gun in both World Wars," according to Wikipedia.

Leaving your big, protective ship, and putting yourself in harm's way in a shot-range plane or a torpedo launch seems like a terribly unsound tactic, and yet what else can a Hero do? Share XP with everyone on board the Hood? Not likely!

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)

The Funnies #11 - pt. 1

I don't know how accurate it is to say people would pay $1-2 in the 1930s for retrieving golf balls, but if one were to run a Reg'lar Fellers-style game with kid characters, they would earn Experience Points slowly by earning money in such a fashion.

A player recently asked me why starting money is so much when everything was so cheap. It's true that competition and scarcity of money drove prices for most things pretty low, but when you absolutely have to have something -- like a secret plane trip to the coast -- and the pilot knows he's got you on the spot, $1,500 should not surprise you as his asking price.

Hideouts are often going to be guarded in some way, like by sentries expecting some sort of signal from those approaching.

It's also useful to not leave even "empty" rooms empty. A simple barrel in the corner makes an empty room more memorable and, if nothing else, gives the players something to visualize as they are exploring.

Dan Dunn's player isn't cheating; it's fair game to take a Supporting Cast Member with special skills, even if it's a trained dog with tracking skills, into the hideout with you. Of course, you risk putting your SCM(s) in harm's way the longer they are in a hideout, so use this strategy with great care.

Another playing tip from Captain Easy. If someone shows up claiming to be your new chauffeur, check them for a chauffeur's license. Pointing a gun at their head first is entirely optional.

It also pays to thoroughly search every new environment your Hero finds himself in. You never know where mobsters might be hiding!

This one's a tough call, game mechanics-wise. Should Supporting Cast Members be able to recruit other SCMs?  I'd probably allow it this time since the charismatic priest is not converting bad guys to directly aid Bronc Peeler, but there is definitely a dangerous precedent here for sending 1 SCM out to recruit 2 others, sending each of them out to recruit 2 others, and so on until the Hero has an army on his hands.

Of course, if the priest were a player-ran Hero, then this would all be fine.

Heroes turning down treasure should still be awarded Experience Points for earning it -- unless the 100 xp award for doing a good deed is larger, and then award that (provided the Hero is truly giving his share away to a good cause!).


(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum)