Amorkca

Hmm.  Schedule pushed forward to accommodate earlier game session than planned - characters almost complete going to have to do that ad hoc in the game tomorrow.  This is the final prologue for the players and delivers them to the starting point of the campaign.  I am hoping to write up the scenarios and attach them here.   Tam sits in the submarine looking at the prisoner they have taken and the armour they need to understand.  Both he and Tank have been examining it in their own ways, trying to get a handle on both the technology and the magic elements.  It is obviously magical as there is no way this kind of armour would work if it had to be powered by battery or petrol, the heat generation alone would make the wearer boil before he was able to be useful.  Another magical element is the way in which it adapted to opponents.  The Omega Men seemed to be highly effective but only against one individual at a time.     This armour was keyed to Roddy and remains so, they were able to find several submariners willing to volunteer to pilot the suit.  All of their attacks were more effective in both hitting and damaging Roddy, they were also reasonably resilient against attacks from Roddy when similarly powerful attacks from other Mystery Men caused pain and injury.  The Chaplain was horrified at the effect the suit had on these pilots.  When he treated them for their injuries he reckoned the damage to their souls to be much worse, he insisted they go to the Halls of Healing before any of the damage they sustained became part of them forever.  He was not able to analyse the details of these injuries but he was certain that should they continue, they would inevitably become more bestial and less human.  This seemed to be borne out when speaking to their captive.  He was wild and barely restrainable, he craved the suit like an Opium addict craves his pipe.  In his more lucid moments it was obvious that he was resolutely loyal to the Fuhrer and was unlikely to be in any way responsible for designing, making or even maintaining the armour.  All-in-all, the armour gave him the screaming heebie-jeebies.     There was one last thing: it stank of necromancy.  That stench almost made him miss the undertones, familiar undertones that he could not quite place but made him desperate to get it to his patron, Cutty Sark.  This grand old dame represented British witches on the Grand Magical Council and was sure to be able to identify this magic.  The only problem with that was that both Roddy and Tank wanted it taken to Professor Dhoum, they trusted the Government and science more than someone who was, less than a decade or so ago, nothing more than a fairy tale.  The Chaplain was concerned about the morality of Tam’s patron, despite being more than 100 years old (or so she claimed) she insisted on taking the form of a scantily clad young woman.  She claimed it gave her an advantage in dealing with proud men but he thought it simply encouraged lewd talk and probably lewd behaviour. The consensus was to hand it over to the Prof, it might help in her planning on how to exploit Britain’s Mystery Man advantage.   Department Q sits beneath the British Museum, deep beneath it, and is possibly the safest location in Britain, defended by military and magical might.  All kinds of experiments have been conducted there since the Great War as boffins try to understand the Rise of the Mystery Men and how their powers work.  They have done their best to find and catalogue all of the mystery powers, the Prof has, personally, interviewed every significant individual in the books and been instrumental in some of the breakthroughs achieved so far.  It is not just Germany that has sought to utilise this power to bolster soldiers on the ground and while the Hun have gone for suits of armour and the Yanks focussed on their super-soldier programme, Department Q has been looking to develop small equipment that might enhance any squaddie in the armed forces.  Chamberlain is worried about battlefield situations where gas, poison or other environmental issue might need to be addressed.  He is also quite concerned about ‘new’ weapons based on magic or mesmerism against which the army has no defences.   The Prof is in her office, which doubles as her interview room.  She has often said that her super-power is paperwork and photography but the Chaplain believes she has Sight and can see things others do not.  Tam has always found it difficult to get a ‘read’ on her, there are some people that are difficult and she meets all the criteria for difficult: bright, driven, aware of magical techniques.  The Prof revels in her mysterious persona and has never been forthcoming on whether she is a Mystery Man or has any real powers of her own.   The Union arrive in Department Q via one of London’s secret rivers.  Their submarine is met in the Thames estuary by a smaller submersible craft that take them directly to a dock 300 yards below street level and they are delivered into The Prof’s office.  She is keen to find out all they know of the Omega Men and what they have worked out about their abilities.  She finds someone to arrange food for them and asks them to meet her in an hour’s time in the main laboratory.  She wants them to give the Omega Man a real workout while she watches.   The ‘laboratory’ is actually a heavily reinforced room in the bottom level of Department Q.  They work there with people and material which might cause a lot of damage.  As the Union walk into the laboratory they can see the Omega Man, restrained, with its German pilot wearing the suit.  The Prof has been speaking with him in German, encouraging him to go for it as this would be his chance to kill these opponents of the Fuhrer and advance the March of the Reich.  She has had more success than they did as he looks and acts more like a soldier and less like an unreasoning beast.   The Prof asks if they are ready, she intends to release the Omega Man but only if they believe they will be able to contain him.  She does not want them to simply restrain him immediately, she wants to see his powers in action, to see how they play out against those of the Union and finally how that is different against Roddy to whom the armour is tuned into.  The Chaplain raises his concerns about allowing the German pilot to wear the suit but the Prof convinces him that the German would be most proficient in the use of the suit, might show uses that Department Q were currently unaware of and, most importantly, not expose British servicemen to the awful psychic damage the Chaplain had noticed in their earlier experiments.  This was risky but entirely necessary.   The Prof retreats to the observation bunker allowing the Union to decide how to start.  The Chaplain arranges the team into its usual two-man team arrangement, Tam supporting Tank and the Colonel supporting Roddy while he withdraws into his ghost form.  He intends for Tank and the Colonel to take the initial hits while he and Tam seek to analyse the combat close at hand.  Roddy is to stay out of the line of fire until the Prof can establish a ‘baseline’.  Then Roddy will need to attack and defend as the others withdraw and finally, when the Prof gives the signal, they will all attack to render the Omega Man unconscious.   The Chaplain sends the Colonel in to release the Omega Man.  For a minute the German does nothing, standing in the middle of the lab looking at them.  Then he smiles.  He tells them that he will not be the last German to kill British Mystery Men here in London unless their weak and stupid leaders see wisdom and join the Reich in its march to mastery.  He clicks his heels, salutes in the Nazi fashion and launches himself at Tank.   Tank braces himself for defence, taking a decent posture and presenting his armour to deflect attacks.  These Omega Men, when not ‘tuned in’ are no match for him.  He is able to soak up the German’s attacks and launches a few blows himself, pulled punches that have little effect on the Omega Man.  He notices that the German is beginning to glow slightly, something that he had not noticed in the skirmish in Morocco.  He shouts to Tam, telling him to focus on that glow.   The Colonel gets involved, drawing the Omega Man away from Tank like a matador leading a bull.  He is easily avoiding all the attacks the Omega Man throws at him while launching punches of his own.  He could do this all day, though he notices that the Omega Man seems to be learning how to lead his attack and coming closer but still unsuccessful in landing a blow.   The Chaplain watches this unfold, a little bit uneasy about the Gladatorial nature of the contest.  He can see the purpose behind but remains unsure of how moral or ethical it is, the armour needs to be destroyed.  He is pleased at how well the Union seems to be working as a team, they are doing exactly what was asked of them and hopefully providing the Prof with all the information she needs to nullify this terrible weapon that Hitler’s mad scientists have concocted. He watches as first Tank then the Colonel engage the Omega Men, taking one or two hits, landing some of their own.  The Omega Man continues to fight as if he had a chance of winning but it is obvious that his armour is straining as it begins to glow round the edges, obviously about to overheat like a steamer trying to go too fast.  He waits for the Prof’s signal to end the fight.   Tam is beginning to get worried.  He has now had the opportunity to analyse the power signature of the Omega Man, he has adapted his spells until he can begin to analyse it, not least seek to identify where the familiarity comes from.  He is almost certain he knows when he notices something scanning him, he looks up and sees the glowing armour peak from a red hot glow to white and then there is a flaw of feedback.  He has time to shout “The Professor” before he is overwhelmed.   Everyone hears Tam shout just as the light flashes from the Omega Man straight to the bunker where the Prof is watching.  This changes everything.  Tank, Roddy and the Colonel go all out to take down the Omega Man but their attacks seem to be having less and less effect.  The Chaplain rushes to the Professor to see how badly hurt the Prof might be, that blast went through the concrete like a hot knife through butter.   When he arrives the Chaplain is initially delighted that the Prof is on her feet but that fades when he sees the maniacal look in her eyes.  “You have survived my trap and my Omega Men but I shall kill you all here.  The loss of the Union and Department Q will cripple Britain’s ability to fight, Chamberlain will have no choice but to recommend that the Prime Minister join the Reich”.  She raises her hands and sends several eldritch bolts flying towards the Chaplain.  The first takes him by surprise, piercing through the Veil and knocking him flying.  He quickly switches to his Avenging Angel form where such energies might add to his strength and give him some ability to strike back.  He stops dodging and tries to grapple his traitorous opponent.   Outside the bunker Tank, Roddy and the Colonel try to assess the situation, the Omega Man is glowing less now that he shot the Professor but Tank works out that their attacks have been charging him up, the pilot is looking crazed but also like he is suffering, the energy is obviously leaking inside the suit.  He shouts on Roddy and the Colonel go stop attacking.  In this high energy state he can see that the Omega Man has a halo around him, one that obviously reduces the effectiveness of attacks launched at those within it and presumably enhancing attacks originating within it.  In the lull in fighting, the Omega Man speaks to them “I am dying.  You will all die with me”, Tank sees the field grow to encompass everyone in the room, he can see energy flow from them to the Omega Man and the glow surrounding the Omega Man grow once more.    The Chaplain hears the noise of fighting outside stop, the a high pitched whine begin to grow.  The Prof also hears it. “I must go now before you are all destroyed with your own powers”.  She waves a hand and vanishes.  Dickie runs out to his friends.  It is difficult to know who had the idea first but both Dickie and the Tank both run to supporting pillars in the laboratory.  Tank shouts on Roddy and the Colonel to get out, and to take Tam.  They need to warn the boffins to evacuate.  Seconds later the roof collapses, tonnes of rubble falling onto the Omega Man, Tank and Dickie.  Only Dickie and Tank have access to the Healing Halls.   By the time the Chaplain and Tank make it back to London there is news on the streets of a minor earthquake that shook north east London and even caused minor damage to some exhibits in the Museum.  It looks like they might have been successful, killing the Omega Man by collapsing the roof on his head caused him to explode earlier than he would have and causing less damage. It was over an hour before they were able to confirm that the others escaped alive and were able to rescue most of the boffins as well.  This was a major setback for Project Q.  The fact Professor Dhoum was a traitor doubly so.  Tam explained that the energy signal he recognised was very similar to the one used when the Professor was taking their pictures for Project Q, she must have been recording their powers for the Omega Men to exploit.  She must have tweaked the armour, enabling it to work on multiple opponents and rigging it to overload.  The flash of energy was not an attack but Professor Dhoum taking the energy she needed to deal with Tam.     This answered the question of who had been leaking information about the Union to the fascists and it should be reasonably easy to flush any further traitors out of Department Q.  The question remained, who was Professor Dhoum.  It was possible that she had taken a away Britain’s ability to deploy Mystery Men on the front line for extended periods, the Omega Men would not only nullify their presence but might use their energy for the Nazis.  She would certainly have betrayed their secret weapons project to their enemies.  Britain’s greatest advantage had now become its biggest liability unless something could be done.  It is for the Union to discover how to turn the tables…

To be totally honest, I don't remember. I wanted to give the author my support since he's been talking to me about it for years and I'm glad he got it out.

Yes, it did. It got $4,107 according to Kickstarter and I have my copy on my shelf.

Man, it's hard to build a FISS* on 250 points. But here's my attempt.  I give you . . . Thunderbird!
 

 
*FISS = Flight, Invulnerability, Strength, and Speed. A flying brick, like Superman, Wonder Woman, or Captain Marvel Shazam.

So I have recently completed a move, to a place largr enough to not need storage. So I have bern unpacking many boxes of books. Along with finding all of my old gaming books, I found my character binder.  Inside was the original Hero flyer announcing Champions, and also the character handed to me by either Bruce or Ray, for a game GMed by Steve Peterson an that convention back in 1981. I present it to you in the interests of the historical record. 

The funny thing is that I _remember_ the little plastic "dinosaurs" that contained both the Bullette and the Rust Monster.    My youngest brother drove the librarian nuts when we went to Anchorage-- he kept wanting to find the book with that specific "dinosaur" in it.  
 
 

The other possibility is Play-by-Email. With people who can post everyday or even multiple times a day, it's workable. With only a couple of players it can move at a reasonable speed. Thoughts?

NPCs encountered
13 Black, a Cyberkinetic Uplifted Housecat.
13 Black's Clone Children- Simiilar powerset to 13 Black, but weaker as they are still kittens.
Fury a Teleporting Martial Artist, who creates wormhole between places
 

For Session Zero:
The PCs were riding home on Public Transit and were passing though the Port of Oakland. When a huge explosion of Black energy engulfs the train. They ee a white flash behind their eyes and pass our.

The PCs awake in a Hospital Room with no windows. Hooked up to IVs and monitoring machines. With a LARGE Kitten on their bed mind speaking with them urging them to awaken. The PCs do so, go out in the hall to meet the other PCs and a Very Large (large Bobcat/Lynx) sized black cat. Who explains to them that they were discovered during a rescue for the Kittens. They were recognized as the survivors of the commuter train accident a year ago and were added to the list of people that needed rescuing. On the way out security robot dogs attack the escapees. The PCs use powers they didn't know they had to defeat the security bots and then leave the facility. Met at the shoreline by and Established Superheroine Fury, who teleports them to a Superteam's base located at the former Alameda Naval Air Station.

GM comments:
The players had very sketched out PCs at the beginning of all of this. So what they had was basic and evolving. The experienced players picked up the rules quickly despite not having played since 4th edition. The true noobies picked up the rules quickly. Thanks to "hero in 2 Pages" and someone's Hero System Survival guide. The session was short due to the early character gen and campaign setup.

Regarding using agents against the heroes, for speed and ease of play I use mass combat rules where I group agents into one meta-character, though I also tend to give one or two agents from each group distinctive personalities or actions so they're not all just faceless mooks.  For instance, a more vocal agent might trash-talk the heroes, or do something crazy or stupid (rush ahead of his teammates, etc.).  The funny thing is, the heroes sometimes decide to concentrate their attacks on that hapless agent, rather than taking on bigger threats.
 
A recent example of this was an adventure I ran when a powerful vampire had a cadre of lesser vampires, mostly college students or gangbangers she had bitten.  Compared to the PC heroes, none of those lesser vampires were very powerful, so I was mainly grouping them together.  Except for one... Vampire Elvis.  This was a would-be Elvis impersonator the Countess had turned into a minion, and for fun I modified lyrics to some Elvis songs and sang them when he took his actions.  Several of the PCs decided to ignore more pressing threats to concentrate attacks on Vampire Elvis just to shut him up. 

Most of the images in here I've done the colorized version of, if you look at the "files" section on this board you can find the groups of HDC characters and even paper minis of each group I did.

Thank you.  There are some interesting ones from Dark Champions the Animated Series, so I'll post them here once I pass this exam this weekend.

So, I'm sure someone else must have noted this, but I just finished seeing it a second time, and one thing was very, very clear that I just missed, the first time.

Bucky knew.
 
He knew what Steve was going to do. He said, "I'm going to miss you," when supposedly Steve was only going to be gone for 5 seconds.
 
He smiled and turned away as Hulk and Sam freaked out when Steve didn't come back.
 
He was a bit surprised, but knew immediately who was sitting on the bench.
 
He pushed Sam to go talk to Steve and clearly knew about the shield being passed on to him. 
 
So clearly, at some point, old Steve had come to him and told him what was what. He was prepared for it. 
 
And this goes a long way towards really establishing that Steve was around for those 70 plus years incognito.

He's a team all on his own
 
 
 
This is a case where I had to change parts of the power set and not the story.  As written his duplication only worked when hit with a physical attack, he had claws (for which he didn't pay points for) and a psi blocker that could not duplicate, but the claws could!  I cleaned up the duplication, got rid of the claws (in HERO he already does decent damage) and removed the psi blocker.  All told he comes in at about 350 pts.  
 
A few things to remember is that the duplication takes up 100 pts alone.  So essentially you have 4 * 250 agent types.  This is one where you play up some team tactics.  Martial throws to reduce DCV for another to attack or blocking with one while another attacks should be the norm.  If part of a team, he'll swarm his opponent.  He prefers other Martial Artist or Bricks.  And he hates fighting mentalists!  (note I may have given him too much SPD.  If you think this is so lower it to 4 or 5.  His schtick is swarming HTH, not fighting the MA to a standstill)
 
Personality wise, he's certainly a damaged soul who could be redeemed, if you work hard enough.  But also it may be a case that he is a lost cause.  But there is an element of tragedy in his background.  One thing they mention is his desire to own a ranch and go riding like cowboys of old.  He even practices rope work for that possible day.  If that doesn't tug at you a bit.....

So today the operatives of a big bad organization
 
They're ninjas.  "No, they are from China not Japan!"  but they are sneaky!  "YES!"  and take contracts to attack people "YES!"  and try to swarm their opponents with black clad operatives who use ancient Martial Arts weapons and tactics "YES!"  So they are NINJAS!  "NOOOOOOOO!"
 
Seriously it isn't bad.  It gives a more global reach for a shadowy organization that likes to prove themselves in combat!  Need a cities defenders kept busy with some guaranteed fighting.  Check!  Want a group you have to stop because they took a contract on someone!  Check!  Are you a Martial Arts type player who needs a group trying to make his life miserable.  Check!  They don't see themselves as just assassins so there is more potential.  
 
Add the possibility of super-powered members and you can ramp up the threat pretty easily.  Also some of those weird MA abilities (like Yengtao Temple) could ramp them up as well!  In fact a whole story arc can be made of finally breaking the organization.  

I generally treat contacts as player accessible abilities.  In other word, you can have "contacts" without paying points for them, but they may not respond to you if they are busy or etc.  It's more a role playing exercise/plot contingent contact and slightly beneficial.  If you want someone who will drop what they are doing to try and help you out when you need it, then the contact perk is for you.  
 
Example of the difference (YMMV): 
You know a lawyer.  He's good (18- PS: Lawyer) but he's not bought as a contact.  You get framed for the murder of some punk.  You call him for help but get his secretary.  She says she'll relay the message to him.  A day goes by and this kid fresh out of college come by your prison cell.  Kid lawyer has been referred to you by the big shot lawyer.  When you get out of jail on bond a day later, the press tries to crucify you outside the court house.
 
You know a lawyer.  He's good (18- PS: Lawyer) and he's bought as a contact.  You get framed for the murder of some punk.  You call him for help and get the roll.  His secretary puts you through to the big shot lawyer even though he's in a meeting.  15 minutes later, you are out of jail on bond.  The lawyer has gotten a gag order on the press in place and is already talking about how to defeat the accusations.
 
You know a lawyer.  He's good (18- PS: Lawyer) and he's bought as a contact.  You get framed for the murder of some punk.  You call him for help but you failed the roll.  His secretary gives him a message.  A hour later, a junior partner from the firm gets you out of jail on bond.  The press already has wind of your problem but he's arranged for a press release to give your side of the issue.

I would say that if you want to start the game with Contacts, then you'd buy the Perk.  If as a player you ever need to ask the GM, "Do I know someone who...?", this definitively answers the question.  
 
But another reason to have them in the game (I'm not sure if anyone was questioning this, but I'm addressing it) is so that NPCs can buy them.  
 
If you as GM don't want to mess around with Contacts, you might think about repurposing Well Connected.  Someone who is Well Connected obviously knows people, so they're more likely to know someone in situation X, so they get a bonus to whatever you roll to decide if they know someone.  Or work up some other kind of perk that gives a character a bonus to that roll.  

Tony "Popper" Paulowski was the gum chewing wise cracking side kick to a number of silver age heroes. Always in the wrong place at the wrong time and in danger from every imaginable peril and always saved in the nick of time by his super powered pals. Paulowski later discovered that it wasn't just bad luck. He had the gift of subtle precognition and would instinctually go to sites that deep down he knew disasters, crimes or supervillain activity would soon occur. A run in with the dimension, space and time hopping thief Tempus Fugitive send him spiraling to the future and the year 2357. This trip through the Warp Zone also granted him the ability to now travel through space and time. He realized that with his ability to know when and where crises would occur and with the help of the heroic Intergalactic Conglomeration of Super-Beings he created a suit that would allow him to signal any heroes to respond to the areas he warped to with his power. He would be The Beacon,

Yeah, 
 
I'm the odd man out, but I've never made a secret of my favorite:
 
Mark Williams.
 
Yep.  Nothing fancy.  Looked almost like it was drawn with a ruler in hand.
 
 
But two things:
 
First:  While I was never a comic book kid (never made a secret out of that, either), his art looked so much like the comic books of my childhood.  It was _huge_ pull-in for me.  At the time, there were a couple of "super hero" choices.  It was Williams' art that led me to find a Champions group over anything else:  it _looked_ like a comic book looked in my head.  (Again, it's not like I was -- or ever became-- very familiar with them.  Second aside: Superbabes or whatever it was called had appeal for art reasons as well-- the "comic book rightness"; not the idea that you're thinking). Champions or V&V at that time.  Williams' art told me Champions was what I wanted.
 
Second:  You have to see this from the point of view from a guy who _all of his life_ wanted to be able to draw.  A guy who killed hundreds and hundreds of trees "practicing" because that's what everyone who could draw kept saying was the key.  (I'm hear to tell that they are all hands-down a pack of lying bastards.  Practice is undoubtably super-important, but it is _not_ "the key."  If there is not at least a hint of talent, twenty hours a day of practice will get you nowhere).
 
Anyway-- let's say that you're me: a guy who his whole life wanted to be able to draw-- a guy who had several siblings who could sit down with a pencil and in ten minutes whip up an entire page of a comic book or a photo-realistic drawing of a trout breaking from the creek, leaping for a hand-tied fly.  A guy who had all these ideas and images and notions in his head yet found himself completely powerless to share them with even his closest friends.   Mark Williams' art looked  _attainable_.  It looked like something that I could _eventually_, with practice and determination, be able to do myself, and it was, apparently, good enough to go into a commercial product.  (Yeah: I know.  RPGs of the day would ink a chicken's foot and let it walk across the page and still publish it, but again: you had to be me to really appreciate how much Mr. Williams' art meant to me at that time-- and frankly, still does.)
 
I could never fool myself enough to believe I could achieve what Storn Cook does, or the covers of 4e Fantasy books, or anything else.  But the simple-- someone on this board once characterized it as "workman-like," and I can't over-stress how accurate this description is, nor can I ever fully explain how complimentary that is to his work from my point of view:  it's something that I could achieve....
 
Now, what-- pushing 40 years later?-- it's clear to me it's not something I can achieve.    Believe it or not (and it's not important if you do, because I don't do it for you anyway)-- I still practice.  Yes: I am fifty-nine years old, and I have been practicing drawing _every single day_ with rare exception since I was six.  Fifty-three years, and all I have to show for it is a large missing forest somewhere. Why?  Because it still looks like everything I ever did when I was six.  No; I'm not kidding.  Practice is _not_ the key.
 
But I still practice.  And when I do, without fail, the thing I'm trying to draw is usually one of those simple unshaded, un-lit characters drawn by Mark Williams.   Even knowing that I will _never_ get there, he still inspires me.
 
So regardless of just how amazing the artwork by any other contributing artist, none of them have had the effect on me that Williams did, and still does.
 
 
 

And its live!
 
Kestrel Arts is proud to announce that the Jolrhos Field Guide is available for purchase and download at the Hero Games store!

Print versions will be available soon as well.  I'm having some trouble with my POD printer, so as soon as I can get that worked out I will post an update here.
 
Problems worked out. The paperback version will be available on Amazon.com soon.  You can get a hardback print version at Lulu, here!
 
 

You know, I was thinking about this while lurking on this thread. I’ve always wondered if the character point inflation wouldn’t have been necessary in 6e if they had simply shifted all the Characteristic ranges back down to lower levels. If normal is still 10, and if DEX doesn’t need to be elevated to drive the Figureds, then the ranges could overlap more, and supers could still excel at some Characteristics while remaining “normal” at others. Then the point inflation could be reduced.
 
I only say this as I’m building some pre-gen heroic characters for a Pulp campaign. I’m fighting against every urge to inflate DEX and the CVs simply out of habit. My players are all new, so they won’t be programmed to think like the earlier editions, so I’m trying to reset the ranges in my own mind.

Heck, I had pretty much abandoned the system. It IS the system that I know the best. So when the players wanted to play Supers, it was the game I chose.

We are running a beginning 6e Champions Game.

Dex 18, SPD 5, DC10 (62 active), CV 7 as our averages.
So Skill levels (yet)

The PCs are the newest hosts for Beings that are Iconic for a character type.

Developing

I'm BACK!!
LOL

Some of my favorite plots are for fun episodes where it is relatively stress-free for the heroes, alot of them due to Foxbat. A couple of Foxbat's plots from the past:
 
1) Foxbat (and his flunkies) lures the superteam into a hand lotion factory. Once there, he sets off a trap dropping a boatload of lotion onto them. After they start getting up, he takes a picture of the group and promises to send the humiliating picture to the newspapers. For the rest of the battle, everyone on the ground - including Foxbat - has to make a Dex roll or fall down due to the slipperiness. The majority of the 'battle' is now keep-away for the picture.
 
2) While a superteam is busy relaxing on the beach in the secret Ids, a group of costumed people arrive riding on metal mules. It's Foxbat! Anyone can ride into town on horses but it takes a truly innovative genius to ride in on metal mules - or so he thinks. A battle takes place while Foxbat rides around the beat on a metal mule... the other mules ran off somewhere.
 
3) The superteam arrives at a bank for a bank robbery... except it's Foxbat with robots looking somewhat similar to the heroes. Foxbat watches while he sends his robots to attack. One major flaw in all the robots: the robots aren't the best put together and any attack the robot does that misses has a chance of a limb flying off. Ex: the robot swings at you Atomic Man. It misses... and its arm goes flying off down the hall.

Which is a common mistake in Game Jargon. Similar to when people confuse Phase with Segment.

That sounds exactly like the kind of character my hero team could try to redeem by giving him a constant stream of science projects to keep him happy. Sounds like he's a lot more concerned about having interesting things to disassemble and put back together in novel ways than in villainy.
 
I know the Avengers eventually did that with Fabian Stankiewicz, the Mechano-Marauder. But I've always thought that was the best way to deal with this type of mad scientist character.
 
You start out by getting him busy with tinkering with some tech you found to keep him occupied. Later you contact him from a battle site and ask if he's able to come, take some readings, and consult about what you found. Ask respectfully if he has any ideas. Ask him if there's anything in particular he wants boxed up and sent back to the lab or whether you should use your best judgement (which ought to trigger all of his "I'm the smart one here" instincts but in a good way). The team as a whole is going to run across more interesting gadgets and enemy bases for him to examine than he could ever come up with on his own (and he will get to use his time doing research rather than dodging the police). And if he ends up pointing you to some villainous gadgeteer or some enemy hideouts which you might not otherwise have found rather than stabbing you in the back, so much the better.