#modron

[dailyadventureprompts]

Villain: Finality 9, Arbiter of the End

For hours you and your allies have sheltered in place as the astral warships bombarded the city, feeling each impact as another block was levelled. Now you watch as the Flagship touches down, scarab like legs taller than spires unfolding from it's hull. It's going to be a bloody, brutal struggle fighting your way through the rubble and the burning streets up to the control deck, but It's your only hope of ending things without your home being razed to the ground.

The embodiment of a death sentence passed long before any of the heroes were ever born, the Marut Finality 9 and the Inevitable armada it commands serve only one purpose: to deliver violent and irrevocable endings to entities that should have died long ago.

Unfortunately for the party, whatever being(s) Finality 9 is hunting happen to reside on the same landmass as they do, and the Inevitable has no qualms levelling anything that gets in its way until the destruction of its target is confirmed. Like many creatures born from the shattered plane of order, Finality 9 and its construct legion have a very narrow set of operational directives, and "preserving life" ends up being the preview of a different order of celestial machines.

Finality 9's operations always follow the same protocol: After using divination to determine the vague location of their target Modron scouts will be sent to investigate, sending a transmission back to the ship to begin the invasion the moment they've determined the enemy's presence and threat level. After that it's bombardment and battalions in specified areas to soften up their target's defences before Finality 9 itself descends to finish the job.

Hooks:

One of Finality 9's scouts becomes attached to the party early in their adventures, following along and providing typical mascot antics until they stumble across evidence of the big bad. This starts a ticking clock for the party to find and oust this evil before the Inevitables arrive... a task the galactic forces of order were failing at for decades.

Every year the realm celebrates the festival of St. Altrin's Star, held on a night when a particular comet is viable to venerate the figure's many beneficent acts. This year however the comet is unusually bright, heralding the fact that it is not a star, but Finality 9's ship which has been circling the world for decades or even centuries waiting for the reemergence of a long dormant demi-lich which the party awoke earlier in their adventures.

The Inevitable does not warn or negotiate, and likely does not even speak the language of the lands it is razing but with some telepathy or a background in obscure astral dialects they might be able to get it to stop by presenting evidence that its target is already dead ( forcing them to do all the work) or that its actions are unlawful (which requires iron clad litigation skills and knowledge of multiple celestial law systems). If the heroes happen to have any favours with infernal deal makers or underworld bureaucrats, now would be the time to call them in.

In a desperate hour, the party must seek out finality 9's armada hovering dormant in wildspace in hopes of gaining their aid against a greater foe. Delving through the flagship in its hibernation mode will not be easy as not only are there defence systems to worry about but astral wildlife that have nested in the interior while the constructs within were in standby mode.

Art 1, Art 2

[crow-caller]

1e decaton as if YOU even care

[saintrabouin]

The Chant of Sigil : the Modron renegate 3RN3ST-0 paints some anti-Mechanus propaganda on a wall

[swadloom]

No one gets that the problem with the modrons design ISNT that they look like the minions. the real issue is that they perfected the design with the Monodrone's :3 face and the rest have the. The fuckin. The Lips.

[mika-no-sekai-blog]

Dream of Modron

(Eris x mysterious female)

Word count: ±900

Warnings: none I think

This short Eris' drabble was inspired by @erisweek2023 prompt "Dance"

I'm very sorry for my English 🫣

This week was really busy, so I hardly managed to write this. Hopefully you'll like it despite of all the mistakes I've made.

And the hardest part of the story? The speech! I'm the last person who'd ever give any speech and it seems it's impossible for me to write one too.

Eris decided to check on preparations for upcoming Autumnal equinox's celebration. He worked on it for the past two months and now there was only 1 hour left before it starts. As he walked around the clearing where it'll be held he inspected five tall piles of dry wood prepared for bonfires.

After that he moved to the tables. Servants assured him that the tables with food and snacks made of apples, pumpkins, chestnuts and other autumn fruits and veggies, would be ready on time as the last plates and trays should arrive any minute.

Before returning to the palace to get ready himself, he also checked the decoration, podium from where he'll speak and even the stage for musicians. All seemed to be ready.

Satisfied he returned to his room to take a shower and change to already prepared clothes. Last look in the mirror and he moved to the table to go through his speech quickly one more time. As the time came closer he could hear cheerful voices from outside. The crowd started to gather. It's time.

Approaching his podium he could see people gathered around, waiting for him to start the celebration. Making sure his mask of a fearless high lord is on its place, he took his place on the podium. There was a buzz in the crowd as all eyes turned to him. Calmly Eris surveyed people in front of him. He waited until everybody was quiet. Then he cleared his throat and started.

„Welcome to the annual Autumnal equinox's festival! Last year was really hard on us. War took too many lives and we also lost our high lord, my father. But we made it. We survived. Thanks to you all our country is safe once again," he paused to look to everyone in the eye.

„Despite of everything, nature was generous to us this year too and gifted us a lot of food, fruits and vegetables," he gestured towards the full tables set up along the edges of the clearing.

„Usually we celebrate Autumn equinox to give our thanks to the nature, but this year is little bit different. Let's take advantage of this feast and celebrate our victory and life itself as well. Let the party begin!“

With last words he left his powers rumble around, setting the bonfires on fire. Crowd cheered loudly. Then priestesses on the other side of clearing took over the attention and performed their usual rituals and offerings. When spiritual part ended, musicians took up their instruments and crowd split into dancers and onlookers.

A satisfied grin settled on Eris's face as he took in the scene in front of him from his small podium. Everything went smoothly, exactly as he planned it.  Unfortunately he couldn't stay longer and enjoy the results of his hard work. There were some high lord's matters that needed his attention. He waited until he was sure people were enough distracted. But when he was about to sneak out, he noticed a girl dancing around one of the bonfires. In the moment he forgot everything else.

It wasn't her look that caught his eye even though it wasn't bad too. She had big green eyes, waist-length auburn hair, quite lovely face with few freckles on her small nose and cheeks. She was rather smaller with slim and graceful curves.

It was her dance that impressed him. Her movements were precise, confident, elegant and as wild as the flames behind her. She radiated  tremendous energy that attracted him. It reminded him of Nesta's dance just with one difference. This girl was way better. If Nesta was a queen of dance, this girl was goddess.

Before he knew, he was already strolling through the crowd, every step bringing him closer to her. He stopped few meters from her with arms crossed on chest, openly gazing at her with smirk plastered on his face. The smirk that she shamelessly reciprocated. It seemed as if she was dancing just for him making eyes on him every time she turned his way.

Biting down his lower lip he watched her for few minutes enjoying the view before joining her. She eagerly accepted his hand and together they swirled around the bonfire in a wild vortex of dance. Fire filled his veins fuelled by the warmth and flexibility of the flesh under his fingers. A wild grin spread across his face. They hadn't spoken a single word, but neither of them minded.

Eris lost track of the time and his surroundings. At that moment there was only her, the music and the fire for him. He didn't feel tiredness nor thirst or hunger. His body was drawn to hers, his lips only few centimetres from hers. Suddenly she stopped. Eris blinked and looked around.

The night turned into dawn, everybody had already left. Looking at the empty stage where musicians stood before, it was clear that the music must have stopped playing a long time ago. Only embers remained of great bonfires.

Surprised he turned back to the girl, but she was gone too. He looked around in confusion. Except of him there were only wisps of early morning mist rolling across the clearing.

He sighed. He didn't even have a chance to ask her name. Tired he returned back to the palace and crawled into the bed.

[harpxer]

Character commission of a modron-type character!! I've never drawn holographic-code-arms OR dragonfly wings before, but there's a first time for everything :D

My Patreon | Ko-Fi | Twitter | Commissions

[triclopsrabbit]

Big project- modron redesigns! (dnd creatures) The originals look kinda minionesque so I was commissioned for these by a friend.

[starstrider]

rogue modron design I made for one of my planescape players!

vgen | patreon | kofi

[stickyhunter]

The cover, full page pieces, and additional spot art I did for Faces of the Cage -- minus the busts in the background of the cover which are by Kayla Cline

[every-mini-ive-painted]

Modron

[dailyadventureprompts]

I'm not sure how problematic they are, but I'd love your take on Modrons.

Footnotes on Foes: Modrons

For those who might not know, I don't really like D&D's default "great wheel" cosmology because I find it flattens both the nuances of morality and the wonders of the cosmos into something shallow and limited. I don’t like it so much that in my cosmology Mechanus, the plane of eternal order tore itself apart like an overwound clock under the contradictory weight of perfection, scattering its chunks across the cosmos and providing an excuse for hi tech ruins without needing to do the whole “ancient aliens” routine.

Which brings us to the modrons, the workerdrones that kept Mechanus running. Built to be a part of the machinery they oversaw, modrons resemble gears, broilers, wheels, or geometric solids designed to socket into larger constructions and be shuffled around as those structures were maintained or reconfigured. Because modrons were designed to be simple and interchangeable, their minds were likewise streamlined, only containing enough room to fit a perfect understanding of their task and a debilitating anxiety that ensured they never wavered from performing that duty at their utmost capability. A modron tasked with opperating a particular valve on time would think about nothing but counting the seconds till the valve needed to be opened or closed, the same way that a group of modrons tasked with acting as a pillar would stand stock-still for centuries at a time until their overseer came and repurposed them for a new task. 

While their designers saw them as efficacious, the modron’s biggest flaw was that if they ever got too stressed their simple minds would  completely lock up, as they were physically incapable of improvising, skipping a step,  or problem solving without direct supervision. This proved an even further flaw when their home plane blew up, and the Modrons were scattered across the multiverse with no one to tell them what to do, leading many to enter millennia long stress comas that they are only now awakening from as their clockwork brains trip one by one into a factory reset.

Adventure Hooks:

The thing with modrons as enemies is that they are both idiots and geniuses, in desperate need of someone to tell them what to do but possessing an intuitive understanding of mechanics rivalling that of the most brilliant engineers. A rogue artificer who’s managed to salvage and repair a modron assistant may find their little lackey improving upon their designs, skyrocketing their destructive potential as the modron reveals the fundamental mechanics of the cosmos to someone who might only have an interest in blowing things up.

Sometimes a group of modrons will remember their command hierarchy, and in lieu of being able to find a proper taskmaster or overseer, they’ll simply elect to build one. While their theft and manufacture of parts might provide the fodder for early level adventures, it’s not unheard of for a mesh of modrons working undetected to end up reactivating whole clockwork dungeons in the hopes of filling out their chain of command.

The party is tasked with stealing a rare automoton from a collector’s manor, only to discover half way through thier careful heist that their prize is in fact a modron that has been told to sit very still and look pretty. The anxious little sphere is happy to follow any of  their orders and will gladly walk out with them, but will begin screaming in anxious terror the moment those orders contradict or lead to a dead end, drawing all manner of hostile attention. 

Art

[ilona-art]

Commission for @sethize of their D&D character ✨Thank you for commissioning me! <3

[cockodemon]

The first of my modrons so far

[thecreaturecodex]

Modron, Primus

Image © @tredlocity​

[The last of my modrons, and the last I will be playing with WoTC IP for a while. Better safe than sorry, right? The “reveal” that my version of Primus is a refugee from D&D was planned from the beginning, based on the flavor text written by Paizo staff in Dragon 354 [speaking of refugees from D&D]. This builds on 2e Planescape adventures like The Great Modron March and Dead Gods, which themselves were sequels to The Throne of Bloodstone, a late AD&D module.]

Modron, Primus The One and the Prime LN agender demigod Domains Artifice, Knowledge, Law, Magic Subdomains Construct, Divine, Memory, Modron* Concerns archiving, construction, efficiency, order Worshipers architects, craftsmen, judges, librarians Minions golems, modrons, shinigami Favored Weapon unarmed strike Holy Symbol a circle enclosing a half circle, triangle, square and pentagon Obedience spend one hour writing out ways for you, your companions or your community to be more harmonious and efficient. Make sure to archive this work so it can be accessed again. Gain a +4 sacred bonus to saves against paralysis, slow and stunning effects. Boons 1: arcane sight 1/day; 2: true seeing 1/day; 3; foresight 1/day *new subdomain, see below

Primus is the One and the Prime, the first axiomite and the prophet responsible for the ascent of the modrons onto the planes. At least, this is what they claim. In truth, Primus is a refugee from an alternate reality, and is by no means the first Primus. In Primus’ original reality, they were once a secundus, and the modrons were the established paragons of Law, That is, until their Primus was assassinated and impersonated by Orcus, throwing the modrons into chaos. Four secundi existed in that reality, and once Orcus’ deceit was uncovered, they went about attempting to claim the rank of Primus in the usual fashion—a contest to slay as many chaotic creatures as possible. One of the four secundi was corrupted by Orcus to evil, and by the time the situation was at hand, the modrons had lost much of their standing and even much of their home plane, Mechanus. The secundus who would be Primus lost the contest, and abandoned this version of reality to try another—moving from the Great Wheel to the Great Beyond and setting themselves up as a new Primus.

Primus has altered and reshaped the modrons according to their vision; increasing the distinction between castes and removing the barriers to communication that beset the Great Wheel modrons were their two highest priorities. Now that that is settled, Primus is focusing on expansion. The aeons and inevitables of Axis know that they are something of a fraud, not being descended from an axiomite, but they cannot convince the modrons of that fact, nor can they prove it. But the aeons are restrictive enough on Primus’ power that his true mythic potential can only be achieved in the Modron Cathedral. This building is the size of a mortal city, extending for miles both above and below-ground, and hosts the Energy Pool from which all new modrons are spawned. Primus wants to uproot the Cathedral, and indeed all of Regulus, to some planet or plane that will allow him total control, and perhaps elevate him to true godhood. Gods are rather safer in the Great Beyond than they were in the Great Wheel, and Primus fears assassination.

Primus would much rather negotiate than fight, and their first instinct to utterly hostile enemies is to let other modrons take care of the violence. If forced into combat, they usually attempt to banish extraplanar foes first, channeling a dictum spell into their fists and crushing enemies with the overwhelming force of law. Primus has learned the power of necromancy from their experiences with Orcus and his corrupted modrons, and so has mastered necromantic spells themselves. Once quarter has been offered and refused, Primus fights to kill with maximum efficiency. 

Modron Subdomain Associated Domain: Law Replacement Power: The following granted power replaces the touch of law power of the Law domain Fixed Initiative (Ex) You may choose, instead of rolling initiative, to treat your initiative as if you rolled a 10. You gain a sacred bonus to this roll equal to 1/3 your cleric level (maximum +6 at 18th level). You may use this ability a number of times a day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier Replacement Domain Spells: 3rd—clairaudience/clairvoyance, 5th—greater command, 6th—wall of force

Primus   CR 29 XP 6,553,600 LN Huge outsider (extraplanar, lawful, modron) Init 44 (fixed); Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect chaos, greater arcane sight, Perception +40, true seeing Aura shield of law (DC 33) Defense AC 47, touch 29, flat-footed 47 (-2 size, +15 Dex, +4 deflection, +2 insight, +18 natural) hp 706 (31d10+496 plus 40); regeneration 20 (epic and chaotic) Fort +30, Ref +38, Will +37 DR 20/epic and chaotic; Resist acid 30, cold 30, fire 30; SR 40 Defensive Abilities constructed, evasion, foresight, freedom of movement Offense Speed 60 ft., swim 60 ft., fly 90 ft. (perfect) Melee unarmed strike +46/+41/+36/+31 or +44/+44/+39/+39/+34/+34/+29 (6d8+17 plus 2d6 lawful) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks axiomatic strikes, flurry of blows, greater spellstrike Spells CL 20th, concentration +37 9th—astral projection, energy drain (DC 38), mage’s disjunction (DC 36) (D), mass heal (DC 36) overwhelming presence (DC 36), soul bind (DC 38), wail of the banshee (DC 38), quickened waves of fatigue 8th—quickened cure critical wounds (DC 31), discern location (D), quickened divine power, greater spell immunity, horrid wilting (DC 37), mass cure critical wounds (DC 35), mass inflict critical wounds (DC 37), mind blank 7th—caustic eruption (DC 34), circle of clarity, deflection, dictum (DC 34) (D), finger of death (x2, DC 36), quickened protection from energy, repulsion (DC 34) 6th—banishment (DC 33), forbiddance (DC 33), harm (DC 35, x2), heal (DC 33, x2), hold monster (DC 33) (D), unwilling shield (DC 35) 5th—breath of life (DC 32, x2), fabricate (D), flame strike (DC 32), major curse (DC 34), mark of justice (DC 32), plane shift (DC 32), quickened shield, slay living (DC 34) 4th—blessing of fervor, blood crow strike (x2), cure critical wounds (DC 31), enervation, imbue with spell ability (D), inflict critical wounds (DC 33, x2), sending 3rd—bestow curse (DC 32, x2), blindness/deafness (DC 32, x2), displacement, prayer, speak with dead (DC 32, D), ray of exhaustion (DC 32), vampiric touch 2nd—bull’s strength, calm emotions (DC 29), detect thoughts (DC 29) (D), ghostbane dirge (DC 29), make whole, owl’s wisdom, scorching ray, spiritual weapon (x2) 1st—divine favor (x2), identify, mage armor (x2), magic missile (x2), ray of enfeeblement (DC 30, x2) sanctuary (DC 28) 0th—light, mending, resistance, stabilize Domains—Artifice, Knowledge, Law, Magic Spell-like Abilities CL 29th, concentration +44 Constant—detect chaos, foresight, freedom of movement, greater arcane sight, shield of law (DC 33, self only), tongues At will—clairaudience/clairvoyance, dictum (DC 32) (M), dispel chaos (DC 30), greater command (DC 30), greater scrying (DC 32), greater teleport, order’s wrath (DC 29) (M), sending, wall of force (M) 3/day—anyspell (DC 34), empowered disintegrate (DC 31) (M), forcecage (DC 32), greater dispel magic, harm (DC 33) (M), quickened heal (DC 31) (M), moment of prescience, summon modrons 1/day—freedom, gate (DC 34), imprisonment (DC 34) (M)—can use the mythic version of this spell-like ability in the Modron Cathedral Str 44, Dex 40, Con 42, Int 41, Wis 45, Cha 41 Base Atk +31; CMB +50; CMD 70 Feats Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Dodge,  Empower SLA (disintegrate), Gorgon’s Fist, Greater Spell Focus (necromancy) (B), Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike (B), Medusa’s Wrath, Mobility, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (heal), Scorpion Style, Spell Focus (necromancy) (B), Spell Penetration, Spring Attack, Stunning Fist, Whirlwind Attack Skills Acrobatics +33 (+45 when jumping), Climb +35, Craft (clockwork) +37, Craft (metalworking) +37, Craft (stonemasonry) +37, Diplomacy +33, Disable Device +36, Fly +37, Intimidate +36, Linguistics +33, Knowledge (all) +37, Perception +40, Sense Motive +38, Spellcraft +37, Swim +35, Use Magic Device +37; Racial Modifiers +8 Craft, +8 Knowledge, +2 Perception Languages Celestial, Infernal, Modron, 18 others, telepathy 300 ft. (unlimited on same plane with other modrons), tongues SQ coordinated ally, encyclopedic knowledge, fixed initiative, flight, lord of modrons, monastic training, school training, ultimate craftsman Ecology Environment any (Regulus) Organization unique Treasure triple standard Special Abilities Anyspell (Sp) Three times per day, Primus can cast any 8th level or lower spell from any spell list as a spell-like ability. This spell has the normal casting time for that spell. This is treated as a 9th level spell. Axiomatic Strikes (Su) Primus deals +2d6 points of damage to any non-lawful creature they strike with a melee weapon or unarmed strike, as if their weapons had the axiomatic property. Encyclopedic Knowledge (Ex) Primus treats all Knowledge skills as class skills, and gains a +8 bonus on all Knowledge checks. Flight (Su) The fly speed of Primus is a supernatural ability. Flurry of Blows (Ex) Primus gains the flurry of blows class ability of a 20th level monk. Greater Spellstrike (Su) Whenever Primus casts a spell or uses a spell-like ability, they may choose to channel it into a melee attack. They gain a free melee attack with a wielded weapon or an unarmed strike, and if they hit, the spell affects the creature struck. The creature suffers a -2 penalty to any saving throws from the spell, but the spell only affects the creature struck, regardless of its original range or target. Lord of Modrons (Ex/Su) Primus is the One and the Prime, the first and greatest of the modrons. This grants them the following abilities

Resist acid, cold and fire 30

Telepathy 300 ft (unlimited  on the same plane with other modrons)

Primus’ unarmed strikes, as well as any weapon they wield, is treated as a mythic, lawful weapon

Mythic: Primus functions as a 10th mythic rank creature in the Modron Cathedral, including the mythic power ability (10/day, surge +1d12). It may expend uses of mythic power to use the mythic versions of any spell-like ability denoted with an (M) just as if the ability were a mythic spell.

Use of the following spell-like abilities at  will in the Modron Cathedral—demand, discern location, fabricate,  major creation, and polymorph any object (when used on objects or creatures that are native to Regulus, the polymorph duration factor increases by 6).

Use of the following spell-like abilities once per day in the Modron Cathedral—binding, miracle (limited to physical effects that manipulate Regulus or to effects that are relevant  to Primus's areas of concern)

Heightened Awareness (Ex): Primus gains a +10 insight bonus on Perception checks and Initiative checks in the Modron Cathedral

Rejuvenation (Ex) If Primus is slain, they are reborn in the Energy Pool of the Modron Cathedral. They cannot leave the Great Modron     Cathedral for 1 year, and if slain again in this time, they are     permanently slain. In this case, a new Primus is selected from the ranks     of the secundus modrons.

Monastic Training (Ex) Primus gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat, and deals unarmed damage equal to a 20th level monk. They also gains proficiency with all exotic weapons with the monk descriptor. School Training (Ex) Primus gains Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats for necromancy as bonus feats They may apply the effects of these feats to their spell-like abilities as well, including to appropriate spells simulated with the anyspell ability. Spells Primus casts spells as a 20th level cleric with access to the Artifice, Knowledge, Law or Magic domains. They may also prepare and cast spells from the sorcerer/wizard list as if they were cleric spells. Summon Modrons (Sp) As a standard action three times per day, Primus can summon a CR 20 encounter worth of modrons. Primus typically uses this ability to summon a tertian and two hextons. Ultimate Craftsman (Ex) Primus gains a +8 racial bonus to all Craft skills, and can create magic items as if they had all item creation feats. Primus can create non-magical items in ¼ the time as normal. By meditating for eight hours, Primus can change one or more of the Craft skills it is trained in to another Craft skill.

[educationaldm]

Modron. Well, I know which I find cuter. Comic by Secret Goblin.  https://instagram.com/secret.goblin/

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Planescape - Adventures in the Multiverse - Scary Modron March by Andrea Piparo