Dungeons and Dragons Lore : Modron

Modrons are creatures native to the outer plane of Mechanus. Modrons resemble geometric shapes with humanoid limbs and represent a living, physical manifestation of law without regard to good or evil.
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[destonlee]

Modron stranded alone 'realizes "IAmOne", convinces itself that it is primus and starts a cult..

[randallbaumgardt]

As cool as modrons are I still feel that the creator missed a nice meta nod by not making them all the various shapes of our beloved dice.
As a player once our incredible DM was running an encounter with moron a did some thing so simple and perfect. She had each individual modron hit the same spot on a character with a successful hit EVERY time. It was so alien and intimidating.

[yuvi]

DMs remember: while on mechanus, dont roll, its the average, always. that gives the players the understanding there are out of their element...

[jgr]

releases absolute chaos in a D&D universe. Angels, Devils & Modrons join forces.

[WoM]

Damn Mechanus would be awesome to see in a movie!

[AJPickett]

The great Modron March takes place once every 289 years, which is 17 cycles of the turning of the great cogs of Mechanus, a cycle, is 17 years long, it divides up further in perfectly regular intervals, down to increments of 17 nanoseconds (the Modrons no doubt have names for even smaller units of time).

Regulus is the home of the construct-like Modrons. Their strict hierarchy originates from Primus, a greater deity, which resides here. Regulus consists of a total of sixty-four cogs, a number that never varies. It is divided into four quarters of sixteen cogs, each ruled by a Secundus. Each quarter is in turn split into four regions, of four cogs, each ruled by a Quarton. Finally, the regions are further subdivided into four sectors, of a single cog each, ruled by an Octon.

One weird aspect of the absolute lawful nature of the place, is that it is impossible to travel directly to meet with Primus, without first working through the ultimate bureaucracy, and dealing with the Octon, the Quarton and then the Secundus first.
It may be extremely tedious and frustrating, but, at least you know that the result will always be the same.

Mechanus consists of a single infinite plane; there are no constituent layers. Mechanus shares its borders with the neighbouring planes of the Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia (another fairly rigidly orderly plane of Law) and the Infernal Battlefield of Acheron (with its fantastic landscape of massive floating metallic geometric shapes); travel is possible between Mechanus and these planes at certain locations.

Throughout Mechanus exists a series of interlocking cogs that float in space, intersecting at all angles and directions. Many of the cogs are gigantic, stretching many miles across and turn so slowly that the rotation is undetectable. Smaller cogs can move at much higher speeds, but no acceleration is experienced, except at the very edges. Usually smaller cogs bunch up with larger ones; these are called knots. The gears are fiercely guarded by gear spirits that reside within them. The gravitational force is oriented towards the face of each individual cog, making intercog travel a disconcerting experience for the uninitiated.

At the center of the Formian realm lies a central cog more than three-thousand miles across, where the Scion Queen Mother, leader of the Formians resides. The central cog supposedly imparts the movement to all other cogs in Mechanus.
But that is a matter of some debate (just don't debate it with the Queen of the Formians, she doesn't handle differences of opinion very well at all).

[bobadams]

Photos and content greatly appreciated!!! Seeing examples really helps connect and follow.

[bitterzombie]

I'd like to imagine that modrons are capable of producing art/music, but due to their lawful nature it all has a sort of mathematical structure of patterns that would seem droning and repetitive, like a combination of simple electrical sounds and drawn out choruses like gospel chanting. Their projects are probably epic in scale, i.e whole cities arraigned in mosaic that just looks like tile flooring, or music tracks that last for months with very little variance. Idk I like the idea that they have a basis for art that they consider flawless but other races find boring and uninspired. I can imagine a player character stuck in a waiting room with a modron who is trying to register them in the system, just.... listening to elevator music. For DAYS. and at one point the modron pauses for a moment to listen and is like "this is a good song."

[BigDictator]

I'd imagine that a modron attack would be like a forced surgery.

[rpsketchbooks]

absolutely kick-ass. love your treatment of this topic. and very fortuitous timing for me. it was great to review these guys with your entertaining narrative. the campaign i'm working on ends up in a planar war, one end of which is tied to the plane of Arcadia, a neighboring plane of Mechanus. the Harmonium faction (the "Hard Heads", law-at-all-costs militia guys) is mixed up in there. i also find it fascinating that the god of the Mongrelmen (and of "good goblinoids") makes his home in these Lawful Neutral realms in a "hidden area" called the Ghetto, which "can't be found by beings who take the world at face value."

[rustyspurs]

I imagine the Modrons going on their march, measuring everything, it's all good. Then they get to the abyss. "Man... just... fuck this place. I can't even try to measure something before a snake that is somehow also a penis tries to eat me"

[ProfLoomis]

Whole living situation is like a giant Mega Man level...

[DuskyPredator]

I have kind of come up with the idea of the players being sent to help a Gnome, artificer artesian who is mostly well intentioned but mad scientist in ways that for research into constructs has been able to break into and kidnap a monodrone by corrupting it. Which when noticed by by its its order will try get rid of it and anyone in their way by increasing waves. I thought it would be an interesting to bring in the development of the class construct, and add in the possible danger of an otherwise helpful NPC, or that he could make his own hacked army before Primus truly has put attention on it, or turn it on its head with attracting Slaad.

[drunkenhobgoblin]

Great stuff. My kids love the comic relief offered by Mondrons, but I like the less than comic opportunity to their use!

[JoseMolina-ijxx]

I see Modrons and I see Reboot binaries from the TV show. I think of Cybertron, when I think about the plane of Mechanus.

[evanderespinozaee]

This is a great channel! I like all of these videos on explaining the creatures, and on how to run them.

[TalismancerM]

I gave them Dalek voice last session. A fun little touch of menace.

[FontofInspiration]

Great stuff. The cogs rotating is almost like our tectonic plates shifting.

[kendrixhavlik]

I would imagine smallest ones are sort of adorably literal-minded, the medium ones act like some stereotypical beaurocrat, traffic policeman or rules lawyer, and then the hierarchs gradually slide from 'scary dogmatic alien' into machine god territory.

[FontofInspiration]

I'd definitely like to use modrons in a non-comedic way someday. Despite some of the art, my inital reaction has never been to think of the modrons as kooky little minions. Like you said, they can be so much more.