Modron (Dungeons & Dragons)
| Modron | |
|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |
| Alignment | Lawful neutral (1st - 3,5 editions, 5th edition), Unaligned (4th edition) |
| Type | Outsider (3rd - 3,5 editions), Immortal animate (4th edition), Construct (5th edition) |
| Publication history | |
| First appearance | Monster Manual II (1983) |
In the fictional multiverse of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, 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. They follow a strict hierarchy, with each rank reporting to the rank directly above it, and issuing commands to the ones ranking beneath it. For example, a quadrone modron will report to a pentadrone, and command several tridrones.
Modrons were created by Francois Marcela-Froideval, working from suggestions by Gary Gygax. They first appeared in 1983, in the AD&D 1st edition Monster Manual II, which introduced the base modrons (including the monodrone, the duodrone, the tridrone, the quadrone, and the pentadrone), the hierarch modrons (including the decaton, the nonaton, the octon, the septon, the hexton, the quinton, the quarton, the tertian, and the secundus), and Primus (The One and the Prime).
In the 2nd edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, the Plane of Law was renamed Mechanus (instead of Nirvana) and the depiction of Modrons introduced clockwork features (expanding on the description of Nirvana as a plane of cogwheels in the 1st edition Manual of the Planes). The monodrone, the duodrone, the tridrone, the quadrone, the pentadrone, the decaton, the nonaton, the octon, the septon, the hexton, the quinton, the quarton, the tertian, the secundus, and Primus appeared in the Planescape Campaign Setting boxed set (1994). In his review of the Planescape Campaign Setting boxed set, Gene Alloway mentioned the modrons as an example of "the old, tired and previously foolish" which the set "breathes new life and meaning into".Scott Haring, in his review of set for Pyramid, also mentioned the modrons as "once-silly" and "rescued from an old 1st Edition AD&D hardback and given a new background and purpose that makes a lot more sense". The Planescape Campaign Setting boxed set introduced the notion that modrons can only comprehend the existence of other modrons of one rank directly above or below them in their hierarchy. Only their immediate superiors and inferiors register in their minds - a modron is aware of the existence of all ranks below it, but communication is exclusively limited to adjacent ranks. Only Primus, the modron deity, is aware of all modrons, because he is at the top of the hierarchy.
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