Is Primus a Great God or Overgod in 5e?

[Bitbrain]

I'm not a modron fan. Never have been. More or less hate them, in fact. The only way I've found to use them is to alter what they are. (For instance, in one of my forthcoming campaigns, they're basically the Borg, trying to convert everything into a purely lawful, static state.)

We are the Modron. You will be incarcerated.

Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own.

Your civilization will adapt to service us.

Resistance is futile.

 

[fjw70]

I'm not a modron fan. Never have been. More or less hate them, in fact. The only way I've found to use them is to alter what they are. (For instance, in one of my forthcoming campaigns, they're basically the Borg, trying to convert everything into a purely lawful, static state.).

That is a cool take on the modrons.

 

[Leatherhead]

Primus isn't so much a true individual in the way we typically think of beings.
Primus is more like an Ant Colony made up of the entire Modron Race.
Except, possibly, for Rogue Modrons. Who may be something like a cancer cell, or even method of waste disposal designed to quarantine offending ideas and take them away from the rest of the Modrons.

 

[SkidAce]

I'm not a modron fan. Never have been. More or less hate them, in fact. The only way I've found to use them is to alter what they are. (For instance, in one of my forthcoming campaigns, they're basically the Borg, trying to convert everything into a purely lawful, static state.)

But...

If this is the direction WotC's going, I'll look to see what they do with it, and I'll either use it or not, like everything else.

I dont prefer the "steampunk" look of the modrons (I like most of Tony DiTerlizzi's art).

My modrons are astral constructs of vaguely bluish force with telekinetic eyeballs in the sides of their die faces. They levitate around. And speak in algebra.

And their form becomes more human as they ascend the hierarchy, until you get to Primus, who looks like Dr Manhattan.

 

[SkidAce]

 

[Ancalagon]

god? I mean he's powerful, but ultimately he's only a level 8 character

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?642608-(RG)-Rise-of-the-Dracolich-Imani-s-Tower (see post #6 by [MENTION=6855204]tglassy[/MENTION] )

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Gygax is the only Overgod of D&D

 

[Sunseeker]

View attachment 98724

Is that you Bill?

 

[Sunseeker]

I dont prefer the "steampunk" look of the modrons (I like most of Tony DiTerlizzi's art).

My modrons are astral constructs of vaguely bluish force with telekinetic eyeballs in the sides of their die faces. They levitate around. And speak in algebra.

And their form becomes more human as they ascend the hierarchy, until you get to Primus, who looks like Dr Manhattan.

I generally agree that the current depiction of Modrons is a little too steampunky for my fantasy tastes. But for people who like steampunk, it's a nice little handout. I do like the idea of Modrons being purely "mathematical" polyhedral forms with no body parts other than an eye on one or more sides.

There's definitely an "Optimus Primus passed the Matrix on to Rodimus Primus" joke here somewhere...

Hmmm....now I'm wondering if replacing the Inevitables with Transformers would be interesting.

Maybe Hearts of Steel style.

 

[gyor]

Hiya!



Lets go with... no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, sorta yes, no, no, yes he does/is if this is what you go by.

Pull out your Monster Manual II (yes, the AD&D one) and flip to page 91 for what "The Prime One" is. Everything after that, from other editions? As far as I'm concerned it's all bovine droppings. This was one of the MAIN things that kept ticking us off about 2e when they started rolling stuff out for it...and it got infinitely worse with 3.x. The designers "got lazy". They pulled a "hollywood", so to speak. Rather than take what was already there and use it as a bedrock to create NEW things...they took those things that made up the bedrock of "AD&D" and changed them. Why can't designers leave well enough alone and just build off of what was 'canon' before? Why take something that was already cool, and try and "fix it" to "make it kewler, like with lazer catz! pew pew pew!!!". :rage:

Primus was not a "god". He was...you know what? Here, straight from the AD&D 1e MMII:

"Primus is the ruler of all the planes of Nirvana. Primus, and Primus
alone, sets the order, writes the laws, and establishes the rules and
regulations. All others carry out the plans and obey the rules of Primus.
Failure to meet this powerful creature’s standards means a return to the
energy pool at best as a monodrone"

That's "The Prime One". When/if he is destroyed, a new Prime One is formed, typically from a Secundus I would assume, and everything below that sort of gets promoted to the next higher 'form'. Rinse, repeat. So, in a way, Primus is more powerful than a god in the sense that if he is killed on his home plane of Nirvana (Mechasomethingorother now?), "he" is reborn when the Secundi (there are 4 of them) have to choose a new Prime One. Then...POOF! He's back. Sorta. If Zeus is killed on his home plane...that's it. Game over. He doesn't get to "come back", and nobody chooses a new "Zeus"; some other Greater God/dess just tries to assume the role I guess. Probably quite the upheaval!

So, yeah, I'm going with "No, because all that listed in the books after AD&D MM2 is just propaganda, tall tales, epic songs, and hearsay". But you could go with "Yup. He's the super-duper god! He's like a Greater God, but turned up to 11!". It's your campaign, after all.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

In 5e you can't kill Zeus because he's likely a greater God and greater gods can't be killed, at best you kill the Avatar, not the God.