KM's Big Thread of Planescape Races

[I'm A Banana]

1. You call them "outcaste," which is not a word. Either you meant "outcast" or you intentionally coined a new word, alluding to their hierarchical caste system, and their expulsion from it. Either way, keep the term "outcaste," because I think it's awesome.

I believe I coined it anew, specifically to allude to the caste system and the fact that they are not a part of it. "Outcast" works, but I wanted something a bit less generic to avoid the "rogue" problem going forward. I'm pretty stoked that you dig it.

2. Quadrones have always been 6' in height, but honestly that always sort of bugged me. I automatically imagine them being shorter, and the proportions of something so boxy being so tall gnaws at me. In my version, I had quietly bumped them down to 5' and hoped no Planescape veterans would call me out on it.

*shrug* I think it might help a little bit with their "silly" reputation to see them as standing over most other humanoids, rather than down there with the dwarves, but it probably doesn't matter. Five feet kind of makes sense given the "five foot squares" of 3e/4e, and the inherent hilarity of having a modron that thought the world corresponds to these 5-foot squares in reality. And 6 works with the Rule of Three (kind of). So it's kind of a toss up in my mind. I stuck with 6 because I didn't see a reason to change it from 2e, but whatevs.

3. The paragon path. Awesome, but there are a couple of formatting errors. First, the quote is awkwardly split between two adjacent columns. Second, the second two powers read "Storm Horns Utility 12" and "Storm Horns Attack 20," respectively.

*smack* Thanks for calling that out, I forgot to change Storm Horns from the Bariaur document.

Durrrrr....

4. Modron March is a really awesome feat, and I love how creative you get with modron abilities. Honestly, I was kind of stumped for making the modrons seem cool enough. I wonder if 5 damage is enough, though, at paragon levels. Maybe damage equal to your level?

I just HAD to make some mechanic with that name. I was a little worried about giving them damage at all, to be honest. But if you think it's a little light, I can certainly ramp it up. Equal to level sounds like a nice scaling effect to me.

5. Relentless Persistence is fantastic. It's a really subtle effect, but it's exactly what 4e does best: using rules to quietly suggest the character of a creature.

I do enjoy the way that 4e "persuades" you to role-play combat sometimes. I also like the dynamic this causes if the modron goes after someone soft and evasive like a goblin. "Excuse me, Mr. Goblin, but I told you to STAY PUT!" *smash*

6. Autocrossbow confuses me a little bit. How many crossbows do you have mounted on you? 10? Can you fire ten times without reloading, but then you have to spend 10 minor actions to reload them all?

First, "A number of them." I deliberately avoided saying how many because I didn't want a clever player trying to game the number of bolts and the number of shots and the number of crossbows.

Second, the intent was to just have 1 minor action to reload them all, but I see where that's vague. I'll change it around.

7. Aviatronics seems cool, and a good compromise between non-flying PCs and winged quadrones, but I don't get what the advantage of flying while shifting is, unless I missed some way that modrons get to shift several squares.

Mostly, you get to ignore difficult terrain (like the elves), and if you are for some reason granted more shifting squares, you can use them. That was the thought behind it, anyway.

8. I feel like they ought to have an ability that benefits allies, to highlight their organization and teamwork-oriented nature. Or maybe I should just play that modron warlord I've been dreaming about.

I avoided doing this because I didn't want to overly pigeonhole them into the "leader" role, which is easy to do with any Lawful being, I think (and, unlike the planetouched, they didn't need much of a stronger theme than they had). Plus, they're pretty much always described as not quite getting the motives of others, so I'm not sure there's anything inherently inspiring about a metal box telling you to "Berk those jinks in their leatherheads! Don't pike what I tell your face! Harys Hatchys has discounts at 40% off! Attack!"

On the other hand, a modron warlord could either go that hilarious route, or be truly eerie. "Why do you listen to that blunderbox?" "Because he is our commander and we listen to our commander...."

9. Like in their original incarnation, I don't think a bonus against Illusions would be out of order.

Well, they do get a bonus to Perception and a bonus to Will saves. More general than a bonus against illusions, but still helpful when facing them.

 

[BendBars/LiftGates]

In that case, I bow to your incredible 4th-fu and accept the gift of modron as it stands.

I'm serious about that modron warlord. What role would suit a modron better than constantly assessing a complex system like a battle and positioning the variables to achieve a goal? I see a modron who doesn't talk much but is a tactical prodigy. It wouldn't shout commands to its allies so much as outline a genius battleplan at the start of the battle (which, to the guys at the table, only becomes clear as they take advantage of the round-by-round benefits of the warlord powers), or just makes opportunities for its teammates by playing the battle to perfection. If it ever did try for an Inspiring Warlord build, it would probably sound like you described.

 

[Khuxan]

I tried downloading the Outcaste Modron file and I got a "format error: not a pdf or corrupted".

Would you be able to email it to me? billbrowne AT optusnet DOT com DOT au

Thanks.

 

[BendBars/LiftGates]

You may have caught the file mid-upload or something.

 

[Khuxan]

You may have caught the file mid-upload or something.

I've tried downloading it several times, and opening it in a couple of different readers.

 

[BendBars/LiftGates]

KM, I also just thought of something else for modrons: armor.

Warforged now wear armor instead of having composite plating as a racial trait and having the armor feats. It still doesn't make sense for modrons to wear armor claimed from defeated enemies or that they find lying around in some treasure heap, but you should include information as to what a modron PC does to improve its AC.

The obvious fix is to say that they can be fitted with armor layers that work exactly like normal suits of armor and cost the same, which is what anyone would do, anyway, but I think you need to say so just for completeness.

Also, what do you think of modrons upgrading their armor or acquiring magic armor? How easy should it be? If a modron finds a suit of AdjectiveNoun Armor +4 while adventuring, how easy should it be to incorporate it into its armor plating? I think it should be a fairly simple process, that can be done during an extended rest.

This, of course, runs an undesirable precedent of including a drawback in a race's traits, but I think it needs to be done: Effectively, a modron cannot change its armor during a short rest like a normal character, but it can change its armor during an extended rest with one other character's assistance (for those hard-to-reach polyhedral faces). It strains believability to imagine a modron prying apart a suit of armor, gluing it to its body, and deriving all the armor's benefits, but it seems the least punitive solution, and is most in keeping with the 4th Edition policy of having universal rules with exceptions only when they're needed.

Maybe it would be better to say that a modron requires the Enchant Magic Item ritual to re-shape the armor into modron body plating, which can be affixed to its frame during any short rest, just as a normal character may change armor during a short rest. This seems acceptable, since the ritual is specifically pointed out to be used for resizing armor for characters of a new size to wear, and in this usage it doesn't require a component cost.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Would you be able to email it to me?

Sent! I dunno, sometimes MediaFire goes all wonky on me? Assuming you're following the links to the download, and not just saving the links themselves, you should be fine, but heck if I know. Either way, there's that, and I can send you the update when I get it done (probably tomorrow), too.

In that case, I bow to your incredible 4th-fu and accept the gift of modron as it stands.

Hahaha, don't bow to that, not this early in the game.

I'll be probably taking your suggestion to increase the damage from 5 to "equal level" for the feat, definitely. Everything else is just clarity.

I'm serious about that modron warlord. What role would suit a modron better than constantly assessing a complex system like a battle and positioning the variables to achieve a goal? I see a modron who doesn't talk much but is a tactical prodigy. It wouldn't shout commands to its allies so much as outline a genius battleplan at the start of the battle (which, to the guys at the table, only becomes clear as they take advantage of the round-by-round benefits of the warlord powers), or just makes opportunities for its teammates by playing the battle to perfection. If it ever did try for an Inspiring Warlord build, it would probably sound like you described.

Awesome! If you get to play him (or can convince someone else to play him), let me know how it turns out!

Warforged now wear armor instead of having composite plating as a racial trait and having the armor feats. It still doesn't make sense for modrons to wear armor claimed from defeated enemies or that they find lying around in some treasure heap, but you should include information as to what a modron PC does to improve its AC.

The obvious fix is to say that they can be fitted with armor layers that work exactly like normal suits of armor and cost the same, which is what anyone would do, anyway, but I think you need to say so just for completeness.

Brilliant point, I'm kind of surprised I overlooked that. At the very least, that's some cool flavor as the modron dismantles the armor to pick out pieces that (a) fit, and that (b) improve its AC the bestest.

I think I'll go basically with what you describe, it's a good way to solve the problem. I might keep it as being a short rest, though. "Give me five minutes!" he says, brandishing a hammer, some nails, and a bucket of red-hot coals...

 

[Dacileva]

1. You call them "outcaste," which is not a word. Either you meant "outcast" or you intentionally coined a new word, alluding to their hierarchical caste system, and their expulsion from it. Either way, keep the term "outcaste," because I think it's awesome.

I believe I coined it anew, specifically to allude to the caste system and the fact that they are not a part of it.

Convergent linguistic evolution. "Outcaste" already exists, and in fact means pretty much exactly what you wanted it to mean.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outcaste
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=outcaste&x=0&y=0
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9057743/outcaste

ETA: I like all of these so far. The various planetouched each have a good, definite feel (my wife, who's been bemoaning the loss of her 3.5 cansin, is interested in the foundling already), and the implementation of the bariaur is quite well done. As for the armor/outcaste modron situation, you could always go the "won't find armor sized for him; must pay double to have armor made for him; must use the enchant magic item ritual to resize magic armor for him" route.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Now introducing perhaps one of the most playable versions of the "rogue modrons" ever created. I had kind of a lot of fun with this guy.

I went with "outcaste" instead of "rogue" because (a) rogue is a class, and (b) "outcaste" helped emphasize the feel of these modrons being outside of the caste system of the normal modrons.

I kind of want to run this guy levels 1-30 and then take him up against Orcus for some vengeance for the Modron March... "I'll show YOU who is the One and the Prime!"



Hahaha, good. I hope you enjoy those sexy sexy modrons.

In fact, I do. They're awesome. They look also funny, so I am not sure I could use Modrons in a serious campaign, honestly, but that's besides the point. They still look good.

The first illustrations reminds me of a kids TV show on German TV. The cast consisted of
- A living coffer
- A (hand puppet) Raven
- A woman.
They worked/lived in some kid of antiques shop and told stories (usually in form of animated comics).
Edit: And I remember the name again - Siebenstein!
http://www.tivi.de/fernsehen/siebenstein/start/index.html

Or does it remind me more of "Bernd, das Brot"
http://www.bernddasbrot.com/
http://www.bernddasbrot.com/pics/rotation/herrenhaus_g.jpg



---

Anyway, back to topic - Planetouched:
I think now I've nailed down what I don't like about the Healing Aurea part: It uses no healing surge, but can be done at will. This means infinite healing ignoring any Healing Surges. I am not sure that's a good idea. In fact, I am sure it's not. If you limit it to bloodied creatures though, it should work fine. (Or temporary hit points.)

 

[BendBars/LiftGates]

I might advise more strongly to go the Enchant Magic Item route. It ties up more loose ends:

Can a modron convert any suit of armor at all? Does it have to be Medium size? Does it damage the armor at all? Can it put the armor back the way it came? Can it attach this armor to its cubic body on its own? Does it need full blacksmithing tools to take the armor apart? Do all modrons have this knowledge of armor-crafting? Can they therefore make other suits of armor?



Also, there's the question of a modron's odd body and other magic items. Fortunately, 4th Edition neatly spells out the magic item body slots. Can they wear capes/cloaks? Where do they put a necklace? A headband? Boots? I think I could see a modron getting away with a lot of magic items by wearing them unconventionally, but it seems to me that they're simply out of luck when it comes to helmets.


Do you also want to write in information on modron storage options? A special satchel bag that fits around a 3' wide cube, a box on the side, a compartment in the thing's chest.