D&D General Modrons should be terrifying

[jasper]

Bob. That square talked to me. So I killed it.
Bob, "well at least you not seeing pink elephants this time Conan."
They always look like a joke, and flavor text is not going making them any less than a joke.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

The last post got me thinking.

There really should be a thwomp modron.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

 

[Samloyal23]

Slaad are ferocious and wild, but not Evil. They should be just as likely to dance a jig, tell a Dad Joke, or offer genuine help to a party that encounters them as they are to attack.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

I just had an idea.

Every so often Modrons does reenactments of famous battles to best analyze them.

PCs are almost always drafted to represent a side.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

Teaching AI Imagination - NeuroLogica Blog

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made tremendous strides in the last few decades. Every time someone comes up with something an AI can't do, someone builds a system that can do it (eventually). At first experts believed that no AI could beat a chess master in chess, now no human has any chance...

theness.com

This article inspired me to think out how Modrons think.

A single Modron, especially at the lower levels is a switch. They pretty much think in 1/0 and can't think beyond that.

However you get even 20 monodrones in a room and they, by working together, become as smart as an illithid.

The reason for more complex modrons isn't for overall intelligence, but to give order one of the most dangerous tools in the universe: imagination.

It takes the simple rules of the universe and tries them in unique ways that would not be immediately away to most life forms..

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Slaad are ferocious and wild, but not Evil. They should be just as likely to dance a jig, tell a Dad Joke, or offer genuine help to a party that encounters them as they are to attack.

Violence is always very likely with a Slaad as while they may not start violent, there is a chance they can become violent at near any moment.

 

[Stalker0]

Mechanically, for Modron of penta or higher, I gave them an “axiomatic aura”

creatures in the aura take the average on all rolls (damage, checks, saves, etc). Advantage and disadvantage is +5/-5

it creates a very interesting dynamic, against many lower modron the party can auto hit…but at certain thresholds of power a modron can become nigh invincible, requiring special tactics to beat.

it gives them a nice unique experience that has made modron encounters memorable

 

[Samloyal23]

Violence is always very likely with a Slaad as while they may not start violent, there is a chance they can become violent at near any moment.

Like I said, ferocious, but there is no telling what one will do because they are random and chaotic. Resorting to violence right off the bat gets boring and does not reflect their full nature.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Like I said, ferocious, but there is no telling what one will do because they are random and chaotic. Resorting to violence right off the bat gets boring and does not reflect their full nature.

I know, I just said it's likely that at some point while interacting with them, they may suddenly become violent cause of their random nature.