D&D General Modrons should be terrifying

[Faolyn]

I've always seen modrons as more Giger-esque biomechanics.

 

[Bitbrain]

I may be in the minority here, but I prefer Modrons to be goofy. It reminds me how law without compromise... well, it's goofy. Beraucracy without purpose is goofy. It reminds me of old comedies like Yes, Minister or The IT Crowd.

Now, I also like the juxtoposition of the goofy modrons lead by their much more dangerous, much more sinister superiors the Maruts. These I find a far more Borg-like force if and when you need one.

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snaps fingers

So that’s where my idea of modrons = extraplanar bounty hunters comes from; I conflated modrons with maruts/inevitables.

 

[Mort]

But--that's according to the laws of physics. Magic doesn't have to obey those. Conjuration spells break the law of conservation of mass,

I always wanted to stick in (as a big bad) entities from the plan where conjurations come from - and in their place comes random garbage from our world to fill in the gap there. The residents are REALLY sick of it and have decided to do something about it.

As for Modrons and Lawful Neutral -

Ever since Babylon 5, I've tended to think of them sort of like the Vorlons. Namely, sure some of the front line might be relatable and look like they have you interests at heart (or in the case of the lower modrons are harmless) - But the higher up you get the more there is a TRUE commitment to order above all and a truly terrifying ability and will to make that happen.

 

[Weiley31]

A group of Modrons enters a small village. Once there, they sing a song, or activate an object that plays music. The people of the village are compelled by -absolute order- to begin the construction of a machine alongside the Modrons, including using several modrons (broken down into component parts) to incorporate into the machine. This machine requires metal. And once it's reached a certain size, just pressing metal against it is enough for it to incorporate metal into itself.

The majority of the Modrons leave. A handful remain as overseers of the Machine. The villagers sacrifice all their metal to the machine. ALL OF IT. And begin hunting passers by for more metal. Eventually they start sacrificing each other to the machine. Tearing out gold teeth to feed it, making offerings of blood, which contains iron and seems to "Appease" the Divine Machine.

And that's when things start going off the rails.

The Modrons oversee the Machine's continued construction. Uncaring at the cost of lives that are being cast into the machine. It is -required- for the Great Ordering. It must be protected and continue to construct itself. If asked why they're doing this, the answer is simple:

"This is Required. The Great Ordering must continue. The Machine is a part of that Order. Give us your metal. Add it to the Machine."

And then have a fight sequence where the villagers -help- the Modrons and do their best to drag the player characters over to the Machine. Have an NPC hireling or something wearing metal armor get pressed against the Machine... and pressed out of their collapsing armor like a handful of ground beef squeezed in a fist.

"It is Required."

There's a horror movie out there that is basically that: except instead of metal, the Machine requires ACTUAL BLOOD and pretty much has people come to it or feed it other people.

 

[jgsugden]

My modrons are, to quote Thanos, inevitable. If they appear and begin to perform a task, you can fight them off, you can kill them, you can trick them ... but until their objective is complete and verified, more will come. And if the first group was insufficient, there will be more. When I use them in games, they're generally an obstacle that I do not expect the PCs to beat - just for them to delay it. There could be exceptions, but I am struggling to remember ever not having their objectives be met except where they were given false orders.

 

[Weiley31]

Kinda like in the old cartoon Dinoriders where they had brain boxes slapped on dinosaurs so they would follow orders.

That show was badass as a kid.

 

[Blue Orange]

I always wanted to stick in (as a big bad) entities from the plan where conjurations come from - and in their place comes random garbage from our world to fill in the gab there. The residents are REALLY sick of it and have decided to do something about it.

There's an old military joke about a guy who always gets buried in paperwork--he can't get ahead of it, it's always piling up. He notices a younger officer who always gets through it quickly, no problem. So he asks him how he does it. Young guy replies, "Well, most of these forms are completely pointless--just useless bureaucracy. So I just put 'refer to Commander Smith' and let it go.

The older officer says, "I want to tell you three things. One, that is very clever. Two, that is against the rules. And three, put up your dukes, because I am going to kill you. I am Commander Smith."

 

[Shades of Eternity]

Another inspiration for me for Modrons would be the Robots from the Fallout Games.

They can be goofy (heck one got programed as a cow) and they often having amazing personalities, but most are armed and willing to go on the warpath and never forget the only reason they have a personality is somebody programmed it and it really means nothing.

 

[Mind of tempest]

There's a horror movie out there that is basically that: except instead of metal, the Machine requires ACTUAL BLOOD and pretty much has people come to it or feed it other people.

I know scp did a version of it with the heart of the broken god.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Ah, I remembered it as:

• You can't win.
• You can't break even.
• You can't leave the game.

Even so, magic is our way to break those rules!

And then the Slaad try to introduce their version of the laws:

• An object in motion will be going in the wrong direction.
• An object at rest will be in the wrong place.
• The energy required to change either of these states is more than you want to expend, but not so much as to be infeasible.