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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6123825" data-attributes="member: 20323">Considering that modrons & Slaadi had their strongest showing in Planescape, a setting with an artistic theme crossing Cirque du Soleil and The Necronomicon, I would describe them as fringe elements in D&D. Probably the best thing to do with fringe monsters of the game is to present them in MM2 or MM3 (or whatever the equivalent will be for 5e) in a "true to their roots" form that maintains their whimsy.That said, I think both monsters have had enough undefined or ambiguous things (e.g. Modron's aphasia toward other modrons more than a caste above them), that there is some room for interpretation or re-imagining. For example, what if mortals suffer aphasia when confronting modrons? Whimsical doesn't mean they can't be terrifying and nasty.I recall both races being linked to their respective planes very closely, so to an extant it depends on how 5e treats Mechanus and Limbo. For example if Limbo is not there, I could easily see Slaadi turned into an H.R. Giger-esque nightmare from the Far Realm driven by some strange imperative to multiply their numbers. As long as their whimsical lucid non-violent moments of madness were retained, I could still use them at the table and feel like I was using a Slaad.Likewise with modrons, the "traumatic promotion" aspect (going from monodrone to duodrone involving a wrenching shape-change & paradigmatic shift) could become a defining element of the modron's quest for mathematical perfection...What if the entire race reflected mathematical ideals and their self-transformation became the built-in tension that the ultimate Lawful Neutral society is designed to cope with? That could be an interesting take, so long as quirky rogue modrons with mathematically punning names and Apple IIGS voices are still possible.Actually, after reading [MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION]'s take on the Slaadi, I think "aphasia" might be a good angle to take both races. Slaadi experience aphasia toward pretty much all other life forms - they can't explain it because of their general inability to distinguish fantasy from reality. Modrons on the other hand are so regimented that their field of mental perception narrows to include only a limited bandwidth of reality. What would be interesting is if both these monsters could "inflict" this aphasia on mortals in some way, in essence sharing their point of view. So, a mortal implanted by a Slaad begins to experience aphasia toward other life forms. A mortal facing the Modron March might suffer lingering aphasia afterward. Just a thought.</blockquote>

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