Modron (Dungeons & Dragons)

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An example of a Modron

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, modrons are outsiders native to Mechanus, the Lawful neutral aligned Outer Plane. Modrons are living creatures that resemble geometric shapes with humanoid limbs. They represent a living, physical manifestation of law without regard to good or evil, much as devils are a manifestation of law mixed with evil and archons are of law mixed with good.

In later (post-Gary Gygax) versions of Dungeons & Dragons, the Plane of Law was renamed from Nirvana to Mechanus and the modrons were changed into living clockwork creatures. Modrons have a strict hierarchy, with each rank reporting to the rank directly above it, and issuing commands to the ones ranking beneath it. For example, a quadrone modron will report to a pentadrone, and command several tridrones. But it will not recognize decatons or nonatons as being of the modron race. Indeed, a Modron is able to comprehend the existence of only their own type, and those types immediately above and below them in the hierarchy. Other types simply do not register in its mind. Only Primus, the modron deity, is aware of all modrons but most modrons, being limited, are not aware of Primus.

The Planescape campaign setting introduced rogue modrons: modrons who have left Mechanus and broken their connections to the other modrons. Modrons were made a playable character race in the Planewalker's Handbook, and a rogue modron named Nordom (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) could join the player's party in the computer game Planescape: Torment.

In the Third Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, modrons have largely faded from prominence, their place as the primary representatives of lawful neutrality taken by the antlike, expansionist formians and the robot-like, implacable inevitables. To date, they have received only a passing reference in the Manual of the Planes sourcebook, with a far more detailed explanation in the web enhancement.

The hierarchy of Modrons, ranked from lowest to highest, is as follows:

Name	Function
Base Modrons
Monodrone	Basic tasks
Duodrone	Complex tasks
Tridrone	Many tasks, minor management
Quadrone	Many complex tasks, management
Pentadrone	Law enforcement
Hierarch Modrons
Decaton	Base modron welfare
Nonaton	Law enforcement supervision
Octon	Sector governors
Septon	Inspection
Hexton	Generals
Quinton	Bureau chiefs, record keeping
Quarton	Region governors
Tertian	Judges
Secundus	Quarter governors
Primus	Supreme ruler of all modrons

There are only limited numbers of hierarch Modrons in existence, there being only one Primus, four (two squared) Secundi, nine (three squared) Tertians, and so on. In order to keep this number stable, upon the demise of a Hierarch, one of a lower rank is promoted upwards, and the resulting void filled by another promotion, and so on. When the promotion reaches the Monodrone level, one of the Monodrones divides into two to fill the void left by the promotion of a Monodrone into a Duodrone.