[[File:Monodrone planscape supplement pg008.jpg|right|thumb|Ceiling monodrone is watching you orchestrate]]
Modrons are a race of Lawful Neutral outsiders introduced into [[Dungeons & Dragons]] in 1st edition (MM2, pg 86), native to the planes of Nirvana. In AD&D 2nd edition, thanks to the [[Planescape]] setting, they were the primary inhabitants of the extreme lawful-neutral plane of Mechanus. In D&D 3rd edition's Manual of the Planes, they share Mechanus with the Formians (giant ant-people) when their lawful-good plane went too lawful (thanks a lot, [[Lawful Stupid|Harmonium]]!) and was annexed by Mechanus.

Modrons first appeared as living geometric shapes - spheres, cubes, pyramids, etcetera. In 2nd edition, to try and make them look less goofy, they were redesigned with a more clockwork cyborg motif. They are perhaps one of the most iconic races invented for Planescape.

Modrons divide their territory in Mechanus into four areas, called Quarters. Each Quarter is then divided into another four sub-areas, called Regions. And Regions are divided again into another four sub-sub-areas called Sectors.

== Modron Mentality==
Modrons are what D&D sometimes calls "Exemplars", extraplanar beings that exist as living embodiments of a particular [[Alignment]]. Naturally, Modrons are associated with Lawful Neutral, though as was common for the edition, the precise method by which they exhibit this bumps them pretty firmly into [[Lawful Stupid]] territory.

The Modron mindset can be likened to that of a computer. And not a fancy AI, either; your basic cheap "garbage in, garbage out" 80s-esque piece of junk. Modrons have no real individual personalities, no capacity to understand anything besides basic logic, and driven by an insatiable need to try and bring order from chaos, sense from nonsense. Even if it only makes sense to themselves. So integral is the idea of logic and order to them that Modrons actually cannot understand the existence of any Modron that doesn't belong to either the same caste, the cast directly below them, or the caste directly above them - a tridrone, for example, would understand other tridrones, duodrones and quadrones, but would not recognize the "Modronity" or even the very existence of a monodrone or a pentadrone.

All that is right happens because it must inescapably ''be'', and all that which is wrong must ''not'' be. This is the closest thing Modrons have to a philosophy, based on their concept that all life and direction springs from a single great pool of logical action.

Needless to say, they are a nightmare to deal with. Imagine trying to deal with a city-spanning bureaucracy where every single bureaucrat is socially interchangeable with all the others, has no individual personality, and makes no effort to share information between them. A single barmy could spend centuries trying to get a simple matter resolved, because they keep inadvertently restarting their applications.

Perhaps one of the greatest examples of this is the adventure path called The Great Modron March. The titular March is noted for being as destructive as a rampaging horde of demons at the best of times, and is even worse when it suddenly occurs several centuries before it should. One of the earliest adventures involves a town that is trying to plead with the Modrons to at least give them time to evacuate: they worked out a diplomatic bargain with the Modrons before the last march, creating designated routes for the Modrons to use so they wouldn't hurt anyone as they passed through the town to the portal they were after. Thing is, the Modrons won't, indeed cannot, accept that the town's layout has changed in the three centuries since it was last used, and so they refuse to deviate from those established routes. Thusly, the party's goal in this adventure is to try and do damage control as a veritable sea of crazed clockwork cyber-angels march through the city, destroying and killing anything that falls in their way.

Their rigid psychology is proof against any attempt at tampering, even for modrons not on Mechanus and part of the hivemind. All modrons are immune to mind-affecting enchantments, charms, illusions or beguilements. Spells or effects that induce emotions are also completely impotent even to the lowest monodrone. Even their physiology is so bloody-minded stubborn about staying alive that all damage rolls made against modrons are at -1 for each die rolled.

== Modron Hierarchy ==
[[File:Base_modrons_by_Dillon.jpg|thumb|right|One, Two, Three, Four, Five... point-one]]
Modrons exist in hierarchy, their very social structure based on the idea of delegation of authority; command decisions emanate from Primus itself, slowly going down the racial line until it is complete. Caste determines physical shape, abilities, social role and mental capacity. In ascending order, they go as follows; the first five castes form the "Base Modrons", whilst the other nine castes form the "Hierarch Modrons".

If a Modron is slain or otherwise rendered invalid to fulfill its purpose, a random Modron from the next lowest caste is promoted up to fill the void. The position they vacate is filled by a lower-caste modron with another promotion, and another, until the lack trickles down to the monodrone level, where a whole new monodrone is spawned from the Creation Pool.

The lowest five castes are the "base" modrons, with animal up to moron intelligence.

'''Monodrones''' are responsible for general labor. Appearing as small metal spheres with a single eye, a pair of spindly metal legs, and either a pair of arms or a pair of wings, these single-task Modrons are virtually mindless, capable of undertaking only a single task at a time. Order them to fight, and they mechanically attack whatever they see, even one another if they are not ordered to stop first. These form the vast bulk of the Modrons numbers. They cannot speak, though they can understand orders. These are the type of Modron that would run the drive-through at a fast food restaurant.

'''Duodrones''' are charged with performing complex tasks that a monodrone is too stupid to handle, up to and including directing monodrones. Appearing as rectangular shapes with four spindly metal limbs, duodrones are bi-functional, capable of handling two tasks simultaneously. This gives them slightly greater intelligence than monodrones; for example, a duodrone who was ordered to fight would kill all enemies in sight and then go in search of new enemies, rather than simply attack other nearby Modrons. Duodrones can speak, but only in a limited fashion; about all they're capable of is clearly reporting their operations and observations. These are the type of Modron that would run the tills at a fast food restaurant.

'''Tridrones''' are capable of performing multiple tasks simultaneously and are also minor supervisors; these are the Modrons who command the duodrones. They resemble walking pyramids, pointy side down, with a single-eyed face on each side of their body, three legs and three arms. They are usually given a single general directive, which they then subdivide into simpler tasks and assign to their duodrone underlings. They are even capable of planning limited objections on their own. These are the type of Modron that would be the Manager of a fast food restaurant.

'''Quadrones''' are capable of performing multiple complex tasks simultaneously, which also makes them the supervisors of Base Modronkind. Appearing as mechanical cubes with a face on one side, two legs, two arms and either a pair of wings or a second pair of arms, they are the first caste to approach human-grade sapience, being "four-function" creatures that can report actions and observations, make plans, react to unexpected occurrences and act to remedy them.

'''Pentadrones''' form the lesser police officers of the Modron race, being charged with law enforcement. Their primary task is the prevention of Modrons going rogue. As the borderline between Base and Hierarch Modrones, these outsiders are five-function beings that can communicate, operate, monitor, plan and manage. They resemble mechanical five-legged starfish with a face on each "arm" and five spindly mechanical legs growing underneath them, which are used to walk.
[[File:Hierarch Modrons from MM2.png|thumb|right]]
The castes above this level are "hierarch" modrons of average up to godlike intelligence, and each caste requires a strictly regimented number that should exist at each caste level at any time -- no more ''and'' no less. They each have telepathy for communication at increasingly crazy distances, for the purpose of the hivemind mesh. They are so hyper-OCD organized that they never roll for initiative but choose their place in turn order. Every hierarch modron has the following at-will abilities: claraudience, clarvoyance, command word, dimension hop, teleport (with 0% mis-jump), and forcewall. Hierarch modrons slain in Mechanus will self-resurrect in a few days; slain elsewhere, their souls return to their god, and a [[PROMOTIONS|promotion chain]] is automatically triggered to fill the absent position. Hierarch modrons will never willingly leave Mechanus unless commanded by Primus.

'''Decatons''' are charged with overseeing the physical welfare of the base Modrons. There are one-hundred in existence at any given time; one for each Sector and one for each army. They resemble metal spheres with ten tentacles around their bodies standing on stumpy legs. They have access to a variety of curative spells that only affect Modrons, and can also levitate at will.

'''Nonatons''' make up the police supervision of the Modrons. Their numbers are kept at eighty-one. They have cylindrical shapes. Nine serve the octons by carrying their orders, sixty-four monitor the decatons of the realm, and the remaining eight monitor the decatons of the armies.

'''Octons''' are the governors of the Sectors, meaning there are only sixty-four octons in all of Mechanus. Octons are distinguished by the metallic collar that grows around their neck, from which sprouts eight tentacle arms. They are provided levitation by these collars, which enables them to move through air and water with equal ease and grace.

'''Septons''' are governmental inspectors, forty-nine in number, responsible for ensuring that each octon is performing its duties satisfactorily. They resemble humanoids with large, bald heads, and smaller versions of the same collars that grow from an octon's shoulders; septons cannot fly like octons, but they can move perfectly through water.

'''Hextons''' are the generals of the Modron armies. There are thirty-six of them. Hextons resemble six-armed humanoids, having two large human-like arms, each of which ends in a six-fingered hand, and four claw-tipped tentacles, as well as a pair of fan-like wings that join at their shoulders.

'''Quintons''' are bureau chiefs and record keepers for Modron territory. They number twenty-five. These Modrons have the appearance of tall, stockily built humanoids with two pairs of arms, a prehensile tail, and fanlike wings similar to those of a Hexton.

'''Quartons''' are the governors of the Regions, meaning there are only sixteen of these Modrons in existence at any one time. They have the appearance of 12ft-tall humanoids with four jointed arms and the same fan-like wings as the Hextons and Quintons.

'''Tertions''' are the judges of the Modron race. There are only nine, with two assigned to each Secundi and one reporting directly to Primus. They resemble 12ft tall, bald humans with long horns jutting from the sides of their head and long, prehensile-tails that end in a ball like a mace's head.

'''Secundi''' are the governors of the four Quarters, meaning there are only four of them. They answer directly to Primus. They appear as incredibly tall and thin humanoids with deep-set eyes.
[[File:Primus 3.5.png|300px|thumb|right|Primus, the One and the Prime, as portrayed in [[3.5e]]. Note that he looks different than what he is described like - this is because this is a picture of him after being reintroduced in Dragon Magazine as a [[Vestige]].]]
The highest caste has only one occupant, and it is the only god-type modron. It has telepathy that extends to all modrons in the same plane, along with the usual benefits of immortality and divine power. All modron clerics pray to the occupant of the highest caste, who responds efficiently and grants their divine spells for the day.

'''Primus''' is the One and the Prime, the god-like entity that is the ultimate source of the Modron race. He is their overarching will, their mind, their soul. All that they do ultimately stems from him. If seen in person, this entity manifests as the upper torso of an enormous androgynous humanoid rising from a pool of incandescent energy - the life essence of the Modron race - with its right hand obscured by rainbow-hued light and its left hand obscured by ink-black shadows. Primus does not create avatars, and Primus never leaves Mechanus. Primus's first concern is always the well-being of the modron species as a whole. Unlike other gods who will resurrect from the plane's quintessence if slain, Primus is "resurrected" by the immediate promotion of a Secundi, which triggers a highly organized civil war to determine which secudus is ascended, and which will in turn trigger a chain of promotions. Since modrons are a hive-mind, this new Primus will know everything the previous Primus knew.

In canon, Primus got killed before the start of the AD&D adventure-line "The Great Modron March", when Orcus (in his undead incarnation as Tenebrous) snuck into Mechanus and killed him, then stole his identity and set the March off early to look for his precious Wand so he could use it to restore himself to life. Though Orcus canonically got his Wand back, revived himself and left, allowing the Modrons to generate a new Primus, Dragon Magazine #341 states that the Primus that Tenebrous killed ended up becoming a Vestige. As a Vestige, Primus will not manifest to a [[Binder]] already binding Tenebrous, and grants bonuses for acting in a mechanical manner (that is, doing the same set of actions in multiple rounds), Lawful aligned attacks, and the ability to issue a Command spell once every 6 rounds.

== Rogue Modrons ==
It happens rarely, but sometimes, Modrons go rogue. They start to develop a personality and a mind of their own, becoming distinctive beings rather than interchangeable cogs. Only Modrons of at least quadrone rank seem to be capable of going rogue; the lower three castes are simply too mindless to develop that level of a sense of self. Modrons typically seek to destroy these rogues whenever they appear to return their essence to the logic-pool for recycling, fearing either their contamination of the Modron race or their depletion of the Modron logic-pool.

The most awesome modron ever is probably Nordom, the "backwards Modron", from [[Planescape: Torment]], who is an iconic example of a rogue. Rogue modrons are the most frequent source of modron PCs, being capable of self-interest and a certain amount of free will. They ''must'' be of lawful alignment (being only "chaotic" in relation to other modrons), and their brains tend to melt when they attempt to interact with chaotic people.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Modron-monodrone-MM2 page87.jpg|From Monster Manual II
File:Monodrones march by Adam Rex.jpg|[[/r9k/]]? Try /r(9*10^9)k/
File:Decaton overseer.jpg|Middle-management has its perks. Like five extra eyes, and luscious lips.
File:Modron_simple.png|Early concept art?
File:Primus from blood-wars game.jpg|Primus, as he appeared in the [[Blood War]]s [[card game]].
File:2e_Monodrone.gif|
File:2e_Duodrone.gif|
File:2e_Tridone.gif|
File:2e_Quadrone.gif|
File:2e_Quadrone_2.gif|
File:2e_Pentadrone.gif|
File:2e_Decaton.gif|
File:2e_Nonaton.gif|
File:2e_Octon.gif|
File:2e_Septon.gif|
File:2e_Hexton.gif|
File:2e_Quinton.gif|
</gallery>

{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D-Outsiders}}

Carceri

2018-10-04T00:35:25Z

2001:4930:48:53:8119:6D4C:B4F:6A5F: /* Layers of Carceri */

'''The Tarterian Depths of Carceri''' is a [[Alignment|Neutral Evil Chaotic]] [[Plane|Outer Plane]] part of the Great Wheel cosmology of [[Planescape]], and an abandoned plane in the [[Points of Light]] setting of [[Dungeons and Dragons]]. It is a prison plane filled with treachery, despair and hatred, where existence is harsh and escape is all but impossible. It is here traitors go to after they die, their treason and hatred lingering after their deaths; as such the people of Carceri are not to be trusted. Carceri is based on a combination of Tartarus from Greek mythology and Dante's Divine Comedy.

==Layers of Carceri==
Carceri has six layers, each nested inside one another. The layers take shape of spheres of finite size, each linked to others of its own size stretching into infinity. This means that the second and beyond planes are physically linked to one another despite being fully encased in its above layer(s)(maybe each shere is connected to another sphere via a tube that is fully encased in the corresponding tube for the above layer?). Despite this all layers have a red sky and light seems to come out of the orbs themselves, meaning that vision, while covered in something of a red tint, is normal on the plane.

===Orthrys===
The first layer of Carceri is reserved for [[High Lords of Terra|politicians and traitors of nations]]. It is a realm of vast bogs and quicksand, the few dry parts quickly climbing into steep mountains hosting a race of malevolent titans. This layer also contains the River Styx, which flows freely throughout the layer and serves as a possible exit out of the plane. The layer also hosts vast numbers of mosquitoes and petitioners who annoy travelers. While not a prime vacation spot, there are much worse places to be found on Carceri.

More hospitable is the Bastion of Last Hope, a fortress located in a mountain ridge. Here live all sorts of spies, forgers, fences, assassins, plastic surgeons and all kinds of other people of ill repute who can, for a price, aid a traveler. But beware the nature of the plane of traitors when dealing with the people here.

Less treacherous but no less dangerous are the titans of Mount Orthrys, who were banished to Carceri long ago. Their leader, Chronus, can impart visitors with his wisdom. But because he and his people have been imprisoned on Carceri for such an untold amount of time they can get [[Rage|upset]] with visitors who can come and go at their own leisure.

===Cathrys===
The overgrown layer of Cathrys contains two kinds of terrain: [[Death World|highly acidic jungles whose mere air can dissolve a person within minutes and grasslands with razor-sharp leaves who can cut a person to pieces if they are not careful to avoid them.]] It is an overall unpleasant place where [[Slaanesh|those who gave in to their base lusts and instincts are banished.]] The only reason one should travel to Cathrys is to visit the Apothecary of Sin, a place build above the forests of Cathrys where one can buy almost any kind of poison or acid from its [[apothecary]], the [[devil|glabrezu]] called Sinmaker. As long as he is paid he does not care what the customer buys, how much or what is done with his wares.

===Minethys===
The third layer is nothing but sand. Minethys is an endless desert of sand and sandstorms, blown up with such force that it could strip the flesh off a man's bones in hours. As such, its petitioners (once those who did not use their wealth to help others when they could) are forced to wear heavy cloth garments to avoid being torn apart and live in hand-dug pits in the sand who constantly need to be dug out to avoid being swept up by a tornado. One of the orbs holds the Sand Tombs of Payaratheon, a city long since devoured by the sand. Those times it is revealed adventurers often try to explore it, discovering all kinds of petrified undead and sand gorgons who swim through the sand. Overall, Minethys is not a pleasant place and should be avoided.

===Colothys===
The most inhospitable part of the fourth layer, Colothys, are its massive mountains and wide and deep canyons. Without some kind of flight or teleportation it is almost impossible to navigate given its narrow roads and few and far between bridges. Some trading routes exist, but they are long, perilous and slow to follow. Few things grow on this layer; those that do can be rather dangerous. An example of this is the Garden of Malice, which grows on a single orb. Despite looking beautiful with its many vines and flowers, the Garden is quite dangerous and will attempt to kill anything which comes too close. It is theorized that they're all under the control of [[Hive Mind|a single organism]] which seeks to spread its seed throughout all layers of the plane. Colothys hosts those whose lies brought harm onto others.

===Porphatys===
Unlike the two layers before it, Porphatys is very wet. The fifth layer is completely covered in acidic water that can quickly dissolve unwary travelers. As such its petitioners (those who refused to aid others when the opportunity to do so presented itself) cling to the small sandbars across the layer, promising anything to anyone who can take them away. It is advised to not listen to them, since they will [[Rogue|stab you in the back at the first chance they get]]. An interesting feature of the plane is the Ship of One Hundred, also called the White Caravel. It is a ghost ship of sorts that travels between the sandbars to pick up passengers along for its travels across the layer. The ship has no crew and is perfectly content with allowing its passengers along for its journey. What it does have is one hundred stone coffins (where it got its name from) on its lower deck. Nobody knows what they contain since every time one of the coffins is opened all passengers are devoured by some unknown disaster. As such people who know this story will leave the coffins alone and try to stop those who do try to open them.

===Agathys===
The final layer of Carceri is something of a curiousity. Consisting of only one sphere, a ball of black ice with red streaks. It is lethally cold on the sphere and its petitioners are frozen in the ice up to their lips. The foremost landmark on this layer is the Necromanteion, the citadel of the death god [[Nerull]]. Here his priests perform necromantic rituals and experiments on hundreds of onyx altars in service of their dark lord, and houses many artifacts of the Reaper.

==Inhabitants==
The main inhabitants of Carceri are the [[Demodand]]s, who serve as the jailers of Carceri's petitioners/prisoners. Since the plane is occationally used as staging grounds or battlefields for the [[Blood War]], all kinds of Fiends can be found here, including [[Tanar'ri]], [[Baatezu]] and [[Yugoloth]]. Other evil Outsiders can be found here as well.

{{Template:OuterPlanes}}