Climate/Terrain: Baator Frequency: Uncommon Organization: Hierarchy Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Carnivore
Intelligence: High Treasure: Nil
Alignment: Lawful evil No. Appearing: 1d20
Armor Class: -2 Movement: 12 Hit Dice: 6
THAC0: 15
No. of Attacks: 3/2 or by form Damage/Attack: 1d12 (snake
bite), by weapon, or by form
Special Attacks: See below Special Defenses: Saves as
10th-level fighter Magic Resistance: 10%
Size: M (6'6" tall) Morale: Fearless (20)
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Monstrous Supplement - Minion of Set
XP Value: 1,400
Shadow Priest:
2,000
Minions of Set are proxies of Set (of the Egyptian mythos). In their natural form, the minions appear to be warriors wielding broad swords and dressed in black, scaly plate mail armor. Sometimes they are mistaken for adventurers, since these are people they most closely resemble, yet they are far from human.
The minions of Set are endowed with the power to change into an animal. The second shape is most often that of a giant snake, but a few are able to assume the forms of cave bears, giant crocodiles, giant hyenas, or giant scorpions. The transformation is complete, including clothing and weapons, leaving no traces of their human guises behind.
Combat: A minion of Set typically begins combat in human form unless it's already in animal shape.
Changing to animal form is normally done only when absolutely necessary. Most minions prefer not to disclose their capabilities, since once discovered their usefulness to their deity is compromised. As humans, 25% of them use magical weapons fashioned in Baator, though none are greater than +2 enchantment.
Should a battle go badly or the need be great, however, the minions of Set transform themselves into their fearsome animal forms. The transformation takes less than a single round, having only an initiative modifier of 5. Thus, a character could battle an armored fighter one round, only to discover himself
facing a giant snake the very next. The Armor Class of the minion does not change because their armor is actually an integral part
Form Damage
Cave bear 1d8/1d8/1dl2 Giant crocodile 3d6/2dl0 Giant hyena 3d4*
Giant scorpion 1d10/1d10/1d4**
Giant snake 1d12**
* A roll of 20 indicates the hyena has locked its jaws around its adversary. The held victim suffers -2 penalties to initiative and attack rolls, and moves at half his or her normal rate.
** Victims struck by the scorpion's tail or the snake's fangs must successfully save vs. poison or die.
Those who save still suffer 2d4 points of additional damage.
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Monstrous Supplement - Minion of Set
The minion's form also affects its tactics. The most common - those who are giant snakes - fight
independently, without coordinating their attacks. Those in cave bear form are likewise loners in battle, but are fearsome in their determination. Minions able to take giant hyena form usually fight in packs, concentrating their efforts on a single victim. Ideally, one will lock its jaws on the target while the others tear it to shreds. The remaining two types, giant scorpions and giant crocodiles, normally attack en
masse, though not with the coordination of the giant hyena type.
Minions of Set, utterly devoted to their power, never check morale and are immune to magic that creates fear or doubt, such as cause fear, scare, phantasmal killer, or doubt spells. All minions, regardless of form, save as l0th-level fighters. For magical attacks, the saving throw takes place only if the minions' magic resistance (10%) rolls fail.
Habitat/Society: As is clear by their name, the minions of Set are the agents of that evil power. They are his special proxies. Once petitioners from the plane of Baator, Set imbued them with special powers needed to carry out his will. Since they rose from petitioner stock, minions of Set cannot be raised, reincarnated, or even spoken to after death. At that point, their essences are forever lost to oblivion.
Although evil, Set is a lawful power. He is not one of those creatures from the Abyss, so he will never destroy one of his proxies on a whim, as might Juiblex or other chaotic powers. In return, Set demands absolute and utter loyalty from his minions, which they willingly give. The minions are a fanatical lot, who will follow Set's instructions even to their own deaths. They devoutly believe that even the slightest whim of Set is more important than all of their lives put together.
Nevertheless, the minions are not fools or automatons. They are fully intelligent beings, capable of sophisticated strategies, who act as gobetweens for Set and all other creatures in the multiverse. They command Set's forces during those times when he is drawn into the Blood War, watch over his
petitioners, and even carry out his will on the Prime Material Plane.
They are also implacable enemies. To defy the will of Set, as defined by the priests, is to embrace a death sentence unless every minion with knowledge of the defiance is destroyed. An offended minion of Set is tantamount to an entire sect of enemies for life.
Ecology: Within the twisted ecology of Baator, the minions of Set are predators. When not carrying out the wishes of Uieir master, the minions steal larvae away from the baatezu to add to their own hordes.
Shadow Priests: Out of approximately every 20 minions created, Set finds one of exceptional ability.
This individual is elevated to the ranks of Set's shadow priests - sinister commissars of the deiiy.
In addition to the shapechanglngability of regular minions, shadow priests have all the clerical abilities of a normal priest of Set. They have major access to the spheres of All, Astral, Combat, Guardian,
Necromancy, and Summoning, and they enjoy minor aecess to the spheres of Healing and Protection.
They can memorize and cast spells as if they were priests of 6th to 9th level (1d4 + 5). The shadow
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Monstrous Supplement - Minion of Set
priests also have the ability to backstab like a thief (at the same level as their spellcasting abilities), and they are immune to all poisons and gases. Shadow priests are able to command undead if a successful attempt to turn is made. While on Baator, all such command attempts gain a +2 bonus.
As noted, the shadow priests are Set's enforcers. They punish any minion headstrong enough to oppose Set, and lead large forces in battle against Set's enemies. Shadow priests are often sent to other planes to punish adventurers who have angered Set.
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Monstrous Supplement
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Monstrous Supplement - Modron
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Modron
Monodrone Duodrone Tridrone Quadrone Pentadrone
Frequency: Common Common Uncommon Uncommon Rare
Intelligence: Semi Low Average Very Very
No. Appearing: 12d12 1d12 1d4 1d4 1
Armor Class: 7 6 5 4 3
Movement: 6, Fl 18(D) 9, Fl 9(E) 12 15, F1 15(D) 18
Hit Dice: 1+1 or 1-1 2+2 3+3 4+4 5+5
THAC0: 19 or 20 19 17 17 15
No. of Attacks: 1 or nil 2 3 4 or 2 5
Damage/Attack: 1d4 or weapon 1d4+l (x2) or weapon
1d4+2 (x3) 1d4+3 (x4), ld5+5 (x2), or weapon
1d4+4 (x5)
Special Attacks: Nil Nil Nil Attacks as if 8-HD Paralysis gas
Magic Resistance: Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil
Size: S S M M M
XP Value: 1-1 HD: 35 1+1 HD: 120
175 270 650 2,000
Decaton Nonaton Octon Septon Hexton
Frequency: Rare Rare Rare Very rare Very rare
Intelligence: High High Exceptional Exceptional Genius No. Appearing: 1 (of 100) 1 (of 81) 1 (of 64) 1 (of 49) 1 (of 36)
Armor Class: 2 1 0 -1 -2
Movement: 15, Fl 3(E) 18 9, Fl 9(B) 9 12, Fl 12(C)
Hit Dice: 10+10 11+11 12+12 13+13 14+14
THAC0: 11 9 9 7 7
No. of Attacks: 10 9 8 7 6
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Monstrous Supplement - Modron
Damage/Attack: 1d4(xl0) 1d6(x9) 1d8(x8) 1d10(x7) 1d12+1(x6) Special Attacks: Spells Spells See below See below See below
Magic Resistance: 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Size: M L L M L
XP Value: 9,000 10,000 12,000 13,000 14,000
Quinton Quartone Tertian Secundus Primus
Frequency: Very rare Very rare Very rare Very rare Unique
Intelligence: Genius Supra Supra Godlike Godlike
No. Appearing: 1 (of 25) 1 (of 16) 1 (of 9) 1(of4) 1
Armor Class: -3 -4 -5 -6 -10
Movement: 6, Fl 6(C) 12,Fl 24(B) 12 18, Fl 18(B) 24, Fl 24(À)
Hit Dice: 15+15 16+16 17+17 18+18 220 hp
THAC0: 5 5 3 3 1
No. of Attacks: 5 4 3 2 1
Damage/Attack: 2d8+1(x5) 2d12+2(x4) 5d8(x3) 6d12(x2) 20d8 + special Special Attacks: See below See below See below See below See below
Magic Resistance: 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Size: L L L L L
XP Value: 15,000 16,000 18,000 19,000 36,000
Climate/Terrain: Mechanus Organization: Hierarchy Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Special
Treasure: Nil
Alignment: Lawful neutral Special Defenses: See below Morale: Fearless (20)
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Monstrous Supplement - Modron
What's a mortal to make of the modrons, those strange
creatures of absolute order who whir and click on the plane of Mechanus? Theirs are not like other lives - even the infinitely subtle baatezu are more
comprehensible than these
thronging drones. To an outsider it appears the modrons have no existence other than as a whole.
Indeed, there is a saying: "To look at one modron is to look at all of them."
It is only logical, as it is with all things modron, that they are native to the orderly plane of Mechanus. The two, plane and modrons, probably would not exist without each other - modron society defines the plane, just as the plane shapes them. To understand the modrons, a being must stop thinking like a person, like an individual. Only then can
anyone hope to comprehend the patterns of modron life.
Modrons are strictly divided into fourteen castes. Castes are hardly unique, but the modron approach to them is. Not only does each rank have its own functions, but each also has its own body shape, so the rank of any modron can be readily identified by the creature's appearance.
Ruling over the castes is Primus, the One and the Prime. It and the plane are one in thought and deed; as Primus turns, so do the wheels of Mechanus.
Combat, General: Regardless of rank, all modrons possess certain abilities and immunities, but because of rank, certain modrons - the hierarchs - possess additional abilities. Whether any of these immunities and powers exist as properties of their race or from association with the plane of Mechanus, no one knows. Most scholars think these powers are natural to the race, as none are lost by modrons operating off the plane of Mechanus.
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Monstrous Supplement - Modron
All modrons are unaffected by any illusions or magic that affects the mind, such as beguilement, charm, domination, hold, hypnosis, and sleep. Fear and other emotion spells are similarly ineffective against a modron, as are attacks drawing upon the Positive and Negative Energy Planes (including life-draining powers). All modrons save vs. cold, fire, and acid attacks with a +1 bonus, and they suffer damage from such attacks with a -1 modifier per die.
Modron hierarchs are never surprised, and their precision of order always allows them to determine their specific place in the initiative sequence of all attack rounds. Thus, they never roll for initiative, and the DM chooses when they will act. Typically, this comes at the most effective moment, just before the swordsman's blade arcs through the air or the wizard utters the final word of a spell, and so on. The elite modrons also can perform the following spell-like abilities, once per round, at will: clairaudience,
clairvoyance, command, dimension door, teleport without error, and wall offeree. They also are capable of traveling on the Astral and Ethereal Planes, but will never do so unless ordered by Primus.
All hierarchs can communicate telepathically, and the range of this power is as follows:
Rank Miles
Decaton 44
Nonaton 63
Octon 80
Septon 190
Hexton 216
Quinton 238 Quarton 384 Tertian 405 Secundi 420 Primus All Mechanus
Habitat/Society: To understand modron society, one must abandon all understanding of the self. In such forgetting comes knowledge, so with the surrender victory is gained. Should the scholar retain the
slightest glimmer of who he is, his words are tainted and his observations lies. It is said that those able to strip their souls so bare become modrons, themselves, and their spirits become different from their shells.
It is a fundamental property of the modrons that each rank can only comprehend the existence of the rank
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Monstrous Supplement - Modron
directly above and below it. For example, the monodrones obey the will of the duodrones, but they
cannot even conceive of the existence of the tridrones. When a monodrone sees a tridrone, it does not see a modron, and it could not even say what it sees. Some aphasia apparently breaks the link between the sight of the higher modron and what it actually is. This blindness leads to an interesting conclusion, as each rank believes that those immediately above it are the highest form of life and the fountainhead of supreme logic. Thus, Primus's lordship is secret from all modrons but the four secundi, who pass his edicts on to the nine tertians, who in turn pass these to the quartons (who have no knowledge or understanding of either the secundi or Primus), and so on.
There is an awareness of all ranks below a modron's station, yet communication is exclusively limited to adjacent ranks. It would seem that the monodrone is almost as alien to the tridrone as the tridrone is to the monodrone. This is not the result of elitism. Rather, the strict order observed by the race completely negates the slightest necessity for communication beyond immediate inferiors and superiors.
A modron's perception of its immediate superiors should not be mistaken for deification, either. What others might call a god, the modrons cannot imagine, for they are unable to conceive of such an
individual existence. Instead, all life and direction spring from a pool of logical action - all that is right happens because it must inescapably be, and all that is wrong is that which must not be. These metal limitations make dealings with modrons a challenge. Within each rank there is no individuality, either in form or thought. All modrons call themselves "we," and a character has no way of knowing if the
pentadrone he spoke to today is the same as the one who held the same post yesterday. This would be minor if the modrons weren't so bureaucratically driven, requiring strangers to appear and reappear before clerks, courts, and boards. Some travelers solve the problem with a brush and paint, marking modrons with runes simply to tell them apart. Unless instructed to remove these marks, a modron may wear a splash of color or a strange sigil for the rest of its life, for they don't seem to notice the markings themselves.
Even the size of modron society is rigidly fixed. In each rank there are only a set number of modrons.
Should a modron of any rank die, an available candidate from the next lowest rank is promoted, and then the gap in the lower rank is filled by promoting from the still lower rank. This continues until the rank of monodrone is reached. With no lower ranks, the creatures at this level reproduce by fission, as one of their members mysteriously divides into two. (Given this, the claim that all modrons are one might be truer than it first seems.)
Promotion occurs seemingly by accident. As soon as a vacancy occurs, the nearest modron of the next lowest rank is recruited to ascend. Since they have no individuality, there's no point in trying to promote the "best and the brightest"; all modrons of a given rank are deemed equal. Promotion is traumatic - not only does the chosen modron undergo a wrenching change of shape to the new rank's form, but it
suddenly gains an understanding of a world previously veiled to it: the existence of a yet superior rank.
Imagine the shock of a duodrone, who knew only of monodrones, duodrones, and tridrones, when it suddenly discovers those inexplicable creatures around it are quadrones and members of its own race! On the other hand, the newly promoted modron seems to adapt to its new form instantly, and it is the
humanoid observer who is often most shaken by the experience.
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Monstrous Supplement - Modron
From greatest to least, the castes of the modrons are listed below. Numbers are not given for the modrons, since no scholar has yet produced the definitive organization chart of these creatures. After each name is a brief description of that rank's duties in their realm of Mechanus.
Primus Absolute ruler of all modrons Hierarch Modrons
Secundi Viceroys of the four quarters Tertians Judges
Quartons Rulers of the 16 regions of the four quarters Quintons Bureau chiefs and record keepers
Hextons Generals of the armies of modrons Septons Inspectors
Octons Governors of the four sectors of the four regions of the four quarters Nonatons Police supervision
Decatons Physical welfare of base modrons Base Modrons
Pentadrones Lesser police, law enforcement Quadrones Multiple complex tasks, supervision Tridrones Multiple tasks, minor supervision Duodrones Complex tasks
Monodrones General laborers
The realm of the modrons occupies 64 of Mechanus's coglike wheels, called sectors, and each is governed by an octon. The sectors in turn are grouped into four-sector regions, overseen by the 16 quartons, and each group of four regions, called quarters, is supervised by one of the four secundi. And, of course, all of it is ruled by Primus.
Born through parthenogenesis, modrons have no family, tribe, or clan. Instead they live in rigid
numerical units called, for lack of a better word, battalions. This makes them sound more warlike than they really are, although modrons have standing armies that are not to be trifled with.
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Monstrous Supplement - Modron
Although some less-informed scholars state that no modron acts except by the orders of a superior, this is not perfectly accurate. In general, a modron can act and react to a situation on its own, provided the situation falls within the range of its purpose. Thus, monodrones, who can only fulfill a single task at any given time, are rightly seen as incapable of reacting. As one moves higher through the ranks, the range of choices and reactions available to any given modron increases. Even so, modrons are notorious for their predictable and rigid reactions to events.
It should be no surprise that the goal and purpose of every modron is to organize Mechanus in the most orderly fashion possible, but their goal is not limited to only their 64 wheels or even Mechanus itself.
Given the opportunity, they would spread their rigid pattern of organization over the entire multiverse.
Fortunately for the rest of the planes, order is constantly challenged by chaos, even in the clockwork vastness of Mechanus. Since even the slightest imperfection to order is enough to disturb the harmony modrons seek, they seldom find the time or resources to carry their crusade to other realms or planes.
Modrons speak their own precise, mathematical language, but those of duodrone or greater can manage at least some of the trade tongue found throughout the planes.
Ecology: Modrons fulfill many roles within Mechanus. They maintain parts of the sphere and are
Ecology: Modrons fulfill many roles within Mechanus. They maintain parts of the sphere and are