Manual of the Planes

Table 1: Modron CastesCaste No. of Members Body Shape Function Telepathy Range (Miles)The One and the PrimePrimus 1 Humanoid Absolute ruler of all modrons All MechanusHierarch ModronsSecundi 4 Humanoid Viceroys of the quarters 420Tertians 9 3-armed humanoid Judges 405Quartons 16 4-armed humanoid Rulers of the regions 384Quintons 25 5-armed humanoid Bureau chiefs and recordkeepers 238Hextons 36 6-armed humanoid Generals of the modron armies 216Septons 49 7-armed humanoid Inspectors 190Octons 64 8-armed torpedolike creature Governors of the sectors 80Nonatons 81 9-armed cylinder Police supervisors 63Decatons 100 10-armed sphere Supervisors and caretakers 44of base modronsBase ModronsPentadrones 500,000+* Star Law enforcers —Quadrones 1.5 million+* Cube Multifunctional laborers, supervisors —Tridrones 6 million+* Pyramid Trifunctional laborers, —minor supervisorsDuodrones 55 million+* Rectangle Bifunctional laborers —Monodrones 300 million+* Sphere Single-functional general laborers —has not only its own functions, but its own body shapeas well. Thus, a modron’s physical appearance is a directindicator of its rank.The castes are further categorized into base modronsand hierarch modrons. Base modrons perform mundanetasks; hierarch modrons plan and organize, overseeothers, and manage entire areas. At the top of thelist, of course, is Primus.From greatest to least, the fifteen modron castes arelisted on the table below. Listed with each is thenumber of modrons in that caste and a brief descriptionof their duties in Regulus. Primus and the hierarchmodrons are also capable of telepathic communication,and the range of that power is given in a separatecolumn.*Though the number of modrons in each caste isfixed, the DM may decide the actual figure for each ofthe base modron castes.No individuality, in either form or thought, existswithin a caste. Each modron calls itself “we” and caninterchange posts and positions with others of thesame caste. Thus, a traveler has no way of knowingwhether the pentadrone encountered today is the sameone who held that post yesterday. This would be only aminor inconvenience were it not for the rigid and complexbureaucracy of Regulus, which requires visitors toappear and reappear before clerks, courts, and boardsbefore even the smallest of requests can be granted.Occasionally a clever character solves this problemwith a brush and paint, marking individual modronswith runes to tell them apart. Unless instructed toremove such marks, a base modron may wear a splashof color or a strange sigil for the rest of its life, for mostdo not even notice such things as markings on theirown bodies.This rigid caste system also defines the modrons’ abilityto interact with other members of their own race.Each modron is aware of and recognizes other modronsof the same or lower caste, as well as those of the nexthighercaste (their supervisors). Modrons more thanone rank higher simply appear as incomprehensiblecreatures. Of course, a pentadrone might be assigned toguard a hexton, but it understands only that it is toguard a creature matching the description of thehexton; it has no conception of that hierarch’s place inthe overall social structure. Likewise, a duodroneassigned to maintain the residence of a secundus doesnot understand who built that structure or why.THE MODRON LIFECYCLESome speculate that the modrons descended fromsome type of intelligent insect, and that this heritagehas given them an incredible hive mind. There is, ofcourse, no proof of this theory, nor is there really any2