The Modron Armies - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

The Modron Armies

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Jul 19, 2004 6:33:19 Hi everybody,
here's a problem that makes me go barmie:
How large are Modron-Armies? There are several sources which mention the size of Modron-Armies. First the Monstrous Supplement in the Basic Planescape Box (calculating from the given size of a Regiment= 3142 modrons an entire Army would consist of at least half a million modrons). The Poster in the Planes of law Box gives an overview of their command structure and the numbers of Modrones in each of the 64 sections of Regulus, the entire Modron Race would consist of less then half a million "individuals" concerning this poster. The book about Mechanus mentiones the armies but no numbers. Hellbound gives numbers for the "Army of the Blood War" (Strength of this special Army is roughly a million modrons of various Types, but 691.200 Monodrones alone). "The great Modron March" consists of about 10.000 Modrones (a ridiculously low-number considering the dangers that await the Modrons in the lower planes) though the numbers given in the Adventure "The Great Modron March" are considered a basic minimum.
Is there somewhere a reliable source on Modrons? Has anybody ever calculated the actual size of a Regular Army? (Maybe some crazed Guvner?)
And who else thinks the Designers of Planescape should be brought to Regulus to recieve proper judgement for screwing up with the Modron Numbers?
#2
nightdruid
Jul 19, 2004 6:59:25 If I'm not mistaken, the original Fiend Folio entry (1e) put the numbers of modrons in the millions; don't have it on me atm, but I do recall the low-end modrons being pretty numerous.

Something else to ponder: in 1e MM2, it lists the armies of the nine hells, which were in the low thousands or high hundreds in total regimental strength. Plus, Ed Greenwood's articles on the subject gave the strength of a regiment (IIRC) at 666 troops for lesser devils, 333 for greater, and 33 for pit fiends. So the armies of Hell were of roughly equal strength. The concept of infinite armies hadn't quite creeped in yet
#3
mithral_icesilver_02
Jul 19, 2004 11:52:10 According to the Web Enhancement (as the last supplement to mention modrons, it is considered official), at any given time, there are 4 secundi, 9 tertians, 16 quartons, 25 quintons, 36 hextons, 49 septons, 64 octons, 81 nonatons, and 100 decatons. There are also 500,000 pentadrones, 1,500,000 quadrones, 6,000,000 tridrones, 55,000,000 duodrones, and a whopping 300,000,000 monodrones. That's 363,000,386 modrons, not counting Primus. There are 36 modron armies, 1 for each region of Regulus, 2 for each secundus, and 9 for Primus. Each army has 1 hexton commander and 4 corps. Each corps is headed by 40 pentadrones. A corps consists of 2 divisions (with 20 pentadrones heading each), each division has 4 brigades (each headed by 10 more pentadrones), and every brigade has 4 regiments (each headed by 5 more pentadrones). A regiment has 2 battles (headed by 4 quadrones each), plus a squad of winged monodrones and a special squad of 12 pentadrones. A battle has 6 companies of monodrones, 2 companies of duodrones, a special company of tridrones, a squad of quadrones, and another squad of messengers. A company is 12 squads (each with 12 troops and a noncomissioned officer or NCO) and 3 officers. This comes to 70 officers, 192 NCOs, 252 messengers, and 2,628 common troops; that's 3,142 modrons per regiment. Since there are (4x4x2x4) 128 regiments in an army, that comes to 402,176 modrons, plus 5 pentadrones per regiment (20), plus 10 pentadrones per brigade (40), plus the 40 pentadrones that run each corps, split up into 20 per division (160 pentadrones), and the hexton commander. 402,176+20+40+160+1 is 402,397 modrons in an army.
#4
sildatorak
Jul 19, 2004 12:08:44
Originally posted by Mithral Icesilver
That's 363,000,386 modrons, not counting Primus.

They should have made the numbers so that the total number of Modrons without Primus comes up to one less than a prime number.
#5
zombiegleemax
Jul 20, 2004 3:48:53 Thx Mithral,
for doing a little number-crunshing. I suppose the source for calculating the amount of Modrons in one army this way is the Monstrous Supplement of the Planescape Campaign Setting.
But there is a slight mismatch in the numbers: since a Regiment has 18 companies plus 2 Squads of Quadrones (one for each battle) plus 1 Squad of Pentadrones this would be 2628 line troops (as you stated). The number of NCOs for 18 companies should be 216 instead of 192 (this problem can be solved by making the 2 companies of Tridrones "special companies" without NCOs, leaving us with 192 NCOs). The actual number of officers for 18 companies would be 54 plus 8 Quadrones (4 leading each battle) plus 5 Pentadrones leading the Regiment leaving me short by 3 officers (well, maybe the messenger squads have an officer each, this way the actual number would be 70).
But where are the messengers attached? Each battle has one squad plus one squad messengers in the Regiment = 36 messengers?? (Where's the rest??)
And I wonder whether the Officers are one "Rank" higher than the Modrons they're commanding (e.g. Duodrones are the Officers of a Monadrone company) I'd say this would make sense.
#6
MephitJames
Jul 20, 2004 12:41:58 I'm of the opinion that the number of modrons, like most measurements on the planes, is immeasurable. When there's a Modron March, the plane spits out a bunch of spares (keeping the same relative sizes of the ranks) and then afterwards they're reabsorbed or maybe stick around. One defense of this is that other exemplar races are said to be infinite, notably the tanar'ri and the slaadi. If this were true the rilmani should all be in Limbo and the Abyss mowing down chaotic berks to even things out. There is also infinite space on each plane so if the modrons are everywhere in Mechanus, or even one-tenth of everywhere, there needs to be an infinite amount of them. How ever you slice up infinity it's inifinite so there has to be an infinite number of every exemplar race to cover any amount of the plane. Ugh, I'm beginning to sound like a Guvner. I'm off to rough up some quasits to clear my head.
#7
kilamar
Jul 20, 2004 13:37:16 It is official that there is only a fixed number of Modrons.
Their advantage is that under normal circumstances this number does not get lower if one of them dies, since the energy of the Modron pulls back to the central cog of Mechanus and a new Modron is spawned.
For that reason imprisonment of Modrons outside of Mechanus is a dangerous thing for Modron society, since these Modrons cannot contribute their work power anymore.

Kilamar
#8
sildatorak
Jul 20, 2004 13:46:12 How do the rouge modrons fit into the energy pool equation? I'm sure that whatever space the rorty cube vacated gets filled, but does that leave the modrons with one less total monodrone until the rouge is destroyed? It would help to explain why they kill rogues on sight.
#9
zombiegleemax
Jul 20, 2004 16:26:34 As far as I can tell, when a Modron goes rogue, it is essentially stealing its little piece of the Source and running off with it. It serves as their life energy forever if necessary, and if they do die then it returns to the Source and a new non-rogue modron is born. This is why most rogues are killed as soon as possible after their identification.
#10
MephitJames
Jul 21, 2004 12:32:56
Originally posted by Kilamar
It is official that there is only a fixed number of Modrons.

It depends on the DM, I'd say. It'd be just like the complicated little bashers to maintain their numbers at some mulitple of infinity: a constant value of infinity, a fixed number not a variable. Regardless, I'd say that Sil's idea of the rogue modrons is interesting. Even if the modrons are infinite, they're probably a bit peeved about any drones selfishly withholding energy from the Nirvanna Plane.
#11
kilamar
Jul 21, 2004 17:31:03
Originally posted by Mephit James
It depends on the DM, I'd say.

That is true for everything in D&D, but it is not a good base for discussion.

Kilamar
#12
ohtar_turinson
Jul 21, 2004 21:22:45
Originally posted by Sildatorak
They should have made the numbers so that the total number of Modrons without Primus comes up to one less than a prime number.

I like that idea. I think I'm going to change the numbers so I can use that idea.
#13
zombiegleemax
Jul 30, 2004 16:53:10
Originally posted by Ohtar Turinson
I like that idea. I think I'm going to change the numbers so I can use that idea.

Aye I took well to that idea also. Makes sense to Primus being labeled the One and the Prime.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Jul 19, 2004 6:33:19	Hi everybody, here's a problem that makes me go barmie: How large are Modron-Armies? There are several sources which mention the size of Modron-Armies. First the Monstrous Supplement in the Basic Planescape Box (calculating from the given size of a Regiment= 3142 modrons an entire Army would consist of at least half a million modrons). The Poster in the Planes of law Box gives an overview of their command structure and the numbers of Modrones in each of the 64 sections of Regulus, the entire Modron Race would consist of less then half a million "individuals" concerning this poster. The book about Mechanus mentiones the armies but no numbers. Hellbound gives numbers for the "Army of the Blood War" (Strength of this special Army is roughly a million modrons of various Types, but 691.200 Monodrones alone). "The great Modron March" consists of about 10.000 Modrones (a ridiculously low-number considering the dangers that await the Modrons in the lower planes) though the numbers given in the Adventure "The Great Modron March" are considered a basic minimum. Is there somewhere a reliable source on Modrons? Has anybody ever calculated the actual size of a Regular Army? (Maybe some crazed Guvner?) And who else thinks the Designers of Planescape should be brought to Regulus to recieve proper judgement for screwing up with the Modron Numbers?
#2 nightdruid Jul 19, 2004 6:59:25	If I'm not mistaken, the original Fiend Folio entry (1e) put the numbers of modrons in the millions; don't have it on me atm, but I do recall the low-end modrons being pretty numerous. Something else to ponder: in 1e MM2, it lists the armies of the nine hells, which were in the low thousands or high hundreds in total regimental strength. Plus, Ed Greenwood's articles on the subject gave the strength of a regiment (IIRC) at 666 troops for lesser devils, 333 for greater, and 33 for pit fiends. So the armies of Hell were of roughly equal strength. The concept of infinite armies hadn't quite creeped in yet
#3 mithral_icesilver_02 Jul 19, 2004 11:52:10	According to the Web Enhancement (as the last supplement to mention modrons, it is considered official), at any given time, there are 4 secundi, 9 tertians, 16 quartons, 25 quintons, 36 hextons, 49 septons, 64 octons, 81 nonatons, and 100 decatons. There are also 500,000 pentadrones, 1,500,000 quadrones, 6,000,000 tridrones, 55,000,000 duodrones, and a whopping 300,000,000 monodrones. That's 363,000,386 modrons, not counting Primus. There are 36 modron armies, 1 for each region of Regulus, 2 for each secundus, and 9 for Primus. Each army has 1 hexton commander and 4 corps. Each corps is headed by 40 pentadrones. A corps consists of 2 divisions (with 20 pentadrones heading each), each division has 4 brigades (each headed by 10 more pentadrones), and every brigade has 4 regiments (each headed by 5 more pentadrones). A regiment has 2 battles (headed by 4 quadrones each), plus a squad of winged monodrones and a special squad of 12 pentadrones. A battle has 6 companies of monodrones, 2 companies of duodrones, a special company of tridrones, a squad of quadrones, and another squad of messengers. A company is 12 squads (each with 12 troops and a noncomissioned officer or NCO) and 3 officers. This comes to 70 officers, 192 NCOs, 252 messengers, and 2,628 common troops; that's 3,142 modrons per regiment. Since there are (4x4x2x4) 128 regiments in an army, that comes to 402,176 modrons, plus 5 pentadrones per regiment (20), plus 10 pentadrones per brigade (40), plus the 40 pentadrones that run each corps, split up into 20 per division (160 pentadrones), and the hexton commander. 402,176+20+40+160+1 is 402,397 modrons in an army.
#4 sildatorak Jul 19, 2004 12:08:44	Originally posted by Mithral Icesilver That's 363,000,386 modrons, not counting Primus. They should have made the numbers so that the total number of Modrons without Primus comes up to one less than a prime number.
#5 zombiegleemax Jul 20, 2004 3:48:53	Thx Mithral, for doing a little number-crunshing. I suppose the source for calculating the amount of Modrons in one army this way is the Monstrous Supplement of the Planescape Campaign Setting. But there is a slight mismatch in the numbers: since a Regiment has 18 companies plus 2 Squads of Quadrones (one for each battle) plus 1 Squad of Pentadrones this would be 2628 line troops (as you stated). The number of NCOs for 18 companies should be 216 instead of 192 (this problem can be solved by making the 2 companies of Tridrones "special companies" without NCOs, leaving us with 192 NCOs). The actual number of officers for 18 companies would be 54 plus 8 Quadrones (4 leading each battle) plus 5 Pentadrones leading the Regiment leaving me short by 3 officers (well, maybe the messenger squads have an officer each, this way the actual number would be 70). But where are the messengers attached? Each battle has one squad plus one squad messengers in the Regiment = 36 messengers?? (Where's the rest??) And I wonder whether the Officers are one "Rank" higher than the Modrons they're commanding (e.g. Duodrones are the Officers of a Monadrone company) I'd say this would make sense.
#6 MephitJames Jul 20, 2004 12:41:58	I'm of the opinion that the number of modrons, like most measurements on the planes, is immeasurable. When there's a Modron March, the plane spits out a bunch of spares (keeping the same relative sizes of the ranks) and then afterwards they're reabsorbed or maybe stick around. One defense of this is that other exemplar races are said to be infinite, notably the tanar'ri and the slaadi. If this were true the rilmani should all be in Limbo and the Abyss mowing down chaotic berks to even things out. There is also infinite space on each plane so if the modrons are everywhere in Mechanus, or even one-tenth of everywhere, there needs to be an infinite amount of them. How ever you slice up infinity it's inifinite so there has to be an infinite number of every exemplar race to cover any amount of the plane. Ugh, I'm beginning to sound like a Guvner. I'm off to rough up some quasits to clear my head.
#7 kilamar Jul 20, 2004 13:37:16	It is official that there is only a fixed number of Modrons. Their advantage is that under normal circumstances this number does not get lower if one of them dies, since the energy of the Modron pulls back to the central cog of Mechanus and a new Modron is spawned. For that reason imprisonment of Modrons outside of Mechanus is a dangerous thing for Modron society, since these Modrons cannot contribute their work power anymore. Kilamar
#8 sildatorak Jul 20, 2004 13:46:12	How do the rouge modrons fit into the energy pool equation? I'm sure that whatever space the rorty cube vacated gets filled, but does that leave the modrons with one less total monodrone until the rouge is destroyed? It would help to explain why they kill rogues on sight.
#9 zombiegleemax Jul 20, 2004 16:26:34	As far as I can tell, when a Modron goes rogue, it is essentially stealing its little piece of the Source and running off with it. It serves as their life energy forever if necessary, and if they do die then it returns to the Source and a new non-rogue modron is born. This is why most rogues are killed as soon as possible after their identification.
#10 MephitJames Jul 21, 2004 12:32:56	Originally posted by Kilamar It is official that there is only a fixed number of Modrons. It depends on the DM, I'd say. It'd be just like the complicated little bashers to maintain their numbers at some mulitple of infinity: a constant value of infinity, a fixed number not a variable. Regardless, I'd say that Sil's idea of the rogue modrons is interesting. Even if the modrons are infinite, they're probably a bit peeved about any drones selfishly withholding energy from the Nirvanna Plane.
#11 kilamar Jul 21, 2004 17:31:03	Originally posted by Mephit James It depends on the DM, I'd say. That is true for everything in D&D, but it is not a good base for discussion. Kilamar
#12 ohtar_turinson Jul 21, 2004 21:22:45	Originally posted by Sildatorak They should have made the numbers so that the total number of Modrons without Primus comes up to one less than a prime number. I like that idea. I think I'm going to change the numbers so I can use that idea.
#13 zombiegleemax Jul 30, 2004 16:53:10	Originally posted by Ohtar Turinson I like that idea. I think I'm going to change the numbers so I can use that idea. Aye I took well to that idea also. Makes sense to Primus being labeled the One and the Prime.