#decaton

I'm a little late with posting this, but Happy Valentine's Day!

Image © @tredlocity​

[The original take on the modron hierarchs are pretty same-y, mechanically speaking. They all have cleric casting, one more hit die than the one immediately less powerful, but one less attack. They have basically nothing as far as unique abilities in either 1e or 2e. There’s a reason they have been basically neglected since then: 3e has them appear in a web enhancement for Manual of the Planes, they’re skipped in 4e and only mentioned in passing in 5e.

So I’m redesigning them, some sticking close to the source material, some going way off. I’m going to limit full casting to the top five ranks, but wanted to give all of them some sort of unique abilities in combat, and some sort of role in modron society besides “passing down orders to the next rank”. Tred designed for me the decaton through the hexton so far, and I like their blending of original images with new ideas. This is probably the one most similar to its Planescape envisaging]

Modron, Decaton CR 10 LN Outsider (extraplanar) This metallic creature is spherical, its body resting on two stumpy legs. Ten long cables grow from its body, articulated like tentacles, and it has an oversized mouth in the center of its body. Multiple eyes on articulated arms whirl around it, constantly scanning its surroundings.

Decatons are the least of the modron hierarchs, and the ones who work most closely with the drone castes. Decatons oversee the physical and mental safety of the drones, ensuring that their working conditions are safe, healing injuries and providing support and encouragement. They feel strongly protective of the drones in their care, having an attitude that is as close as the typical modron comes to feeling love. Anyone who injures or kills modrons is likely to have a decaton leading the charge against them.

Decatons are not terribly strong melee combatants—although their jaws can give a powerful bite, their many tendrils are relatively weak. However, they make excellent support units to modrons of all power levels. A decaton commander can help defend a fighting force of pentadrones and quadrones, and decaton bodyguards can provide more powerful hierarchs with magical support and frequent healing. A favorite strategy is to use a globe of invulnerability to nullify enemy casting while allied quadrones lay down a barrage of arrows. A decaton can even share its magical defenses, lending surprising durability to even weak units like monodrones if need be. Decatons rarely fight to the death, teleporting from a losing confrontation with as many of their underlings as they can, and then reporting the outcome to a superior.

A decaton is about six feet in diameter. Despite their monstrous appearances, their voices are typically soothing and gentle—although they can magnify this to a terrible shout in order to intimidate foes. They can fly via lighter than air gases, but are clumsy when airborne.

5th edition dungeons and dragons only has the stats for the base modrons so over the course of the next few days I’m posting videos on the Heirarch Modrons and making their stats.

I’m starting a personal project to convert the Hierarch Modrons from the Planescape AD&D setting into 5e statblocks. Here’s my rendition of the Decaton, the next level up from Pentadrones. I’m taking some liberty with the spellcasting abilities that the hierarch modrons all possess in AD&D, because a lot of them also have innate abilities that are a little redundant. I want to make the 5e versions feel a little more specialized for their specific rank and purpose, so the Decaton is one of the hierarchs which have exclusively healing cleric spells prepared, while others might have more utility or damaging spells. Decaton Large construct, lawful neutral Armor Class 17 (natural armor) Hit Points 95 (10d10 + 40) Speed 30 ft., fly 10 ft. (hover) Str 13, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 15 Skills Perception +8 Senses truesight 120ft., passive Perception 18 Languages Modron Challenge 8 (3,900 XP) Axiomatic Mind. The decaton can’t be compelled to act in a manner contrary to its nature or its instructions. Disintegration. If the decaton dies, its body disintegrates into dust, leaving behind its weapons and anything else it was carrying. Magic Resistance. The decaton has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Spellcasting. The decaton is a 10th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). The decaton has the following cleric spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will): mending, resistance, guidance 1st level (4 slots): healing word, cure wounds 2nd level (3 slots): prayer of healing, lesser restoration 3rd level (3 slots): mass healing word 4th level (3 slots): locate creature 5th level (2 slots): mass cure wounds

Modron Medic. The decaton can only target modrons (including itself) with any of its cleric spells which heal creatures. These spells can affect any tier of modron, regardless of whether or not the decaton can conceive of its existence.

Actions Multiattack. The decaton makes ten tentacle attacks. Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage.

“The decatons are the lowest order of officials found in modron society. These creatures appear as 10-tentacles spheres on stumpy legs. They are the overseers of the physical welfare of the base modrons, the voice of the great power to the working class. One decaton is assigned to each sector of the realm, while the remaining 36 serve on the staffs of the 36 legions of the modron army.

The spherical decatons fly by generating a light gas within their bodies, rendering them lighter than air. Generally they only rise into the air in order to get an overview of the situation when commanding modron armies.”