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View Full Version : [3.5] How would you DMs handle a player "owning" a Monodrone?



Pika...
2009-10-04, 11:43 PM
So my players got smart today, and decided to take back with them to a holy large town the sole Modron they managed to kill the game prior.

The adept NPC there managed to get way too lucky on a Knowledge: (Planes) check, so he happened to know what it was, and that it was a single task rank Modron (aka a Monodrone), and that since it had been dropped in battle (-0 HP, living construct) it had probably already been replaced by the energy pool back at Regulus hence making this one a "Rogue Modron" (the last part was my on-the-fly interpretation of what would happen if an enemy for some reason decided to rise one they broke...).

So after a few hours of talking to it, the adept managed to trick it into excepting orders from him now that it is a Rogue Modron.

After the chaos the PCs brought on that poor town (and the entire kingdom in under three sessions...), the adept wanted them out of the town and the High Elf Kingdom. He did not want to have to deal with the Monodron, so offered it to the PCs. One of them gleefully with a smile raised his hand, and the adept pointed to him and said "From now on obey his orders".


Later on while the players had their PCs drinking at a tavern near gaming ending the above mentioned player decided to get smart and said "Protect us Monodrone". Immediately another player gave an "Oh crap" expression, but thankfully he did not meta-game. Needless to say, they got locked up in the cliche city jail as a poor bargirl who merely wanted to bring them their food is now in emergency care. :smallbiggrin:


Anyway, can the older edition players please tell me if I played their/it's fluff/actions properly?

How would you roleplaying a Monodrone NPC tagging along in a party?

How should it act, and who should it "obey" orders from?

Should I let a PC have a Modron companion/pet/follower/cohort/whatever it currently is at all? If so, should I let it level along with it's current superior/boss/owner/whatever he is?

Would PCs be able to question it for information on the NPC Quadrone #3467 (from my other recent Modron thread)?


p.s. I am going by what I can read on Modrons on wikipedia, and the Dragon issue they appeared in.

p.s.s. I am completely ignoring the near destruction of their race fluff.

Zaydos
2009-10-04, 11:51 PM
Personally while I want to know how they almost destroyed the kingdom (I've been there, I still end up there at times [looks meaningfully at my roommate]), I'd say you seem to be handling it fairly well, rogue monodrones were mentioned as existing but never really detailed at least not in the Planescape box set or the Planeswalker's Handbook (didn't have Planes of Law or any other Planescape books). I'd have it obey orders from the person the adept told it to and only him.


Would PCs be able to question it for information on the NPC Quadrone #3467 (from my other recent Modron thread)?

I'd say not as modrons don't recognize the existence of ones more than a step removed so it wouldn't even know what a quadrone was. Now that it is a rogue modron it could learn but it wouldn't have known before hand and I think rogue modrons are amnesiac (although that might have changed since the dragon magazine split rogue modrons into 2 and the ones more closely matching the original fluff had a different name I think)


p.s.s. I am completely ignoring the near destruction of their race fluff.

I forget it's there, I fell in love with the quirky cubes before it existed.

PhoenixRivers
2009-10-05, 12:05 AM
For ideas on how a "subservient" rules-based entity can be a real issue?

Read or rent "I am Robot"

Why, the PC's are constantly putting themselves at risk. The only way to truly protect them is to trap them. For their very self-destructive nature is their greatest threat.

Jergmo
2009-10-05, 12:30 AM
Rogue Modrons with directors will follow some pretty crazy orders.

Beloved memories from Planescape: Torment: Ordering Nordom to "do a little dance", and (thankfully I saved before just in case) "Go out of control and attack everything in sight."

Edit: I wouldn't be that excited about having a Monodrone under your command, though. They can only handle one task at a time. You'd need at least a Quadrone for your little anthro-companion cube to be particularly useful 'cause the Monodrone will just ignore everything except that one simple task.

Jothki
2009-10-05, 01:02 AM
It doesn't seem to be that much of a problem if you're just using it as a weapon. Just point at a target and tell it to attack it. Remember to tell it to stop attacking once the target is dead.

Cieyrin
2009-10-05, 12:32 PM
I frankly don't think a Monodrone would be able to understand such a complex and open-ended command as 'Protect us,' as that calls for making decisions and observations that a Monodrone simply couldn't handle.

Plus, given Modron chain of command, a Monodrone would need a Duodrone to really get anything done, as those are the only Modrons they're aware of. Anything higher than that don't know or even care if they exist. Now, I suppose that as a Rogue Modron, it could perhaps break the normal chain of command and accept the players as Duodrones but remember that, as Monodrones can handle only one task at a time, they are not smart enough to infer or react or any number of things. They're just too simple to really get anything done without constant supervision.

Now, this isn't to say they couldn't get better, as Modrons can advance by hit dice without evolving to a higher form (though that certainly is grounds for them to be eliminated, as that's a Rogue Modron action). It'd be a while before it got smart enough to think for itself and perhaps take class levels. You just have to realize their limitations and work with them till you can gradually push them past them into a higher state of consciousness.

Zovc
2009-10-05, 12:54 PM
I frankly don't think a Monodrone would be able to understand such a complex and open-ended command as 'Protect us,' as that calls for making decisions and observations that a Monodrone simply couldn't handle.

Plus, given Modron chain of command, a Monodrone would need a Duodrone to really get anything done, as those are the only Modrons they're aware of. Anything higher than that don't know or even care if they exist. Now, I suppose that as a Rogue Modron, it could perhaps break the normal chain of command and accept the players as Duodrones but remember that, as Monodrones can handle only one task at a time, they are not smart enough to infer or react or any number of things. They're just too simple to really get anything done without constant supervision.

Now, this isn't to say they couldn't get better, as Modrons can advance by hit dice without evolving to a higher form (though that certainly is grounds for them to be eliminated, as that's a Rogue Modron action). It'd be a while before it got smart enough to think for itself and perhaps take class levels. You just have to realize their limitations and work with them till you can gradually push them past them into a higher state of consciousness.

The party just got an awesome pet.

The Neoclassic
2009-10-05, 01:54 PM
The party just got an awesome pet.

Hehe, essentially.

I'd imagine the Monodrone, as others have mentioned, could only do and focus on one task at a time. Anything vague or ambigious, or even a conditional (since that's pretty much two separate task options involving a choice that has to be made) wouldn't work.

However, I think that "Do a little dance" would be a task that the Monodrone could certainly handle. And it might just be freakin' adorable. :smallbiggrin:

jiriku
2009-10-05, 01:59 PM
Your monodrone should only be able to take orders from one character at a time. It can only perform one task at a time. It can't make decisions, except to follow simple commands like "perform task X when condition Y occurs". It would completely lack curiosity.

Note that a monodrone is not stupid. It's just very very very focused, like the stereotypical absent-minded scientist who forgets about the world around him when he's buried in his theories. Except that the monodrone only has one theory at a time, and it's always buried in it.

You could also have some very entertaining situations revolving around the monodrone's inability to comprehend multiplex things. For example, a monodrone probably wouldn't grasp the idea of a single species with dual genders. To its mind, everything must have only a single aspect and a single purpose, so it would interpret males and females as belonging to different races. If you told it to get you a set of clothes from your closet, it would probably bring all the items of a particular color, since it wouldn't grasp the idea of using multiple complementary colors or patterns. Soup or stew or mixed vegetables would probably be interpreted as "contaminated", since it wouldn't understand why anyone would mix different types of food together and eat them all at once.

Zovc
2009-10-05, 02:18 PM
I happen to really like the idea of it becoming smarter. I don't know anything about this creature's stats, but it could gain a point of intelligence at each level until it gets to a 6, or whatever you consider to be high enough to gain class levels. At each level, have it become able to understand more complex commands and have more "owners/commanders/hierarch."

In the meantime, have the players have to designate who is the owner and tell it when to start listening to other players.

Cieyrin
2009-10-05, 04:56 PM
The party just got an awesome pet.

It could be their mascot, though I'm not sure what that'll say about the party...That they're single-minded and focused?

root9125
2009-10-06, 10:01 AM
Read or rent "I am Robot"

Why, the PC's are constantly putting themselves at risk. The only way to truly protect them is to trap them. For their very self-destructive nature is their greatest threat.

You mean "I, Robot", and you mean rent. The book (by Isaac Asimov) had nothing to do with the Will Smith monstrosity, short of the shared three laws.

Speaking of which, hope that none of your PCs are Asimov fans. The three laws programmed into one of these things would be utterly terrifying. XD

Cieyrin
2009-10-06, 11:38 AM
You mean "I, Robot", and you mean rent. The book (by Isaac Asimov) had nothing to do with the Will Smith monstrosity, short of the shared three laws.

Speaking of which, hope that none of your PCs are Asimov fans. The three laws programmed into one of these things would be utterly terrifying. XD

Why would I want to watch Will Smith in another movie that has little at all to do with the original book? Isaac Asimov was a great scifi author and deserves a good read, as his writing inspired so many other authors and other works that reading the source material is definitely worth your time for the sorts of things that a rule-based artificially intelligent entity should be doing.

Another_Poet
2009-10-06, 12:08 PM
I think you handled it really well.

I would allow the Modron to interpret commands in a reasonable manner. I think it was a little harsh to have the Modron attack a serving girl who made no threatening gesture. The modron was designed for battle so presumably it is able to tell the difference between the guy coming to give it oil and the guy swinging a greatsword at it.

That said, I still think you did a double plus awesome job overall. Let it tag along and carry out basic orders. It won't be too long before the PCs send it on a suicide mission, use it to spring a trap or otherwise abuse it to death. So let them have their fun in the meanwhile :)

Pika...
2009-10-19, 07:48 PM
Sorry for bumping this thread, but as of last session there has been a development with this monodrone which I would appreciate some help with.

So here goes the strange story:


I had been having fun with the PC/player who has been keeping the monodrone. The player seemed to be enjoying the jokes/situatons, and it was bringing laughs to the group.
The number I randomly generated for this monodrone (of the 3,000,000 monodrones according to the WotC Planer Handbook excerpts) was Monodrone #34,532.
I made it so the "controlling" PC/player had to say his entire name before being able to initiate a new command.
The PC had been trying for sessions to get it to take on a new (I am guessing shorter :smallbiggrin:) name.
The PCs recently spent two years with this thing on a drifting ship. I figured after that much time I would begin roleplaying it with a tiny bit more personality. It began asking things like "I you worried" to the controlling PC.
The PCs were on some downtime. During this downtime the PCs decided to try changing it's name again, though this time it was more a challenge to out smart me it seemed. :smallamused:
The PCs (through the controlling PC) began questioning it. They learned about the Modron hierarchy, and that when one Modron is destroyed/killed the one below it is promoted, and the one below it is promoted, etc, etc.
They then learned that once Modron promotion reaches the final number of their drone type a Modron from the lower ranking is "promoted". Then the process repeats until at the very end a new monodrone is created from the Energy Pool at the center of Regulus.
One of the party members ten minutes earlier had accidentally killed a party member (my DMNPC who was standing in due to few players during the champaign's first sessions) by a misfired arrow which critted twice (confirmed two natural 20s. The best roll yet in the campaign. :smallconfused:).
Then they started trying to trick it/the DM/me. We all started getting confused and tongue-tied, and I (roleplaying as Monodrone #34532) accidentally slipped referring to my/it-self as a Dogbert (the name of the DMNPC the PC killed, so was trying to get me/the monodrone to take over it's title). They calle dme out on it, so I was like *fine...*, "I am a Dogbert?! But what is my designation number???".
The controlling PC smiled and said "You are Dogbert #1".
I began to roleplay the monodrone as starting to short circuit (cliche cartoon robot style), and then fall over to the side like a washing machine.
They were like: "We broke it?!". :smalleek:
I then began to describe it falling apart, and the pieces starting to move and reconnect together as though "imagine a fancy Swiss clock just smashed on the ground".
So they decided to stay and watch it.
24 hours later on the watch of the same PC who controls it failed his spot and listen checks, and felt a tugging on it's cloak. He looked down to to see a glimmering metallic version of the alley he killed barely a day ago with pretty angelic looking wings looking at him with an emotionless monotone expression.



So now I am not sure where to go from here. Does the monodron keep it's original abilities/stats? Does it take on the personality of the ally that was killed?

Please keep in mind that Dogbert is based on a Kobolds ate my Baby themed Kobolds subrace I made called Dogbolds...

It literally looks liek the miniature I use now with little monodrone wings:
http://www.dark-platypus.com/image/rules-lawyer.jpg

I even said it had a metal book, since the Dogbold was an adept of Vor: The Big Angry God.


And not to mention the PCs want to quest to bring Dogbert back. How would they react to this? The original coming back and there being a Dogbert #1? And the Dogbert #1 noticing the original has returned to the ranking system?


How would you DM/roleplay this period?! :smalleek:

jiriku
2009-10-19, 08:09 PM
Well, clearly, if you resurrect the "original" Dogbert, he's going to have to settle for being Dogbert #2 from now on. Although you could avoid confusing the monodrone by reincarnating Dogbert into a different form.

I'd say your monodrone, having transformed itself into the effigy of a non-monodrone, is now thoroughly insane by modron standards. Thus, there's really no problem with its behavior departing radically from the norm. You should emphasize, though, that #1 is seriously not right in the head.

BTW: lol at your PCs for being lost at sea for two years before finding their way home.

Inhuman Bot
2009-10-19, 08:14 PM
Just wondering, but by Modrone/monodrone/mondrone/etc, do you mean Modron?

Cieyrin
2009-10-19, 11:13 PM
Well, clearly, if you resurrect the "original" Dogbert, he's going to have to settle for being Dogbert #2 from now on. Although you could avoid confusing the monodrone by reincarnating Dogbert into a different form.

I'd say your monodrone, having transformed itself into the effigy of a non-monodrone, is now thoroughly insane by modron standards. Thus, there's really no problem with its behavior departing radically from the norm. You should emphasize, though, that #1 is seriously not right in the head.

BTW: lol at your PCs for being lost at sea for two years before finding their way home.

He wouldn't have to be #2, he could be #0 as the original. They're lawful beings, it would make sense for them to start their counting system from 0.:smalltongue:

Also lawls at having KAMB Dogbolds in your campaign. All Hail King Torg!

ondonaflash
2009-10-20, 12:59 AM
Just wondering, but by Modrone/monodrone/mondrone/etc, do you mean Modron?

The lowest ranking of the Modron Hierarchy is Monodrones.

Another_Poet
2009-10-20, 10:00 AM
To answer your main question, don't change its stats. It seems like you and your group have fun RPing some humorous, off-the-wall stuff, which is awesome. But that falls squarely under "fluff" and need not (in fact, preferably should not) affect "crunch." The thing apparently knows how to redesign its outer body in order to take on an appearance appropriate to its designation. And they obviously could see its inner workings while it was rebuilding its outer shell. But that hardly means it gains new gears, loses old gears, or conjures up parts it never had before. Its speed, ability scores, BAB, HP, etc are all the same now as they were before. This both makes sense in-game, and also helps you stay sane by not radically altering rules every time your group comes up with another funny scenario.

As far as resurrecting the old Dogbert, he will be redesignated as #2. By the Modron rules that you yourself described to the players, destroyed Modrons lose their rank/designation and are replaced by the next in line. Thus, the old Dogbert has lost his status of Dogbert #1. Machines can't be resurrected, so the monodrone can only conceive of the "resurrected" Dogbert as a newly built (or newly promoted) Dogbert added to the series. His number must be #2 or higher.

ap