Modron, Pentadrone

Origin:

As are all other modrons, the countless hordes of pentadrones are extradimensional clockwork beings, hailing from the highly orderly plane of Mechanus. Their fantastic alien physiology is a bizarre blend of flesh and gears, and this, combined with their inherently magical nature, is the source of the pentadrones' many and various ascendant powers.

Known Powers:

Modron Physique: the children of Mechanus, the infinite masses of modrons are a potent blend of organism and mechanism. Modrons seamlessly combine the two diametric designs into a seamless whole, a feat which is made possible by their highly orderly, magically charged bodies. Pentadrones are no exception to this rule, and have access to these powerful abilities as a result:

* Agelessness: all modrons, regardless of rank or station, are ageless in nature. Instead of having the longevity power, which implies an eventual lifespan, modrons simply do not age whatsoever. In fact, if not slain by accident or design, a modron may effectively live on forever, adopting new and more versatile forms as it ascends the ladder of law.

* Body Armor: both organic and inorganic in nature, all modrons have some manner of resistance to physical attacks. Essentially, base modrons should be treated as having Typical (6) protection from physical attacks, and Feeble (2) protection from assaults of an energy-based nature. This is often enough defense to discourage assault by most mundane beings against the powerful pentadrones.

* Damage Reduction / Cold, Corrosion, and Fire Attacks: the modron physique is highly resistant, albeit not totally immune to, the effects of extreme cold, heat, and corrosives - this despite their partially metallic nature. They possess 2 CS of damage reduction against such attack forms, allowing them to maneuver in most hostile environs with relative ease - which comes in handy during the Modron March.

* Invulnerability to Emotion Control, Illusion, Mind Control, Paralysis / Sleep, and Vampirism: all modrons, even the lowly pentadrone, are completely immune to these attack forms. As beings of ultimate order, they are able to shrug off such effects with ease - though they can readily perceive when such assaults are used (albeit unsuccessfully) against them.

Additional Limbs / Arms: pentadrones have five tentacular 'arms', and can bring all all of them to bear in battle. Thanks to an inherent talent with multiple attacks, pentadrones can make up to three attacks in one turn, the last two of which will occur after everybody else has made their primary actions in said turn. This makes them extremely dangerous in battle with conventional adventurers!

Circular Vision: pentadrones, having a face on all five of their tentacular 'arms', benefit from this power at all times; having five eyes, only 72 degrees apart at any given time, is good for at least something. This power has no rank to speak of, but then it can't be negated, either. So this, in the end, isn't really a bad thing when you get down to it.

Damage Reduction / Physical Attacks: pentadrones, unlike the rest of the base modrons, are especially resistant to ordinary, mundane weaponry. In essence, they benefit from 1 CS of damage reduction when dealing with any attack produced by a mundane, non-ascendant. Axes and swords are affected by this power, for example, but magic blades and laser beams aren't.

Infravision: pentadrones, like many other modrons, have the ability to see into the infrared spectrum of light. Working at Excellent (20) rank, this lets them peer up to 180 feet into the dark, whether it be natural or artificially generated. While rarely necessary on Mechanus, it definitely comes handy in off-plane work, as several of the more sinister planes are utterly dark to conventional vision.

Invulnerability to Emotion Control, Illusion, Mind Control, Paralysis / Sleep, and Vampirism: all modrons, even the lowly pentadrone, are completely immune to these attack forms. As beings of ultimate order, they are able to shrug off such effects with ease - though they can readily perceive when such assaults are used (albeit unsuccessfully) against them.

Levitation: pentadrones generate certain gases in their body at all times, and one use of these gases is levitation. While pentadrones cannot fly, per se, they can levitate. This allows them to raise themselves up in the air as high as they please, doing so at Feeble (2) rank, which is pretty much just enough to get their metal frames going up... and that's what counts.

Paralysis: pentadrones have a sort of gas blaster mounted on top of their bodies, which allows them to spray vapors that induce paralysis in an opponent. Usable only once per fight, this gas can partially or fully incapacitate opponents for 1d10 turns, if those who are exposed to it fail an Endurance FEAT roll against its effective rank of Remarkable (30).

Super Senses: pentadrones have highly acute sensory organs, granting them the ability to utilize all five of the standard senses at 200 percent of your average human's acuity. In other words, pentadrones wield all five senses at an enhanced level (call it +1 CS higher than normal), whether their sense of sight, hearing, taste, smell, or touch is involved.

Limitations / Enhancements:

(none)

Equipment:

Modrons, if on a special mission, can be equipped with just about any type of necessary device. Modron pentadrones, however, are typically without armament of any variety, in that they have more than enough physical power and weaponry 'built in' to their bodies to deal with any opponent who would be stopped by a sword, spear, axe, or the like.

Quirks:

Fighting Logistics: pentadrones, like all modrons, wield naturally organized minds. They can apply their inherent analytical tendencies to combat applications, sizing up a foe rather quickly. This allows them to add a +1 CS to all Fighting FEAT rolls made against a foe after 1d10 rounds (not turns), a bonus that lasts until said opponent radically changes his or her fighting style.

Talents:

Law: more than anything else, the modrons are ultimate masters of law, knowing their own clockwork plane in and out. They extend this basic knowledge of What Should Be to all aspects of existence, and may attempt Reason FEATs based on orderly systems of any variety at a +1 CS, +2 CS if it involves their home plane, Mechanus, and +3 CS regarding Regulus itself.

Law Enforcement: as the first level of modron law enforcement, the pentadrones are required to police the numberless ranks of the base modrons to root out rogues of their own kind, as well as any other chaotic troublemakers. As such, they have the authority to detain or neutralize these beings as is necessary, though they prefer to capture them for trial whenever possible.

Leadership: knowing how to spread resources around and delegate tasks like no other beings alive, pentadrones have this skill as a general matter of course. As such, any group that they are actively leading receives a 100 point boost to its Karma pool - assuming it has one - even if the pentadrone is simply leading other pentadrones.

Characteristics:

Of all the base modrons, the pentadrones are the most intelligent - and by far the most powerful. Having the ability to communicate, plan, operate, monitor, and manage, pentadrones are five-function beings, and use this ability to manage the numberless modron labor force for the rather finite in number hierarch modrons. They wear their authority like a badge, and expect others to respect it.

Appearance:

Odd even by modron standards, Pentadrones resemble five-armed starfish held up on five stilt-like legs. Each of these 'arms' are really a fat steel tentacle, upon which rests one of the pentadrone's five faces. Each of these tentacles has the generic modron 'face' (one eye, big fleshy mouth). Pentadrones also have a sort of top-mounted gas blaster, and are seven feet tall.

Ecological Niche:

The pentadrones are the police force of the base modrons, acting as a sort of translator between the wishes of the decatons and the actions of the quadrones, and maintaining the lowest levels of order in modron society. Furthermore, a dozen such modrons are often assigned to each of the modron armies in the capacity of maintaining said army's headquarters.

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