more work on modrons

ideas/Modron-Train-Station.md

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+Finding the Train Station
+
+When the PCs enter the sea of gears, they encounter a monodrone.
+The monodrone delivers a message:
+
+> Audio Recording from Primus: Greetings, agents of Tymora
+> and Rennick.  I would like to discuss plans and negotiate
+> the future nature of the universe.  Please proceed to the
+> nearest train station, the rail network will bring you to
+> me.  Ask the nearest modron for guidance to the train
+> station.
+
+Then, the monodrone resumes walking in the direction it
+was walking in before.  It is not smart enough to figure out
+that it is supposed to provide guidance to the train station.
+
+To get guidance, the PCs will have to run after the
+monodrone and say "hey, can you take us to the train
+station."  The monodrone doesn't understand the request, but
+it understands that something is wanted of it.  The
+monodrone says: "my superior can assist you." The monodrone
+takes the PCs to its superior, a duodrone.
+
+The PCs must again ask for the train station.  The duodrone
+says, "my superior can assist you," and brings the PCs to a
+tridrone.
+
+The tridrone is staring at a gear which is wrenching
+erratically. The tridrone says, "Something is
+malfunctioning.  There is a strong chaotic influence."
+
+The PCs must again ask for the train station.  The tridrone
+says, "my superior can assist you," and brings the PCs to a
+quadrone.  But this time, the tridrone is intelligent enough
+to at least relay the request: the tridrone says to the
+quadrone: "these individuals wish to go to a train
+station." The quadrone says, "I can assist with that."
+
+The quadrone then asks a few questions, and then brings
+the PCs to the train station.
+
+The Ring of Defenders
+
+The train station is encircled by about 300 monodrones, 50 or
+so duodrones, a dozen or so tridrones, and three quadrones.
+They are not allowing anyone inside, interposing their bodies.
+If anyone tries to push through, a quadrone approaches
+and explains the situation:
+
+> The train station contains a chaotic influence.  It is
+> causing a great deal of damage.  Several modrons have been
+> corrupted.  We are quarantining the site to limit the
+> damage.  Please respect the quarantine.
+
+The easiest way to get through the ring of modrons is to
+say, "We too are corrupted by chaos.  We should also be
+quarantined."  The quadrone takes a chaos reading, agrees,
+and sends the PCs into the train station to be quarantined.
+
+If the PCs force their way through, or teleport around the
+lines, or the like, then as soon as they get too close to
+the train station the quadrone says: "they are too close,
+they are corrupted.  Leave them."  The modrons back away.
+
+The Moon-Corrupted Quadrone at the front door:
+
+Directly in front of the front door is a quadrone with the
+moon card over his head.  Both of his arms and one of his
+legs have fallen off.  He is using his wings to stay upright
+on one leg.  He explains, "I am corrupted by chaos. I cannot
+withstand this level of chaos, I am falling apart.  When my
+first arm fell off, I tried reattaching it, but it just
+fell off again and again."
+
+If the PCs try to enter the train station, the modron says,
+"I locked the door to enforce the quarantine."  If asked to
+unlock the door, the quadrone says, "I see that you should
+be quarantined, you are corrupted by chaos.  However, I am
+afraid that without my arms, I am unable to unlock the door."
+
+The best solution to this problem is to point out to the
+modron that the moon card grants him three wishes.  He wishes
+to no longer be corrupted by chaos.  The moon card vanishes.
+He gets no more wishes, because he wished away the card that
+was granting him wishes.
+
+Now the PCs have to reattach the modron's arms and leg.
+This can be accomplished with a simple mending cantrip, or a
+good skill roll.  Once this is done, the quadrone willingly
+unlocks the front door.
+
+The main hall of the train station:
+
+The main hall is guarded by the following defenders:
+the Bricklayer-corrupted Decaton, the Beast-Corrupted Quadrone,
+and the Knight-Corrupted Tridrone.  The Decaton will scream,
+"My territory!  This station is my territory!" and will immediately
+attack.  The other two corrupted modrons fight on his side.
+The fight is unavoidable.
+
+The boarding platform:
+
+After defeating the corrupted modrons, it is possible to go
+down the stairs to the boarding platform.  On the boarding
+platform is a giant version of the box of the deck of many
+things.  If the lid is removed, it becomes an entrance to
+the same extradimensional space as was found behind the steel door.  
+
+At this point, Rennick can talk to the god of the Deck for the
+first time.  The two of them are very angry and frustrated with
+each other.  Have your PCs roleplay Rennick, and also the God
+of the Deck.  Let them negotiate.
+
+The Train:
+
+The PCs get on board the train.  The train doesn't go anywhere.
+After a while, presumably, the PCs will walk to the front of
+the train, to see what the holdup is.  At the front of the
+train is a steam engine whose engineer is a Sun-Corrupted Monodrone.
+
+The Sun card grants somebody the divine spark: they have the
+potential to ascend to divinity. The monodrone has no idea
+about this.
+
+In front of the train is a length of track that extends about
+15 feet out onto the surface of a gear, then it just stops.
+The engineer is patiently waiting for the track to be repaired.
+However, the track is not going to be repaired, because the
+train station was built by the Bricklayer card, and the
+Bricklayer card can only build one station, not an entire
+rail network.  The modrons will not fix it because this is
+not where the train station is supposed to be.
+
+The engineer is only a monodrone: not that smart.  The answers
+you get to any questions are mostly monosyllabic and trivial.
+
+If you ask the monodrone about the Sun card, it has no idea
+about it, or that it is even there.
+
+If you ask the monodrone for its supervisor, it says, "my
+supervisor can assist you."  Then it transforms into a duodrone.
+The sun card has given this monodrone its first step toward
+divinity.  If you ask it for its superior again, it transforms
+into a tridrone.  It can promote itself all the way up to
+Primus.
+
+When the modron takes the final step, promoting itself all
+the way up to Primus, the surroundings change.  The PCs
+are no longer in a train station, they're in Primus's
+installation.
+
+Primus
+
+The room that the PCs are in is a large room with a dais,
+and on top of the dais a cylinder that looks kind of like a
+hot tub, with Primus inside.  Inside the hot tub there is no
+water, only cables and wires connecting the building to
+primus' body.
+
+Primus has two "arms," but on closer look they aren't really
+arms: they're very thick cables.  There are two small
+portals, one on either side of primus: one leads to the
+positive energy plane, the other to the negative energy
+plane. Primus's cables are tapped into the two planes.
+
+Primus says to the PCs: "Greetings, agents of Tymora, and
+Rennick #93."
+
+This is probably the first clue the PCs have that the
+Rennick they're traveling with at this point is not the
+real Rennick.  This may cause some consternation.
+
+Primus says: "It matters not that this is not Rennick #1.  I
+can negotiate with this Rennick.  His reasoning is almost
+identical to the reasoning of Rennick #1.  Therefore, any
+deal struck by Rennick #93 will be accepted by Rennick #1."
+
+
+
+
+