The gereleth and the modron do have a finite number. As I'm seeing two of a kind, I'm looking for the third race with this feature.
(Anyway I still wonder why a chaotic race like the gereleth sticks to the rule of three that much while a lawful race like the modrons use a system based on 2 instead.)
As to the modrons sticking to base 2 (i.e. binary); it is the most logical of systems. A value is one thing or another. There is no middle ground or ambiguity
As to the tertiary system of the gehreleths, I don't believe there was an official explanation. I think they left it with there being some sinister implication/grand plan behind their design and the rules involved (and it piqued my interest in them and had me trying to work out theories as to the "why" of it - not that I came up with anything very good)
Based on your title, are you angling for a third race with a finite number based around some numeric system?