Monday, April 8, 2013

G is for Geryon

Every D&D player from the late 70s and 80s knows about the Arch Devil Geryon.  He never really seemed to fit well with the other Arch Devils/Dukes of Hell.  For example, most devils have horns, Geryon did not.  The other devils were fallen angels or appeared in various Christian demonologies.  Not so for Geryon.
He was described as "The Wild Beast" which I took as being a reference to the Great Beast, but still he wasn't more or less beastly than some of the other devils.

Geyron is based on the character from Dante's Inferno who lives between the Seventh and Eighth Circle of Hell.  He bares no resemblance to the mythical Geryon of the Twelve Labors of Heracles.

In later Planescape-related D&D Geryon gets kicked out of Hell, though he is still around.  In my campaign from the late 90s, A Sojourn in Hell, (which merged my old 80s D&D game with my more modern horror ones) Geryon was killed outright.  In the official treatments he was exiled because he thinks that there is some task he needs to do so terrible that he could not perform it as an Arch Devil. I have to admit I kinda like that.

Maybe it was the classic Clash of the Titans, but I have always thought Geyron needs a huge bow.  Play up his hunter-like qualities.

Despite my previous use of him I think I might take him back to his hunter-like role.  He haunts the wilds of the Seventh Circle of Hell

In my update Geyron is no longer a devil or Baalseraph, but he is the archetypical rage demon or a Shedim.

NAME: Geryon
Alignment: Chaotic (Evil)
Movement: 90'/120' (flying)
Armor Class: -2
Hit Points (Hit Dice): 150 hp (20 HD)
Attacks: claws (2), tail sting or bow
Damage: 1d10/1d10/1d8+poison or 2d8+posin
Special: Fear gaze, spells, bull’s horn, summon shedim, +2 or better weapon to hit, immunity to fire and poison, regeneration (3 hp/round), see in darkness, magic resistance (65%), telepathy 100 ft.
Save: F20
MORALE: 11
XP: 10,000

Geryon is a massive beast. He towers over most creatures at 15' tall. His head is massive, nearly three times as wide as a human's with features of both human, lion and ape.  His head can rotate 180 degrees around, so he can see directly behind himself. He is barrel chested, with massive arms that resemble that of a gorilla ending in lion-like claws.  His 40' long body ends in a snake like tail tipped with a poisonous tip like that of a scorpion.  His massive bat-like wings gives him the overall impression of wyvern.
His eyes burn with intelligence and hate.

Geryon patrols his lands in search of prey to hunt. Normally he hunts the wild kine of the hells, his favorite prey of course is human.  He can attack with his massive claws (he has the strength of a cloud giant) and his tail sting.  The poison of the sting does no additional damage, but the victim must save vs. poison or die in agony.  He prefers to hunt with his bow.  The arrows from this massive bow do more damage than mortal weapons and the arrows are also often tipped with the same poison found in his tail.  The bow itself is so huge that a normal human can not use it and it would require a Strength of 24 to use.

Geryon can be pressed into service by occultists that know the secret means to do so.
Geryon himself can summon other, lesser Shedim to aid him.  He rarely does this though as he sees himself as superior to all around him (save for maybe the Baalseraph Dukes).  Because of his renown as a hunter in the Hells he is often sought after by Baalseraph and Calabim Lords as an assassin.

OGL Section 15.

Geryon from the Tome of Horrors Complete, Copyright 2011, Necromancer Games, Inc., published and distributed by Frog God Games; Authors Scott Greene and Clark Peterson, based on original material by
Gary Gygax.

14 comments:

Tonja Drecker said...

Sometimes I wish I would have played D&D. Guess one can't do everything. Sounds fascinating.

Anonymous said...

I have heard of Dante's Inferno but never knew anything about it, I found your G post compelling to read.

Thanks for your comment, now about my music I have it low on my pc. My blog until recently always had music, that is part and parcel of my blog. I combine my love of music and poetry.
Ask Lee, Alex they know of my musical blogs and it did say on the blog about the music. I am sorry it shook you at your place of work.

Yvonne.

Mark Means said...

I would think you have to be pretty bad to be kicked out of hell!

Left and Write

Karen Michelle Nutt said...

I've heard of Dante's Inferno, but read the poem. Interesting post.

Stelios V. Perdios said...

One of my favorite scenes in Dante's Inferno is when Dante and Virgil come upon Geryon. When Virgil explains to Dante that they have to ride Geryon into the next circle of Hell, Dante starts shaking as if with a fever because he's so scared.

Cherie Reich said...

It's very cool learning more about Geryon as he relates to D&D.

A to Z Participant
Cherie Reich - Author and Surrounded by Books Reviews

Al Diaz said...

15' tall, that's pretty big. More or less like me. :)
If he's the one in the picture he looks like someone you don't want to mess with.

Joyce said...

Thanks for visiting my blog today. I don't know anything about the world of gaming except that it's popular : ) Good luck with the rest of the alphabet!

Valerie said...

This is a great character!! Makes me want to play D&D,

Hugs!

Valerie Nunez and the Flying Platypi

Brett Minor said...

I had a friend in college who wrote D&D books/scenarios. When he got low on cash, he would lock himself in his room for a weekend, crank one out and sell it for a few thousand.

Returning visit from A to Z.

Transformed Nonconformist

D. Renee Bagby said...

Ahhh D&D... Never got into it. I wanted to but no one in my group played so they couldn't help me learn and then it was too late. "It's never too late." Yes, for me it is. That is way too much game to get into at this late date.

BUT I am loving the posts. I love demons and this is fun reading. :D

~ Renee

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Tim .. I know nothing about this way of life - though Dante's Inferno I recognise ..

Geryon sounds an interesting character though .. a devil without horns ..

Cheers Hilary

Timothy S. Brannan said...

@Brent. who was he and who was he selling them too? You can't make a few thousand on scenarios. Few hundred maybe.

Glad you all liked this guy.

Margo Kelly said...

Creepy and compelling. :) I love scary stuff.