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.