Canonfire! - Excerpts from the Demonomicon of Iggwilv: The Goristro

The fearsome and largely unknown Goristro demon, as adapted to 3e from Gary Gygax's article in Dragon Magazine 91 (November 1984).

Author: grodog

Excerpts from the Demonomicon of Iggwilv:
The Goristro

by grodog (see also http://www.rpg.net/ehp/imrryr/greyhawk.html)

D&D 3e adaption copyright 2001 by Allan T. Grohe, Jr. The goristro demon is owned by Wizards of the Coast.

Used with Permission. Do not repost without obtaining prior permission from the author.

The Goristro is a huge and hulking breed of demon. Sharing characteristics of bovine and ursine beasts, goristroi are large, bipedal, humanoid demons employed by the strongest of demon lords as personal guardians, enforcers, and shock troops. According to tradition among certain houses of Aerdy, the mage-king Tuerny kept a bound goristro, which he commanded in battle against his enemies.

While most goristroi stand well over twenty feet tall, the largest known goristro---a behemoth known as Tra'atz---stands more than twice that height. The heads of the goristroi seem over-large, and sport short horns that point forward and down. Their arms are inordinately long, and reach to below their double-jointed knees. Broad hands sport four fingers, with a thumb on both sides; they lack claws. Their six-toed feet splay to provide additional support for their massive frames.

A goristro's murky purple hide is thick and incredibly tough, harder than the flesh of a stone giant. It is covered with long and shaggy hair, black, brown, and orange in hue. With difficulty, a goristro's hide can be tanned for use as armor. All goristroi are immune to the effects of mundane and magical fires and frosts, in addition to the immunities common among all demonkind. They recover from wounds quickly.

Goristroi are often solitary creatures, as few demonkind willingly associate with them, for fear of enraging one. The destruction they cause in battle is awesome to behold, as they bludgeon opponents to death with their great fists, or stomp upon and crush them. Goristroi are equally efficacious against fortifications as they are living targets, and can reduce walls to rubble within tens of minutes.

The goristroi are stupid creatures, and by the fault of their empty minds, they are loyal to their masters; they obey orders with a single-minded devotion that would make a hierarch modron envious. The goristroi possess fewer magical powers than those of a quasit, and are closely par with rutterkin and dretch. They are otherwise unremarkable, and best avoided.

Notes

Goristro (Demon)

Huge Outsider (Chaotic, Evil)
Hit Dice: 20d8+120 (210 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 50 ft.
Armor Class: 24 (-2 size, +16 natural)
Attacks: 2 slam +12 melee, 1 stomp +10 melee; or rock +0 ranged
Damage: Slam 3d6+12, stomp 2d8+10; or rock 2d8+12
Face/Reach: 10 ft. by 10 ft./15 ft.
Special Attacks: Sunder equipment, rock throwing, siege damage, spell-like abilities
Special Qualities: Demon qualities, SR 22, immunities, damage reduction 25/+2, fast healing 1, rock catching, spell-like abilities
Saves: Fort +18, Ref +12, Will +10
Abilities: Str 35, Dex 10, Con 23, Int 7, Wis 7, Cha 5
Skills: Climb +35, Intimidate +7, Jump +35, Listen +21, Search +8, Spot +8, Swim +35
Feats: Cleave, Endurance, Great Cleave, Multiattack, Power Attack, Sunder
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Climate/Terrain: Any land and underground
Organization: Solitary, gang (2-4)
Challenge Rating: 22
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always Chaotic Evil
Advancement: 21-30 HD (Huge), 31-60 HD (Gargantuan)

Due to the force of their blows and their exceptionally hard skin, when a goristro strikes any creature, any item also struck suffers the effects of a successful sunder attack, and takes one-half of the rolled damage inflicted upon the combatant. For details, see the 3e PHB, pages 85 and 136, and the 3e DMG, page 176.

Goristroi throw and catch rocks as cloud giants. They inflict siege damage to structures as a heavy catapult (see the 3e DMG, pages 151-152).

A goristro has all standard demonic qualities. In addition, they can perform the following spell-like abilities at will: detect invisibility, fear, gloom 60 ft. radius (see Relics and Rituals, page 76), levitation, and spider climb; they can teleport without error once per day. Goristroi see with dark vision to 90 feet.

In addition to their demonic standard qualities, Goristroi are immune to fire and cold. They have fast healing 1.

Originally detailed by Gary Gygax in Dragon Magazine 91 (November 1984), the goristroi demons were inadvertently left out of the 1e Monster Manual II, although they were mentioned by name among the various races native to the Abyssal layers.

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Third Edition, Abyss, 3e