Overview
Hercules is strength personified. While still an infant, he strangled two huge snakes with his bare hands. He is a fearless adventurer whose many escapades are the stuff of legend. A robust, cheerful man, he has an appetite for food and women that almost equals that of his divine father. Unfortunately, Hercules is also infamous for his violent temper, and is liable to be provoked by the slightest insult or affront. Anyone tricking, swindling or lying to him, or even failing to express the proper gratitude, is liable to face his wrath.
Description
Hercules appears as a large, muscular man with a tangled beard, wearing a lion's skin as a cloak, and carrying a massive club.
Holy symbol
Hercules's symbol is a lion's head.
Favored weapon
Hercules wields a greatclub, or a mighty longbow. His priesthood have selected the greatclub as their favored weapon.
Possessions
- Hercules wears the skin of the Nemean lion as a cloak, which is impervious to piercing and cutting damage.
- Hercules possesses a great longbow that has a range of up to 1 mile (1.6 kilometers), and cannot miss at any range of less than half a mile (804 meters). When facing a particularly dangerous foe, Hercules uses poisoned arrows.
Realm
Great Wheel cosmology
In the Great Wheel cosmology, Hercules does not maintain his own realm, and spends most of his time on some prime material world. However, because Hercules serves as one of Zeus's proxies, he presumably resides within his father's realm when he returns to Olympus, which is located on Arvandor (also known as Olympus), the first layer of the Olympian Glades of Arborea.
Olympian cosmology
In the Olympian cosmology, Hercules resides within the outer planar realm of Olympus, a great mountain which stands at the center of the world. This mighty peak rises so high above the world, that its heights form a distinct planar realm. It serves as home to the majority of the Olympian deities, not including Hades, and each deity maintains their own personal domain within this realm.
Worship
Priests of Hercules believe in swift action, and disdain intricate planning and long debates. They spend their time keeping fit and helping others to do the same. They also organize athletic events and other physical contests. They often try to outdo each other by undergoing long and arduous quests.
In Spelljammer
The inhabitants of Greatspace revere the gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon, especially Zeus, meaning that Hercules can be considered a native deity.