Rūaumoko — Atua of Earthquakes and Volcanic Forces
Māori tradition · Earthquakes · Volcanoes · Living land · Subterranean fire
Rūaumoko is an atua of earthquakes and volcanic forces, a child of Ranginui and Papatūānuku whose power is felt from beneath the living land. In traditions recorded by Te Ara, he is carried into the world below when Papatūānuku is turned, given fire for warmth, and his movements become the rumbling and shaking of the earth.
Rūaumoko at a Glance
| Tradition | Māori |
|---|---|
| Divine role | Earthquakes, volcanic activity, subterranean fire and movement beneath the land |
| Game alignment | Neutral |
| Suggested domains | Tempest, Nature, Forge |
| Sacred signs | Earth tremors, volcanic heat, fumaroles, newly opened fissures and deep subterranean rumbling |
| Parents | Ranginui and Papatūānuku |
| Pantheon plane | Hawaiki — The Ancestral Isles, within Ossa — The Living and Remembering Sea in Arborea |
Divine Mechanics
Encounter role: Brute / battlefield controller. Each edition is standalone; use only the rules tab for your table.
Rūaumoko, Greater Deity — Gargantuan Celestial, Neutral; suggested CR 34.
| Armor Class | 25 | Hit Points | 690 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed | 50 ft., burrow 120 ft. | Proficiency Bonus | +9 |
| STR | 30 (+10) | DEX | 18 (+4) |
| CON | 30 (+10) | INT | 24 (+7) |
| WIS | 28 (+9) | CHA | 26 (+8) |
Saving Throws Str +19, Con +19, Wis +18, Cha +17. Damage Immunities fire, poison; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks. Condition Immunities frightened, paralyzed, poisoned, prone. Senses truesight 240 ft., tremorsense 1 mile, passive Perception 28. Languages all languages he chooses, telepathy 240 ft.
Legendary Resistance (5/Day). If Rūaumoko fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
The Land Trembles. Rūaumoko knows the location of every creature touching the same continuous landmass within 1 mile. He ignores difficult terrain made of earth or stone and may move through nonmagical earth and rock without leaving a tunnel.
Multiattack. Rūaumoko makes three Fist of the Deep Earth attacks: +19 to hit, reach 20 ft.; 38 (4d12 + 12) bludgeoning plus 18 (4d8) fire damage.
Rū Whenua (Recharge 5–6). The ground in a 120-foot radius convulses. Creatures on the ground make a DC 27 Dexterity saving throw, taking 77 (14d10) bludgeoning damage and falling prone on a failure, or half damage without falling prone on a success. Structures in the area take double damage.
Open the Fire Below (Recharge 6). Rūaumoko tears open a fissure 120 feet long and 20 feet wide. Creatures in the line make a DC 27 Dexterity save, taking 55 (10d10) fire plus 44 (8d10) bludgeoning damage on a failure, or half on a success. The fissure becomes hazardous terrain until he dismisses it.
Move the Mountain (1/Day). Rūaumoko raises, lowers or shifts a mass of natural stone or earth up to 300 feet across by as much as 60 feet. He cannot use this ability to erase a settlement without warning; the movement always begins with a round of unmistakable shaking.
Mythic Trait — Fire Beneath Papatūānuku. The first time Rūaumoko is reduced to 0 hit points, he sinks into the earth and regains 345 hit points. Every hostile creature touching the ground within 300 feet takes 22 (4d10) fire damage, and Rūaumoko immediately uses Rū Whenua.
Greater deity; alignment N. Suggested divine encounter CR 33. Domains: Earth, Fire, Destruction, Protection. Subdomains: Caves, Catastrophe, Ash, Defense. Favoured weapon: greatclub.
Earthshaker (Su). Three times per day Rūaumoko produces an earthquake as the spell, except its radius is doubled and he may choose creatures and structures that are unaffected.
Subterranean Passage (Su). Rūaumoko and allies he chooses can move through natural earth and stone as though under earth glide.
Volcanic Heart (Su). Rūaumoko is immune to fire and gains fast healing 20 while touching natural stone heated by magma or volcanic activity.
Complete Pathfinder 1e Statistics
Init +8; Aura divine presence 120 ft.; Perception +34.
DEFENSE AC 56, touch 30, flat-footed 52; hp 680; Fort +38, Ref +32, Will +37; defensive abilities divine resilience, freedom of movement; DR 25/epic; SR 47; immune disease, fear, poison; resist acid 20, cold 20, electricity 20, fire 20.
OFFENSE Speed 50 ft.; Melee Legendary Resistance (5/Day) +60/+55/+50/+45 (divine weapon damage plus portfolio energy); Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.; Special Attacks divine aura, mythic surge, portfolio powers.
STATISTICS Str 30, Dex 18, Con 30, Int 24, Wis 28, Cha 26; Base Atk +46; CMB +57; CMD 71; Feats Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Critical (Legendary Resistance (5/Day)), Weapon Focus (Legendary Resistance (5/Day)), Greater Weapon Focus (Legendary Resistance (5/Day)), Quicken Spell-Like Ability; Skills Acrobatics +29, Diplomacy +33, Intimidate +33, Knowledge (planes) +32, Knowledge (religion) +32, Perception +34, Sense Motive +34, Spellcraft +32, Survival +34; Languages all, telepathy 1 mile; SQ divine rank 16, immortality, portfolio sense, remote communication.
Greater deity; Divine Rank 16; alignment N. Portfolio: earthquakes, volcanoes, subterranean fire and moving earth. Domains: Destruction, Earth, Fire, Protection. Favoured weapon: greatclub.
Appropriate salient divine abilities include Alter Reality, Divine Earth Mastery, Divine Fire Mastery, Divine Blast, Mass Divine Blast and Shapechange.
Complete D&D 3.5e Statistics
Initiative +8; Speed 50 ft.; Armor Class 56, touch 30, flat-footed 52; Base Attack/Grapple +46/+60; Attack Legendary Resistance (5/Day) +60 melee; Full Attack Legendary Resistance (5/Day) +60/+55/+50/+45; Space/Reach 10 ft./10 ft..
Special Attacks salient divine abilities, portfolio powers, spell-like abilities; Special Qualities divine aura 1 mile, divine immunities, DR 25/epic, fire/cold/electricity resistance 20, SR 48, immortality, remote sensing, portfolio sense.
Saves Fort +38, Ref +32, Will +37; Abilities Str 30, Dex 18, Con 30, Int 24, Wis 28, Cha 26; Skills Acrobatics +29, Diplomacy +33, Intimidate +33, Knowledge (planes) +32, Knowledge (religion) +32, Perception +34, Sense Motive +34, Spellcraft +32, Survival +34; Feats Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Critical (Legendary Resistance (5/Day)), Weapon Focus (Legendary Resistance (5/Day)), Greater Weapon Focus (Legendary Resistance (5/Day)), Quicken Spell-Like Ability, Epic Prowess, Overwhelming Critical.
Environment divine realm and portfolio-aligned sites; Organization unique; Challenge Rating 34; Treasure divine relics; Alignment as listed; Advancement —.
Rūaumoko in the Living World
Rūaumoko is not merely a destroyer. Earthquake and volcanic fire are dangerous, but they are also expressions of an active land. Mountains rise, coastlines change, springs appear and stone is renewed because the earth is not motionless.
In one recorded tradition, after Ranginui and Papatūānuku are separated, their sons turn Papatūānuku face downward so the primal parents will not continually see one another’s grief. Rūaumoko is still at her breast and passes with her into the world below. Fire is given to him for warmth. His walking and movement beneath the land cause earthquakes and volcanic activity.
People do not need to see Rūaumoko to know he is present. A tremor during a council, a mountain that begins smoking after generations of quiet, or a hot spring suddenly turning cold may all be interpreted as signs that something beneath the land has changed.
Worship in the Living World
Rūaumoko is encountered wherever people live with an active land beneath them: volcanic slopes, hot springs, faulted valleys, geothermal fields and settlements rebuilt after shaking. Respect is practical as well as sacred. A community that reads the land well, remembers old disasters and does not treat the earth as inert is already living inside his sphere of power.
Those seeking his favour ask for warning before catastrophe, steadiness during rebuilding, safe passage beneath the earth and the wisdom to recognise when a dangerous landscape should not be challenged.
Pantheon Plane: Hawaiki and Ossa
The wider Māori and Polynesian divine network reaches into Hawaiki — The Ancestral Isles, an independent ancestral archipelago within Ossa — The Living and Remembering Sea, Arborea’s second layer. Hawaiki is a realm of origin, voyage, ancestral return and remembered routes across the living sea.
For Rūaumoko, this pantheon plane is not a replacement for his presence beneath Papatūānuku. Hawaiki and Ossa are the ancestral and divine homeland of the wider pantheon; his immediate power still rises through the living earth of the mortal world.
What Is Rūaumoko Doing Now?
A chain of small earthquakes is moving through Aotearoa in a pattern that does not follow any known fault. Each tremor begins shortly before dawn and travels the same distance before stopping.
At several volcanic sites, old vents have begun breathing warm air without ash or flame. Deep underground, miners and cave travellers hear footsteps too slow and heavy to belong to any mortal creature.
Tohunga disagree over whether Rūaumoko is restless, warning the people above, or following something that has entered his world from below.
Domain Spells and Divine Gifts
1st: earth tremor, absorb elements · 2nd: heat metal, maximilian’s earthen grasp · 3rd: erupting earth, protection from energy · 4th: stone shape, wall of fire · 5th: transmute rock, wall of stone · 6th: investiture of flame, move earth · 7th: fire storm, reverse gravity · 8th: earthquake, incendiary cloud · 9th: meteor swarm, shapechange.
Divine Relic — Te Whatu Wera
The Burning Stone is an original game relic: a smooth black volcanic stone that remains warm even in winter. Its bearer cannot be surprised by natural earthquakes and always knows the direction of the nearest volcanic vent, hot spring or major underground cavity.
Once per week the stone can quiet a natural earthquake within 1 mile for one minute or, with Rūaumoko’s favour, release a controlled tremor that breaks stone without harming living creatures.
Use Rūaumoko Tonight
- The Walking Quake: a line of tremors crosses the country at the pace of a travelling giant.
- The Cold Volcano: a sacred volcanic site stops producing heat entirely, as though its fire has been stolen.
- The Buried Road: a newly opened fissure reveals worked stone descending far beneath Papatūānuku.
- The Warning Before Dawn: every earthquake is preceded by the same dream among people living above the fault.
- The Fire Below Moves: magma begins flowing away from a volcano toward something buried beneath an old settlement.
Relationships
Papatūānuku: Rūaumoko remains within or beneath the Earth Mother. His power is therefore inseparable from the living land.
Ranginui: father above, separated from Papatūānuku. Rūaumoko’s subterranean existence is part of the lasting consequence of that separation.
Tāwhirimātea: storm above and earthquake below can become two expressions of a world in violent motion.
Haumia-tiketike and Rongo-mā-Tāne: earthquakes can destroy food stores and fields, but volcanic soils can also renew the land over generations.
Deep Link Dive
Hawaiki and Ossa
Enter the pantheon’s ancestral isles within Arborea’s living and remembering sea.
Polynesian Gods & Sacred Traditions
Return to the wider Māori divine genealogy.
Druid
Connect living land and elemental nature to a playable class.
Earthquake
The defining rules link for Rūaumoko’s portfolio.
Wall of Stone
A useful earth-magic connection for servants and encounters.
Plane Shift
Use when subterranean roads open beyond the mortal world.
Salient Divine Abilities
Continue into deity-scale rules.
Nova Zeelandia
Place Rūaumoko inside the campaign geography he physically reshapes.
True Neutral
Read the alignment framework used for his mechanics.
Sources and Licensing
Rūaumoko’s identity as a child of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, his place beneath the earth, the fire associated with his subterranean existence, and his connection to earthquakes and volcanoes derive from documented Māori traditions. The statistics, relic, supernatural events and adventure situations above are original fantasy roleplaying adaptations.
Te Ara — Earthquakes in Māori tradition · Te Ara — Tā moko and Rūaumoko
The cultural and mythological material is presented from the cited sources. Encounter statistics, relics, domain selections and adventure material are original fantasy-RPG adaptations. Edition names identify rules compatibility; they do not claim the traditional narratives originate in those systems.