Consus — Ancient Roman God of the Consualia and Buried Altar
Consus at a Glance
Tradition
Roman and Italic
Divine standing
Lesser Deity
Campaign alignment
True Neutral
Secure cult evidence
The Consualia and an underground altar near the Circus Maximus
Associated themes
Agriculture, hidden or covered sacredness, horses, racing and old communal rites
Historical caution
Consus’s precise original function is disputed.
Sacred places
The buried altar near the Circus Maximus, racecourses, old field shrines and covered sacred sites
Emblems
Covered altar, turning post, horse and buried offering
Favoured weapon
Staff
Domains
Related Roman powers
Roman Pantheon · Consualia · Buried Altar · Horses · Ancient Cult
Consus is an ancient Roman god of the Consualia whose altar lay buried beside the Circus Maximus and was exposed on festival days. His original function is disputed. Agriculture, stored produce, hidden counsel and equestrian associations all appear in later interpretation, so this page keeps the uncertainty visible instead of presenting one theory as settled fact.
Divine Mechanics
Consus — 5.5e Rules-Facing Form
Medium Celestial (Deity), Neutral
CR 32 (custom epic) · PB +9 · Campaign Divine Tier 28
AC 25 · HP 560 · Speed 40 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 (+8) | 24 (+7) | 28 (+9) | 26 (+8) | 30 (+10) | 26 (+8) |
Saving Throws Con +18, Int +17, Wis +19
Skills Animal Handling +17, History +15, Insight +17, Perception +17, Religion +15
Damage Resistances psychic, radiant; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Condition Immunities Frightened, Poisoned
Senses Truesight 120 ft. · Languages all; telepathy 120 ft.
Traits
Legendary Resistance (5/Day). If Consus fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
The Altar Is Covered. Consus cannot be targeted by divination magic while he is underground or behind Total Cover unless the caster is a deity or uses an artifact.
Master of the Turning Post. Mounts and vehicles chosen by Consus within 60 feet ignore Difficult Terrain and have Advantage on checks or saves made to turn, brake or avoid collision.
Divine Spellcasting
Wisdom is Consus’s spellcasting ability (spell save DC 27, +19 to hit with spell attacks). He requires no material components.
Knowledge domain access: Command, Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Detect Thoughts, Identify, Mind Spike; Dispel Magic, Nondetection, Tongues; Arcane Eye, Banishment, Confusion; Legend Lore, Scrying, Synaptic Static.
Community domain access: Aid, Bless, Sanctuary, Warding Bond; Beacon of Hope, Sending; Guardian of Faith, Resilient Sphere; Greater Restoration, Telepathic Bond.
Protection domain access: Aid, Compelled Duel, Protection from Evil and Good, Protection from Poison; Protection from Energy, Slow; Guardian of Faith, Resilient Sphere; Antilife Shell, Wall of Force.
Abundance portfolio access: Goodberry, Create Food and Water, Plant Growth, Fabricate, Major Creation, Heroes’ Feast, Regenerate, Magnificent Mansion and Clone. The linked Abundance Domain is third-party D&D 3.x material; this modern list is a campaign deity adaptation, not an official 2024 Cleric domain.
At will: any listed spell of 4th level or lower. 3/day each: any listed spell of 5th–7th level. 1/day each: any listed spell of 8th–9th level.
Actions
Multiattack. Consus makes three Buried Staff attacks.
Buried Staff. Attack: +19 to hit, reach 10 ft. Hit: 25 (3d10 + 9) bludgeoning plus 14 (4d6) force damage.
Raise the Hidden Altar (Recharge 5–6). Stone erupts in a 30-foot-radius area within 120 feet. Hostile creatures make a DC 27 Dexterity save, taking 55 (10d10) bludgeoning damage and falling Prone on a failure, or half damage on success. Chosen allies gain Half Cover until the start of Consus’s next turn.
Bonus Actions
Hidden Counsel. Consus chooses one ally within 60 feet; until the start of his next turn, that ally can communicate telepathically with him and has Advantage on its next Intelligence or Wisdom check.
Reactions
Turn at the Meta. When an ally, mount or vehicle within 60 feet would collide, fall Prone or be forced from its path, Consus lets it move 15 feet to a safe space instead.
Legendary Actions
- Move. Move up to half Speed.
- Divine Strike. Make one Buried Staff attack.
- Open the Earth (Costs 2). One 15-foot-square area within 60 feet becomes broken ground and Difficult Terrain until the end of Consus’s next turn.
Consus — Pathfinder 1e
True Neutral Medium outsider (extraplanar); campaign divine manifestation
CR 32 (custom epic)
Init +11 · Senses darkvision 120 ft., true seeing; Perception +45 · Aura covered counsel 60 ft.
Defense
AC 50, touch 30, flat-footed 43 · hp 820
Fort +35 · Ref +31 · Will +36
DR 20/epic · SR 43 · Immune fear, poison · Resist acid 20, cold 20, electricity 20, fire 20
Offense
Speed 40 ft.
Melee +5 buried staff +45/+40/+35/+30 (1d6+17 plus 4d6 force)
Space 5 ft. · Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Raise the Hidden Altar, Open the Earth
Statistics
Str 26 · Dex 24 · Con 28 · Int 26 · Wis 30 · Cha 26
Base Atk +32 · CMB +40 · CMD 89
Skills Handle Animal +45, Knowledge (history) +44, Knowledge (local) +44, Knowledge (religion) +44, Perception +45, Ride +45, Sense Motive +45, Spellcraft +44, Survival +45
Feats Alertness, Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (nondetection), Skill Focus (Knowledge [history]), Toughness, Weapon Focus (staff)
Special Abilities
The Altar Is Covered (Su). While Consus is underground or behind total cover, divination effects must overcome SR 43 and then succeed on a caster-level check against DC 43 to locate, observe or read him. Artifacts and deities may bypass this protection at the GM’s discretion.
Master of the Turning Post (Su). Mounts and vehicles chosen by Consus within 60 feet ignore difficult terrain caused by ordinary ground and gain a +8 sacred bonus on checks made to turn, brake or avoid collision.
Raise the Hidden Altar (Su) (Recharge 1d4 rounds). Stone erupts in a 30-foot-radius area within 120 feet. Hostile creatures take 12d8 bludgeoning damage, Reflex DC 38 half; on a failed save they also fall prone. Chosen allies gain cover until the start of Consus’s next turn.
Hidden Counsel (Su). As a swift action, Consus chooses one ally within 60 feet. Until the start of his next turn, they communicate telepathically and the ally gains a +8 insight bonus on its next Intelligence-, Wisdom- or Charisma-based skill check.
Turn at the Meta (Su). As an immediate action, when an ally, mount or vehicle within 60 feet would collide, fall prone or be forced from its path, Consus may move it 15 feet to a legal safe space.
Domain Spell Mastery
Caster level 32nd · concentration +42.
Knowledge: Comprehend Languages, Detect Thoughts, Speak with Dead, Divination, True Seeing, Find the Path, Legend Lore, Discern Location, Foresight.
Community: Bless, Shield Other, Prayer, Imbue with Spell Ability, Telepathic Bond, Heroes’ Feast, Refuge, Mass Cure Critical Wounds, Miracle.
Protection: Sanctuary, Shield Other, Protection from Energy, Spell Immunity, Spell Resistance, Antimagic Field, Repulsion, Mind Blank, Prismatic Sphere.
Abundance (campaign PF1e conversion from the live third-party 3.x domain): Goodberry, Create Food and Water, Plant Growth, Minor Creation, Major Creation, Heroes’ Feast, Regenerate, Magnificent Mansion, Clone.
At will: all 1st–4th-level domain spells. 3/day each: all 5th–7th-level domain spells. 1/day each: all 8th–9th-level domain spells.
Consus — D&D 3.5e
Lesser Deity; Divine Rank 7; True Neutral Medium Outsider (Extraplanar)
CR 38 · Divine Rank 7
Initiative +11 · Speed 40 ft.
AC 51, touch 31, flat-footed 44 · hp 720
Base Attack/Grapple +44/+53
Attack +6 buried staff +59 melee (1d6+18 plus 4d6 force)
Full Attack +6 buried staff +59/+54/+49/+44 melee
Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.
Fort +36 · Ref +33 · Will +38
Str 28 · Dex 24 · Con 30 · Int 28 · Wis 32 · Cha 26
Defenses and Divine Qualities
DR 20/epic · SR 39 · Immune fear, poison, disease and natural ageing · Resist acid 20, cold 20, electricity 20, fire 20.
Consus has divine awareness of consecrated buried stores, racecourses and covered altars within 7 miles and possesses the immortality of the divine self.
Skills
Concentration +59, Handle Animal +58, Knowledge (history) +58, Knowledge (local) +58, Knowledge (religion) +58, Listen +60, Ride +56, Search +58, Sense Motive +60, Spellcraft +58, Spot +60, Survival +60.
Feats
Alertness, Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (nondetection), Skill Focus (Knowledge [history]), Skill Focus (Ride), Toughness, Weapon Focus (quarterstaff).
Divine Abilities
Published-framework abilities: Divine Skill Focus (Knowledge [history]) and Know Secrets.
Campaign divine abilities: Covered Counsel, Master of the Turning Post, Buried Plenty and Alter Reality limited to concealment, stores, communal obligation, protected counsel, racecourse movement and buried sacred places. These campaign abilities are not presented as published 3.5e salient divine abilities.
Domain Spell-Like Abilities
Caster level 17th · save DC 25 + spell level unless the spell has no saving throw.
Knowledge: Detect Secret Doors, Detect Thoughts, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Divination, True Seeing, Find the Path, Legend Lore, Discern Location, Foresight.
Community: Bless, Status, Prayer, Greater Status, Telepathic Bond, Heroes’ Feast, Refuge, Sympathy, Mass Heal.
Protection: Sanctuary, Shield Other, Protection from Energy, Spell Immunity, Spell Resistance, Antimagic Field, Repulsion, Mind Blank, Prismatic Sphere.
Abundance: Goodberry, Create Food and Water, Plant Growth, Minor Creation, Major Creation, Heroes’ Feast, Regenerate, Magnificent Mansion, Clone. The linked Abundance Domain is third-party D&D 3.x material and is retained with that provenance.
Regional Effects
Where Consus’s presence is strong, a major sanctuary can project the following effects across roughly six miles. A small shrine normally manifests only one effect in a smaller area. Unless another divine power contests them, the effects fade over 1d10 days after the sanctuary is abandoned or desecrated.
Buried Stores Endure
Properly sealed grain pits and hidden food stores remain dry and vermin-free unless deliberately opened or magically corrupted.
Counsel Stays Hidden
Plans discussed in a consecrated underground store or shrine are unusually difficult to overhear through mundane means.
The Missing Cache Calls
A community seeking a forgotten emergency store receives subtle signs—settling dust, hollow echoes or disturbed earth—when it searches in good faith.
Consus in Roman Religion
The altar of Consus lay underground near the Circus Maximus and was normally covered. On festival days it was exposed for sacrifice. This is among the most distinctive and secure facts about the cult.
Ancient and modern explanations disagree about exactly what Consus originally governed. Agricultural, chthonic, equestrian and “hidden counsel” interpretations all exist. The campaign therefore treats secrecy, buried sacredness and the Consualia as secure while allowing different priesthoods to argue over the oldest meaning.
What Is Consus Doing Right Now?
Old racecourses, buried shrines and forgotten civic foundations are being built over or quarried for stone. Consus becomes active where a community has literally covered an obligation and then forgotten it existed.
Horse fairs and races also keep his cult alive. A mount that refuses to cross a buried altar line may be reacting to something older than the road above it.
Worship in the Campaign Present
Consus is honoured by horse handlers, race organisers, farmers preserving old rites and antiquarians who know the location of covered sacred places. His priesthood is small and locally variable.
Some cults interpret the buried altar as hidden counsel and keep their most important decisions literally underground. Others reject that interpretation and focus on the festival and horses. The campaign preserves both as living disagreements.
Domains, Domain Spells and Divine Gifts
Consus’s divine spheres are Knowledge, Abundance, Community and Protection.
Knowledge
Knowledge represents hidden counsel, remembered rites and the meaning of the covered altar. It is an established domain in the supported rules traditions, with edition-specific spell lists on the linked page.
Abundance
Abundance reflects stored grain, communal reserves and agricultural interpretations of Consus. The live Abundance Domain is third-party D&D 3.x material. In Pathfinder 1e and 5.5e it is a campaign conversion or portfolio sphere rather than official rules.
Community
Community reflects the Consualia as a public rite and the obligations of a community that stores, reveals and shares resources at the proper time.
Protection
Protection covers concealed stores, guarded counsel and the sacred security of what is deliberately kept beneath cover.
Agriculture, horses and racecourses remain central to Consus’s cult and adventure identity, but they do not create a second competing mechanical domain set.
Divine Gifts
Covered Secret
Once per long rest, the devotee can make one spoken sentence impossible to overhear beyond 10 feet.
Safe Turn
The devotee has Advantage on checks made to control a mount or vehicle during a sudden turn, obstacle or collision.
Artifacts and Relics
The Covered Bowl
Major Divine Artifact · Wondrous Item (covered vessel)
Attunement: None.
The Bowl protects a secret by making observation impossible until someone with lawful custody chooses to uncover it.
5.5e
Covered Secret. Writing, maps, tokens or other information-bearing objects placed beneath the lid cannot be read, copied or perceived by mundane senses, divination or scrying while the lid remains closed. The Bowl hides information, not the fact that the Bowl exists.
Lawful Opening. The creature that placed the information inside may name up to seven creatures who can open it. Others find the lid immovable unless a deity or artifact of equal power overrides the ward.
Pathfinder 1e
Major Artifact · CL 20th · overwhelming abjuration. Information beneath the lid is immune to mundane observation, divination and scrying until voluntarily uncovered by an authorised creature.
D&D 3.5e
Major Artifact · CL 20th · strong abjuration. Information beneath the lid cannot be perceived through mundane or magical means until an authorised creature willingly opens the Bowl.
Destroying the Bowl
The Bowl can be destroyed only when its lawful keeper willingly reveals a secret placed within it despite knowing that disclosure will permanently destroy the keeper’s own power, position or fortune.
The Stone of the First Turning Post
Lesser Divine Relic · Wondrous Item (marker stone)
Set beside a road, racecourse or planned route for 1 minute, the Stone reveals the direction and approximate distance to the nearest hidden obstacle, buried structure or concealed obstruction likely to affect movement within 1 mile. It does not identify harmless buried objects.
Relationships
Ceres overlaps with agricultural interpretation; Neptune with later horse associations; Mars with old civic festival space; Mercury with races, movement and concealed plans.
Use Consus Tonight
The Altar Is Under the Finish Line
A new racecourse is completed, and every horse stops at exactly the same point.
The Covered Decision
A council’s secret vote cannot be remembered until an ancient stone lid beneath the chamber is opened.
Three Festival Days
A buried shrine opens itself on the wrong date, revealing offerings placed there centuries apart.
Deep Dive
Continue through the Roman Pantheon, Ceres, Neptune, Mars, Mercury. Follow the cult into Rome and wider Italy, or use the Cleric and Cleric Domains pages for player-facing worship.
Historical Sources and Rules Compatibility
- Ara Consi — underground altar, location and festival exposure.
- Consualia — ancient festival traditions and competing interpretations.
Because Consus’s original function is disputed, the page labels interpretations rather than presenting one reconstruction as certain. Campaign mechanics are original.
Rules licensing. D&D 5.5e terminology derived from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 is used under CC BY 4.0 where applicable. Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e deity statistics on this page are original campaign conversions rather than official published deity stat blocks. Knowledge, Community and Protection follow the provenance stated on their linked domain pages; Abundance is third-party D&D 3.x material and later-edition uses on this page are explicit campaign conversions rather than official same-named domains.
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