Ranginui — Sky Father
Māori tradition · Sky · Heavens · Creation · Divine ancestry · Celestial order
Ranginui is the Sky Father, primal parent with Papatūānuku and ancestor of the great atua who shape the living world. He is not simply a god who lives somewhere in the sky; he is the heavens themselves, stretched above the world after the separation of the first parents.
Ranginui at a Glance
| Tradition | Māori |
|---|---|
| Divine standing | Primal atua |
| Campaign alignment | Neutral |
| Portfolio | Sky, heavens, celestial order, divine ancestry, distance, light and the space above the living world |
| Consort | Papatūānuku |
| Children | Tāne, Tāwhirimātea, Tangaroa, Tūmatauenga, Rongo, Haumia and other atua in different traditions |
| Sacred signs | Unusual stars, clear openings in cloud, layered skies, impossible celestial alignments and shafts of light reaching places that should be shadowed |
| Pantheon plane | Hawaiki — The Ancestral Isles, within Ossa — The Living and Remembering Sea in Arborea; this is a pantheon nexus, not a limit on Ranginui’s identity as the sky |
| Campaign present | Active through the heavens, celestial signs and the continuing separation between sky and earth |
Divine Mechanics
Encounter role: Cosmic controller / celestial support. The statistics represent a divine manifestation, not the literal physical size of the sky. Each edition tab is standalone.
Ranginui
Huge Celestial (Deity), Neutral
Epic CR 36 (campaign-scale; PB +11)
AC 28 · HP 760 · Speed 60 ft., fly 180 ft. (hover)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 (+10) | 26 (+8) | 34 (+12) | 30 (+10) | 34 (+12) | 34 (+12) |
Saving Throws Str +21, Con +23, Int +21, Wis +23, Cha +23. Skills Insight +23, Perception +23, Religion +21.
Damage Resistances cold, lightning, radiant; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks. Condition Immunities Charmed, Frightened, Grappled, Prone, Restrained.
Damage Immunities poison
Senses Truesight 1 mile, Passive Perception 33. Languages all; telepathy 5 miles.
Traits
Divine Rank 17. Ranginui is a greater deity on the campaign deity scale.
Legendary Resistance (4/Day). If Ranginui fails a saving throw, Ranginui can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Resistance. Ranginui has Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
The Sky Encompasses. Ranginui can see any creature under open sky within 1 mile unless a deity of equal or greater rank conceals it.
Vault of Heaven. Allies within 120 feet have resistance to lightning, radiant and thunder damage and cannot be forcibly teleported.
Layers of the Heavens. At the start of his turn, Ranginui may become insubstantial until the start of his next turn, gaining resistance to all damage except force and psychic.
Actions
Multiattack. Ranginui makes three Hand of the High Sky attacks.
Hand of the High Sky. +23 to hit, reach 20 ft. or range 300 ft.; 33 (4d10 + 11) force plus 22 (4d10) radiant damage.
Open Heaven (Recharge 5–6). A column of celestial light 40 feet wide and 300 feet high appears at a point within 300 feet. Hostile creatures in it make a DC 29 Constitution save, taking 66 (12d10) radiant damage and becoming Blinded until the end of their next turn on a failure, half damage on a success.
Separate Earth and Sky (1/Day). Ranginui creates a 120-foot-radius zone where gravity reverses or intensifies at his choice for 1 minute. Creatures entering or starting there make a DC 29 Strength save or are moved 60 feet upward or pinned Prone to the ground.
Legendary Actions
- Celestial Sight. Ranginui reveals one invisible or hidden creature within 300 feet.
- Sky Step. Ranginui teleports up to 90 feet to a space he can see under open sky.
- Falling Light (Costs 2). One creature within 180 feet takes 36 (8d8) radiant damage, Dexterity DC 29 half.
Mythic Trait — The Heavens Remain. The first time Ranginui reaches 0 hit points, he instead regains 380 hit points. The sky becomes brilliantly clear within 1 mile and he immediately uses Open Heaven.
Ranginui — Pathfinder 1e
CR 35; N Huge outsider (divine, extraplanar)
Init +12; Senses true seeing 1 mile; Perception +58. AC 61; hp 770.
Fort +42, Ref +37, Will +43; DR 25/epic; SR 49.
Domains Air, Knowledge, Sun, Weather. Subdomains Wind, Memory, Light, Storms.
Sky Encompasses (Su). Ranginui perceives all creatures beneath open sky within 1 mile as though using true seeing.
Layers of Heaven (Su). Three times per day Ranginui becomes incorporeal for 1 round and may move through creatures and objects.
Spell-Like Abilities CL 35th. At will—daylight, divination, true seeing, wind walk; 3/day—control weather, sunbeam, plane shift; 1/day—gate, miracle.
Complete Pathfinder 1e Statistics
Init +12; Aura divine presence 120 ft.; Perception +37.
DEFENSE AC 61, touch 35, flat-footed 53; hp 770; Fort +41, Ref +37, Will +41; defensive abilities divine resilience, freedom of movement; DR 25/epic; SR 49; immune disease, fear, poison; resist acid 20, cold 20, electricity 20, fire 20.
OFFENSE Speed 50 ft.; Melee Hand of the High Sky +62/+57/+52/+47 (divine weapon damage plus portfolio energy); Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.; Special Attacks divine aura, mythic surge, portfolio powers.
STATISTICS Str 30, Dex 26, Con 34, Int 30, Wis 34, Cha 34; Base Atk +48; CMB +60; CMD 78; Feats Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Critical (Hand of the High Sky), Weapon Focus (Hand of the High Sky), Greater Weapon Focus (Hand of the High Sky), Quicken Spell-Like Ability; Skills Acrobatics +33, Diplomacy +37, Intimidate +37, Knowledge (planes) +35, Knowledge (religion) +35, Perception +37, Sense Motive +37, Spellcraft +35, Survival +37; Languages all, telepathy 1 mile; SQ divine rank 17, immortality, portfolio sense, remote communication.
Ranginui — D&D 3.5e
Greater Deity; Divine Rank 17; N Huge Outsider (Extraplanar)
CR 36; Hit Dice 48d8+624; AC 63.
Portfolio sky, heavens, celestial order and divine ancestry. Domains Air, Knowledge, Sun, Weather.
Salient Divine Abilities. Alter Reality, Divine Air Mastery, Divine Radiance, See Magic, Travel.
Portfolio Sense. Ranginui senses major celestial events, disturbances of the heavens and acts involving his divine descendants up to seventeen weeks before or after they occur.
Spell-Like Abilities. At will—daylight, divination, true seeing, wind walk; 3/day—control weather, sunbeam, plane shift; 1/day—gate, miracle. Caster level 36th.
Complete D&D 3.5e Statistics
Initiative +12; Speed 50 ft.; Armor Class 61, touch 35, flat-footed 53; Base Attack/Grapple +48/+66; Attack Hand of the High Sky +62 melee; Full Attack Hand of the High Sky +62/+57/+52/+47; Space/Reach 15 ft./15 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 50, immortality, remote sensing, portfolio sense.
Saves Fort +41, Ref +37, Will +41; Abilities Str 30, Dex 26, Con 34, Int 30, Wis 34, Cha 34; Skills Acrobatics +33, Diplomacy +37, Intimidate +37, Knowledge (planes) +35, Knowledge (religion) +35, Perception +37, Sense Motive +37, Spellcraft +35, Survival +37; Feats Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Critical (Hand of the High Sky), Weapon Focus (Hand of the High Sky), Greater Weapon Focus (Hand of the High Sky), Quicken Spell-Like Ability, Epic Prowess, Overwhelming Critical.
Environment divine realm and portfolio-aligned sites; Organization unique; Challenge Rating 36; Treasure divine relics; Alignment as listed; Advancement —.
Worship in the Living World
Ranginui is encountered through the sky itself: light, stars, weather, distance and the sense of an immense vault above every journey. The page does not assume one universal cult. In play, communities may address Ranginui through local whakapapa, sky signs, navigation or rites connected with his children.
What matters is scale. Ranginui reminds mortals that their lives occur beneath a shared heaven even when their lands, lineages and divine obligations differ.
Mythic Identity
Te Ara identifies Ranginui as the Sky Father and primal parent with Papatūānuku. Their children live in darkness between them until Tāne and his brothers separate the pair, raising the heavens and creating the world of light.
Traditions also speak of layered heavens—ten or twelve in different accounts—and of Tāne climbing upward to obtain baskets of knowledge. Ranginui is therefore both the immediate sky and the vast structure of the heavens beyond it.
Pantheon Plane: Hawaiki and Ossa
Hawaiki — The Ancestral Isles and Ossa — The Living and Remembering Sea form the pantheon’s great ancestral nexus in Arborea. Ranginui is not confined inside that realm: the sky arches above Hawaiki just as it does above the mortal world.
Voyagers in Ossa sometimes say the stars above Hawaiki are not merely distant lights but openings into higher heavens. Whether that is literally true depends on which celestial road Ranginui allows to remain open.
What Is Ranginui Doing Now?
Several stars have begun appearing in the daytime above Aotearoa and Hawaiki at exactly the same moment. Navigators recognise none of them.
At night, the new stars form a ladder-like pattern rising northward through the sky. Tāwhirimātea’s winds avoid it. Birds associated with Tāne gather beneath it.
Some believe Ranginui is opening a path upward. Others fear something is descending.
Domain Spells and Divine Gifts
Suggested 5.5e domains: Light, Knowledge, Tempest. PF1e / 3.5e domains: Air, Knowledge, Sun, Weather.
1st: guiding bolt, feather fall · 2nd: augury, see invisibility · 3rd: daylight, fly · 4th: divination · 5th: scrying · 6th: sunbeam, true seeing · 7th: plane shift · 8th: control weather, sunburst · 9th: foresight, gate.
Divine Relic — Te Kōhatu o Ngā Rangi
The Stone of the Heavens is an original blue-grey relic marked with tiny points of light that change with the night sky. The bearer always knows direction under an open sky. Once per week, the stone can reveal a celestial route to a known plane or sacred site, granting advantage on the next attempt to travel there.
Regional Effects
- The Sky Is Readable. Creatures proficient in navigation can determine direction and approximate time even through cloud.
- False Stars Fail. Illusions placed in the sky flicker or drift out of alignment with real celestial motion.
- High Places Listen. Messages spoken from exposed peaks can sometimes be heard by intended recipients under the same sky miles away.
Relationships
Papatūānuku: the Earth Mother from whom Ranginui is separated; their relationship remains the central divide of the created world.
Tāne Mahuta: the son who forces sky and earth apart and creates the space in which life can flourish.
Tāwhirimātea: the son who refuses the separation and remains especially close to Ranginui through wind and weather.
Use Ranginui Tonight
The Daytime Stars
Unknown stars appear at noon and form a route visible from both Aotearoa and Hawaiki.
The Missing Heaven
One layer of the sky vanishes from ritual visions, and diviners disagree on whether it has been sealed or stolen.
The Sky Comes Lower
Clouds descend until they brush rooftops, and every tall tree bends as though supporting weight.
The Celestial Road
A path of stars opens only to travellers carrying knowledge that has never been written down.
Deep Link Dive
Hawaiki and Ossa
See how the ancestral isles sit beneath Ranginui’s sky.
Plane Shift
Turn celestial roads into playable planar travel.
Foresight
Connect celestial signs with high-level predictive magic.
Cleric
Build divine servants around sky, knowledge and ancestry.
Salient Divine Abilities
Continue into primal deity-scale powers.
True Neutral
Read the campaign alignment framework used for this manifestation.
Sources and Licensing
Te Ara identifies Ranginui as the Sky Father, primal parent with Papatūānuku, and the heaven raised away from the earth during creation. It also records traditions of layered heavens and Tāne’s ascent for knowledge.
Te Ara — Ranginui, the sky · Te Ara — Ranginui and Papatūānuku as first parents
The cultural and mythological material is presented from the cited sources. Encounter statistics, relics, regional effects and adventure material are original fantasy-RPG adaptations. Edition names identify rules compatibility; they do not claim the traditional narratives originate in those game systems.