Cloacina — Roman Divine Power of Purification and the Cloaca Maxima
Cloacina at a Glance
Tradition
Roman
Divine standing
Demigod-level civic divine power
Campaign alignment
Lawful Neutral
Portfolio
Drainage, sewers, waste removal, civic sanitation, purification and buried infrastructure
Sacred place
The Shrine of Cloacina in the Roman Forum above the drainage system connected with the Cloaca Maxima
Emblems
Round shrine, flowing drain, myrtle and clean water emerging from darkness
Favoured weapon
Staff
Domains
Purification · Water · Community · Protection
Later identification
Venus Cloacina
Related Roman powers
Roman Pantheon · Cloaca Maxima · Drainage · Purification · Civic Sanitation
Cloacina is the Roman divine power of the Cloaca Maxima, later identified with Venus and interpreted through purification. The safest historical order is important: she is first the divinity of the great drain; Venus Cloacina and cleansing explanations develop around that identity later.
Divine Mechanics
Cloacina — 5.5e Rules-Facing Form
Medium Celestial (Divine Power), Lawful Neutral
CR 32 (custom epic) · PB +9 · Campaign Divine Tier 25
AC 24 · HP 470 · Speed 40 ft., swim 60 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 (+5) | 24 (+7) | 28 (+9) | 24 (+7) | 28 (+9) | 24 (+7) |
Saving Throws Con +18, Int +16, Wis +18
Skills Investigation +13, Medicine +15, Perception +15, Religion +13
Damage Resistances acid, poison, radiant; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Condition Immunities Poisoned
Senses Truesight 90 ft. · Languages all; telepathy 90 ft.
Traits
Legendary Resistance (5/Day). If Cloacina fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.
Purifying Flow. Nonmagical water within 30 feet is cleansed of ordinary filth, sewage-borne disease and poison.
City Beneath the City. Cloacina always knows the direction of the nearest connected drain, sewer, cistern outlet or underground watercourse within 1 mile.
Divine Spellcasting
Wisdom is Cloacina’s spellcasting ability (spell save DC 26, +18 to hit with spell attacks). She requires no material components.
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.
Water and Purification portfolio access: Create or Destroy Water, Purify Food and Drink, Lesser Restoration, Water Breathing, Dispel Magic, Remove Curse, Control Water, Freedom of Movement, Greater Restoration, Heal and Regenerate. Water has no official same-named 2024 Cleric domain on the live rules page, while Purification is a legacy 3.x domain; these are campaign deity portfolio spells here rather than official 2024 subclass lists.
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. Cloacina makes three Purifying Staff attacks.
Purifying Staff. Attack: +18 to hit, reach 10 ft. Hit: 22 (3d8 + 9) bludgeoning plus 14 (4d6) radiant damage.
Flush the Corruption (Recharge 5–6). A 60-foot line of rushing water forces creatures to make a DC 26 Constitution save. On a failure they take 45 (10d8) radiant and bludgeoning damage and one poison, disease or magical contamination affecting them is ended; hostile creatures are also pushed 30 feet.
Bonus Actions
Drain-Walk. Cloacina teleports up to 60 feet between two connected drains, channels or bodies of flowing wastewater she can see.
Reactions
Cleanse the Wound. When a creature within 60 feet takes poison or necrotic damage, Cloacina reduces that damage by 22 (4d10).
Legendary Actions
- Move. Move up to half Speed.
- Divine Strike. Make one Purifying Staff attack.
- Open the Channel (Costs 2). A 20-foot-square area within 60 feet becomes flooded and Difficult Terrain until the end of Cloacina’s next turn.
Cloacina — Pathfinder 1e
Lawful Neutral Medium outsider (extraplanar); campaign divine manifestation
CR 32 (custom epic)
Init +11 · Senses darkvision 120 ft., true seeing; Perception +44 · Aura purifying flow 60 ft.
Defense
AC 50, touch 30, flat-footed 43 · hp 820
Fort +35 · Ref +31 · Will +35
DR 20/epic · SR 43 · Immune disease, poison · Resist acid 20, cold 20, electricity 20, fire 20
Offense
Speed 40 ft., swim 60 ft.
Melee +5 purifying staff +42/+37/+32/+27 (1d6+12 plus 4d6 divine)
Space 5 ft. · Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Flush the Corruption, Open the Channel
Statistics
Str 20 · Dex 24 · Con 28 · Int 24 · Wis 28 · Cha 24
Base Atk +32 · CMB +37 · CMD 86
Skills Heal +44, Knowledge (engineering) +40, Knowledge (local) +40, Knowledge (religion) +40, Perception +44, Sense Motive +44, Spellcraft +40, Swim +45
Feats Alertness, Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (control water), Skill Focus (Heal), Toughness, Weapon Focus (staff)
Special Abilities
Purifying Flow (Su). Nonmagical water within 60 feet is cleansed of ordinary filth, sewage-borne disease and mundane poison. Magical poison, curses and supernatural contamination are not automatically ended; Cloacina may attempt to dispel them as greater dispel magic.
City Beneath the City (Su). Cloacina knows the direction and approximate distance of every connected drain, sewer, cistern outlet and underground watercourse within 1 mile.
Flush the Corruption (Su) (Recharge 1d4 rounds). Cloacina releases a 60-foot line of purifying water. Creatures in the line take 12d8 bludgeoning and divine damage, Reflex DC 37 half. A willing creature in the line may instead end one poison, disease or contamination effect. Hostile creatures that fail are pushed 30 feet.
Open the Channel (Su). As a swift action, Cloacina floods a 20-foot-square area within 60 feet for 1 round. It becomes difficult terrain; creatures of her choice ignore it.
Drain-Walk (Su). As a move action, Cloacina teleports up to 120 feet between connected drains, channels or flowing wastewater she can perceive.
Domain Spell Mastery
Caster level 32nd · concentration +41.
Water: Obscuring Mist, Fog Cloud, Water Breathing, Control Water, Ice Storm, Cone of Cold, Elemental Body IV (water only), Horrid Wilting, Elemental Swarm (water only).
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.
Purification (campaign PF1e conversion): Purify Food and Drink, Delay Poison, Remove Disease, Neutralize Poison, Break Enchantment, Heal, Greater Restoration, Sunburst, Miracle.
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.
Cloacina — D&D 3.5e
Demigod; Divine Rank 5; Lawful Neutral Medium Outsider (Extraplanar)
CR 38 · Divine Rank 5
Initiative +11 · Speed 40 ft., swim 60 ft.
AC 47, touch 29, flat-footed 40 · hp 620
Base Attack/Grapple +40/+45
Attack +5 purifying staff +50 melee (1d6+12 plus 4d6 divine)
Full Attack +5 purifying staff +50/+45/+40/+35 melee
Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.
Fort +32 · Ref +29 · Will +34
Str 20 · Dex 24 · Con 28 · Int 24 · Wis 30 · Cha 24
Defenses and Divine Qualities
DR 15/epic · SR 37 · Immune disease, poison · Resist acid 20, cold 20, electricity 20, fire 20.
Cloacina possesses divine awareness of drains and watercourses within 1 mile and the immortality of the divine self. Defeating this stat block does not automatically destroy the divine power permanently.
Skills
Concentration +52, Heal +58, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) +50, Knowledge (local) +50, Knowledge (religion) +50, Listen +55, Search +50, Sense Motive +55, Spellcraft +50, Spot +55, Swim +48.
Feats
Alertness, Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (control water), Skill Focus (Heal), Spell Focus (Abjuration), Toughness, Weapon Focus (quarterstaff).
Divine Abilities
Published-framework abilities: Divine Healing and Divine Skill Focus (Heal).
Campaign divine abilities: Purifying Presence, Watercourse Awareness and Alter Reality limited to purification, water, sanitation, warding and civic-infrastructure themes. These campaign abilities are not presented as published 3.5e salient divine abilities.
Domain Spell-Like Abilities
Caster level 15th · save DC 22 + spell level unless the spell has no saving throw.
Water: Obscuring Mist, Fog Cloud, Water Breathing, Control Water, Ice Storm, Cone of Cold, Acid Fog, Horrid Wilting, Elemental Swarm (water only).
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.
Purification: Nimbus of Light, Deific Vengeance, Recitation, Castigate, Dance of the Unicorn, Fires of Purity, Righteous Wrath of the Faithful, Sunburst, Visage of the Deity, Greater. This is legacy third-party/older d20 material and is retained with that provenance.
Regional Effects
Where Cloacina’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.
Flow Restores Itself
Drains, sewers and channels resist ordinary blockages; malicious obstructions are outlined by unusual foam or odour.
Filth Cannot Hide
Contaminated water and magically disguised pollution become visible as discolouration under open light.
Clean Boundaries
Disease spread solely through stagnant waste or fouled runoff is suppressed around a functioning consecrated drainage system.
Cloacina in Roman Religion
The Shrine of Cloacina stood in the Forum near the Basilica Aemilia above drainage associated with the Cloaca Maxima. The earliest safe description is straightforward: Cloacina is the divinity of the sewer.
Later Romans identified her with Venus and called her Venus Cloacina, while antiquarian explanations connected the name to purification. Those later layers matter, but the campaign keeps the buried civic infrastructure at the centre rather than pretending Cloacina began as a generic cleansing goddess.
What Is Cloacina Doing Right Now?
Growing cities are producing more waste than old drains were built to carry. Cloacina becomes active where rulers invest in palaces and walls while ignoring the channels beneath the streets.
Her signs are practical and unpleasant: drains that reverse direction, foul water that refuses to enter one district, or a plague that stops exactly at the boundary of a repaired sewer system.
Worship in the Campaign Present
Sewer workers, drain builders, bath attendants, physicians and civic engineers leave small offerings to Cloacina. Her worship is rarely glamorous, which is exactly why it persists among people who know how quickly a city becomes uninhabitable when sanitation fails.
Venus Cloacina rites are more ceremonial, but even there the underlying lesson remains physical: beauty and civic order require systems that carry corruption away.
Domains, Domain Spells and Divine Gifts
Cloacina’s divine spheres are Purification, Water, Community and Protection.
Purification
The live Purification Domain is legacy 3.x material. In modern editions it remains a campaign portfolio sphere unless a deliberate conversion is being used. Cloacina’s purification is physical and civic: poison, disease, fouled water, blocked drains and the removal of corruption from shared infrastructure.
Water
Water is an official Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e domain. It has no official same-named 2014/2024 Cleric domain on the live site, so modern Cloacina uses water-themed portfolio spell access rather than a false official subclass.
Community
Community expresses the shared consequence of sanitation: one repaired drain protects a neighbourhood, while one poisoned cistern endangers everyone.
Protection
Protection covers warding water supplies, shielding workers and preventing contamination before healing is required.
Divine Gifts
Read the Drain
By touching a channel or pipe, the devotee can tell which direction it flows and whether it is blocked, poisoned or carrying disease.
Clean Passage
Once per long rest, the devotee and up to five companions can move through sewage or foul water for 10 minutes without becoming contaminated by mundane disease.
Artifacts and Relics
The Forum Grate
Major Divine Artifact · Wondrous Item (grate)
Attunement: None. The Grate binds itself to a drain, sewer mouth, aqueduct outlet or civic channel rather than a bearer.
The Forum Grate separates necessary filth from deliberate contamination. Waste water can pass; poison, corpses and sabotage cannot.
5.5e
Selective Passage. Ordinary sewage, rainwater and harmless debris pass through freely. Deliberately introduced poison, disease-bearing corpses, sabotage devices and objects placed to block the channel stop against the Grate even when small enough to fit through it.
Purifying Flow. Water passing through loses mundane poison and disease. Magical contamination must succeed on a DC 20 spellcasting ability check against the Grate or be suppressed for 24 hours.
Clear the Channel (1/Day). All mundane blockages within 300 feet downstream are broken apart and carried away without damaging the surrounding structure.
Pathfinder 1e
Major Artifact · CL 20th · overwhelming abjuration and transmutation. Mundane poison and disease are removed from water passing through; deliberate sabotage is physically arrested. 1/day: clear mundane blockages within 300 feet as a specialised stone shape/purify food and drink effect.
D&D 3.5e
Major Artifact · CL 20th · strong abjuration and transmutation. Mundane poison and disease are removed from passing water, while deliberate sabotage is stopped. 1/day: clear mundane blockages within 300 feet without harming the surrounding works.
Destroying the Grate
The Grate can be destroyed only when the lawful keepers of a city knowingly divert contamination from the rich into the homes of the poor and then seal the poisoned channel beneath the Grate. Ordinary corrosion and damage cannot destroy it.
The Myrtle Channel
Lesser Divine Relic · Wondrous Item (ritual channel)
During a civic cleansing, water running through the Channel turns clear when contamination is genuinely being removed and black when the cleansing merely moves the danger elsewhere. In PF1e and 3.5e this also grants a +4 sacred bonus on checks to locate the concealed source.
Relationships
Venus supplies the later Cloacina identification; Vesta represents the civic household above ground; Juturna clean springs and fountains; Mercury the trade and roads that depend on a functioning city.
Use Cloacina Tonight
The Sewer Runs Uphill
Waste begins flowing toward a magistrate’s villa instead of away from it.
The Clean District Is Guilty
One neighbourhood remains untouched by plague, and its drains reveal why.
Venus Beneath the Street
A forgotten shrine is uncovered during sewer repairs, and every nearby mirror fogs from the inside.
Deep Dive
Continue through the Roman Pantheon, Venus, Vesta, Juturna, 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
- Shrine of Venus Cloacina — Cloacina as divinity of the cloaca, later Venus identification and purification tradition.
Historical cult material is separated from campaign invention. The mechanics are original game material.
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. Water, Community and Protection follow the provenance stated on their linked domain pages; Purification is retained as legacy third-party/older d20 material and any PF1e or modern-D&D use of that sphere is explicitly a campaign conversion.
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