On Whales and Whalers - D&D 5e - pt.1

©Wizards of the Coast

Let's start in this way: whales should be left in peace. They should not be hunted, period. The IUCN has declared many of these animals at risk of extinction, due mainly to whaling during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. Today there are still countries that hunt whales with pathetic excuses. Stop whaling NOW.

Now that I've said what I think, please allow me to almost literally dive into some fantasy ideas.

Whaling (mainly because of Moby Dick) has always had an adventurous pull that, in all honesty, can't be denied. The idea of hunting giant, mysterious creatures is akin to both this romantic (although, as I said, murderous) view of whaling and TTRPGs like, you guessed it, D&D. So it would make perfect sense to have whalers in a fantasy D&D world. Maybe your party wishes to stop them and save the whales, or you are pirates who attack and sack a whaling ship. Or maybe you are in fact the whalers and have to hunt these giants, for profit or mere survival.

In D&D 5e there is only one kind of whale, the Orca (or Killer Whale, as native english speakers call it, a despicable name. For example, we are humans, not Killer Primates, see?). Actually it isn't even a proper whale, since Orcas are more related to Dolphins. This is... understandable. But we need more creatures for this kind of game, so I'm here to provide them. The afore mentioned Orca's statblock will be very useful, since I'm going to base all the other ones upon it. In my opinion we need are at least three: the Humpback Whale, the Sperm Whale and the Blue Whale. For each of this animals I'm aiming to create different versions, including maybe some zombie ones. Because c'mon, a Zombie Whale is a badass foe (and a perfect excuse to hunt it down without remorse).

Let's view the Orca on D&D Beyond.

©D&D Beyond

Here we see the distinctive traits that will be shared among our whales: Echolocation, Hold Breath and Keen Hearing. Attacks will change (Sperm Whales surely will bite but also slam with their tail or even ram); ACs should remain low, I'd say never above 15; HP should be massive, especially on Blue Whales. Speaking of which, let's start with them.



I made a Young and an Adult Blue Whale statblocks. Young can fit in the Huge size category (yeah, they are as big as Orcas), while Adult are necessarily Gargantuan, up to 100 ft. in length! They are not aggressive and this is reflected by their not so fantastic attack action. Nonetheless, their impressive amount of HP and their overall speed (which I slightly toned down from their insane average of 20Km/h, with peaks at 50Km/h) should be feared.

Young Blue Whale on D&D Beyond

Adult Blue Whale on D&D Beyond

Let me know what you think about these creatures, while I "produce" the next batch of whales' statblocks! Did someone say "humpback"?

Be kind to each other.

Daniele