Whale beast

The bizarre creature resembles a sharp-toothed whale covered in fine scales instead of skin. Its fins and flukes are long and narrow, and it moves towards you with a feral grace.

Originally Posted by demiurge1138 of the En World forums.

On this Thread

Time and again, foul things attacked me,
lurking and stalking, but I lashed out,
gave as good as I got with my sword.
My flesh was not for feasting on,
there would be no monsters gnawing and gloating
over their banquet at the bottom of the sea.

Beowulf Lines 559-564

The whale-beasts live in the cold waters off of Geatland, where their normal prey is mostly seals, dolphins and large fish. Solitary whale-beasts will even leap out of the water to grab low-flying sea birds. They do, however, attack swimmers if they get the chance, and have been known to follow ships for days in order to eat refuse (or its passengers should it happen to sink). The whale-beast’s similarity to mundane whales is the matter of much conjecture; many sages believe that the whale-beasts owe their scaled hides and dim Intelligence to some distant draconic ancestor.

The hero Beowulf fought several whale-beasts in his earlier days; once, a swimming contest that lasted five days was forcefully terminated by an attack from a pod of whale-beasts. Beowulf killed all nine of them, as he had worn his chainmail and sword to protect himself and to prove his strength.

Whale-beast
Huge magical beast
Hit Dice	9d10+54 (103 hp)
Initiative	+2
Speed	Swim 50ft  (10 squares)
Armor Class	18 (-2 size, +2 Dexterity, +8 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple	+9/+26
Attack	Bite +16 melee (2d6+13)
Full Attack	Bite +16 melee (2d6+13)
Space/Reach	15ft/10ft
Special Qualities	Blindsight 120ft, hold breath, Low-Light  Vision
Saves	Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +6
Abilities	Strength 29, Dexterity 15, Constitution 23, Intelligence 3, Wisdom 16, Charisma 6
Skills	Jump +11, Listen + 13, Spot +13, Swim +17
Feats	Diehard, Dodge, Endurance, Run
Environment	Cold aquatic
Organization	Solitary or pod (6-11)
Challenge Rating	6
Advancement	10-18  HD (Huge), 19-27 HD (Gargantuan)

Combat

Whale-beasts are rarely solitary, and they will only attack humans in numbers. Commonly, two or three whale-beasts will Swim in and bite a foe, and retreat while another wave of whale-beasts attacks. They are fearless in combat, and rarely retreat unless dying.

Blindsight (Ex) Whale-beasts can “see” using high-frequency sounds inaudible to most creatures. This allows them to locate creatures and objects within 120ft. A silence spell negates this and forces them to rely on their vision, which is roughly as good as a human’s.

Hold Breath (Ex) A whale-beast can hold its breath for a number or rounds equal to 8x its Constitution score before it risks drowning.

Skills A whale-beast has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform a special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

A whale-beast has a +4 bonus to all Spot and Listen checks as long as its blindsight is functioning.

A whale-beast has a +4 bonus to all Jump checks, due to their muscular tails.