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avatar_Ridureyu

Dinosaurs in Dungeons & Dragons

Started by Ridureyu, February 20, 2014, 09:23:32 AM

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Ridureyu

Dungeons & Dragons has always had dinosaurs.  They have also pretty much unchangingly been based on older models - tripod T-Rexes, scaly raptors, etc.  That's the way it has been, and the way it shall be.  Players know this, and are quite resistant to change (you should see the screaming whenever a rule changes).  Nobody really expects accuracy, they just want the coolness of riding on an Allosaurus.  That said, you CAN make them more accurate in description if you want, since monsters are just a bunch of numerical stats.

But in order to try to differentiate D&D dinos from real ones, the people behind this game have done a few things.  One of them is to make up a few custom dinosaurs - as said on Wikipedia , "Some of the dinosaurs used in D&D, such as Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus rex, and Ankylosaurus, are real ones which used to exist on earth. Others, such as the Bloodstriker, Fleshraker and Swindlespitter from the Monster Manual III, though labeled as dinosaurs, are made up, and as such are likely better regarded as monsters."

Another method has been to rename them entirely and see if people notice - 4th Edition, for example, folded carnivorous dinos into the "Drakes" category (a bunch of almost-dragons), while some of the bigger and heavier herbivores became "Behemoths."  This fooled nobody.

Dungeons & Dragons had a pretty good run of prepainted miniatures between 2003 and 2010 (they're coming back next year, too).  Occasionally, they included dinosaur miniatures, which is just confusing - you can easily get dinos in the appropriate scale for cheap, while plenty of unique D&D monsters went unproduced.  It only happened a few times, though, and at least twice it was justified.  An interesting thing to note is how much each "dinosaur" differed from its real-world counterpart.  So let's have a look!


First up is the Fiendish Tyrannosaurus.  The inaccuracies on this one make sense, though - "Fiendish" means that its DNA, in one way or another, has been mixed with the essence of the Abyss or Hell.  To quote a cheesy old movie, this is literally a Devil Dinosaur.  Fiendish creatures tend to be red, spiky, horned, or just plain monstrous.  It's surprising that he doesn't have big horns on his head!  Also, Celestial and Fiendish Tyrannosauruses are on the Summon Monster list, so including one did make some sense.



Next up is the Clawfoot Rider.  Again, this one made sense as it could not be easily reproduced with a dime store toy. Essentially, some Halflings have tamed "Clawfoot" Drakes (Velociraptors) as mounts.  It's a Hobbit riding a Velociraptor, folks.  This is a thing of wonder and joy.



And now we have the "Macetail Behemoth."  Three guesses as to which dinosaur they meant, and the first two don't count.  This is one of the ones where they should have given the slot to a more-needed monster, and left people to buy their own "macetails" elsewhere.  Still, despite the inaccuracies, he has a nice color scheme and texturing, and looks cool somehow.



The "Bloodspike Behemoth" is an extraordinarily plain Stegosaurus that was also an extraordinarily forgettable figure really near the end of the line.



And finally, released in the final set before the line ended/went on hiatus, is the "Trihorn Behemoth."  This one is especially mystifying, as it took up a Huge slot (just like the Tyrannosaur), and there were not many of those. Considering that this set was the last gasp for a long while, nobody can figure out why we got the Triceratops and not, say, a Winter Owlbear or Soulspike Devourer or Elder White Dragon.  Also, it looks less like a real Triceratops than the Fiendish Tyrannosaurus, even being the wrong size (in-scale, this thing is as tall at the shoulders as the T-Rex).  The horns are crazy long, the hide is baggy and leathery, the crest is Styracosaurus-esque with black spots, the back has a ridge of spikes, and the eyes are pure evil.  Crazy!  Just crazy!




Iguanocolossus

Frankly, I'd bring my own minis for dinosaurs. Maybe that way our party can fight a Tyrannosaurus...

Blade-of-the-Moon

I have a spare Fiendish Tyrannosaurus if interested. Was bought in a lot of Dragons which I've already sold.

Sauropodlet

Quote from: Ridureyu on February 20, 2014, 09:23:32 AM
Dungeons & Dragons had a pretty good run of prepainted miniatures between 2003 and 2010 (they're coming back next year, too).  Occasionally, they included dinosaur miniatures, which is just confusing - you can easily get dinos in the appropriate scale for cheap...

So what lines produce decent-quality dinosaur figures in the right scale (1/72 should be about right, maybe even go up to 1/60 if you're using 'heroic scale' (i.e. 28mm instead of 25mm figures)?

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