MM dinosaurs a bit disappointing?

[Dralnu]

The Monster Manual features only 6 dinosaurs, two pages. I think that's too few, but at least there's some variety.

What irks me are the stats. I'm no dinosaur expert, but some things look wrong to me. I think they've confused the Allosaurus with a Utahraptor. 60ft speed and a pounce attack? Utahraptors were warm-blooded, fast, and pounce to use those killer hind claws, I would think the allosaurus was considerably slower and used its bite primarily. The triceratops moving at 50ft sounds way too fast, especially if it's as fast as a t-rex. Pteranodon probably deserves more than a +1 Perception if its finding prey in the air.

EDIT: Also have trouble imagining an ankylosaurus moving as fast as a human.

I know, I know, D&D, fantasy, we don't know the facts about dinos, etc.. but D&D generally does an okay job statting out animals but these dinosaur stats look copy/paste levels of sloppy.

[Beleriphon]

The Monster Manual features only 6 dinosaurs, two pages. I think that's too few, but at least there's some variety.

What irks me are the stats. I'm no dinosaur expert, but some things look wrong to me. I think they've confused the Allosaurus with a Utahraptor. 60ft speed and a pounce attack? Utahraptors were warm-blooded, fast, and pounce to use those killer hind claws, I would think the allosaurus was considerably slower and used its bite primarily. The triceratops moving at 50ft sounds way too fast, especially if it's as fast as a t-rex. Pteranodon probably deserves more than a +1 Perception if its finding prey in the air.

EDIT: Also have trouble imagining an ankylosaurus moving as fast as a human.

I know, I know, D&D, fantasy, we don't know the facts about dinos, etc.. but D&D generally does an okay job statting out animals but these dinosaur stats look copy/paste levels of sloppy.

I think the movements are largely driven by the size of the dinosaurs. Lets keep in mind that a dinosaur would be massive, it wouldn't have to physically move its body quickly to cover ground quickly,

[Person_Man]

I'm AFB at the moment, but my guess is that they purposefully kept the variety and awesomeness of Beasts to a reasonable number so that Moon Druids wouldn't become ridiculous.

[Janus]

I'm AFB at the moment, but my guess is that they purposefully kept the variety and awesomeness of Beasts to a reasonable number so that Moon Druids wouldn't become ridiculous.
:eek:
You, sir, just made me want to play a Dino Druid.

[archaeo]

:eek:
You, sir, just made me want to play a Dino Druid.

Just remember that the Druid needs to have seen a beast before it can transform into one. You are going to need to tell your DM a very convincing story in order to make it part of the Druid's backstory, and otherwise just hope that they show up in the campaign at some point.

[Naanomi]

Just remember that the Druid needs to have seen a beast before it can transform into one. You are going to need to tell your DM a very convincing story in order to make it part of the Druid's backstory, and otherwise just hope that they show up in the campaign at some point.
Druid, background: Hermit. Hermit Secret: Knows the secret location of Dino Island

[rlc]

hermit makes sense for a druid background, too. like, criminal rogue or soldier fighter sense.

[hamishspence]

The Monster Manual features only 6 dinosaurs, two pages. I think that's too few, but at least there's some variety.

What irks me are the stats. I'm no dinosaur expert, but some things look wrong to me. I think they've confused the Allosaurus with a Utahraptor. 60ft speed and a pounce attack? Utahraptors were warm-blooded, fast, and pounce to use those killer hind claws, I would think the allosaurus was considerably slower and used its bite primarily.

Actually, Utahraptor was probably not all that fast - it had very thick leg bones:

http://www.dinosaurfact.net/Cretaceous/Utahraptor.php

The only proper specimen consists of claws from the feet & hands, leg bones, a partial skull & a few tailbones, but we can assume it was a formidable predator; differing from the established Deinonychus in size & little else. It was a fast animal compared to its cousins. The leg bones are twice as thick as the larger Allosaurus, which can range from 25 to 39 feet. This suggests the legs were built for strength more than speed, which means Utahraptor probably stalked its prey.

Same may have been true of deinonychosaurs in general:

http://dinogoss.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/waddle-achillobator-waddle.html