A megaraptor has a +8 racial bonus on Hide, Jump, Listen, Spot, and Survival checks?

[eyebreaker7]

How does that whole Hide skill work for it? It's a big ol dinosaur. lol. Also if it gets +8 to listen, why shouldn't my goblin with the big ears get at least a 4? Or even just a +2? lol
Seriously though, the racial Hide bonus? How DOES it hide?

[Beni-Kujaku]

It is probably because he has a camo-colored skin. Plus it is an ambush predator‚ if it is in a forest and doesn't move‚ it will be pretty difficult to spot if you don't look too closely‚ compared to a human‚ who is pink and makes more noise when moving. (Note that the Hide bonus doesn't replace the size malus to Hide‚ it just mitigates it. The Megaraptor hides easier than other creatures of its side‚ but a halflinhalfling will still be harder to find)

Why can't you give arbitrary bonuses to a race? Because these are the rules. You can still houserule these bonuses‚ but the game hasn't been balanced with that in mind. And for the logical explanation‚ big ears do not necessarily translate to better hearing. For example‚ elephant do not have a particularly good hearing‚ and whales with no external ears have a very good one. Maybe your goblin uses these ears to convey emotions‚ or evacuate heat‚ or whatever more than hearing

[GeoffWatson]

It's so it gets decent skills even though it has low Int and therefore not many skill points.

Many of the monster stats are kludges like that, to get the numbers the writer wants.

[eyebreaker7]

For example‚ elephant do not have a particularly good hearing‚

Ah yes but the ears are flapped (is that a real word?) over so they are covering the hearing.

[hamishspence]

Given that Megaraptor was errataed downwards in size from Huge to Large, it should basically be thought of as like a reptilian tiger. Tigers are also Large and are also good at Hiding - though they tend to specialise in heavy undergrowth and tall grass, whereas the Megaraptor is statted as more of a generalist.

[Remuko]

Given that Megaraptor was errataed downwards in size from Huge to Large,

I did not know this! wow.

[eyebreaker7]

Given that Megaraptor was errataed downwards in size from Huge to Large

Where can I find the errata info?

[hamishspence]

Here:

http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/errata

However, the Hypertext SRD has stats with the errata already included (Deinonychus being Medium, instead of Large as in MM, Megaraptor being Large, instead of Huge as in MM).

https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dinosaur.htm

[Gnaeus]

Given that Megaraptor was errataed downwards in size from Huge to Large, it should basically be thought of as like a reptilian tiger. Tigers are also Large and are also good at Hiding - though they tend to specialise in heavy undergrowth and tall grass, whereas the Megaraptor is statted as more of a generalist.

Tigers are actually better at hiding than we give them credit for. Many deer in their habitat can’t see orange. From their prey’s perspective they are near invisible.

But anyway, yes, they are artificially upgraded to be relevant to 4-8th level parties.

[Particle_Man]

When did Jurassic Park come out? Maybe that had something to do with it. “Clever girl!” and all that.