I'm adapting the AP to Eberron, and one of the flavor elements I've always really liked about the setting are the names given for dinosaur species. Since the Talenta halflings raise them as mounts and such dinosaurs are given descriptive names instead of Latin based scientific names - velociraptors become clawfeet, pteradactyls become glidewings, etc.
Since dinos figure so strongly into the Isle of Dread, I'd like to come up with some creative dino names for other species. For instance, I was thinking "clubtail" for anklyosaurus, and maybe "finback" or "sailback" for a dimetridon. It's been a long day at work, and I'm not feeling particularly creative, so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
It's not just an Eberron thing, the Latin names annoyed me to. I don't blame anyone for using them, because they gotta let us know what they are, but I won't use them in-game. I too will be using more descriptive names like "Swordtooth" or "Sailback".
By the way, I've got some player interest in playing Eberron, so I've been considering running the STAP there, but there's one thing holding me back. Have you found, or do you think, the common-ness of dinosaurs/thunderlizards in Eberron takes away any of the feeling of being in an alien land when the characters hit the Isle of Dread?
I would think that in a world where halfling tribes ride around on them, having them pop up on this island would be kind of ho-hum.
Any thoughts?
The relative commonality of dinosaurs in Eberron might take away from some of the exotica of the Isle of Dread. However, so far in my campaign I've not had too many dinosaurs show up, and the few that have were not tremendously large. Dinosaurs on mainland Khorvaire (at least in my campaign) are fairly limited to the Talenta plains, and tend to be in the Medium to Large size range. I'm planning to play up the "OMFG that thing is HUGE" aspect of the dinos on the Isle of Dread. Since it's going to be awhile before we even start the path, I won't know how this tactic works til then.
On a side note, your post got me to break out my Eberron campaign setting, and there is a side bar in the Dinosaur entry of the monster section (p.280) that gives common and draconic names for all the dinosaurs in the MM, MM2, and MM3 - so yay. I just have to come up with a few for the ones introduced in Dragon.
Creative Director
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Uh oh... my dinosaur rant got triggered again!
Personally, I don't understand the problem with using dinosaur names as they stand. The word "dinosaur" is latin, after all; why call them dinosaurs at all if you'r gonna make up goofy alternate names? Why not call them honkers, or terrible lizards, or land dragons, or battlegrowler scalestompers? For that matter, if you're afraid of using latin names in D&D, why are you using names like rakshasa, or tarrasque, or coyote in the game? Why are you using English names, like bears or dogs, for that matter?
My point is that dinosaur names are part of what makes them dinosaurs. The names have become commonplace for the more well-known dinosaurs, so they might as well be in English. If you say "You see a tyrannosaurus," everyone who plays D&D knows immediately what you're talking about. If you say, "You see a swordtooth titan," that causes a disconnect and reminds you that you're playing a game. Assuming everyone at the table knows what you're talking about.
More to the point... why make up names? They already have great names if you just translate the latin names. Tyrannosaurus becomes "tyrant lizard." Deinonychus becomes "terrible claw." And so on, and so on. Making up home-made names for them is as silly as calling a bear a "stubleg mauler" or a wolf a "barking loper" or a snake a "hissing crawler."
<deep breath> Ok. Rant over.
Oh snap! We made him rant!
I think the naming is a little more subtle than that. What's the Spanish word for bear? Oso. What's the Spanish word for diplodocus? Diplodocus. Some creatures have an identity of their own. Some creatures are known only by their scientific-granted appellations.
To take your argument the other way, how detached from a gaming environment do you come if you called a wolf a "lupine" or a bear an "ursine". It just doesn't feel like a natural world would address things by such clinical names.
By giving dinosaurs names that sound like what people would've called them if they actually encountered them, I believe you're making them a more involved part of the game world rather than just a clinical speciman.
::blink blink::
Dang, I'm a nerd.
However, you did unintentionally give an answer to the original question. The idea of doing straight-up translations of the dinosaurs' Latin names hadn't even occured to me. Brilliant!