Height & weight ratios

[Boll Weevil]

Let's say you are building a character who is 9 feet tall. Is there a guideline for determining how much he/she would weigh? The Growth chart helps but a more complete chart or, better yet, a formula would be great. I have always felt the Growth chart was a little heavy-handed in determining a Grown character's weight.

This character specifically is a brick on the order of Grond in my campaign world. Even if he were 6 feet tall he would weigh a bunch.

Has anyone figured out a good way to determine these things?

[transmetahuman]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

1) Find someone of normal scale whose build is as close as possible to the giant character's build, and whose height and weight you know. Call those h and w.

 

2) Divide the giant character's height (H) by the normal guy's height (h) to find the height multiple (call it x).

 

3) Find the cube of x and multiply it by the weight of the normal guy. The weight of the giant guy: W = x^3 * w.

 

Or W = (H/h)^3 * w.

 

Not much help for Grond or other nonhumanoids, but it could get you in the ballpark.

[Boll Weevil]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

Cool idea and repped! I went to some wrestling site (shiver) and got the stats of a typical wrestler. Some guy i never heard of is 77 inches tall and weighs 300 pounds. Wombat is 109 inches tall. 77/109 is an X factor of 1.416ish. X^3 *300 is 851 pounds. That seems reasonable to me.

[Narratio]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

Try it in kilograms and metres. At some point in time the US is going to have to go metric to meet the rest of the world.

[Boll Weevil]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

Try it in kilograms and metres. At some point in time the US is going to have to go metric to meet the rest of the world.

No thanks. If I play a game outside the US I will consider it, otherwise there is little point. Perhaps I should list the height in furlongs and the weight in stone.

[BNakagawa]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

Cool idea and repped! I went to some wrestling site (shiver) and got the stats of a typical wrestler. Some guy i never heard of is 77 inches tall and weighs 300 pounds. Wombat is 109 inches tall. 77/109 is an X factor of 1.416ish. X^3 *300 is 851 pounds. That seems reasonable to me.

 

many wrestling organizations are given to exaggerations where measurements are concerned.

 

A good source for accurate data on athletes is the NFL scouting combines.

 

You can try to narrow your search by focussing on the type of build that most resembles your character. Martial artists would be roughly analogous to defensive backs or safeties, bricks would be roughly analogous to linemen.

[Houston GM]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

DENSITY

 

A lot of heroes aren't made of flesh and bone. After you come up with a W from TransMetahuman's formula, you can multiply it with the density of whatever substance your hero is made of. Here are some samples below.

 

Aluminum 2.7

Basalt 3

Diamond 3.5

Granite 2.7

Ice 0.9

Iron & Steel 7.9

Titanium 4.5

Water 1

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

DENSITY

 

A lot of heroes aren't made of flesh and bone. After you come up with a W from TransMetahuman's formula, you can multiply it with the density of whatever substance your hero is made of. Here are some samples below.

 

Aluminum 2.7

Basalt 3

Diamond 3.5

Granite 2.7

Ice 0.9

Iron & Steel 7.9

Titanium 4.5

Water 1

 

Cool.

[wrestlinggeek]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

I also like using wrestlers as an example of "A guy this tall with this build should weigh around this." Yes, they are exagerated, but guess what? The PCs are superhuman, and so probably should be a little heavier, a little denser (physically, not mentally; although I've played some characters with that, too) than normal humans.

[David Johnston]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

No thanks. If I play a game outside the US I will consider it' date=' otherwise there is little point. Perhaps I should list the height in furlongs and the weight in stone.[/quote']

 

My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that the way I likes it!

--Grandpa Simpson

[Blade]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that the way I likes it!

--Grandpa Simpson

 

And it tops out at 40K Furlongs per fortnight.....

[Stormraven]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

I picked up - no longer sure where - the following equation for a rough estimate.

 

((Inches of Height x 0.08898)^2)*(Inches of Height))x0.00136)x47

 

That is, in plain language, Height in inches, times .08898, the product is then squared. That result is multipled once more by the height in inches. The result of that is multipled by .00136, then multiplied by 47 (roughly the density of water).

 

That calculation puts our 9' tall person at 638 lbs (or 289 kg)

[Boll Weevil]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

Ooh, according to the official Andre the Giant website (I can honestly say I have never started a post with that phrase), he was 7'4" and weighed 500 pounds. With Transmetahuman's calculation that makes 9'1" Wombat an impressive 950 pounds. You guys go ahead, I'll take the next elevator.

[Kirby]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

Try it in kilograms and metres. At some point in time the US is going to have to go metric to meet the rest of the world.

[serious]The US tried it and found it unattractive.[/serious]

[Humor]French is no longer the international language. English is the international language now for a reason. [/humor]

 

For height and weight, I've heard double the height, triple the weight. For Andre the Giant, remember that he wasn't all muscle, though he was all loveable.

 

For a 9' person, maybe use 2/3 of that formula from the height of a 6' person that you're representing. So Wombat = 2/3 3xHeight. With 2/3 x 3 = 2, then double the height of a 6' tall person that has the same build you're looking for and add or subtract pounds as desired.

 

YMMV (I guess here that means "Your Mass May Very," though really it's probably density.)

[Tigereye]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

A lot of heroes aren't made of flesh and bone. After you come up with a W from TransMetahuman's formula, you can multiply it with the density of whatever substance your hero is made of. Here are some samples below.

 

Aluminum 2.7

Basalt 3

Diamond 3.5

Granite 2.7

Ice 0.9

Iron & Steel 7.9

Titanium 4.5

Water 1

 

to which we can also add:

Human flesh ca. 0.85-0.97 (why people float; remember, fat has less specific density than muscle)

Bronze 7.7

Tungsten 19.62

Uranium 18.7

Titanium 4.5

Lead 11.34

Yellow Northern Pine (a common North American wood) 0.54

 

good sites to find for such things:

www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/spec_gra.html

www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/spec_gra2.html

[transmetahuman]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

[serious]The US tried it and found it unattractive.[/serious]

[Humor]For height and weight, I've heard double the height, triple the weight. For Andre the Giant, remember that he wasn't all muscle, though he was all loveable.

 

For a 9' person, maybe use 2/3 of that formula from the height of a 6' person that you're representing. So Wombat = 2/3 3xHeight. With 2/3 x 3 = 2, then double the height of a 6' tall person that has the same build you're looking for and add or subtract pounds as desired.

 

YMMV (I guess here that means "Your Mass May Very," though really it's probably density.)

That double the height, triple the weight thing is definitely wrong. Mass goes up with volume, and volume goes up with the cube of any linear measurement.

 

Put a brick on the ground, then stack identical bricks to give it twice its height, width, and depth. You're using eight bricks. For 3x, you'll be using 27 bricks.

 

Granted, humans don't scale as neatly as that (anyone have any 3' tall kids with adult proportions they could weigh for us?), but it'll still be a lot closer than 2x = 3x.

[Boll Weevil]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

...anyone have any 3' tall kids with adult proportions they could weigh for us?.

Sorry, if my 4 yr old daughter was six feet tall her head would have it's own atmosphere.

[Blue Jogger]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

Ok, here's some stats.

 

Average woman - 5 feet 4 inches = 1.62052 meters

BMI 22 = 128.5 lbs ~ 58.29 kilos

 

Average man - 5 feet 9 inches = 1.75768 meters

BMI 22 = 149 lbs ~ 66.22 kilos

 

Average hero - 6 feet 7 inches = 2 meters

Weight - 220 lbs = 100 kilos

[Basil]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

That double the height' date=' triple the weight thing is definitely wrong. Mass goes up with volume, and volume goes up with the cube of any linear measurement.[/quote']

If, and only if, the dimensions (height, width, depth) keep the same ratios.

 

I have half-a dozen World Almanacs from the 1940's, 1960's, 1980's and 1990's that I have used in comparing the height/weight charts therein.

 

Let me point out something many people don't know: the height/weight charts you've seen here and there are made by insurance companies' statistics bureaus that look at the heights and weights of people and at those people's medical histories. They consistantly find a strong correlation between height/weight, and longevity & health.

 

I have used charts, as I was saying, to find the best-fit formulae. In particular, formulae of the form "weight equals (mumble) times height to the (whatsis) power." The "(whatsis)" always falls in the range of about 1.4 to 2.1

 

Thus, for healthy adult (and teen) humans, volume increases at clearly less than the cube of the height.

 

IOW, healthy tall people are skinnier than healthy short people.

 

Also, clearly, people aren't made out of brick. Except, of course, in RPGs.

[Kirby]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

That double the height, triple the weight thing is definitely wrong. Mass goes up with volume, and volume goes up with the cube of any linear measurement.

 

Put a brick on the ground, then stack identical bricks to give it twice its height, width, and depth. You're using eight bricks. For 3x, you'll be using 27 bricks.

 

Granted, humans don't scale as neatly as that (anyone have any 3' tall kids with adult proportions they could weigh for us?), but it'll still be a lot closer than 2x = 3x.

Well, I didn't say anything about doubling the width or depth. I merely stated it was something I had heard. It may be related to buildings or somesuch, though like you stated, humans don't scale like that, so the brick analogy isn't accurate.

 

Having stated that, I don't have any additional information to help with the situation other than the Growth chart and modifying it to fit what is being looked for.

[transmetahuman]

Re: Height & weight ratios

 

If, and only if, the dimensions (height, width, depth) keep the same ratios.

 

I have half-a dozen World Almanacs from the 1940's, 1960's, 1980's and 1990's that I have used in comparing the height/weight charts therein.

 

Let me point out something many people don't know: the height/weight charts you've seen here and there are made by insurance companies' statistics bureaus that look at the heights and weights of people and at those people's medical histories. They consistantly find a strong correlation between height/weight, and longevity & health.

 

I have used charts, as I was saying, to find the best-fit formulae. In particular, formulae of the form "weight equals (mumble) times height to the (whatsis) power." The "(whatsis)" always falls in the range of about 1.4 to 2.1

 

Thus, for healthy adult (and teen) humans, volume increases at clearly less than the cube of the height.

 

IOW, healthy tall people are skinnier than healthy short people.

 

Also, clearly, people aren't made out of brick. Except, of course, in RPGs.

The whole point of finding someone with the build you want and scaling it up, is that the proportions in all three dimensions will be the same when you scale the height up. The 12' tall guy's feet, fingers, nose, bones, etc. will be twice as long, wide and thick as his 6' tall model's feet, etc. Whether or not that build is realistic at that height is irrelevant to a superhero game, because you're starting off with the decision that that is his build. If you want a realistic 12' tall guy's weight , base it on a really skinny normal guy.