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1/28/2015 12:30 pm  #1


Variant Height and Weight Rules

Jeff and Colin have already provided us with some great rules for determining height and weight (in the Player's Manual and one of the downloadable resources, respectively).  I think both give you a good range of reasonable results.  However, it does bug me a little that you have to make two or three rolls (and possibly apply percentages to the results) in both systems.  I initially thought I'd take a crack at some sort of cross-indexed table that generated both height and weight in a single roll.  But then I thought: you're already rolling a bunch of physical stats, so why make any more rolls for height or weight at all?

To use this system, first find the starting height and weight based on the race and gender of the character:

Amazon Female: 69”, 150 lbs.
Amazon Male: 66”, 130 lbs.
Atlantean, Common, Keltic, or Kimmeri-Keltic Female: 66”, 130 lbs.
Atlantean, Common, Keltic, or Kimmeri-Keltic Male: 69”, 150 lbs.
Esquimaux Female: 60", 130 lbs.
Esquimaux Male: 63”, 150 lbs.
Hyperborean Female: 78”, 160 lbs.
Hyperborean Male: 84", 190 lbs.
Ixian Female: 69”, 140 lbs.
Ixian Male: 72", 160 lbs.
Kimmerian or Viking Female: 69”, 150 lbs.
Kimmerian or Viking Male: 72", 170 lbs.
Pictish or Half-Blood Pictish Female: 60", 120 lbs.
Pictish or Half-Blood Pictish Male: 63”, 140 lbs.

Then adjust the starting height and weight using the formulae below:

HEIGHT FORMULA: Starting height + STR damage adjustment + CON hit point adjustment – DEX defense adjustment, +1 for every 5 full starting hit points
 
Height adjustment for STR doubled for fighters and fighter subclasses, height adjustment for DEX doubled for non-fighter classes and subclasses.
 
WEIGHT FORMULA: Starting weight + (STR damage adjustment x5) + (CON hit point adjustment x5) – (DEX defense adjustment x5) + (starting hit points x2)
 
All weight increases doubled for fighters and fighter subclasses.

Just to be clear, having a high enough DEX to earn a defense adjustment is intended to make a character both shorter and lighter.  I also realize that every character of the same race and gender with the same stats and hit points will be exactly the same height and weight, but that seems fair enough to me.

Here are a few examples:

Female Amazon Illusionist, STR 12, DEX 14, CON 13, hp 5
Height: 69 + 0 + 1 - 0 + 1 = 72" or 6'
Weight: 150 + 0 + 5 - 0 + 10 = 165 lbs.

Male Atlantean Priest, STR 12, DEX 15, CON 15, hp 5
Height: 69 + 0 +1 - 2 + 1 = 69" or 5' 9"
Weight: 150 + 0 + 5 - 5 + 10 = 160 lbs.

Female Esquimaux Assassin, STR 15, DEX 17, CON 15, hp 7
Height: 60 + 1 + 1 - 2 + 1 = 61" or 5' 1"
Weight: 130 + 5 + 5 - 5 + 14 = 149 lbs.

Male Hyperborean Fighter, STR 17, DEX 15, CON 13, hp 10
Height: 84 + 4 + 1 - 1 + 2 = 90" or 7' 6"
Weight: 190 + 20 + 10 - 5 + 40 = 255 lbs.

Female Ixian Necromancer, STR 12, DEX 13, CON 13, hp 3
Height: 69 + 0 + 1 - 0 + 0 = 70" or 5' 10"
Weight: 140 + 0 + 5 - 0 + 6 = 151 lbs.

Male Kimmerian Barbarian, STR 18, DEX 16, CON 16, hp 7
Height: 72 + 6 + 1 - 1 + 1 = 79" or 6' 7"
Weight: 170 + 30 + 10 - 5 + 28 = 233 lbs.

Female Pictish Ranger, STR 13, DEX 12, CON 11, hp 9
Height: 60 + 2 + 0 - 0 + 1 = 63" or 5' 3"
Weight: 120 + 10 + 0 - 0 + 36 = 166 lbs.


This system is lightning fast with practice.  It obviously ties height and weight closely to race, gender, and class (particular fighters vs. everyone else).  For someone who wants a much wider range of random results for any given PC, I would heartily recommend either Jeff's or Colin's system.


Michael Sipe 1979-2018
Rest in peace, brother.
 

1/28/2015 2:07 pm  #2


Re: Variant Height and Weight Rules

I like this system a lot. The only reason I don't think we'll switch to this is because we don't have chargen that many times that this simplification would matter.

 

1/28/2015 3:17 pm  #3


Re: Variant Height and Weight Rules

Oh, I know.  It's particularly quixotic because PC height and weight barely matter (if at all) in the game.  I only got annoyed at rolling for it because I sat down and made hundreds of pre-gens, and it seemed disproportionately time-consuming.  When making one character at a time, it hardly matters.
Still, I do like tying height and weight a little closer to physical abilities and class - even if (as I said before) the game impact of these measurements is essentially nil.


Michael Sipe 1979-2018
Rest in peace, brother.
     Thread Starter
 

1/28/2015 8:33 pm  #4


Re: Variant Height and Weight Rules

This begs the question how often people 'roll up' height and weight, or whether they mostly pick it at random. My experience with making characters (of any system really) is that I mostly decide myself. I rarely play the same kind of character twice, and so whether male or female, slight or overweight, bald or folically well-endowed, blonde, brunette or whatever, I mostly imagine then create accordingly. 

 

1/28/2015 9:17 pm  #5


Re: Variant Height and Weight Rules

Am I crazy, or are the women a little heavy and the men a little light here? Or both!

BA23, it's a cool idea. We always do use the full suite of tables from Colin: height, weight, distinguishing marks, names, everything. I'll print this out and see how it compares!

 

1/29/2015 12:38 pm  #6


Re: Variant Height and Weight Rules

Handy Haversack wrote:

Am I crazy, or are the women a little heavy and the men a little light here?

Maybe.  I like big butts and I cannot lie.
Although TBQH I thought the numbers were pretty close to the ones Jeff and Colin used.  One thing to remember is that fighter types are probably going to gain a few dozen pounds from their stats and hit points.  For instance, the male barbarian example above went from 170 to 233.  Also, I wasn't going for "Hollywood anoerexic" women.  I don't think 120 is all that outlandish for a five-foot woman, especially if some of it is adventurer muscle and the rest is in all the right places for a pulp cover.
Anyway, it's mainly a mental exercise.  Personally I wouldn't object to players just choosing their height and weight within any reasonable human limits.  I've been running D&D since 1980 and I don't recall height or weight being relevant even a single time, except in a general way (i.e., halflings and gnomes could fit through a hole, but not other races).  I suppose a DM might make more of an issue of height and weight if he wanted.  It's something to consider...


Michael Sipe 1979-2018
Rest in peace, brother.
     Thread Starter
 

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