Are gnomes made from lead?

[Anders]

I just checked and they are 4' tall and weigh on average 150 lbs. They can weigh as much as 250 lbs. Is this a misprint or are gnomes made from lead?

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Anders

I just checked and they are 4' tall and weigh on average 150 lbs. They can weigh as much as 250 lbs. Is this a misprint or are gnomes made from lead?

Nah. If they were made of lead, they'd weigh more like 800 lbs. They're around a density of 3, so they're probably made of rocks. As appropriate for something sharing a name with a common term for earth elementals.

[Anthony]

Heck, gnomes weigh less than dwarves; a dwarf is the same height but 120-350 lb.

[Black Leviathan]

I think you may have D&D shorty skinny Gnomes in mind. GURPS Gnomes have some meat on them. They're basically a human without all that height.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Black Leviathan

I think you may have D&D shorty skinny Gnomes in mind. GURPS Gnomes have some meat on them. They're basically a human without all that height.

Just take a picture of a human and rescale it to 67% height/120% width.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Black Leviathan

I think you may have D&D shorty skinny Gnomes in mind. GURPS Gnomes have some meat on them. They're basically a human without all that height.

Allometric scaling for 2/3 height gives about 30% weight. I realize that realism and Dungeon Fantasy are not natural companions, but still... :)

[Black Leviathan]

Originally Posted by Anders

Allometric scaling for 2/3 height gives about 30% weight. I realize that realism and Dungeon Fantasy are not natural companions, but still... :)

Squishing, not scaling. You're not making a human-proportioned small person with inexplicable strength. You're in effect making a dwarf without the beard and Klingon honor (Scottish Accent optional).

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Anders

Allometric scaling for 2/3 height gives about 30% weight.

Halflings are basically Allometricly scaled humans - and it shows in their weight.

Gnomes and dwarves however are not, the same way that an elephant is not an allometrically scaled up horse. Typically these would have heads more like humans with gigantism (everyone seems to draw them with heavy brows and jaws), stout large, almost-human-sized torsos for gnomes (or even more-massive-than for Dwarves), and stout, strong limbs. These are digger people - and they have rather mole-like proportions. I'd even bet they have stiff spines, like other tunneling mammals.