Standard Size

[Henchman99942]

I have seen people talking about size (height & weight) regarding clothing and armor and using 6' tall and 200 lbs as a baseline. What book or article is this from. I cannot find it anywhere.

I have been using this Body Surface calculator that I think someone suggested in an old article.

http://www.globalrph.com/bsa2.cgi

[simply Nathan]

I'm used to the assumption being 6' tall and 150 lbs.

[Anaraxes]

B18 has the "Build" table with height and weight ranges for various STs and build Disads.

The center of the ranges for ST 10 would be 5' 8" and 145 lbs.

Outside of GURPS, the FAA decrees that standard people weigh 180 lbs (for purposes of doing weight and balance calculations). The CDC cites averages of 69.3" and 195.5 lbs for current US men and 63.8" and 166 lbs for women.

[Ulzgoroth]

Arguably the most GURPS-standard of humans is ST 10, weighs 125 pounds, and is less than six feet tall.

However, what size of human any given bit of gear is calibrated for, if any, is not usually clear and is fairly likely to not be consistent between books. (It might even be non-consistent within a book, who but maybe the authors would know?)

Beyond 'SM+0', that is. GURPS pretty enthusiastically disavows any interest in the finer-grained aspects of human shape

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Kenneth Latrans

I'm used to the assumption being 6' tall and 150 lbs.

That's a beanpole of a character. At my skinniest I was 170 lbs at 6' 2", and that was 20 pounds under my ideal for my height and build. Those extra two inches don't make more than 5 pounds of difference in weight for a given build, I don't think.

6' being 180 lbs for an athletic build (no Overweight or Skinny disads) seems about right.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Henchman99942

I have seen people talking about size (height & weight) regarding clothing and armor and using 6' tall and 200 lbs as a baseline. What book or article is this from. I cannot find it anywhere.

That assumption has been around for a long time now, so it's a bit difficult to pin down. The earliest mention of it, that I can recall offhand, was in Vehicles 2nd Edition [for GURPS 3rd Ed.]. As was mentioned by Kenneth Latrans, the usual assumption that GURPS makes is 6' 0" tall and 150 lbs. for a person without any of his personal equipment. The 200 lbs. given in Vehicles assumed the average person also included 50 lbs. of accompanying personal equipment.

[Purple Haze]

There are standards for this. I don't have my text books, but I have done ergonomics. The "standard" North American male (for engineering and architectural purposes) is 5'10" and weighs 170 lbs. Height is about right but real Americans are often somewhere between obese and morbidly so. The standard woman is 5'4". Standard deviation for men is 2", women 1.5".

[Anthony]

In 3rd edition, a ST 10 human was assumed 5'9" and 150 lb; for each +1 ST, add 1" height and about 5 lb (see GURPS Lite 3e, page 5).

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Purple Haze

There are standards for this. I don't have my text books, but I have done ergonomics. The "standard" North American male (for engineering and architectural purposes) is 5'10" and weighs 170 lbs. Height is about right but real Americans are often somewhere between obese and morbidly so. The standard woman is 5'4". Standard deviation for men is 2", women 1.5".

Sure, that's why at 5'11", I'm taller than 80% of the people I see here in the Portland Metro area.
Few have ever measured body fat in any significant sample sizes. BMI is completely useless.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

That's a beanpole of a character. At my skinniest I was 170 lbs at 6' 2", and that was 20 pounds under my ideal for my height and build. Those extra two inches don't make more than 5 pounds of difference in weight for a given build, I don't think.

6' being 180 lbs for an athletic build (no Overweight or Skinny disads) seems about right.

When I was 5'11" and 155 lbs relatives seriously started to wonder if I was anorexic.