: I think you'll find that the current generation is by no
: means average in terms of height - we're unusually
: tall in fact. A better average height during medieval
: times would have been closer to 5' 1" than 5'
: 11". Even at the turn of the 20th century people
: were still generally short by today's standards.
: Given a shorter average height, the 2' difference for a
: duff makes more sense, as proportionally its then
: closer to half the height of a warrior/zerk.
On the other hand, if Dwarves were only half the height of a Warrior/Zerk but weigh 30 more pounds (as is said in GURPS), they'd be virtually spherical. Their bodies would have to be about 3 times as thick, compared to their height, as our own.
I think we can take the average height of a Warrior to be quite a bit above the medieval standard--a), because the Legion probably prefers big guys, and b), because Myth is fantasy and so its characters are a bit taller, buffer and have better dental hygiene than you'd expect.
So I'm thinking: Warriors, a little under 6 feet; Dwarves, a little under 4 feet; Zerks; a little under 7 feet.
I'm also thinking that Dwarven relative height and weight is not something Gene Seabolt spent a whole lot of time going over with Bungie, but that's just a hunch. :-)
By the way, the average Roman male was about 5'5"--Julius Caesar was a giant at close to 6 feet. The Celts, on the other hand, were well over 6 feet, and in some cases over 7 feet (though it's difficult to know whether Roman sources were exaggerating). This enormous height difference was a major psychological factor in early battles between the Gauls and Rome.
