Can You Hang a Halfling?

[Merkuri]

Bah, if the DM wants to allow halfling hangings, then go with halfling hangings. D&D is a game of magic, not of physics. Who cares how strong their necks are?

 

[rgard]

The traditional method for hanging humans with low weight is to increase the drop so that more momentum is gained, and/or increase their weight by tying rocks (or even strapping hidden lead weights on their body - human ingenuity at its best).

Slow suffocation is best left to impromptu hangings as it does not look good to the audience, and gives the hangman bad PR.

Yes, but the slow suffocation was an integral part of 'hanged, drawn and quartered.' The executioners didn't want the condemned to die from the hanging as they had the second act (yanking out the intestines) to come and the condemned had to be alive for that.

 

[WhimsyTheFae]

Actually, after studying the halfling physiology, I have found that they have very weak necks. They're always lolling to one side or lolling to the other. In fact, more than one death has come as the result of a careless neck-rub or hairpull (I can't tell you how many mothers lost their children as a result of this). What you have to be careful of, much to my surprise, is the head just popping off during the hanging.

 

[hong]

Actually, after studying the halfling physiology, I have found that they have very weak necks. They're always lolling to one side or lolling to the other. In fact, more than one death has come as the result of a careless neck-rub or hairpull (I can't tell you how many mothers lost their children as a result of this). What you have to be careful of, much to my surprise, is the head just popping off during the hanging.

See kids, this is what happens when you lol too much.

 

[Grymar]

If I remember correctly, one of the original uses of an equation was by the hangman to decide how long to make the rope. Too short and you didn't get a clean break which led to a slow strangling of the victim which, as has already been noted, was not liked by the crowd and hurt the executioner's reputation. Too long and you popped off the guys head, which was currently in the new from fair Iraq.

So in theory you could make the rope longer to give the poor halfling more time to accelerate, but there is no saying if s/he would reach terminal velocity before going fast enough to snap the neck.

I'd go with the added weight plan. Or just go for a nice beheading.

 

[Nifft]

Of course halflings tie rocks to their victim's feet before he is hanged from a tree.

They also say, "You betrayed Don Underhill. Now you're going to sleep with the Elves."

-- N

 

[Pbartender]

If I remember correctly, one of the original uses of an equation was by the hangman to decide how long to make the rope.

The length of the rope was often directly proportional to the gratuity given to the hangman by the hangee before the hanging. A good tip ensured a quick, clean death.

Often, the hangman would simply use the same length of rope for everyone... If it wasn't long enough to break the neck, he'd simply jump on the back of the victim to add his weight and break the neck.

 

[Numion]

Tie a big rock to the halflings legs.

Actually, there are many. My Paladin broke a thievery ring of around 80 halflings. That's why I had to put them in a gulag, the jails were full. Even though 8 halflings would take the space of a single human .. gotta talk to the DM.

 

[pedr]

In the pseudo-middle ages that most D&D is built on, all hangings were 'short-drop' hangings. The drop is usually far too short to break the neck, instead closing blood vessels and/or airways which leads to the brain not getting enough oxygen and the victim dying. Which is why various films have scenes showing a rescue or repreive arriving during the execution. According to wikipedia, at least 31 Newtons (7lbf or 3.2kgf) is needed to close the carotid arteries leading to rapid unconsciousness.

Light victims apparently had weights tied to them to increase the amount of force, but so long as the person was beginning to suffocate, I imagine your Paladin would be willing to stand and wait for death to occur. In British history, the body was left for around an hour to be certain that it was dead.

 

[Henrix]

Ah, wikipedia is often a gamer's best friend in serious matters like these!

The british official table of drops shows that a 112 lbs human needs about eight feet for the neck to snap.
Extrapolating this to a 35 lbs halfling leads me to believe that just increasing the drop would be at least inpractical, if not impossible.

Weights are probably necessary, even for the suffocation/blood occlusion death.
And it might be necessary to use rather a lot of extra weight, several times the body weight.


Why do I see my players' characters finding a report from the LN city hangman on halfling hanging in the near future?